Friday Sermon of
Hazrat Amirul Momeneen
Zafrullah Domun

18 March 2011

After reciting the Tashahhud, the Ta’uz and the first chapter of Al Fatiha Imam Zafrullah Domun said:

It is a very well known fact that in the world there are several types of people. Some are known to be foolish; others are known to be very intelligent and wise. Some are between these two categories. Then it may be fair to say that if we develop a scale for the categories of people the foolish ones will be at the bottom of the ladder. Those who are at times foolish and at times intelligent might be in the middle position. The wise and intelligent will occupy the upper rungs of that ladder. The teachings of Islam are here to make most men and women to occupy the upper rungs of the ladder of the categories of people that we are speaking about. But what do we see? Despite having been described by Allah as the “best people raised for the guidance of mankind” we see that according to some objective criteria widely recognized internationally to gauge human development, it is well known that Muslims as a nation or even as countries are not amongst the leaders in any field. Whether with regard to the number of patents that are registered internationally every year  or even in the level of education or innovation or even according to the level of health care provided Muslim countries are far behind those countries commonly known as the disbelievers. This is a very sad condition and it has been mourned by many Muslim leaders.

Now within this vast sea of underdevelopment there was an island where apparently such large-scale backwardness did not exist. This island was the Ahmadis. They received the teachings of the Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as who was sent by Allah to take all Muslims, nay the whole world “from darkness to light.” With his divinely inspired teachings he gave members of Jamaat Ahmadiyya a light wherewith they could dispel all sorts of darkness whenever such darkness started to spread around. But those who stepped into his shoes after his death have diluted those teachings with their own and today despite saying that they still abide with the teachings received the mainstream Jamaat with  a caliph at its head has moved most members from those original teachings that they were given.

Hazrat Masih Maood^as taught us that spiritual progress is most important although we should not neglect the material one. Not only has he been denied by those who rejected him but also by those who profess that they believe in him but yet they deny him by abandoning his teachings. Many times he has warned his followers not to become a victim of the double curse. The first curse he explained is the one that his deniers will heap on his followers because they have accepted him. The second curse is the one that the Ahmadis will invite upon themselves because they would ignore his teachings despite their profession of his truthfulness. So these days his followers from the mainstream Jamaat, instead of being the torchbearers of his teachings, they have become like those who spread darkness around.

But Allah true to His Promise did what He said He would do when darkness in the form of irreligiousness or ignorance of main teachings would spread around: He would send His own representative/s to dispel that darkness. These divine representative/s would be those with whom He would reveal Himself to execute His will. Once these representatives would appear those who wrongly think that they have monopolized truth and that they have a mandate to spread it around would start to fight these Godly representatives or would ignore them. But Allah consoles them and tells them “Kataballaho laaghlebanna ana wa rosoli”. That is to say, “Allah has decreed “I and my Messenger will be victorious”. But foolish conformist followers who think that they know better would try to counteract Allah’s plan. But Allah tells them that they would not succeed because He has already DECREED where victory will be.

To have an idea of the mindset of a foolish person who thinks he is wise and who thinks that he knows better than those who are taught by Allah, I will tell you about what Maulana Rumi, the famous author of the Masnavi has said. This incident has been brought to my attention by my brother Dr Mahmood Soolatngos. You may find the extract from Book three lines 2570-2599. The story is as follows:

“The escaping of Jesus, (may the) peace (of God) be upon him,
to the top of a mountain (to flee) from fools.
Jesus, (the son) of Mary, was running away to a mountain.
You might say (that) a lion was  wanting to spill his blood.
Someone ran behind (him) and said, "(May you be) well! There
isn't anyone following you, (so) why are you fleeing like a bird?"
(But) he kept running in the same manner, bound to urgency, (so)
that he didn't answer him, because of his own haste.
(The man) pressed forward following Jesus (for) one or two
(more) fields. Then he called (out) to Jesus with great seriousness,
Saying, "For the sake of God's approval, stop for a moment! --
since I have a problem in (understanding this) fleeing of yours.
 "O noble and generous one! Who are you running from (in)
this direction? (There's) no lion or enemy following you, and no
fear or dread."
He answered, "I am escaping from a fool. Go (away)! I'm
rescuing myself, (so) don't restrain me!"
(The man) said, "But aren't you the Messiah,one by whom blind
and deaf (people) become normal?"
"Yes," he replied. (The man) asked, "Aren't you the (spiritual)
king who (is) the dwelling place for mysterious spells and
incantations? --
"(So that) if you recite a spell upon a (man's) corpse, he leaps up
(joyfully) like a lion (who has) brought back prey."
 "Yes," he answered, "I am that one." (The other) said, "O
beautiful faced one! Don't you make (living) birds out of clay?"
"Yes," he replied. (The other) said, "O pure spirit! Then you can
make (happen) whatever you wish-- (so) who are you afraid of?
"With evidence such as this, who is there in the world who
wouldn't be among your (devoted) slaves?"
Jesus said, "By the Holy Essence of God, the Originator of the
body, the Creator of the soul in (its) superiority!
"(And in) reverence for His Holy Essence and Attributes, (for)
whom the collar of the heavens is torn (in ecstasy):
 "(I affirm) that those incantations, as well as the greatest
Name (of God), which I spoke over the deaf and over the blind, were beneficial.

"I recited (the words) over the rocky mountain (and) it became
split, tearing the robe (which was) upon itself (down) to the navel.
"I spoke (the words) over a dead body (and) it became alive. I said
(them) over a point of nothingness (and) it became something.
"(But) I said those (words) a hundred thousand times with
loving-kindness over the heart of a fool and it was not a cure.
"(Instead), it became a hard rock and didn't change from that
habit; it became sand, from which no seed grows."
(The man) said, "(Then) what is the wisdom that the Name of
God was beneficial in those places, (but) here it had no
superiority?
"That is also (a case) of disease, and this is an affliction. (So) why
was it a cure for that (but) not for this?"
(Jesus) replied, "The affliction of foolish stupidity is (caused by)
the overwhelming anger of God. (Normal) afflictions and
blindness are not (from God's) anger-- those are tests and trials."
Trials and hardships are an affliction which [eventually] brings
(Divine) Mercy. (But) ignorant foolishness brings blows and
wounds.
That which is his scarring has been produced by His seal,

(and) no supporting hand can bring a remedy to it.

(Therefore), escape from foolish people just as Jesus escaped.
(For) companionship with fools has spilled so much blood!
The air steals water very gradually, (and) the fool steals
religion from you also in the same way.
He steals your warmth and gives you cold (in its place), just like
one who puts a rock under (your) bottom.
The escaping of Jesus is not because of (real) fear, (for) he is
secure (from such). (But) is for the sake of teaching (a lesson).
 Even if intense cold filled (all) the horizons of the world,
what grief would there be for the radiant sun?

Now reflect about this most probably allegorical incident and understand the havoc played by foolish people especially in the religious world. Through the mouth of Hazrat Isa^as, Maulana Rumi helps us to understand how this disease of foolishness is almost incurable. It is worst that any physical ailment which might be cured by the Power of Allah. But the foolish one is under the overwhelming anger of Allah. I may also add that the foolish person is not aware of his foolishness because he/she has remained in that state forever. His mindset has never changed and he/she does not have the Mercy of Allah upon him which will alter it. Those who suffer from physical ailments are under trials but the foolish person is under the wrath of Allah. He cannot rid himself of his stupidity because he does not know what it is to be wise. I remember that when I was young I used to read quotations from famous men or women. I once read “A wise man knows what foolishness is because he was once foolish; but a foolish person cannot know what wisdom is because he has not yet attained wisdom”. This is a quotation from memory. I cannot say exactly who said so. But the message it gives is loud and clear. Those who are foolish and who do not have the personal insight to know their foolishness suffer from a disease that is worse than any other ailment you might imagine.

In the Holy Quran Allah says: “And of the people there are some who say “we believe in Allah and the last day while they are not believers at all” (2:9).Within the umma and outside it also there will be many who profess belief but they are not true believers. They profess belief to deceive others. Allah says “They would deceive Allah and those who believe; but they deceive none but themselves; but they perceive it not”(2:10) These people are only victims of self-deception and they cannot get out of this state of self-deception because they refuse to use the help that Allah has sent them. While they wallow in this state of self deception they think that they are knowledgeable and wise but they are only deceiving themselves and they invite the pity of “those who know”. Allah speaks of the disease that is in their heart which has nothing to do with coronary diseases as we know them today. This disease has attacked we may say their soul and they refuse to get rid of it because they are incapable of perceiving that it has made its way in them and they are unable to perceive how foolish it has made them. Allah says “in their heart there is a disease. Allah has increased their disease. For them is a grievous punishment because they lied.”(2:11)

Usually people are not aware of their spiritual ailments such as pride, envy, anger, avarice etc. When people have physical ailments they rush to the doctor. But spiritual ailments are most insidious. They are cured by those whom Allah sends as spiritual doctors. It is the work of these spiritual guides to tell the people what their spiritual diseases are. Here these spiritual doctors or divine guides have the uphill task of having to tell the people what they abhor to hear. He has to tell them that they are spiritually sick but it is not at all easy to help them to perceive their sickness. Hence they do not at all welcome what these spiritual doctors come to tell them and they object to the diagnosis and they even want to fight them. Allah says in the Holy Quran “And when it is said to them, ‘believe as other people have believed ‘they say, ‘shall we believe as the fools have believed?’ Remember it is surely they who are the fools, but they do not know.”(2:14). Within society there are those who think that those who have accepted someone who says he comes from Allah are foolish. They think with their paucity of judgment that they know better who fools are. In this verse Allah give these people their certificate of foolishness when He declares them to be the real fools but they do not have enough perception or discernment to understand their foolishness!

When you meet and try to reason these people out you will find them attached to their prejudices and the knowledge that they received from their fathers. They are unable to free their mind to think clearly as Hazrat Masih Maood^as has told them. They keep repeating what they have learnt like parrots. They are in no way interested in understanding or the truth. They refuse to engage in dialogue which may improve understanding. They rehash without relevance what they know endlessly. Most probably it was of such people that Hazrat Isa was fleeing from because they are a real pain. They want you to hear them and they make no effort to try to understand what you are saying. That is why Allah says that they are the real fools.