BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

THE love of reading in a community is an indispensable national asset because what shapes our daily lives of tomorrow depends heavily on what we have learned today.

Imams during mass Friday prayers reminded congregants that in the history of Islam, the inception of the Islamic civilisation began with the first revelation the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) received from Allah SWT.

The revelation handed down ordered the prophet to inform his people of the command to learn to read.

The imams explained that this revelation to read was crucial because the rise and fall of a nation or civilisation hangs in the balance of the intellectual thoughts and minds of its people, especially the younger generation.

“One of the indicators to assess the milestones of a country is from the quality and quantity of reading of its people, because books offer various disciplines that can give birth to skilled and talented people,” the imams said.

In relation to Brunei, the sermon correlated the art of reading with Wawasan 2035 (National Vision 2035).

“To realise the potential of Brunei Darussalam’s National Vision 2035 that strives to carry the Sultanate to become a nation known to the world to produce an educated, knowledgeable, skilled workforce with an altitudinous quality of life and earn an income per capita equal to the loftiest ten nations in the world,” the imams told the congregants yesterdaty

“We need to produce educators, directors and government officials, propagators, economists, scientists,” the imams continued.

“None of this can be achieved without planting the seeds of the strong love to read (into our people),” the imams added.

For a country to instil this continuous habit of reading in its people, the imams believe it will bear fruitful benefits.

“The primary advantage of instilling a reading culture is that it creates individuals who (will become) key components that can unravel the knowledge that is hidden (within it), which are endless intellectual treasures for humanity,” the imams said.

Alternatively the sermon said that the difference between an individual who constantly reads as opposed to an individual who does not is tremendous.

In other words, they said that through reading, those who read can educate themselves in various aspects.

“From reading we can improve our standard of life, we are capable of standing up and excelling in this world filled with new challenges and advanced technology,” the imams said.

“One of the greatest paths to acquire insightful intelligence is by regularly reading from legitimate and trustworthy sources,” the imams reminded.

The imams hoped that from the power of this knowledge, the congregants may achieve excellence and accord Muslims on the road to success.

Correspondingly, the sermon reminded the congregants at the mosque that they are very fortunate and should feel proud to have a Sultan that deeply cares about promoting the importance of reading to the citizens of Brunei Darussalam especially in His Majesty’s titah.

Ultimately, the sermon reminded Muslims in the country that they should feel blessed because Islam advocates its followers to constantly adopt read, as it benefits the ummah because of its usefulness.

“By reading, we can obtain knowledge that (can) guide (us) in our life in this world and hereafter.”

The Brunei Times