Beacon Of Guidance
The Holy Prophet (sa) stated: “Indeed all actions are based on the intention”. If one male or female causes offense to another person, whilst it wasn’t their intention to offend that person because they were generally referring to such matters of weaknesses and not precisely pinpointing to someone’s weakness.
Coincidentally, it could be that the weakness is evident in one individual male or female who is present, and this could make that lady feel she has been targeted in order to highlight her weakness or to taunt her. It could be that the person delivering the speech is an office bearer,
Such as the Sadr Lajna for example could quote a certain Hadith in one of her meetings or gathering and provide an interpretation for that Hadith, and the women or girls present in that gathering who feel that they have been targeted because the weaknesses mentioned in that Hadith relate to their inner conditions
Would simply refuse to attend further meetings due to taking direct offense. This attitude is incorrect, because it wasn’t the intention of the speaker to cause offense to those listening. If the intention of the speaker was evil to begin with, then Allah the Almighty will punish the speaker for their evil intentions,
The matter will be with Allah to deal with it in his own manner whether to punish or forgive. However, the person listening to the speech should not hold a prejudice against the speaker. ‘Badzani’ (mistrust) is the biggest sin.
Why did you conclude within your heart that this statement was in order to target you only? Yes, if the person has specifically been pointed out with name and it is clear that the speech was in reference to that person, even then that person should accept that humans are prone to mistakes,
And ‘I should try to remove those weaknesses from within ‘if they are existent in my character. ‘Even if I have directly been targeted and if that weakness does exist within me, ‘then I should strive and remove that weakness from within ‘rather than distancing myself from religion’. To understand and know faith,
Or if an Ahmadi accepts the teaching of Ahmadiyya, or is firmly established on the belief of Ahmadiyyat or Islam, such firm establishment of faith isn’t because of that office bearer or individual male or female. Faith is a matter of the heart;
Allah the Almighty states that your faith is a personal matter of your heart. Whilst we also pledge that we will give preference to faith over worldly matters. This is exactly the teaching that has been provided to us by the Promised Messiah (as). If faith is a personal matter
And we pledge to give preference to faith over worldly matters, then it is very much possible that the person who is stating these worldly things also has those weaknesses within regardless of the fact that they are an office bearer, even then the burden of the sin is upon them.
However, if the person who is listening to this office bearer decides to abandon his faith, or distance himself from the Jama’at or stops attending the Jamaat gatherings, then he also becomes a person that has incurred sin. In this case, whilst the speaker has committed a sin,
So has the person listening to this speaker. This is why everyone should have the emotional capacity to listen to these admonishments; this is why it is said that you should expand your hearts for the sake of bearing such admonishments. Each person should introspect,
A person that is a true believer (male or female) and has a strong faith then they will continuously introspect themselves to evaluate whether certain weaknesses are still a part of themselves. ‘Is xyz weakness a part of my life? If so, ‘I must make it my mission for me to remove this
‘and how am I to remove this from within me? ‘I will do my utmost best to remove this weakness from within me ‘if someone has drawn my attention towards it.’ It is inappropriate for someone to name a person and point out his weaknesses in public gatherings. The office bearer needs to be reprimanded
By the senior office bearer for his wrongdoing. Nobody is allowed to name and shame any individual in a gathering; however, speaking in a general tone to highlight certain weaknesses is fine because this enables weaknesses to be removed. If I mention numerous weaknesses within my sermons,
It is because I know very well that these weaknesses are found within the Jama’at and therefore I mention them in an overall, general manner. So does this mean that the entire Jama’at (community) should become offended and leave the Jama’at? They won’t, will they? Not at all Huzoor. Similarly, office bearers (male or female)
Should not name and shame people publicly. If they highlight a general weakness without naming people in order to improve their surroundings, then the person listening should demonstrate some courage and try to reform him or herself. However, the most important thing is that the person who is advising on such matters should also introspect
And see if they themselves are detached from those weaknesses regarding which they are admonishing others. Are such weaknesses within them or not? Because Allah the Almighty has said that ‘you should not tell people to do things that you do not do yourself’, as this is a great sin in the eyes of God.
So you must look at it from both sides. The person delivering the admonishment must do so with a good intention and after introspecting themselves for such weaknesses, and their admonishment should be with the intention to reform others rather than causing offense. Also, the person listening to the admonishment should display some patience
And look to reform the weakness if it is within them, and should also try to reform themselves whenever they think about doing that weakness. They should also pledge that they will never display that weakness in the future even if they do not have that weakness within them. Should worldly governments have blasphemy laws,
Such as preventing people from burning the Holy Qur’an. The question is not whether or not there should be a blasphemy law. Allah the Almighty has established the honour for His sacred things such as His prophets or scriptures and will continue to do so. This will not be changed by man-made laws.
But the real matter to discuss with the people is that you claim that we should take care of the sentiments of others, and you pass laws to protect the sentiments of others on all levels, and then claim that this is an expression of one’s freedom,
That everyone should have the freedom to express their sentiments. So, when there is this freedom, they should also be mindful that if one’s sentiments are hurt, there should be limitations to that freedom. Freedom does not mean that you start taking money from the pockets of others, and thus become thieves.
Freedom does not mean to break into homes and steal their belongings. This isn’t what freedom is, right? The law punishes one [who does this] right? Likewise, irrelevant of whether punishment is meted out from a blasphemy law or not, but at the very least, in order to establish peace,
Every citizen should be required to take care of the feelings of others. In a society where people’s feelings are cared for, automatically there will be an atmosphere of peace that exists and develops. When an atmosphere of peace and brotherhood is established, people will not play with the feelings of others.
This is what we should be telling the world. Allah the Almighty has not established any punishment for blasphemy. However, Allah the Almighty does say that you should live as brothers, you just heard the recitation of the Qur’an, and take care of each other’s feelings. Okay?
If members of society were to act upon this fundamental principle, then all other problems would be resolved. Society should recognise the basic principle that people should not only focus upon striving to attain their own rights, every citizen should realise this. This is the teaching that religion gives us.
Two years ago at the Jalsa of 2019, I mentioned many different types of rights, and I have mentioned a few now too. If one pays attention to these rights, disorder cannot arise. It isn’t important whether a blasphemy law is implemented or not, alright? Or whether there is something there or not.
The main thing is that we take care of the sentiments of one another. This is what should be realised and to reach the depths of its reality when it is being acted upon is when all issues will be resolved, and when an atmosphere of love, affection and brotherhood will be established.
When this happens, people will not play with the feelings of others; be they religious sentiments or personal ones.