Friday Sermon of
Hazrat Amirul Momeneen
Zafrullah Domun

12 June 2009

FRIDAY SERMON

 12^th June 2009

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

“Yaa ayyohallazina aamanou lema taqoulouna maa laa taf’aloune

Kabora maqtan indallahi an taqoulou maa laa taf’aloune”

He then gave its translation as follows:

“O ye who believe why do you say what you do not?

It is most hateful in the sight of Allah that you say what you do not.”(61:3,4)

These are two very simple verses of the Holy Quran. One needs not be a scholar to understand their meanings. The meaning is crystal clear. Addressing all the believers Allah tells us that we should always match our deeds with our words. Under no circumstance should we say something and do something else. There should be a harmony between what we say with our mouth and what we do. Hence in all circumstances of life we should show that our deeds are in consonance with our words. Allah says that it is “kabora maqtan” in His Sight that we do not practice what we profess. These two Arabic words ““kabora maqtan” means “extremely hateful”. In other words Allah does not at all approve that as believers we should profess to do something but we do not do it. Let me give you some simple examples.

As an Ahmadi Muslim we have professed that we will lead a life that will be based on the teachings of the Holy Quran as exemplified by our beloved prophet Mohammad^saw. We have declared when taking the oath of allegiance that we will do our best to fulfill the ten conditions of our bait as explained to us by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as. But when in our daily life we ignore these teachings knowingly we will fall under what is being said in the above two verses. How many Ahmadis see to it that they do not speak any lie in any day? How many Ahmadis strive to pray five times daily? How many Ahmadis strive to increase their religious knowledge by reading the Holy Quran every day? How many Ahmadis think about their deeds and try to improve themselves? How many Ahmadis make it a duty not to harm Allah’s creatures particularly other Ahmadi brothers or sisters? How many Ahmadis strive to refrain from backbiting others? How many Ahmadis really give preference to their religion rather than to the world? How many Ahmadis really give preference to the comfort of others rather than to their own? I can go on with a long list of questions. But the point is just to help you to reflect about these small questions so that you might not fall under the category of people who “say what they do not” and consequently they incur the displeasure of Allah. Most Ahmadis will agree that a great majority of Ahmadis these days are not matching what they profess with what they practice. And that is a great cause of concern.

It is indeed a cause of concern because if Ahmadis do not put into practice the teachings of the Holy Quran who would indeed come forward to practice them as they should be practiced? Allah has been really benignant towards all those who have joined Jamaat Ahmadiyya by associating them with a person whom He blessed with some particular blessings and above everything a better understanding of the Holy Quran than all his contemporaries. Now if we forget these spiritual blessings, we will indeed incur the displeasure of Allah.

During the past year the worldwide Ahmadiyya Jamaat, around the world celebrated the hundredth year of their institution of khilafat. Even in Mauritius such celebrations have taken place. Recently I got the opportunity of seeing a twenty three minutes DVD prepared by the International Jamaat. It contains a series of declarations made by worldly personalities around the world praising Jamaat Ahmadiyya for what it has done as service to others. No one can deny that in some African countries the Jamaat has done much in the field of education and health to uplift the condition of the people. In addition the early missionaries that were sent from Qadian to Africa faced lots of odds to establish the Jamaat in countries like Ghana, Nigeria and several other countries including Mauritius. The sacrifice of these early pioneers can never be underestimated. These people are worthy of real praise and we will never talk enough about them. Their memory lives on for generations and generations of Ahmadis to come.

However in this DVD, what I noticed particularly was that at several places, several personalities mentioned the motto of the Jamaat “Love for all and hatred for none”. Some even went so far as to say that this motto was really a praiseworthy motto. We all know that when personalities attend our functions most of them are given briefs for their speeches. When they speak they give the impression that they are well aware of the Jamaat and its activities. But the truth is that their speeches are prepared in advance following information given to them by the Jamaat itself. Of course they add their personal touch. But the speeches of these personalities who are usually mostly politicians are declarations empty of real meanings. Yet they serve a purpose, namely they are good captions for Jamaat’s magazines, newspapers and even books and they are useful as media clips. All politicians around the world serve only one purpose that is, themselves. So wherever they speak they think first of the vote bank and how it will serve their purpose. So it is in USA or England and also Mauritius. All politicians are very skilled in telling their audiences what they want to hear. Hence most of them praise the Jamaat whenever they attend the Jamaat’s functions.

Now let me tell you something about the motto: “Love for all hatred for none”. This sentence was never originally coined by Jamaat Ahmadiyya. The fact is that Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad^ra adopted this sentence as a motto for the Jamaat.

To the best of my knowledge this sentence was first adopted by Hazrat Moinuddin Chisti somewhere in the 12^th Century. Of course since it is reported that the Holy Prophet^saw has said that “A word of wisdom is the lost property of a believer; wherever he finds it he has more right to it” this sentence is not the exclusive property of any one. Therefore anyone can adopt it as its motto and strive to live one’s life according to it. I do not recall if the third caliph ever spoke about its origin but I think that he was well intentioned in adopting it as the motto for the Jamaat. Unfortunately despite all the publicity that the Jamaat Ahmadiyya International is getting because of this sentence yet, we, people of the inside, know quite well that the Jamaat as a whole falls short in living this ideal. The attitude of the Jamaat with its own people has made this highly spiritual message an empty slogan. Jamaat Ahmadiyya mainstream wherever it is whether in Pakistan, England , Canada or even Germany is thoroughly inadequate in dealing with those who do not follow the official line or those who may question some doctrines. As soon as someone says something that is contrary to the official line he is dubbed a rebel whose punishment should be social boycott, and nothing else. All relationship should be broken with that person; he should not be invited in any function. The Jamaat despite the fact that it claims to know Truth will adopt the policy of ignoring all those who question what it does and will even refuse to par words with them. Such is the inadequacy of the Jamaat these days that it takes refuge in the lame duck excuse that these dissidents cannot harm us at all because we are under the protection of Allah. What is worse is that those who are most ignorant of the Jamaat’s teachings are most eager to apply boycott as the infamous, fanatical, religious zealots who have tarnished the history of religion in all ages.

Some persons in Mauritius very often try to exculpate the caliph’s responsibility in these unislamic measures. To prove what I am saying let me quote to you from a circular letter dated 26^th May 2004 which is addressed to the Amir of Mauritius and which is signed by Ch, Hameedullah, Vakil Ala, Tahrik Jadid Anjuman Ahmadiyya Pakistan. It says:

“With reference to my circular dated Feb 21, 2004, in which I have conveyed the following instruction of Hadrat Khalifatul Masih V aba that Some members of the Jamaat invite those who have been penalized by the Jamaat in their social and other functions. This should never be done. Being on speaking terms is one thing, but to cultivate social relationship with them is quite another. Such people are not to be completely boycotted, but it is important to make them feel our displeasure, or else they will never come to realize their error. Not only are their contributions like Chanda etc, not to be accepted, they should also not be invited to participate in social gatherings so that they may feel remorse for their wrong doings and repent and offer istighfaar....”

Here you see the highest officer of the International Ahmadiyya Jamaat sending instructions around the world confirming the directives of his master who tours the world to tell others how its Jamaat has adopted as motto a Sufi precept “Love for all hatred for none”. The above extract speaks volumes on the attitude of Jamaat Ahmadiyya Mainstream. It becomes as clear as daybreak that the Jamaat does not practice what it preaches and this is quite hateful in the eyes of Allah however much the politicians may approve!

As I have told you Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad^ra chose this motto for the Jamaat most surely to emphasize its spiritual meanings. No one will argue against that. But these days also it is the duty of every Ahmadi worthy of that name to lead his life in pursuance of the ideal presented in that motto. But it is really unworthy of any Ahmadi who really understands the purpose of Jamaat Ahmadiyya to act against this motto. Those who want and who revel in going against this motto should adopt as their motto “Love for All and hatred for some” instead of for none. That will suit best the present-day Ahmadis because this is how they have been behaving recently.

It is only spirituality that increases a man or a woman’s capacity to have an all encompassing love for all people. As long as we have not developed our spiritual being we cannot do this. Giving a few thousand rupees or pounds in imitation of others in charity walks is totally insufficient for an Ahmadi. The true Ahmadi who wants to live a life that was the vision, the ideal of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as should strive first of all to extricate from his heart hate, lust and anger and mistrust and die to his ego if he really wants to be someone who has accepted Ahmadiyyat. Without an adequate will to purify one’s self and to become a harmless human being in whom the attributes of Allah are manifest, one is nothing despite all one’s achievements.

At times I really cannot understand how Jamaat Ahmadiyya could show another face to the world and a different one to its own people. From the teachings of the Holy Quran and the teachings of the Holy Prophet Mohammad^saw and the clear teachings of Hazrat Masih Maood^as, it is evident that inside and outside should be one. How come the Jamaat acts in this way is difficult for me to understand. But at the same time when we see that they are drifting from the teachings of the Holy Quran, they cannot but act in this unislamic way. They project an image which is not a reflection of reality. This is what has been done with the number of Ahmadis in the world. Those who are inside know quite well that the figure has been inflated but these lies are issued by those who possess authority and they spread around the world without any verification. I think that were Jamaat Ahmadiyya International worthy of its own salt it would have corrected all these erroneous figures about the number of Ahmadis who have joined the Jamaat in the last 16 years.

I sincerely pray and wish that those who are at the head in the Jamaat understand on time how our misrepresentation of the real facts about us might harm us in the future. The future does not necessarily mean our future on earth but rather our future in the hereafter. May Allah help each one of us to stick to what is true whatever the circumstances incha Allah.