Faith & the Strong
Believer
Dear
brothers, sisters and children, for today’s Friday Sermon (Khutba
Jumu’ah), it is very important that I
talk to you about faith (Iman)
and Islam and the difference between a weak believer and a strong
believer.
Allah
says in the Holy Quran: “Say, ‘You
have not (yet) believed; but say (instead), ‘We have submitted,’
(We are Muslims) for faith has not yet entered your hearts. And if
you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not deprive you from your
deeds of anything’.” (Al-Hujurat 49: 15).
Indeed,
Iman
(faith) is the confession/ attestation (by the tongue) and acting
(according to one’s responsibility) and Islam is confession (by the
tongue) without acting.
It
should be remembered that those who integrate the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al
Islam as Muslims and say that they believe in my advent as the
Khalifatullah of the age need to make extra efforts to perfect their
Islam and put this Islam into practice in their daily lives. Through
the practice of Islam in your daily lives, true faith shall enter
your hearts, and no doubt whatsoever, can come into those hearts to
deviate you from the right path.
Very
often, a Muslim – and I am specifically talking about my followers,
the Sahih al Islam members – can feel that he is trying to do all
the right things in his life so as to come close to Allah, and
despite his various efforts, he is not able to succeed in his efforts
and therefore he despairs of the mercy of Allah. He feels abandoned,
and thus, he abandons his Salat
(prayers) and all acts of worship due to his insecurity and doubts.
Now, this is very wrong. This person should bear in mind that
acquiring true faith is not an easy matter. He has to go through lots
of trials, lots of fires, i.e. difficulties, so that his mettle, his
capacities as a true Muslim and believer, and his faith in Allah may
be victorious.
Remember,
Allah always gives more trials and difficulties to those whom He
loves the most. Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) has said: “How
wonderful is the affair of the believer, for his affairs are all
good, and this applies to no one but the believer. If something good
happens to him, he is thankful for it and that is good for him. If
something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience and that is
good for him.” (Muslim).
Trials in life: The Patience of the Prophets
Take
the good examples of the prophets of Allah. Hazrat
Isa (as) bore the cross with much patience, despite the great pains
and did not renounce in his faith in Allah and his mission as prophet
of Allah. Hazrat Yusuf (as) had to spent years in prison despite his
innocence but yet bore it all with patience and faith in Allah.
Hazrat Musa (as) had to exile to another land and came back with the
blessings of Allah as His prophet to warn Pharaoh and his followers
of the wrath of Allah. In his presence, when he went to receive the
10 commandments, his people deviated from the right path and they
worshipped a golden calf, but with his constant connection with
Allah, all despair disappeared and he was able to save his people
from their own deviating ways and accomplish his mission. Despite his
constant efforts, his people were people who were always dissatisfied
with their lifestyle and most of them had doubts on their Islam. But
like a true soldier and prophet of Allah, Hazrat Musa (as) kept
advising them and showing them the right path.
Bear
in mind then, that when you have accepted the Khalifatullah of this
age, and you keep firm on the right path and you keep on doing your
duties to Allah and His Deen-i-Islam
with vigour and love, then, definitely, Allah will love you, and the
more He loves you, the more the difficulties you shall find in your
path. Why? It is because Allah wants you to go higher and higher in
spirituality and to detach yourselves from this world, and that you
remember Him. By accomplishing your duties to Allah, i.e. by behaving
like a true Muslim, and putting into practice your Islam in your
everyday life, be it in your homes, in your workplaces, with friends
and family etc., therefore, you shall develop true faith, and with
true faith comes also Certainty (Yaqeen)
in Allah and His blessed divine signs and manifestations. And the
more you make efforts to share the divine light with people around
you, the more you shall find Allah close with you.
Remember,
each one of you is special. In this era, you have recognized and
accepted the Khalifatullah and Messenger of your era, and many of you
also have received many divine signs and thus, Allah chose each one
of you to form part of the Sahih al Islam family, Muslims of Islam to
bring forward the cause of Islam to its glorious height. Insha-Allah.
And for this, you need to put efforts to make this aim (goal) come
true. Without efforts, nothing can be done, nothing can be derived.
Each
one of you should reinforce himself spiritually and strive to become
a strong believer. Many of you can say ‘I
believe’, ‘I
have faith’, but
nonetheless they are weak believers, because whenever a trial comes,
or Satan makes them have a doubt, these weak believers stumble, and
fall in their Iman
and Islam.
Hazrat
Abu Huraira (ra) reported: “The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,
‘The strong believer is more beloved to Allah than the weak
believer, but there is goodness in both of them. Be eager for what
benefits you, seek help from Allah, and do not be frustrated. If
something befalls you, then do not say: If only I had done something
else. Rather say: Allah has decreed what He wills. Verily, the
phrase ‘if only’ opens the way for the work of Satan’.”
(Muslim).
From
this Hadith, goodness is acknowledged in the weak as well as strong
believer because the faith is a common feature of both. The one who
is stronger is, however, better with Allah for the reason that he is
more active and energetic in the matter of noble deeds and
performance of ritual prayers, obligatory as well as voluntary, as
well as the other acts of worship. The strong believers are those who
establish a strong relationship with Allah to such a point that no
trial can ever deviate them from the right path.
By
the grace of Allah, the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam houses certain such
strong believers but there are also weak ones, those who are not
making enough efforts in the way of Allah to acquire the real faith,
that solid faith in Allah which no creature can ever break.
It
is most unfortunate also that there are many people in this era of
Divine Manifestation who after receiving countless signs or even one
sign from Allah, and coming forward to integrate the Jamaat Ul Sahih
Al Islam, but afterwards with the pressure of their families and the
rejecters of truth, they also turn their backs and renounce in their
belief and they break the covenant/ Bai’at
which they have taken beforehand. This is very serious in the eyes of
Allah.
Remember,
Allah says in the Holy Quran: “Do
the people think that they will be left to say, ‘We believe’ and
they will not be tried? But We have certainly tried those before
them, and Allah will surely make evident those who are truthful, and
He will surely make evident the liars. Or do those who do evil deeds
think they can outrun Us? Evil is what they judge.”
(Al-Ankabut 29: 3-5).
Therefore,
every trial which comes your way should be considered as a blessing
for you instead of as a curse. Those who strive and persevere in the
way of Allah, fighting against their own ego and passions and
struggling to make their Islam and Iman (faith) shine forth as
a role model for others to follow, it is them the winners before the
eyes of Allah. And after the various difficulties and persecutions in
their path, the day shall come to them when the gifts of Allah shall
be presented to them as an ultimate reward for all their efforts, and
these efforts should continue until their last breath on earth, just
like a little Hazrat Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, the truthful follower of
Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) and the fearless Hazrat Umar Al-Farooq, whose
faith and personality as a strong believer made even the Satan take
an opposing path whenever Hazrat Umar (ra) came. This shows you how
much these great companions – and many others – have developed
true faith in their heart to such an extent that Allah has taken over
their hearts and ruled over it throughout. Blessed are such people,
in this world and forever in the afterlife. Be like them, O my
disciples, and do not let the thread of unfaith ever touch you.
Blessed are you. Remain ever blessed till the end of times,
Insha-Allah, Ameen.
---Friday Sermon of 14 December 2018~06 Rabi’ul Aakhir 1440 AH delivered at Calicut (Kerala-India) by Hadhrat Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.