Before
coming on the subject of today’s sermon, I would like to talk a little on the visit
of the actual Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi who came to Mauritius on
11 March 2015 as Chief Guest of Honour for the 47th Anniversary of Independence
Day (12 March 1968) of our country.
Honourable Narendra Modi was all praise for
Mauritius and the exceptional bond which binds our two countries. The humility
he showed as a statesman was much appreciated, as political leaders should be
good models for society at large, intrinsically as well as extrinsically. Honourable
Narendra Modi graced the National Assembly with his presence yesterday and axed
his speech on the celebration of both the freedom and also the struggles which
Mauritius had to do to get its independence. He also reminiscence the Dandi
March led by the Mahatma Gandhi on the 12 March 1930 paving the way towards the
Independence of India.
We,
the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam sincerely hope that the Honourable Prime Minister
of India Narendra Modi proves to be a good statesman for the betterment of
India as a whole, and to connect India to the global community in peace,
justice, liberty, and noble aspirations and plans.
Life
& Destruction through the means of Nature
Water
is Life. But sometimes, water is a means of destruction also. Too much of
something can spoil it altogether. Likewise, man needs water to live. Water is
a blessing of God. Rain falls to revive the dead earth, and provide man with
the necessary water to keep himself alive.
Very
often when man’s action is not guided according to the Divine will, but
according to his own passions, God Almighty uses the elements of nature against
him, and thus what may seem like a natural calamity is in fact a planned divine
punishment, to give mankind a wake-up call, to make them realise their error
and return to the worship of the sole God who have provided them all their
necessities and to whom they should be thankful.
Water is
life, but the same water can become a means of death. God Almighty used rain
water to flood the town and drown the people of Noah (as). The same water which
man absolutely needs to survive becomes a lethal weapon by Allah to punish
those whom He has condemned as culprits when they discard the divine warnings
through His Prophets and Messengers and do as per their own will. Water also was used as a means for
God to rescue His Prophet, Moses (as) and his followers. He opened the sea to
save His servants and bring the destruction of Pharaoh and his companions.
Disasters in the times of a Divine Elect
Since
the start of the Divine Manifestation of this age, we have witnessed many
calamities, but the exceptional nature of the Divine Manifestation, with the
advent of a Messenger of Allah is that Allah through His Messenger already
gives warnings to mankind before actually seizing mankind, or some people in
particular (as per the divine revelations) for their misdeeds.
And
Allah also affirms in the Holy Quran that the consequences of the people who
commit evil shall be evil in return, and all misgivings and calamities which
befall them are consequences of their corruption and evil deeds and thoughts. Allah
through His prophets warns of the spread of diseases, and all sorts of
calamities if people do not reform their lives and start acting righteously.
Therefore, people should not blame God for any calamity but should blame
themselves.
But there is a truth concealed in the major calamities which strike
the world and that truth is whenever a calamity strike a people, then it is
true that not only the evil people who are victims of the calamity but the
innocent people also. This is a Qiyamat
– the time up for all these people, and like Judgement Day, each and every soul
shall be accountable for his own deeds, the evil ones for their evil deeds and
the righteous people for their good deeds. And thus, we cannot absolutely say
in the event of a calamity that ALL people who suffered and died from a
calamity were in fact evil people who paid back their dues to Allah for the
evil they committed, unless the Prophet of Allah receives express and precise
revelations from Allah informing and indicating in that direction (that all
those people were evil).
The
Quran mentions the destruction of the towns of Thamud, Iram, Sodom and
Gomorrah, the Pharaoh of Egypt in the times of Hazrat Musa (as) etc. Since the Quran mentions it explicitly, then
we can deduce without worrying about whether we are right or wrong that these
people received divine punishment to such extent that Allah erased their
existence from the surface of the earth and made them phantom towns and which
exist only in His sacred books as a means of reminder for all people. He has
even the power to preserve the body of His enemy (the Pharaoh and foster father
of Musa (as)) to remind people of His absolute might. Nothing is impossible in
the estimation of Allah, but when Allah established certain rules, He follows
it so that this serves as a guideline for the people of the earth and that they
act according to the prescribed laws He sent for them (for us) as a sign of His
mercy for all mankind.
Therefore,
since the Divine Manifestation of the age, with the advent of a Khalifatullah
to the people of the world – not just for a section of mankind, Allah has
caused this humble self to issue clear warnings of impending calamities – be
them in form of flooding, earthquakes, air crashes etc. to the people of the
world, and sometimes, to specific countries who are going beyond the limits of
the permissible and who are murdering innocents in the name of religion. The
past 15 years have been filled with unexpected calamities, such calamities
which shocked the whole world – as now we are talking about the global
community. People dies in strife, wars, floods, earthquakes, crashes,
disappeared in such airplanes which till now remain without a trace, and also
Allah accomplished the prophecies of the death of His enemies – those who
murdered innocents for greed of money, fame and power.
The fate of Madagascar
More
recently, in the Indian Ocean, in the beginning of the year 2015 – last month,
we witnessed the floods in Madagascar. Here also, it must be noted that during
my visit in Madagascar, it is true that several people received the message of
Allah and integrated the Jamaat and others have been in contact to learn more
about the veracity of the Divine Manifestation of the age, but like it is to be
expected, there were others who mocked and tried to create havoc. Some people
tried to rob this humble self but the Hand of the All-powerful Lord (Rab) forbade them from harming His
Messenger, His chosen Khalifa
(caliph). Now, the people of this country are suffering to the extreme. Despite
being poor, they are becoming poorer and more destitute than ever. But can we
blame all of them? No. Some received the message, while others did not, but
Allah whenever He sends a calamity; He deprives also the innocents, either of
their basic necessities or even their lives. Why? Is God unjust, stone-hearted
to do this to innocent people? No. Sometimes, God Almighty has to do this,
first as a trial for the truly sincere and pious and second as a fatality for
others to bear as a lesson for them, but the truly innocent ones, are brought
back to life with the forgiveness and mercy of God Almighty. Such people become
martyrs.
Abu Huraira reported that the
Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “He who is killed fighting for Allah's Cause is
a martyr, he who dies in the Cause of Allah is a martyr, he who dies in an
epidemic is a martyr, he who dies from a stomach disease is a martyr, and the
one who dies of drowning is (also) a martyr.” (Muslim)
Sa’id ibn Zaid reported that the
Prophet (pbuh) said: “He who is killed while guarding his property is a martyr,
he who is killed while defending himself is a martyr, he who is killed
defending his religion is a martyr, and he who dies protecting his family is
(also) a martyr.” (Ahmad & Tirmidhi)
Yahya related from Malik from
Abdullah ibn Abdullah ibn Jabir ibn Atik that Atik ibn al-Harith told him that
the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “What do you consider dying a martyr to
be?”
They said, “Death in the way of Allah.” The Messenger of Allah (pbuh)
said, “There are seven kinds of martyrs other than those killed in the Way of
Allah. Someone who is killed by the plague is a martyr, someone who drowns is a
martyr, someone who dies of pleurisy is a martyr, someone who dies of a disease
of the belly is a martyr, someone who dies by fire is a martyr, someone who
dies under a falling building is a martyr, and a woman who dies in childbirth
is a martyr.” (Al-Muwatta)
If
such a person was striving for the cause of Allah and died in such a calamity,
then his death is martyrdom for the cause of Allah, and nothing else. All is in
the intentions and acts of people. Allah judges the people not only for their
deeds but for their intentions also, especially for their intentions, because
intentions are the root and vehicle of deeds, canalising the deeds, whether it
ought to be a good deed or an evil one.
And now,
since the last few days (06 March 2015), water has been the source of upheaval
in the little island of Mauritius. In the first days of March, there have been
heavy rain falls, so much so that on 09 March 2015, the Government had to issue
notice to close all public schools. The whole island got major rainfall,
thunder and lightning also. As a result there was power-cut, and the rainfall
caused landslides and flooding, invading the houses of people, and destroying
their provisions and furniture etc. Their vehicles also were not spared. The tropical
cyclone called ‘Haliba’ which was
formed off the east coast of Madagascar has brought more intense rainfall not
only in Mauritius, but in Reunion Island and Rodrigues also. Those islands also
had to face the hardships of floods and landslides.
Moreover, in
Mauritius on 06 March 2015 there was the manifestation of a celestial
phenomenon at the “La Preneuse” Beach, where a French woman who has settled in
Mauritius since two years now, and her friend have witnessed a waterspout in
the Mauritian sky and ocean. This gave them both a surprise and a fright. Waterspouts
appear as a consequence of the formation of cumulonimbus clouds; active clouds
accompanied by thunder.
If
we count all the calamities which Allah manifested since the beginning of the
Divine Manifestation in year 2000-2001, then we would need thousands of pages
to cover them all. The fact remains that those calamities happened and many
lives also were lost, some were culprits and some were innocents, and the
judging of both categories of people belong to Allah. Had a prophet of Allah
got the licence to judge people, then he would have done all that is in his
might to make them all good believers with true sincere faith, but my dear
ones, faith is in the balance of Allah to judge. A prophet of Allah can only
say something definitely only if he has got clear revelations from Allah, which
marks a prophecy to the people of the earth to witness to his truthfulness.
Else, a prophet of Allah, like any human being does not have the power to see
the contents of hearts and judge accordingly.
May
Allah enable the truth-seekers to perceive the truth from Allah with the eyes
of Allah. May Allah guide their hearts to perceive the truthfulness of the
Divine Manifestation of this age and to abide to the pure laws of Allah as laid
down in the Holy Quran. I have come to revive the spiritually dead from among
all mankind. Mine is a universal mission. Should you open your heart
wholeheartedly to the light which Allah is manifesting in this era, then you
shall Insha-Allah receive this light
without any fear or doubt. Allah shall guide you to His chosen one who has come
to guide you all to Him, to learn of the best ways to reach Allah with a
purified heart. This light of Allah is pure heavenly water; the water from
Allah. Oh you thirsty of divine blessings and solace, come and partake of this
water which shall grant you everlasting life. Insha-Allah.
-Friday Sermon of 13 March 2015 ~(21 Jamad’ul
Awwal 1436 Hijri) delivered by the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Muir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.