In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Sermon (Khutba) 79

International Traffic Day

Broadcast Friday 4/27/2007 from the

The Bani Oumayyah Great Mosque

Speaker

Dr.  Mohamad Rateb Al Nabulsi

Translated by : Hajj Mohammad

City : Tripoli

Country : Lebanon

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds …

O Allah, You are the wealth of the poor, the prestige of the humble, the strength of the weak and the shelter of the heartbroken. Far be it from You, O Allah, that we grow poor in Your wealth, go astray in Your guidance, be humiliated in Your glory, or be oppressed in Your reign.

Praise be to Allah who tries with hardships His servants who believe, and Praise and glory be to Him Who reserves the strongest of trials to his Prophets and Apostles.

I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, Who has neither partner nor equal, and Who promised the patient ones the best of what He has reserved for His pious servants.

I bear witness that our master Muhammad is His servant and prophet, the best of His creation and an example in patience and gratitude.

O Allah send your prayers, peace and blessings upon Your servant and apostle, our master Muhammad, and upon his kind and pure family and his blessed and distinguished companions, guardians of his mission, and leaders of his armies, may You be pleased with them and with us too, O Lord of the worlds.

O Allah, deliver us from the darkness of ignorance and illusion into the light of knowledge and science, and from the mire of lust into the paradise of pious deeds.

Introduction

We Moslems are in desperate need to find a new approach to promoting our ethical values, that looks at established Islamic ethics in a new light, putting into focus some of their intended meanings, in order to fight the backwardness that is pervading the life of Moslems.

Devoutness in our contemporary life should be expanded to include the terms describing civil duties like: being at work on time, doing the job right, improving the job, not wasting time, efficient use of time, institutional work, strong teamwork spirit, respecting appointments, proper use of the available assets, controlling consumption, sense of belonging to the group … and recently, traffic problems which have become one of the major causes of death and losses in the entire world.

All these contemporary values and problems have roots in the Quran and the Prophetic Traditions (Sunnah), for Allah says:

﴾ This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion   ﴿,

which means that this great religion is whole and complete in quantity and perfect in quality.

It is hence possible through focused education to get the citizen to taste the same sweetness of faith and commitment in doing the duties and following the directives of contemporary living, as he would taste when he places alms in the hand of the poor, or when he prays at night when people are sound asleep !

The devout Moslem who sees his religion only as ritual worship, prayers, fasting, praise and glorification, while he should continue observing this worship, he should also understand that there are new fundamental civil duties that belong to the heart of Muslim ethics and which are deeply rooted in our true religion, that Islam is the religion of the natural disposition towards virtue, and that Islamic law (Shari’a) is entirely based on welfare.

For the occasion of the International Traffic Day, as more and more fellow citizens own cars, and roads being narrow and neglected, we will apply a number of established and authentic (Sahih) religious texts to the reality of traffic in our dear country. Indeed, Islam is life, and in its directives lie the ultimate solutions to our diverse problems, and many they are indeed, for its scheme embraces everything, from the matrimonial bed to international relations, consequently traffic decencies are in the heart of Islamic teachings.

Perhaps the oldest and most profound example of traffic awareness is what our master Omar, may Allah be pleased with him, was reported to say:

‘By Allah, if a mule stumbles in Iraq (he is in Medina, Saudi Arabia) Allah is sure to hold me responsible for it: why didn’t you pave the road for her, O Omar’.

So God help traffic controllers and those in charge of roads!

Traffic accidents are not fate and Divine decree bound to happen, as some people may imagine. This kind of thinking is unacceptable in Islam, and preventive measures should be taken in anticipation.

Magnitude of the problem

Road traffic injuries are the second leading cause of deaths in teens and young men five to twenty nine years of age, world wide, and the third leading cause of deaths of those aged thirty to forty four.

Traffic accidents are responsible for the death of a million and a half persons every year, in addition to another fifty million between hurt and disabled. On the average, three thousand two hundred and forty people, mainly adults, die every single day worldwide. And it is estimated that the death toll will increase by eighty percent in the developing countries , and we are one of them, by the year two thousand and twenty unless prompt measures are taken to improve safety on t0000he roads.

Besides the suffering caused by injuries due to traffic accidents, the resulting financial cost worldwide is estimated at five hundred and eighteen billion dollars yearly, the share of the poor countries being a hundred million dollars, which is more than all the financial grants they receive. 

These are accurate statistics taken from reports of the World Health Organization.

For the year two thousand alone, the number of traffic accidents in the Arab World reached half a million, resulting in the death of sixty two thousand people.

As for our country, Syria, reports indicate that a person dies every four hours year-round, due to traffic accidents, and thirty six are injured daily, and that the traffic accident death rate in Syria has doubled between the years two thousand and one and two thousand and six.

The vast majority of these deaths and injuries were reported in low-income countries, the highest averages being in Africa and the Middle East, mainly among young people under twenty five. The people victim of traffic accidents sometimes exceed in number those victims of the AIDS virus or of cerebral vascular accidents.

In the United States for instance, thirty four thousand people die every year because of road accidents, in other words the number of deaths every twenty four days equals the number killed in the 9/11 attacks, which have turned the world upside down!

Many of the victims of traffic accidents when they perish leave behind them pain and suffering for their families and relatives, women bereaved of a child, orphans… And if they are incapacitated, their life becomes an unbearable hell, causing grief and torment to those they support. This is the bitter truth, but it is far better to say it as it is than to live in comfortable illusions.

Remedies

To minimize the number of casualties, the World Health Organization proposed that five of the specific danger factors be given special attention, and these factors are: seat belts, safety seats for children -neglected in the Arab World -, alcohol, helmets for motorcyclists, excessive and inappropriate speed, the main chassis of cars and motorcycles, and the use of day lights.

One of the important ways to minimize accident rates would be to keep away from alcohol which Allah has forbidden and the noble Prophet described as the source of all impurities. Then drivers should be advised to avoid the following things: speed, negligence, heedlessness, driving rashly, not observing traffic laws, driving vehicles lacking safety and sturdiness, driving in rugged terrains, driving in rain, snow, fog and dust. Pedestrians should also be advised on how to cross roads safely.

Another recommendation would be for governments to put in place plans to get people closer to their work places and children closer to their schools, and to squeeze working hours in one period. Also worth looking into is finding a mechanism that would disable mobile phones so long as the car engine is running. 

According to the World Health Organization, proper use of seat belts would reduce accident death rates by 61%, while using children safety seats would reduce deaths by 35 %. Also, wearing protective helmets when riding bicycles or motorcycles would reduce deaths or serious brain injuries by 45 %, while reducing speed for a distance of one kilometer would reduce accident rates by .2%.

Now we address the spiritual directives of our great religion.

Do not give free rein to your car

Scholars believe that a Moslem should possess two qualities: exactitude and virtuousness. The former is an intellectual quality and the latter is an ethical value. Virtuousness is invalidated by many things, some of which were reported in the noble Hadith:

‘He who deals with people and does not wrong them, who tells them and does not lie to them, who promises them and does not fail to keep his promises, this man is of those whose sense of honor has been perfected and his virtuousness established, he must be considered as brother and it is forbidden to backbite him’. 

So injustice, lying and breaking one’s promise invalidate virtuousness. As for conducts that weaken it, they are many, like giving full rein to your horse, which would compare today to excessive speeding. Consider that the most time you can save by speeding, on the longest stretch you can travel in Syria, is half an hour, and five minutes within cities. In this half hour and in these five minutes two thousand seven hundred and fifty six citizens are killed, and fifteen thousand six hundred and sixty eight are injured, most of them seriously. And Allah glory be to Him says:

﴾ whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind ﴿

 (Al Maeda – 32)

And He says glory be to Him:

﴾ It is not for a believer to kill a believer unless (it be) by mistake. He who hath killed a believer by mistake must set free a believing slave, and pay the blood-money to the family of the slain, unless they remit it as a charity. If he (the victim) be of a people hostile unto you, and he is a believer, then (the penance is) to set free a believing slave. And if he cometh of a folk between whom and you there is a covenant, then the blood-money must be paid unto his folk and (also) a believing slave must be set free. And whoso hath not the wherewithal must fast two consecutive months. A penance from Allah. Allah is Knower, Wise.

Whoso slayeth a believer of set purpose, his reward is hell for ever. Allah is wroth against him and He hath cursed him and prepared for him an awful doom﴿

 (Al Nisa’ 92-93)

Driving a car at full speed has the following Islamic ruling: it weakens the virtuousness of the person and deprives him of some of his civil rights.

Do not raise your voices

Among wrong conducts on the streets is the offensive blowing of horns by proud car owners. The man stops his car and blows his horn to get the attention of his wife in the upper floors instead of going up to her, annoying others to save himself the trouble. Here Islam intervenes to restore the lost street etiquette. Allah, glory be to Him says:

﴾  Those who call out to you from behind the private chambers, surely most of them do not understand.  And if they wait patiently until you come out to them, it would certainly be better for them, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful﴿

This Ayah should be understood in its broader sense. True that it concerns the Prophet, peace be upon him, but it rectifies and regulates people behavior on the streets. You owe others not to disturb them, some may be asleep, others may be studying, others sick, praying… you have to understand that the street is not yours alone. Similarly, if you are driving a public coach, small or large, do not play what is not acceptable to all people, for the sound of the player is not yours alone.

Make room so Allah may make room for you

Another wrong conduct on the streets is that of the driver who will not let the car behind overtake him. And if you ask him why he does that, he doesn’t answer you. And what is worse, is that drivers have grown so accustomed to behaving in this manner that it is now done unconsciously. But Islam teaches you the right conduct in situations like this. Allah, glory be to Him, says:

 ﴾  O ye who believe ! when it is said to you, `Make room in your assemblies,' then do make room. Allah will make ample room for you ﴿

Again this Ayah should be understood in its broader sense, make room not only in gatherings, but also on the road…Make room and Allah will make ample room for you…It is unnatural to hem in people on the roads, Omar Ibn Al Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, says:

‘Three things will make your brother devoted to you’ (one of them) ‘to make room for him in the assemblies’.

You can compare this to making room for him on roads.

Removing harmful things from the road is an alms

Is it proper conduct to throw empty containers and leftovers from the window? The Prophet, peace be upon him, says:

‘Removing harmful things from the road is an alms’

(Narrated by Muslim 1668 and Abu Dawud 1285)

So what should we think of those who throw harmful things on the road? The Prophet, peace be upon him, says:

‘Faith has some sixty branches; the highest is saying there is no other deity but Allah, and the lowest is removing harmful things from the road’

(Narrated by Bukhari and Moslem 152)

This means that picking up harmful things off the road is part of faith; so, where does this leave the one who throws harmful things on the road?

The Prophet, peace be upon him says:

‘Angels suffer from what makes humans suffer’.

The ethics of lounging in the streets and of passing by

Roads are like the arteries of the body where the soul flows; imagine a disease spreading in these arteries! Speeding is indeed the obstinate disease that should not be taken lightly. Speeding reaps hundreds, rather thousands of innocent lives every year. Its victims almost exceed in number the casualties of human wars and diseases combined.

Cars are a wonderful means of transport, but they can be lethal weapons, and must be used prudently. Yet some people make use of them in ways that threaten the lives of others, and consequently the number of accidents soars, resulting in fractures, wounds and deaths. Then follow the moral and financial costs, family sufferings, social sufferings…

We should understand that roads are built to serve people, to shorten distances, to facilitate communication between them, and that traffic laws all around the world were put in place to regulate the use of roads, not in vain, but to protect users from its dangers and to avoid them the traumas of  its accidents.

All that Man has achieved for his well-being and advancement should be used properly. Roads are like a double-edged weapon, if we misuse it, or if we err in using it, it becomes a danger that threatens our lives, but that can be avoided through vigilance, patience, cautiousness and prevention. Observing traffic laws is a religious practice because it realizes one of its purposes, for Islamic Law (Shari’a) is all welfare.

The Prophet , peace be upon him, says:

‘Beware of lounging in the streets, but if you must, give the street its due: do not stare, do no harm, reciprocate greetings, enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong’.

(Narrated by Bukhari 2465 and 6229, and Muslim 5528 and 5613}

This noble Tradition (Hadith) reported by Bukhari and Muslim is true for pedestrians and drivers alike. Islam sets the course, O believer, follow it when you are loitering in the street, walking around or driving through.

Gentle activity

There are people who do not respect general decencies. When they enter a house, an elevator or a car, they slam the door violently, sometimes breaking glass or terrorizing people…

The Prophet, peace be upon him, says:

‘kindness embellishes all deeds, and its absence defaces them’.                        

(Narrated by Imam Ahmad 6/206)

Fellow citizens, fellow believers, I beseech you to make of this Tradition a systematic way of life, for it leads you to kind conduct, for the believer is always tending towards Divine perfection, and one of Allah perfect attributes is The Kind.

Mobile phones

Experts of the World Health Organization confirm that drivers using mobile phones while driving are four times more prone to be involved in accidents than drivers that are not using it, that is 400% more!

A driver who uses his mobile while driving may cause a terrible accident; he may kill an innocent soul, or spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Allah’s Apostle, peace be upon him says:

‘He who sleeps on a roof with no parapet has only himself to blame. He who throws in the night has only himself to blame. He who takes to sea in a storm has only himself to blame’.

You can compare to that using mobiles while driving.

Not harming citizens on the roads

There are many Traditions (Hadith) reported in this sense, concerning removing harmful things from the street, be it garbage, plants obstructing the way, stones and the like, and recently cars:

-          Removing harmful things from the road is an alms.

-          While walking on his way, a man found a thorny branch in the road, so he pushed it out of the way. Allah was grateful and granted him forgiveness.

You can compare to that:

·        Driving up a one way street in the wrong direction and asking others to back up.

·        Stopping in the middle of the road to buy something or to do an errand.

·        Parking alongside a car, blocking it, or narrowing the street.

·        Stopping too close to the traffic lights so they are not visible, and hindering pedestrian crossings. 

And there are hundreds of cases covered by these Traditions.

* * * * *

 Fellow believers, judge yourselves before you are judged, and weigh your deeds before they are weighed for you, and let it be known to you that the Angel of Death moved past us to seek others, and that he will move past others to seek us, so let us be on our guard. The wise subdues the self and strives for what comes after death, and the feeble follows passions and wishes Allah will fulfill his futile desires.

And praise to Allah Lord of the worlds.

All praise is due to Allah Lord of the worlds. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, Patron of the righteous, and that our master Muhammad is His servant and prophet, endowed with the Sublime Nature. O Allah send your prayers, peace and blessings upon our master Muhammad, and upon his family and his blessed and distinguished companions.

In the first part of the sermon, we applied the meaning of many religious texts to the reality of our road traffic, and they are applicable indeed, because in a legal text, the general purpose counts more than the particular reason behind it. In this second part I will do the opposite: compare a common traffic phenomenon to the most important religious question, namely, standing firm in Allah’s right path.

Consider a citizen driving his car at a crossroad. The traffic light is red, a traffic cop is watching, another one on his motorcycle is ready to pursue offenders, and an officer in his car to prevent collusion between any two parties. The driver is an ordinary citizen that has no power to have penalties stopped or cancelled, if he breaks the law, because the knowledge of  the law maker encompasses him through the agency of the watching traffic cop, and because the law maker has power over him thru the cop on the motorcycle, and the officer forbids any collusion.

However, and I do not approve of that, this citizen can drive through the red light after midnight, because the law maker will have no knowledge of it, or in broad daylight, if he is more powerful than the law maker, because then the law maker would have no power over him.

So we can conclude that you as a human cannot break a law made by humans if you are convinced that the law maker has knowledge of you and that he is more powerful than you.

Now to the holy Ayah:

﴾Allah is He Who created seven heavens, and of the earth the like of them; the decree continues to descend among them, that you may know that Allah has power over all things and that Allah indeed encompasses all things in (His) knowledge  ﴿

(Al Talaq 12)

The Ayah implies two things: the first is that the heavens and the earth were created so we may know, and before we ask ourselves what is it that we are supposed to know, we point out that Allah Great and Almighty endowed Man with the power of perception, and that seeking knowledge is Man’s ultimate purpose. So what is it that we are supposed to know so we may stand firm in Allah’s right way? We should know that Allah is Omniscient (all knowing) and Omnipotent (has power over all). Allah chose to mention the name Omniscient and the name Omnipotent among his ninety nine perfect attributes, meaning that when Man is deeply convinced that Allah’s knowledge surrounds him, and that He has power over him, then he will stand firm in the right path and will never disobey Him. Three things we ought to know: Allah knows and He will judge and punish, the pinnacle of wisdom is to fear Allah, and that in following His right path is safety and happiness in this life and in the hereafter. When we do, we realize the purpose of our existence. Allah says:

﴾ Why should Allah chastise you if you are grateful and believe? And Allah is the Multiplier of rewards, and knows all things ﴿

There was no other period in our nation’s history where we found ourselves in more need of cooperation, support, solidarity among ourselves, as these delicate times our Arabic and Islamic nations are going through, especially with the new world order, with no balance of power,  the dominance of one pole, the double standards, the dominance of  large trusts, the huge advances in communications and computing, the widening gap between rich developed countries and poor developing countries, the outburst of domestic and regional wars, tribal, religious and ethnic struggles in many parts of the world…not to mention cultural and economical globalization.

Supplication

O Allah, glorify Islam and the Moslems, and humiliate polytheism and the polytheists and make this town is safe and peaceful as well as the other countries of Moslems.

O Allah, grant victory to those who uphold this religion, and forsake those who betray your servants who believe.

O Allah make our countries safe for us, reform our imams and those in charge of us, and let our custody lie with those who fear and obey You and seek to please You, O Lord of the worlds.

O Allah, inspire Mr. President Bachar Al Asad to follow Your straight path, and the ways of Your noble prophet, and provide for him a work team to help him achieve his aspirations. You are Most Able if You so wish, and Most Worthy of answering prayers.

And praise be to Allah Lord of the worlds.