2nd Sermon August 2006 4

Dear Brothers, Remain conscious of Allah, and lets increase and improve our good deeds on earth. brothers, Our Singaporean community truly enjoys and appreciates the progress and prosperity that weve achieved thus far, in this peaceful and harmonious nation. We thank Allah for this blessing that He has bestowed upon us, it is with His help that our nation continues to develop and attain great success.

We are deeply concerned with the continous crisis in the Middle East, especially since a peaceful solution is nowhere to be found. We can empathise with their suffering and sadness, as peace and serenity are something all humans hold dear. We are very saddened by the use of brutal force that has caused lost of innocent lives: women, children, the old and the sick, regardless of their background. It is sad to hear bombs blasting and see relatives dying in a developing country like Lebanon. We sincerely hope that these transgressions by all the parties involved will end as fast as possible. May Allah grant His guidance to all parties involved, to choose to seek peaceful solution to this crisis. May the weak and oppressed be given strength and triumph by Allah the almighty. As concerned Muslims, we must strive to show the compassion as taught to us by God and His messenger. It is our duty to show the beauty of Islam in our peaceful and harmonious society. This incident gives us a picture of how complex things are in the Middle East, a historical region which is inhabited by followers of the three great world religions.

Let us try to understand its contemporary history and background by reading about and studying its history. Such study and analysis will enable us to understand todays world better. At the same time, let us show our compassion and empathy by donating to the humanitarian fund for Lebanon on this blessed Friday. Your donation will help ease the sufferings of the war victims, Insya Allah. We must also pray to and seek help from Allah the Almighty for this crisis and devastations to end. Therefore, we will be reciting Qunut Nazilah in our Friday prayer today, the way it was done by our beloved Prophet during his difficult times. I also would like to call upon all of us to recite this Qunut in all our obligatory prayers as long as the crisis persists. The prayer for peace is also prepared by our mosques, for us to recite in our daily prayers.