Sunday, November 8, 2020

Divinely-revealed Prayers

Invocations to Allah-XVIII

Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah. It is by the grace of Allah that today I once again continue my sermon on the “revealed duahs”. 


O Allah! You were with us (or: You were working on our behalf – for our own benefit) before We were with ourselves; also, be with us since we are, as You were before we were! Put on us the clothes of Your Benevolence (Lutfika) and Your Majesty (Janaabika). Bring out the darkness of self-will from our hearts and let shine in our secret (Sirr) the light of surrender (to You)! 

Make us contemplate the merits of Your choices so that what You require and that You choose for us becomes more dear to us than the choices we could make for ourselves. 

O Allah! May Your guarantees not distract us from what You have commanded us or from what You require! You have invited us to submit to You and to stand constantly in Your presence: yet we are incapable of all this, unless You give us the strength to do so; If You do not strengthen us, we will be too weak [to access Your desire]. 

What could we be, without you having previously formed us? What could we achieve without You getting us there? How would we have the strength to do anything without Your assistance? So facilitate for us what You have ordered us to do, and help us to avoid what You want to keep us away from. 

O Allah! Lead us into the Gardens of Abandonment (Riyad-al-Tafwid) and Paradise of Submission (Jannaat al-Taslim).

Thursday, November 5, 2020

Sirat-un-Nabi Speech 2020

In a special Speech delivered on 31 October 2020~15 Rabi’ul Awwal 1442 AH against the backdrop of Milad-e-Sharief/ Seerat-un-Nabi 2020, Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius provides an appealing portrait of the life and times and teachings of the Holy Prophet of Islam, Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa(sa). Appearing at a very critical moment in history when idolatry and inequity stalked the world in all its diverse regions, the Prophet of Islam devoted his life to re-establish Divine Unity and Heavenly Order (Tawheed) in the world. Through a perpetual struggle against evil in all its  settings and manifestations, the Holy Prophet (sa) stood up for justice and fairness, compassion and understanding, kinship and giving for all of humanity, beyond all racial, ethnic/tribal or other individual or national considerations and prejudices. Indeed, the Islamic Way celebrates the diversity in Creation- of races and languages, animals and plants, flowers and colours in nature and the environment as a wondrous sign of the Unique Creator and Master and Protector of the Universe. Through the advocacy of sublime, ethical teachings designed to truly benefit all humankind in their everyday lives, the Holy Prophet (sa) blazed the trail of a path of spiritual liberation from false deities and their misleading conjectures. Islamic teachings offer social emancipation for everyone in their specific contexts: men; women; the youth; the aged; the widows; the indigent, the enslaved, etc. By constantly reminding about the Day of Reckoning, Islam put the fear of God on the hearts of the rich and the powerful in their dealings with the rest of the society. Indeed, the Islamic social order recognizes specific rights and corresponding obligations on all members of human solidarity, and everyone stand to gain by observing the duties towards God and fellow humans. Indeed, the noble teachings as well as the exemplary personal record of the Holy Prophet (sa) in establishing an ideal way of life remains to this day as a glittering star to guide mankind for all times, notes Hazrat Saheb (aba) in the Speech

Read the Discourse Below: 

My dear disciples, and my other brothers, sisters and children of Islam, I wish you all: 

Assalamoualaikum Warahmatullah Wabarakaatuhu

In the context of the Sirat-un-Nabi, I have chosen to talk to you about several aspects of the life and personality of the Holy Prophet of Islam (pbuh), including the events preceding his birth.

Monday, November 2, 2020

'Duah': Invocations to Allah- XVII

Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah, by the grace of Allah I continue my sermon today on the “revealed duahs”. May Allah make our life better by giving us His proximity. May He show us the way to Him and the way to approach Him. Ameen, Summa Ameen.


Here are the duahs revealed from 01-04 April 2004 during the Safar Zikrullah:


O Allah! Make me love the faith and magnify it in my heart; Make me hate impiety, debauchery and disobedience. Make me one of Your enlightened servants. 


O Allah! Spare me Your punishment on the day You resurrect Your servants. 


O Allah! May my body, my life and my heart be offered in sacrifice only to You. As far as I know, there is no Beloved [but You]! May every part of my being be sacrificed to You. 


O my Master! Grant me all the excellent blessings of this time. 


O Allah! Deign to hear [Litt. Deign enquire about] this voice calling You. If You don’t become like a Friend to me, my head will be pulverized into dust. With the hand of Your grace, help me so that I can lead people to know You.

Thursday, October 29, 2020

Poem: ‘The Light of Muhammad’


In the cultural memory of the Muslims, Rabi’ul Awwal 12 marks the birth anniversary of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa). As the messenger of God and embodiment of Qur’anic ethics, the Prophet of Islam spiritually-liberated humankind for all times from the clutches of devilish ideologies and pagan practices in the name of deities and divinity. His exemplary personal qualities of head and heart inspired generations of people to value faith above the world, and yet, earthly dominance did not elude them either. Despite a millennium of hostile propaganda by anti-Muslim elements, independent historians today openly admit and recognize that the Prophet of Islam stands tall amidst the rise and fall of nations in the shifting sands of time. If Hazrat Ibrahim (as) was once given a Divine-promise of an Ummah as numerous as the stars on the night-sky, at one level, its literal fulfilment is found in the dominance and global spread of Islam through the centuries. It is also instructive to note that by all accounts, Islam is the religion of the future as well. Indeed, the light of Muhammad continues to illumine the spiritual horizons of the world- with more and more people finding solace in the shade of the Prophetic Teachings, as time goes by.

Reproduced below is the translation of a Persian poem by the Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (originally appeared in the Review of Religions of February 1991):

 

What a marvellous light

And radiance is to be found

In the life and person

Of Muhammad! Indeed this is a mine

Wonderfully rich in rubies

Of priceless worth.

 

Look wheresoever, I may,

In the two worlds

I can absolutely find no one

With the greatness and grandeur

Of this the greatest benefactor

Of the human race.

 

If you long to obtain

Deliverance from the lust

Of your mind, then come

To include yourself

Among his devotees.

Sunday, October 25, 2020

'Duah': Invocations to Allah- XVI

Alhamdulillah Summa Alhamdulillah, all praise is to Allah, Lord of the worlds Who gave me the Tawfiq to continue on the subject of today’s sermon on the “revealed duah” upon this humble servant. 


Before I get to the heart of these uplifting invocations, I share with you a very interesting sign that a Muntaqa from Tamil Nadu, Ata’us Salaam saw during his prayer this week. He saw in a vision a young man standing next to him during his Esha prayer and this person said to him, “I am the prophet Nuh (as).” Allahu Akbar. Allah manifested Hazrat Nuh (as) as a young person. May Allah protect this Muntaqa and his family and the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam as a whole from all adversities, and grant us victory over enemies in an extraordinary way. May Allah continue to bless His Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam, His Khalifatullah and sincere disciples in His Jamaat and grant us the light of His grace, forgiveness and infinite honour, both in this world and the hereafter. Ameen.


Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim

In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful


Rabbana atina fid-dunya hassanataww-wa fil-aakhirati hasanataww-waqina ‘adhaaban-naar, wa adkhilnal jannataa ma’al abrar, Ya Azizu Ya Ghaffaru Ya Rabbal-Aalamin.


Our Lord! Grant us good (or success) in this world as well as good (or success) in the other world, and protect us from the fire (of hell). Admit us to Paradise among the virtuous; (O Allah) Almighty, Forgiving, Lord of the worlds!

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Remembering Hamza Saheb


Hamza Ibrahim Saheb,
one of the senior-most members of the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam-India, passed away in Kerala this week. He was 74 years old and has had certain age-related health concerns for some time now. Possibly, he was waiting for the ongoing Covid-related public health emergency in the State to subside so as to go for a thorough medical check-up, when the death came of heart failure on the evening of 18 October 2020, around 5.30 pm, Innallillahi wa inna ilayhi raajeeoune.


Hamza Ibrahim Saheb worked with the judicial department of the Kerala government, in the administrative/clerical side of the subordinate courts system, until retirement from service almost two decades ago. After retirement from job, he continued to be active in striving to be a good Muslim in life, as he understood it. It was this life-long commitment to the Prophetic Way that induced him to keep his mind and intellect open to spiritual perceptions until his last breath in this world. He did not hesitate to follow his heart in recognizing the Truth as he perceived it- even when such spiritual explorations and interests took him away from conventional wisdom and the prevailing orthodoxies of his social environment. Born and brought up in a traditional Muslim household in Alappuzha, Hamza Saheb displayed spiritual conviction and courage in embracing the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya in 1979. Subsequently, he got married among the Ahmadis of Karunagappally, and came to live in the region. While remaining an Ahmadi Muslim, he came to hear, learn about and went on to recognize the spiritual station and Divine mission of Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius in 2010- indeed, he was one among the first group of believers in Kerala. In his death, he leaves behind his biological family (wife and two grown-up sons and relatives), and the spiritual commune (Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam-Kerala) of the last 10 years of his life. 

Saturday, October 17, 2020

'Duah': Invocations to Allah- XV

By His grace, Allah (swt) has given me again the opportunity, and blessed grace, to continue on the subject of my sermon on the duahs revealed at the beginning of the Divine Manifestation. It will not be possible for me to present each of them, mentioning the day, date, time of the revelation in question, as well as the circumstances in which they were revealed to me because the sermon will become too long and it will take months and months since I’m giving a series of sermons on the subject. So I will only share with you a few of these invocations.


Allah has certainly revealed [all these invocations] to me and I will not be able to present them all [at once] for Allah, by His grace and mercy continues to reveal to me - His Khalifatullah - these duahs, as well as other revelations. He is not a God Who gives revelations for a limited time and then stops speaking (giving revelations). When He raises His chosen servant, each time He sends down messages to His Messenger and also to show that He is always there, present and that He will not forsake the Messenger He raised. He gives him messages, duahs, shows him His signs. He is more caring [and affectionate] than a parent who has just received a newborn into his home. Allah does everything for us. He is more devoted than a [human] parent to his child, especially when He sends His Messenger and [this affection and security that Allah gives him makes] enable this Messenger also not to have any fear of creatures, and he does not care of what they say and plot. These people laugh at him, call him a liar, a fool, a madman and say that he takes (Psychotropic) drugs, antidepressants - they blame the Messenger of Allah in different ways and in great quantity, but Allah is present everywhere with His angels who write what these fools say and do; each of their deeds is noted and therefore the time will come when Allah will take them in hand, whether on earth but also in the Hereafter and certainly the punishment of the Hereafter will be more painful.


A Messenger of Allah also has no need to fear what these evildoers are doing against him, for his provisions, honour, dignity, and even his mission are not in the hands of these fools. On the contrary, the more they slander the Messenger of Allah and persecute him, the more Allah will raise his rank, like a ball which, when struck, bounces and rises in the air. It is these kinds of trials, persecutions and boycotts that prove the veracity of a Messenger of Allah. So if the Creator of the Universe has sent His Messenger, why do we have to worry about what these evildoers are doing, when we know full well that their stay here on earth is temporary, and they will have to show up in the court of Allah? Each of them will be accountable for what they have done (on earth).