By the grace of Allah I continue
today on the subject of my previous sermons, that is to say, the “Khidmat-e-Khalq”
(Service to Humanity) and this sermon
is specifically the continuation of the last Friday Sermon where I spoke on hospitality (to the guests, to the poor,
to everyone).
In a very nice anecdote and Hadith,
Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) refers to hospitality in a wonderful way. Once a Sahabi (companion of the Messenger of
Allah) appeared before Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) in the morning, and then the Holy
Prophet (pbuh) told him: “The action you did last night pleased Allah very much
(and this even made Allah laugh).”
And it was on this occasion that Allah
revealed the following verse:
“They prefer others to their own selves,
in spite of the fact that they are themselves in pressing need.” (Al-Hashr 59: 10)
In fact, this is the same matter of
the verses of the Quran which I mentioned in the previous Friday Sermons: Al-Insaan, Chapter 76, Verses 9-10. It
is about the fact that despite the difficulties they face, they give priority
to other people rather than their own persons.
When the companion heard the
Prophet (pbuh) tell him such a thing, he was surprised that Allah has so much
appreciated the deed he had done the night before, that He (Allah) revealed
what had exactly happened to the Holy Prophet (pbuh).
Despite Poverty at Home, They Took Care of Others
The previous night, a guest came to
Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). Since it was a very difficult period at the time when
people were very poor and where there was not enough to eat, even in the houses
of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), then the Holy Prophet (pbuh) used to make
calls to others (among his companions) in the mosque to see if there was
someone who could host these people, these guests. So it really seemed to be a
difficult time. So, for that person (guest) also, he launched an appeal for
someone to become the host the man because he was very hungry. Therefore a
companion stood up and answered the call of the Messenger of Allah. He agreed
to bring him home to feed him even though he knew very well that there was very
little food at home, food that was even not enough for him, his wife and their
children. And it was with difficulty that he must feed his children before putting
them to sleep.
So there was in him some (understandable)
hesitation and anxiety and certainly there would be this kind of anxiety in the
heart of anyone, but Allah showed him a plan. And he told this plan to his
wife. He informed her that a guest had come and that the guest was the guest of
the Messenger of Allah, and thus they had the duty to treat him well. He also
told her that he knew there was very little food, “and thus we have to find some way to send the children to bed. When
the children are asleep, let me know and let me know what food you have put (on
the table). When I will bring the guest, I shall extinguish the light as if by
error so that the guest does not know the amount of food (which is in front of
him). He must not know what is happening. The guest shall eat and as for us, we
shall do sounds with our tongues to give the impression that we are eating
too.”
And that’s exactly what happened.
The guest did not notice anything and ate the food, and then the companion and his
wife pretended to eat (because they gave all the food to the guest) and they made
sounds so as to give the impression to the guest they are eating too. So just
think what sounds they have been able to do on earth with their mouths/ tongues
to gain the pleasure of Allah in heaven!
Thus, everything went according to
plan and the guest did not realize anything. When morning came, and the people
gathered in the mosque for prayer, Allah (swt) informed the Holy Prophet (pbuh)
through revelation of what happened. And there will be all the time a verse of
the Quran to testify to this story, this extraordinary hospitality.
That’s the subject, the lesson that
this verse is giving us. We must not entertain guests just for the sake of
personal relations, but hospitality to guests must be done for the love of
Allah. And those who do this act of hospitality do not look at the social
status of these guests, whether they are reputable in the world or not. They
know only this: that this guest is a guest of Allah and that of His Prophet
Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh); that he is a guest of Islam. So if you do hospitality
with this (positive) spirit, then your hospitality will be counted (in the eyes
of Allah) and will have a deep connection to this story (which I just
mentioned).
In this anecdote, the companion in
question was an Ansar (of Medina). He
demonstrated excellent moral qualities. So this story will continue to repeat
itself time after time to demonstrate such exemplary hospitality. There will be
others who will come together in this good deed, those who shall demonstrate those
same moral qualities, those same excellent manners. They will do such actions
for the pleasure of Allah through excellent manners and through good advices.
And they will follow the advices of our beloved Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh)
where on one side, they will have good behaviour and on the other, they will perform
their actions based on such good behaviour, and putting them into practice in a
great way. It is through good manners that Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) won the hearts
of people. And at that time, these advices made their effects on the hearts
like a dry land that readily accepts water. So your journey of excellent morals
will begin with your good deeds, with your good conduct.
So, make your good deeds attain to
this high position. And just like Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) had said, it is
certainly Allah who has placed him at the highest level of morality; it is not
by himself that he reached such stage. So you should also follow Hazrat
Muhammad (pbuh), and take care of your manners/ behaviours and your morals and
straighten them.
Financial Frauds by 'Muslims'
Now one who (truly) develops/
receives these moral qualities, do you think that he shall steal from others?
He shall never have such a bad thought. So when there are such bad manners in
the Ummah (Community) of Hazrat
Muhammad (pbuh), (for example) when relationships go bad in homes, when people
make financial transactions, where they borrow money and do not give back the
money to its rightful owner and do all sorts of dishonesty, disappointments; so
this is a very serious matter and this attracts the wrath of Allah, and it
certainly does not improve moral qualities. There are those who borrow money allegedly
because of some problems they say that they are facing or to do some job. But
(unfortunately) they make scams (they act dishonestly).
Here in Mauritius,
there are people who take money from poor people or those who are not so rich
with the promise of helping them to emigrate to Canada to work there but then
these scammers disappear after taking the money. All these are bad manners. Someone who says that he belongs to
Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) cannot even conceive committing these evil deeds. He
adopts quite a different way, which in no way has any connection with bad
manners.
When I hear such bad things, especially in the religion of Islam by
the people who call themselves Muslims, supposedly, so my heart tremble, not
with anger, but with pain and helplessness. I start to think, how do I make
these people listen to my message and the advices that I give them, what word
can I use to enable this message to penetrate their ears so they pay back to
the victims their money, their right? They do not realize what kinds of
punishments await them with their Creator; this will certainly be a very
terrible punishment, and especially after you have received those teachings
(and warnings) from Allah and His Prophet (pbuh).
Expose the Culprits for Justice
So Ehsan (favour) is based on justice. If you have not taken the first
step on the path of justice, so how shall you be worthy to do favours for
others? So it is Allah who lifts the veil on the real situation and this is
certainly a dangerous message (for the culprits). When God begins to remove
veils in this world, so after death, all these sails will be completely
removed. And Pardah will be removed
in such a way that on Judgment Day, you (the guilty) will be humiliated before
the entire humanity. So learn to have good manners instead of doing all kinds
of malicious plans to rob people. Therefore Islam does not give you
the right to cover (the evil deeds of) people who steal from others.
Drug-Peddlers and Thugs even among 'Ahmadis'
There is
another bad deed that Muslims do, and it’s really shameful! They are no more content
with what Allah has given them. They make drugs transactions, dirty money to
derive even more dirty and illegal money. And they destroy lives and especially
those of young people. They give drugs to those youths and these thugs take the
cash. You will be surprised to hear how many Muslims are doing drug transactions
and how many young people have left the right path to take the drug path and
they are completely destroyed.
Even more surprising, in Jamaat
Ahmadiyya, those who claim to be great defenders of Khilafat, if you hear their
(hidden) stories – how they are soaked in dirty transactions, and where they have
enriched themselves with dirty money and destroyed many lives, you will be
really surprised. And most surprisingly, an Ahmadi even gave me the percentage
of young (Ahmadi) people who have fallen prey to drugs: 57%. It’s really huge! And mafias disguised as Sadoos (holy
men) are the most prominent (for the eyes of people) to do the work of Jamaat
(the Promised Messiah)!
Too much importance is given to
these people. It is then certainly not in vain that Allah has raised His
Khalifatullah and His Jamaat because the Khalifa-tul-Massih and his Amirs are
now no more the Imams of Muttaquun (pious
people), but those of drug addicts and drug mafias. So if you have some haya (shame) in you and if you have fear
of Allah, if you have (solid) faith in Allah – and just as I told you last
Friday in which I explained that Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) told us, “If you have faith in Allah and the Last Day”
– then you need to ponder which path you are taking, and which path others have
taken these days and they are certainly no more on the right path.
Think well, (worldly/
temporary) things which you receive by making others suffer; the things you
receive as a result of injustice (towards your victims) are cursed gifts. They
have no status, no importance. So in the field of morals, morality, we need to fight
on these both fronts:
The first is that we must straighten
our morals in the way that Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) understood and practiced
morality.
And second, we need to make efforts
to save our brothers who have fallen into immorality, who have bad manners, and
then you must try to save them from hell. Give to homes/ houses where there are
bad behaviours the gift of good conduct, the gift of good morals. Tell them that
the pleasure of life is in good and excellent morals. And bad conduct is in
itself another name for hell.
May Allah give us the opportunity
to do this great Jihad and fulfill all
its demands. Insha-Allah, Amine.
----Friday Sermon of 13 November 2015 ~(30 Muharram 1437 Hijri) delivered by the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.