Rabi al-Awwal is the third month of the Islamic cal-endar when Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was born and passed away from this world. On this occasion, I had the opportunity to inter-view one of the prominent Islamic scholars of Saudi Arabia. "On this occasion, people remember the birthday of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Though there is no celebration of birthday as such, but it has become a tradition in some Muslim coun-tries to celebrate. For Muslims, it is not celebra-tion but remembrance, reminding the people about the message of Islam, the sacrifices made by the Prophet (pbuh). He made a lot of sacrifices, be-yond any imagination, to save the Ummah and put them on the right path which Allah the Almighty wanted them to be," said Dr. Abdullah Omar Nasseef, President of World Muslim Congress and former Secretary General of Makkah-based Mus-lim World League (MWL).

'Although Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the last Prophet, he was the prophet for all nations. Nobody can say that he is not our Prophet. He is the Prophet for the people of the East, the West, for the Americans, Europeans, Chinese and Russians, for all nations. All nations are asked to follow him. If the Christians and the Jews follow him, they would be rewarded twice on the Day of Judgement; because they declared their belief in the Message of Allah and His Messenger twice," explained Dr. Nasseef.

Refuting the allegations against Islam as being the religion of blood and violence, Dr. Nasseef emphatically said, "This is not true. You can go back to very authentically recorded history of Islam and find that Islam has always been the religion of peace, reconciliation, better understanding of people and co-existence and called on people to work hard to develop the resources of the world for the benefit and betterment of mankind and to bring the human brotherhood closer."

Speaking about today's Muslims, Dr. Nasseef lamented, "Muslims don't represent Islam, except a very few in numbers. They have gone so far away from Islam that Islam is only a name for them. They are not behaving as Muslims. That's why; it is the time to criticize our communities and ourselves. Although we cannot be an ideal people or model, but we can be closer to the Message of Islam and to our Lord and Creator to receive His Blessings and Guidance."

Speaking about democracy vis-a-vis Islam, Dr. Nasseef, the former deputy chairman of the Shoura Council of Saudi Arabia, said, Though the Muslims are living under dictatorship and non-democratic governments, Islam is much more practically democratic. You can go back to history and see that Islam believes in democracy, sharing of responsibility, participation of everybody in the decision-making process and not leaving out anybody. The role of women is very clear. They participated in the development of the Ummah and the nation. We have to regain that Islamic democracy, that Islamic system of governance and political life and other components."

"Islam does not approve killing and extremism. Every soul is important in Islam. Muslim's life is very sacred in the eyes of Allah the Almighty. It is sinful to kill any man or believer; the punishment is very severe in this life and hereafter. There is no excuse. Allah the Almighty said in the Qur'an, even somebody who is your enemy, but is a Mumin, you cannot kill him and if you have a treaty with anyone, even a non-believer, you cannot violate that. If you kill somebody, you have to pay the compensation. There are certain rules to be followed. A believer's life has to be respected even during the war," Dr. Nasseef said emphasizing on the protection of human life and quoted from the Noble Quran.

People have misconception about the assassination of the early leaders of Islam. To put the matter straight, Dr. Nasseef explained, "Some people say why the early leaders of Islam Umar ibn al-Khattab; Othman ibn Affan and AN ibn Abu Talib, were assassinated? Muslims did not assassinate them. Umar ibn al-Khattab was assassinated by a Persian who was totally a non-Muslim; Uthman ibn Affan was murdered by a group of gangsters who claimed to be Muslims but they were also Khawaraj, they were against Islam and All ibn Abu Talib was killed by somebody who had a Muslim name but was not a Muslim."

Dr. Nasseef acknowledged that there might be some bad people in Muslim society. "Islam is a practical religion. It does not claim that the whole society would consist of angels; there are people who would be of good character and those people who would be of bad character. There might be some people who are alien to society. They came and lived in the society and claimed to be Muslims," Dr. Nasseef explained.

But Dr. Nasseef emphasized, "Islam, in its long history, has been respectful to human rights and human soul and protect the society from evil. This has been authentically recorded in the historical books by those who witnessed the events. The world has become a global village. Any evil that might have happened anywhere spreads very quickly and affects other societies. Nowadays, our societies have been corrupted and are so open to all kinds of things. Muslims are not adhering to their religion, not practicing their religion, paying only a lip service to the Commandments of Allah the Almighty and the Traditions of the Prophet (peace be upon him). If we go astray, Allah will punish us. If we return back to His Straight Path, Allah will reward us with His Blessings and Guidance. It has been recorded in our long history."

Concluding his interview, Dr. Nasseef advised the present day Muslims "to remember the importance of the Message of Islam and the role they should play. They should behave according to the Message of Islam and the Traditions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and translate the Message into action. Because Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is our role model in this life."

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