- Tragic attacks in the capital of Ottawa at the War Memorial and Parliament - Condemnations from numerous organizations, including many Muslim groups - Fundamental Islamic teachings of valuing every single human life - Comemmoration of Imam Hussain, teaching the value of life - A story of Imam Hussain standing up against injustice - Reactions from the government and the public, towards Muslims - Knee jerk reactions of critics of Islam as a whole - Valuing the freedom of our nation, while staying vigilant against policies not aligned with Muslim values "We as Muslim citizens of tihs country condemn this act of violence without any reservations or hesitation. The Canadian Council of Imams, various Muslim organizations, and the newly formed Canadian Council of Shi'a Scholars, have all expressed condemnation." "The biggest challenge to a society is not about poverty, disease, or loss of wealth. It is a loss of peace and security. Without this, the others can never be addressed." "This becomes a matter of concern for all citizens of this country, irrespective of their ethnic & racial background, or their religious and political affiliation. This is a democratic society; there are debates and discussions – many times the arguments do not reach to a point of agreement but even in such situations, there is an agreement to disagree with civility and respect. There is no room for violence based on differences of opinion." "Ali says 'There is no blame or shame in being the oppressed one as long as your imaan is intact. The blame and shame is present only when you are the oppressor.' And that is the legacy which we must cherish and maintain." "The response of officials & the backlash of Islamophobia that follows such incidents are a matter of concern for us at different levels. Fortunately,the political leaders have shown wise leadership by not using terms like Muslim/Islamic terrorism." "We will not allow these acts and individuals to start the cycle of hatred, especially towards the Muslim minority in Canada." "We have to be vigilant, realizing there are elements of racism and bigotry present. They'll do whatever is within their means to exploit these tragedies in order to blame Islam and Muslims. It's not only those outside the fold of Islam, out of racism. Unfortunately we have some within the community, who I call self-loathing Muslims. One of them asks for all mosques across Canada be closed for 3 months for investigation. I never thought that self-hatred would reach to this extent. The issue raised is that radicalization is coming from the mosques & schools. Look at the past 10 years, even with the 'Toronto 18', none of them could be traced back to a mosque or an Imam. They were influenced by fringe elements, out of the norm. To take these incidents and blame the community, Muslim organizations, or mosques as a whole, is unfair and unjust. "We love our homeland. Yes we're Muslim. But we're also Canadians. We want peace and security for all. Yes, when gov't policies are going astray we'll point it out. That is after all, the hallmark of a liberal democracy. But nobody talks about violence. There will always be fringe elements outside the norm who should be monitored, but don't target the Muslim community or the faith because of these events. And this will be the test of our liberal democracy of Canada. We pray our society will pass this test with total success insha'Allah." MP3: https://s3.amazonaws.com/JCC/Fridays/FridayKhutba_Rizvi_2014-10-24_131451749.mp3 Friday Juma Khutba Recited By: Maulana Syed Muhammad Rizvi Date: October 24th, 2014 www.facebook.com/IslamiCentre.org www.twitter.com/sayyidmrizvi www.islamicentre.org

• published: 24 Oct 2014
• views: 236