Letter to the President

Please use one of the drafts.

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To
His Excellency,, The President of Republic of Sri Lanka,

Your Excellency,

Historically,  we as Muslims of Sri Lanka has been living peacefully side by side with all other communities, helping each other & supporting each other particularly at times of foreign invasion & occupation, over the past 1000 years. Muslims has always remained as peace loving, helpful & harmless community.

Presently we are at a crossroad facing a major challenge of Corona Virus, Covid- 19,in the whole world and at a time like this we need to work together to eradicate the alien virus. The effort & precaution made by the government of Sri Lanka, under the able leadership of Your Excellency Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is highly commendable & appreciated. We, the Sri Lankan Muslims, living abroad thank you from  bottom of our hearts and urge all  to unite in defeating the alien virus with utmost care & dedication.

It is please to note, when majority of the countries with multi nationals, multi cultures & multi ethnicity, have respected the final rights of a deceased, it is very regretting that our motherland Sri Lanka, known as ‘the paradise of the east’, with very tolerant people have been forced to cremate the dead bodies against the wishes & faith of the Muslims. It is also against the guidelines set by the World Health Organization.

We are sure Your Excellency is aware that Islam does not allow the dead bodies to be burned, all human being live according to their faith in his religion & dies on that. Hence it is his right that his funeral rights to be conducted as per their faith & wish of their close relatives, which we are sure your Excellency will never overlook.
The Sri Lankan Muslim expatriates once again appreciate Your Excellency’s performance of  setting an example for the rest of the world, the anti virus campaign & efforts, creating safe & healthy environment in controlling the spread of the virus and request Your Excellency,  also to show rest of the world that Sri Lanka is a nation of high calibre & tolerant in respecting the sentiments & values.

Hence we as Muslims, adhering to guidance of the Holy Quran & the way shown by Prophet Muhammad ( peace be upon him), kindly request Your Excellency to kindly consider the plea of the Muslims in granting the burial of the bodies of Muslims who die from Corona Virus respectfully instead of cremating, as per Quran it says ‘From earth We created you, and into it We shall return you, and from it We shall bring you out once again.’ (Verse 55, Surah 20)

We pray to God Almighty to protect the entire Humanity in general and Sri Lankans in particular, from the Corona Covid 19, catastrophe & bless us with peaceful, prosperous, healthy & harmonious life & to attain the endless bliss.

May Lord bless Your Excellency and our country

E mail:  [email protected]

Presidential Secretariat
Galle Face
Colombo 1
Sri Lanka

 +94 (0) 112354354
 +94 (0) 11 2340340

[email protected]

or

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To
His Excellency
The President of the Republic of Sri Lanka,

May It Please Your Excellency,

Historically, we as Muslims of this Dhamma Deepa, Sri Lanka have been living peacefully together side by side as one Sri Lankan community, helping, supporting in a spirit of brotherhood and fellow feeling, particularly at times of foreign invasion and occupation, for over the past 1000 years or more. Muslims have always been and remained as a peace loving, helpful & harmless community. Our honest and upright conduct are not mere matters of policy or convenience: all our life in this world must be lived as in the presence of God.

Presently we are at a crossroad, facing a major global challenge of the pandemic Corona Virus, Covid- 19, a monstrous disease, spread all over the whole world, and, at a time like this, we need to work together unitedly eschewing political, religious and ethnic differences to work with one mind set to eradicate this alien virus.

The effort and the precautionary measures and guidelines made and prepared to overcome this tragic phase of human life by the Government of Sri Lanka, under the able guidance and leadership of Your Excellency is highly commendable and appreciated by every citizen. We, the Sri Lankan Muslims, living abroad thank you Your Excellency, from bottom of our hearts and urge that you be so disposed as to kindly use your good offices to unite all in defeating this dreaded alien virus with utmost care & dedication of the well being of the people and country.

It is very sad to note, that, when the majority of the countries with multi nationals, multi cultures & multi ethnicity, have respected the final rights of a deceased, it is very regrettable that our motherland Sri Lanka, known as ‘the paradise of the east’ with very tolerant, hospitable, sympathetic and compassionate people majority of whom are Buddhists following the Great Teachings of Lord Buddha; Pure Dhamma: to recover Buddha’s True Teachings: have been forced to cremate the dead bodies of those human beings against the wishes and faith of their religion ISLAM, is most reprehensible. It is also against the guidelines set by the World Health Organization. True knowledge is with God alone, we are not to dispute on matters of conjecture, but rely on truth that comes from God.

The man who piles up wealth and is puffed up with this world’s goods despising those otherwise endowed, will come to an evil end. For his hopes were not built on GOD. “Sabbapapassaakaranan, Kusalassaupasampada, Sacittapariyodapanan, EtamBuddhanasanan” “Discard all that is immoral, what should not be done, Take in what is moral by sorting out “SAN”, Do this by controlling one’s own thoughts (MIND) That is the doctrine of Lord BUDDHA”

We are sure Your Excellency is aware that Islam does not allow the their dead to be burned or cremated unless in a unavoidable tragedy, all human beings live according to their faiths of his/her religion dies on that belief that their last rites will be carried in that manner according to his/her belief. Hence it is his/her right that his/her funeral rites be conducted as per their faith and last wishes by their close relatives friends and community which we are sure Your Excellency will never overlook or avoid as Your Excellency is the PRESIDENT of the entire nation and people irrespective of their religion or ethnicity and it is your noble duty to safeguard their rights and practices impartially and independently.

The Sri Lankan Muslim expatriates once again offer their humble appreciation and heartfelt thanks toYour Excellency’s performance of setting an example for the rest of the world, by personally monitoring the anti virus campaign & efforts, creating safe and healthy environment for the people by controlling the spread of this dreaded virus. We humbly request Your Excellency, to show the rest of the world that Sri Lanka is a nation of high caliber and tolerant nation in respecting the sentiments and values of other communities and religions as a united nation of SRI LANKANS.

Hence we as Muslims, always adhere to the guidance of the Holy Quran and its teachings, the way shown by our beloved Holy Prophet Muhammad ( peace be upon him), request Your Excellency to kindly consider the plea of the Muslims in granting the burial rites of those dead, from Corona Virus respectfully instead of cremating, by issuing a Gazette Notification accordingly. The Quran explicitly indicates, that from dust you were created and to dust you shall return and you will be brought out again from it on the Day of Judgement.’ (Verse 55, Surah 20)

We pray and invoke the benign blessings of the Almighty Allah to protect, safeguard and guide the entire Humanity in general and Sri Lankans in particular, from the Corona Covid 19, catastrophe and our Motherland Sri Lanka for a peaceful, prosperous, healthy & harmonious environment and to attain the endless bliss.

May God bless Your Excellency and our beloved country SRI LANKA.

Email: [email protected]

Presidential Secretariat
Galle Face
Colombo 1
Sri Lanka

+94 (0) 112354354
+94 (0) 11 2340340

[email protected]