The Islamic House of Wisdom held its grand opening after the completion of its recent renovation. The IHW facilities include:
A new prayer hall-Masjid Al-Noor, Professional kitchen, a new reception hall available for any occasion, Large auditorium, library, guest complex on site for visiting scholars, administration complex complete with a media room, board room, and office suites, and expanded parking.
There were a great number of clergy, public officials, and community leaders present in the grand opening. Hajj Rafael and hajj Richard Al-Aziz were MC’s for the program and gave a report of the project. Imam El-Amin of Detroit Muslim Center, Dawud Walid from CAIR of Michigan, Imam Berri of Islamic Institute of Knowledge, Fr. Richard of the Catholic Church, Rev. David of the Family Federation stood at the podium one after another and expressed their congratulations to Imam Elahi and the board members of IHW for this great accomplishment.
The summary of Imam Elahi’s speech at the grand opening of IHW
Imam started his presentation with reciting few verses from the holy Quran related to the houses of worship.
“Lets celebrate the light of the Lord in the houses which he permitted His name to be raised and honored. The houses in which God is glorified in the mornings and in the evenings again and again. These houses are honored by pure people whom no business can divert the remembrance of God, prayer and charity. They would enjoy God’s immeasurable rewards.” 24:36-38
Imam mentioned that the holy Quran is the only divine book that calls for protection of all God’s houses of worship, especially the Monasteries, Churches, Synagogues, and Mosques.
Imam continued his speech explaining the main mission of the mosques that include
Focusing on spirituality and faith. There is no gift greater than faith in human life. Faith is the key for courage and commitment, peace and justice, forgiveness and benevolence.
Faith is not just something in man’s mind but a bridge between the heart, mind and hands. Faith has three components of intention, expression and action. Someone asked the prophet (pbuh) of the meaning of faith and the answer was: submission to God’s will and compassion to God’s creatures.
Imam considered the focus on family values as another element of the mosques mission. The real Islamic family is a union of true love, loyalty, comfort and cooperation and not a center of violence, pain, punishment and injustice.
Family values are not limited to the husband and wife relationship. The respect, love and care between parents and children are a major part of family values too.
Another focus of the mosque is the community’s youth. Drugs, alcohol, crime, gun and gang cultures are America’s Weapon of Mass Destruction. Mosques do their best to save the youth from this WMD. Paris Hilton is an example of a young American with lots of money, might and celebrity but is still in trouble with drugs and alcohol. Some youth live in big palaces yet are spirituality hungry and homeless, the mosque is there to fill this gap and spiritual emptiness.
Imam Elahi then spoke about the role of mosques in the society in general and said:
We live in a critical time in history when serious clashes continue between the Muslims, Christians, Jews and other nations. These confrontations are not the products of religion but human greed, selfishness and lust for domination. God’s desire for human beings was to live a life of beauty, peace and perfection. He created man and blessed him with the gift of intellect, free will, conscience, and the guidance of revelation and the messengers. Man has the option of living above the angels or lower than the animals. Sadly many chose to deny the truth, and became a source of danger, death and destruction for other human beings. The mosques condemn all kinds of terrorism and unjust wars. The war against terrorism will succeed only if it targets the injustice, ignorance, poverty and racism as well.
The last sermon of the prophet (pbuh) in his last pilgrimage focused on human rights and protection of people’s property, life and dignity. Only through justice, and respect for human rights we can establish peace, cooperation, freedom and happiness.
Imam Elahi recited verse 90 from chapter 16 which covers 6 moral orders: justice, compassion, and care for relatives, and avoiding acts of shame, sin and oppression.
The Imam emphasized the cooperation of mosques, churches and other houses of worship for the sake of peace in the world. He said through more communication, dialogue and education, interfaith may play a more effective role in world peace and harmony.
Imam pointed out that for the success of the mosque in its mission to support faith, family, youth and the society; it needs the generous contribution of the community in money, time, talent and voluntarism. Zakat Charity is mentioned in the Quran more than 30 times. When we pray we show our love for God, when we give charity we show our love for humanity.