The sprawling grounds at Swalat Nagar near here turned into a white sea of humanity on Wednesday night with thousands of Sunnis who converged there taking part in a special night-long Ramzan prayer organised by the Madin Academy.
They spent the whole night in mass prayers of varying form and style, anticipating the Lailathul Qadr or the Night of Decree, about which the holy Koran has declared that it is better than a thousand months. Lailathul Qadr is the holiest night of the year which, according to Islamic teachings, God chose not only for the creation of the universe but also for Koran to descend.
The prayers apart, the congregation took a pledge against terrorism and the terror outfit Islamic State (IS). U.T. Khader, Karnataka Minister for Food and Public Distribution, inaugurated a peace project titled One Million Peace Homes.
On traffic rules
Delivering the keynote address, Madin chairman Sayed Ibrahim Khaleel Bukhari called upon the youth to maintain traffic laws and to protect the lives of fellow beings. He told the gathering that thousands of lives were being lost on the roads in the State every year. “It is your duty to protect not only your lives but also that of other living beings, be it human or animal. It is your religious duty to obey the traffic laws of the land. It is a sin to violate the traffic laws,” he said.
The Thangal administered a pledge against terrorism, and exhorted the gathering to refrain from activities that endanger the unity and social harmony of the country. He made a fervent appeal to the people for showing mercy to their fellow beings. “You must be merciful to others. Then only God will be merciful to you,” he said.
The Madin Academy will train 2,000 peace ambassadors in the coming days. They will visit houses with the message of harmony and togetherness. Arrangements were made at seven grounds on the Kozhikode-Palakkad highway. The progamme began with a mass Iftar, for which hundreds of households around Swalat Nagar prepared the food.
Prayers like Haddad, Tharaveeh, Vitr, and Thasbeeh followed soon after the Esha prayer call. Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar, general secretary of the All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama, inaugurated the congregation.