People can no longer turn a blind eye to what is taking place in society, Imam Rasheed Karim said yesterday in his Eid sermon at the Masjid ul Furqaan in Chaguanas.
He said running away from economic and social problems will not save T&T and urged the congregation, “You cannot see oppression, people being oppressed and you staying quiet and you praying five times. People’s children are being beheaded, men and women are being executed in front of your eyes and you stay quiet and you moving from one location to another location and you are buying in gated communities.
“You trying to be safe and your brothers and sisters who can’t buy bread are facing the brunt of these bandits and these criminal elements in our society.”
Karim said what is happening globally also affects lives in T&T.
“You all dodge out and you say we are all not in Palestine and we not in Ukraine and we not in India and we not in Afghanistan and we not there, and we make excuses to walk out and walk away from our responsibilities.”
He said the month of Ramadan is intended to build Muslims to do the right thing and the teachings of Islam are not about living a life of luxury but doing what is right in the eyes of Allah.
Karim added that Islam means peace and submission and is not about frustration and ritual actions but about how one lives.
“If you want Islam, do not look at the Muslim, look at the Quran and look at Sunnah, there is where Islam is because Islam is not in our lives.”
Karim appealed to Muslims to educate the next generation on the ways of the faith and to encourage them to “get out from in front of a computer, television and handheld device and get into the playfields where they can interact and socialise with others”.