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• 12 Rabin I 1437

The representative of the leading Marja’iyah in Europe congratulates the world on the birth of the Prophet Jesus the son of Mary (peace be upon them). He says:
·         God Almighty has sent 124000 prophets and messengers to humanity, beginning with prophet Adam (a.s.) and ending with the seal of the prophets Muhammad (peace be upon him and his household) with five of whom being Ulu’l-A’zm prophets, i.e Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them all).
·         God Almighty sent His best creations to the world for the purpose of goodness and reform. They were sent to achieve one aim which is to purify the human self, to nurture and educate it on good manners; the most important being mercy and compassion, affection, honesty, trust, keeping promises and caring for the disadvantaged and the vulnerable, kinship and neighbourliness and all such good qualities.
·         But what we see and hear today is the denial of these principles, as though people have returned to the age of ignorance and adopted the law of the jungle. The strong attack the weak, the rich against the poor, the big against the small and hearts drained of compassion; as though the prophets and messengers, scholars and righteous ones have not advised of the commands of the Almighty God.

He was speaking in an interview on the New Year 2016 and the Christian celebrations – Christmas. We in the Muslim and Christian worlds rejoice together this year because these celebrations coincide with the birth of the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his household). We should therefore take, from this occasion, a lesson in peaceful co-existence, to create unity between Muslims and Christians and others; in order to combat the enemies of humanity anytime, anyplace, and strive to build a society on the bases for which prophets (peace be upon them) were sent – so our celebrations of these two occasions may be fruitful.  

Unfortunately what one witnesses today, as some would say, after over 14 centuries from the birth from the prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.w.) and over 20 centuries from the birth of Jesus (peace be upon him), is the extent of the problems and crises facing the world and increasing day by day from poverty, violence, killing, social and humanitarian crises, natural and environmental disasters and wars. A number of these wars and crises facing the world are in the name of religion or that of the defense of religion. But these religions are not responsible for the status-quo. The prophets and messengers (peace be upon them all) are not responsible for the crimes and wars perpetrated by some in their name. Therefore, religious authorities and those who claim to speak in the name of religion, such as scholars, Muslim, Christian and Jewish religious establishments and others, should look at the atrocities around the world and think of ways to contribute to their prevention and to prevent the exploitation of the name of religion in political and party conflicts and for material gains.  

Celebrating the birth of the prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) and the birth of Jesus (peace be upon him), at the same time, holds another significance and that is divine religions share a lot of the same religious elements and humane values with each other. Therefore why do their followers fight between themselves? And why do they not unite to confront the problems and tragedies of this world?

Based on our responsibility that ‘we are all shepherds and we are all responsible for our flock’ we appeal to the free world with its diverse orientations and ideologies, to overcome the tragedies faced from Takfiris, killing, displacement and disobedience, through mutual dialogue and cooperation between religious scholars and followers of the divine faiths - so that everyone can strive to bring peace and more security and eliminate discrimination and rid the world from terrorism.