Enjoining

Now we can all do good things,

but there are all sorts of good things that are made much harder to do,

if not impossible

on our own.

Like lifting a stretcher,

it's always easier when you've got someone on the other end.

And there are other things where even two is not enough,

where you need a team

working together,

like mountain rescue, or the coast guard.

And there are some games you can play alone,

but from chess to online games,

it tends to be more fun with company.

And when you are doing good,

and you are enjoying doing good along with friends,

that is when you can feel what life is all about,

finding ways to do good together.

In the same way,

changing a community for the good

is best done when the whole community are doing it together,

working together with a shared intention.

In the Sala

we stand shoulder to shoulder

and move as one,

a reminder of the power of togetherness.

The perfect team needs everyone to be trying to do the same thing,

and one person trying to get everyone to go a different way

can make things so much harder for everybody else,

and can even make things impossible.

They say that one bad apple can ruin a full barrel,

the rottenness spreading outwards

from one apple to another.

That is why a muslim community has to persuade all involved to follow the common good,

in the fairest manner

encouraging each other to restrain their hands from doing evil,

and guiding each other to what is good for all.

This is the way to justice,

and also friendship.