Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura Friday Sermon 6 December 2013 / 3 Safar 1 3!

"nric#ing $#e %rac&ice 'f (eligion In $#e "ra 'f )lobalisa&ion

Dear Friday jemaa#* On this noble Friday, let us increase our takwa towards Allah s+,+&+ -e& us commi& oursel.es &o fulfilling all of /lla#0s commands and lea.e be#ind ,#a& 1e #as pro#ibi&ed upon us+

Dear blessed jemaa# We are now living in a borderless world, almost as if the world is now smaller. Just look at how easy it is to communicate with friends and family members thousands of miles away + 2e can also no, order goods from o.erseas merely ,i&# &#e &ouc# of a bu&&on on our mobile p#one screens* and i& ,ill arri.e s,if&ly+ More &#an &#a&* ,e can no, recei.e all sor&s of informa&ion and la&es& ne,s around &#e globe easily+ $#is is referred &o as globalisa&ion* ,#ere &#e ,orld is described as ge&&ing smaller and in&erac&ions be&,een men all o.er &#e ,orld is fas&er and more accessible+ This henomenon also brings about many challenges to our

religious life. There are various outside influences, thoughts and foreign lifestyles which may be against the !slamic rinci les that we understand. Therefore, it is im ortant for us to boost our resilience. This is to hel ensure that our faith will always bloom and our takwa will remain strong as we tide through the challenges of modernity. Whatever the success that we aim to achieve in this world, it should not ,ea3en our bond ,i&# /lla# s+,+&+ 2e s#ould s&ri.e &o be li3e &#ose ,#ose #ear&s and souls are al,ays close &o /lla# s+,+&+ as /lla# #as men&ioned in sura# /l4 /nfal* .erse 25
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Which means5 The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith; and upon their Lord they rely - Dear brothers, !slam is a religion which encourages its followers to be forward" thinking and rogressive within the framework of !slam as outlined in the #yariah. The glorious !slamic civilisations em hasi$ed the formation of individuals with strong faith and religiously resilient communities with good manners and are broad"minded. As a result, we can see how our ast scholars have achieved rogress and success in im roving the lives of men. The !slamic civilisation that they have develo ed is based on iman %faith& and takwa % iety&.

Des ite the ra id develo ments and achieved, !slamic develo ment of

rogress that were ushed to the

rinci les and values were never a civilisation that contributed

aside. !n fact, !slamic values were the s irit that drove the advancement of humankind globally. This is what we should emulate, my brothers. We have to remain confident as we face the challenges of globalisation. !n our efforts to curb the negative im acts of globalisation in our lives as well as our s irituality, we have to take advantage of the ositive elements that arise as a result of globalisation, to benefit us both in this world and the hereafter+ 'y dear brothers, As an e(am le, we can ride on the wave of globalisation to s read the noble values taught in !slam to the global community. (asululla# s+a+, reminded us &#a&5

Which means5 Verily I have been sent to perfect good character. )*adith narrated by Imam /#mad6 Thus with the ease of trans ortation and e(change of information today, we can easily introduce the values of ihsan %com assion&, humanity %insan& and
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respec& &#a& ,as

e7emplified by (asululla#0s c#arac&er* &o &#e en&ire ,orld+ For e7ample* recen&ly ,e sa, #o, &#e Muslim communi&y s&epped for,ard &o con&ribu&e &o &#e .ic&ims of &#e &yp#oon in &#e %#ilippines &#roug# .arious #umani&arian organisa&ions and c#annels including &#e (a#ma&an -il0alamin Fund 8(-/F9+2e also find &#a& more of our you&#s #a.e .olun&eered &#eir &ime and energy &o par&icipa&e in #umani&arian projec&s o.erseas during &#e sc#ool #olidays &o #elp impro.e &#e :uali&y of li.es &o communi&ies &#a& are in need* a& &#e same &ime bringing some #ope and c#eer &o &#ese poor communi&ies ou&side Singapore+ Dear +emaah* The ra id develo ment of information technology allows us to strengthen friendshi s and bring closer the bonds that tie us together. !n today,s globalised world, we have no e(cuse not to stay in touch and communicate with friends and ac:uain&ances+ $#is is also encouraged by &#e %rop#e& s+a+,+ in a #adi&# ,#ic# means5 Spread salam among you, serve the food, behave indly with your blood relations, and offer prayer at night when others are asleep, and you will enter paradise safely! )-arrated by !mam Ahmad and $irmid;i6

'y brothers* .lobalisation has given us a latform to im rove our hysical s aces in knowledge. Today, we are not limited by

order to seek knowledge because we can easily attain knowledge and information through the cybers ace and virtual world. For e(am le, if in the ast we would have to ste into a library or book store to borrow or buy books, today we can access various reading materials online through a com uter, tablet or smart hone+ /esides that, we also have the o ortunity to communicate and

connec& more closely ,i&# &#e Ulama and in&ellec&uals globally &#roug# cyberspace as ,ell as ,#en &#ey .isi& our coun&ry+ 2#ere.er ,e are* ,e can lis&en &o and ,a&c# recordings of lec&ures by sc#olars 8Ulama9 from our o,n coun&ry as ,ell as &#ose based o.erseas+ If ,e do no& #a.e &ime &o lis&en &o &#em li.e* &#en ,e s#ould &ry and ma3e &ime during &#is #oliday season &o lis&en and ,a&c# &#em ,i&# our families+ 'y brothers, While ra id advancements in technology have brought with it a host of challenges, we can also take advantage of technology to enrich our religious life. For e(am le, it is now very easy for
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us to determine the direction of kiblat and verify rayer times wherever we are, including in the air lane, sim ly by using a lications that can be downloaded to our smart hones. This will ease our ibadah and fulfilling our religious obligations, and thus there are no e(cuses for us to miss our ibadah such as our rayers. Friday Jemaah, As more of our 'uslim children motivated to a ursue their education and training in the field of technology, we must ensure that they are ly their knowledge and skills to ensure that it benefits their religious lives as well as that of others. 0et us make doa that there will be more #inga orean 'uslims who would be able to make contributions to the advancements in technology for the im rovement of the 1uality of lives globally 'ay Allah e1ui us with wisdom so that we are able to be of service to *is deen through the use of technology which Allah has ins ired in men+ May /lla# s+,+&+ con&inue &o pro&ec& us and our families in goodness+ Aamin ya 2abbal 3Aalamin.