Prophets and other Messengers are raised by Allah,
the Most High. He bestows His favour on whomsoever He
wills among His servants and such persons declare a Divine Mission when the
Divine Grace descends on them. And Allah knows best when and where to place His
Message (6: 125). The Holy Qur’an
declares: ‘He cannot be questioned as to what He does’, but those who reject the Messengers will be questioned
as to what they did (21:21).
About the Divine Messengers, Allah
states in the Holy Qur’an: “We sent none as Messengers
before you but men to whom We sent revelations. So ask those who are well
versed in scriptures, if you know not. And We did not give them bodies that ate
no food, nor where they to live forever” (21:8-9).
No wonder, Divine Messengers
invariably affirm their humanity. The Holy Qur’an repeatedly mentions this
fact: “We are indeed only men
like yourselves, but Allah bestows His favour on whomsoever He wills from among
His servants”
(14:12). About his status and mission, a
Messenger declares: “I am only a man like yourselves;
but I have received the revelation that your God is only One God. So let him
who hopes to meet his Lord do good deeds, and let him join no one in the
worship of his Lord” (18:111).
Hence, the profound duty and responsibility of a Messenger of Allah
is to make people understand the real purpose of life and to guide them in leading
a life of meaning and enduring value, both in this world and the world to come.
Their life as lived in this very earth is the message for their fellow beings. In
this way, the Messengers essentially seek to purify people and to guide them to
their Lord through their noble precepts and credible practices.
To know the prophets and the Divine messengers is to know
the ways of Allah. The
life of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of Qadian is a recent testimonial to
the enduring principles of Divine Mercy and continuity of revelations confirmed
by the Holy Qur’an. Understanding the physical and material circumstances of
his times, family background, early education, traits of character and
spiritual inclination from early life are important in a way for the believers
to marvel at the contingent circumstances against which Divine Messages emerge
and thrive.
In a world that refuses to
recognize the spiritual reality of a Living and Ever- Subsisting Lord who
speaks to His servants and answers the prayers of His supplicants, what better
way to affirm those principles than to remember the lived history of such
Divine Messengers? In his Friday Sermon of March
16, 2012, Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius sketched a fascinating glimpse into
the early life and times of Hadhrat Massih Maoud (as). The first part of the
Sermon was published here at the Sahih Al Islam Blog on March 17, 2012.
Read the
second and final part of the Sermon: