Understanding 'Shahada'

 

'Shahada': First Pillar of Islam

لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله

Laa-Ilaaha Illallah Muhammadur Rassoolullah

“There is no other God but God [Allah] and Muhammad (pbuh) is His Messenger.” 

It is by accepting this confession that one becomes a Muslim. This is the first pillar of Islam. It is the profession of faith of every Muslim. It proclaims the oneness of God and totally refutes the idea that He could have been begotten (like human beings) or created. 

The Shahada therefore leads us to submit to God and become His servants. By reciting it, we affirm to our Creator that we will follow His recommendations and refrain from His prohibitions. Our goal is to try to correct ourselves, by leading our life according to the commands of our Master. 

To this end, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said: “He who recites the Shahada with sincerity will enter paradise”. He was then asked: “What is the sign of sincerity?” The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) replied, “It prevents him from doing things forbidden by Allah.” 

We must therefore strive to obey Allah in all circumstances, whether in the way we eat, drink, dress or behave with others. It is not appropriate to be satisfied with what suits us, by conforming ourselves, for example, to the customs and behaviours of other people, foreign to Islam, by abandoning the Sunnah and all that Allah has prescribed to us in His Holy Book.

Kerala: Gifts for Kids

 

“Do good to others. Allah loves those who do good.” (2:196) 

Islam instils a culture of caring and sharing, and a sense of responsibility within individuals for fostering a just society. Rather than being content to live with one’s wealth and family, the Qur’an expects you to be virtuous and do good to others as an obligation of faith and commitment. Being a trustee of God on earth, it is your duty to deploy all that Allah (swt) has gifted you in this life so as to work for the well being of all of God’s creations. 

This is especially so in times when glaring inequality and  deep fractures and fault-lines in our communities call for robust initiatives for a just and caring social order. Indeed, our broken times call for the creation of 'a new world' that foregrounds the protection and benefit of the poor and the indigent, the orphans and the widows, the homeless and the landless, the elderly and the sick; that facilitates education, skills training and other beneficial capabilities among the young for a better future.  

   

Inspired by the illuminating guidance and leadership of Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius, the humble and devoted brothers of the Jamaat are increasingly engaging themselves in beneficial social engagement programmes at their own local communities, Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah. 

'Grow Up with Family Bond'

  

The Family & The Youth 

What is the family? This is the set of people with blood ties or ties of kinship [through marriage as well] living almost under the same roof. The extended family generally includes grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts, cousins ​​and others, including, of course, children of different parents. 

A question that is generally asked at the level of all generations and even among the young people of today: What good can a family bring? Of course, there will be different ways of thinking, of reasoning, of answering this question which torments the minds of many parents within the Ummah itself. And we can cite so many other cases where the parent-child relationship does not seem to be cordial. Why? 

Yet according to a Hadith from Bukhari, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) explains that the family brings stability and ensures security. The family is the first place where we socialize, where we learn the rules of life in society. It allows you not to live alone, to become a parent, and to live with those whom you love, to strengthen community bonds through alliances [marriages]. 

But the most important thing about the family - for believers of the Ummah - is that it is the first place to learn about the existence of Allah (twt) as the Unique Creator, and the value of Islam.

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: