Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds and the best result is for the righteous. Perfect and complete peace and blessings be upon Allah's Servant and Messenger, our Prophet Muhammad ibn `Abdullah, his family, Companions and those who followed his path and guidance until the Day of Judgment. To proceed:
Indeed, I thank Allah (may he be Glorified and Exalted) for what He has bestowed upon us of having this meeting with my brothers and my children in this university. I ask Him (may he be Glorified and Exalted) to make it a blessed meeting, reform all our hearts and actions, make us guiding and guided, good and leading to goodness, and protect all of us from the evils within ourselves and from our sinful acts. Then I thank those who are in charge of this university for inviting me to this meeting, and I ask Allah to guide all of them to that in which there is His pleasure, to that in which there is goodness for the students of this university, its employees and those in charge of it and to that in which there is goodness for all Muslims and to increase them in guidance and success. I also ask Him to protect all of us and all Muslims from all that which causes His angers and contradicts His Shari`ah (Islamic law), indeed, He is the Most Bounteous and the Most Generous.
Dear brothers and honored children, I hope that my speech will be brief and to the point and then I will answer the questions of my children according to my capacity. The title of the speech "The Factors Of Social Reform". The society is in an urgent need for reform, the Muslim society and the NonMuslim society. It is noted that the Muslim society, in particular, is in crying need to be on the straight path, to adopt the factors, the causes and the means through which its reform is achieved and to follow the same track which the best of this Ummah (nation based on creed), the beloved and close elect to the Most Merciful and His chosen one from His slaves, our master Muhammad ibn `Abdullah (peace be upon him).
It is a wellknown fact that the factors through which the Muslim community and the NonMuslim community achieve reform are the factors established by the leader of the messengers and the last of the prophets upon whom are the best prayers and peace from his Lord, and were implemented by his noble Companions led by the rightlyguided Caliphs: Abu Bakr AsSiddiq, 'Umar AlFaruq, 'Uthman, the possessor of two illuminations (i.e. he married the Prophet's two daughters; Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum) and 'Aly, the one whom Allah is pleased with and the father of AlHasan and the other Companions (may Allah be pleased with all of them). May Allah make us from their followers in piety and righteousness!
It is also a wellknown fact that these factors had been established by our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in Makkah first, then in Madinah. It is to be borne in mind that the affairs of the last of this Ummah will not be reformed except by that with which the affairs of the first have been corrected, as stated by the people of knowledge such as the famous Imam Malik ibn Anas, the Imam of the abode of migration during his time, the wellknown jurist and one of the four Imams. He said the following statement which was received by the people of knowledge during his age and agreed upon by all of them: "The affairs of the last of this Ummah will not be reformed except by that with which the affairs of the first have been corrected."
It means that what had corrected the affairs of the first people of this Ummah, which is following the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His noble Messenger (peace be upon him), is that with which the affairs of the last people of this Ummah will be corrected until the Day of Resurrection.
Whoever seeks the reform of the Muslim community or the reform of other communities in this life through means, causes and factors different from those by which the first of this Ummah has been corrected commits a mistake and says other than the truth. Thus, there is no other way of reform, but the only way to reform people and to keep them on the right path is that path which our Prophet (peace be upon him) followed and adopted by his noble Companions and their followers in piety and righteousness until now. It is the path of being interested in the Glorious Qur'an and the carefulness about the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and inviting people to them, having sound understanding of them, spreading them both among people with knowledge and insight and explaining what these two main sources include of rulings related to the basic and authentic `Aqidah (creed).
This includes also the opinions which the Muslim community is obligated to follow and adopt and the prohibitions which the Muslim community should be cautious of. Moreover, they should explain the limits set by Allah
and His Messenger so that one will abide by them as Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) says: These are the limits (set) by Allâh, so approach them not. Such are the prohibitions prohibited to be approached through committing sins and it is also prohibited to transgress these limits which He set for His slaves and they are represented in what Allah has ordained upon them and obligated them to perform of acts of worship and rulings.
The first thing the Messenger (peace be upon him) did and the first basis he laid down was calling people to Tawhid (belief in the Oneness of Allah/ monotheism) and dedicating worship to Allah alone.
That was the first act and the first foundation he explained, invited people to and followed; it was calling people to Tawhid and guiding to the details of this belief.
The statement implying this meaning is saying: None has the right to be worshipped but Allah. This is the strong foundation and along with it is bearing witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. These two main principles and two important foundations are the basis of Islam, and they are the main factors of the reform of this Ummah. Whoever adopts them and becomes steadfast on them in action, knowledge, calling others to them while having patience in implementing them, then his affairs will be upright and Allah will reform the Ummah at his hand in accordance with his striving, his ability and means, and whoever neglects both of them or either of them, then he will be lost and destroyed.
It is noted that when Allah sent His Prophet (peace be upon him), He sent down the Qur'an, the first revelation of which was: Surah Iqra', then Surah AlMuddaththir. Then He (peace be upon him) started warning people and inviting them to Tawhid and warning them against the wrath of Allah (may he be Glorified and Exalted). He (peace be upon him) said: O people, say that there is no deity but Allah to succeed. However, the polytheists became arrogant and denied that call, because they did not get used to such a thing, and it was not such an act that they found their predecessors following, and therefore, they denied it and said as stated by the Qur'an: "Has he made the âlihah (gods) (all) into One Ilâh (God Allâh). Verily, this is a curious thing!" They also said: Are we going to abandon our âlihah (gods) for the sake of a mad poet? Their denial is also mentioned previously in Allah's saying: Truly, when it was said to them: Lâ ilâha illallâh "(none has the right to be worshipped but Allâh)," they puffed themselves up with pride (i.e. denied it). And (they) said: "Are we going to abandon our âlihah (gods) for the sake of a mad poet?" Allah answered them by His saying: Nay! he (Muhammad ﺻﻠﻰ ﺍﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭﺳﻠﻢ) has come with the truth (i.e. Allâh's religion Islâmic Monotheism and this Qur'ân) and he confirms the Messengers (before him who brought Allâh's religion Islâmic Monotheism).
Due to the negligence of many scholars, students and notable Muslims who understood the concept of Tawhid and because of the negligence in this basic foundation, polytheism has spread in many countries and graves and their dwellers have been worshipped besides Allah and a big portion of the worship of Allah has been dedicated them. Thus, one finds a person calling upon the dweller of the grave, another making vow for him, a third person asking him for support as done by Quraysh and others during the preIslamic period with Al'Uzza idol, and as done by others with AlLat and Manat idols and other idols and as practiced by the polytheists at all times with their idols and pagans of glorification, calling upon them, seeking help from them, seeking blessings from them and asking them for support.
All such acts are from the evil suggestions of Satan and from his evil plots, because he is very interested in keeping people away from their belief and religion and taking them far away from them by any possible means.
Therefore, it is an obligation upon the seekers of knowledge who are the hope for this Ummah, after Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He), to lead people in the future and they are the future generation for any university they graduated from to lead the ship with wisdom sincerity and truthfulness, to pay more attention to the foundation and to know the main pivot upon which the entire religion is established, and which everything else follows. It is to pay attention Tawhid, to have sincerity to Him and to take care of the belief in Muhammad (peace be upon him) that he is the true Messenger of Allah and that it is an obligation to follow him and to track his path. Moreover, it is incumbent to believe that his Companions are the best of the Ummah and the best amongst them, and therefore, it is incumbent upon one to have good thoughts about them and to believe in their justice and that they are the best of the Ummah after the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and that they were the ones who memorized the Sunnah and the Qur'an, and thus, it is an obligation to follow their way of life and to be pleased with all of them and to believe that they are the best of people. The Companions are the best people after the prophets (peace be upon all of them) asit is authentically reported in the two Sahihsfrom Ibn Mas`ud (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he said: The best people are those living in my generation, and then those who will follow them, and then those who will follow the latter. Besides, there are other Hadiths proving that.
Thus, the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) are the best people after the Prophets and they are the best of all people. However, they are levels in their virtues: the RightlyGuided Caliphs are the best of them, followed by the rest of the ten who were given the glad tidings of getting into Paradise, then the rest of them according to their ranks, actions and virtues.
Therefore, it is our duty to pay more attention to this foundation, invite people to Tawhid and sincerity in worship, and not to exaggerate in our relationship with the dwellers of the graves, with the prophets and with the saints to the extent of worshipping them besides Allah and dedicating all types of worship including supplication, fear or hope or any other kind of worship to them.
Moreover, it is incumbent upon the seeker of knowledge and upon the leader to magnify the command of Allah and His prohibition, to affirm the fear of Allah in his heart and not to fear anything else. It is an