Friday Sermon of
Hazrat Amirul Momeneen
Zafrullah Domun

09 JANUARY 2009

At Bait-ul-Rahma Mosque
Les Guibies, Pailles
MAURITUS

After reading the Tashahhud, the Ta’uz and the first chapter of the Holy Quran, Hazrat Amirul Mo’menine, Zafrullah Domun said:

As you are all aware the new Islamic Year has just started. In fact we are in the year 1430 AH. This means that the first year of the 15^th century after Hegira started around thirty years before. Since the 1^st Muharram 1400 corresponds with 22 November 1979, therefore the fifteenth century AH started around 12^th November 1980.

In Jamaat Ahmadiyya in those days it was Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad^ra who was the caliph.  He was the first son of the second caliph, Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad^ra. He was born in 1909 and he was elected caliph on 9^th November 1965 and he died on 8^th June 1982. During his caliphate he made several speeches about the non-coming of Mujaddids in the world anymore as they used to come before. Unfortunately not all his speeches have yet been made available on the net. To the best of my knowledge only one of his speeches entitled “Khilafat and Mujaddadiyyat” has recently been made available in English language. He delivered that speech in the annual khuddam Ijtema of 1977. However there is another speech which he delivered on 27^th October 1968 on the occasion of the Ansarullah Ijtema of Rabwah. This speech is in Urdu and to the best of my knowledge it has not been translated into English or in any other language yet.  It is published in the form of a booklet of about 60 A5 pages and as far as I can remember I brought it from Qadian.

Unfortunately the history of the Jamaat for that period has not been published yet and hence we can only rely on some information that are available to understand what was the background of these speeches. It appears from information that I have gathered from here and there that in the Jamaat there were some persons who were talking and expecting a new Mujaddid despite the presence of the caliph, at the head of the fifteenth century in the light of the hadith: “Allah will raise for this ummat at the head of each century, someone or some persons who would renew His Religion”. The person who was at the centre of this controversy seems to be another son of the second caliph. But since we do not have clear cut writings or evidences about the claims and revelations we cannot say for sure what really happened. But what we can say for sure is that the third caliph made these speeches to counteract the campaign of those who were expecting the appearance of a Mujaddid. I can only wish that the mainstream Jamaat publish some information about that period as soon as possible.

Anyhow officially or unofficially we have not heard that there was anyone who made a claim within the Jamaat that Allah had invested him with the mission to look after His Jamaat or that he has been raised by Allah for any purpose during the caliphate of the third caliph. Since we are not aware of all the events that happened then it is difficult for us to say anything at this stage. But when we read at least these two speeches there are many questions that crop up in our mind. For example how far was the caliph right when he said that since Hazrat Masih Maood^as has said that he is “the Mujaddid of the century and the Mujaddid of the last thousand years” (Lecture Sialkot page 6) therefore no one will appear because Khilafat Rachida is already present within Jamaat Ahmadiyya? Similarly how far was he right when he said that all those who are engaged in the work of propagation of Islam are Mujaddids?  How far was he right when he said that the hadith did not speak about one person but of all those who would be engaged in the revival of religion? These are the relevant questions that a seeker after truth may ask himself on reading the speech that was delivered in 1977.

In the speech of 1968 the third caliph gave some quotations from the book of Hazrat Masih Maood ^as where he said, among other things “Laa Waliyyi baa’di illal lazi howa minni wa ala ahdi”( Khutbah Ilhamiyya Urdu page 35 1^st Edition) which means “there will be no Wali after me except the one who is from me and who has a bond with me”. This sentence speaks clearly that if there is anyone coming after Hazrat Masih Maood ^as that person should have a relationship with the Promised Messiah ^as. In addition at several places in his writings Hazrat Masih Maood ^as has told us that many persons will come from Allah in the future, because the door for the coming of people from Allah will never be closed. Commenting on the sentence where the Promised Messiah said that he is “the Mujaddid of the century and the Mujaddid of the last one thousand years” the third caliph agrees that no one would come but he who is a Zill (shadow) of the Messiah himself.

After thinking and reading and trying to understand the verse about the promise of khilafat namely 24:56, I understand that the verse speaks about all types of khilafat, which in other words is the second Power or Manifestation (Qudrat Sania). I think that all the caliphs of Jamaat Ahmadiyya are included in it to a certain extent but it cannot be exclusively limited to them. Once someone says that he has been raised for the guidance of the members of the Jamaat and hence the world the Jamaat should collaborate and help him in that task. The main reason that I can advance for this is that a direct appointment by Allah has precedence over any appointment by men. Even the person who is the caliph at that time should examine the person’s claims and pronounce himself about them. Hazrat Masih Maood ^as tells us very clearly in Al Wassiyat page 9 “Let the righteous persons of the Jama‘at who have pure souls accept Bai‘at in my name. God Almighty desires to draw all those who live in various habitations of the world, be it Europe or Asia, and who have virtuous nature, to the Unity of God and unite His servants under one Faith. This indeed is the purpose of God for which I have been sent to the world. You, too, therefore should pursue this end, but with kindness, moral probity and fervent prayers. And till that time when someone inspired by God with the Holy Spirit is raised by Him, all of you should work in harmony with one another.”

The last sentence in the above extract gives us a key to understand that the possibility of someone being raised by Allah with a greater degree of the Holy Spirit (ruh ul quds) is still there. Hence the Nizaam Jamaat cannot supplant a prerogative of Allah. If the Messiah has told us that we should all work together till such a person is raised it seems to me that whatever Nizaam is available, prevails until the arrival of that person who has been directly raised by Allah.  If the Jamaat therefore gives more weight to the Nizaam and less to the words of Allah then the Jamaat would be guilty of flouting the verses of the Holy Quran – something that we cannot do with impunity. Therefore those who run the Jamaat should think about what we are saying and take heed. Moreover if they think that what we are saying is wrong they are most welcome to point to us our mistakes. We would be most grateful to them and we will even announce it on our website. The fact is that we have nothing to lose because we are searchers after truth and wherever we find it we will take it. But does the Jamaat have the same attitude or does it want to continue like other age-old institutions to try to enforce its dogmas upon the poor and innocent Ahmadis? Most Ahmadis today understand khilafat as per the ijtehaad of the previous caliphs. Under the circumstances in which they were living and in the light of what they understood these caliphs came to some conclusions. But it does not mean all that what they understood through their reasoning (ijtehaad) was all that could be understood.

Today by the Grace of Allah when I examine the revelations that Allah has been giving me I am bound to conclude that whatever I am receiving is as a zill of Hazrat Masih Maood^as and nothing else because I have been receiving mostly the revelations that he received. Allah knows best. Some persons say that I am outside the Jamaat of Hazrat Masih Maood^as because one of his caliphs excommunicated me. If I believe in Hazrat Masih Maood ^as and I try to live my life according to his teachings and Allah blesses me with His Revelations almost every day, does it matter if a caliph acting on the recommendation of one of his amir should exclude me from the Jamaat?. By the way let me inform you in all humbleness that I have counted all these revelations that I received only during the year 2008 and by the Grace of Allah they are about 400(four hundred) excluding dreams and visions and several revelations that I failed to note. This is Allah’s Grace; He gives it to whomsoever He likes. If the argument that is used to exclude me from Jamaat Ahmadiyya were valid then those who have excluded Jamaat Ahmadiyya International from the worldwide Muslim Community would be right. Why do they not reflect and they repeat parrot like the words of their amir?

Moreover I think that because of our love for this Jamaat that Allah has not left me alone and He has surrounded me with some very sincere friends. Those who said that they were my friends have left and how true the following verses of Hazrat Masih Maood ^as apply:

Dosti kaa dam jo bharte theh wo sab doushman houwey

Par na chora saathe tou neh eh mereh haajat baraar

The translation is “Those who had claimed to be my friends have become my enemies but You never abandoned me in all my moments of dire need, O You My Friend and Helper”

In the past Allah has told me “Maa nansakh min aayatin aw nounseha naateh be khayrim minha aw misleha” and during the past week He has repeated this revelation again. Its meaning is “Whatever message we abrogate or cause to be forgotten we bring one better than that or the like thereof.”(2:107).Its meaning to me is very clear. Whatever Allah is teaching me and I am transmitting to others are far better than what Ahmadis have with them these days.100 years after the death of Hazrat Masih Maood^as, the Jamaat has already shown some  signs of weaknesses due to old age. In order to breathe new vigor in it and also to show the new generation some new signs so that they may perfect their faith Allah has put me here.  Some days back something was troubling me. All of a sudden Allah revealed to me “O children of Adam, if guidance comes to you from Me, he who follows this guidance will not fear nor grieve”. Immediately the cause of my disquiet vanished. But several times in the past Allah has revealed similar messages to me. My understanding of similar messages is that Allah has fulfilled His Promise when He has sent guidance in time of need. Those who accept this message need have neither fear nor grieve for anything at all.

What fear could someone have? Someone may think that if he comes to join me, he will break his relationship with Khilafat. But the fact is that such a person accepts something better in the place of what he had. Similarly he may have fear for his after life. By the Grace of Allah such a fear is unfounded because such a person will meet with someone to whom Allah has said repeatedly “He who pledges allegiance with you pledges allegiance with Allah; the hand of Allah is above their hands”. Is this not better than participating in the ritual of a worldwide bai’at once every year and that also with someone who cannot show that Allah has put him here to accept the bai’at of others? In addition here you will have personal feedback which will help you to progress on the path of spirituality. Hence once you come to join me you will learn so many things that you do not yet know and you will participate in so many activities that will push towards Allah that you will never regret why you have accepted this guidance that has come from Allah.  This is what I understand from “They will have no fear nor will they regret”

Now I will tell you something that you will most probably never read in the English Language. For the centenary Jubilee celebrations the mainstream Jamaat prepared several articles which extended over more than 600 pages in order to help the members around the world to prepare their speeches about Khilafat. These documents have been posted on the web under the title Khilafat Jubilee Maqalaaat. While going trough these documents I came across something very interesting. There was some one in the Jamaat whose name was Agha Mohammad Abdul Azize Farouqi. He was known for his piety and he wrote a book in 1930 entitled “Kawkaboun durriyoune” which means a “glittering star.” On page 4-5 of the book he wrote about one of his visions. He says that he saw the sun arriving at its third stage… suddenly it changed into a bird which had four wings. On the first wing was written “Noor” and on the second one “Mahmood” and on the third one “Nasir uddin” and on the fourth one “Ahleh baït”. This extract is found under the subtitle of “Comments by the Sufis, Awliahs, and commentators … about Khilafat Ahmadiyya”. You may read the whole extract at www.alislam.org/library/ khilafat jubilee maqalaat p194-5.

Now it is fair to say that since the Jamaat has published this extract it wants the members to know how the whole picture of the khilafat was mapped out by Allah since 1930. Therefore the question is if the vision was quite exact for the first three caliphs what could “ahleh baït” means with regards to what happened after the third caliph. I wish someone from the mainstream Jamaat may elaborate on this matter. But as far as I am concerned I may say that my Jamaat and I are the Ahleh bai’at because Allah has used these words in revelations that He has vouchsafed to me. As a matter of fact read my sermon of Friday last 2^nd January 2009 and you will see that I mentioned that Allah gave me the following revelation “rahmatullahe wa barakaatohou alaykoum  ya ahlal ba’it” which means Allah’s Mercy and Blessings upon you oh ye people of the house”. There are one or two others which I will mention on other occasions. Go and check the revelations of Hazrat Masih Maood^as in Tazkira and you will see that Allah revealed these revelations to him also. I have mentioned this vision for all members of the Jamaat to reflect.

In the end I would like to say something about the two recent sermons of the present caliph. In his sermon of 26^th December 2008 he spoke about the need for revelation. He said “The Promised Messiah (as) said that a worldly man believes that his own efforts suffice him to achieve success in all his endeavors, but we must remember that without supplication, there is no success, and what we achieve as a result of this supplication is also a type of revelation. Man should be concerned not only about achieving success in this world, but also in the Hereafter. It is God’s divine law that He sends guidance through His prophets and saintly people.” From this text which I have cut and paste from www.alislam.org  you may notice that the caliph confesses that revelation continues and this is something that we have been saying all along. Yet the caliph, although he may profess this he does not act according to it. He ignores completely the revelations of those who say that Allah has given them a mission within Jamaat Ahmadiyya to which the caliph himself has to submit. Hence we see here that he agrees that revelation is still possible yet he denies it when he is presented with it. Yet another case of preaching what one does not practice.

Then a bit further he says: “Therefore, revelation is a process that continues even today, and the Promised Messiah (as) has been appointed in modern times to revive the teachings of the Holy Quran and instill these teachings by spreading the word far and wide. This mission continues under the umbrella of Khilafat today.”

On the first part of this statement I have nothing to say except to ask the following questions: (1) Please inform us about some of your revelations since as per your saying it still continues today.  The verse 24:56 of the Holy Quran speaks about khilafat. The most important type of khilafat is the direct appointment by Allah. In the presence of such a person  and such a type of khilafat,  all other types of khilafat should submit themselves as I have already explained above.

Similarly the caliph has been telling the Muslim world that Muslims have to solve their differences by making more Darood. My question to him is how he will solve the differences of the Ahmadis. He refuses to confront the issues and keep shuffling the problems of Jamaat Ahmadiyya under the carpet. I say it again that I am ready to talk with anyone who is ready to talk to us about the differences that exist between us and the mainstream Ahmadis. If the caliph is sincere in his declaration of solving the problems of the Umma let him start with the problems that exist within Jamaat Ahmadiyya itself.

May Allah help all of us to tread the right path. May Allah make us all a source of guidance for others and that we never deceive any one incha Allah.