Ahmedabad: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Women’s Department conducted a campaign throughout the month of September under the theme ‘Morality is Freedom’ which aimed to create awareness among the common people and expose them to what real freedom is. It was to explain the reality that how imperative it is to link freedom with moral values and that unbridled freedom without morals not only harms the individual but the entire society has to bear its bitter fruits.
Various activities were also organized during the campaign by Women’s Department, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Gujarat throughout the month in various schools, colleges, mohallas of various cities of the state. The concluding program of the campaign was organized at Tagore Hall, Ahmedabad on Saturday.
The program started with the recitation and translation of the Quranic verses. The guests and the audience were then warmly welcomed in a welcome address by Shazia Sheikh, Secretary, Women’s Department, JIH Gujarat. She said that through the campaign, we have planted a seed of morality in the society which we should continue our efforts to create banyan trees.
Mrs. Arefa Parveen, Assistant Secretary of Jamaat Islami Hind, said in the opening speech that freedom is the birth right of everyone but it must be controlled by some moral values so that it does not turn into arbitrariness and every religion provides the same guidance. She added that it is the responsibility of every section of the society to make morality an integral part of the social order.
Divine Dream Women Charitable Trust President Mrs. Vanitabhain said that morality defines the difference between good and bad, right and wrong, just and unjust. Moral values make human beings superior to animals. Institutions like home, school, temple, mosque irrigate these moral values.
Raju Behan, representative of Gayatri Shaktipeeth, said that if households play their important role in teaching moral lessons before classrooms, the country and society will be transformed. Great people can be made if real moral values are taught right from the childhood stage. We need not remain on the surface of scriptures like the Quran, Gita, Bible but understand by diving into them. The role of women is also very important. If a woman gives birth to a child and nurtures it based on true values, it is the true preservation of womanhood.
Special guest of the program Dr. M Salim Patiwala, President, JIH Gujarat, congratulated the campaign and event organizers. He stated that humanity can realize real freedom only through morality. Today slogans of freedom, equality and justice are shouted but these are only slogans. Exploitation in the name of women’s equality, the currency of convicting the accused before due process and shaming of humanity like ‘my body, my will’ in the name of freedom have become commonplace. He explained the concept of true freedom in the light of the Quran and Hadith.
Janet Frank, North Gujarat Co-ordinator, Arpana Ministries, gave her speech saying that morality is a set of principles and freedom is the power of decision making. Decisiveness, if not controlled by certain principles, leads the human being to degradation. He stated that the real source of morality is spirituality and bonding with God.
Then Rajayogi Brahmakumari Nandini Didi said that morality is the ornament of man, and early man was full of moral values. With the passage of time, human beings have forgotten morality. The basis of all religions is a social structure based on ethics. Where values like moderation, tolerance, loyalty, punctuality are the basic principles of building a society. Let us not only focus on adorning the outer body with clothes and ornaments but adorn our soul with moral values.
Maulana Abdul Quddus Palanpuri, Naib Sadr, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, said that morality and freedom are two sides of the same coin. Obscenity, nudity, freedom of speech, freedom from doctrine, etc. are seen as freedom today, but these are signs of moral decline. He considered Muhammad ﷺ as the best example of morality. Citing his biographical illustrations, he further stated that the standards of morality have been the same since the first human being in this world till today. And the same is true for all mankind. That is why the Qur’an also addresses the entire mankind.
Mrs. Rahamatunnissa, National Secretary, Women’s Department, JIH, presided over the function and first congratulated the organizers of the event. He explained the objective of the campaign and told them that during the campaign the JIH Women’s Department has made a great effort to convey the message of morality to different regions of the country.
She said that along with various programs and activities in the campaign, media and press conferences have also succeeded in conveying this message to the masses. Speaking on the subject, she said that morality is an integral part of human nature, morality exists in every human being. And spreading this morality and goodness and restraining evil is as imperative as any other form of worship. Most of the systems inside our bodies are beyond our control, they work according to the arrangements made by their Creator. This system of our body is like a whole world which is controlled by a moral system. Also our external world is bound to be subject to some rules and laws.
More than 600 women participated in this great event across the Ahmedabad City and from other cities of Gujarat too.
