Imam of the Grand Mosque Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais on Nov 11 urged leaders and people of Islamic countries to fulfil their duty of maintaining security and stability knowing fully well that the only option before them is to choose the path of unity, not a course of collision and chaos. “Time and events are passing us swiftly with reports of thrones lost, dissolution or formation of governments in quick succession or deaths of great men. So use your time to strive hard to achieve a lofty state in the Hereafter,” Al-Sudais said in his sermon at the Grand Mosque on the first Friday after the annual Haj.
The imam said Haj was a rite that instilled sentiments of tolerance, desire for dialogue, consultation and solidarity. “The annual pilgrimage brings out the sublime image of a single Ummah with a single goal. The season of pilgrimage dictates to the faithful the noble lessons of tolerance, mutual assistance and the significance of maintaining security and peace. It also charges the pilgrims with a unique energy derived from the blessed gathering in the blessed land,” Sheikh Al-Sudais said.