After reading the Tashahhud, the Ta’uz and the first chapter of the Holy Quran, Hazrat Amirul Mo’menine, Zafrullah Domun read verses 119-121 of chapter 3 of the Holy Quran in Arabic. Their English translation is as follows:

O ye who believe! take not others than your own people as intimate friends; they will not fail to corrupt you. They love to see you in trouble. Hatred has already shown itself through the utterances of their mouths, and what their breasts conceal is greater still. We have made clear to you Our commandments, if you will understand. [3:119]

Behold, you are those who love them, but they love you not. And you believe in the entire Book. When they meet you, they say, ‘We believe;’ but when they are alone, they bite their finger-tips at you for rage. Say, ‘Perish in your rage. Surely, Allah knows well what is hidden in your breasts.’ [3:120]

If anything good befalls you, it grieves them; and if an evil befall you, they rejoice thereat. But if you be steadfast and righteous, their designs will not harm you at all; surely, Allah encompasses all that they do. [3:121]

He then said:

These verses warn the true believers to be on their guard against those who are not with them but who profess a sort of friendship with them. Allah guards the believers not to take these people as their intimate friends. The Arabic word used here is “bataanatan” and it is translated as “intimate friend”. An intimate friend is not the same as just a friend. We all have friends who are not believers, who are not Muslims. But the type of friend that the verse is speaking about is an “intimate” one, someone with whom you share your intimate thoughts and who come to know many of your private matters. But as usual, Allah does not just content Himself to giving us an instruction; He also tells us the reason why He has given us such an instruction. He says “they will not fail to corrupt you”. Primary reference is made here with the disbelievers of the time of the Holy Prophet Mohammad ^saw who tried by hooks or by crooks to corrupt the new Muslim convert. Since then these verses apply also to all those who follow any type of guidance or guide that may come from Allah.

We, Ahmadis who are aware of the history of the Jamaat know quite well how non-Ahmadis tried to prevent would-be Ahmadis from going to Qadian so that they might not accept Hazrat Masih Maood^as. Similarly these days there are many who try to dissuade our members from staying in our Jamaat. But unfortunately these attempts at corruption of faith are not made openly; they try to make it in a covert manner. In the time of the Holy Prophet^saw or even in the time of Hazrat Masih^as the attempt at corrupting the faith of the newly formed Muslims was done in broad daylight but these days those who want to do it hide themselves under pseudonyms or do not want to let their identity be known at all because they have the fear of others besides Allah in their heart. Hazrat Masih Maood ^as has repeatedly told us that he who has the fear of anyone else besides Allah in his heart is an idolater (Mushrik). And a true Ahmadi cannot under any circumstance be like a Mushrik (idolater). An Ahmadi is bold and fearless. His heart is filled with the fear of Allah and this Allah-fearingness liberates him from the fear of anyone else besides Allah. It is because Hazrat Masih Maood’s heart was brimful with this fear that he did not fear anyone besides Allah and he faced all his opponents and routed all of them although they might boast of the contrary.

We understand from the teachings of Hazrat Ahmad^as that if we follow the guidance of Allah which is in fact the True Guidance we will get freedom from ignorance, fear, prejudices, passion and fanaticism and everything that enslaves man and keeps him in darkness. We will in return get the freedom to be bold and to face our opponents bare-breasted. Consequently we welcome those who ask us to explain our position on doctrinal differences. As a consequence of this fear of Allah our heart is filled with knowledge and we are able to reply to all sorts of questions that may be put to us. And whoever says that he has asked me a question and I have not been able to reply to it is a liar. Yes, it may be true that my reply did not satisfy them. But my task is only to convey the Message. Throughout history such a message has never pleased the majority who think that they have a monopoly on knowledge.

 I think that the true liberation movement is the one that all prophets came to initiate or renew and it reached its peak in the time of our Holy Prophet Mohammad^saw. This revolutionary light was flickering in the time of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as and Allah raised him to perfect His Light and to spread it around the world. But this light is lit in the hearts of god-fearing men and women. It should not be confounded with the costly chandeliers found inside mosques or the decorative lights that are lit outside the mosques. It is the light that is granted to those who already have some light in their heart and once they accept the God given light they became “light upon light” as it has been explained in the chapter “Noor” of the Holy Quran.

The verse under discussion goes on to say “Hatred has already shown itself through the utterances of their mouths, and what their breasts conceal is greater still”. It means that these people who think that they know better have manifested their hatred through the words that they have uttered. There is no need for me to repeat the words that they have used against us but their heart which is devoid of fear of Allah contains even more uglier thoughts that they have not been able up till now to clothe in words. Then Allah says “We have made clear to you our commandments, if you will understand.” Allah knows what is in their heart and how much it is filled with hatred and evil. Hence if inadvertently you take these people as “intimate friends” they will definitely cause you lots of harm. The word “khabaala” which has been translated as “to corrupt” has also the following meanings according to the lexicographer Aqrab: “corruption whether of body or reason or actions; loss or deterioration; ruin or destruction; fatal poison.” If you think about all these shades of meaning you may understand how fatal an intimacy with the opponents can be. May Allah protect us from the harm that may come from those who do not like us. The next verse sheds even more light on this situation.

It says “Behold, you are those who love them, but they love you not. And you believe in the entire Book.” In the past I have already spoken about this verse. But I will say some more words here. How true it is that we love them and they do not love us. Allah has given us some special Favors from Him and because we love them we just want to share these favors with them because we tried to live as relatives in the Jamaat. Allah has taught us to be exclusively devoted to Him and to fear none but Him. So it is our duty to share this with our friends because of the love we have for them. But because we are doing this they have rejected and ostracized us. They are doing the same things that the disbelievers of Mecca did to our Holy Prophet Mohammad^saw and his companions and also to what the ignorant Muslims with their ignorant leaders did against Hazrat Masih Maood^as at the end of the 19th century. Since their fourth caliph said that we would “meet a fearful end”most of them are patiently waiting for the fulfillment of his evil wishes. But what most ignorant Ahmadis are not aware of is that the Holy Prophet Mohammad^saw has forbidden any Muslim to curse his brother Muslim. There are many hadith to this effect. I will quote some so that the ignorant Ahmadis may know that their leader did something wrong when he said what he should not have said. Abu Hurayra said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked, "Messenger of Allah, invoke a curse for us against the idolaters.' He replied, 'I was not sent as a curser. I was sent as a mercy.'" In another hadith Abu’d-Darda' reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Those who curse will be neither witnesses nor intercessors on the Day of Rising.”Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The true person must not be a curser." I am just telling you about these hadiths so that you might take heed and understand the enormity of the utterances of the fourth caliph.

Now when Allah says “and you believe in the entire Book”, the message is clear. Those who believe in the entire book know for sure that Allah will continue to send people to guide others in this umma till the Last Day. They also know that the version of khilafat that the mainstream Jamaat projects is not the khilafat that Hazrat Masih Maood talked about because this khilafat has closed the door on the arrival of Guides directly appointed by Allah unless they are the caliphs of the age. There are many verses of the Holy Quran which contradicts this assertion. But this is another subject.

The verse goes on to say “When they meet you, they say, ‘We believe;’ but when they are alone, they bite their finger-tips at you for rage. Say, ‘Perish in your rage. Surely, Allah knows well what is hidden in your breasts.

The truth is that if you meet an Ahmadi and you talk to him about the coming of Mojaddids, in his ignorance he would say to you that reformers would definitely come in the Jamaat but not this humble self. Unfortunately these poor souls in trying to display their knowledge they display only their ignorance because they are not aware that both the 3^rd and 4^th caliphs of the Jamaat have declared that khilafat Ahmadiyya and only khilafat ahmadiyya will be the instrument for renewal of religion (Tajdid deen) until Qiyamah and that there will be no one coming except the caliph. This is what they believe in but they do not know that what they believe is not the same as what their caliphs believe in. Poor souls. They reject Allah’s Guidance and they believe in that which is made by men.

Most of them talk about us in their conversations because they do not know how to deal with us. Their caliph has told them to ignore us. But they can’t. They hide behind masks to let us know what they think. Under no circumstance do they wish to be known. They manifest their suppressed anger from time to time. This is what is meant when the verse says “they bite their finger tips at you for rage.” But what should we say to them? Allah says “Perish in your rage.” We all know that anger harms the person that is angry and no one else. So if you are angry with what we are saying and doing then “perish in your rage”. Your rage will harm only your own self and “Allah knows full well what is in your breasts.” This means that He knows full well what you are scheming and you will never be able to harm His Servants at all because you are too weak for that!

In the last verse Allah says “If anything good befalls you, it grieves them; and if an evil befalls you, they rejoice thereat.” According to Hazrat Masih Maood^as when someone starts receiving revelations from Allah, that person has been chosen and he should do Allah’s bidding. If he does so he is blessed and he will get additional revelations which will draw him nearer Allah. Our opponents are not happy at all that Allah gives us these revelations. Since they are ignorant of this field of knowledge they concoct several theories about the reception of revelations. Some will tell you that because you read the Holy Quran too much (as if they know how much I read) the verses come back to you when you wake up. Others will tell you that you are not mad but a bit disturbed; others will say they have worked with people who read on blank walls. But when I ask them what Hazrat Masih Maood ^as says about revelation they say they do not know.

Just imagine how unfortunate these people are. They are the champions of their credo “Nizaam Jamaat” but yet they do not know what Hazrat Masih Maood ^as has said about revelations. Had they taken the pain they would have read the whole compilation from the Essence of Islam Volume 2 at www.alislam.org. Then they would have understood that all their modern theories are nothing compared to what he has explained as a real knower of Allah. Hence they do not like at all the good that Allah sends us through revelation. But if evil touches us, they exult and they rejoice. Since there has been a split between us they are very happy that this has happened and they try to exploit the situation in many ways. But Allah says “But if you be steadfast and righteous, their designs will not harm you at all; surely, Allah encompasses all that they do.”

So all the members of our Jamaat should strive to remain steadfast and righteous, and then incha Allah our opponents whoever they are will not be able to touch even one of our hair because Allah encompasses all that they do. Allah is our Guide, Helper and Protector and we know no one else with such vast powers at His disposal. May Allah keep all of us on the right path for ever. Amine.