Chairman’s Welcome Address

In the name of Allah the most Beneficent, the most Merciful.

Venerable Uduwe Dhammaloka Thero,
Your Lordship the Right. Reverend. Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo,
Justice Wigneswaran
Members of the diplomatic corps,
Ladies and gentlemen.

May I greet you with the traditional Islamic greeting,
Assalamu Alaikum.

Meaning
May Peace and Blessings be with you.
May I also say to you Ayubowan! Vanakkam!

On behalf of my colleagues on the Sailan Muslim Foundation and myself, I extend a very warm welcome to each and every one of you. We are honored by your presence. Your ready response to our invitation is an indication that the aims and objectives of our Foundation resonate with you. We are truly grateful to our distinguished guest speakers for being with us today.

Islam is committed to pluralism. We do not believe in a clash of civilizations. On the contrary, we regard different civilizations as complementary to each other and adding to the richness o life.

You have listened to a reading from the Holy Quran, if I may repeat the translation

Almighty Allah says:

“Oh mankind! We have created you from a male, and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you many know one another. Verily the most honorable o you with Allah is that (believer) who has At-Taqwa [i.e. he is one of the Muttaqun (the Pious)]. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.”

This is an unequivocal assertion of a commitment to pluralism.

In Sri Lanka, the Muslims have lived in harmony with other faiths and communities. In pre-colonial days, they have stood shoulder to shoulder with the Sinhalese, in resisting foreign invaders over the years. This is evidenced by the Muslim settlements at the strategic entrances to the Kandyan Kindom. They were located by the Kandyan Kings. On the eve of independence, the late T.B. Jayah stood up in Parliament to declare that the Muslims had trust in the majority and that we welcomed independence without any demands or qualifications. So although we are distinguished by our faith, we are in no way less national minded than anybody else.

We have danced around the maypole of  communalism for 60 long years after independence with devastating results. The present political, economic and national context, demands that a conscious effort be made to secure national integration. Our object is to emphasize that Sri Lankan Muslims have dual identities as Muslims and as a Sri Lankans. These identities are not contradictory. Our interests are compatible with the national interest. In this context, there is a perception that our politicians do not sufficiently articulate the aspirations of the community. They are perceived as ineffective. As my good friend, former career diplomat Izeth Hussain aptly puts it,

“Our Muslim politicians far from representing the community to the

political parties, represent different political parties to the community.”

After much brainstorming, we realized that there is a need to reach out to the other communities and take our case to them. We believe that engagement is the way forward, and dialogue is imperative – that some of our issues are too important to be left to politicians. Our case more often than not goes by default. We do not seem to be able to make an impact on decision-making.

The concept of the Foundation to fill this void was the brain child of Shibly Aziz, my colleague and former Attorney General. The idea attracted Izeth Hussain, M.C.M. Zarook, Latheef Farook, Ameen Izzadeen, Asif Hussain, AGA Barrie, Iqbal Mohamed, Faiz Hamid, Ziard Deen, Azwar Hajiar and Tasneem Lafir, and the Foundation was born in 2006.

Our main objectives are:

a) To foster and encourage communal and religious co-existence and

b) Promote and secure Muslim interests that are consistent with the national interest.

Our approach is multi-disciplinary. The foundation has a galaxy of able writers and media personnel. The contributions of Izeth Hussain, Latheef Farook, Ameen Izzadeen and Asif Hussain have been notable. In their writings, they have presented Islam as it truly is – a valid and peaceful way of life – viable for all time. They have also in restrained and elegant language, countered the vituperative attacks on Muslims and Islam.

We realized that there was an urgent need for a website to air and disseminate our views effectively. The launch of a website has been one of its objectives, from the inception. However, it is the only with Ziard Deen joining our midst that it became a reality. He has the gift of translating vision into action. He has proved himself to be a born organizer and able strategist. We are extremely grateful to him.

Mrs. Jezima Ismail as a vice chairperson plays a very prominent role in the Foundation. Being an erudite scholar and educationist she has been proactive in promoting education and the alleviation of poverty.

We also thank AGA Barrie for his moral and material support to the Foundation. But for his initial contribution, the website may not have become a reality.

We were in a nomadic state without a permanent habitat Al-Haj Azwar Hassim came to our aid and offered us the use of this magnificent complex. Shafeeq Hassen has been with us from the inception. He is a welcome tail-twister.

May Almighty Allah bless and guide us in all our endeavors.

May I conclude by thanking you once again for you kind presence. I shall now hand you over to our able master of ceremonies who will present our erudite guest speakers, whom we are privileged to have with us this evening.