Srinagar, Oct 9: Addressing the Friday congregation at Jama Masjid Srinagar, Mirwaiz-e-Kashmir Dr Moulvi Mohammad Umar Farooq paid glowing tribute to Hazrat Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani (RA), Alamdar-e-Kashmir, recalling his enduring spiritual, moral and cultural contribution to the lives for Kashmiri’s for all generations to come.
Mirwaiz said Sheikh-ul-Alam’s Shruks enriched and preserved the Kashmiri language, stressing that to preserve Kashmiri is to preserve our identity, memory and civilisational heritage. He urged younger generations to speak, read and value their mother tongue.
Referring to the September 15 Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema Jammu & Kashmir (MMU) conference, Mirwaiz said a committee was formed to review the suggestions and recommendations received from participating Ulema and work out their implementation. The committee met this week and discussed a structured follow-up programme.
He announced that the first coordinated Khutbah across participating mosques and Imambargahs on Friday, October 16, will focus on “Imaan — Faith”, as the fundamental common ground that binds the Muslim Ummah together. Mirwaiz said that sheikh Ul Alam was a standard bearer of the concept of Imaan and tawheed in Islam as represented in his discourse or kalaam in the vernacular language, a cherished treasure of our distinct Islamic identity and heritage. Strengthening these concepts within and practising them in our daily lives and interactions without , is the best tribute that we can pay to our patron saint.
Mirwaiz said that despite differences of Maslak and religious interpretation, Muslims are united by the essentials of their faith. Strengthening Imaan, he said, is the starting point for strengthening the individual, the family and the society.
He said that when this shared foundation of faith is recognised, legitimate religious differences can be approached with greater respect, restraint and the Islamic ethics of disagreement, rather than becoming a cause of hostility or division. The Mimbar is an Amanah, he said, and should be used to deepen faith, strengthen common bonds and remind people of the responsibilities that flow from Imaan.
Other issues identified at the MMU conference, including unity of the Ummah, drug abuse, suicide and mental-health concerns, youth challenges, misuse of social media, family concerns and environmental responsibility, will be taken up one by one on subsequent Fridays as part of the coordinated programme.
Taking forward another important decision of the September conference, Mirwaiz said that the first district-level Ulema meeting will be held at Bandipora. The one-day gathering will deliberate upon the identified societal challenges confronting people at the local level and explore how Ulema, mosques and madrasas can respond to them in a coordinated and practical manner.
Mirwaiz said that the district-level process will subsequently be extended to other areas as part of the MMU’s wider effort -through these coordinated Friday sermons, district-level engagements and community awareness , to ensure that the recommendations of the conference are translated into practical action at the grassroots level .
Mirwaiz also announced that next Friday he will deliver the sermon at the shrine of Hazrat Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani (RA) at Charar-e-Sharief.
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