Friday Sermon of
Hazrat Amirul Momeneen
Zafrullah Domun

24 April 2009

After reciting the Tashahhud , the Ta'uz and the first chapter Al Fatiha of the Holy Quran, Hazrat Amirul Mo'menine, Zafrullah Domun recited the following verses 19-27 of chapter 35 of the Holy Quran in Arabic and then he said:

These verses are so clear that any person whatever his level of intelligence can understand their meanings very easily. The first verse speaks about our individual responsibility with regard to how we are going to render the accounts of our deeds to Allah. Allah will ask you as a person about your behavior and not as a Jamaat. To defend or to commend yourself, no one will assist you. You will confront the result of your actions alone. There will be no one to help you. Even if you would ask someone for example a kinsman to help, he would not be able because his own actions would be enough for him.

In the same verse Allah tells the holy prophet Mohammad saw that only those persons who fear Allah in secret and observe prayer will heed the admonition. You may think that you fear Allah because you go to the mosque, you pay the zakaat, but real fear of Allah is when you refrain from doing evil when no human being is seeing you. Only such people have real fear of Allah because they know that although no human being was watching them, there was someone who is a Knower of all secrets and He was watching and they refrain to do any evil deeds because they are conscious of His Watch. Being conscious of Allah these people cannot do without prayer and so they observe prayer as it should be observed. Moreover Allah says that whatever self purification these people are doing, they will be the sole beneficiaries of these actions. In other words whatever actions we do with a view to purify our own selves, it's benefits would accrue to us and not to anyone else.

The next three verses are self evident facts. Allah says that the blind and the seeing, darkness and light, shade and heat and the living and the dead are not alike. Anyone who thinks about these would easily come to the conclusion that these are self evident truths. Allah states these examples because He wants the average person to understand the message. Among these two contrary states one is positive and one is negative. The person who fears Allah would always go for the positive in order not to be in the negative state. The person who fears Allah would like to be amongst the seeing instead of the blind. He would choose to be in light rather than in darkness. He would prefer to be in the shade rather than in heat. And of course he would like to be amongst the living rather than to be amongst the dead.

Then Allah says “Allah causes him to hear whom He pleases and thou cannot make those hear who are in the graves.” We may understand from the first part of the verse that Allah gives to the people the faculty of hearing. But I humbly think that this verse may also mean that Allah makes whomsoever He pleases to hear what He wants them to hear, that is to say His words, His revelations. Then Allah tells the Holy Prophet saw that he cannot make those people who are in the graves to hear anything. This is indeed a self evident truth. The mainstream Jamaat's comment on this verse taken from the short commentary of the Holy Quran is as follows: “it is not possible for a prophet of God to make those who have deliberately shut their hearts and ears listen to and accept the Divine Message. Such people are as dead and defunct as those buried in graves.”(Note 2416 page 937). I do not think I should make any further comments on this.

In the next verse Allah says “Thou art only a Warner”. By Allah's Grace this verse has been revealed to me many times.

In the following verse Allah says “Verily We have sent thee with Truth, as a bearer of glad tidings and as a Warner; and there is no people to whom a Warner has not been sent”

Jamaat Ahmadiyya thought that they were the one to warn others through Hazrat Masih Maood as . Most probably they thought that they would not be tried. They had forgotten what Allah has clearly said in the Holy Quran: “Do men think that they will be left alone because they say ‘we believe' and that they will not be tried? And we did try those who were before them. So Allah will assuredly know those who are truthful and He will assuredly know the liars.”(29:3,4). These days the Jamaat is being tried because Allah has told this humble one that he is a guide for the Jamaat. Those who follow this humble one and makes the oath of allegiance with him makes an oath with Allah because repeatedly Allah has said “Allah's hand is above their hands”. In fact, in my humble opinion members of Jamaat Ahmadiyya, if they were true to their teachings should have been the first to understand why Allah has asked me to look after His Jamaat. But unfortunately they have closed their eyes and their hearts to truth and hence they have become blind and they are unable to understand.

In the next verse Allah says “And if they treat thee as a liar, those who were before them also treated their messengers as liars. Their messengers came to them with clear signs and with the scriptures and with an illuminating book.”

Treating those who come from Allah as “liars” is a common habit of the people although they may profess otherwise. The Jews prayed for a prophet but when Hazrat Isa as appeared they tried to crucify him. When the Holy Prophet saw appeared they opposed him. And yet amongst them were many learned men. Some accepted Islam but most rejected the new message. And Allah gave us the prayer of Al Fateha so that we might not become like those who incurred His displeasure or those who went astray” but yet when a message comes from Allah most of the people reject it because they prefer their own prejudices and hatred.

In the last verse of this ruku Allah says “then I seized those who disbelieved, and how terrible were the consequences of denying me!” From this and other verses we understand that Allah will definitely punish those who treat His Messengers as liars.

Rare are those persons who have the necessary capacity to distinguish what is right from what is wrong. Such people are endowed with a capacity known as “discernment” which means “good judgment.”

Recently I came across an article about “True Discernment”. The article was published in several issues of The Review of Religion in the year 1999. For the benefit of all those who may hear or read this sermon I am pleased to give some extracts of what Hazrat Masih Maood as has said. He says:

“People have been greatly mistaken about the use of the term kalimatullah , meaning “the word of God”, in respect of Jesus as and have considered it to be due to some special quality possessed by Jesus as when this is not so. This term, in fact, applies to any human being when he emerges , purified from the darkness that surrounds his soul and from all the impurities and imperfections that engulf him. When such a high state of purity is achieved, a person becomes kalimatullah ,
‘the word of God'.

You should remember that a human being is ‘the word of God' because there is within him a soul that is referred to in the Holy Quran as amrerabbi , i.e that which comes into being by the command of Allah( and is under the command of Allah). However, due to their foolishness and ignorance, people do not generally appreciate the significance of the soul and as a result they imprison their soul and bind it with all kinds of “chains”(created by their worldly pursuits). This has the consequence of turning the light and clarity of the soul into a dangerous darkness, taking away the ability to see and thus turning the soul into something that is so opaque that it becomes undetectable. However, when a person repents and turns to God and takes off the cloak of a dark, impure life, the light within the heart begins to shine and he begins to move towards the real “fountainhead” until the highest point of righteousness is reached when all impurities are removed and what remains is only kalimatullah. This is a very fine and subtle point of spiritual insight and one that may not be easily understood.

The ultimate distinction of a human being is that there should develop within him true discernment and true recognition of God. True discernment is that which carries with it the light of God, guiding a person at every path. Without such guidance a person cannot escape deception – man sometimes is happy even with deadly poison. In the Indian Subcontinent there are many so-called holy men who consider the chanting of certain words and the adoption of various odd positions along with listening to certain types of songs to be the height of spiritual achievement. Those who follow such leaders, in their ignorance, approach them seeking comfort and satisfaction. A careful consideration of their situation would reveal that even if they do not set out to deceive their followers, such leaders are themselves deceived. This is because the true relationship which exists between the one who worships and the one who is worshipped bears no resemblance to the situation of these people. The establishment of a true relationship creates a “light” and the experience of such pleasure that there is no other pleasure like it. This experience has nothing whatsoever to do with the adoption of different physical positions, turning this way and that. The question that needs to be raised here is that if such pastimes could count as true worship of God and could become the source of perfecting the human soul, then those who perform great acts of physical dexterity and acquire remarkable acrobatic skills should be considered as having attained the highest pinnacle of spiritual knowledge!

The Europeans have made great progress in such physical skills and artistry, yet despite their progress in this field , their progress towards God is such that they are either atheists or if they do believe they believe in a helpless human being as God : one who was born from the womb of Mary. Moreover they have abandoned the belief in one God and believe instead in three Gods, one of whom, they claim, was put in hell and became accursed for three days. Regrettably, such people do not know what ma'rifat , i.e true recognition of God is and the ultimate distinction of a human being. They have been unable to identify the satanic elements of their practices and consider that shedding a few tears and letting out a few screams is sufficient for finding satisfaction of the soul. However, it is well known that sometimes a person reading a sad tale in a novel may cry or may even give out a gasp or a scream even though he knows that it is only an imaginary story. This points to the fact that merely shedding tears and crying means nothing in reality.

It is clear that man is easily deceived and this occurs when he is unable to discern between selfish concerns and spiritual objectives. A large proportion of all people who exist in this world is made up of those who do not possess actual signs of truth. Their lips do not utter words of wisdom, yet they are able to reduce people to tears. This does not mean that they possess deep spiritual insight as is possessed by those who, having made a complete bond with God, speak with the fear of God in their hearts. What is at work here, however, is exactly what I have stated above regarding novels and stories. They are themselves engulfed by the demands of their own selfish desires and shedding tears in this manner brings no benefit.

However when it is the case that a person , gripped by the fear and awe of God's greatness and God's Might, sheds even one tear-drop then hell will most certainly be kept away from him. In short, a person would not be deceived by the fact that he cries a great deal. There is no benefit in this – it may even lead to eye infection.

My advice to you is this that crying before God having been gripped by the fear and awe of God's greatness and Might does indeed protect you from the fire of hell……….

The question now arises as to what can be done to attain such a holy status and what means have been prescribed by the Holy Quran for attaining such a status. The answer is that God has laid down two principles for this. The first is prayer. It is a true fact that, as stated in the Holy Quran , the human being is a weak creature.” Man has been created weak”( 4:29 ). He cannot do anything without the blessings and Grace of God. For all the means of his development and existence , he is dependent upon the blessings of God. Foolish is he who is proud of his wealth and proud of his intelligence because everything is a gift from God- from where could he have brought it himself? It is a very important point in relation to prayer that one should have a full sense of one's weakness and feebleness. The more a person ponders over his own weakness the more he will find himself in need of God's Help and hence there will develop within him a strong emotion for prayer. Just as a person going through a difficult time feels pain and deep concern and cries out for help from others, so when a person ponders over his weaknesses and his stumbling points he will find himself to be in need of God's help at every step. His soul would then fall at the feet of the Almighty and would cry out “Oh Lord, Oh Lord!”……..

This is a translation of the 1899 Jalsa Salana Speech of Hazrat Masih Maood as .Next time we will continue with some more extracts incha Allah. May Allah grant all of us an increase in true discernment and make us all the true followers of His Deen incha Allah. Ameen