On ‘Sufism’ and ‘Shirk’

The Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) came into this world with illuminating spiritual guidance to bring everyone closer to their Lord. The very purpose and pure essence of his spiritual mission was to enable people to maintain a special friendship or relationship with Allah. It was by following in the footsteps of the Holy Prophet (sa) that the companions of the Prophet (sa) and those who were taught by them and those who came after them reached the stage of genuine submission of one’s soul to Allah and His commandments. 

By earnestly striving to establish a direct relationship with one’s Creator, the savants of faith reach spiritual heights of Divine love- the special nearness and communion with their Lord in this very world, and became recipients of Divine inspirations and revelations. A Hadith-e-Qudsi reveals the mystical quest of every sincere seeker in the Way: “My servant keeps drawing nearer to Me with voluntary works until I love him. And once I love him, I become his hearing, with which he hears, his sight, with which he sees, his hand, with which he seizes, and his foot, with which he walks. If he asks Me, I will surely give to him, and if he seeks refuge in Me, I will surely protect him” [Fath-ul-Bari by Hazrat Ibn Hajar Al Asqalani ]. 

Models of God-consciousness in inner life and performing service to humanity in every conceivable way in their social settings, the true Sufis were recipients of Divine love and revelations, enabling them to perform miracles of faith in service of the Islamic Way- rejuvenating the exemplary model of the Holy Prophet (sa) in their own times.  History bears testimony to the fact that true Sufis - or great savants of faith imbued with divine qualities following in the Muhammadan Way- emerged among the ranks of the devout Muslims in every land. 

Today, however, Sufism has come to mean different things to different people- far from its original spirit of Islamic devotional piety. Moving away from its Qur’anic foundations and Prophetic moorings, many self-proclaimed sufis and their simpleminded followers have turned graves into places of worship, and make supplications to dead objects. Dance, music and other innovations are found at Sufi shrines these days- representing the very anti-thesis of what the true spirit of Sufism entailed in its pristine phases - abandonment of the mundane enjoyments in favour of living in seclusion behind the curtain of Divine intimacy.  

Recently, Mr. Muhammad Zubair from the Maldive Islands asked a series of questions to Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius on Sufism, Urs Sharief, and Dargah worship, seeking guidance on what is lawful in Islam and what is reprehensible for the believers to be wary of in this era of syncretic rituals and confused spirituality among common folks. Reproduced Below is the extracts from the Reply given by Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) to this gentleman, along with his questions:   

Preaching ‘Anti-Qadianism’

   

The advent of the Promised Messiah and Al Imam Al Mahdi Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of Qadian (1835-1908) was a ground-breaking episode in the preaching of Islam in modern times. For, no one has introduced or presented Islamic perspectives on foundational questions of spiritual humanity in a more persuasive or intellectually- appealing way than what Hazrat Ahmad (as) accomplished through his writings and sublime discourses over a span of three decades at the head of the Fourteenth century of Islamic calendar. More than what the ideological partisans within the community would ever be willing to admit publicly, the rich and sparkling legacy of Hazrat Mirza (as) is in accord with the spiritual and intellectual consciousness of the Ummah. Moreover, powerful worldly events and material conditions in subsequent decades in the Islamic and wider world after his death have forced the religious orthodoxy to revisit and even abandon many of their previously held, wild theories which Hazrat Mirza Saheb opposed in his times (including on the improper application of “Jihad” as indiscriminate violence and killing of all those who disagree with the Muslims), and these circumstances have also allowed them to follow, as it were in the footsteps of this revered figure of Islam and his disciples- the Ahmadis (or the Qadianis) when it comes to peaceful preaching of Islam in the West.  

While Islamic tradition, history and contemporary events bear out the essential truthfulness and veracity of the claims of Hazrat Massih Maoud (as), as well as the spiritual and intellectual appeal of his arguments and perspectives on Islam, the religious orthodoxy continues with their preaching of hatred and violence against this trailblazer in the service of Islam in the modern world. Recently, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (aba) of Mauritius- the spiritual son and disciple of Hazrat Massih Maoud (as) in this era- addressed the critics in the West, and spelt-out the choices available to those who unfairly reject the message of Ahmadiyyat in this era. 

Read the Extracts from the Response Below: 

Revelations of 25 November 2021

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim. On Thursday, 25 November 2021 at 9.10 pm, after Esha Prayer, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Muhyi-ud-Din Al-Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius received Ayat-ul-Qur'an as Divine revelations, Alhamdulillah. 

Reproduced Below are the received Revelations in Arabic; their meanings in English, and also a helpful, expository commentary by Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba), Summa Alhamdulillah.  

   Wa in-tatawallaw yastabdil-qawman gayrakum summa laa yakuunuuu        amsaalakum.

 

And if you turn your backs, He will bring in your place another people; then they will not be like you.

Commentary of the Khalifatullah (atba): From what I have understood from this revelation, if you turn back from the right path, the path of Allah (swt) or turn back to Divine Revelation or Divine Instruction, the cause will not fail. Better men than you will uphold the flag of Tauheed, spread the Divine Message. But you should fall, and others will take your place, who are not so timid, hard-hearted or stingy.  

No plots against the Truth or Faith will succeed faint-heartedness condemned; those who strive and those who turn away will be sorted out. Be firm in the fight, and Allah (swt) will guide. Rebellion against Allah (swt), His Prophet, His Khalifatullah is destruction.  

 

Wa yutimma ni’matahuu alayka wa yahdiyaka Siraatam-Mustaqiimaa.

And that He may complete His favour upon you, and may guide you on a right path.

The Rejection of Prophets

According to the Holy Qur’an, across time and history, most people choose to remain deaf to the voice of truth, and they condemn themselves to spiritual death by rejecting Divine messages. “Never has an apostle come to them without their deriding him” (36:31) “Even before you [Prophet], We sent messengers among the various communities of old, but they mocked every single messenger that came to them: in this way We make the message slip through the hearts of evildoers. They will not believe in it. That was what happened with the peoples of long ago, and even if We opened a gateway into Heaven for them and they rose through it, higher and higher, they would still say, ‘Our eyes are hallucinating. We are bewitched.” (15: 11-16)

 

People who reject revelation and prophethood, in their incredulity, confuse revealed truths with illusory “enchantment” or “sorcery” and when Elects of God appear with revelations, they are invariably ridiculed. Such men reject Prophets based on their false notions/beliefs and flawed reasoning on God’s ways (Sunnat Allah), especially on the continuity of perpetual guidance through His servants in morally-darkened times. “We have sent down the Reminder Ourself, and We Ourself will guard it (from all corruption).” (15:10) "O children of Adam, if Messengers come to you from among yourselves, rehearsing My Signs unto you, then whoso shall fear God and do good deeds, on them shall come no fear nor shall they grieve." (7: 36) 

Recently, a man ignorant of the Qur’anic insights on the rejection of Prophets by people sought to parade his sectarian prejudices against the Ahmadi Muslims by raising a question: “Why the Qadiani Prophet, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad [i.e. the Promised Messiah, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as)] was not accepted by all people?” The comprehensive response given by Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (aba) of Mauritius on the occasion deserves to be studied by every truth-seeker.

Read the Extracts from the Response Below:

Life and Times of Shuayb (as)

 

Allah (swt) has created the humans as His trustee(Khalifa) on earth. We owe our Creator, our very existence. Human life and progress for a period are all entirely due to His mercy and unending blessings. The Divine Trusteeship entails grave responsibility of conduct on our part. As trustees of Allah (swt) on earth, we owe a duty to care for all of His creations on earth- being just in all financial transactions; doing fair in all human relations; remaining moderate and balanced in our social engagements, etc. It is to remind us of this heavenly trust on our shoulders that the Prophets and saints of God appear in every era, among the people- 'weak' and 'forgetful' and 'prone to the temptations of Satan' as we flawed humans are.

Hence, it is height of stupidity and ignorance to challenge common sense and combat God's Message. Blinded by their own passions, the arrogant elites in their vanity laugh at the messages they dislike, seeking to fight against God and His Elects when they come to lead them to prudence and wisdom. If only the spiritually blind had the 'vision' to recognize the Light they are missing! The light of wisdom that the Prophets bring in do not profit  a people who are self-satisfied, who remain aloof from, and who show contemptuous disregard for the higher values of life that these messengers teach- clinging as those earthly worms to the pleasures of a fleeting time. Like Qur'an testifies in the case of numerous communities that persecuted Prophets in the past, Divine justice will pursue their excesses in ways they will least expect, and in moments of His choosing their reckoning would take place. Indeed, going by evidence of what happened in the recorded past, Divine vengeance is something to be wary of, by anyone who is sensible. Allah's mercy and blessings engulf a people who listen and follow the Divine commandments and teachings that the Prophets bring in, for their own welfare in this world and for salvation in the world to come. 

Divine Calamity To Those Who Disobey

In his Friday Sermon of 26 November 2021~20 Rabi’ul Aakhir 1443 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius explains the life and times of Prophet Shuayb (as) as a spiritual lesson for our times. The Holy Qur'an preserves the example of Hazrat Shuayb (as) as a man of Divine principles and ethical restraint in a society given to the worship of riches at any cost. Yet, all that people amassed in excess through unfair methods proved to be of no use to them on the day of Divine punishment. On the other hand, those who follow the Prophets in letter and spirit, they become recipients of Divine Mercy and Grace in every era, Insha Allah, Aameen.

Read the Friday Sermon Below: 

Qur’an on ‘Khalifatullah’

 

'Is there a Qur'anic Verse which stipulates that a Khalifatullah is a Messenger of Allah?' This question was recently raised by some Ahmadis when they were told about the spiritual messages and Divinely-elected status of Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (aba) of Mauritius. It's indeed a measure of the extend of ignorance prevailing among the current crop of Ahmadis that they have started questioning the very foundational beliefs of the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya without any knowledge and understanding of spiritual doctrine! Do they know that their spiritual father Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of Qadian was a Messenger of Allah by virtue of the fact that he was a Khalifatullah of his times? Don't they know that Allah (swt) has promised the believers through the Holy Prophet (sa) that He will raise one or more Khalifatullah in every era ? When someone is raised and sent by Allah (swt) as His Khalifa with Holy Spirit (Divine revelations), can such a Khalifatullah be addressed except as a Messenger of Allah? 

Based on Qur'anic teachings and the history of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya, Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Muhyiuddin Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (aba) of Mauritius explains the concept of Khalifatullah- distinguishing it from mundane selections that men's assemblies do make and take for their own social leadership and community cohesion, such as the office of the Khalifatul Massih in the Nizam-e-Jamaat. Drawing on the Qur'anic examples of Hazrat Adam (as) and Hazrat Dawud (as), Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) points out that those Khulafatullah were indeed Messengers of Allah as well.  

Read the Extracts from a Jamaat communication sharing the response of Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) in this regard, on the Qur'anic antecedents of the concept of Khalifatullah:  

'The answer to this question can be found in several verses of the Holy Quran. If we delve into the Holy Quran, we find that Allah has said as from the second chapter itself, i.e. Al-Baqarah, that He shall place His Representative (Khalifa) on earth. 

Allah says:

“Behold, your Lord said to the angels: Verily I will create a vicegerent (Khalifa) on earth.” (Al-Baqara 2: 31).

The Khalifa (Caliph) whom Allah raises comes from Him, and not through any election promoted by man. He takes instructions only from Allah – i.e. divine instructions. 

Knowledge of God in Our Souls

'On earth there are signs for those with sure faith- and in yourselves too, do you not see?' (51:21) Regardless of our social and cultural background, each of us as humans are programmed as it were with inbuilt faculties for an innate recognition of the existence of a Higher Being. Whereas idolatry defy reason and logic and has no leg to stand on the rational disposition of any human being, God's Oneness and Lordship is intuitively understood by every human soul. Embedded in human nature is an original consciousness of God's Oneness; a natural disposition to recognizing and worshipping God and toward accepting the Prophets and the messages that they bring as 'reminders' of what they already intuitively 'know' to be the Truth in their latent consciousness. Being true to our inner disposition as a  sincere and morally uncorrupted soul, one can only adapt one's choices in tune with His ordinances in this world. Indeed, knowledge of God's Lordship enable us to care for the higher values of life, rather than incline towards selfish desires and worldly things- the greed for which debases man, turning him away from the path of God's messengers, and lead him to the misfortune of being held accountable as a disbeliever, or a hypocrite (God forbid). 

Recently, a Lady from Canada raised a question: 'How can people with diverse backgrounds, societies and cultures, believe in the one true God'? Based on Qur'anic teachings and Prophetic traditions, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius provides a considered response to the question. 

Reproduced below is the Extracts from the Response: 

'...So for people to be held responsible for worshipping the one true God, they all need to have access to knowledge of Him. The final revelation teaches that all human beings have the recognition of the one true God imprinted on their souls as a part of their very nature with which they are created.