Freitagspredigt von Sidi Ismail Warscheid im Ammerdown, Südengland, anlässlich der „Jewish Christian Muslim Summer School 2006“ zum Thema „Jerusalem in the Three Faiths“

Khutba Ammerdown 11. August 2006-08-17

Ismail Warscheid, TAS, DML Bonn

In the name of ALLAH, most gracious, most merciful
Peace and prayer be upon out Master Muhammad and his family and his companions

I testify that there is no God but God
And I testify that our Master Muhammad is his servant and his messenger, peace and prayer be upon him

When we Muslims accomplish our ritual prayers, we turn our face towards Makkah al Mukarramah. During a certain time instead the prophet (sas) and the early Muslim community were facing Jerusalem. Then God changed our Qibla, our prayer direction. Maybe we can see it as a sign of the beginning of a process of emancipation which gave to Islam its own identity, which defined its personality vis-à-vis to its other Abrahamic brothers and sisters, just like a growing up child developing the treats of his character while staying within his family of Abrahamic religions. In the Quran God tells us about this change of the prayer direction (S 2 V 144)

We see the turning of your face (for guidance) to the heavens,
Now shall we turn you to a Qibla that shall please you,
Turn then your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque.
Wherever you are turn your faces in that direction

The prophet (sas), or if we take him as the archetype of the believer, is seeking guidance and he turns himself to ALLAH, imploring his assistance and his help. It is not only a physical orientation he is seeking, or we are seeking, it is also or maybe mainly, a spiritual one, an ethical one. In this quotation we find only the place of the Sacred Mosque in Makkah al Mukarramah as a symbol of this ethical guidance but if we look further in the Quran we find another verse which tells us clearly not to reduce the meaning of prayer direction to a physical orientation (S2 V177)

It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards East or West
But it is righteousness to believe in God and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book and the Messengers
To spend of your subsistence out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves
To be steadfast in prayer and practice regular charity
To fulfil contracts which you have made
And to be firm and patient in suffering and adversity and throughout all periods of panic
Such are the people of truth, the God fearing

The quotation shows us three essential parts of our worship (ibada) and our Islamic faith.
1.) the belief in what has been revealed
2.) to engage ourselves in society in order to try to realise what has been taught by God through the message of His prophets, peace be upon them all
3.) to show endurance and patience, even then when other elements seem to dominate this world

In a Hadith, our prophet Muhammad (sas) explains that the faith in God has three levels of realisation, each one completing the other: One day, during a reunion of the young Muslim community, a stranger came to the prophet (sas) and asked him: “What is Islam?” The prophet (sas) answered: “To testify that there is no God but God and that Muhammad is His messenger, to pray five times a day, to give the tax for the poor (zakat), to fast the month of Ramadan, to make the pilgrimage to Makkah al mukarramah”
The man replied “Right, but what is Iman (faith)?” “To believe in God, in his Books, in the Angels, in the Prophets and in the Last Day” Again the man said: “That is the truth but tell me what Ihsan (excellence) is?” Our prophet (sas) answered “To worship God as if you saw him, because even though you might not see him, he sees you.”
The hadith shows the closeness between believe and action. They together form the ground of the believer’s worship and should reflect the consciousness of the divine presence in the creation. This is the deeper meaning of the qibla, the prayer direction. In its most developed form it becomes excellence as the hadith relates because in this state every second of human life, every aspect of human life is then a form of prayer. So we as believers in God should try and struggle that insha’ALLAH our life might become a permanent facing the inner qibla while assuming our responsibilities on earth


Dua’s

We pray for our prophet and master Muhammad peace and prayer be upon him
We pray for all the prophets who brought us the divine message and guidance
Ya ALLAH, help us in our life that it might become a permanent worship of you and your glory
Ya ALLAH, show us the straight way that we may live together in peace and mutual respect
Ya ALLAH, teach us ways to overcome our conflicts and disputes and help us to realise your unity in the diversity of creation
Ya ALLAH, we pray for all those who are facing injustice, oppression and violence, strengthen their faith and give them endurance and patience
Ya ALLAH, give us the strength to do what we have to do and to support what we have to support
Ya ALLAH, keep your creation in your mercy and guide us the path of the salihin, the righteous, amin

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