Agra: Khateeb Muhammad Iqbal of Masjid Nahar Wali, Sikandra, emphasized in his Friday sermon the importance for Muslims to stay informed about their Islamic history and the Hijri calendar. He stated that forgetting one’s identity and history is the beginning of the decline of any nation.
Khateeb Muhammad Iqbal recalled an incident from 1957, saying that a well-known historian had gone on a trip to a neighboring country. After a seminar, a famous local author and government official asked him for an autograph. The historian signed it and, smiling, asked:
“I also want to write the Hijri date… can you tell me what Hijri date it is today?”
The host felt embarrassed upon hearing this. The historian himself wrote the date and said:
“Those who forget their dates, how will they make new ones? History is not made by talking; it is made through action.”
Muhammad Iqbal expressed regret, saying that even seventy years later, the situation has not changed. Most Muslims today still do not know the current Hijri date. He said:
“Forgetting your own dates is a kind of sin. When you forget history, history forgets you.”
“No matter how glorious our past was, the real question is what we are doing today.”
“A nation that does not follow the teachings of its Prophet ﷺ has no stature in its own time, and faces humiliation in both this world and the Hereafter.”
He urged the people to stay updated with knowledge of Deen and history themselves and to educate their children about it as well.
In conclusion, he prayed:
“May Allah Almighty grant us true understanding and wisdom. Ameen, Ya Rabbul Alameen.”
