Oman announces holiday to celebrate Prophet Muhammad's birthday

The Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, will celebrate the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) in a ceremony on December 7. The ceremony will be held under the patronage of Dr Said bin Khamis al-Ka'abi, Chairman of the Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP), the Oman News Agency has reported.

The Ministry's celebration will focus on the meanings and lessons of the biography of the Prophet, as well as the historic value of the occasion.

Sayyid Khalid bin Hilal bin Saud al-Busaidi, Minister of the Diwan of Royal Court and Chairman of the Civil Service Council, separately announced that 12 Rabi' Al Awwal, 1438 which corresponds to December 12 2016, will be an official holiday for employees of the ministries, public authorities and other departments of the state administrative apparatus on the occasion of the Prophet Muhammad's (ﷺ) birthday.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser al-Bakri, Minister of Manpower has issued a ministerial decision in parallel that private sector companies and establishments will stop work on December 12 on the occasion of the Prophet’s birthday (ﷺ).

The decision allows employers and employees to agree on work arrangements during the holiday if necessity arises. Employees whose weekly off-days coincide with this occasion shall be compensated.

UAE announces public holiday for birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)

The Federal Authority for Government Human Resources of the UAE has announced that the public holiday for the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), will fall on 3 January.

Private sector establishments and corporations will also close on 3 January according to a circular issued by Saqr bin Ghobash Saeed Ghobash, Minister of Labour,  UAE.

Public holiday for Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) in Bahrain

His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa of Bahrain has issued a circular on the anniversary of the Birthday of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ).

According to the circular, the Kingdom's ministries and state departments will be closed on January 3, 2015. As January 3 is already an official holiday, the holiday will fall on January 4.

Oman announces holiday to mark birthday of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)

Sayyid Khalid bin Hilal bin Saud al-Busaidi, Minister of the Diwan of Royal Court in Oman and Chairman of the Civil Service Council has stated that 13 Rabee Al Awwal, 1436, corresponding to January 4, 2015 will be an official holiday for the employees of the ministries, public authorities and other departments of the State administrative apparatus on the occasion of the Prophet Muhammad's Birthday (ﷺ).

Sheikh Abdullah bin Nassir al-Bakri, Minister of Manpower of Oman also issued a ministerial decision stopping work at the private sector companies and establishments on January 4 for the same occasion.

Employers and employees may agree on work arrangements during the holiday if necessity arises. The announcement noted that employees whose weekly off-days coincide with this occasion shall be compensated.

Pave the Way Foundation places spotlight on controversial covenants said to be by Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)

Source: PTWF.

Pave the Way Foundation (PTWF), a nonsectarian public foundation working to identify and resolve obstacles between religions, has initiated an international advertising campaign to publicise what it says are the original covenants of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) that order his followers to protect the people of the book (Jews and Christians), their synagogues, churches and holy shrines until the end of days.

The online ads provide images of the Covenants of Protection, some of which are signed with the Prophet's palm print or the wax seal of his ring. There are also links to more information on the foundation's website, where images and translated text from the covenants can be found.

According to Imam Ilyas 'Abd al-'Alim Islam (Dr John Andrew Morrow) and author of The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World, these covenants carry the same legal authority as the Quran. Imam Islam also stated that those who have committed acts of violence against innocent people have insulted the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and insulted Islam and should be punished for these violations.

"Imam Ilyas 'Abd al-'Alim Islam is a respected Islamic scholar and recently published a book of his research into the over 20 Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Jews and Christians of the World," said Elliot Hershberg, Chairman of PTWF. "Imam Islam also started the Covenants Initiative, where hundreds of important Islamic leaders have signed on to indicate the validity and importance of these documents. These covenants give peace-loving Muslims a tool to combat those who have hijacked their religion by committing acts of violence against innocent Jews, Christians and Muslims around the world in the name of Islam."

Gary Krupp, President of PTWF, stated, "We have found that knowledge of these covenants can make a difference in addressing important issues. In 2012, on behalf of 300 million Orthodox Christians, PTWF requested that the Turkish government reopen the Halki Seminary in Istanbul, closed since 1971. In partnership with international Muslim leaders, we sent a letter containing information about the existence of these covenants to Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey. As a direct result of this effort, Dr Mehmet Gormez, the highest Islamic authority in Turkey, visited Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople on July 5, 2012, embracing him and stating that, in the name of Islam, the seminary should be opened."

While Imam Ilyas and PTWF are convinced that the documents are authentic, there is still controversy about this, with detractors noting that people of one religion might have forged documents that would allow them to escape harm from people of another religion. A 2012 discussion on a forum note that the letter to the monks of St Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, Egypt is a copy of an alleged original, and not the original, but that various rulers did indeed abide by the sentiments of the content. 

A Reddit thread also raises questions about the type of Arabic script used, which would not have existed at the time of the Prophet, though it could of course be argued that a copy of the document would have used the more modern script of the day.

Other commenters on both forums have however noted that the content of the covenants is generally in line with sentiments in the Quran and other authenticated sources about Islam.

Book on Mohammad Iqbal receives critical acclaim

Since Iqbal: The Life of a Poet, Philosopher and Politician by Zafar Anjum was launched by Singapore's Institute of South Asian Studies last month, the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. The Hindu calls it an "absolutely fascinating biography". The Indian Express says it is "an Iqbal ‘Reader’ for our times". Tehelka calls the book "a welcome addition to the corpus of Iqbal studies".

Iqbal the biography, published by Vintage/Random House, studies little-known aspects of the life of Islamic philosopher, poet and polyglot Mohammad Iqbal (1877-1938), widely regarded as one of the greatest Islamic poets of the 20th century and the ‘spiritual father of Pakistan’. 

While Iqbal’s role in the struggle for India’s freedom and the Pakistan movement is well chronicled, not much is known about his personal life, said Singapore-based journalist and writer Zafar Anjum. “This book highlights some of the least known facets of the poet’s life,” Anjum said. 

A contemporary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, Allama Mohammad Iqbal, whom Sarojini Naidu called the ‘Poet laureate of Asia’, remains a controversial figure in the history of the Indian subcontinent. On the one hand, he is considered the ‘Spiritual Father of Pakistan’, Urdu’s greatest modern poet, and the author of one of India’s most popular national anthems, Sare Jahan Se Acha Hindustan Hamara. On the other, his message of Eastern revivalism places him in the ranks of the 20th century’s major intellectuals. 

Iqbal’s tragedy was that after his death, he was made the national poet of Pakistan and largely ignored in India. This biography redresses that neglect, covering Iqbal’s evolution as a poet, philosopher and politician. This book discusses how a nationalist poet turned into one about Islamic revivalism and global revolution; how three years in Europe changed his political and philosophical outlook, and why he started writing in Persian during his European stay.

The 320-page book was launched at the 9th annual conference of ISAS in Singapore. “In his book, Zafar Anjum has captured the spirit of Iqbal,” ISAS Chairman Padma Shri Gopinath Pillai said at the launch. 

“The last book on Iqbal’s life in India was written nearly 20 years ago by Dr Rafiq Zakaria,” said Anjum. “Iqbal has nearly been forgotten in India. The fact remains that Iqbal is part of our Asian legacy and his life and his message of action and self-development and of reinventing Islam is more relevant than ever, not just for Muslims but for the entire world. He, like Tagore, was suspicious of nationalism as a divisive force among mankind, leading to colonial competition, wars, and excessive materialism.”

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