Saturday, January 7, 2023

Divine Manifestation: 23 Years

 

It is He who made the sun a shining radiance and the moon a light, determining phases for it so that you might know the number of years and how to calculate time. God did not create all these without a true purpose; He explains His signs to those who understand.----The Holy Qur’an, (10: 6)


‘By the passage of time!  man is [deep] in loss, except for those who believe, do good deeds, urge one another to the truth, and urge one another to steadfastness.(103: 2-4)

 

For a man without Faith, the flight of time and all happenings are merely accidental and without any consequences in this world, nor in the world to come! On the other hand, for a believer, there is a meaning and purpose attached to all the events in the ebb and flow of time. He/she lives with a wider consciousness about Divine commands and the Day of Judgement when one’s deed shall make or break one’s fortunes, eternally, as it were. Hence, every New Year is a great reminder- of the years passing by, and the times coming ahead by the Will of Allah, and more importantly, about our duties to choose wisely and act prudently as time goes by.

Thursday, December 29, 2022

Kerala Jalsa 2022: A Report

 

Alhamdulillah, with the approval and blessed permission of Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius, the Thirteenth Jalsa Salana (Annual Meeting) of the Kerala Jamaat took place at the historic Noor’ul Islam Masjid, Mathra, on 23-25 December 2022, Summa Alhamdulillah. 

In addition to the members in Mathra; brothers and families from Pappankulam, Karunagappally and Alappuzha, and Delhi also could reach the Masjid venue ahead of the commencement of the three-day Programme.


On the first day, all brothers and sisters collectively offered the Tahajjud prayers at 4.45 am, and it was followed later, at 5:10 am, by the Namaz-e-Fajr. Mukarram Amir Jamaludin Raother Saheb conducted a Dars-ul-Qur’an, immediately after the Fajr Namaz. After morning works and breakfast, there was a round of Waqar-e-Amal around the Masjid premises and surroundings. Later, Mukarram Amir Saheb led the Jumuah prayers, and for the Friday sermon, the Amir Saheb chose to speak on “the exemplary life of the Holy Prophet (sa)”- explaining a classic Qutubah of Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) on the theme for the benefit of all members present. 

Sunday, December 25, 2022

Jesus’ Travels Post Crucifixion

  

All the Messengers of Allah, especially the law-bearing prophets were made in some way or another to leave their initial place of residence for another place through the will of Allah. Sometimes, places within their own homelands or they switched altogether countries where their missions went on to be successful.


Today I would like to put before you the heart-touching story and the lesson which Jesus – Hazrat Isa (as) has given us in his emigration from Jerusalem to Kashmir in India. [Inset: Jesus in western art, symbolic- not historically accurate, representation]. 


In his post-crucifixion period, Jesus was helped by his well-wishers and disciples in secret. His disciples on record may have been official twelve men, out of which one (i.e. Judas) became a hypocrite and “sold” him to his enemies, but he may have had many secret disciples not recorded in history who became sincere help when he had to flee Jerusalem. From a study of his life, and the research of various authors including the Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), Jesus (as) may have stayed in Palestine, as well as Afghanistan and Northern India before he finally met his lost sheep, i.e. the Lost Tribes of Israel.

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Power and the Doing of Good


In his Friday Sermon of 09 December 2022 ~14 Jamadi’ul Awwal 1444 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius continues his series of reflections on the state of international politics, and relations. In the previous sermons in the series, Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) noted the war strategies and economic rivalry of major nations in their quest for global dominance- illustrating these earthly struggles for supremacy with reference to the policies of the United States and  China, in Africa and elsewhere. In the present Sermon, Hazrat Saheb (aba) continues to expand on the broader theme by referencing China's growing global footprint in the world through developing trade and transportation linkages, maritime connectivity projects and other transnational banking and commercial linkages collectively known as 'One Belt, One Road'.  


As against the crass materialism and cut-throat quest for profit over people that is at the heart of these transnational economic initiatives,  Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) advocates that true politics of imperium should promote just dealings and benefit common people and the society at large by encouraging charitable giving and developing shared facilities. In this context, Hazrat Saheb (aba) points to some outstanding episodes from global history: the critical role played by exemplary Muslim women such as Hazrat Khadtija (ra), and also a lady of the Ottoman household in leaving an enduring legacy of beneficial giving through Waqf endowments. Both affluence and power are opportunities for doing good, especially for the indigent and other less privileged of the society. May Allah (swt) enable everyone of us to live with a wider consciousness about the state of our world, and seek to improve its situation through doing good, individually and collectively at our own levels, Insha Allah, Aameen.    


Read the Friday Sermon Below:

Monday, December 5, 2022

The US-China Rivalry in Africa

 

Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah, Allah has given me the Tawfeeq to put before you the strategies of the countries which take themselves as superpowers and whose actions and plans are made to drift people away from the right path and to cause bloodshed to spread throughout this temporal world.

 

Today I will talk more precisely on the rivalry which exists between the USA and China, especially in Africa.

 

Africa is a critical component of China’s strategic objectives for economic growth and hegemony. China’s expansion across the continents has been dramatic, from trade to extraction to manufacturing. Chinese companies are responsible for more than 12 percent of the continent’s industry. During the last one decade, China has become the largest trading partner of Africa. China has significantly expanded African railways, investing in various projects in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Angola and Nigeria; it has invested in the construction and setting-up of a massive hydroelectric dam in Angola and has built Africa’s longest railway connecting Ethiopia and Djibouti; it has built the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa and the West African regional bloc, i.e. the Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja.

Sunday, November 27, 2022

The Plans of Modern Pharaohs

 

The rise of authoritarian strongmen- 'modern Pharaohs' as it were- in numerous countries in recent times through either military takeovers, or by deeply-flawed but populist ('democratic') processes threaten true freedom every where. Countries with dangerous imperial delusions and territorial expansion plans include Russia under Vladimir Putin; China under Xi Jinping; India under Narendra Modi, and Israel under Benjamin Netanyahu. While each of these nations know that international law does not legitimate military conquest and foreign occupation, they plan that 'stealth' and 'subterfuge' can carry their secret plots to fruition: the acquisition and control of territories through any means, including war. Likewise, the return to power in Kabul by the Taliban; by other equally vicious military oligarchs in North Korea, Myanmar, Mali, Sudan, Tunisia, Nicaragua and Egypt mean an era of political repression and glaring injustice for the people of these unfortunate countries. It is also instructive to note that many other nations are also arming themselves to the teeth; preparing themselves for the  'Wars of the future'. 


Against this grim backdrop of international political and strategic developments with the rise of modern pharaohs, in his Friday Sermon of 25 November 2022 ~30 Rabi’ul Aakhir 1444 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius continues his series of reflections on the challenges confronting international freedom, peace and tranquillity.    


Read the Friday Sermon Below: 


The Modern Pharaohs of this World & Their War Strategies


The pharaonic dynasty was about horrible tyrants who claimed to be all-powerful gods, and they made their people worship them. They amassed unfathomable wealth and power, while the masses, as always, laboured to survive. They built huge monuments to their own praise, big slabs to flatter their ego, to impress their followers and foreign powers with their stature and might. They abused their authority at every turn, killed off the opposition, tortured, maimed, plotted, connived, and clung to power by every means imaginable. And their legacy [i.e. their evil, their thirst for power, grandeur and wealth] has persisted until today.

 

It is well established among the people of all religions, especially, the three main monotheistic ones, i.e. Muslims, Jews and Christians, that Pharaoh was one of the worst disbelievers in God; in fact, in the Quran, Allah does not tell the story of any disbeliever by name more than the story of Pharaoh, and He does not tell us more detail of the disbelief, transgression and arrogance of any disbeliever more than He tells us about Pharaoh.

Saturday, November 26, 2022

'Zalzala Azim' and 'Fath-e-Islam'

 

According to Divine Promise- a grand prophecy preserved in the Holy Qur'an-, the religion of Allah as taught by the Holy Prophet of Islam (sa) shall prevail on, and dominate over, all other so-called ideologies of life in the fullness of time. Yet, ironically, several Muslim communities around the world face glaring existential challenges at the hands of the disbelievers today; anti-Muslim forces in different nations are seeking to destroy Muslim communities. The mass expulsions and genocidal violence orchestrated against the Muslims in Palestine, Bosnia, Central African Republic, the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, the Uighur Muslims in China, etc. are emblematic of the grave challenges of identity, dignity and rights of people who believed in Allah (swt) and followed Islam as their religion. Palestine is a symbol of the oppression and destitution, slavery and subjugation that the Muslim Ummah stares in their political fortunes in our times. 


In his Friday Sermon of 18 November 2022~23 Rabi’ul Aakhir 1444 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al  Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius closely reviews the continuing  great injustice in Palestine, and also other internal challenges facing the Muslim Ummah in establishing the Faith and its majesty on earth. Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) cautions the Muslim Ummah about the painful consequences of the lack of unity and joint position within the Ummah on common threats and challenges. Narrow self-serving positions, economic interests, national pride, sectarian prejudices and schisms keep the Arab/Muslim world busy in their own silos, blissfully oblivious of the challenges facing the Ummah. In the meanwhile, other powers, like the Satan, can sense opportunities, easily mount and sustain their assault on Islam by picking sides among the believers, as they find the House divided on multiple fault lines.  Be that as it may, Hazrat Saheb (aba) warns the world that anti-Islam forces will not be able to 'finish' Islam through their maverick plots and conspiracies. The chosen messenger of Allah (swt) in this era foretells that the pharaohs of this era will also meet with Divine vengeance when they seek to destroy His religion, and the predominance of His servants and the religion of Allah will unfurl a new dawn in this world, Insha Allah, Aameen.  


The Wider Plan of the USA in favour of Israel

 

Ever since the creation of Israel, Palestine has become a symbol of unjust oppression. Innocents in millions have since then been debarred from their homes and properties. Peace which was their right was snatched away from them when their motherland became the object of a deep war and division.

 

In one way or another, on a daily basis we hear about the horrors committed against the Palestinian people – heart-breaking and sad; it is such a situation which brings tears to the eyes. They are oppressed in all forms and live in an open prison.