Friday Sermon of
Hazrat Amirul Momeneen
Zafrullah Domun

29 May 2009

FRIDAY SERMON

29th May 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:

There was part of an extract that I was unable to read last week due to lack of time. Since it is an important piece of advice from Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as, I will read it today for the benefit of all the members and readers. He says:

“Likewise, ancient religion too contains the root of truth within it. God is with truth and the true religion contains within it living signs. A tree is recognized by its fruit.”

This is a very important statement. A Muslim recognizes the divine origin of all previous religions. It is part of our belief that all the previous prophets were from Allah.  What they taught came from Allah. However with the passage of time their teachings are corrupted when their own people dilute them with some elements that were alien from the original teachings. However with the arrival of the Holy Prophet Mohammad ^saw, Islam perfects all the previous dispensation by giving us teachings that encompasses all the previous teachings. Thus, whether it is Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism or Sikhism, all these religions were originally based on truth and that is what the Promised Messiah is saying.  He continues:

“Even within governments which are a kind of a shadow of that Being which is the most hidden, even there we see how the truthful are respected by them and are dear to them. The officers and workers, whom the Government itself has appointed, say, as a Governor of some place, how they work with courage and3do not like anonymity. But the fraudulent Deputy-Commissioner or a Police Inspector, etc. who cheat the people by becoming such officers themselves, could they come before the Government? When the Government finds out it will humiliate them and they would go hand-cuffed to prison or have some other punishment meted out to them. The same is true of religious truthfulness. He, who is truthful in the sight of God, possesses God’s signs and has the mark of courage and truthfulness.”

The last sentence in the above extract merits that we pause and reflect upon its deep meanings. The type of courage and truthfulness that the Messiah is speaking about is not the one that we see displayed these days by suicide bombers and the Islamists who are at work in Pakistan Afghanistan and Iraq. These are those who do not care at all for the dignity of human beings; they practice wanton killing and they are even killing innocent Muslims. These actions are thoroughly condemned by Islam and it can in no way be a hall mark of the true religion. The true religion is the religion that can cater for the physical, educational, intellectual and spiritual needs of its adherents. In fact by strictly adhering to the True religious teachings all these needs would be fulfilled almost automatically. Hence those who say they are truthful in the sight of Allah should display the signs of their “truthfulness”. In the world these days there are 57 countries where there is a Muslim majority population. In many of these countries there are many problems such as illiteracy, backwardness, great discrimination against women and plenty of other miseries. As Muslim countries they should have been the best in the world because Allah has said that the Muslims have been raised as “the best people for the guidance of mankind”.

Now if we look further we see that Ahmadis have been privileged to receive the teachings of Hazrat Ahmad^as.  Above everything Jamaat Ahmadiyya should have shown the path in matters of spirituality as per the wish of its founder. But what do we see. These days there is a degeneresence almost every where. It is an unalterable law that the more a religious group moves from the period of its founder the more the standard of morality will go down within that group. A rapid glance on the history of almost all religious groups will bring home this patent truth. But Hazrat Maish Maood^as says that Allah has made provision for safeguarding Islam from degeneration which is automatic with the passage of time. How? It is by sending from time to time some of His Chosen servants who are raised by revelations from Himself so that they may restore the true and original teachings by removing all the dross that they might have acquired. This has been the case with Islam during the last 14 hundred years and so will it be until the end of days. When such people come they display some signs with the permission of Allah. They are bold and very courageous and they challenge the prevailing teachings or ideas and they propose the original ones as they are taught by Allah. But those who lack courage would not engage with them. They would stick to their dogmatic teachings and prefer their mental straightjackets to the liberating influence of sound teachings that are being given to them because they are off track but yet they know it not. These days a majority of Ahmadis are in this situation. By so doing we can say without any fear of being contradicted that they have misunderstood or they are just ignoring the teachings of Hazrat Masih Maood ^as.

Next Hazrat Masih speaks about the person who fears Allah. He says:

“In reality, he who fears God faces tremendous difficulties. A person becomes pure only when he abandons his own wishes and purpose and becomes totally engrossed in his efforts to attain the pleasure of God. Selfishness, pride and haughtiness are thrown out from his inner self. His eye should look only in the direction in which God commands. His ear should pay attention only to what God says. His lips should open only for the statement of truth and wisdom, and otherwise should remain closed until God commands. His eating, dressing, sleeping, drinking, being with his wife, should all be done because God has so commanded. He shouldn’t eat because he is hungry but because God says so. In short, until he shows that he has ‘died’ before his death he does not reach the level of the righteous. But when he causes a ‘death’ over himself, God would never let him die a second death.”

In this paragraph Hazrat Masih Maood^as is drawing our attention to the behavior of a person who embarks on the path of Allah. Such a person does not live a life of comfort. If he chooses a life of ease and comfort he will not be able to tread this path. If you really want Allah you will have to abandon everything else for his sake. You will have to learn the art of living in the world and at the same time to be out of it. Such a life is made easy only for those who are ready to undergo the travails of treading the spiritual path under the guidance of a spiritual Guide. From time to time Allah sends this guide for the people, out of pity for them. But very few are ready to live in the company of such a person and profit from the teachings that he may impart. Only those persons who are ready to die before their death would be bold enough to embark on such a journey so that they may never die again. Any how this is a vast subject that we will talk about on other occasions.

Then Hazrat Masih describes the people of his time, how they spoke to make a mockery of others and how they did not care at all for truth. He says:

“These days it is seen that when lips are opened, talk is of nothing but mockery, poking fun at others and saying hurtful things about others. Whatever is contained in a vessel pours out. Their talk bears witness to what is within them. I can recognize a goodhearted person from afar. A person who comes with a good character and a wholesome heart is just the kind of person I wish to see. Even abuse from such a person doesn’t seem to bother. But it is unfortunate that such people with pure hearts are very few indeed.”

Again here the Promised Messiah was referring to his contemporary opponents. He did not know that what he was describing would one day apply to those who would declare themselves to be his sincere followers. One may just imagine what would have been his reaction if he knew that people who would declare that they are his followers would say such nonsense. Members of the mainstream Jamaat Ahmadiyya in Mauritius have shown by their own example that they have indeed forgotten the teachings of their founder and in his own words they have been a disgrace to him by their behavior.

As I have told you in the beginning the Promised Messiah was speaking with a group of non-Ahmadis and Ahmadis. At that point in the conversation an Arya person spoke to say that there are only two ignorant nations. If you don’t mind my saying so, one is that of the Sikhs and the other is that of our Muslim brothers. The Promised Messiah ^as replied:

“For a man of understanding no abuse is greater than being called ‘ignorant’. To call someone ignorant to his face is considered a very harsh abuse. But you should consider the fact that none of our people here present have responded (to your abuse). Do you, even now, doubt the gentle and civilized manner of our people? There are many who come and give abuse to my face but none of my people dare to respond (angrily) to such a person. Day and night I give them the teaching of patience. I teach them to be gentle and forbearing. This is not the nation to which your principle (of ignorance) will apply. But we are not responsible for other common people (who are not under our influence). We would believe you if in an Arya gathering someone were to say to them that you are an ignorant people and then they, in turn, were to show patience instead of responding with something a thousand times worse! You have not seen Muslims, neither have you seen their character. If there were to be a comparison between them and the Aryas, it would be like that of a wolf and a lamb. I don’t take responsibility for those who are not under my influence but to listen to abuse and other language meant to incite and remain patiently silent is the work of real men. It remains to be seen if some (others) can also show it. Gentleness is difficult (to achieve and practice). Anyone can be harsh!”

From the reply that Hazrat Masih has given to the Arya gentleman what can easily deduce what was the level of good behavior that the Promised Messiah was expecting from his followers. Of course he could not know that only after 100 years some of those who would say with their lips that they are true to him would display behavior that are contrary to what he taught. Around the world there is a need for all Ahmadis to rethink how far they are true to the teachings that they were taught by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as. It is a must for each Ahmadi , whether young or old , man or woman to make an effort to read the Promised Messiah’s book “ The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam” and to practice those teachings in their daily lives. Unless and until each one of us does not daily reflect about his end , the Jamaat Ahmadiyya International will not fulfill the objectives for which it was created in the first place with 40 adherents on 23^rd March 1889 at Ludhiana in India. Each Ahmadi who declares that he adheres to this Jamaat should make it a duty to examine his life daily preferably before he sleeps. He should think about his day, how he has spent it? How much Allah was present in it and how much he thought only about this world? If you have made some mistakes you should recite “astaghfaroullah” (I ask forgiveness of Allah) and at the same time he should make a determination not to indulge in those sins again. No one knows the time of his death and hence all of us should be ever prepared to meet it when it comes. An Arab poet has said this most beautifully when he said:

Yaa zal lazi waladatka ummaka baakiyan

Wannaso hawlaka zahekan masroura

Ihris a’la amalin takouno behi maza

Yabkouna hawlaka zaahekan masrouran

Translation:

O ye whose mother gave birth to you while you were weeping

And the people around you were happy laughing

Do such deeds through which you would be happy and laughing

Whilst those around you would be wailing.

The meaning is very clear. We came into this world weeping and all members of our family and dear ones were happy with our arrival in this world. Now we should fill our life here with such good deeds that will accompany us to the next world that, at the time of our death we would be happy and laughing whilst all others would be weeping for our departure.

May Allah grant to each one amongst us the wisdom to understand the real meaning of our life and may He grant us the means to fulfill that meaning incha Allah. Ameen