The imam who sends Christmas cards to the Pope

PETALING JAYA: Every year, thousands of people from the Pope to Queen Elizabeth receive Christmas cards from an unlikely sender: a British imam seeking to highlight the significance of Jesus for Muslims.

Mohammed Fahim of the Qur’ani Murkuz Trust in east London told UK news channel Sky News that Muslims also believed in Jesus’ miracles, as well as his second coming.

“Muslims believe in all the prophets and messengers of God without making any distinction between any of them – as stated by God in the Quran.

“So if they believe in Muhammad and Jesus, why do they celebrate the birth of Muhammad and not the birth of Jesus? To celebrate I mean to emulate, to study the lifestyle of these messengers, the great sacrifices they made and the legacy they left behind,” he was quoted as saying.

According to the report, Fahim prints some 4,000 cards every year, which he sends to members of the royal family, MPs, churches, neighbours, colleagues, the Pope and European Union leaders.

The cards, which he designed himself, feature scenes of Jerusalem and verses from the Quran about Jesus and his mother Mary.

Fahim has been doing this for almost 10 years now, and receives many positive responses, including from the queen, the prime minister and the Pope.

Through his work, he hopes to dispel misconceptions about Islam and encourage more Muslims to study and celebrate the Christmas story, Sky News said.

“Every year, British Muslims are missing two golden opportunities (Christmas and Easter) to propagate the message of Islam, a message of peace, tolerance and justice. To show how do they integrate into the British society without losing their religion or watering it down,” he was quoted as saying.

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online