“This (Quran) is enlightenment for mankind and guidance and mercy for a people who have Faith with certainty. What! Do those who commit evils think that We shall hold them equal with those who believe and do righteous deeds - that equal will be their life and their death? Ill is the judgment that they make. And Allah created the heavens and earth with truth and so that every soul may be rewarded for what it has earned, and they will not be wronged.” ---(Surah Al Jathiya, 45: 21-23).
In my last Friday Sermon (04 September 2015), I told you that when Allah makes this honoured treatment with someone (where the person is under the refuge of Allah), then it is as if he/she becomes a beautiful plant that emerges, which flourished (in the Garden of Allah). He becomes a plant of good deeds, a plant that yields fruit. Allah protects him and keeps away from him all sorts of problems and dangers. Now you may find
that this seems to be very difficult in the beginning but with time this journey
becomes easy; where there is no difficulty. Therefore, all you have in your
possession, you present all with love and affection, in humility to Allah and
to Him you say:
“O Allah! I have nothing
more (of what I now present to You), but I certainly have love for Your
religion, and this love that I keep in me for Your religion (Islam) forces me
to present all that I have for Your cause.”
And when after addressing Allah
in this way you have patience, you will certainly find what treatment Allah shall
do with you!
The metaphor of 'Fruit-bearing Tree'
Trees that do not bear
fruits and become dry are abandoned by their master. Therefore, when I speak of
trees that do not reap any fruit and become dry, upon reflecting on this
metaphor, we can detect (as weak human beings) a contraction, because according
to our tiny knowledge, we know that Allah is the One who enables trees to bear
fruits. So why this contradiction? What is its significance? We know that it is
Allah who directs a tree to reap fruits, but then we also know that a tree
which does not bear fruits and becomes dry, Allah will no longer take care of
it.
Verily, this metaphor concerning the
non-bearing of fruits and this death (where the tree becomes dry and unproductive)
includes the intention (of people). These are people who do not show up before Allah
for their reform. They continue to remain in their non-reformed state, and do
not show up to serve religion (Islam). They are such plants which in the eyes
of Allah, have already made their decision to rot (become dry) and not to bear any
fruit. It’s as if they decided: “We have made
our decision and we will not become like the tree that grows, blooms, and bears
fruit.” From that moment on, they cease to be plants of the master. They rather
become foreign plants, such plants that are worthy of being uprooted and thrown
out.
So for a person also,
the same applies. If there is something bad (wrong) in him and if he does not
turn to Allah and takes no account of what Allah has given him, then at that
moment, God ceases to care him, like the plant or tree which the gardener
(master) ceases to care for and which the animals then come to devour. Woodcutters
cut it down and burn it without this affecting (or annoying) the proprietor (or
gardener)!
Now imagine if you are
truthful in the eyes of Allah, then no opposition can trouble you because Allah
knows that your goal is real and that the depths of your heart conceal what
must necessarily be the truth. If this is the case, then no one can hurt you.
Those who do not straighten their situation, if they do not make a real promise
of obedience to Allah, then Allah will not take care of them. In the world there are
millions of people who are killed for nothing. They are killed for no valid reason
and nobody care about these deaths. So how can Allah care of those people who
do not care about the servants of Allah? So you need to understand the subject of
taking good care of all the servants of Allah who are scattered around the
world.
If you are taking
pleasure in your own comfort instead of taking care of your environment, of the
people around you, and if you do not become aware of the sufferings around you,
then, this good news are not for you. It is not you who will receive this good
news. It is very important that we understand this subject very well; because
apart from us, there is no one who can change the destiny of this world. Thus,
if we do not understand this subject, who else will understand this? So
understand the urgency of the situation that I have set before you in more than
two Friday sermons so that you show up to serve Allah.
And it is for you to appeal
to Allah and beg Him to help you because the situation is beyond you. It is
beyond your control. Why? First, we are weak. We are not worthy to reform the world. So we need to address Allah in this way:
“Oh Allah, regarding Your prophets and Your past righteous servants, it is You who put the same good qualities in them so that they were aware of the situation of the world and that they also had the ability to reform the world and it is You who had removed their weaknesses.
But
as for us, our situation is that we do not even have the capacity to rid
ourselves of our own weaknesses. All the time we think about it (to get rid of
our weaknesses) and since long we are making efforts in this direction but we
still find ourselves in the same situation. Neither our hearts are changed nor
our environment. Neither our treatment with our families nor that with
nonbelievers are changing. We find ourselves in deep trouble (facing many
problems).
And on top of that, the situation of the people we’re supposed to
reform is going from bad to worse. So without Your help (Oh Allah), we can’t do
anything. We want to be under Your refuge and enjoy such a proximity to You
that shall please You, so that we manage to reform the world as You have given
us the responsibility.”
It is necessary that
you create this feeling in you because if you become careless, if you do not
take into consideration the instructions of Allah and do not step forward to
reach Him, then you shall resemble wild animals. So that’s what I’m telling
you.
It will be a big mistake if we do not become aware of the situation of our
surrounding. It is the animals who are not aware of their surrounding (or don’t
care to help or have any moral qualities to take such steps). If you neglect
this fact and put yourselves to the same levels of wild animals, therefore, your
situation will be the same as theirs.
So it is necessary that you become close
friends of Allah (and that you do not behave like animals).And to become close to Allah, it is necessary that you adopt the ways and qualities that I have already told you at the beginning and which it is essential that you adopt in order that no problem, no obstacle, no pain grips you.
Regarding this, if you
analyze the life and situation of sincere people of the Jamaat, you will
understand better. I have found that people who are engaged day and night in
the work of the Jamaat, they do not face the same problems as that of their
surroundings. There are such witnesses in the Jamaat who are not anxious as to
what shall overcome their families and children, as they have given religion
(Islam) more importance.
When they chose the religion of Allah on all other
things or needs, at this point it is Allah who supports their wives and
children. This option will be fully achieved if people accept for the cause of
Allah to reject their own worlds and adopt the world of Allah. So these are the
people whom Allah protect their world.
Certainly under the law of nature they
may face some problems, like the plants that are in good health also suffer
damages, problems. Sometimes they make faces storms, cyclones and floods and thus,
even good plantations are affected by all this.
So I do not tell you
that when you engage in the work of the religion, that you shall not be
affected by the diseases of the world. If you engage in the work of the
religion only with this thought that the worldly diseases shall not touch you, it
is then at that point that you will certainly be touched by it all, but when
you engage in the work of religion, and you do not think about it too much (you
do not make yourselves panic over this thought), and you do not worry whether
or not there will be someone who shall take care of your wives and children (by placing your trust in Allah), then surely at
that moment Allah will take care of your wives and children (will keep an eye
on them). There are other situations where people who work for the religion of
Allah do not care about the affairs of this world, because for them, they give
preference to Allah and His religion. It’s about these types of people that
Allah says in the Quran (9: 111):
Allah has purchased of the believers their persons and their wealth in exchange of Paradise.
What better transaction
than this? Nobody can fully comprehend what kind of grace and favour that Allah
has reserved for these kinds of people. They have no attraction or pleasure for
this temporal world. They are in much better conditions than those who are
attracted to this world. For them, it is Allah, His Messenger and His religion who
take precedence over any other thing or concern of this world that other people
usually want. Instead they say (to the person attracted to this world), “You seek all the attractions and pleasures
of this world, then take all for you, for I seek only my Master, Lord of the
universe.”
What do you want more than that? It is only the Ulul’al-Baab (people of intellect) who
can understand this. Here is a revelation that I had received from Allah (at
the beginning of the Divine Manifestation):
“Even if the world leaves you tomorrow, but Allah is with
you, ALL is with you, but if the world is with you, and Allah is not with you,
nothing is with you.”
Indeed a sublime message! Messages of Allah
are really sources of light for us. Masha-Allah,
Allahu-Akbar.
So if you want to find its
application, then you need to go through these stages. You must form part of
those who are close to Allah so that no problem affects. Verily, nothing
happens on earth without the permission of Allah. These words are really deep
in meaning. In fact, if you really happen to come in the refuge of Allah, then
it is necessary that a natural result be created in your heart and it must be
something that is found inside of you.
Since time is running out
as some of you must go back to work, so I will continue on the same subject Insha-Allah after the Eid-ud-Duha (Bakr Eid). May Allah give
me the Tawfiq. Ameen.
--- Extracts from the Friday Sermon of 11 September 2015 delivered by Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius.