Diyanet TV welcomes the President of Religious Affairs in the first sahur night

Diyanet TV guested the President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş on the live broadcast program for the first sahur night of the month of Ramadan that is a climate of mercy and forgiveness.

Attending the TV program named “Bereket Vakti” broadcast live from courtyard of the Istanbul Süleymaniye Mosque, President of Religious Affairs Erbaş wished that the month of Ramadan would conduce to goodness for our nation, Islamic World and all the humanity.

Expressing that they performed the tarawih prayer which is among the signs of the month of Ramadan in the Hagia Sophia Mosque, President Erbaş said, “After 88 years of longing and missing, we have the opportunity of performing tarawih prayer with a thronged congregation and with our brothers, who may be more than the ones inside, overflowed to Sultanahmet Square. Endless praise to Allah (swt) who let us experience these days.”

Stating that tarawih prayers have not been performed in the mosques with congregation for 2 years since pandemic, President Erbaş talked as “we started to fulfil this longing by performing tarawih prayer in all mosques of our country this night but this longing cannot be fulfilled. I hope that our mosques will be overflowed until the last tarawih prayer of the month of Ramadan inshallah. Our people will adorn the mosques with the youth, children, women and men.

Uttering that the month of Ramadan is a month that people have an opportunity to review themselves, President Erbaş used the following expressions, “on the occasion of being the month of Qur’an, we must as ourselves the following questions: What is our bond  with Qur’an? What principles should we perform regarding Qur’an in the best manner? It is also the month that we discuss on these matters.”

Pointing out the importance of prayer in the world of believers, President Erbaş talked as “Prayer is significant, prayer is the pillar of religion, and it is the ascension of believers. We should not separate prayer and fasting. Namely, we should not skip performing prayer while we are fasting because prayer is the pillar of religion. The one who abandons his/her prayer shatters his/her religion.”

“We will make our best efforts in order to create a sensitivity in terms of zakat.”

Reminding that people who are obliged to zakat consider the month of Ramadan as an opportunity, President Erbaş talked as “As people who are obliged to zakat make giving the zakat in the month of Ramadan a tradition since before now in order to help waifs and strays and poor people in the month of Ramadan, contribute to their fasting, contribute to iftar tables. We also will make our best efforts in order to create a sensitivity and raise an awareness regarding the fact that our Muslim brothers and sisters give their zakat in the month of Ramadan.”

President Erbaş made the following evaluations by uttering that they, as Türkiye Diyanet Foundation and Presidency of Religious Affairs, are in an endeavour with all of their members to make the goodness prevail in the world, “all of our worships, benevolences, good deeds, all of them are for passing this examination. The eyes of Islamic World are on Türkiye.  They have so much expectations from us. We, as Türkiye, receive so much duas. We proudly say and must say that Türkiye is the country that provides aid most in the world according to its national income. What a blessing it is for us to be a member of that country.”

“The month of Ramadan really has a very special place in the souls of children”

Pointing out the influence of Ramadan on the children, President Erbaş continued his words as a follows:

“The month of Ramadan really has a very special place in the souls of children. The worship that raise awareness in children first may be the fasting and the month of Ramadan. Month of Ramadan’s sahur is significant for children. For example, I remember that the first awareness that the month of Ramadan raised in me is sahur. Our advice to our people, nation is to hold the hands of our children and our grandchildren and go to the mosques together with them. We say that we should have an influence on creation of our children’s character. What is love, respect, honesty, haram, halal, prayer, fasting and Ramadan? Let us teach these things our children from early ages. For this reason, we, as the Presidency of Religious Affairs, have an activity that we attach great importance. 4-6 years old Qur’an Courses. We attach great importance, we attach great importance as a nation and seeing how our nation looks out for our activity make us happy. As of now, we have about 10 thousand classes in our 4-6 years old Qur'an courses, we have nearly 200 thousand children.  In our Qur’an Courses, we have Quran course teachers who will take care of them and be mothers to them.”

“Violence should be rejected no matter who commits it and who is exposed to it.”

Reminding that our Beloved Prophet said,” Fasting is a shield,” President Erbaş used the following expressions, “Against what? Against evil. Therefore, we do not just make our stomach fast on the occasion of the month of fasting. We also make our tongue fast in the month of Ramadan. We almost make every organs of our body fast.”

Emphasizing that mercy is a characteristic that should never leave a Muslim in any circumstances, President Erbaş talked as “Today, some kind of incidents that we sometimes encounter take place in our society. There are some news that is called violence against woman.  This really saddens us. Or strong use violence against the weak. Violence should be rejected no matter who commits it and who is exposed to it. This is one of our most important principles. The month of Ramadan is essentially an important month of opportunity for eliminating this as well.”