Aspire to Be Giver
Members of Society

The upper hand is better than the lower hand.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1429)

Today you all have assembled to donate blood at the newly inaugurated blood bank. Donating blood is a noble deed as it has the unique ability to sustain life. Your blood is the most valuable gift you can present to a person in need. Here, I am obviously not referring to the blood that is spilled on the streets in violent confrontations. If someone desecrates our place of worship, raises provocative slogans or behaves in an unpleasant manner, we become furious and rise in a violent uproar, which leads to riots leaving death and destruction in their wake. What has been the outcome of such bloody agitation? It hasn’t prompted even a single person to submit to God Almighty. But the gesture shown by the Prophet of pouring a single bucket of water to clean the impurity left by a Bedouin worked to calm the tempers of an angry people and weaken their hostility. Their indignation gave way to friendliness and an earnest desire to understand the prophetic message.

I consider this act of blood donation as a symbol of your resolve to serve humanity. I hope that all of you will contribute to this noble cause and also extend your cooperation to similar activities organized in Kashmir and other parts of the country.

We must develop the desire to live in this country not as a taker group, but as a giver group. At present, our attitude is to demand from and make appeals to others. This is the general tendency seen among our leaders as well as the masses. We clamour for the fulfilment of our rights, register complaints and harbour endless grievances. All these are characteristics of a taker group. The Prophet, on the other hand, had counselled: “The upper hand is better than the lower hand.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1429) This tradition enjoins believers to be givers and not just takers. The giver members of society are truly worthy of veneration. This initiative of opening a blood bank is symbolic of the aspiration of the Muslim community to live as a giver group in this nation.

I pray to God for sending down His blessings to those engaged in this task of serving humanity. May God bestow prosperity on you, may your actions bear fruit and may you have the cooperation of those around you. May the entire community unite for the welfare of humanity. May God help you overcome your differences.

In the end, I would like to seek forgiveness from you all if anything I said hurt anyone of you. I swear upon God, I had no intention to cause distress to anyone or to demean anyone. I don’t harbour animosity and resentment in my heart for any human being. My words are full of sincere well-wishing for all. If any sentence I uttered outraged your feelings, I would request you to forgive me. I beseech God to command the angels to wipe out those remarks from the record of my deeds. I also entreat to the Almighty to erase those words from your hearts. I further pray to God to give place in your heart to all the good that I presented before you. Finally, I seek refuge in God for myself and for you all.