The nation today faces its biggest crisis — a crisis of moral capital — and must find a way out of it, opposition leader and Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Dr Shafiqur Rahman has said.
He was speaking as chief guest on Friday afternoon at the prize-giving and cultural programme for the national Seerat reading competition, organised by Islami Chhatrashibir at the Engineers’ Institution auditorium in Dhaka.
The Jamaat Amir said the only path to pleasing Allah is to follow, step by step and word for word, the example of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He said Allah has declared the Prophet a mercy and an example to be followed by all of humanity until the Day of Judgment, and that he stands as a model for children, adolescents and young people alike, with Allah having adorned him, across every stage of his life, with the finest character.
He said the Muslim world today is paying the price for straying from the path of Allah and His Messenger, and that competitions such as this Seerat reading contest illuminate participants’ hearts, giving them the chance to learn what a great blessing the Prophet is for humankind.
The opposition leader said that while many among us have great talent, much of it is “evil talent” — people who, rather than using the ability Allah has given them for the good of humanity, are selfish and narrow-minded, chasing personal gain by fair means or foul. In doing so, he said, they harm themselves and cheat others, and ultimately do not end up in a good place.
Dr Shafiqur Rahman said that when revelation first came to the Prophet (peace be upon him), the very people who, struck by his extraordinary character, had given him the titles Al-Amin (the Trustworthy) and As-Sadiq (the Truthful) later turned into his bitterest opponents, opposing him blindly simply for speaking the truth. He said Allah nonetheless granted him complete human excellence, such that every detail of his life, from birth to death, is recorded with a precision matched by no one else in history.
He noted that the Prophet even entrusted certain private matters of his life to his wives before his death, instructing that they be shared with the public, since believers are the inheritors of the Prophets’ example in both its public and private dimensions. He said Allah himself certified the Prophet as possessing the finest character as a blessing for humanity — and that wherever in the world people have held fast to this blessing, they have benefited, gained honour, and enjoyed the excellence of leadership; wherever people have strayed from Allah’s law and the Prophet’s example, they have instead become directionless, defeated, disgraced, and strangers in their own land.
The event was conducted by Chhatrashibir secretary general Sibgatullah Sibgha. Special guests included Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general Maulana Rafiqul Islam Khan MP, former vice-chancellor of Islamic Arabic University Professor Shamsul Alam, and Chhatrashibir president Nurul Islam Saddam, among others. The winner of the Seerat reading competition was awarded an Umrah trip along with other attractive prizes and a crest, alongside prizes for the other winners.