Reis Kavazović: Our Lord, help us in the fight against this trial and make us stronger for emerging from it

The head of the Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Husein ef. Kavazović, delivered a sermon and led the Friday prayer at the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque today. As a reminder, in accordance with the instructions of the competent authorities, as well as the instructions of the Islamic Community on how to act in circumstances of a state of emergency, only the imam, muezzin, and members of the community board attended the Friday prayer in all mosques in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque.

We present the sermon of the head of the Islamic Community in full.

Praise be to Allah. With His name, we begin every address and speech, all our good deeds and endeavors. He is the Lord of all: known and unknown, visible and invisible.

May blessings be upon the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, the noble and sincere last prophet among people, his family, and his followers at all times!

Let us ask Almighty Allah in this chosen day, on our day of unity:

for love and blessings in our families,
for love and harmony in our communities and our society,
for love and respect among different peoples, who are brothers and sisters, born of one mother and one father.
Dear believers, respected community members!

Every dawn, Allah announces a new day and new sustenance to His creatures, and every evening He leads us to rest and prepares us for a new day. This cycle repeats from day to day, ever since God created the heavens and the Earth.

We believe in one God, the Lord of the worlds. We believe that there is no strength or power except from Allah. He created this wonderful world out of His goodness and mercy.

Allah says about Himself that He is "the Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, if you are firm in faith. There is no god but He; He gives life and causes death. - Your Lord and the Lord of your ancient forefathers." (Ad-Duhan, 7-8.)

For those who believe in Him and pray to Him with His beautiful names, do good deeds, and refrain from evil, and speak good words to people, faith will grow, souls will be content in this world (and He will be pleased with them), and their brotherhood and mutual trust in the community will become stronger and more powerful day by day.

For such an earthly achievement, for that pinnacle of life and happiness, there is only one path, one well-trodden and beautiful way. It is the conscious and willing submission and devotion to the One God, to His decree and His divine law. It is a long and uncompromising struggle with oneself, with one's laziness and limitations, with one's inclinations towards bad and evil, towards easily condemning others and with numerous prejudices about others... Islam is the path on which God guided Adam (peace be upon him), in order to return him to his primordial nature. And for us, this is the direction in which we should move in this life: Allah created us in the most beautiful form, ahseni takvim, and gave us a system of belief, behavior, and action through which we can live our lives exactly like that. And is there anything more beautiful than ahseni takvim?

Faith in God, kindness to parents and relatives, to orphans and the poor, to brothers and sisters, but also our prayer, our zakat, and our good deeds, are all threads from which God's rope is woven, which Allah says: "And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided." There is not a single community or nation in the history of humankind that has unraveled that rope, neglected God's words, without its faith weakening, its ideals fading, its soul becoming indifferent, and it suffering or being lost in time and space.

Muslims are united by the call of Islam, which has echoed across the Earth for 14 centuries: Allah is the greatest, He is the Lord of the worlds. The path of Islam is filled with the efforts and struggles of Muslims, righteous men and women, who live their faith with dignity, as human beings, in peace with others, on God's earth, respecting God's word and serving people. Throughout history, there have been many difficult moments, years, and centuries for the community of Muslims. The life of Muhammad, peace be upon him, testifies to this. He was humiliated, starved, and persecuted. His followers were killed and tortured in the most severe torments. Left alone and unprotected by people, they found strength and support in their faith in God and the goodness of Muhammad, peace be upon him. They believed in God's word that suffering must end, and that peace, tranquility, and reward await them on the Day of Judgment. And then, in difficult circumstances full of trials and challenges, when fear overwhelmed their feelings, they found solace, their faith, and the path to salvation with the Prophet. The thought of the imperishable eternal truth, towards which they set out and which filled their being, nested in their souls.

Dear brothers and sisters!

What makes a believer a believer is his deep faith in God and His providence. Sometimes His plan seems like a trial to us, and sometimes we understand it poorly, so we fear it and tremble before it. There are two fears of our time that we must overcome with faith in God. The fear of the migrating person and the spreading disease. Let us know that time scatters people across the earth, just as the wind scatters seeds. Allah is the sower of people on these vast and boundless earthly fields, from the beginning of the world until today. God makes the wind blow when He wills and stop when He wills. People cannot create the wind to scatter people, but the wise know how to make a sail, to catch the wind, and to sail or drive progress with it.

Brothers and sisters!

Our faith in God is being severely tested these days. We are afraid of the disease. We have neglected the fundamental message of God, which both the Bible and the Quran tell us: life is woven from trials that accompany us on our earthly journey.

Let us not listen to charlatans who scare us with the Day of Judgment and the withdrawal of God's mercy from us. Subhanallah! As if we, so small and insignificant, could even glimpse it, let alone know it.

Instead of fear, let us teach people to fear God and love others. Let us teach them to perform prayer, to care for their parents and their loved ones, to respect their neighbors and to empathize with them in hardship and rejoice in joy. Let us teach them to respect everyone's rights, not to lie, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to fear people.

Therefore, let us overcome fear. Let us be firm and strong, brave and courageous! Let us not allow ourselves to be enslaved by the fear of a disease that may even bypass us if we act properly and responsibly.

We must truly accept God's words within ourselves:

"This is only Satan who frightens you of his supporters, so do not fear them, but fear Me, if you are [true] believers."

Let us think of the plague that has befallen us as another test of our faith, nobility, and determination. Let us be brave in passing it. Because it will pass, and true devotion to God and firmness of conviction in His mercy are lasting values.

Let us remember that Allah can bring us relief at any moment and deliver us from the hardship we are in. Let us remember the message that our beloved Prophet sent us: "Every disease has a cure except death."

Let us take care of ourselves, our daily hygiene, and the possibilities of the disease spreading to us. If we have even the slightest suspicion of it, let us not hesitate for a moment. Perhaps such decisiveness on our part will be valuable in saving ourselves and those around us.

Let us adhere to the guidelines for behavior in this situation. Our hearts are broken by the difficult decision not to go to mosques either. However, if we can contribute to preventing the infection in this way, then let our hearts be joyful that, in the name of God, we have obeyed those who are most responsible among us. In these coming days, let us rely on our prayers and the knowledge of our doctors.

Let us understand this as a sign from God that He is giving us. Only through faith can we overcome fear. Today, I tell you the same thing that Moses, peace be upon him, told his people when they were overcome by fear of Pharaoh: "And Moses said, 'O my people, if you have believed in Allah, then rely upon Him, if you are Muslims.' But they said, 'Upon Allah we have relied. Our Lord, do not make us [objects of] trial for the wrongdoing people. And save us by Your mercy from the disbelieving people.' And We inspired Moses and his brother, [saying], 'Settle your people in Egypt, houses, and make your houses places of worship and establish prayer. And give good tidings to the believers.'" (Yunus, 84-87.)

"Our Lord, do not cause our hearts to deviate after You have guided us and grant us from Yourself mercy. Indeed, You are the Bestower of gifts. Our Lord, surely You will gather the people for a Day about which there is no doubt. Indeed, Allah does not fail in [His] promise." (Ali Imran, 8-9.)

Our Lord, help us in the fight against this trial and make us stronger for emerging from it.