Eid-ul-Fitr 1433AH - Message from The President, Dr Husein Jiwa

Dear Community Members

All praise is due to Allah (swt), the Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be sent on His Prophet Muhammad (saw) and his pure Family.
 
It is with heavy hearts that we bid farewell to this most glorious of months. As Imam Sajjad (as) says in his farewell supplication:
 
‘’Peace be upon you, the companion who brought comfort to our hearts when coming, thus making us happy, and peace be upon you, who left loneliness when going, thus giving anguish’’.
 
With these inspiring words of our Imam (as), on behalf of all of us here at The Council of European Jamaats, our heartiest congratulations go out to all Mumineen and community members in celebrating Eid- ul - Fitr. This day marks the conclusion of the Holy month of Ramadhan and is Allah’s (swt) conferment of blessing and happiness on the Muslims. We are to celebrate this day, bowing our heads before Allah (swt) to express our profound gratitude to Him for His countless blessings.
 
This year the Holy month of Ramadhan has also been an occasion to reflect on the importance of religious tolerance and to recognise the positive role that religious communities of all faiths, including Muslims, have played in European life. The 2012 Olympics have presented for Muslims a rare moment to look in a global mirror, and see a self image that fills us with awe and pride and deep humility at the accommodations the non Muslim world make for us. The 5 Olympic rings representing the 5 continents that compete in the Olympics symbolise the coming together of nations in unity. The Olympic core values of excellence, friendship and respect resonate somewhat with our own Muslim values, and this has given us an added opportunity to re-enact the brotherhood of humanity which will Insha’Allah go a long way to build bridges with the nations of the world.
 
On this festive occasion, we must remind each other to remember those less fortunate, including those impacted by poverty, hunger, conflict and disease. It is with great pride that I can say that through your generous donations we have contributed greatly to The World Federation’s Ramadhan Relief Fund and Insha’Allah we will continue to assist with the relief efforts. Charity should begin at home, and so this year we have been fortunate to initiate the 'The Helping Hands For Those In Need' initiative, supported by WF, whereby we have been in a position to supply the basic staples to those in need in our local area.
 
As we go through this day of Eid, let us also take time out to remember the plight of those millions who are less fortunate and are affected by the political unrest around the Middle East and its neighbouring countries. In view of this, we are working with other Muslim organisations to raise our voice to preserve the religious heritage and protect places of worship and most of all to plead for their basic human rights that each human being deserves. Fundamentally, it is this disregard and contempt for human rights which has resulted in barbarous acts that have outraged the conscience of mankind.
 
Let us join hands together to pray in unison for a world in which human beings enjoy freedom of speech and belief together with freedom from fear which has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people.
 
May the Almighty accept what little we have been able to offer Him in this month, and give us the strength and tawfiq to carry on serving His creation. Let us also pray for peace and justice to prevail and for the hastened reappearance of our awaited saviour Al Mahdi (as).
 
Dr Husein Jiwa
President
1 Shawaal 1433

Secretariat