Poem: ‘The Light of Muhammad’

In the cultural memory of the Muslims, Rabi’ul Awwal 12 marks the birth anniversary of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa). As the messenger of God and embodiment of Qur’anic ethics, the Prophet of Islam spiritually-liberated humankind for all times from the clutches of devilish ideologies and pagan practices in the name of deities and divinity. His exemplary personal qualities of head and heart inspired generations of people to value faith above the world, and yet, earthly dominance did not elude them either. Despite a millennium of hostile propaganda by anti-Muslim elements, independent historians today openly admit and recognize that the Prophet of Islam stands tall amidst the rise and fall of nations in the shifting sands of time. If Hazrat Ibrahim (as) was once given a Divine-promise of an Ummah as numerous as the stars on the night-sky, at one level, its literal fulfilment is found in the dominance and global spread of Islam through the centuries. It is also instructive to note that by all accounts, Islam is the religion of the future as well. Indeed, the light of Muhammad continues to illumine the spiritual horizons of the world- with more and more people finding solace in the shade of the Prophetic Teachings, as time goes by.

Reproduced below is the translation of a Persian poem by the Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (originally appeared in the Review of Religions of February 1991):

 

What a marvellous light

And radiance is to be found

In the life and person

Of Muhammad! Indeed this is a mine

Wonderfully rich in rubies

Of priceless worth.

 

Look wheresoever, I may,

In the two worlds

I can absolutely find no one

With the greatness and grandeur

Of this the greatest benefactor

Of the human race.

 

If you long to obtain

Deliverance from the lust

Of your mind, then come

To include yourself

Among his devotees.

'Duah': Invocations to Allah- XVI

Alhamdulillah Summa Alhamdulillah, all praise is to Allah, Lord of the worlds Who gave me the Tawfiq to continue on the subject of today’s sermon on the “revealed duah” upon this humble servant. 

Before I get to the heart of these uplifting invocations, I share with you a very interesting sign that a Muntaqa from Tamil Nadu, Ata’us Salaam saw during his prayer this week. He saw in a vision a young man standing next to him during his Esha prayer and this person said to him, “I am the prophet Nuh (as).” Allahu Akbar. Allah manifested Hazrat Nuh (as) as a young person. May Allah protect this Muntaqa and his family and the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam as a whole from all adversities, and grant us victory over enemies in an extraordinary way. May Allah continue to bless His Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam, His Khalifatullah and sincere disciples in His Jamaat and grant us the light of His grace, forgiveness and infinite honour, both in this world and the hereafter. Ameen.

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim

In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

Rabbana atina fid-dunya hassanataww-wa fil-aakhirati hasanataww-waqina ‘adhaaban-naar, wa adkhilnal jannataa ma’al abrar, Ya Azizu Ya Ghaffaru Ya Rabbal-Aalamin.

Our Lord! Grant us good (or success) in this world as well as good (or success) in the other world, and protect us from the fire (of hell). Admit us to Paradise among the virtuous; (O Allah) Almighty, Forgiving, Lord of the worlds!

Remembering Hamza Saheb

Hamza Ibrahim Saheb, one of the senior-most members of the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam-India, passed away in Kerala this week. He was 74 years old and has had certain age-related health concerns for some time now. Possibly, he was waiting for the ongoing Covid-related public health emergency in the State to subside so as to go for a thorough medical check-up, when the death came of heart failure on the evening of 18 October 2020, around 5.30 pm, Innallillahi wa inna ilayhi raajeeoune.

Hamza Ibrahim Saheb worked with the judicial department of the Kerala government, in the administrative/clerical side of the subordinate courts system, until retirement from service almost two decades ago. After retirement from job, he continued to be active in striving to be a good Muslim in life, as he understood it. It was this life-long commitment to the Prophetic Way that induced him to keep his mind and intellect open to spiritual perceptions until his last breath in this world. He did not hesitate to follow his heart in recognizing the Truth as he perceived it- even when such spiritual explorations and interests took him away from conventional wisdom and the prevailing orthodoxies of his social environment. Born and brought up in a traditional Muslim household in Alappuzha, Hamza Saheb displayed spiritual conviction and courage in embracing the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya in 1979. Subsequently, he got married among the Ahmadis of Karunagappally, and came to live in the region. While remaining an Ahmadi Muslim, he came to hear, learn about and went on to recognize the spiritual station and Divine mission of Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius in 2010- indeed, he was one among the first group of believers in Kerala. In his death, he leaves behind his biological family (wife and two grown-up sons and relatives), and the spiritual commune (Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam-Kerala) of the last 10 years of his life. 

'Duah': Invocations to Allah- XV

By His grace, Allah (swt) has given me again the opportunity, and blessed grace, to continue on the subject of my sermon on the duahs revealed at the beginning of the Divine Manifestation. It will not be possible for me to present each of them, mentioning the day, date, time of the revelation in question, as well as the circumstances in which they were revealed to me because the sermon will become too long and it will take months and months since I’m giving a series of sermons on the subject. So I will only share with you a few of these invocations.

Allah has certainly revealed [all these invocations] to me and I will not be able to present them all [at once] for Allah, by His grace and mercy continues to reveal to me - His Khalifatullah - these duahs, as well as other revelations. He is not a God Who gives revelations for a limited time and then stops speaking (giving revelations). When He raises His chosen servant, each time He sends down messages to His Messenger and also to show that He is always there, present and that He will not forsake the Messenger He raised. He gives him messages, duahs, shows him His signs. He is more caring [and affectionate] than a parent who has just received a newborn into his home. Allah does everything for us. He is more devoted than a [human] parent to his child, especially when He sends His Messenger and [this affection and security that Allah gives him makes] enable this Messenger also not to have any fear of creatures, and he does not care of what they say and plot. These people laugh at him, call him a liar, a fool, a madman and say that he takes (Psychotropic) drugs, antidepressants - they blame the Messenger of Allah in different ways and in great quantity, but Allah is present everywhere with His angels who write what these fools say and do; each of their deeds is noted and therefore the time will come when Allah will take them in hand, whether on earth but also in the Hereafter and certainly the punishment of the Hereafter will be more painful.

A Messenger of Allah also has no need to fear what these evildoers are doing against him, for his provisions, honour, dignity, and even his mission are not in the hands of these fools. On the contrary, the more they slander the Messenger of Allah and persecute him, the more Allah will raise his rank, like a ball which, when struck, bounces and rises in the air. It is these kinds of trials, persecutions and boycotts that prove the veracity of a Messenger of Allah. So if the Creator of the Universe has sent His Messenger, why do we have to worry about what these evildoers are doing, when we know full well that their stay here on earth is temporary, and they will have to show up in the court of Allah? Each of them will be accountable for what they have done (on earth).

'Duah': Invocations to Allah- XIV

Alhamdulillah, by the grace of Allah, I continue today the 14th part of my series of sermons on the subject of “duahs” (invocations to Allah). Today I present before you the duahs which Allah revealed to me before and after He raised me as His chosen one, when I was still in the Jamaat Ahmadiyya and also when I was expelled from the Nizam-e-Jamaat on the 1st January 2001. That fateful unforgettable year, on the 7th of January I reached the age of forty, and all that occurred in the realm of spirituality, along with all the persecutions and mockeries were life-changing.

Important Dream at the Beginning of the new Islamic Era

This reminds me of a great dream I had at the beginning of the new 15th Century Hijri, one year later in November 1981. At that time, I was quite young and was clueless about the Hijri Calendar and that a new century was opening for me, as a blessing but also as a lifelong struggle for the sake of Allah. 

I dreamt that four great personalities in white, being very handsome with beautiful beards and illuminating faces came to my parental house, and sat on the sofas which were of different colours. They came with very important news about my life, what shall happen to me in the future, but what I clearly remember after all these years [for I did not keep any written records of my dreams back then] is that they foretold about the great hurdles that I would have to go through in my life but that I must not worry because Allah will remove all these hurdles and be with me. Since I had seen that dream, I was very shaken and panicked and I was hesitant to relate this to anybody. After finally relating it to a good and well-respected Muslim neighbour of mine who had deep affection for me, the latter was awestruck by what I told him and considered this as a great dream and that I was one of the favoured people of Allah. He told me that was why he liked me very much. He encouraged me to relate that dream to my parents. Being worried by what I told her, my mother told me to give away a Sadqua, and to pray [which I did]. As for my father, upon hearing about the dream, he smiled at me, and gave me such comfort that all my worries flew away instantly. He told me that it was indeed a great dream that I had seen, but why must I worry because had not these personalities [i.e. the angels] say that Allah will always be with me? 

So, this was one of the most important dream I had in my youth, prior to being raised as God’s Servant. And Allah kept giving me true dreams and visions, which at that time I could not understand, but little by little when His Divine Manifestation touched me in a way like never before, when I was nearing the age of forty, Allah showed great love and helped me in great ways just like He promised, despite the attacks on my honour and dignity as a Caller to Allah [Dai-Illallah], as a worker and missionary of Islam Ahmadiyyat. During these hard times with the evil plots of a so-called [now ex] Amir along with the people around him, Allah revealed to me many duahs as a comfort to my soul.

'Sirat Allah' and Women

Two distinct strands are visible in male attitudes towards women in different cultures before Islam. At one end of this spectrum, in idolatrous nations, in the rituals of religion, we see the celebration of women as daughters of God, making them deities and goddesses on a lofty pedestal. On the other end, in real life, women face discrimination and injustice and ‘glass ceilings’ everywhere. This glaring contradiction in religious outlook and social practice abounds, on a much larger scale, in the traditional patriarchal frameworks of our societies: the male elites claim to respect and 'worship' women deities, yet they relegate their women to an inferior position- ignoring their dignity and identity, and denying them their interests and rights on an equal footing. 

Islam emerged in an Arabian social order that was already grappling with these broad trends on the status of women. In the pre-Islamic Arabia, many people worshipped female deities and goddesses as well as angels with female names such as al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat, etc. In spite of such religious practices, like many other patriarchal societies around the world at that time and later, in pre-Islamic Arabia, the dominant male gaze betrayed a contempt for women- reflective in their preference for male progeny and regarding daughters as no more than a necessary evil. While the gender of the child should make no difference in the flow of parental love, it is the decadent social order that hinders the true appreciation of, and gratitude towards God, for the miracle of life in their midst. Indeed, to expound on its progressive outlook on women’s role and function in the social order of the believers, the Qur’an condemns the manifest contradictions in the pre-Islamic Arab attitudes on the question of women: 

‘They ascribe daughters unto God, who is limitless in His glory- whereas for themselves (they would choose, if they could , only) what they desire (male issue): for, whenever any of them is given the glad tiding of (the birth of) a girl, his face darkens, and he is filled with suppressed anger, avoiding all people because of the (alleged) evil of the glad tiding which he has received (and debating within himself:) Shall he keep this (child) despite the contempt (which he feels for it)- or shall he bury it in the dust? Oh, evil indeed is whatever they decide!’ (16: 58-60). 

‘Why for yourselves (you would choose only) male offspring, whereas to Him (you assign) female: that, lo and behold, is an unfair division!’ (53: 22-23). 

Hence, the Qur’an utterly condemns the pre-Islamic male attitudes towards the suppression of women. Female infanticide and foeticide are among the evil practices that continue to exist even in our times. The pre-Islamic practice of burying girls alive may or may not be happening on a larger scale now. However, its modern equivalents such as denying girls’ access to opportunities for developing their qualities and potentials continue to be a bane of several societies. For instance, it was only recently that the Taliban regime wanted to close down women’s education in Afghanistan. It is ironic that Muslim communities privilege pre-Islamic practices that ignore or evade or seek to bend Islamic teachings to suit their social conservatism. In the name of religion and customary practices, women are being denied ‘an equal sky’. 

'Duah': Invocations to Allah- XIII

Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah, Allah by His grace, mercy and kindness has once again given me the opportunity to continue on the subject of my sermon on the duahs, more specifically the duahs which are found in the Holy Quran.

By the grace of Allah - I do not know how to thank Him for the blessed opportunities He has granted me to speak on this important subject and at the same time to take the opportunity to recite these duahs to you, and for your good and mine also. 

Certainly, all of this is the result of the Spirit [i.e. the Holy Spirit], which has been caused to descend like a flame upon me and which will intoxicate you with the love of God which flows through my heart. Caught in this state, I spend my time remembering God, not to complete some formalities or to appear so, but because God is going to make my spiritual life, which I love, dependent on this food which is the remembrance of God, just as he made the bodily life of man dependent on physical food. Just as he would swallow an unpleasant-tasting medicine to cure himself, in the same way, it is important that man persevere in his practice of Salat (prayers), and continue to beg God even if he does not derive any pleasure from it.

Faced with such a situation, we, the human race, believers in the Unique God, will have to, through the following supplication, seek pleasure and joy in our Salat, in our supplications to God. This pleasure will come little by little and that too in an illuminating way. We must pray for the mercy of Allah [Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim]:

Rabbana zalamna anfusana wa il-lam taghfir lana wa tarhamna la-na-kunanna minal-khaasirin.

Our Lord, we have acted unjustly towards ourselves! If You don’t forgive us and if You don’t have mercy on us, we will certainly be among the losers!

When you desire victory, success, and divine judgment in difficult situations, call upon God as follows:

Rabbanaftah baynana wa bayna qawmina bil-haqqi wa anta khayrul-faatihin.

Our Lord, make a decision between us and our people. You are the best of judges/ arbitrators!

Rabbana afrigh ‘alayna sabran wa tawaffana muslimin.

Our Lord, pour endurance on us and grant us death in complete submission to You!