Anwar urges Muslims to embrace Hijrah spirit for cultural, spiritual renewal

PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday urged Muslims to embrace the spirit of Prophet Muhammad’s Hijrah (migration) from Makkah to Madinah to liberate themselves from acts of polytheism, oppression, tyranny and ignorance.

Anwar said this reflection is crucial for transforming the Muslim community towards a new culture, new beliefs, new convictions and new societal systems.

“This is to remind us that the spirit of Hijrah is the spirit of change. Hopefully, this spirit of Hijrah will bring about changes in society.

“We must rise and start with self-awareness by cleansing the soul, our conscience and life. Only then can we fill ourselves with new values and a new spirit,” he said in his address at the ‘Majlis Ilmu Madani bersama Tokoh Maal Hijrah 1446H/2024M’ event at the Seri Perdana Complex here on Wednesday night (July 10).

Anwar said narrow-mindedness and fanaticism should be abandoned in favour of knowledge and understanding for the betterment of the Ummah (Muslim community).

“If we remain entangled with the mentality of ignorance, oppression and tyranny, we cannot embrace new understandings and actions,” he said.

On the ‘Madani Knowledge’ event, Anwar said it is held periodically at the Seri Perdana Complex to make the Prime Minister’s official residence a centre of knowledge.

“We want to continually enliven (the Seri Perdana Complex) with enlightenment (of knowledge) and avoid limiting it to political understanding,” he said while welcoming the presence of two Tokoh Maal Hijrah 1446H/2024M as guest speakers at the event.

They were national-level Tokoh Maal Hijrah Datuk Seri Hassan Ahmad and international-level Tokoh Maal Hijrah, Prof Dr Ali Muhyiddin Ali Al-Qaradaghi.

At the recent national-level Maal Hijrah 2024/1446H celebration, themed ‘Al-Falah Pemacu Malaysia Madani’, His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, the King of Malaysia, presented the National Tokoh Maal Hijrah award to Hassan, who is former Penang Mufti, and the International Tokoh Maal Hijrah award to International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) president Sheikh Ali Al-Qaradaghi.

Meanwhile, Hassan advised Muslims to abandon actions contrary to the teachings and commandments of Allah to achieve success in this world and the hereafter.

“Five things – time, place, body parts, angels and property – will bear witness on the Day of Judgment. We must always be mindful and kind to one another,” he said.

Sheikh Ali Al-Qaradaghi, meanwhile, praised the Madani concept introduced by Anwar, describing it as a mature and just concept of governance.

“The Madani concept introduced in Malaysia represents originality that combats backwardness and shapes a systematic life,” he said.

The event was attended by about 150 guests, including representatives from government agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), such as Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia, Himpunan Mahasiswa Islam, Pelajar Islam Indonesia and the Young Muslim Association of Thailand. – Bernama