Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem was-salaat was salaam `ala man laa nabiyya ba`dah, Sayyidina Muhammadin wa `ala alihi wa sahbihi was sallam ila yawm al-din

	Seeking God’s Light in the Children of Adam
Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqani al-Muhammadi's speech for the occasion of the UN Millennium World Peace Summit for Religious and Spiritual Leaders

New York City, August 28 – 31, 2000

Our Lord Almighty said, “O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women. Be careful of your duty toward Allah in Whom ye claim (your rights) of one another, and toward the wombs (that bare you). Lo! Allah hath been a watcher over you.” [Quran, 4: 1]

To believers, men, women, and all of humanity, I greet you with the Islamic words of greeting, “peace be upon you.”

We are gathered here today, at the prestigious United Nations, to address humanity with the issue of World Peace. This is indeed a holy day, for even the name of this place, the “United” Nations, symbolizes our unity as members of the human race. Almighty Allah, our Creator, our Sustainer, our Lord is looking upon us seeing  human beings of all ages, races, nations, and religions gathered together on this day.

When we arrived at this auspicious event, we were each granted a tag with a very dignified title: Shaykh, Bishop, Cardinal, Grand Imam, Grand Rabbi. These are very respectable titles that we are quite happy to append to ourselves. I am quite happy also, to have such a tag.

It is an honor to be given an earthly title. Yet consider how much more of an honor it would be to receive a heavenly one. Every individual has been assigned a heavenly position, but there is one that is far better than all the others. It is ‘Servant,’ `Abd, which means to be servant to the Lord. Whoever seeks to be servant to the Lord will be granted a reward far greater than a man-made title.

Having gathered to discuss how humanity can work toward world peace, we are here not to flaunt our earthly stations, but to find and exemplify the levels granted to us by God. If we, as spiritual and religious figures, can leave this meeting having fortified our efforts with awareness of our roles in the Divine Plan, we will become like beacons of peace, like great lights walking on earth.

Servant-hood and humility are the keys to achieving unity and contentment for our race. Indeed, if we were servants to one another, showing respect and humility before one another, there would be no need for such a gathering. Yet many abandon humility and respect for their fellows, allowing trouble to develop between them and spread all over the world.

The human tendency to behave this way is by no means new. The son of the first man on earth, Cain son of Adam, killed his own brother. His act marked the beginning of a dangerous tradition that has been carried from generation to generation, steadily growing worse. Knowing this, Allah Almighty said in the Holy Quran, the Last Testament:

For that cause, We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind. [Quran: 5, 32]

This is the story of the last century, a century filled with death, murder, war, destruction, savagery and tyranny. In the last century, it was as if we saw the death of all humankind, for recent wars have led to the death of more people than populated the entire earth, in earlier times – one hundred million, two hundred million, half a billion. Yet still there is the hope and life that exists in remembering God.

We are gathered here today – priests, rabbis, imams, shaykhs, leaders of our spiritual and religious communities – to pray that the new century, and the new millennium, will bring the fulfillment of the following verse:

And whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind. [Quran: 5, 33]

For this reason we hope this meeting will be blessed.

Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“Whoever relieves his brother of a trial or a difficulty in this life, God will relieve him of a trial in the next life.”

Helping each other is the true essence of brotherhood. When Cain killed his blood brother Abel, he replaced brotherhood with hatred and enmity. If we can leave this enmity and hatred and replace it with love for the common good, we will return to the original state of brotherhood, regardless of blood ties, and achieve unity and harmony.

This is a part of the message of Islam. It is not a new message, but one that has been repeated for thousands of years. Just as your television receives a regular transmission, broadcasting information on every channel, so God’s message is a delivered again and again. The transmission permeates all channels, all aspects of life, all periods of time, stopping only when the receiver, the television, the person, is turned off.

Let us leave the television on and listen for the message our Creator is repeating for us to hear and obey. If we do not obey, it is indeed dangerous for us. For example, cigarette packages around the world prominently display messages such as, “smoking is dangerous to your health.” It is repeated on every carton, so everyone reads the message, but few care to heed it. Many thousands die from smoking every year.

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Religious and spiritual representatives from a variety of faiths filled the UN General Assembly hall.

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It is now as if the entire world is smoking, and the health of the entire planet is suffering. Species are disappearing, forests, jungles, and whole habitats are vanishing. The ice at the north and south poles is dissolving, and the infamous hole in the ozone is causing numerous tragedies to occur. The message is being repeated, again and again, but no one cares, continuing to smoke and causing harm throughout the world.

Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him said, “laa darar wa laa diraar fil-Islam,” “neither harm nor reciprocation of harm is permitted in Islam.” Causing harm is forbidden, and everything harmful is prohibited. He also said, “al-Muslim man salima an-muslimoon  min yadihi wa lisanihi,” “the Muslim is a person from whose hand and tongue Muslims are safe.” This is the definition of a Muslim, or anyone who submits to the Way of God. It is of no benefit for a person who does not meet this description to say that he or she follows in the Way of God. It is therefore not in the Way of God to commit acts of terror. Anyone who claims that terrorism is a part of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, or any religion is mistaken; no one can demonstrate this to be true. Once again, if we would leave terror and obey our religion, the message sent by God, we would attain peace, safety and harmony.

To all of humanity, I urge you to seek out the essence of your religion, then obey it, as it will be your vehicle to safety. Obey your Lord, because your Lord and our Lord are One God. If we all obey as we have been taught, there will be no more suffering, no fighting, no hatred and no killing.

Furthermore, we must reconcile with one another. Last year, a group of Christians came to the Holy Land to seek reconciliation. They said, “We came to apologize. Our forefathers killed your forefathers, calling it a crusade in the name of Jesus, but we know that was wrong. We apologize for their actions.” This is the way of Jesus, peace be upon him. If we followed the ways of our holy ones, we would find a peace such as no one has ever believed could exist. For there to be peace, all people must also apologize and emphasize that anyone who killed using the name of God was by no means justified in doing so.

The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) returned to his hometown of Mecca after its people had tortured him and his followers, cast him out, and made war against him. When he returned he came with a great army of 124,000 soldiers. He addressed the chief of Makka and the people who were gathered, asking, “O people of Quraish, what do you expect from me today?” They replied, “Only the best from a noble brother and the son of a noble brother.” The Prophet said, “Depart, for today you are all free!” That is our principle – no revenge, no harm, no retribution. For despite the persecution and torture his followers had suffered, and despite the law providing for retribution of injury, the Prophet held to a higher moral standard.

The Quran says:

And if they incline to peace, then incline to it and trust in Allah; surely He is the Hearing, the Knowing. [8, 61]

Therefore it is our duty to create the conditions for peace and to seek it out. World peace cannot be achieved unless humanity returns to the essence of all religions: mutual respect, forgiveness, and love.

Let us look at this century with new eyes, with eyes that see one another with love. Let us recall that God fashioned each and every one of us with His Hands, and blew into each and every one of us from His Spirit. Can anyone seek to harm the Spirit of God? They would be only harming themselves, for it is a reality that our world is one world and what happens to others affects us all. This is why the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

“Muslims are like one body, when one part becomes weak, the whole body suffers.”

Only if nations look at each other  as one body, each part strengthening the other, will we see a cure to our illnesses: spiritual, social, economic and political. If one country is weak, others will suffer, and global confusion and distress will be the result. Those nations with strong economies must support those that are weak, in order to build global strength. Those legions of unemployed and underpaid people, who have families dependent on them, must be helped. By feeding them, we prevent the creation of angry unemployed armies, ready for satan’s service. This can only have a good result, where all nations of the world will feel strong together. For as Allah said:

O humankind! We created you from a single pair of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes that you may know and deal with one another in kindness ... Verily the most honored of you in the sight of God is the most righteous of you, and God is Knower, Aware. [Quran: 49,13]

I conclude by asking that each and every one of us seek to emulate the perfected character of the holy ones, Prophets and Messengers and Perfected ones who have gone before us. They attained perfection by holding to the reason of their creation: servanthood to the Lord, Allah, our Sovereign Creator through Eternity. In so doing, we will find not only peace, but love and brotherhood. Let us leave this gathering and return to our peoples saying, “I met many human beings. I forgave all of them and asked them to forgive me. I asked them what I could do for them, and they responded, ‘love us as your brothers and sisters, from the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve.’  

Further coverage of the Millenium Peace Summit

Millennium Peace Summit Website

copyright 2000, Islamic Supreme Council of America
& Naqshbandi-Haqqani Sufi Order