Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is Safa Yousaf, the schools development officer for Amina—the Muslim Women’s Resource Centre.
In the name of God, the most merciful and most kind.
Having a brother who is an MSP at the moment, I have seen at first hand how hectic and difficult the past year has been and the next few months will be. As much as I sympathise with how stressful things must be for you at the moment, I stand here in solidarity with all of your family members, who are probably seeing you less and are complaining that they need to make an appointment with your secretary just to have the pleasure of your company. Or maybe Humza is just trying to avoid us.
When work gets even busier and more stressful, it is important that we take time out to reflect and connect back to our purpose. In Islam, we are given opportunities throughout the day to reconnect through the medium of prayer, taking five to 10 minutes five times a day and proclaiming that God is greater than our work, our family and all the other stresses of our day.
In line with this, perhaps something that we can all practise is to take five to 10 minutes throughout our day to remind ourselves of why we are here, especially when the pressure of work increases.
In the five to 10 minutes that you take out daily, perhaps you can cast your memory back to the moment you were first elected and remind yourself of, and reflect upon, the energy, drive and sense of purpose that you had to make a positive change. Although that passion has hopefully never left you, your daily reflections may well ensure that you remain steadily on the path of serving those who entrusted you with such an honourable position.
In the eyes of Muslims, it is hard to find someone in history who was busier than the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, yet his character and sincerity towards people were flawless and faultless. He made time for his family and upheld his beautiful character despite the stresses that came his way. He never forgot his purpose. Even his enemies struggled to talk negatively about him and—much like Christ Jesus, peace be upon him—he only reciprocated harsh words with kindness. Who knows—perhaps adopting such an approach might make for interesting exchanges in Parliaments around the world!
In the next few months, it is important that we do not lose our sense of purpose and good character. As the Muslim Sufi poet Jalal Ud-Din Rumi said,
“Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.”