Mangalore, February 15: Muslims of Mangalore city took out a massive procession to mark the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on Tuesday which culminated at Bhavutagudde Idgah Masjid with a grand Meelad meeting attended by community leaders as well as religious scholars.
The procession was flagged off at Zeenath Baksh Jumma Masjid with a duva by Mangalore Qazi Twaqa Ahmed Musliyar after Asar Namaz and the massive rally attended by over three thousand people snaked through the arterial roads of Missioin Street and Hampankatta before reaching the expected destination at around 6pm.
Addressing a huge gathering of Muslims inside the Masjid, Mangalore Qazi said the birth day of prophet was a grand occasion for Muslims around the world when Allah will hear the pleas of believers.
He said the prophet's birth is distinguished by the fact that unlike, human beings, who are created from clay, Prophet Mohammad has been created with various elements including water and air.
He also quoted greatest poet Allama Iqal's poetic tribute to prophet Muhammad (pbuh) meaning: "in short, after Allah, Muhammad ! you are the greatest"
Maulana Qari Maqbool Ahmed Barkathi, Qateeb of Madeena Masjid Bunder, ridiculed the people who oppose celebrating Meeladunnabi saying: "There are people who celebrate the birthday of their sons and daughters, but raise objection to Meelad jalsa."
He further said, when the entire world was celebrating the birth of Prophet, it was only Iblees who stayed away from it.
Maulana Barkathi also pointed out that Prophet Muhammad was sent to the whole of humanity as a messenger unlike other prophets who were limited to a particular community and a particular age.
Love of prophet was a pre-requisite for the love of God, he said and urged the Muslim community to not restrict the affection towards Prophet to only celebrations like Miladunnabi, but inculcate the values propagated by him.
"We have to shun falsehood, lead a devout life and dsiband all sorts of sins if we really love our prophet," he said.
KH Abusufiyan Ibrahim Madani, Chairman of Voice of Quran, said the glorification of Prophet Muhammad was necessary since he had been sent with the gigantic task of leading the people towards the right path until the day of judgement.
Abusufiyan also claimed that glorification of Prophet had been done by Allah in Holy Qura'n where he has been referred with adjectives such as 'Sirajammuneera' (shining light).
"There are a number of verses in the Holy Quran which glorifies prophet Muhammad's personality, significance and his character. This is quite understandable as people generally get attracted whenever there is an element of glorification. Even in today's world everything is being marketed keeping this human tendency in mind. Products ranging from Pepsi to motor bike are sold just because of their brand ambassadors," he added.
Former Education Minister BA Moidin said, nobody in the history of mankind has given utmost importance to the rights of human beings (Huqooqul-ibad) as prophet Muhammad did.
Seerath Committee president Ahmed Haji Mohiyuddin welcomed the gathering and said, the tradition of holding Meeladunnabi in Mangalore has been continuing under the aegis of Seerath committee for more than six decades.
Yenepoya Mohammed Kunhi, Abdul Rasheed Haji, BM Basheer Ahmed, former mayor K Ashraf, among others, were present. Central Committee general secretary Mohammed Haneef Haji compered the programme.
The traffic was either diverted or blocked at several places when the procession was on. People holding green flags were seen raising slogans of Naraye takbeer and also saying swalath during their march. There were also hundreds of two-wheelers and jeeps which followed the procession. Daff and taleem lent a toch of ethnicity to the whole programme. Volunteers of Mangalore Social Service Centre assisted the smooth conduct of procession and the subsequent programme.
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