Friday Sermon of
Hazrat Amirul Momeneen
Zafrullah Domun

31 OCTOBER 2008

At Bait-ul-Rahma Mosque
Les Guibies, Pailles
MAURITUS

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

In my two sermons before the last I spoke about how in the past there were some nations who were destroyed because they rejected the Messengers of Allah who were sent to them. Among them were the people of Ad who lived as I said in Yemen in Hadramout. Fifteen days after I mentioned this tragedy, Allah has shown to us His great Power. He has visited that place again with a calamity. There was a storm over there on the 26th October and Hadramout, a province of Yemen was battered with 30 hours of heavy rain. Consequently about 100 persons died, 7000 have been made homeless and more than 20,000 have been displaced. If you were able to watch the scene of this devastation on television, you would surely have been amazed by its scale. Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world. It is having a very difficult time battling Islamic militancy. However the honey from Yemen is the most expensive in the world according to what I have read. Unfortunately for them 7000 beehives have been destroyed. In this moment of distress we offer our deep sympathy to the people of Yemen . We pray that Allah help them to cope with this situation and that He redresses their miserable plight incha Allah.

Similarly Quetta in Pakistan has been visited by an earthquake which has killed almost 200 persons and destroyed many houses. The distress in that place is horrible to say the least. Pakistan as a country is already reeling under economic difficulties. Now on top of all that its people have to deal with yet another natural catastrophe. May Allah have mercy on them.

The aim for my telling you about these events is so that you may reflect upon the words of Allah. There is a lot to think about in the words “Fa kaifa kaana azabi wa nozour ” which means “See how terrible was My Punishment and how true My Warning” and “fa hal mim muddakir” meaning “Is there anyone to take heed?”. No sooner have we mentioned about this that Allah has visited one of the places that were mentioned in chapter al Qamar with another calamity. I do not say that there is a direct connection between what I said and what has happened. But yet I think that this serves only a reminder for all those who reflect to beware. Allah's Power that was in operation yesterday is also in operation today. Therefore around the world people should turn towards Allah in repentance and they should heed the Warning that Allah is sending to them through one of His humble Servants. Our task is only to convey the message. If you listen and act as you are being advised it will be for your own good. If you do as the people of the past did, you will suffer the same punishment. We hope and pray that you will heed before it is too late.

On the economic front the situation in the world is not getting better at all. Major economies of the world will enter into recession sooner or later. All measures that are being put into place to save the situation are not proving effective at all. Some major emergent economies are queuing on the doorsteps of the International Monetary Fund cap in hand. Some major stock markets have seen the value of their stocks plunging by at least 30 percent over the previous year. All these are tell-tale signs of economic hardship that is looming. Those who will be most severely affected by these economic problems are, of course the poor. Although there are many factors that have been contributing to the present mess according to the experts, yet there is no denying the fact that greed and the desire to make money at all costs has been one of the main drivers. This is a problem that has been created in the richest country of the world and now its consequences are reverberating around the globe. And we are not near the end of the tunnel yet. Some experts are saying that there is a need for an overhaul of the whole system with new check and controls. Allah knows best what is in store for us in the coming months.

But believers do not give way to despair. Allah says that the disbelievers despair of the Mercy of their Lord. That is they do not think that they have a Lord who is all Powerful and He can do whatever He likes. We, members of Jamaat Ahmadiyya Al Mouslemeen should do as is our habit and teachings; we should have recourse to prayer so that the evil that will come out of the actions of man may spare us by the Grace of Almighty Allah. Hence we should be very careful in the way we spend our money and we should do our best to live within our means and not fall into the debt trap. May Allah help you all to become industrious, hardworking, contented individuals. Some time back the communist ideology swept the planet and for about seventy years it created great havoc in the world until it disappeared. Today in the world there are only three countries which still say that they are communist but they do not espouse its ideology as they did before. The people of the West worked hard to wipe out communism and they have done a lot to promote their brand of capitalism around the world.

The havoc that has been sweeping among the most industrialized countries since some time now has shown that the capitalism that has become rampant since the end of the cold war is no longer triumphant. Most of these countries have now started to pay the consequences of their own unbridled brand of capitalism where their mantra was that the market will take care of everything. Had they left this matter to the market, many banks would have had to close and many more jobs would have been lost. Governments have had to step in to nationalize many major banking institutions to prevent a collapse of the world economy. But the problem is still far from fixed. The leaders always use a language to prevent the people from panicking. But the panic is there. With the wave of nationalizations that have swept America and United Kingdom some cartoonists are speaking about comrade Bush and comrade Brown. Although as lay men we do not understand all the intricacies of these problems, yet we understand that there is a major world problem. The problem is of such a scale that even the experts do not know how to fix it. So we are in the unknown as far as the future is concerned.

People of the previous century did not recognize the one that Allah sent them as a guide in the person of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian. Most Muslims and non Muslims ignored him. The consequence was that the world knew two world wars, the explosion of two nuclear bombs epidemics, plagues, diseases, earthquakes and several minor conflicts which resulted in the death of millions. This is a sad story indeed. As far as the Muslims are concerned although they recovered their sovereignty over their own lands which were colonized by the foreign western powers, they did not fare better. Although they were named “the best nation raised for the guidance of mankind” they have not been able to rise to the occasion and these days they are looked upon with great disdain in the western world. Despite all their numbers and might the Arabs lost Palestine to the Jews, and even 60 years after this great defeat they are still reeling under the humiliation of this great loss of Islam's third holiest place. How many Palestinians have been killed and how many have been displaced and are living in exile. Many are still waiting to return to their homeland. Alas they have to wait even longer.

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, as the Imam of the 14th Century of the Hegira warned every one of the consequence of the rejection of his message in the following words:

"Remember, God has informed me of many earth-quakes. Rest assured, therefore, that as earth-quakes have shaken America and Europe, so will they shake Asia. Some of them will resemble the Day of Doom. So many people shall die that rivulets of blood shall flow. Even the birds and the beasts will not be immune against this death. Havoc shall sweep the surface of the earth which shall be the greatest since the birth of man. Habitations shall be demolished as if no one had ever lived in them. This will he accompanied by many other terrible calamities which the earth and the heavens will send forth, till their extraordinary nature will become evident to every reasonable man. All the literature of science and philosophy shall fail to show their like. Then mankind shall be sorely distressed and wonder what is going to happen. Many shall escape and many shall perish.

The days are near, in fact. I can see them close at hand, when the world shall witness a terrible sight: not only earthquakes but also many fearsome calamities shall overtake man, some from the skies and some from the earth. This will happen because mankind has stopped worshipping their true God and has become lost in the affairs of the world with all their heart and their effort and intent. If I had not come, these afflictions would perhaps have been delayed a little. But with my coming the secret purposes of an affronted God which were hidden so far, became manifest. Says God: 'We never punish unless We send a Messenger.' Those who repent shall find security and those who fear before calamity overtakes them shall be shown mercy. Do you think you will be immune from these calamities? Or can you save yourselves through artifice or design? Indeed not. That day all human schemes shall fail. Think not that earthquakes visited America and other continents but that your own country shall remain secure. Indeed, you may experience a greater hardship. O Europe, you are not safe and O Asia, you too, are not immune. And O dwellers of Islands, no false gods shall come to your rescue. I see cities fall and settlements laid waste. The One and the Only God kept silent for long. Heinous deeds were done before His eyes and He said nothing. But now He shall reveal His face in majesty and awe. Let him who has ears hear that the time is not far. I have done my best to bring all under the protection of God, but it was destined that what was written should come to pass. Truly do I say that the turn of this land, too is approaching fast. The times of Noah shall reappear before your eyes, and your own eyes will be witnesses to the calamity that overtook the cities of Lot . But God is slow in His wrath. Repent that you may be shown mercy! He who does not fear Him is dead, not alive." (Haqiqatul Wahy, pp.256-57).

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) uttered these words in the year 1908 some time before his death. Everything that was predicted in these words happened in the twentieth century. A student of history may easily match the prophecies with the events that have taken place during the past century. But “Hal Mim Muddakir” - “does anyone pay heed?”. Man as usual is blind and he lives in heedlessness. Incha Allah may be in one of our Jalsa Salana speech someone may give us ample details about all those happenings. This will show the truthfulness of the words of Allah “Fa kaifa kaana azabi wa nozour” which means “See how terrible was My Punishment and how true My Warning.”

Hazrat Masih Maood (as) has mentioned a verse in this extract which reads as follows: “Wa maa kounna mo'azzabina hatta nab'asa rasoula” which means: “We do not punish unless we send a Messenger”. I want you all to know that Allah has revealed this verse to this humble self also. Hazrat Masih Maood (as) has told us in many of his writings that Allah will continue to send messengers who will continue the work of the Holy Prophet (saw) in the Umma. They do not have a status of their own. They are reflections of the prophet. According to Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad such persons will continue to appear in this Umma whenever there is the need until the last day.

At one place he says:

“It must be clear to you that when a true seeker lives Islam obediently and completely and each of his faculty truly and automatically follows God's commands then the overall results of his efforts is that Allah sends signs of guidance to him on a larger scale without any intermediary veils. That is to say that this person will directly experience Allah on a higher level. Many kinds of blessings fall on this person. These commands were accepted due to his faith and because it was obligatory on him. But now he starts to experience these commands as realities and certainties through true visions and also through true and clear non-ambiguous revelations, which is without double meanings. He receives revelation on the mystery of the law and faith and he sees signs of the kingdom of Allah , which brings him to a state of certainty and full understanding of Allah's kingdom. He is blessed in his tongue, his words, and his actions and in whatever he does. He acquires an overwhelming courage and also becomes very patient and has a firm belief and a thorough understanding. Common human weaknesses such as contemptible action, miserliness, short sightedness, easily giving away to one's passions, contemptible actions and all of his ego centric purposes leaves him completely and he is filled with the divine light of Allah's attributes. This person then experiences a complete change and he is as if born again. He hears and sees through Allah. His anger becomes Allah's anger and his compassion becomes Allah's compassion. In other words, if he is angry with someone, Allah is angry with that person and if he is happy with someone then Allah is also happy with that person. But we need to understand that this kind of a person has no meanness in him. He is someone who has washed himself from all human weaknesses, which may be found in human nature. When someone arrives at this stage Allah listens to his prayers because he is one of the chosen ones, there is no need to test him, since this person becomes a living proof of Allah on earth and he is a sign of Allah's security. And in heaven there is a joy because of him and the greatest gift that he receives is that Allah's words descends on his heart beyond any doubt...” [Aina kamalaaté Islam (Rohani Khazain Vol5 pp226-233)]

This is the second time that I am quoting these words because I think that they may be of benefit to those who may read them. Ahmadis especially have to pay an especial attention to what has been said here. They should not just go on obeying their leader who says things which are contrary to these sayings of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as). May Allah have mercy on all of us and may He protect us from all sorts of evil.