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By mercy, not by sword, Islam is spreading far

Before he started his speech, renowned scholar Abdul Raheem McCarthy helped seven women declare their conversion to Islam. With these, 23 people have embraced Islam in five days here.

In his lecture ‘A Mercy to Mankind’, Sheikh Abdul Raheem said Dubai plays a crucial role in presenting the bright face of Islam and defending it against the misconceptions prevailing in the Western media.

“The message of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is to bring mercy to all Muslims and non Muslims.”

Explaining the biography of holy Prophet — especially at the time when Islam is targeted wrongly, he said it is a good way to refute all lies about Islam.Sheikh Abdul Raheem, who heads the Islamic Studies Department at the Sudanese Oxford Academy, said the Holy Quran portrays the mercifulness of the holy Prophet and how it overshadows all humanity and can be traced down to every aspect of his life.

“He never revenged for himself; even when asked to supplicate against those who harm him and to the new Muslims he used to say he was not sent to curse but to have mercy on humanity’,” he said. Such mercy was not based on weakness; when returning powerful to holy city of Makkah passing by Al Taeef town, he did not order the people — who hurt him so much and threw stones at him. “He rather forgave and had mercy on them that they peacefully converted to Islam,” he said.

Sheikh Abdul Raheem said unlike the Western propaganda portraying that woman has no rights in Islam, the holy Prophet showed the maximum degree of mercifulness to a woman whether she was a mother, wife, daughter or a sister and “throughout the whole Holy Quran there is
no chapter for men but for women.”

“Women in Islam are not obliged to work, and if they work their husbands cannot claim any rights in their income, because Islam puts the responsibility to sustain the family on the man’s shoulders,” he added

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was also merciful to his neighbours, children, homeless and even animals. “If we are to count the examples of his mercifulness, all the books of the world would not have enough space to detail them,” Sheikh
Abdul Raheem said.

Meanwhile, the ‘Young Orator’ programme saw an outstanding performance by 15-year-old Yusuf Bilal of Britain. In his brief speech, he said Allah Almighty created human beings to worship and build the world.

“The Holy Quran was sent to his Messenger to be a guide for mankind so that they can achieve happiness,” said Bilal, who is a grade-11 student. Upon his father’s conversion to Islam, Bilal came to Dubai in 2000. Though he memorised the Holy Quran in full, it was the first time for him to give a speech on Islam – in English.

As part of the foreign lectures programme, prominent Sheikh Saeed Rageah delivered a lecture — the sixth in a seven lecture series — targeting non-Arab Muslims and non-Muslim communities on Thursday night billed ‘Highest Aspirations’.

Popular Filipino orator Omar Penalbar will deliver a speech titled ‘The Message of Islam’ tonight at 9.30pm in the Al Twar-2 area.

After converting to Islam in Saudi Arabia in 1988, Omar took to studying his new religion and spreading its message of peace amongst
his fellow Filipinos.

ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE