2014 - New Year's Message from Imam Elahi
Asalamo Alaikum, May the Peace & Blessings of God be with you!
During this snowy and frigid Michigan weather, I would like to offer the faithful community everywhere my warmest and best wishes for the new year. This holiday season started with the birthday of Jesus, the son of the virgin Mary with the upcoming birthday of Prophet Mohammad, the son of Abdullah and Amaneh (Peace be upon them all).
We started this year with prayers for peace, calling for an end to wars and destruction of life and property. Let's appreciate this new opportunity and use the journey of 2014 to search for peace and justice for all. This is a new chance to make positive changes in our lives.
With faith we can conquer our fear and foster the desire and the determination to build a world with less chaos and confusion and more understanding, enthusiasm and meaningful interactions.
We need more kindness not killing, more love not insanity, more forgiveness not curse, more humility not ego, more healing not hatred, more vision not ignorance, more prosperity not poverty and more truth not deception.
Jesus and Mohammad were ambassadors of peace, love and reconciliation. Let's use their characters as a moral compass of kindness, honesty, service
and sacrifice for humanity. Let's save their birthplace, the Middle East, from the flames of war that are burning both Muslims and Christians! In the religion of the peacemakers, there is no place for warmongers and terrorism supporters.
I urge the Muslims everywhere to place the Friday prayer on the top of their spiritual resolutions for this year.
We at the Islamic House of Wisdom ask our community to declare the year of 2014 as the year of promotion of moral principles. We ask to make every day of this year a "Divine Day," a Thanksgiving Day, a day of triumph over temptations and bad habits, a day of spiritual fitness, a day of returning to our original pure nature and a day of showing the characteristics of God through our intentions, expressions and actions.
The focus of the Friday prayer sermons in the first ten weeks of this year will be makarm al-Akhlagh, the highest spiritual standards and moral manners.
We urge the local faithful to bless their New Year by including this one-hour service in their weekly schedule. It is one hour of prayers, awareness, education, visiting the House of God, meeting with other community members and celebrating the unity of God, the unity of the universe and the unity of humanity.
Your humble servant, _________________________________________________________
Mohammad Ali Elahi