Friday Sermon – Khalifatul Masih V – Mirza Masroor Ahmad – Year 2017
Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad (saw) is the Messenger of Allah. Come to Prayer Come to success Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest. There is none worthy of worship except Allah.
Peace be upon you all, I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah He is alone and has no partner and I bear witness that Muhammad (saw) is His Servant and Messenger After this I seek refuge with Allah from Satan the accursed.
In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all the worlds. The Gracious, the Merciful. Master of the Day of Judgment. Thee alone do we worship and Thee alone do we implore for help. Guide us in the right path
The path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings, those who have not incurred Thy displeasure, and those who have not gone astray. In the previous sermon I spoke about the relationship between good morals and righteousness; and mentioned that in order to attain righteousness one requires good morals.
Furthermore, I mentioned the Promised Messiah’s (as) instructions that man can only become a righteous person when he possesses all good moral qualities. Hence, a believer must make full effort to adopt all good morals and to act upon all the commandments which God Almighty has given
And to refrain from all those prohibited matters which He has commanded us to refrain from. Only then will those high moral qualities be adopted, which are necessary for a righteous person. However, there are some aspects of morality, which, if not present in a believer, then his level of faith becomes questionable
And he must examine whether these are present in him or not. Righteousness is a matter for later; first one must look after their faith. Among all the aspects of morality necessary for a believer, the most important is to remain truthful and to abstain from lying. God Almighty states in the Holy Qur’an: [Arabic]
“Shun therefore the abomination of idols, and shun all words of untruth,” Hence, having put worship of idols and lying together, He has clearly demonstrated that if you do not possess the attribute of truthfulness inside you, nor the habit of speaking the truth, then it is a sin paramount to idol-worship.
It is not possible for a believer to have faith in God’s unity, while at the same time be polluted with the filth of idols, irrespective of whether it is manifest or hidden. So, this is a very clear and open warning for one who professes faith,
That if you are a believer then you must also have a high standard of truthfulness, otherwise one should have concern for the state of their faith. The Promised Messiah (as) has also paid special attention to this topic and clearly stated,
That what is an idol, and what must you do to protect your faith? What kind of abominations of idols must you avoid and in what ways can you save yourself? The Promised Messiah (as) has constantly addressed this topic in different books and sittings and very openly discussed the importance of truthfulness.
On top of this he has expressed great passion in this regard, which every single Ahmadi must always keep in mind in order for us to excel towards righteousness, whilst consolidating our own faith. I shall now present some of his extracts, which may seem to be very similar or exactly the same,
However each sentence is in fact a new lesson and reminder. In his book Noor-ul-Quran the Promised Messiah (as) states: “The Holy Qur’an has deemed lying equal to idol-worship, just as God Almighty states: [Arabic] “In other words, avoid the filth of idol-worship and of lying.
“Both are an abomination and both are vile, hence one should stay away from them.” Then he discussed how as a result of lying man becomes far-removed from God Almighty, or one must say, how God Almighty abandons liars. He (as) states: “Avoid idol-worship and lying. In other words lying too is an idol.
“The one who puts his trust in it abandons his trust in God Almighty. “So in lying, one also loses God.” When a person abandons his trust, God does not go near him. Then, in The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam and in Lecture Lahore he mentions, that
“One should avoid idol-worship and lying. Both of these [acts] are impure.” So in order to remain pure, man must stay away from lying and all types of Shirk. Then, in one sitting he (as) stated: “The Holy Qur’an has deemed lying unclean and dirty as is stated: [ARABIC]
“Observe how lying has been placed parallel to idol-worship “and in reality lying is a kind of idol-worship, “otherwise why else does one go the other way once he abandons truthfulness? “Just as idols are worshiped without any evidence, “similarly lying is based on nothing but fabrications. ”
There is only a polish on the outside of the speech but inside there is absolutely nothing. “The trust of liars becomes so diminished that “even if they speak the truth they would still think that it should be intertwined with lies. “If those who lie wish for their lying to be reduced,
“then know that it does not happen quickly.” When they have made a habit of it, then it does not escape you quickly. He (as) then states: “For a while one must train hard, “only then can they instil the habit of speaking the truth.” Some are so engrossed in inventing fabrications that
They must add some falsehood in everything they say and he (as) states a great deal of effort is required for this, and for a long period of time one must make great endeavours. Only then will one instil in himself the habit speaking the truth.
Hence, there are those who are of the opinion that to make worldly achievements one must make a few false statements here and there and if not then it would not be possible. Whilst negating this approach, the Promised Messiah (as) writes: “Idol-worship has been put alongside lying;
“just as an ignorant one forsakes God and instead bows his head before a stone, in the same way “he abandons honesty and truthfulness for his own sake he makes lying his idol. “For this reason God Almighty has put idol-worship alongside lying and drew this comparison,
“just as an idol-worshipper desires salvation from the idol.” He (as) states: “The one who lies creates his own idol “and considers it to be the means of their salvation.” He further states: “How erroneous would it be “if it was said ‘why do you worship idols? Leave this abomination’,
“and in reply they say ‘why should we forsake them when there is no other way without them.’ “What would be more unfortunate than considering falsehood to be the basis of one’s life? “On the other hand I assure you that in the end, the truthful one will be successful
“and victory will ultimately be his.” He then states: “Remember that there is nothing more cursed than falsehood. “Generally, worldly men say that the truthful get caught, “but why should I accept this when I myself have been in 7 court cases
“and by the grace of Allah, not once have I had to utter a lie. “Can anyone say that God Almighty made me suffer defeat in any one of them? “God Almighty is Himself the protector and Helper of the truthful.
“Can it be that He gives a punishment to a pious person or a truthful person? “If this ever happened then no one in the world would ever have the courage to speak the truth “and true belief in God would disappear.”
“The reality is that those people, who endure punishments because of speaking the truth, “their punishment is in fact not due to speaking the truth. “Rather it is due to their subtle and concealed misdeeds.” If one is culpable of a crime, but owing to speaking the truth he receives punishment
A temporary period of righteousness overtook him and he spoke the truth, but was still punished then one should not think that he has received the punishment due to telling the truth. The Promised Messiah (as) says that those mistakes and misdeeds are the reason for punishment.
The punishment is the result of some other lie. “There is a chain of these evil deeds and vices [recorded] with Allah the Almighty; “there are many of those wrongdoings and one receives punishment for one or another.” All the record of our deeds is securely kept with Allah the Almighty.
People’s computers are damaged. They suffer hacks, lose all the data due to cyber-attacks but nobody can delete the record which is with Allah the Almighty. It is there in its entirety. Man may escape from worldly punishment through excuses but Allah the Almighty cannot be deceived.
He says, this is the reason why one should adopt a permanent habit of [doing] good deeds. One should attain consistency in good deeds and then endeavour to act upon them forever. This saying of the Promised Messiah (as) that ‘a worldly individual thinks that they cannot forsake lying
‘as they could not survive without it’ is not only regarding greater interests, rather, the state of worldly people is such that they lie about everything, even the smallest of matters. Thus, a large study on lying, containing many essays, was recently published in the latest National Geographic.
The research was conducted on ‘Why we lie’? [The author] suggested that supposedly success is achieved through lying like the Promised Messiah (as) also said that people think that they achieve success due to lying. [The author] has written the same
And has also tried to prove in the study that that it is ingrained in the human nature to lie. However, it is not ingrained in the human nature to lie, rather, it is the environment which makes one a liar. Anyhow, these people also have their worldly goals.
In the same article, [the author] has formulated the idea or has tried to justify lying by saying that it becomes a habit since childhood, whereas even during childhood, it is the environment, which inculcates this habit. Now, their state is such that they have very proudly presented accounts of those people
Who participate in ‘lying competitions’, become champions and are given awards. One of those people, who received an award, said that ‘some of the stories I tell are true but without deception and lying ‘my stories would be extremely boring. No one would pay attention to them.
Therefore in order to grab the attention of people, I lie.’ In the same article, it is said about people ranging from children to politicians, from [usual] professionals to scientists, that their words contain lies. In this society, in this environment, there is so much lying that we observe lying everywhere.
In their view, there is no way out of it. [They say,] ‘we are forced to lie.’ We say that the standard of truthfulness of Western nations is very good. After reading this article, it seems that every matter of theirs is based on a lie. The initial survey which they conducted previously
Revealed that everyone tells three to four lies daily. And all those various lies are invented so that it does not become necessary to guide someone appropriately. If someone needs to be provided with some guidance, it is not done appropriately and lying is added to it.
A person is deceived. fabrications are invented in order to deceive someone. [Lies are told] in order to conceal one’s shortcomings. Then, there are various excuses and reasons, why lies are told. Then, according to all this research, lies are told in order to establish a false image
About one’s self, for the sake of self-impression. These lies are on a smaller scale. Among the ‘bigger’ lies, the author has mentioned the extramarital relationships of husbands and wives, which they entertain. Lies are told to hide them from each other.
When the husband or the wife forge wrong kinds of friendships due to permissiveness, they are compelled to lie. This is one of the great evils of a free society that due to such free mixing, illicit relationships are formed. Then, once the pack of lies opens up, quarrels begin
And it ultimately leads to separation and divorce among such people. If one analyses [the situation] among ourselves, domestic quarrels, separations and divorces take place because people rely on lies, whereas, after understanding this fundamental element of human psyche,
One of the verses, we have been told to recite during the Nikah sermon is as follows: [ARABIC] “O ye who believe! fear Allah, and say the right word.” It further states: [ARABIC] “He will bless your works for you and forgive you your sins.
“And whoso obeys Allah and His Messenger, shall surely attain a mighty success.” Now, this is obedience. When there is such permissiveness, when pardah vanishes in the name of ‘freedom’, and due to this vanishing of pardah, doubts rise and a lack of confidence takes hold,
Then people feel compelled to lie and a never-ending chain of lies begins. Anyhow, Allah the Almighty has spoken about truthfulness with regards to a relationship between husband and wife to such a great extent so that there should be no bending [of truth].
[The verse says that] there should be a high standard of truthfulness. In this way, not only will your relationships become pleasant, your children will also be saved from many issues. Allah will also forgive your sins and grant you a great success. Thus, this is a beautiful commandment of Islam.
However, despite this, people do not abide by uttering ‘the right word’. They jeopardise their relationships, they do not uphold the confidence in them due to lying and who can be more unfortunate than this? The reason, why the rate of khul’a and divorces is rising amongst us as well
Is that people are abandoning the commandments of Allah. These worldly people, who are not equipped with any guidance, even they consider – as the [author] has written – lying to each other to be a ‘serious sin’. It is [considered] a grievous and a very worrying sin.
However, if those who have been guided behave in this way then it becomes an even more ‘serious’ and there emerges an even more alarming picture because they would be disobeying the commandments of Allah. Then, those who do this will also be deprived of the forgiveness of sins
And deprived of the divine promise of success from Allah the Almighty. Thus, it is worrying indeed for those people who adopt such attitudes. In this report it was written that people tend to lie in order to conceal their faults.
The majority of the survey indicated that they do so in order to avoid people: if an individual does not wish to meet someone they would simply tell their wife or children to inform that individual that they are not at home.
Some people tell their children to inform the person that has come to their door or a person on phone that their mother or father are not at home. In this manner the children develop a habit of lying. Therefore it is not inherent nature,
Rather it is the actions of adults that direct children towards this habit of lying. Then the writer mentions that some people lie habitually without any cause, and in reality this habit is developed due to ones surroundings and environment. He then wrote that people often lie to conceal the facts,
Lest one would have to mention the truth. For this reason they would conceal the truth. Similarly people lie to cause harm to others, to become good in the eyes of others, to make other people laugh – when someone narrates a humorous joke [they lie]
Even though they can easily make humour through pure and moral jokes. Then people lie due to self-impression. Aside from personal gain people lie which does not grant them any economic advantage. Similarly people lie to make an economic advantage.
Thus, in this survey there was a breakdown by percent of all the different types of liars. Amongst these included those that lie in order to conceal a mistake, lying in order to make a financial gain as well as lying to gain other resources,
Those that lie in order to evade a situation such as not meeting with someone. An individual will then continue to lie once they have managed this. These are the four biggest categories are people that lie the most in; in order to conceal a mistake, in order to gain financial benefits,
Personal benefits beyond money and in order to escape or evade people. This is what the survey mentions. This is the state of affairs of those people who many from among us believe that their standards of truthfulness are greater than ours. If these people are models for our truthfulness,
Then this is a matter of grave concern for all those people who call themselves believers. These people do not even believe in God or they set up equals to Him. However, should we as the ones who have professed belief and claim to act upon the teachings of our faith,
Move away from the truth, then not only will we move away from religion, rather we will be guilty of associating partners with Allah. Thus we must analyse the standards of our truthfulness and always be mindful of this. With regards to giving testimonies, God Almighty prohibits giving false testimonies.
In regards to the servants of the Gracious God, it has been stated: [Arabic] “And those who bear not false witness”. Therefore, we should not give false statements for any financial gain or gaining any resource, nor should it be to gain any other advantage,
Because if we wish to be counted amongst the servants of the Gracious God and progress in our faith then we must avoid these falsehoods. In fact, this is vital in order to safeguard oneself from Satan, since Satan has severed ties with the Gracious God due his falsehood,
And when one severs ties with God Almighty, then according to the Promised Messiah (as), one forges a relationship with Satan and falls victim to his schemes. Whilst highlighting the standards of our truthfulness and how to avoid falsehood, the Promised Messiah (as) states at one point:
“At this point in time I do not wish to advise you to abstain from shedding blood, for aside from a “truly evil individual, who can even think about the unlawful killing of another individual.” He states, “However, I urge you not to remain stubborn upon injustice
“and spill the blood of truthfulness. Adopt the truth, even if you learn it from a child. “And should you witness the truth from an adversary, “then you should abandon your futile logic immediately.” Even if a child is speaking the truth one should accept it and shun their stubbornness.
He (as) states: “The truth will then prevail and [one should] always speak the truth, “just as God Almighty states: [Arabic] ‘Shun therefore the abomination of idols, and shun all words of untruth’. The Promised Messiah (as)states: “Whatever turns one away from the direction of truthfulness
“and leads one away from truthfulness is an idol for you. “Always speak the truth, “regardless of whether that statement will go against ones father, brother or friend. “It should be the case that even enmity of another should not swerve you from justice.” Moving away from justice will lead you to falsehood.
A Christian once raised an allegation that ‘the Holy Prophet (saw) gave permission to lie on three occasions ‘and in the Holy Qur’an there is a clear command that one can conceal their faith using falsehood. ‘Whereas in the Bible there is no such command.’
In reply to this the Promised Messiah (as) stated: “It should be made clear “that in regards to the emphasis placed by the Qur’an for upholding truthfulness and honesty, “I do not believe that even a fraction of this has been mentioned in the Bible.
He (as) states: “The Holy Qur’an has declared lying akin to idolatry as it states: [Arabic] “Shun therefore the abomination of idols, and shun all words of untruth”. It then states: [Arabic] “O ye who believe! be strict in observing justice, and be witnesses for Allah,
Even though it be against yourselves or against parents and kindred.” This is the standard of truthfulness. Although this is the teaching to uphold justice, however this justice can never be established unless truthfulness is established first. These are the standards that are vital for a believer.
Further elaborating on this matter the Promised Messiah (as) states: “God Almighty has stated that justice cannot be established without truthfulness. “God Almighty states: [Arabic] ‘and let not a people’s enmity incite you to act otherwise than with justice. ‘Be always just, that is nearer to righteousness.’
“You are fully aware that those nations who cause harm unjustly, “and by causing others pain through bloodshed and pursuing them, “as well as killing innocent women and children “like the disbelievers in Mecca – on top of that they refuse to stop their hostility, “how difficult will it be to show them justice?
“However the Holy Qur’an has not even permitted for the rights of bitter enemies “such as these to be usurped and instead promotes justice and honesty. “I say to you truly that it is simple to be civil with the enemy,
“however for one to uphold the rights of the enemy and to ensure justice and impartiality is upheld “is extremely difficult, and only the work of the courageous youth.” The Promised Messiah (as) states: “Many people can show love to their enemies “and speak with them amicably, however,
“they usurp their rights. In order to conceal the truth they continue to invent fabrications. “They do not uphold justice and instead utter falsehood. “One brother appears to show love to another brother “however he deceives him and under the guise of affection suppresses his rights.
The Promised Messiah (as) then gives an example: “For example, a landowner “cunningly does not include the name of the other [rightful] person in the land registry “and so the apparent love he was displaying is lost for the sake of this.” There are many cases that arise on similar lines. There are many relatives who change the title deeds to remove the name of their relatives from property or land registry documents or exclude their name altogether,
Or do not testify correctly thereby causing them to suffer financial loss. The Promised Messiah (as) continues: “Allah the Almighty has not just mentioned ‘love’ in this verse, “in fact He refers to the required standards of love. One who displays justice,
“honesty and fairness to an arch enemy will be able to show true affection and love.” The standard of truthfulness of a true believer should be that his or her honesty should not be temporary or shown only in his or her routine societal interactions; rather a true believer displays the required level of honesty
By refraining from lying towards even an archenemy lest they inflict them with any harm or loss. When one is able to demonstrate truthfulness towards an adversary, it will increase one’s standard of truthfulness towards others which will result in mutual love and compassion increasing. Love and affection are alien to dishonesty.
It is impossible that one can hold true sympathy and affection towards another person, yet resorts to lying to them. True affection is something with stems instinctively. In short we need to strive to achieve such standards. Once one has derived these standards of truthfulness
He or she will never seek to deceive or mislead another person. Advising on honesty and truthfulness, the Promised Messiah (as) says: “Earning unlawfully is not as damaging and harmful as lying. “Nobody should misunderstand this to mean that unlawful gains are a good thing.
“Rather it is completely wrong and anyone who thinks otherwise is mistaken entirely. “What I mean is that, if a person is compelled to eat pork, it is an altogether different matter. “However, if he declares a fatwah (edict) that pork is permissible, “he will move far away from Islam.”
In compelling circumstances such as facing life-threatening starvation, a person is allowed to eat pork. However if he or she were to verbally declare that eating pork is allowed it will cause him or her to become far-removed from Islam. He states: “Such a person considers permissible what Allah the Almighty has judged forbidden.’
“This demonstrates that unrestricted speaking is dangerous “and this is why a true believer carefully controls what he or she says (he or she refrains from uttering anything that is unrighteous). “Thus govern your tongues rather than allowing your tongues to govern you “leading you to speaking excessively and beyond measure.”
One should keep their tongues in check, this what is meant by ‘governing’ them and not allowing yourself to blurting out whatever comes to mind, because this would only lead to exclaiming anything and everything, whether truthful or false. In turn, this creates disorder and strife. It is essential to always remember that our tongues
Need to be established on the standard of truthfulness where it not only avoids Shirk [associating partners with God], but further it should reach the required standards of righteousness. You should keep in view the different states of falsehood that people are embroiled in, as described in the article I cited earlier,
And on this basis you need to assess your own condition as to whether you are dishonest or deceitful in any way. And if you do resort to even the slightest amount of lying or falsehood, you need to determine how you can rid yourself of this.
May Allah the Almighty enable every one of us to understand this fact. Then another trait that should be part of the etiquettes of a believer and is something that draws the nearness of God Almighty is humility and aversion from arrogance. With regards to those who are arrogant, God Almighty states: [Arabic]
“And turn not thy cheek away from men in pride nor walk in the earth haughtily; “Surely, Allah loves not any arrogant boaster” The Promised Messiah (as) has mentioned this in his writings on several occasions. He states: “On the one hand there are people who are a million times
“below the rank and status of Prophets – [i.e.] there is no comparison between them “yet having prayed for a mere two days, they begin to display arrogance. “The same is the case for fasting and Hajj. Instead of using them as a means of purification
“of the soul, it becomes a source of arrogance and conceit.” Even in these days of Ramadan, the minute some people see a true dream they exhibit arrogance. We should abstain from such habits and seek repentance from God Almighty. The Promised Messiah (as) states: “Behold! Arrogance originates from Satan
“and can cause one to become Satan as well. Until one distances themselves from it, “they begin to tread on the path that leads to divine blessings. “One should not show arrogance over any trait; whether it is over their knowledge, “their wealth, their credibility, their cast, their family status or rank.
“Mostly people show pride over these matters. Until one cleanses themselves from haughtiness, “they will not be deemed as pious in the eyes of God Almighty “and they will not be bestowed that wisdom which burns away the immoral aspects of ones emotions. In order to eliminate ones baser emotions
– those emotions which are immoral – one requires the help of wisdom. One cannot be bestowed this wisdom unless they eschew arrogance and adopt humility. He (as) states “The reason why it cannot be bestowed to man is because “it [arrogance] is the part of Satan that God does not like.
“Satan showed arrogance and declared himself to be greater than Adam, [Arabic]. “It resulted in him being accursed and rejected by God Almighty, “while at the same time causing Adam to slip. “However, since he was bestowed divine wisdom, “he admitted his weaknesses, thereby becoming the recipient of divine grace.
“He was fully aware of the fact that without the grace of God there is nothing. “That is why he recited the following prayer:” [Arabic] The Promised Messiah (as) also advised the members of the Jama’at to recite this prayer. These days we are passing through the last Ashra [set of ten days of Ramadan].
These prayers are vital in order to safeguard ourselves from the fire of Hell and to seek the Mercy of God Almighty. The Promised Messiah (as) stated: “This is the very secret behind the incident when Jesus (as) was addressed by saying: ‘O virtuous teacher’, to which Jesus replied ‘Why do you call me pious?’
The Promised Messiah (as) states: “The ignorant Christians of today say that the real meaning “behind this statement is ‘why do you not call me God?’ even though “ Prophet Jesus replied in the most subtle of manners, which was inherent in his nature.
“He was fully aware that true piety can only be bestowed by God Almighty. “He alone is its fountainhead and the source from where it descends. “He grants it to whomsoever He wills and similarly seizes it whenever He wills. “However, these foolish people have turned a profound and admirable statement
“into an imperfection and have portrayed Prophet Jesus (as) to be arrogant “when in fact he was a man who was full of humility. Regarding how to purify oneself, the Promised Messiah (as) states: “In my view, this is the best way for one to acquire purification,
“although it is possible that there could be a better method, “and that is to not display any kind of arrogance or pride. “If one wishes to be purified then one should not show any kind of arrogance or pride “- whether it is over their knowledge, family status or wealth.
“When Allah the Almighty grants true comprehension [of the Divine] to someone, “subsequently one is then able to witness that the light which can save one from darkness “in fact falls from the heavens. Man is forever in need of heavenly light.
“The eye cannot see unless there is light from the sun which falls from the skies. “Similarly, the intrinsic light removes all forms of darkness “and instead develops the spiritual glow of Taqwa [righteousness] and purity falls from the skies. “I tell you truly that one’s righteousness, faith, worship and purification comes from the heavens
“and this is dependent upon the grace of Allah the Almighty. “If He desires, He may cause it to remain and equally He may remove it if he desires.” The Promised Messiah (as) further states: “Acquiring true comprehension [of the Divine] is in fact to quash one’s own ego
“and give no importance to oneself. And to fall at the threshold of Allah the Almighty with utmost “humility and meekness and seek His grace and the spiritual enlightenment “which burns away one’s inner passions “andillumines one internally and develops the strength and passion to perform virtuous deeds.
“Thereafter, if one is granted anything from His grace and becomes spiritually uplifted and content “then one must never become arrogant and haughty.” If one forms a relationship with Allah the Almighty and begins to witness the acceptance of their prayers and develops a contentment within their hearts,
This should not make one become arrogant and proud. “In fact it should further increase them in humility and meekness.” One should further increase in humility owing to this relationship with Allah the Almighty and His grace. “because the more one increases in humility the more experiences one will be granted and also
“spiritual light from Allah the Almighty which will in turn illuminate and grant them strength. “If a person holds this belief then one can expect that by the grace of Allah the Almighty “their moral state will be improved. “To consider yourself of high status in this world is also a display of arrogance
“and such a person ultimately reaches a state where he curses others and consider them lowly.” In order for one to become free of arrogance it is essential to attribute every quality to Allah the Almighty. Every good quality should be attributed to Allah the Almighty.
Further expounding on this, the Promised Messiah (as) states: “ The truth of the matter “is that the impurity which is borne out of the passions of the inner self “and manifests in the form of immoral practises, arrogance, conceit, etc. “it cannot be exterminated unless there is the grace of God Almighty
“and these immoral blemishes cannot be reduced to ashes “until they are not burnt by the fire of true insight. “When one begins to develop this vigour of true insight, “then he gradually becomes free from the deficiencies he suffers in his morals and despite
“being of high repute, he considers himself as low and does not attach any significance to himself. “He does not attribute his spiritual glow and light which he partakes from the light of the true “comprehension of the Divine to his own abilities or qualities and nor attributes it to himself.
“In fact, he believes that it is purely due to the grace of Allah the Almighty and His mercy “just as a wall becomes bright when the rays of the sunlight fall upon it, “however the wall itself cannot take pride over this.”
The rays of light from the sun fall on the wall and as a result it becomes bright, however the wall itself cannot take pride over this due its own inherent qualities. He (as) further states: “Furthermore, the cleaner the wall, the more clearer the light.”
If the wall is clean and shiny then the light reflected from it will be even brighter. “However, this is not owing to any inherent quality of the wall, “rather it is a source of pride for the sun. “Similarly, [the wall] can neither ask for this light to be taken away.
The Promised Messiah further states: “In the same way, the soul of the prophets is completely pure. “The grace and blessings of God Almighty and the spiritual light of the true comprehension “of the Divine descends upon them and illuminates them.
“Hence, they do not make any claim from their own accord but in fact they attribute every blessing “to God Almighty and that in actuality is the truth. “It was for this very reason that when the Holy Prophet (saw) was once asked “whether he would enter paradise due to his deeds and he replied,
‘certainly not but it will be only due to the grace of God.’’’ The Promised Messiah (as) states: “The Prophets never attribute any ability “or strength to themselves. They receive it from God and only proclaim His name.” Thus, if this is the state [of humility] of those who are very dear to God Almighty
Then what should be the level of humility displayed by an ordinary Ahmadi and how much should he lower himself out of humbleness while being grateful to Allah the Almighty for His blessings? Arrogance brings about a spiritual death and one becomes distant from God Almighty.
Expounding on this, the Promised Messiah states: “Allah the Almighty is extremely merciful “and compassionate and provides for man in every kind of way. “He shows mercy to them and it is owing to this mercy that He sends His prophets and messengers
“so that they can save the people of the world from vice and leading an impure life. “However, arrogance is an extremely dangerous ailment “and signifies a spiritual death in whomsoever it develop.’ He (as) states: “I firmly know that this ailment is far worse than murder.
“An arrogant person becomes the brother of Satan because it was arrogance that spelt the ruin “for Satan. Therefore, one of the conditions for a believer is that he should not have any arrogance, “in fact he should be humble, modest and meek “and this is the hallmark of the prophets of God Almighty.
“They are full of modesty and humility, “and this quality was to be found in its most perfect in the Holy Prophet (saw). “Once, someone who was appointed to serve the Holy Prophet (saw) “was asked that how does the Holy Prophet (saw) treat him. He replied,
‘the truth is that he serves me more than I serve him.’ – Bless, O Allah, Muhammad and the people of Muhammad and grant him prosperity and blessings. Advising the community regarding this, the Promised Messiah (as) states: “Arrogance has become widespread in the world.
“The Ulema [scholars] have fallen prey to showing off their knowledge and becoming arrogant. “If one looks at the condition of the sages, they too have completely changed “and have no concern with reforming their own self.” Every one of them is filled with arrogance and has no concern for their reformation.
“Their focus is only limited to their physical body “therefore their religious practises and efforts have become completely different “such as Zikr, etc. through which the fountainhead of prohethood cannot be fully comprehended.” Through such Zikr [remembrance] and religious exercises one cannot acquire the true comprehension of the Holy Prophet (saw).
He (as) states: “I have observed that they are not concerned with purifying the hearts. “They are simply a physical body which has not even a trace of spirituality. “Such religious exercises cannot purify the hearts “and nor can they grant the light of true comprehension. “Thus, this age is bereft of this.
“The practise of the Prophet has been completely abandoned and forgotten. “However, now Allah the Almighty desires that the reign of the Prophet once again be established “and righteousness and purity emerges once again and He has desired this through this Community.”
Allah the Almighty wants to re-establish all of these virtues such as to develop righteousness and to strengthen the faith through this Community. The Promised Messiah states: “Therefore it is incumbent upon you to focus on the true reformation.” Therefore, if Allah the Almighty desires this from this Community
Then the member of the Community need to pay heed towards true reformation. The Promised Messiah (as) further states: “You should focus on the true reformation “as taught by the Holy Prophet (saw).” May Allah enable us to stay away from all immoral acts and instil excellent morals
Within us by following the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (saw). May the standards of our truthfulness be those that grant us the nearness of God Almighty and enable us to adopt that humility that God Almighty likes. May we become members of the Promised Messiahs community,
The likes of which he wished us to become. All praise is due to Allah. We laud Him, we beseech help from Him and ask His protection; we confide in Him, we trust Him alone and we seek protection against the evils and mischief of our souls and from the bad results of our deeds.
Whomsoever He guides on the right path, none can misguide him; and whosoever He declares misled, none can guide him onto the right path. And we bear witness that none deserves to be worshipped except Allah. We bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.
O servants of Allah! May Allah be merciful to you. Verily, Allah commands you to act with justice, to confer benefits upon each other and to do good to others as one does to one ‘s kindred and forbids evil which pertain to your own selves
And evils which affect others and prohibits revolts against a lawful authority. He warns you against being unmindful. You remember Allah; He too will remember you; call Him and He will make a response to your call. And verily divine remembrance is the highest virtue.