Zakaat and Financial Sacrifice

In his Friday Sermon of October 05, 2012 the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius underscored the significance of Zakaat as one of the pillars of Islam. Financial sacrifice is needed in the noble service of humanity and for meeting the manifold expenses of the growing spiritual community of believers- the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam. Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) exhorts the community of believers to assume personal responsibility and to contribute to the larger cause of Islam.  

Read the Extracts from the Friday Sermon:

“My Friday Sermon shall today have a profound connection with financial sacrifice. By the grace of Allah, the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam is doing much progress in the field of Dawa and the message is being spread in the four corners of the world, Alhamdulillah.

The message is being propagated, yes, but there are no Dai-Illallah or missionaries there (in those countries) to take care of these seekers of truth. The tree has been planted and is growing, but there is the risk of weeds coming to attack this tree, and dries it up. Why so? Because there is no gardener to care for those trees, to enable it to bloom and produce their fruits in the future. When there is a gardener, the weeds do not have the time to attack, and make this observation: that the weeds grow more in intensity and rapidly than the fruit tree. The fruit tree takes its time to grow, but when it has established itself firmly (in the soil), therefore nobody can uproot it and it brings forth lots of fruits.

Blaming the Victims: a Strategy of the West

In the post-Communist, contemporary world, Islam is considered the potential threat and rival to the designs of the imperial West and its grand strategy of dominating the world. For, Islam is the world’s fastest growing religion with a population of around 2 Billion and counting. Indeed, every fourth person on the face of the Planet is a Muslim and over 50 countries have a predominant Muslim presence. The world’s most strategic energy resources- oil, natural gas and other petroleum products- are located in the Muslim lands of West Asia and Central Asia. With this kind of huge natural advantages, the Muslim nations can and should be able to control the world and its destiny in material terms.Yet, that is not happening. How do we explain this irony of Muslim fortunes and what is the way out for the Ummah? 

The imperial powers of the Occident know their game well. The strategic containment of Muslim nations is thus sought to be achieved through military domination, economic subjugation and political division of the Muslim nations and peoples. Yet, for winning the war of public legitimacy, this agenda of imperial strategy shall have to be camouflaged. For implementing this grand strategy, the language of public articulation and diplomatic positioning comes in handy for imperialism and its strategic deceptions. For instance, while perpetrating ‘‘State Terror’’ against the Muslim Ummah in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan, these western powers claim they are waging “war on Terror”! [Inset: Front cover of "Covering Islam"- Prof Edward W. Said's classic study on media perceptions and projections on issues concerning Muslims and Islam in the US].    

In his Friday Sermon of 28 September 2012, the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius profoundly reflected upon this theme. Drawing upon Qur’anic verses, the Khalifatullah (atba)  asserts  that the Islamic ethics and values shall win over all other ideological rivals and belief systems. For the benefit of Muslims, the Divine Messenger also mentions a prayer revealed and taught by Allah the Most High to recite in these troubled times for Islam and Muslims.  

Read the Extracts from the Friday Sermon:

“And never will Allah give the disbelievers over the believers a way (to overcome them).” (4:142)

Anti-Islam Film: A Challenge for Crossing Swords

Evil elements in society seek to extinguish the light of Allah and trample upon the fair name and basic teachings of the true religion, the Sahih Al Islam and to revile the father of Muslims. The inflammatory anti-Islam film in the United States-- entitled "Innocence of Muslims" on its 14-minuteYouTube trailer -- was such an attempt. The film was produced by a religious group called Media for Christ.  Sam Bacile, the man apparently behind the film is a US-based Egyptian Copt and fraudster who may also have violated his parole. And the film was reportedly directed by a pornographer Alan Roberts.

The soldier of Islam of our times Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius, has now decided to confront these elements in a duel of prayers [Mubahila] through a special speech made on September 17, 2012. Instead of hiding behind the facade of fraudulent methods and virtual space, let these elements,- if they have any spine, that is- come to the open space and battle it with the ‘sword’ of Muhammad (sa)- the armament of prayers and supplication to the Lord Almighty. [Inset:  Zulfiqar - the bifurcated sword of Prophet Muhammad (sa). Hadhrat Ali (ra) who inherited it from the Holy Prophet (sa), went on to become the Fourth Khalifa of Islam and the sword is famous in Islamic history as the Sword of Ali].

Read the Extracts from the Invitation for Duel of Prayer:    

In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

INVITATION TO DUEL OF PRAYER TO MEDIA FOR CHRIST, PASTOR TERRY JONES, STEVE KLEIN, ALAN ROBERTS AND NAKOULA BASSELEY NAKOULA (ALIAS “SAM BACILE”), AND ALL THE HIDDEN PEOPLE BEHIND THE PRODUCTION OF THE ANTI-ISLAM FILM ENTITLED “THE INNOCENCE OF MUSLIMS”

As God Almighty said in the Holy Quran (Al-Imran Chapter 3 Verse 62):

“If anyone argues with you, despite the knowledge you have received, then say, “Let us summon our children and your children, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves, then let us invoke Allah’s curse upon the liars.”

MUNIR AHMAD AZIM of Mauritius challenges Media for Christ, Pastor Terry Jones, Steve Klein, Alan Roberts and  Nakoula Basseley Nakoula (alias “Sam Bacile”), and all the hidden people who are behind the production of the Anti-Islam film entitled “The Innocence of Muslims”, and therefore tarnished the honour and image of Islam and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Anti-Islam Film is ‘Hate Speech’

For the Western Orientalists and their intellectual progenies, in the post- Communist era, Islam is the quintessential ‘Other’- the evil enemy that does not share their values of ‘freedom’ and ‘liberty’. The ‘West’, in this narrative, represents all that is ‘liberal’, ‘progressive’ and ‘modern’, in that order. Correspondingly, Islam is deemed the negation of all that ‘civilization’ and ‘culture’ stands for. Under this skewed logic and perverted reading of history and blatant distortion of the lived experiences of people, a political and cultural climate is created that incites the lampooning of the sacred symbols of Islam.

Thus,anyone who abuses the religion of Islam or vilifies the father of Muslims automatically and instantaneously becomes a champion of free speech and liberty! Muslims who oppose such characterizations and resist these representations would be branded intolerant and worse. In short, anti-Islam hate speech and the vilification of Holy Prophet (sa) would be mere expressions of freedom of speech and intellectual liberty and those who oppose such elements are projected the real trouble-makers! [Inset: A protest march in Cairo against the recent anti-Islam Film].

In a special speech on September 17, 2012, the Messenger of Allah and Khalifa of Islam Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius took note of the disturbingly, deviant social trends in the western world which incites the vilification of the noble character of the Holy Prophet (sa). The Khalifatullah (atba) took serious note of these contemporary trends where Muslims and their sacred symbols are treated as “doormats...to rub their dirty feet...” and warned the anti-Islam elements and hate-mongers against what they are sowing. 

 Read the Extracts from the Speech:

And if Allah were to punish people for what they do, He would not leave upon the earth any creature; but He grants them respite until an appointed term. And when their time comes, then Allah has all His servants ever under (His) sight. (Fatir 35: 46)

Prophethood: A Divine Favour

Islam, as taught by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa), validates the universality of spiritual experience and recognizes the fact that all communities in the past were recipients of Divine favour through the raising of spiritually awakened souls among them. Reflecting upon the profound impact of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) on the history of spirituality, the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius, in his Friday Sermon of 21 September 2012, spoke about the extraordinary spiritual revolution brought about by the arrival of Islam in a world of pagan rituals and animistic practices. The Khalifatullah describes the raising of prophets as a special Divine blessing for the human kind, for such spiritually-aware souls provide a living, practical example for the common folks to emulate in their own individual, spiritual lives.  

Read the Extracts from the Friday Sermon:

“Certainly Allah has conferred a favour upon the believers by raising among them a Messenger from among themselves, who recites to them His revelations and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom, although they had been before in manifest error.” (3: 165).

The expression, by “by raising among them a Messenger from among themselves”, is intended to awaken in the hearts of Muslims a desire to follow the example of the Holy Prophet (sa) who was like them and one of them. The prophet was not only a man like them but was actually one of them. If he could rise to such spiritual heights, why could they not?

Muhammad (sa) and the Seal of Prophethood

In his Friday Sermon of 14 September 2012, the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius explained the concept of Prophethood in Islam. By focussing on the Qur’anic title of the Holy Prophet of Islam Muhammad (sa)- Khataman-Nabiyyeen- the Khalifatullah points to the colossal mistakes that have crept into the mainstream belief  through the ebb and flow of centuries and the serious consequences it entailed for the fortunes of the Muslim Ummah. By closing the door of revelation in the Ummah, Muslims have cut at the “root of all spiritual and temporal understanding” and deprived itself of the  great blessing of Divine Guidance, points out the Messenger of Allah of our times.

Read the Extracts from the Friday Sermon:   

Almighty God appointed the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) the holder of the seal. This degree of excellence was barred to all other prophets since the beginning of time. One, who meticulously follows his footsteps, can be awarded the attributes of prophethood. But the Holy Prophet (sa) is gifted with much more than this. A spiritual and intimate linkage with him can elevate an “Ummati” to the exalted status of a prophet.

It was thus that thousands of the followers of the Holy Prophet were converted by his grace into saints of a high order. But there was to be others among the Ummah who would be wrapped in the silver linings of a prophet. One was the Mahdi and the Promised Messiah of the last century and for this century it refers to this humble self, the Muhyi-ud-din Khalifatullah. We are that person whom the Holy Prophet (sa) had himself described as prophet on four occasions (Sahih Muslim).

Heaven and Hell and the DIVINE WILL

One of the questions that many people raise is this: what will be done to the people who reject the Divine Message of an era and His Messengers? 

The grandeur of the Divine scheme of things is such that the unique Lord, the Almighty Allah, does what He wills. His Mercy and Forgiveness encompass the whole world so much so that He may forgive whomsoever He wants. And no one can question Him as to what He does. The practical operations of the Divine Will, thus, remains for the most part, shrouded as a matter of profound mystery. Except, of course, what He teaches and informs His Messengers through the angels and the Spirit of Holiness. Even His Messengers had only the duty to convey what had been conveyed to them. They had also been instructed to openly declare that they would not know about what would be done to them in this life or in the life to come.

It is plausible to consider that that people might have failed to recognize the Divine Message as a consequence of the complex circumstances and varied conditions of social life of their times.  The limits of our awareness at a humane level to factor in all those colours of human situations through our myopic eyes can and will blur our vision of reality. The essential un-know-ability of the Divine Will also must be kept in mind while interpreting the mystical, spiritual ideas such as fear of Hell and hope for Heaven and salvation of the believers and the damnation of the disbelievers,

In his Friday Sermon of 07 September 2012, the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius shared some light on the meaning of these concepts for the benefit of our everyday life. The discourse of the Messenger of Allah of our times deeply underscores the limits of human knowledge to comprehend the Divine Will. He exhorts us to “remain ever at the service of God and humanity also so that you may earn not this world, but everlastingness through your devotion to God”.