One of the questions that many people raise is this: what
will be done to the people who reject the Divine Message of an era and His
Messengers?
The grandeur of
the Divine scheme of things is such that the unique Lord, the Almighty Allah,
does what He wills. His Mercy and Forgiveness encompass the
whole world so much so that He may forgive whomsoever He wants. And no one can
question Him as to what He does. The practical operations of the Divine Will, thus, remains for the most
part, shrouded as a matter of profound mystery. Except, of course, what He
teaches and informs His Messengers through the angels and the Spirit of
Holiness. Even His Messengers had only the duty to convey what had been
conveyed to them. They had also been instructed to openly declare that they
would not know about what would be done to them in this life or in the life to
come.
It is plausible to consider that that people might have failed
to recognize the Divine Message as a consequence of the complex circumstances and
varied conditions of social life of their times. The limits of our awareness at a humane level to
factor in all those colours of human situations through our myopic eyes can and
will blur our vision of reality. The essential un-know-ability of the Divine Will also must be kept in mind while
interpreting the mystical, spiritual ideas such as fear of Hell and hope for
Heaven and salvation of the believers and the damnation of the disbelievers,
In his Friday Sermon
of 07 September 2012, the
Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius shared some light on
the meaning of these concepts for the benefit of our everyday life. The discourse
of the Messenger of Allah of our times deeply underscores the limits of human
knowledge to comprehend the Divine Will. He exhorts us to “remain ever at the service of God and humanity also
so that you may earn not this world, but everlastingness through your devotion
to God”.
Read the Extracts from the Friday Sermon:
“Surely those who believe and the Jews and the
Christians and the Sabians – whosoever truly believe in God and the Last Day
and do good deeds, shall have their reward with their Lord, and no fear shall
come upon them, nor shall they grieve.” (2: 63)
By the grace of
Allah, He has given me the blessed opportunity to continue my last week’s
sermon based on the same Quranic verse which I have just recited before you.
All praise be to Allah!
Therefore, in
the context of the subject matter of the sermon, the question also arises as to
what
happened to those who rejected the messengers sent to them by God. Were they
not condemned to hell? Again this question is beyond our capacity to
answer, because the decision in each individual case rests with God and
not with us. Only God knows what is in the hearts of people, and on what basis
they have made their decisions and taken their choices.
For instance, it is
a common feature at the time of the advent of a prophet of God that the
established religious leadership oppose him absolutely. They broadcast
propaganda against the prophet which presents such a distorted image of that
holy personage that if this is all the individual has to base his judgement
upon, then it is understandable that he will reject that image as not being
from God. In such cases the individual is not rejecting the Prophet in
reality, but only a false image of that prophet created by his opponents.
Unfortunately, somewhat different but equally false images of prophets
are sometimes painted by those who claim to be followers of those prophets, the
true image having been lost with the passage of time. The rejection of the
prophets and thereby the message of God is the responsibility of the religious
leadership who, knowingly, have spread lies about the prophets of God.
For instance,
soon after
the advent of Jesus (as) those who opposed him amongst the Jewish religious
leadership spread so many lies about him being a sorcerer and malicious
stories about his birth and his death, that it would have been difficult for
any Jewish person who had not met him personally nor had any relationship with
his companions and followers to have accepted him as one sent by God. But
surely God would have understood their position, and He would understand
whether they were being truthful to themselves and to God. Surely God takes everything into
account when He judges individual souls and He wrongs no one.
But it must be
borne in mind that one must also seek the help of Allah concerning the seeking of truth
and he must not put 100% trust in so-called religious leaders lest he commits a
blunder in his thoughts and decisions. That is why it is essential
for each person to become seekers of truth, especially concerning Allah and he
goes in search of the one whom Allah has sent as messenger whenever he hears of
his advent. Therefore, surely Allah shall know with which intention
he has received the message and in which way; whether he was really at fault or
it was only the evil persons, the so-called leaders who have caused him to take
a deviating path, thus falling right into their trap!
Whether someone is going to heaven or hell is totally dependent on God’s
will and not on ours. God alone is the Knower of the hearts of people. We cannot say
whether someone is sacrificing for the sake of God alone or for some selfish
motives. Neither is it for us to judge, except in the case of our own selves,
so that we may check ourselves and improve the quality of our own actions. It
has been expounded by the founder of Islam that God judges people’s actions by
the motives behind them and rewards them accordingly. For instance, if someone
gives in charity for the sake of winning the approval of others then he is
granted his wish, and if someone gives for the sake of winning the pleasure of
God then he is granted his desire – and to attain the pleasure of God is to
attain heaven.
There is a
tradition narrated by Abu Huraira (ra)
in which the Holy Prophet (sa) of Islam relates a story about a man who desired
to give charity for the sake of God. He went out at night and unknowingly gave
it to a thief. Next day the people began to say: “Last night a thief was
bestowed alms.” The man prayed: “O God, to You belong all praise; I will
give again in charity.” He went out and again gave in charity and put it in
the hand of an adulteress.
Next day the
people talked saying: “Last night alms were bestowed on an adulteress.”
The man supplicated: “O God, I praise You for enabling me to bestow alms
even on an adulteress and I shall give alms once more.” He went out again
and gave charity to a rich man. The next day the people talked: “Last night
charity was given to a wealthy person.” The man prayed: “O God, all praise
to You, in respect of the thief, the adulteress and the rich man.”
He was told in
his dream: “The charity which you gave to the thief might persuade him to
abstain from stealing and in consequence of your alms the adulteress might give
up her misconduct and the rich man might draw a lesson from your alms and start
spending in God’s cause out of that which God has given him.” This story illustrates that God
puts beneficence into the actions of those who seek to please Him and can
create good out of what on the surface might appear bad. Conversely,
what on the surface might appear good may in reality lead to an evil end – God
alone is the Master.
However, what
is important from our own personal perspective, is the question of how we
should lead our lives and in this respect it is clear that fear and hope are
the prime motivating factors in the lives of all living creatures, great and
small. The fear of loss restrains us
from certain actions and the hope of gain encourages us to do other actions.
In promoting or preserving higher values nature is always ready to sacrifice
lower values. Thus minerals are sacrificed for the sake of plant life, plants
are sacrificed for the sake of animal life, animal life forms are sacrificed
for higher forms of life and so on.
Similarly, within man it is necessary for him to
realise that his spiritual life comprises the highest values and that he should
not oppose the nature created by God by sacrificing his spirituality for the
sake of lesser values. Such an
act in reality can only be called foolishness, which we can clearly recognise
on the material and physical levels, but is not so clearly recognised by many
with reference to the spiritual level. Thus development and improvement in all
spheres of life depend upon the awareness of loss or gain. In man we may call
this awareness, fear and hope.
Fear of hell
and hope for heaven constitute a low form of worship and that love of God
transcends these desires but even love of God is accompanied by fear and hope –
the fear of losing God’s love and the hope of increasing that love. Therefore,
it is my belief that fear and hope are an essential part of our nature that
will accompany us to the point of death – they are essential for our
improvement and our development. I believe that the best and highest expression
of our fears and our hopes is to centre them on God, fearing Him alone and
placing all hopes in Him alone.
May Allah guide
each heart to the understanding of this sermon. We never know in which act we
make Allah shall be pleased with us. Therefore, remain ever at the service of
God and humanity also so that you may earn not this world, but everlastingness
through your devotion to God. Insha-Allah, Ameen.