Financial Sacrifice- 4

 

On Bait'ul-Maal

Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah, I continue today the fourth part of my sermon on Financial Sacrifice.

 

Today, we will delve into the meaning of the Bait'ul-Maal? The expression “Bait'ul-Maal” is a combination of two words, namely “Bait” (which means “House”) and “al-Maal” (which means “the Wealth”). The meaning of this compound name literally means “House of Wealth” or “Treasury House”, where wealth is accumulated and preserved.

 

Today we know the Bai'ul-Maal as a record of many financial transactions, whether it is in businesses, in governments, and especially also in the field of the Deen of Islam where many people contribute and all are recorded in many well detailed books and even deposited in the bank.

'Tawheed' & 'Shirk'- 2

  

Is love for the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) against Tawheed or is it not?

Love for the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is not against the Tawheed; on the contrary it supports the Tawheed. The more the believers show love for the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and all the prophets before and after him, it is a sign of Tawheed. It sources from logic and is not imaginary.

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There is a relationship between Tawheed and love for humans. If as a result of love for someone, your love for Allah increases, that is not Shirk; it is pure Tawheed. On the other hand, if as a result of this, Allah’s love begins to diminish in you, the image of Allah fades from your vision, if you begin to recede and the love for humans conquers your heart, then it is purely Shirk and it had no relationship with Tawheed. A great sign of love for the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is that it increases love for Allah in the heart. Therefore, Tawheed has a great relationship with love for the Messenger of Allah.

Financial Sacrifice- 3

 

'Say, My Lord extends provision for whomever He wills of His servants and He restrains (it). And anything you spend (in His Cause) He replaces it, and He is the Best of providers.' (Surah Saba, 34: 40)

Today, Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah, I am continuing my sermon – series of sermons – on Financial Sacrifice.

 

Like I read before you, Allah is [initially] addressing Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) in Surah Saba, Chapter 34, Verse 40, and telling him: Qul! (Say!) – Tell them that your Lord, your Rab increases provisions for whomsoever He wants and He decreases provisions for whomsoever He wants. And Allah puts emphasis on spending in His path, for His Cause, and He says that each spending that His servants do for Him, for His Cause, then He takes upon Himself to replace this by a better reward for His servants, because it is Allah Who is the Best Provider – and it is to Him alone that people must turn to and put forward their requests.

 

That is why in connection with this, Allah has established for His servants patience – they should have patience.

The remembrance of God- 7

 

Allah states in the Holy Qur'an: 'In houses which Allah has allowed to be raised up, and His name to be remembered therein, in the morning and evening are men who glorify him therein, whom neither trade nor sale can divert from the remembrance of Allah, and (they) establish the prayers, and pay the Zakaat; fearing a day when hearts and eyes shall be turned about, that Allah will recompense them for the finest deeds they did and increase them from His bounty. Allah provides without measure to whom He will.' (24:37-39)

 

The above verses stipulates that there are such houses in which there reside true servants of Allah who day and night they glory Allah and they have made their house become a Masjid (Mosque), a pure sanctuary for the remembrance of Allah. They are so close to Allah and have recognised the eternal essence and truthfulness of Allah that they are ever ready to offer their submission to Allah in every way. They are those people who do not let their houses become cemeteries! They do not let Satan enter their houses. They do their best to inculcate in themselves the right examples for people, and they first start with their house, with their family members, educating them, giving them the right lessons to submit to One God (Allah Tabarak Wa Ta’ala) and follow the path of His prophets and if it happens that they are living in an era of a prophet of Allah, they encourage their children to “Obey Allah and Obey His prophet”. They are ever conscious of their duties to Allah, and they opt to correct their way of living to fit the commandments of Allah (found in the Holy Qur'an).

 

These believers are such ones whom Allah loves for they sacrifice their time in His worship, attaching themselves to Him and making every possible effort to please Allah. Nothing of the attractions of this world distracts these believers from the remembrance of Allah. They have made their houses, their homes become a haven of peace, a haven where only the words of Allah are recited. Such houses are blessed by Allah, for in such houses where the name of Allah is glorified, thousands of angels descend to bless the occupants of the house for their devotion to Allah.

Financial Sacrifice- 2

  

In his Friday Sermon of 15 September 2023~29 Safar 1445 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius gives an exposition on the larger theme of financial sacrifice in the Divine Way. Continuing on the theme from previous week, Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) underscores that true believers only seek God’s approval and pleasure in obeying His prescriptions and prohibitions and it is they who inherit Paradise as a reward for their goodness in this world. Just as the rich are on trial on how they conduct with the possessions they have been entrusted with, the needy also have obligations of patience and goodness in the Divine Law of life.

Elaborating on the theme of a Qur’anic verse identified at the beginning of the sermon (13:23), Hazrat Saheb (aba) notes that the true believers perform their social obligations and do all the services that they render only for the sake of God’s countenance: they do not do charity or other good deeds for selfish reasons, or out of pride or religious ostentation. Needy believers endure hardships caused by restricted means of livelihood, or other emotional deprivations, and yet they do not incline to evil and bad deeds, remaining steadfast in faith, in goodness and in fact, they also race to do good in their own way. Diligent in the performance of devotional prayer at prescribed times; disciplining the self and its inclinations in this temporary world; being mindful of the reckoning before the Lord on the Day of Judgement, true believers are hopeful of the enduring rewards of God’s pleasure and blessings in the Hereafter.  

'The world is not our Home'

 

'Everyone on earth perishes; all that remains is the Face of your Lord, full of majesty, bestowing honour'. (55: 27-28) 

'Do not call out to any other god beside God, for there is no god but Him. Everything will perish except His face. His is the judgement and to Him you shall all be brought back.' (28:89)

People love the fleeting life: family and children, wealth and riches, power and authority, fame and grandeur, etc. They forget God and ignore His commandments when they chase transient pleasures here at the cost of enduring blessings in the Hereafter. Hence, elects of God appear with a mission- to call our individual and collective attention to the true purpose and correct values of life; inviting us to choose wisely in our time in this transient world; urging us in the strongest terms to do good and resist evil, and recognize the impermanence of earthly life, so as to benefit us in the world to come. 

 

As the Divine Manifestation of our times in the person of Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius completes 23 years this month, the Divinely-inspired messages shared with the world by the Mujaddid of the 15th Century of Islam renews the enduring Highway to God, providing spiritual guidance and enlightenment to seekers of higher wisdom and true values of life.  Reproduced Below is such a Divinely-inspired message received by Hazrat Munir A. Azim (aba) on 14 May 2002 at 8.45 pm (Zikr Time):  

 

This universe is unstable and perishable. It is continually changing. It will not be tomorrow as it is today. There is no stability in this world and in Jamaat-Ahmadiyya worldwide. It is the land of death, and like a house of sand it can be destroyed at any time.

Riches: Greed and Regret

Our riches and resources come from God Who bestows on us all earthly blessings for a period of time. It is our duty to be grateful and thankful for the Divine grace of mercy; be generous and charitable with the less fortunate in society. Sharing provisions with the needy is recognition of this social mutuality: producers paying a part of the crops on the day of harvest with the poor are only fulfilling the dictates of public conscience, or the Divine command on social responsibility. In his Friday Sermon of 13 November 2009, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius provides an illuminating exposition on the parable of the owners of the garden in the Holy Qur’an. (68: 18-34) 

Whereas equity and charity attracts the Divine grace of mercy and the flourishing of possessions; greed and miserliness remove the protective shield from riches, and expose it to decline, loss and destruction- inviting feelings of ultimate regret on those who displayed arrogance and open ingratitude to the Supreme Lord. 

'It is He who produces both trellised and untrellised gardens, date palms, crops of diverse flavours, the olive, the pomegranate, alike yet different. So when they bear fruit, eat some of it, paying what is due on the day of harvest…' (6:142)     

‘Consider the seeds you sow in the ground– is it you who make them grow or We? If We wished, We could turn your harvest into chaff and leave you to wail, ‘We are burdened with debt; we are bereft.’ (56: 64-68) 

Read the Friday Sermon Below: