FRIDAY SERMON

19^th June 2009

After reciting the Tashahhud, the Ta’uz and the first chapter Al Fatiha of the Holy Quran, Hazrat Amirul Mo’emenine,Zafrullah Domun said:

No one can deny that the Jamaat that was established by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as (1835-1908) has grown in numbers since his death. He always said that he came from Allah. In addition Allah had promised him that Allah would propagate his words to the corners of the earth. All praise is due to Allah that we , people living after one hundred years after his departure from this earth have seen that what Allah promised has taken place. Consequently incha Allah most of the other prophecies also will take place in their due time.

According to documents published by the mainstream Jamaat, these days there are around 14,000 mosques around the world which are properties of the Jamaat. So, to say that there has been a geometric progression in the number of mosques from the humble beginnings in 1889 is no exaggeration. Similarly as far as numbers are concerned the Jamaat has grown from around 400,000 in 1908 to, according to their official declarations, a figure which is between 160 to 200 million? Several times in my sermons I have said that this is not a true estimate. The real number is fifteen to twenty times less. This is an intolerable exaggeration that has crept into the Jamaat’s writings and announcements that the present leaders do not want to correct and cannot justify also. But the Jamaat continues to publish and talk about these false figures in order to justify announcements that have been made during the past sixteen years.

Now, one may wonder, if the Jamaat adamantly clings to a false statistic about its numbers whereas the truth about this matter can be easily verified through a census, how far more difficult it would be for the Jamaat to justify some of the dogmas to which it is clinging and wants its members to believe. In one of his poems Hazrat Masih Maood^as said:

Bana sakta nahin ek paon kireh ka basher hargiz

To phir kionkar banana nour-e-haq ka ousse peh aasaan hai

“Man cannot create even the foot of a fly

How can it be easy for him to create the light of truth?”

We may paraphrase and say:

“If you cannot create a simple Excel sheet to know your headcount

How dare you say that you know in Allah’s eyes, what counts?”

Anyhow we see that as far as properties are concerned and even numbers (even if it is doubtful) there has been progress during the last century. Moreover, as far as the financial contributions of the members around the world are concerned the progress has been enormous. Compared to the few thousands of rupees at the time of the death of the Promised Messiah in 1908, today the members around the world contribute billions of rupees. Even little Mauritius alone has a budget of around twenty five million rupees annually. So today we are far from the day when the treasurer had to wait for contributions to come so that the missionary could be given his monthly allowance. So if we judge by these material criteria the Jamaat has made enormous progress. But is this the progress that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad envisioned when he created Jamaat Ahmadiyya? Let us see from his writings what he says about the purpose of Jamaat Ahmadiyya. He says:

“I convey another message to mankind in general and to my Muslim brethren in particular, that I have been commanded that those who seek the truth should enter into a covenant with me for learning the way of true faith and purity and love of God, and for discarding impure life, sloth and treachery. Therefore, it is incumbent upon those who find strength in their hearts to come to me; I shall be their comforter and shall try to lighten their burden. God Almighty will bless my prayers and my care for them provided they are ready with their heart and soul to fulfill His requirements. This is a Divine commandment which I have hereby conveyed. The relevant revelation in Arabic is as follows:

 “Iza Azamta fatawaqqal alallah wasna’il fulqa be a’yoyena wa wahyena Inamayobaye’ounaka innama yo baye’ounallah yadoullah fawqa aydihim”

[Sabz Ishtihar, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 2, p. 470]

This is the first document that was published by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as as someone whom Allah has sent for the benefit of His Creatures. The date of this publication is December 1888 and he would start taking the oath of allegiance with his friends only in March 1889 almost four months later. Thus the original purpose as spelled out by the founder of Jamaat Ahmadiyya was to help its members first to learn what is true faith ,(2) to learn what is purity of heart and (3) to learn what is love of God. In order to learn these important matters an Ahmadi should discard everything that is impure and live an industrious life that is a life of struggle. In addition under no circumstance he should show any sign of treachery. This can be understood to be no treachery with human beings and none with Allah also. To be treacherous with a human being is easily understood. To be treacherous with Allah would mean to be forgetful about our duties to Him. Hence by entering into an oath of allegiance with Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as a person will be able to understand the aforementioned matters well and he or she will know how to lead a purposeful life.

One should note well that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as has clearly spelled out in this announcement that he would be able to help only those who “would be ready in their heart and soul to fulfill Allah’s requirements.” That is to say only those persons who want to know what is true faith, who want to be purified of their sins and who want to acquire the love of Allah and who are ready to undergo all the troubles that this path entails would benefit by becoming a member of the Jamaat. If we think well about this extract we will know that very few persons would really join the Jamaat of the Promised Messiah for the purpose for which it was originally conceived.

Nowadays if someone finds in himself the urge to know about Allah you may tell him to join Jamaat Ahmadiyya but what will he learn. If we look at most members in Jamaat Ahmadiyya these days we see that very few really understand what this Jamaat stands for and strive to mould their lives according to its original teachings. You will find very few amongst them who are in quest of Allah – the most important purpose of their life. We have seen many who have gone through life without making any great improvement in their moral qualities. Being a member of the Jamaat did not improve them at all. They did not make any effort to improve themselves as a human being. They drifted through life without any purpose except may be to improve their material lot. But how rare is that Ahmadi who understands the writings of the Promised Messiah and who strives to live according to the ideals set by him? Very few indeed but in the past there were more of such people.

If you read the history of Islam you will know that there have been many saintly persons who have lived in the past who devoted their lives to Allah. Consequently they received plenty of spiritual benefits from Him and they distributed these benefits to Allah’s creatures. Some well known such personalities are Ibn Arabi , Jalal uddin Rumi, Sayyad Abdul Qadir Jilani , Moin uddin Chisti , Ibn Ata Allah Iskandari of Egypt , Shah Waliullah of Delhi, Sayyad Ahmad Sirhindi, may Allah bless all of them. The examples of these people are beacons of light for Muslims of all ages. These people devoted themselves to the service of others specially in helping them to lead their lives as it should be according to Islam. Today we talk less of these personages but fifty years before the second Caliph of Jamaat Ahmadiyya, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Uddin Mahmood Ahmad said in one of his speeches specially with regard to Waqf Jadid that members of the Jamaat should be inspired by the example of such people of the past and they should try to follow their example in their Tabligh efforts. People from all walks of life assembled around them to learn about Allah, about how to lead a life devoted to Him. When we read their history and that of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as, we see that there is a parallel. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as also did as they did in the past. We are not aware of all the revelations that these people received but some of them that we know of are similar to the ones received by Hazrat Mizra Ghulam Ahmad^as. Most of them if not all of them were opposed by the ulamas of their time because of some of their views but they prevailed and they are remembered and revered even today after hundreds of years after their departure. Most of them took an oath of allegiance from those who came to them and they devoted themselves to helping these people to attain salvation. In fact, these days we see that the significance of the oath of allegiance has been completely lost within Jamaat Ahmadiyya. Here is an extract in which Hazrat Mizra Ghulam Ahmad explains the significance of the oath of allegiance (bai’at):

“What is the significance of the oath of allegiance (bai’at)? The meaning of the word is to exchange one thing with another by mutual consent. The purpose of Bai‘at is that one who enters into the covenant sells his self together with all its capacities to a guide so that in return he should obtain the true understanding and the perfect blessings which should become the means of acquiring cognition, salvation, and attaining the pleasure of God Almighty. It is thus obvious that Bai‘at does not mean simple repentance, because man can bring it about by himself. Rather, it denotes the understanding, blessings and signs which pull one in the direction of true repentance. Its real purpose is to commit one’s ego to the service of one’s guide and to acquire in return the knowledge, the understanding and the blessings which should strengthen faith and increase true understanding, so that a pure relationship may be established with God Almighty; and thus, having obtained deliverance from worldly hell, one might be delivered from the hell of the hereafter; and, having been cured of blindness in this world, one might be secure against blindness in the hereafter.” [Darurat-ul-Imam, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 13, p. 498]

This type of bai’at has been prevailing throughout the history of Islam. All those who have been faithful and earnest in their search for Allah and have followed diligently the advice of their guides did achieve their objective. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as came to make this type of facility available to the people for all times to come provided they stick to his teachings and they follow his example as it should be followed. He promised that spiritual personages will appear from time to time in Jamaat whenever Allah wills. Those who understand his teachings will know about these people whenever they come. They will rush to them and profit from the spiritual blessings that would be attached to them. What is most important is that people should be ready and yearn for guidance. The promise of Allah is true and He never fails His Promise. Has not Allah told us clearly in the Holy Quran:

O children of Adam! if Messengers come to you from among yourselves, rehearsing My Signs unto you, then whoso shall fear God and do good deeds, on them shall come no fear nor shall they grieve. [7:36]

This verse was valid yesterday and will remain valid until the end of times. Men directly appointed by Allah for the guidance of others will continue to appear from time to time as per Allah’s Will. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as said that these people will appear in his Jamaat till the end of time. Only those who are endowed with a pure nature will recognize, accept and help them in their mission. May Allah open the eyes of Muslims and particularly Ahmadis to some spiritual truths that escape them for the time being. Let not the Ahmadis take material success to be a sign of being close to Allah and to understanding His teachings.