After reciting the Tauz, the Tashahhud and the first chapter of the Holy Quran Imam Zafrullah
Domun said: The month of Ramadan with all its
spiritual charms is already behind us for this year. It is my hope and prayer
that all those who fasted and struggled to purify themselves during the month
will be amply rewarded by Almighty Allah. No one can deny that during Ramadan
all those who understand its purpose make additional efforts to move away from
all sorts of sins even the most insignificant ones and try to please Allah in
order to win His Paradise as He has promised the Holy Prophet Mohammad saw.
I am sure that by the Grace of Allah each member of Jamaat Ahmadiyya Al
Mouslemeen did his or her best during this blessed month and that Allah will
reward each one beyond measure and will help all of us to stay on the straight
path that leads to His Pleasure (siratam
moustaqeem) until our last breath incha
Allah. The wish to stay on the siratam moustaqeem is an uphill task and
we human beings are very weak. In fact in the Holy Quran Allah says “We have
created man weak”. Moreover Satan is always on the lookout to make us stumble.
The subtlety of the attack of Satan is such that we do not notice it until we
have already fallen into its trap. Let me give you some examples. To begin with
on Eid day we may notice that we had put the alarm to wake up either for Tahajjud or for Fajr prayer. But for some of us we will not be able to do either.
Why because as soon as our alarm tone is heard we will stop the clock or stop
the alarm on the phone and we say to ourselves we will soon wake up.
Consequently when we reopen our eyes we see that it is already broad daylight.
In this instance Satan has succeeded and we have failed and Satan is happy
because it has achieved its purpose of diverting the attention of a worshipper
from praying to His Lord. Now let us say that on Eid Day one has been able to escape its net and one has been able to wake up for Tahajjud or Fajr Prayer. If during Ramadan you used to resort to the mosque for Fajr Prayer because it is obligatory for you as a man to read your prayers in congregation at the mosque and you fail to go there on Eid day because you feel that you should sleep now, again Satan triumphs. Satan is there to keep you away from doing any good deed or it incites you to do something that is bad and displeases Allah. Now let us say that after Fajr you used to read and meditate on the Holy Quran, on that particular day of Eid you might say to yourself “Ok let me go to sleep and I will read later on”. But unfortunately you might notice that the time has come for you to sleep at night and you have still not been able to read even one ruku of the Holy Quran on Eid Day. Thus in a very subtle way Satan has been able to turn your attention away from the good deeds that you used to practice in the month of Ramadan. Similarly you might have noticed that you might have indulged in backbiting or talking ill of others on Eid day. Or you might have seen yourself sitting and watching indecent Indian or other films on television or on computers. If Allah has given you the capacity to notice you will easily notice these imperceptible attacks of Satan because Allah says in the Holy Quran addressing Satan “Inna ebaadi laysa laka alayhim be soultan”. Its translation is “Surely you do not have any power over My Servants”. The meaning is quite clear. The real servants of Allah are able by the Grace of Allah to repel Satan’s attack. So on Eid day they will surely wake up early to pray to Allah and then they will resort to mosques for Fajr Prayer wherever such mosques are available. They will read their Holy Quran and will not let
themselves be distracted by sleep or any other thing. During the day they will
hold their tongue in order not to harm anyone knowingly or unknowingly. Therefore the real believer whether
he is a man or a woman he or she knows from which quarter the attack of Satan
will come as soon as we are out in the open away from the protection that was
given to us while we were fasting and hence we are prepared to repel Satan’s
attack and be saved. But the question is how we should fight it. The simple
answer is that we should always be prepared to do the contrary that it wants us
to do. If we are a child we might have some difficulty in understanding this
matter. But once we are a fully conscious adult we will immediately understand
what are the typical attacks of Satan on our person. By adulthood we already
know what are our duties towards Allah and what are our duties towards our
fellow human beings and we should be ever ready to accomplish both. Anything
that prevents us from accomplishing our duties are attacks from Satan and they
should be repelled. What I want to lay stress upon is
that as good believers we should put up a struggle with Satan almost every
moment of our life. The weapons that Allah has given us to fight Satanic
attacks are regrets and prayer and also the seeking of Allah’s protection
through what we commonly call istaghfar.
Thus if we have failed on one or two instances by succumbing to Satan’s attack
we should resort to prayer and weeping for such negligence. If we do like this
soon Allah will give us the capacity to repel Satan’s attack by His Grace. As
soon as you think that you will be able to do so by your own means you will be
put to trial and you will fail. Remember what Hazrat Yousouf said “ Innan nafsa la ammaratoun bis soue illa ma rahema
rabbi”. It means “surely the soul is prone to enjoin evil save that on
which My Lord have mercy”(12:54). I have read somewhere that a companion of the Holy Prophet
Mohammad saw Amir Muawiyah was asleep in his palace when he was
suddenly awakened by someone. When Muawiyah looked towards him, the person
immediately concealed himself behind the curtains. So from this we can conclude that the
regrets expressed by a believer for the non accomplishment of a duty qualifies
him or her for greater reward from Allah and this displeases Satan because the
person is being rewarded more. Therefore Satan still does not let go and tried
to reduce his rewards by inviting him to do his duty in order to get less
rewards from Allah. The month of Ramadan is gone but the
struggle for the purification of the self is still on and will go on until the
last breath. This is what we should remember and try to model our life
accordingly. Let us be determined to do our duties to the best of our abilities
and let us ask Allah to give us victory over the attacks of Satan and make us
worthy to be accepted in His sight incha
Allah. This is our struggle and that of our children and their children. In the
struggle for self-purification there is no rest. The struggle is constant and
we have to be always on the alert because we do not know from where the attack
will come. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as came to teach us how to
deliver ourselves from the bondage of sins and to free ourselves so that we
might soar in the spiritual realm and get the necessary certainty about Our
Creator , Allah. This is the primary goal of our existence. Although we should
not neglect our lot in this world yet whatever we do should be geared to help
us to be successful both here and in the hereafter. All of us should come to
realize that the hereafter is most important and not the life of this world.
May Allah give to each one amongst us the wisdom to understand this matter
well. May we all incha Allah carry on
our zest for doing good deeds beyond the month of Ramadan. I will end this sermon by reminding
you of some of the advices that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as has
given to the members of his Jamaat so that they might stay on the right path.
Speaking about the need to fight the satanic forces of the age he says : “In
this age, the Holy Prophetsaw and Islam have been reviled in abusive
writings to a degree which has no parallel among any other Prophet in any
age....In this age, Satan, along with all his followers, is trying his utmost
to destroy Islam. Without a doubt, this is the final battle between truth and
falsehood. Thus, this age deserves the advent of a divinely commissioned one
for its reformation. And he is the Promised Messiah, who is present among you.
This age required that, at this delicate moment in time, God should provide a
conclusive argument with heavenly signs. These heavenly signs are now being
exhibited. Heaven is eager to exhibit so many signs as would blow the trumpet of
the victory of Islam in every country and every part of world. O Mighty Lord, hasten
Thou the day which Thou hast willed to be made manifest. Let Thy glory shine
forth in the world and let the victory of Thy faith and Thy Messenger be
proclaimed. Amin.” [Chashma-e-Ma‘rifat, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 23, pp. 94-95] In
another extract speaking about the main objective of his mission, Hazrat Masih
Maood as says: “I have been commanded to nurture the moral qualities
of people….” That was the most
important objective for the creation of Jamaat Ahmadiyya. But what has Jamaat
Ahmadiyya become with the years? These days especially the Jamaat in Mauritius
helped by the leadership in London has become an instrument for the manifestation
of what is ugliest in human nature. They speak about love but in fact they
spread hatred. They are like those people who create disorder on earth but they
say that they are promoting peace. Typically this is the work of Satan or the
hypocrites. But Hazrat Masih Maood as came to teach people moral qualities not
satanic manistestaions. He goes on to say “Since
all this endeavor possesses a Messianic character, God Almighty has named me
the Promised Messiah. Having proclaimed this, I realize that the Christians
would also oppose me. But how can I be afraid of opposition when I have been
commissioned by God! If I had forged this claim, even slight opposition would
have vanquished me. But I have not put forward this claim on my own. I am ready
to explain my claim to any right-minded person and to use all lawful and
recognized means to satisfy him….” That was in his time. But these days personally I do not have
the Christians as my opponents. Today my opponents are my brothers of yore.
Although I have many times invited them to question my claims yet no one
amongst them up till now has come for this purpose. They know in their heart of
heart that they will never be able to carry out a discussion in a proper way by
displaying their good moral qualities. There are some amongst them who are angry with what I say about
their caliph. But they will flare up in private because they cannot muster any
courage to come in the open and fight me because to them I am an opponent of
Ahmadiyyat. As far as I am concerned I say that they are the ones who have
trampled under their feet the real teachings of Hazrat Masih Maood as,
but they do not know. Their actions speak volumes about how they do not care
about what the Messiah has said and they keep doing what their base self prompts
them to do. In the end The Promised Messiah said: “I
speak the truth that this is the age in which Muslims, according to their
belief, and Christians, according to their ideology, were waiting for someone
to come. This is the promised time. He who had to come has come, whether anyone
accepts him or not. God Almighty always manifests mighty signs in support of
those whom He sends to the world. He inclines the hearts so that they should
accept him. Whatever had been divinely determined in respect of the Promised
Messiah has come to pass. Whether anyone believes or not, the Promised Messiah
has arrived, and I am he.”(Malfuzaat Vol 2 Page 285) In the
same vein I declare that by Allah’s Grace, through His Revelations Allah has
made me an “Imam for the righteous”. Mind you, not an imam for the rebellious
who want to persist in their disobedience of His Messiah but an Imam for those
who want to be purified. There are few such people. Allah has favoured us by
removing us from those who practice evil and they are proud of doing so and He
wishes to take us to the Abode of Peace where He wants His dear ones to be. May
all of us be ever grateful to Allah for His eternal Favours. Ameen |