Saturday, January 3, 2015

Grand Mawlid on New Year's Eve - only in KL | Embracing 2015 with prayers and salawat

Bismillah.

Subhanallah! I am proud to be a Muslim living in Malaysia. Where other cities in the world can you see a grand Mawlidur Rasul organized at its most historic and popular venue, on a new year's eve, instead of a heedless new year party and entertainment? And it's broadcast Live on TV Al Hijrah. Mabruk to the organizer and the authorities for this remarkable concerted effort.

Some people questioned if it's correct to label Malaysia as a moderate Muslim country or otherwise. I say who cares if we are moderate or not moderate or whatever. What is more important is that we love Prophet Muhammad salallah alaihi wasalam and we sing it out loud! We are indeed proud to show it in a grand way. An Nabi sallu alai!

Grand Mawlid in KL on the eve of  the new year - 2015
@ Dataran Merdeka

Habib Syech Abdul Qadir As-Segaf led the qasidah performance in his uniquely entertaining style. The Kuala Lumpur Mufti, Sahibus Samahah Dr. Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri gave a tausiyah reminding Malaysians of the lessons we should heed as we reflect on the severe tests which the country had undergone in 2014. He quoted Al-Abbas saying: 'No calamity (musibah) shall befall except that a sin has been committed. And no calamity shall be lifted unless a repentance is offered.' He urged the audience to make a change because Allah will not change our fate until and unless we first make the changes ourselves. We must change, from being lazy to becoming productive, from being average to become outstanding, from not being used to enliven the nights with ibadah, we should change and make it a habit. The Mufti then quoted Saidina Ali who says: 'There is none whom we love more than Rasulallah. We love him more than we love our children, our parents and our properties.' There are three ways to love the Prophet. First is through makrifah that is to know him salallah alaihi wasalam. Second, is to follow his sunnah and thirdly, to make salawat for him. The Mufti related his recent experience in Egypt where he noticed signage everywhere asking "Have you made salawat today?" He says, that shows how important salawat is in our daily lives. Shaykh Abdul Kadir Al-Jailani has listed dozens of fadhilat of making salawat.

The Mufti then appealed so that people would stay united as one strong body. He narrated a story about the Romans witnessing a peculiar behavior of the Muslim armies who were seen whispering to one another. Then each one approached a well and jumped into it. One after another they jumped into the well until one of them raised a cup he found in the well. The Romans thought if Muslims could be so united in search of a small belonging of theirs, they would surely be united on more important things like religion, life and their dignity. The Mufti also related an Arab parable he heard from his guru Shaykh Muhammad Sa'id Ramadan Al-Buti. There is a garden in which there are all kinds of trees, some old, some young, and there are all kinds of sizes, big and small. They all live merrily in harmony. But one day, they got shocked and disturbed to notice a shining metal piece which looked like a blade. They quickly consulted the oldest and wisest tree among them, lamenting "Oh, we will soon be destroyed" crying thinking of the ugly fate that might come about. The oldest wisest tree then said: 'Do not cry, don't worry, do not be afraid, and you must believe and have confidence that the blade can never cause us harm. Unless one of us surrender himself and offer himself to be its handle.' The moral of the story, says the Mufti is that we are fine and we will be fine, unless we become our own enemy. Remember, the believers (mukmin) are brothers/sisters to another mukmin.                      

***

The grand gathering ended with a heartfelt prayer recited by our dearest Habib Ali Zainal Abidin Al- Hamid who has just arrived in KL from performing umrah.

Kuala Lumpur made salawat and prayed for a better decree from the Almighty, a better year than the fateful 2014 which Malaysians would never want to relive, ever.

May Allah give us only great stuffs in 2015, in Malaysia and beyond. Ameen.

Kuala Lumpur - 1 Jan 2015

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