Faith Matters: No Coercion

'Jihad': Never Through Compulsion!

Allah says in the Quran: 

Laa-Ikraaha fid-Deen. 
« There is no compulsion in religion. »---(Al-Baqara, 2 : 257)

It is indeed one of the most well-known Quranic verses and, moreover, of relevance, considering the conditions that prevail today. Even those who are totally ignorant of the teachings of the Holy Quran, have already heard about them. - This verse highlights the relationship between religion - in this case Islam - and compulsion and at what level compulsion can influence religious beliefs.

Some Ulema of other Jamaats, after [the revelation of] this verse, try to prove that the use of force is absolutely legal in matters of religion, but we, the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam demonstrates the opposite.

The Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam accepts this verse in its entirety, and fully appreciates its message. Another aspect of this teaching, different from that of the Orthodox, was put forward by the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam. Not only is there no doubt about the prohibition of the use of force, whatever its form in matters of faith, but it is impossible to achieve the goal sought by such means. This is what the following verse tells us.

   

Two Forms of Compulsion

Compulsion can be in two ways:

1. The use of force to spread a religion.

2. Forcibly remove someone from his religion.

So this verse tells us that we cannot force someone to accept a new faith, much less, we cannot force him to give up his faith. But those who do their utmost to dissociate Islam from its most faithful believers, will not succeed, because the verse tells us, further.

“... and whoever believes in Allah will surely have grasped a solid and unbreakable handhold ...” (Al-Baqara 2: 257).

This is the most tangible meaning of this verse. Those who are not convinced that one cannot force anyone to embrace or renounce a religion, need only try it. Besides, history confirms the veracity of this Quranic verse.

‘Mahmud’s Aameen’: Prayers for Children

The power of sublime Prayers

‘It is He who accepts the prayers of those who believe and do good works, and gives them more than their due reward, out of His grace...He sends down in due measure whatever He will, for He is well aware of His servants and watchful over them: it is He who sends relief through rain after they have lost hope, and spreads His mercy far and wide. He is the Protector, Worthy of All Praise.’ [Surah Al Shura, 42:27-29]

In shaping the destiny of man and in guiding his spiritual life, invocations to the Lord Almighty have a significant role to play. The lives of prophets and saints, in all their varied circumstances and unusual settings through history, bear wonderful testimonial to the eternal truth about the fulfillment of sublime prayers. Perhaps the finest example of the enduring vitality of Divine invocations would be the sprouting of the magnificent garden of Islam in the barren land of Arabia. Long ago, in a corner of the world, away from his non-believing people, Hadhrat Ibrahim (as) had made fervent supplications for the righteousness and spiritual progress of the generations to come and for the flourishing of the message of Tawheed, the life-mission of all virtuous souls. And the Qur’an records his soulful prayers for the benefit of spiritual seekers of all times. For instance, the Book of God teaches that while re-building the Ka‘bah with his pious son Hadhrat Isma‘il, Hadhrat Ibrahim (as) offered the following prayer:

"Our Lord, make us submissive to You and make of our offspring a people submissive to You. And show us our ways of worship, and turn to us with mercy; for You are Oft-Returning with compassion and are Merciful.

‘And, our Lord, raise up among them a Messenger from among themselves, who may recite to them Thy Signs and teach them the Book and Wisdom and may purify them; surely, Thou art the Mighty, the Wise.’" (Surah Al Baqarah, 2:129-130)

Being Wise on Social Media

Who does not know Facebook, Youtube, WhatsApp, Messenger, WeChat, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. ? They are described as social networks that connect people around the world. Today, these networks have more than 2 billion users worldwide and thousands connect each week. And the most used of these networks is Facebook.

In Mauritius and around the world as a whole, Facebook has been growing in popularity. Everyone goes on it, even 10-year-olds. It includes all social classes: movie stars, artists, politicians, social workers, students, men, and housewives, etc.

While this network has some advantages, such as finding work and finding long-lost family members or friends, there are many dangers, especially for us Muslims. 

'Addiction' to Facebook Leads to A-social Habits

Facebook is a social network, but by doing a thorough analysis, we see that it’s actually an antisocial network. Users are often permanently connected to it at home or in the office. Some young people, addicted to Facebook, evolve almost in a virtual world, disconnected from reality. Many people prefer to eat in front of the computer (or Laptop/ Tablet/ Smartphone etc.), chat with virtual friends or play games on Facebook. They no longer see the importance of spending time eating with family, among others.

According to Wahshi ibn Harb’s report, some of the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh) said: “O Allah’s Apostle! We eat but we are not satisfied.” He said: “Perhaps you eat separately.” They replied: “Yes.” He said: “If you gather together at your food and mention Allah’s name, you will be blessed in it.” (Reported by Abu Dawud).

Eating together strengthens family ties, encourages dialogue, and certainly brings more blessings. Islam is a religion that is against individualism, it encourages sociability and wants all believers to live as a family.

'Siraj Makin': Agenda for Women-II

During the tour of South India in November-December 2018, Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hadhrat Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius and the International Sadr of the Siraj Makin- the women’s collective of the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam- Hadhrat Ummul Mu’mineen Fazli Amena Varsally Saheba addressed the devout members of the Jamaat at the special sessions of the Siraj Makin in both Tamil Nadu and Kerala. 

To read the Text of the Special Address delivered by Hadrat Khalifatullah (atba) at the South Kerala Ijtema of the Siraj Makin, click here. 

To read the Text of the Special Address delivered by the respected International Sadr Saheba at the Ijtema of the Siraj Makin in Tamil Nadu, click here. 

Reproduced below is the Text of the Special Address delivered by Hadhrat Saheba at the South Kerala Ijtema at the historic Noor’ul Islam Masjid, Mathra on 05 December 2018 (27 Rabi’ul Awwal 1440 AH). 

My dear daughters, 

Assalamu ‘alaykum Wa rahmatullah Wa barakatuhu.

It is a really great pleasure for me today to address you some few words face to face today in your beautiful country, Kerala. I have chosen to address you today on a few precious guidelines which the Muhyi’uddin Khalifatullah had delivered to us women in the beginning of the Divine Manifestation in Mauritius. Like you know, the Khalifatullah (atba) has come also as a defender of the rights of the womenfolk, like our beloved master and prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh).

'Siraj Makin': Agenda for Women

Coinciding with the recent India-visit of Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hadhrat Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius and the respected and honoured members of the holy family, the Siraj Makin- the women’s wing of the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam- in Tamil Nadu, held its special Ijtima at Tenkasi on Saturday, 24 November 2018. Fatima Jasmine Sahiba, Sadr, Siraj Makin-Tamil Nadu presided over the programme, with the proceedings commencing with Tilawat-ul-Qur’an (along with its Tamil translation) by Sherin Banu Sahiba. Two Nazms, written by Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) and the Promised Messiah (as), were recited at the function by the Sadr Sahiba and Mujtaba Iynul Misbah respectively.

In her Ijtima Opening Speech, the International Sadr of the Siraj Makin Hadhrat Ummul Mu’mineen Fazli Amena Varsally Sahiba spoke on the role of, and tasks before, the believing women in the faith commune, in the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam. Encouraging women believers who integrated in recent times with the Divine Manifestation of this era to recognize and deploy their God-gifted talents and skills to perfect their multiple social roles, the respected International Sadr Sahiba wishes that each one of them/us becomes role models and torch-bearers of the Light of Islam in our every-day life settings. Drawing on sacred spiritual history, Hadhrat Saheba points out that we need to study and gain many insights from the exemplary lives of the great women saints of the past- people who bore all trials and tribulations that came their way with much patience and steadfastness in their exceptional quest for God’s approval and pleasure in all that they did.

By performing their varied social tasks with diligence and constancy, prudence and wisdom, women in their varied phases of life- as a daughter, spouse, mother, grand parent; whether working at home or outside the home- can be fine role models of piety and devotion in the Divine Way. The women believers of the Divine Manifestation have a vital role to play in the larger causes of Islam, and they could and should be in the forefront of the spiritual education of their children and also join in implementing the diverse projects and initiatives of the Jamaat at every level, exhorts Hadhrat Saheba in this comprehensive discourse on 'the role of Siraj Makin ladies in the Divine Manifestation of our times'.

Read the Text of the Special Address Below:

My dear daughters,

Assalamu ‘alaykum Wa rahmatullah Wa barakatuhu.

It gives me great joy to address you today during this visit to India, and meeting you all for the first time in Tamil Nadu.

You need to understand that each one of you has a special place in the Divine Manifestation of this age. Each one of you is special with special talents bestowed upon you by Allah to help advance the cause of Allah in this great land, India, and the world as a whole. You should understand that being ladies of Islam, of the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam in this present age, you need to work hard to enable Islam to reach far and wide and to derive the pleasure of Allah through it all.

The Dangers in Digital Space

The Youth of the Ummah in Peril- II

More than ever before, our times are bearing witness to phenomenal changes in technological innovations and human lives are increasingly organized around smartphones and other technology-based instruments. Thanks to the convergence of communication technologies and the consequent emergence of social media platforms in cyber-space, virtual interactions with people anywhere is easily feasible in our globalized world. Certainly, advanced technologies are vital enablers and a force-multiplier for doing good, allowing individuals and nations to come together on common platforms to discuss specific concerns and to share best practices for addressing challenges. At the same time, we need to be critically-aware of the negative side effects- the many dangers and harmful impacts lurking behind the unprecedented ‘opening-up’ made possible by the new mediums of the digital space, especially for the young people.  

In his Friday Sermon of 22 February 2019~17 Jamadi’ul Aakhir 1440 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hadhrat Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius continues the theme of the perils affecting modern-day youth in our societies. Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) warns against the increasingly unabashed pursuit of synthetic happiness- be it in drugs and other deadly cocktails by the youth in our times, and points to the critical need for comprehensive intervention at various levels by the social stakeholders to ensure that our deeply-vulnerable young people are weaned-away from fatal attractions and dangerous choices in their lives, with profound consequences for families and societies as well.

Likewise, Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) alludes to the many dangers of the new "addictions" of the youth, represented by their 'trendy gadgets', and the virtual access to social media platforms. The extraordinary reach of the new mediums to capture our emotions, thoughts as well as other inanities through photos, videos and other forms of self- expressions, coupled with the temptations of the young to share it all with both friends and complete strangers can have profoundly negative implications for our emotional happiness, psychological well-being and mental health, especially for the people who are  virtually "addicted" to these devices. As the communication devices are 'neutral' enablers, the danger of criminality and immorality are ever-present, and as such, the new challenges of ubiquitous access requires careful handling, and the prudent deployment of vital ethical teachings on decent engagements and appropriate behaviour. The task ahead for the social actors is to ensure that the youth are constantly-educated and enabled to deal with the challenges and pitfalls of the new platforms so that they may only exploit their true potential in the most appropriate and creative ways for their own progress and the social common good, points out Hadhrat Saheb (atba). 

Read the Friday Sermon Below: 

By the grace of Allah, I continue today the second part of my sermon on “The Youth of the Ummah in Peril”. Last Friday I told you how young people also have a mission to accomplish. The youth are our future, and they must be protected from the harmful effects of globalisation. The Islamic faith of the youth of our Ummah must be protected and safeguarded. 

Becoming ‘Maryam’, Bearing ‘Isa’

Our body is like Mary.

Each of us has a Jesus inside.

If a pain and yearning shows up inside us,

the Jesus of our soul is born.

If there is no pain, no yearning,

the Jesus of our soul will return to its origin from

the same secret passageway he came from…

If there is no pain, no yearning,

we will remain deprived

not benefiting from that Jesus of the soul.

 

-Hazrat Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi (ra) in Mathnawi---Translated by Omid Safi, in Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition (Yale, 2018).

 

A true believer becomes like ‘Maryam’ and is infused with the Holy Spirit

 

In Surah Al Tahrim, we read: “And Allah next compares the believers to Maryam, the daughter of Imran, she took care to guard her chastity, so we breathed into him (the believer who is exemplified here) Our inspiration while she declared her faith in the revelations of her Lord and His scriptures and she became of the devoted ones to prayers and obedient to Him”- (Surah Al Tahrim, HQ, 66: 13)

 

In this Qur’anic verse, Maryam is set as an example for righteous servants of Allah. Like Maryam, true believers- though they are not Prophets of Allah- can also be bestowed with Divine revelations. Such a servant is like Maryam and then Allah will infuse His Ruh in him and he will become the like of Jesus, a servant of God and recipient of His Revelations. According to Hazrat Khalifatul Massih Awwal Allama Hakkim Nuruddin (ra), “the verse clearly informs us that in the Ummah of the Holy Prophet (pbuh), there will be people- both men and women- like Maryam, who will guard their chastity, be devoted to prayers, declare faith in the Scripture and because of being an obedient servant of Allah will receive the blessings of Divine Revelations. This promise has been given in the very first chapter of al-Fatihah in the words, “Show us the path of those whom you bestowed your Mercy”.