The Divine Path has so many subtle verities. True guidance or Hidayat comes from Allah the Most High. He bestows it on whomsoever He pleases. For,
the purity of the human heart is only known to Him. The Messengers have only the duty to convey the Divine
Message and not to enforce it on an anyone as they do not have ascendancy over the hearts of men. Likewise, in the spiritual path, mere verbal acceptance of faith does not amount to anything. The transformation
of the inner world becomes real only when it leads to good deeds and sacrifices
in the service of the religion of Allah.
In his Friday Sermon of 12
October 2012, the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib
(atba) of Mauritius continued the theme of
financial sacrifice which was started in the previous Friday. Drawing upon the
verses of the Holy Qur’an, the Messenger of Allah points to the sublime promise
of Allah: those who do good deeds and spend in the cause of His path and to
seek His pleasure will find their reward in this world and the Hereafter and
they will not be wronged.
Read the Extracts from the
Sermon:
It is not your duty to guide them, but Allah guides
whom He wills. And whatever good you spend is for yourselves, and you do not
spend except seeking the countenance of Allah. And whatever you spend of good,
it will be fully repaid to you, and you will not be wronged. (Charity is) for
the poor who have been restricted for the cause of Allah, unable to move about
in the land. The ignorant would think them self-sufficient because of their
restraint, but you will know them by their (characteristic) sign. They do not
ask people persistently (or at all). And whatever you spend of good, indeed,
Allah is aware of it. Those who spend their wealth (in Allah's way) by night
and by day, secretly and publicly, they will have their reward with their Lord.
And no fear shall there be concerning them, nor will they grieve. (2: 273-275)
From the verses
which I have just recited, in the first verse, that is, Verse 273, even if the
name of Hazrat Muhammad (sa) is not mentioned, but we all know that Allah the
Almighty is addressing to His Noble Prophet (sa). Allah the Almighty says: “O Muhammad (sa), it is not your duty to
guide them, it is Allah’s duty to guide those He desires.” Now,
we, the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam are the Jamaat of Allah in this era to
guide people all over the world towards the worship of only one God. We all
have to bear this in mind.
If Allah’s help
is not with us, if Allah’s decree is not with us, we cannot achieve this
mission, we will not be able to guide humanity in the right way. Hazrat
Muhammad (sa) was endowed with perfect guidance because he was connected with
the Supreme Lord, Allah. His intentions were mixed with those of Allah.
Apparently he was the one who brought guidance, but in fact, it was Allah who
gave him Hidayat. Therefore, without
the help of Allah, nothing can be successfully achieved.
Therefore here,
in this verse this is clearly explained so that people do not fall in idolatry.
All gifts and capacities which Hazrat Muhammad (sa) possessed were gifts and
favours which were totally mixed with Allah, as if they were ONE. He submitted
himself totally to only Allah, the Unique God, to such an extent that his voice
became the voice of Allah and it seemed that it was him who was guiding people.
But in fact no human has power over the heart of people. If really he had that
power, he would have guided Abu Jahl who was one of the two men whom he wished
to have faith in the one God. Thus, this shows that the pure intentions of a prophet do
not suffice as long as the decree of Allah the Almighty is not connected (with
this intention and wish). And when we say such thing, God forbid,
it is neither an offence, nor a humiliation for Hazrat Muhammad (sa). Indeed
therein is a great and profound lesson for us.
What we can
deduce is that if the power or license of faith was in the hands of man, definitely
those who do not have any merit to be guided, they also would have received
guidance. There are some unfortunate people for whom Allah has decreed
punishment. If the power of giving faith were in the hands of the believers,
then Hazrat Muhammad (sa) would have wished that Abu Jahl also got faith. Then
all people would have got faith. Man does not possess interior knowledge. Our
knowledge is limited. We also do not have a profound knowledge on things we see
around us. Now, where will he extract knowledge on things which he does not
see?
Thus, here Hidayat means to feed them with
truth, messages, revelations of Allah, to make them understand religion – what
to worship and to follow! Then you would see people who create disorder in
religion, they also would embrace that religion. How will they know these
people’s character and intentions? Therefore, Allah says that this power and
license of faith lies in His Hands only.
The second
aspect, the giving of full guidance to man is not found in human’s hands. No
man in the power of man can guide people towards the Tawheed. And this
aspect can be also in another way. Seemingly there were many people who got
faith and they had even declared that Hazrat Muhammad (sa) is the Messenger of
Allah. They even swore that Hazrat Muhammad (sa) is a prophet of Allah. But on
the other side, Allah the Almighty says that: I, Allah given witness that you
are a true prophet and I witness also that these people are big liars.
Hence despite
being among the Muslims, having embraced the religion of Islam, yet they had
not been rightly guided. They did not get Hidayat. Hence, Hidayat
does not mean only that you come together in the realm of Islam, Hidayat is an action, a profound one
and only Allah is the sole owner of this license. He guides whomsoever He
pleases. Yet, Hazrat Muhammad (sa) had never been able to be a source
of guidance for these hypocrites. On the contrary, their diseases they had for
Islam increased rapidly in their heart and this is a natural fact. Because
if you do not honour or be grateful to that someone who has been of great help
for your success, who has done great favour upon you while sacrificing himself,
but how can you be guided by Allah, instead you will be embedded into sins and
you are not worth to be guided. In this situation when you are so near with
this benefactor, yet you are not rightly guided, the opposite of guidance is
then witnessed. Even you are the nearest person to the greatest
benefactor, if your heart is filled with rancour, jealousy, hypocrisy,
falsehood and doubts, therefore you will incline towards mischief and
falsehood.
Hence, Allah
the Almighty is addressing to His beloved prophet (pbuh): “O Muhammad (sa), guiding people is not your duty, but Mine only.
Yes, indeed, you have the great desire to make people acquiring faith, but
unfortunately this depends upon the wish of Allah. Hence, you won’t be able to
accomplish this desire.” Then Allah says “all what you spend will be for
your own good, for your own interest.” Here, it is not mentioned that
all wealth spent in any way will be advantageous to you – because there are
many people who spend their wealth in that which cause them much harm. They
destroy both their spiritual life as well as their mundane life.
There are
thousands of people who are spending their money in the drug traffic. That’s
why the Holy Quran does not mention that all expense you do is for your own
well-being. The Holy Quran is mentioning only money which is spent for the
cause of Allah which is for your own good– meaning that, provided that this one
condition is respected, and this part (the second part) many translators do not
translate well, but by the grace of Allah I am explaining it to you and this is
by the grace of Allah a better translation, Insha-Allah.
Therefore, this
verse means: “O you who believe, all
what you spend is for your own good because you spend only to acquire Allah’s
pleasure.” Thus, when you are spending just to acquire Allah’s wealth,
automatically whatever you spend or how you spend it, certainly it will be
advantageous for you. In connection with this same subject which Hazrat
Muhammad (sa) stated that if you put a mouthful of food in the mouth of your
wife, it will be beneficial for you, counted as an act of worship for you.
Hence, here,
this verse means: “O you who believe,
and whatever of wealth you spend, the benefit of it will be for yourselves, for,
you do not spend but to seek the favour of Allah, to seek the love of Allah.”
Then, Allah the Almighty says that if you spend your wealth under this
condition, then it shall be paid back to you in full and you shall not be
wronged. The way it is represented in this verse of the Holy Quran is very
interesting. Before, it is not mentioned that your wealth will be returned
back. It has been mentioned that whatever of wealth you spend, the benefit of
it will be for yourselves, for your own good as you have done it for Allah’s
pleasure only. In fact, you have not spent your wealth purposely to be returned
back (to you). If you really spend only in the way of Allah to acquire only
Allah’s pleasure, in this case, you do not have the least intention to get back
all the wealth spent in this world.
Allah the
Almighty says, you will seek the favour of Allah, the love of Allah for your
own benefit, but at the same time Allah does not keep wealth which you spent.
He gives it back to you and when He will give you the wealth back, He will
increase it, by multiplying it. Allah the Almighty says that it shall be paid
back to you in full and you shall not be wronged – No fear, no grief, no
difficulty. This means that Allah will not give you back the exact amount you
spent for His cause. “laa tuzla-muun” means that Allah the Almighty will grant you special reward and give
award beyond your expectation.
Just like Hazrat Yusuf (as) when he gave
provisions in abundance to his brothers and ordained his men to return them
(that is, his brothers) back their wealth they offered to him (to have
provisions in return). In fact, prophets
of Allah possess this special colour of Allah. his brothers took back their
provisions and they were very happy with Yusuf. They returned back home and
when they related the story to their father, while opening the bags of
provisions, they were even happier when they saw that their wealth they brought
were returned back to them also.
Therefore here,
also exactly the same subject is being treated. Allah promises that you will be
repaid back or you will get back whatever you need. All your expenses you made
will be of high advantage to you. And when you will unwrap your parcel you will
be elated, standing surprisingly. But Hazrat Yusuf (as) was also a human being.
He had returned back the same amount of the wealth offered by his brothers, but
as for Allah, He is the Most Bountiful, The Most Gracious and the Most
Merciful. He will return back hundreds times more that was spent by you – so
much that you shall not ever be able to count. We cannot describe the reward of
Allah – It is beyond our comprehension.
So, when a believer spends in the way of Allah, he never becomes poorer
and poorer, neither him nor his wife and children. They shall not starve. Allah
places His blessings in his remaining income, after he spent in the way of
Allah. It’s only in the remaining part which Allah pours down His blessings and
favours. Allah opens the way of Grace and divine favour to you so that you will
never reproach yourself and that you will never suffer in your daily expenses.
Because of lack
of time, I stop the sermon here for today and I pray fervently to Allah that He
gives me the Tawfiq to continue my sermon on this particular subject on
financial sacrifice next week, Insha-Allah, Ameen.