Dr. Shawki Allam, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, offered his sincere and heartfelt congratulations to all Muslims in Egypt, Arab countries and all over the world on the occasion of the Mawlid [birth] of the blessed Prophet. He further asks God the Almighty to bless our beloved Egypt and its kind people abundantly during this joyous occasion.

In his televised speech, the Grand Mufti stressed that while celebrating the birthday of the master of mankind, we attract the attentions to two matters. The first: this blessed celebration provides us with hope and glad tidings towards unity and reconstruction in both Egypt and the Islamic nation and regains our faith in life.

Dr. Allam added, we must exploit this celebration in following the example of the honorable Prophet and people must witness his manners and practices in our attitudes. Because the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] was a Qur`an walking on the earth and he adopted the best manners among people.

He stated that those following the example of the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] are afflicted with obstacles in their way. These obstacles are manifest in the existence of extremists and terrorist groups who adopted radicalism which is far from the sound prophetic manner.
The Grand Mufti emphasized that, it is our duty to confront them and refute their claims because they commit crimes against the honorable Prophet through misinterpreting the meanings of his prophetic traditions. They further add their mistaken interpretations, violence and strictness in addition to their ignorance of the tools of interpretation and higher objectives of Islamic law and its principles.

Dr. Allam, elaborated by saying, these extremists transform the luminous hadiths which fill our hearts with mercy and respect to the perfection of this religion into a bloody wicked meaning. Moreover, they contribute in frightening people and fill their hearts with fear and hate. On contradiction to our blessed Prophet who was sent as mercy to all creations.

The Grand Mufti said: “Currently, we are in dire need to adopt the manners of the Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] because mercy, honesty, patience and modesty are rarely found. The Prophet [peace and blessings be upon him] was merciful and God the Almighty described him in the holy Qur`an: “And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.” [21: 107] and when the Prophet was asked to curse the polytheists, he said: “I was not sent as a curser, rather, I was only sent as a mercy”. Furthermore, the Prophet was faithful and trustworthy and therefore, he was called the faithful trustworthy in the pre-Islamic period.

The Grand Mufti concluded by emphasizing that on the occasion of the Prophet’s birthday, the Islamic nation generally and Egyptians in particular are in dire need to follow the example of the Prophet and the principles he has established. This is in order to be capable of overcoming the current challenges and moving forward towards achieving the ambitions of the Egyptians in curving out a better tomorrow.