After reciting the Tashahhud, the Ta’uz and the first chapter Al Fatiha of the Holy Quran, Imam Zafrullah Domun said:

In one of my previous sermon I spoke about the significance of bai’at and I said that I will explain this matter in more detail in my coming sermons. We Ahmadi Muslims have been brought up with the belief that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as is the Promised Messiah and Mahdi in the umma of the Holy Prophet Mohammad^saw. By the Grace of Allah, as far as members of Jamaat Ahmadiyya Al Mouslemeen are concerned we believe that according to the writings of Hazrat Masih Maood^as and the verses of the Holy Quran Messiahs, Imams or even Messengers from Allah will continue to come to guide the umma of the Holy Prophet Mohammad^saw whenever Allah decides to send them. Unfortunately the mainstream Jamaat Ahmadiyya does not agree with us on this matter. They think that the system of khilafat as understood by them is here to guide the umma and so they categorically deny anyone who says that he receives revelations from Allah and that Allah may appoint such a one as a guide for the righteous.

In our writings and sermons we have amply spoken about this matter. But Jamaat Ahmadiyya mainstream has adamantly buried its head in the sand and refused to acknowledge the possibility of anyone coming from Allah. Their silence on this matter amply shows how uncomfortable is the situation in which they find themselves these days. They have distorted the teachings of the Promised Messiah just as the Muslims as a whole have done with the teachings of the Holy prophet Mohammad^saw. Although Jamaat Ahmadiyya acknowledges that Allah still speaks and will continue to speak with His chosen servants yet they refuse to acknowledge these servants of Allah when they make their appearance under the command of Allah.

In many places in his writings Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ^as has told us that those who are sincere in their bai’at and try to follow on all the instructions given Allah will award them with the rewards the He gave pious people before them. We, members of Jamaat Ahamdiyya al Mouslemeen should do our best to be in that category of the followers of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ^as who show utmost sincerity and loyalty to his teachings. If , God forbidding our behavior privately and publicly does not conform to what is expected of us by Allah then all our efforts will be in vain. I am here particularly addressing myself to our young ones so that they do their best to have a behavior which will honour the group to which they belong. Under no circumstance should they get involved in such behavior that might shame our Jamaat or the teachings which we sincerely want to spread around the world.

Since the Jummah is an occasion where we can remind ourselves of the basic teachings of Islam, this is the reason that I speak about these matters in the Jummah sermon. Members should know that our Jamaat has been created not because we wanted to rival the mainstream Jamaat. No our Jamaat is here by Allah’s permission to keep the Promised Messiah’s teachings alive. As far as we are concerned we do not inflict any harm or misbehave towards anyone out of mischief. We are here to practice a liberal view of Islam that condemns sectarianism, bigotry and blind obedience to instructions which are obnoxious to human reason. The Islam that we practice is one that ennobles the human soul. It is an Islam that aims at bringing the best out of its adherents. It is not the Islam that is being practiced by the majority of Ahmadis which seeks to harm, boycott and ostracize those who differ with their interpretation of Islam. They practice the Islam that excludes even though they might declare that they want to include. As far as we are concerned we can genuinely rub shoulders with all types of people without discriminating against anyone because of his beliefs or colour or sex. By the Grace of Allah we are convinced of our beliefs. But we are still open to discuss these beliefs with others in order to deepen understanding or to abandon them if they are proved to be false.

Furthermore in conformity with our teachings we understand that moral perfection may be accomplished while living in the society of men and by trying to improve oneself under the guidance of someone who is mandated by Allah for this purpose. Once we are convinced that someone is a divine appointee within the umma of the Holy Prophet Mohammad ^saw we should always be ready to help such a person to accomplish his mission. To begin with we take an oath of fealty with him and strive to live according to all the directives that he might prescribe.  Now I will read to you an extract from the writings of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as  where he tells us which type of person we should try to become. Some of the words may be a repetition of what I might have said in some previous sermon. Anyhow ponder over this extract and try to get into its inner meanings. He says:

“First, cultivate humility, straightforwardness and sincerity, and become truly meek and submissive and lowly, for every seed of good and ill first sprouts in the heart. If your heart is empty of evil, your tongue will also be empty of evil and so will be your eyes and all your limbs. Every light and darkness takes birth initially in the heart and gradually envelops the whole body. So keep your hearts under constant scrutiny. Just as an eater of betel leaves constantly rotates the leaves and snips off their rotten parts and throws them away, in the same way, you should keep rotating before your mind’s eye the secret thoughts and habits and passions and hidden capacities of your hearts, and whenever you encounter a rotten thought or habit or capacity, snip it off and throw it out lest it should pollute your whole heart and you may then be cut off.

Having done that, strive, and supplicate to God Almighty for strength and courage, that your limbs and all your faculties may become the means for the manifestation of pure intentions and thoughts and passions and your heart’s desires, so that your good actions may attain perfection. For that which springs up in the heart and remains confined to the heart will not lead you to any worthy status. Establish the greatness of God Almighty in your hearts and keep His Glory before your eyes. Remember that there are approximately five hundred commandments in the Holy Qur’an. God has prepared a spiritual banquet for you with reference to your every limb, faculty, form, age, every stage of your intelligence, your nature, your effort in His path, and your individual and collective conditions. Accept the invitation to this banquet with gratitude and eat of all the dishes that have been prepared for you and derive benefit from all. I tell you truly that he who evades a single one of these commandments will be accountable on the Day of Judgment. If you seek salvation, adopt the ways of the humble and carry the yoke of the Holy Qur’an with meekness. The wicked will be ruined and the rebellious will be hurled into hell. But he who bends his neck humbly will be saved from death. Do not worship God Almighty on the condition of worldly benefits, for there is a pitfall in the way of such thinking. Worship Him in the conviction that it is an obligation which you owe to your Creator. Worship of God should become your very life, and the purpose of your good deeds should be that the true Beloved and the true Benefactor may be pleased with you, for anything less is a stumbling block. God is a great wealth. To find Him you should be ready to encounter misfortune. He is a great purpose. To achieve it, be ready to lay down your lives. Dear ones! do not slight the commandments of God Almighty. Let not the poison of current philosophy affect you. Submit to His commandments like a child. Be constant in Prayer; be constant in Prayer, for Prayer is the key to all good fortune. Do not stand up in Prayer as if you are performing a ceremony. As you make Wudu’ [physical ablution] in preparation for Prayer, so perform an inner ablution whereby you should wash out from your mind and body all thoughts beside that of Allah. Then stand up in Prayer after both these purifying ablutions, and supplicate intensively in the course of your Prayer and make crying and weeping your habit so that you may be shown mercy. Be truthful; be truthful, for He is observing the condition of your hearts. Can man deceive Him? Can cunning devices be of any avail against Him? Greatly unfortunate is the person who carries his disobedience to a degree as if there was no God. Such a one is destroyed quickly and God Almighty cares not at all for him. Dear ones! the bare logic of this world is a Satan and the hollow philosophy of this world is an Iblis [Satan personified] who reduces the light of faith and renders a person unduly daring, and carries him to near atheism. Safeguard yourselves against Satan and develop a heart which is poor and meek. Obey the commandments without whys or wherefores, as a child obeys its mother. The teachings of the Holy Qur’an are designed to carry you to the highest stage of righteousness. Lend ear to them and conform yourselves with them. Unlike the Bible, the Holy Qur’an does not teach that you should not look at a woman—or others who can arouse the lustful passions like women—with a lustful eye. The object of Islam’s perfect teaching is that you should not look needlessly at a woman who is not related to you, either with lust or without lust. You should shut your eyes so that you may not stumble and the purity of your heart may not be affected. Remember well this commandment of your Lord and safeguard yourselves against the adultery of the eyes and be fearful of the wrath of the One Whose wrath can destroy in an instant. The Holy Qur’an also prescribes that you should safeguard your ears against listening to any discourse concerning women outside the prohibited degree and also against every discourse that is otherwise improper. It is not necessary for me to admonish you not to commit murder for no one except a wholly wicked person advances towards murder. But I do admonish you that you should not insist upon injustice and thus slay the truth. Accept the truth even if it should proceed from a child. If you find your opponent uttering the truth then immediately give up your dry logic. Adhere to the truth and bear true witness. God the Glorious, says: Shun the abomination of idols and shun all words of falsehood, because falsehood is no less than an idol. That which turns you away from the Kiblah of truth is an idol in your path. Bear true witness even if it should be against your fathers or brothers or friends. Let no enmity prevent you from doing justice Give up all miserliness, rancor, jealousy, ill-will and coldness and be united. There are two main commandments of the Holy Qur’an: One is to acknowledge the Unity of God and to render love and obedience to Him, hallowed be His name; the second is sympathy with your brethren and with the whole of mankind.”

The above extract is taken from the book “Izala Awhaam” which may be translated as “Removal of Doubts”. So these are the teachings. Now watch our friends from the other side and ask them how true they are to these teachings. They will lower their head in humility not to say humiliation because they know that they have fallen far away from this standard of behavior. But since they have become masters in saying something and doing something else one should not wonder if their behavior has nothing to do with what was taught to them. More on this matter incha Allah next week.