President of Religious Affairs Erbaş appears as a guest on Diyanet TV on the occasion of the first suhur

President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş appeared as a guest on Diyanet TV on the occasion of the first suhur.

In the program broadcast live from the campus of the Presidency of Religious Affairs in Ankara, Prof. Erbaş congratulated our nation and the Islamic world on the occasion of the month of Ramadan and wished that Ramadan would be a blessing.

Stating that the Presidency of Religious Affairs has determined this year's Ramadan theme as "Ramadan and Solidarity" due to the earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş and affecting 11 provinces, Prof. Erbaş said, "Our theme this year is solidarity. Ramadan is the month of fasting, the month of the Qur'an and the month of giving. Infaq is the common name of solidarity in the Holy Qur'an."

‘’ We can only recover from this disaster with solidarity, charity, togetherness and unity’’

Remarking that this earthquake has been one of the most destructive disasters that the history has ever witnessed, Prof. Erbaş stated, “We can only recover from this major disaster with a faithful solidarity, Muslim charity and humanistic unity.”

Emphasizing the importance of being in solidarity to dress the wounds and share the pain of the citizens who were affected by the earthquake, President Erbaş has also stated that ‘’We should feel the pain of our brothers who were affected by the earthquake from the depths of our hearts, this is what the faithful attitude is.’’

“I would like to thank to all our religious officials”

Explaining that they took action after the earthquake by establishing a crisis centre in the headquarters of Diyanet, Prof. Erbaş said, “Our religious officials have opened our undamaged mosques to our citizens. We have provided shelters for about 350 thousand disaster victims in our mosques for days, and we still have citizens lodging in our mosques. Our religious officials cooked soup in their homes or boiled soup wherever they could and served it to our citizens by themselves. So far, about 50 thousand of our religious officials have gone to the area alternately, and they are still there. I would like to thank all our religious officials through Diyanet TV.”

Referring to the services provided by the Presidency of Religious Affairs in terms of spiritual support and guidance in the earthquake region, Prof. Erbaş stated that they would continue to provide these services there until the wounds of the earthquake are healed.

Stating that they continue Qur'an courses in tent cities and container cities, President Erbaş said, “We continue to provide education in Diyanet Çocuk classrooms; that is, children's classrooms for children between the ages of 4 and 6. We have established about 500 tent masjids. Tarawihs have started in our tent masjids, muqabalahs are recited, sermons are delivered, and spiritual guidance services are provided.”

“Let’s observe the ta’dil al-arkan in our prayers”

President Erbaş invited the citizens not to insist on imams to perform the tarawih prayers faster and said, "I would like to address both our imams and the congregation. A tarawih prayer that is performed by observing the ta’dil al-arkan and paying attention to the ruku, sajdah and qiraat is much more appreciated and in line with the principles of our worship and makes our mind at peace during salah. We do instruct our religious officials beforehand, however, I want to especially plead to our community. I would like to ask our congregation not to insist on our religious officials to perform the tarawih faster and abandon the ta’dil al-arkan.”  

“We should be mobilized for our brothers to return to their home“

Commenting on the question of whether zakat can be given for the needs of earthquake victims and the construction of permanent housing, President Erbaş said:

"We need to mobilize for our brothers and sisters to reach their houses and homes as soon as possible, and alhamdulillah, we have been mobilized. Our nation is very sensitive about this issue, our state is doing its best. It was indeed a devastating disaster. It is necessary to mobilize different channels to accelerate the victims' access to permanent housing. As the Presidency of Religious As the Presidency of Religious Affairs, both us and our High Council of Religious Affairs receive a lot of questions from our citizens. They say, ‘Can we donate our zakahs to the citizens for them to have houses and for the construction of permanent housing?’ Our board had gathered and made a statement about this topic about a month ago. The answer of our council is; our benefactor citizens who want to donate zakah can donate for the basic needs, food, and clothing and for the making of permanent housing. This is the answer our Board has given to the question.”

“We will heal our wounds as soon as possible with the spirit of solidarity”

Stating that they also reminded the issue in the message they published for Ramadan, President Erbaş continued as follows:

“They can comfortably donate Zakah for the permanent housing. Where can they donate? The answer is AFAD which is the authorized organization. AFAD has opened an account for the Zakah’s. Our citizens can donate via this bank account. Of course, in this case the people who receive the Zakah must have their houses. The relevant organization knows how to perform methods, fundamentals and divisions. The only thing we can say is that the citizens can donate Zakah for the making of permanent housing and, of course these donations can be used for the earthquake victims who can receive the donations. Our nation, aside from the Zakah and aids, should be in mobility with Sadaqah. Alhamdulillah, our nation has that sensibility. We are sure that with the solidarity and charity spirit, we will heal our wounds, Inshallah.”

“Ramadan is the Month of the Holy Qur'an”

Pointing out that Ramadan is the month of the Qur'an, President Erbaş said, “We learn, read and try to understand the Holy Qur'an to guide us in our lives. I would like to address all our citizens here, this is an opportunity. Those who do not know how to read, should try to learn. Those who know, should read it. In Ramadan, at least every Muslim should complete at least one hatim.”

Emphasizing the importance of reciting and understanding the Qur'an, President Erbaş suggests citizens to read the Tafsir (interpretation)which is the latest publication of the Presidency of Religious Affairs, "Qur'an, The Life Guide"

“Muqabala (Co-Reciting) is our tradition of Ramadan”

President Erbaş, told that co-recitation, which has the meaning of reciting mutually, comes from our Prophet Muhammad (saw) and Gabriel reciting mutually every Ramadan.

Stating that they continue the tradition of mukabele, President Erbaş said, “Today, in many of our mosques, not only in mosques but also in homes, on television, on our Diyanet TV, muqabala is performed 365 days a year, it is practiced at different times a day during the Ramadan. The Holy Qur'an is being recited 24 hours a day on our Diyanet Radio and on our Diyanet Qur'an Radio.”

Stating the importance of Qur'an to be recited by a beautiful voice in order to touch the hearts, Mr. Erbaş said that they have been giving training about this to the religious officers as the Presidency of Religious Affairs.

Noting that our Prophet Muhammad (saw) is the biggest exemplary figure about evaluating the month of Ramadan, President Erbaş has said that "Prophet Muhammad making a recitation of Qur'an is the biggest example. Reciting the whole Qur'an tradition has been conducted by all Muslims. Our Prophet (saw) had been in i‘tikaf (ritual seclusion in the mosque) in the last 10 days of Ramadan. Maybe, here, we need to express that I’tikaf is the most important part of the Month of Ramadan according to the our Prophet (saw)."

“The Month of Ramadan is a means of salvation”

Stating that Ramadan is a month of salvation, President Erbaş said, “Ramadan is the month of fasting. Every Muslim should fast during Ramadan. We should refrain from skipping fasting and prayers. We need to fast with our hands, tongue, heart, eyes and limbs. We need to stay away from backbiting, lying, certain actions and behaviors that lead to lying, behaviors that involve wrong actions to people. We should avoid bad words and anger, hurting people, we need to stay away from these. Ramadan is also the month of patience.”

Emphasizing the spirit of brotherhood and solidarity, President Erbaş, thanked the people who became “ansars” by helping the citizens who moved to the other cities from the earthquake area.

President Erbaş, has also noted:

“The brotherhood of Ansar and Muhajirin is one of the prominent issues of Islamic civilization. We have experienced an earthquake in our country and we need to practice the spirit of ansar until our last breath with the assistance and solidarity we provide. There are thousands, hundreds of thousands of people who have lost everything. From now on, we need to heal our wounds and share our pain by helping and solidarizing in unity and solidarity. This is the spirit of ansar, may Allah be pleased with people with the spirit of ansar. This is a very important characteristic of our nation. We need to pass on this trait to our generation.”