All Praises due to Allah (subhana wa ta'ala), the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds. The Most Gracious. The Most Merciful. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of being worshipped but Allah (swt) and I bear witness that Muhammad (May peace and blessings be upon him) is his servant and messenger.

The Muslims living in North America are proud Carriers of the Holy Qur'an and followers of the Religion of Allah (swt) Al-Islam. It is the religion of submission to Allah (swt), peace, security, dignity, and honor. We are ambassadors of peace in this country. Our primary responsibility is to practice this beautiful religion of Allah (swt) and present us to others as true examples of truthful servants of Allah (swt) with excellent moral character. We are to open communication channels with others living with us side by side in order to inform them about this beautiful Religion of Human Dignity and Honor.

It is our duty to tell them that Al-Islam provides a perfect way of life with unique characteristics of both social and spiritual behavior. This is the only religion with no force or compulsion for whoever wants to seek and follow the ultimate and divine truth. We are in need to tell everyone Islam is clear, transparent and logical religion. The religion practiced by Abraham, Moses, Jesus, David and all other true apostles of Allah (swt) (Peace be upon them).

Establish your contact and open communication channels with  the people and tell them this religion guarantees human dignity and honor, and grants the right of existence with peace, safety, and security.

Al-Islam forbids the killing of any human being regardless of race and color. It is the religion where killing one human soul is equal to killing the whole mankind, and saving one human soul is equal to saving the whole mankind.  The Religion of Allah (swt) is totally against killing of innocent babies and children for whatsoever reasons including fear of poverty thereby increasing conviction of the believers to recognize Allah (swt) as the only Giver of sustenance.

Being a religion of peace and security for all, it is against all forms and types of aggression, oppression, acts of transgression and mischief in order to spread corruption in the land of Allah (swt). Al-Islam recognizes the believers as the best of community ever produced for mankind and asks them to put their faith into practice with sincerity of intention and discharge responsibility of enjoining whatever is identified and recognized as right and good and forbidding whatever is wrong and evil with devotion and confidence.

Al-Islam establishes a healthy Islamic community and help produce individuals who love to practice their faith with true love and sincere devotion to Allah (swt) and discharge their personal obligations (due to Allah as well as people) with honesty, truthfulness and sense of being accountable to Him on the Day of Judgment for their sayings and actions. True recognition of Allah (swt) and worshipping none but Him with love, fear, hope, and sincerity helps a true believer to establish and maintain contact with Allah (swt) and improves his spiritual and social behavior.

In order to demonstrate a perfect social behavior with divine characteristics, Allah (swt) wants the believer to be aware of his personal obligations in regards to recognizing the due status of parents granted by Allah (swt); thereby giving them nice and kind treatment at all times, the rights of relatives, both far and near, the rights of orphans, the needy and the poor, the way farer, the rights of neighbors, and the legitimate and lawful rights of all of those given under his direct care.

Islam encourages Muslims to lead a humble life and generates a permanent habit of pleasing Allah (swt) by doing everything that is good; thereby making the believer a doer of Good, a quality loved by Allah (swt). It asks the believers to do everything possible in order to protect and upheld the dignity and honor of fellow Muslim brother or sister. Islam does not allow disrespect or insult to individual human dignity in any way whatsoever. It forbids both men and women to mock at others or being sarcastic to them on the basis of race, religion, color, ethnicity, or language.

In order to establish a true Islamic society based on mutual love and respect, the religion of Allah (swt) demands the believers to completely distance themselves from all bad habits and comprehensively eliminate and route out the social evils from the Islamic society. It calls the believers not to get involved or even go closer to doing indecent and shameful deeds. It declares that adultery, gambling, drinking, illicit relationship, nudity in any form, and all acts of indecency in action, speech, and dress are forbidden and un-lawful.

Al Islam grants dignified and respectful status to woman in the society with full protection of her rights regarding marriage, divorce, and other legal, financial, and moral rights based on respect, equality and in accordance with the divine concept of justice. We need to tell the people Islam gave true recognition to woman to play her vital role in the society as respectful and responsible mother, loving and caring sister, wife and daughter. It introduced the concept of peaceful and responsible family life based on love, understanding, dignity and honor.

Al-Islam gave the concept of Islamic brotherhood and equality. It helps the believer to recognize his personal responsibility to strengthen mutual love, respect and brotherly treatment for every one,  and to side with justice and fairness for all against aggression and oppression. Islam introduced a universal concept of justice. Allah (swt) loves justice, commands justice and rewards and gives punishment with justice. It guarantees that all human being are to be given his or her lawful rights with fairness and equality. It is totally against denial of justice to anyone due to race, religion, color, and ethnicity or discrimination in any form. It is the religion of honesty and fairness in all trade and business transactions. It calls for giving full measure and weight with justice and not to reduce things that are due to other people.

We are in need to inform everyone that the religion of Allah (swt) gave a comprehensive and perfect code of moral and ethical behavior. Teachings of Quran and Sunnah (practice) of the Prophet (pbuh) encourage us to be the perfect examples of excellent moral character and show due courtesy to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. It declared piety and righteousness as the only acceptable criteria of superiority in the sight of Allah (swt). Practice the Religion of Peace and Tolerance with patience and confidence and put your trust in The Almighty Creator. You will be able to remove lots of misunderstandings and misinterpretations and bring more people closer to this beautiful religion .

Feel proud to be ambassadors of peace and spread the divine message of peace and security where ever you go. Defeat hatred with love and peace, Enmity with friendship and respectful treatment. Establish yourself as true representative of the Religion of Allah (swt); the religion of peace, human dignity and honor.

Excerpts taken from Eid ul-Fitr khutbah on December 6, 2002 given by Ahmad Ansari, Islamic Center of Hawthorne, California, U.S.A.