Friday sermon roundup :: The Gulf Today
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I like what Munther Al Saelm had to say in his Friday sermon at Qasba Mosque in Sharjah:

Delivering the Friday sermon at Qasba Mosque in Sharjah, Munther Al Saelm asked Muslims not to give much importance to these attempts, as the last Messenger of Allah (PBUH) was criticised by Jews and other non-Muslims even during his life.

"People used to make wrong comments about Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) even in his lifetime but he never got enraged by it," he said, while referring to the ongoing protests against newspapers that published cartoons on Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) which prompted Muslims across the world to react strongly.

He recounted various incidents to highlight how Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) had responded to personal attacks. "You do not do evil to those who do evil to you, but you deal with them with forgiveness and kindness," he said.

He also urged Muslims to take stock of their own deeds and correct themselves. "We should check our own acts and follow the path shown by Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) to overcome all the problems the Muslim Ummah is currently facing," he said.

[Gulf Today, page A3, Saturday 4Feb06]

It is a message that Muslims and non-Muslims, people of faith and those not, ought to take to heart. We can be compliance oriented [thou shall not __(fill in the blank)__], or we can be conversion oriented. There are numerous examples, from all faiths, of how people have been changed by seeing forgiveness and kindness in others.