Grand Mufti emphasizes fairness in all dealings

Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh urged yesterday that Muslim rulers to strive hard for the welfare of their people, stressing the importance of fairness in all dealings while addressing the millions of pilgrims assembled at the plains on Arafat.

“Make all your efforts to achieve dignified living for your people and end their sufferings. You should deal with them with justice because justice and fairness bring hearts close and solve issues,” Al-Asheikh said.

Those who attended the sermon and the prayer included Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, chairman of the Central Haj Committee.

The grand mufti called on Muslims to cooperate with their leaders because such cooperation will ensure their welfare and economic progress.

The grand mufti stressed the importance of implementing the Shariah regulations in all walks of life including politics.

“Some slogans raised among Muslims these days call for setting up democratic states with no connection with the Islamic Shariah,” said Al-Asheikh.

He said a Muslim’s life should be qualified by balanced thought, belief and a sound perception of the happenings around him.

“He should be patient with the worldly trials and grateful for his welfare ... and he should help other Muslims and cooperate with them in good matters that bring welfare and prosperity to all,” he said.

The sheikh also stressed the need for the Muslim rulers to conduct dialogues and build mutual understanding with contending parties and end dissension to end the present turmoil in the Muslim world.

“The Muslim Ummah in our world is passing through trials, miseries and tragedies including bloodshed and destruction of properties, which are matters of great sorrow and grief. It is the duty of the rulers of the Muslim nations to work for dialogue and mutual understanding and thus end dissensions,” the sheikh said.

He said the differences should be solved on the basis of the Shariah laws. He also warned against falling into the traps laid by the enemies of Islam “who want to destabilize Muslim communities and destroy their security.”

The sheikh urged economists and decisions-makers to educate the Muslim Ummah on the right and rational ways of investing their wealth in domestic projects to boost local economies.

“There is plenty of wealth deposited by some Muslims in non-Muslim countries, which helps the economies of those countries. If the wealth were invested in the Muslim countries, it would have helped the development of the Muslim countries benefiting the Ummah, ending their poverty, backwardness and unemployment,” said the grand mufti.

The grand mufti pointed out that the solidarity and cooperation of the Muslim societies is a potent way to save them from the present crisis.

Muslims should also exchange expertise in economics and politics and education for their common progress.

The sheikh also urged Muslims to get rid of moral and behavioral deviations and provide the younger generation with the Islamic education based on noble qualities.

“The younger generation should be kept away from any media channels that would lead it to perversion, abandonment of the female veil, immodesty and mixing up of sexes or expose children to obscene contents, and publications spreading moral degeneration,” he said.

He also called on both the Muslim rulers and the people to “manage their countries with their own decisions and not to be influenced by external dictations. They should also increase production and enhance their welfare employing their own manpower and intellect, which should not migrate to outside world.