After reciting, Tashahhud , Ta'uz and chapter Al Fatiha of the Holy Quran, Hazrat Amirul Mo'menine Zafrullah Domun said:
Last week I started speaking about the spiritual path. We Ahmadis have been blessed that Allah sent us Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) a spiritual guide par excellence. We believe that he was the Promised Messiah and Mahdi whose advent was prophesized by the Holy Prophet (saw) about fourteen hundred years earlier. By the grace of Allah, in his writings and his sayings he has explained to us in detail what is the spiritual path and what should we do to attain it. This is the most important objective that any Ahmadi who declares himself to be his true follower should always bear in mind. Any objective which falls short of this one is irrelevant.
At many places in his writings he has advised us to be sincere and true followers of the path that will lead to Allah. In addition he has also cautioned us by saying we should beware lest we become victims of two curses, that is the curse of man and that of Allah. He said that people will always say that we are not Muslims but we should beware lest in the sight of Allah, through our unislamic behavior, we are really deemed not to be good Muslims. In fact, when we see the behavior of some Ahmadis these days, we wonder where have all the noble teachings of the Promised Messiah gone. Anyhow this is another story.
Those who are familiar with the books of the Promised Messiah cannot fail to appreciate that his speech at the conference of religions in 1896 in Lahore was a masterpiece of spiritual lore. This speech was later on published in book form under the English title “Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam”. In the chapter where he speaks about “the physical, moral and spiritual states of man” he has mapped out in minute details how man goes from a state of being like an animal and he becomes a spiritual person and fulfills the object of his life. Any Ahmadi who wants to tread the spiritual path should read and re-read this book so that he might know how he should undertake this journey towards Allah. Even a cursory reading of that book will point out to an open Ahmadi mind the vistas of knowledge that lie in front of any seeker after truth.
The life of the Promised Messiah is an open book to all of us. He knew and was well aware of his importance for the community. That is why before his death he said that when he would be gone Allah will send the second manifestation (Quadrat e Sania). The position of the Jamaat Establishment is that by Quadrat e Sania he meant khilafat as we know it within Jamaat Ahmadiyya . We say that this interpretation is very narrow and we have amply spoken about this in my previous sermons. We say that the Promised Messiah also said that Allah will continue to send guides, reformers and even Messiahs in this Jamaat until qiyamah. To this effect there are many quotations that can be provided. Unfortunately despite the weight of evidences to the contrary, the mainstream Jamaat rejects this interpretation and adamantly clings to the erroneous belief that their interpretation of khilafat will go on until the end of time.
But Allah will not let the believers on a static position. He is ever ready to provide them with the wherewithal to fulfill the objective of their existence. He guides these people through revelations from Himself and pushes these people forward to call the people towards Him. In order not to fall into the trap of false Messiahs or prophets, the Promised Messiah has given us another booklet “The need for the Imam” in which he has spelled out the necessary qualities of an Imam of the time. Anyone who reads this booklet will find it easy to distinguish a true and a false claimant. So I suggest that those who want to be properly guided should read that booklet also. Then they will be properly armed to analyze the validity of the claims of different claimants, incha Allah.
In the Islamic tradition anyone who comes forward with a claim that he is from Allah will have to be examined on the merits of his claim. Some persons may think that they have the mission that they have to guide others but unfortunately they themselves need guidance because they do not have all the necessary knowledge and qualities to act as a spiritual guide to others. In Islamic literature there are many persons besides Hazrat Masih Maood who have written about the necessary qualities of a guide. Here is what Imam Ghazzali says on this matter:
“The heir of Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) who is made one's Shaykh (spiritual guide) should be a scholar but every scholar cannot be a Shaykh al-Kamil (a perfected spiritual guide). For this work [of guiding people spiritually by purifying their souls and helping them progress with their souls in the Way of Allah] only that person can be qualified who has some specific qualities.
Here we briefly narrate some [such] qualities so that every nut head (crazy) and misguided person could not claim to be a Shaykh (spiritual guide) [as it is necessary to define these qualities due to the presence of a large number of fake impersonators claiming to be Shaykh s whose sole purpose is to deceive people to gain material benefits thus causing great damage to this important aspect of Islam by disillusioning people and misguiding many].
I say this that only that person can be a Shaykh (spiritual guide) who after having turned his/her face away from the love of the world, [love of] honor, and [love of worldly] ranks, has given the Bay'a (a way of promising Allah on the hand of a Shaykh to turn away from evil inwardly and outwardly and to excel utmost in the Path of God by obeying God's commandment, staying away from His prohibitions, and struggling with one's soul to excel oneself in the Path of God by purifying one's soul seeking God's nearness and approval) to a perfected spiritual guide [who in turn has given the Bay'a to his perfected spiritual guide and so on] so that this [spiritual] chain [in this way] goes back all the way to the Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
This person must have done all kinds of Riazat/Mujahada [spiritual struggles] and has obeyed every commandment of Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). This person must eat less, sleep less, prays more (performs prescribed five daily prayers along with optional prayers), fasts more, and does a lot of spending [in the Way of God] and charity. This person should have in his/her temperament (inner and outer personality) all good moral qualities and patience, gratitude, certitude [in Allah], generosity, contentment, trustworthiness, tolerance, seriousness [of purpose in life], humility, obedience [to Allah], truthfulness, shyness (modesty, reserve, fear of wrongdoing), dignity (an aura of honor and respect), tranquility, and other qualities like these should be a part of his character and conduct. This person should have acquired a light (illumination) from the lights (illuminations) of Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) so that all evil qualities like miserliness, jealousy, enmity, expectations from the world [and its inhabitants], anger, rebellion, etc., have been eliminated from him and he should not be dependent on anyone for knowledge except for that knowledge which we [specifically] obtain from the Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
These [above] mentioned qualities, among some qualities of perfected spiritual guides and leaders who lead spiritually on the Path of God, are capable of making one a deputy/heir of the Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Following such spiritual guides is the correct way. (From Ayyohal Walad )
This is a booklet of about 40 pages. Its title translation is “O my son”. It was written in the form of advice to a young person. It is a very interesting booklet. You should try to read it. It is available on the net. Now I will tell you about a story in “Masnavi” of Maulana Rumi about a rat which thought it could guide a camel. You take your own conclusions. The story is as follows:
“Once a mouse took hold of the reins of a camel and tried to run away with him. The camel seeing the foolishness of the mouse became submissive and relaxed. Wherever the mouse led him, the camel followed meekly, like. a slave obedient to his master. They went along until they came to a river where the mouse lost its presence of mind and came to a standstill. He started thinking that up to that moment he had led an. animal of great size and up to now had enjoyed the honour of having made the camel submissive to him. But now that they have come to the river, how can he lead him through that? While thinking he came to a standstill. "The mouse remained standing there and became dried up.”
The camel asked him:
"O My Companion over mountains and forests.
Why this hesitation and why this perplexity?
Take courage and step into the river".
The mouse answered: "I am afraid of being drowned".
The camel replied: "Let me see how deep the water is and whether you will drown or not ".He placed one leg into the water and then said: "O Mouse, My Sheikh, My Guide. The water is only up to my knee. So proceed leading me through".
The mouse replied: "The water only reaches up to your knee. That is so many times over my head. There is a big difference between your leg and mine".
The camel said: "Please do not become rude and insulting. Come straight into' the water and guide me along. Up to now you used to be very proud of having led me and you acquired great honour through that. 0 you foolish one, I allowed myself to be led along by you, so that your foolishness may become so increased and manifest. "
The mouse replied: "For me to enter the water will be my destruction. I am repenting. Please pardon me. After this I shall not even think about becoming your leader and your Sheikh".
He said:
"For Allah's sake have I repented of my sins. Kindly save me from the dangerous waters".
The camel, on hearing of the repentance of the mouse, felt sorry for him and said: "All right. Come and sit upon the hump of my back. Another hundred mice like yourself can sit upon my back and with safety cross over the water.”
Remain a subject if Allah did not make you a ruler.
And do not sail in a boat if, you did not learn sailing.
And grant your copper to the men of chemistry
So that they, through your company with them, can change you to gold".
(In other words through keeping the company of the righteous saints of Allah you will derive benefit from them, bringing about changes for the better).
"If you are like a stone, senseless, deprived of the fear of the hereafter, seek the company of a saint and become changed into a pearl. And refrain from criticizing the saints and from accusing the Shah of theft, For what need has the Shah of stealing?"
What can we learn from this story?
The saints of Allah carry a precious treasure within themselves. In their sight the whole world is insignificant and worthless, because their hearts have become joined to the Creator of this world. Hence, do not underestimate them and do not compare your nights and days with theirs. Do not become deceived by your worldly dignity and honour like that mouse was deceived. If ever you should consider yourself superior to the saintly ones then, you will become humiliated and deprived of good.
In the end you, like the mouse, you too will have to sit upon their backs, with the purpose of crossing over to safety, and like the mouse you too will have to repent.
Hence, from the first day remove from your mind the love of splendour of this world, worldly honour, worldly wealth, esoteric knowledge and soulless actions. Remove these loves from your mind and form a sincere contact with some saint of Allah. Within a few days you will come to know and you will swear what abundance of benefit it has brought to you. (Use worldly wealth. Do not love it more than Allah and his Rasool ).
As Hazrat Khawaja Majzoob (R.A.) said in respect of his Sheikh:
"You effaced the effects of the idols and you enabled me to witness the grandeur of Allah. You transformed my eyes into such eyes that can see the reality and turned my heart into one that can perceive the greatness of the Creator
My heart was engulfed in negligence, when suddenly you acquainted it with Allah Ta-ala, Thus you made me unconcerned with all besides Him.
Practicing on Deen seemed like a burden, while being engrossed in the world was easy, You have now made the burden a pleasure and what seemed to be a pleasure (preoccupation with the world) has become a burden.
You have imbued me' with courage and ushered this weakling into such ranks,
The ranks of those endowed with that great responsibility (of conveying Deen)
This heart of iron you have .melted with a heart burning with the love of Allah Ta-ala,
You have made restless one who had never experienced this pain (Love of Allah)
O Majzoob you are leaving this home with a great fortune,
A million thanks that Allah Ta-ala sent me to your door"(from Ma'arif Masnavi )
If you think deeply about this story you will learn even more lessons.
That is all for today. More incha Allah next time. |