Sunday, September 12, 2021

'Ummah': Reforming Self & Society

 

The Perfect Evolution & Revolution of the Ummah 


Our beloved prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) had one worry which kept him awake during the nights in prayers to Allah (twt). He used to worry a lot for the progress and the quality of his community (Ummah). “O Allah, my Ummah, my Ummah!” [Ya Rabbi, Ummati!], he used to supplicate. This is indeed the call and slogan of love of this beloved prophet of ours (pbuh); his deep love for his Ummah caused him to always call out in his prayers to Allah - “Ummati, Ummati”. 

From the abhorrence of disbelief and ignorance, this noble prophet (pbuh) led them to a perfect state of belief, and for that, they had to undergo several trials which transformed them into staunched [firm] believers. 


When in Islamic terms we talk about the evolution and revolution of the Ummah, it is not like we will lift up armaments to fight against the world and bring them back to the fold of the Unicity of Allah with force, that is, with the fear of swords, or guns or any other killer weapon for that matter. This revolution should not be understood in the worldly way but more in the spiritual way.       

As a Muslim and Khalifatullah of this age, as the Chosen Servant of Allah and the humble follower of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh), it is my duty in this era to bring you out from your state of Nafs-e-Ammara [Animalistic State] to bring you step by step to the Mutmaina Stage [where you are completely pleased with Allah and Allah is completely pleased with you].

                                         

Reform your outlook

For this, it is not sufficient to say: “Oh, we have a Khalifatullah among us, I will ask him to pray. His prayers suffice.” No! Never think like this. Allah looks at your heart and the efforts you make in His way. There should be a great transformation in you for Allah to remove you from the animalistic stage to lead you to become in harmony with Him, with your faith and where you are satisfied with what Allah has prescribed and given to you. 

It is indeed a great virtue to ask the Khalifatullah to pray for you, but you also should never abandon the path of Allah. You need to be a beggar before the door of the Rab [Lord] of this Universe.


The Crises in the Ummah 

If the Ummah of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) has been divided and subdivided today is because they lost that key essence of faith and thus, not keeping true to the trust of Allah and His Messenger (pbuh). Allah wants His creatures to adore Him, to worship Him alone and to seek His guidance for a good future. 

Nobody is bereft of or protected from the Satan. Satan is ever present to misguide the believer and to make him commit evil, and afterwards the believer regrets and turns to Allah and seek His forgiveness. Indeed, Allah is the Greatest Forgiver. Nobody forgives as He forgives. One should fear Him alone and shun evil so that the gardens of the Heavens may be offered to him. 

Today, the Ummah of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) finds itself in great difficulty because it has let go of the rope of Allah and taken solace in the arms of worldly riches, pleasure and attractions. But does that mean that we stay inactive and let the situation deteriorate? No! 


Shun Evil and Embrace Positivity

Evil may touch anyone. No one is perfect but the most honourable person is he who admits his mistake and strive to turn his life in such a way that when Satan sees him, he flees away because he sees the mark of the Almighty on that person. If a person, if the Ummah as a whole was to strive to have the mark of Allah imprint on them, on us, then no one would have followed the footsteps of the Satan. Remember, when a trial comes, the believers are afflicted by it, but then Allah uses this situation to ameliorate the future of those who were deemed culprits in His eyes. He uses such situation to better the future of those people’s faith and make them realise their mistakes and sins and to leave behind all negativity to embrace positivity in life. This is because Islam is all about positivity. The Ummah will thrive when all Muslims will cease to look down his brethrens and sisters and to join together for one same purpose – and that purpose is not meant to crush other groups of believers, but to reunite to establish the unicity of Allah in the world and to guide the people to Him alone. Islam is all about giving and sharing, giving love and sharing love.

 

Change others through High morals

Our noble prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) was the perfect model on that level. His kindness won many hearts. Men, women and children were transformed. Their spirituality blossomed. Why then, when Allah is offering you all Heavens on a platter today, why do you shun and turn on your backs? Why do brothers and brothers are fighting? Why is there backbiting? Why is one Muslim trampling the honour and dignity of his brother? Indeed a believer is a mirror for another believer (Muslim). If a believer a doing something wrong, then his other Muslim brother should show him his mistakes quietly just like a mirror with no public taunting and dishonour. If the brother understands that he has made a mistake and reforms himself, that indeed will be good for him, otherwise, it is Allah Himself who will deal with such a person, removing him from His fold, from the party of Allah [Hizb’ Allah].


Be watchful of your trusts

Be it one person, or the whole Ummah, Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) used to be very worried to everything which relates to his followers. He prayed for them day and night to remain on the right path, and that they may not be tempted by the devil and always be true to the trusts which Allah has entrusted them. In this respect for a man, his trust is his faith in Allah and His Messengers and all tenets of Islam, as well as his duties to his family and to himself in that which he must keep himself pure in thoughts and actions. Such believers who strive to keep themselves pure in thoughts and actions and who ultimately succeed through their remaining glued to the door of Allah, begging Him constantly for His salvation, it is them the winners. These people are the ones whom Allah looks upon with mercy and transform their lives in such a way as if they are born once again, being pure in their thoughts and actions. It is as if their minds have been erased of everything evil and only good things can now be imprinted in their minds for a better future, in this life and the hereafter. 

So, Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) is that Rahmatul-lil-Aalameen [blessing for all the worlds] who succeeded in transforming the hearts and animalistic state of his people into that of people of faith who were ever ready to sacrifice their lives for Allah and His Prophet.


Become models of good behaviour

So, the Deen of Islam seeks those devotees who are ready to leave behind their past tragic lives in sins and regrets and to turn into models of virtue to invite the world to Allah. Allah blesses the hearts of those who despite committing sins and mistakes, they recognise their errors and strive to transform their lives for the best. This is what progress in spiritual matters involves, when a believer or even a disbeliever acquires belief and faith in the true Deen of Allah and strive to perfect himself in Islam through excellent behaviour to help the cause of Allah. Indeed good behaviour begets great rewards. Good behaviour makes others get attracted to you, and when they are attracted to you, they are attracted to Islam; they are attracted to what Islam stands for because you are implementing what Islam should stand for through your good behaviour. But if the believer turns away from the commandments of Allah, Satan will befriend him and lead him away from the right path. At that moment, he loses the blessings of Allah upon him. 


So, my disciples in the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam and all Muslims of the Muhammadan Ummah, you must never forget your duties to Allah and to Islam. Islam should be your aim, that is, an everlasting submission to Allah and spreading peace and understanding among all peers and groups in your surroundings. Islam should be inculcated and implemented in your daily lives. Only then, will this Islam effect be reflected in one and all, like a prism reflecting the rays of light in different ways. All believers are indeed not alike, but all are believers and you must all strive to elevate yourselves in the sight of Allah to the nearest degree of His satisfaction and pleasure. 

This is the evolution which you all must strive for so that you become the perfect Ummah of the perfect and seal of all prophets, Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh).

 

Behind the spiritual transformation in early Islam

If the Sahaba Karaam [blessed companions] of the Holy Prophet of Islam (pbuh) were able to do it, albeit after many trials and reprimands from Allah, yet many of them succeeded in attaining the stages of divine pleasure. They were ready to give their lives for Allah and His Prophet and the pure religion of Allah, i.e. Islam. They were completely at another level of spirituality when they let go of their carnal desires to focus on Allah and His Prophet and to bring about a true and pious spiritual revolution in Arabia and consequently in the world.  

This is what faith calls for. It calls for your devotion. It calls for your love for the One True God Who has no partner whatsoever in His worship. It calls for sacrifice. It calls for mercy. It calls for unity and brotherhood. It calls for humanity, to be humane and true to your fellow human beings. It calls for equality, fairness and justice. It calls for righteousness. The love you will get in return from Allah is worth it, if only you knew. Those who understand the real purpose of Islam are those who shall march towards its fulfilment. As for those who are bereft of understanding, they lose all blessings. The essence of faith should be always present. All sadness should be transformed into happiness. When you do something for the cause of Allah, this develops happiness in your hearts. This work for the cause of Allah will bring about much happiness.

 

Becoming Ummat-e-Wahida

Don’t think that happiness is this world and what it can bring you. No! Happiness is when you give of what you have to this world so that you may be admitted in the mercy and pleasure of Allah. If the Ummah of our noble prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) realises this today, it will go from progress to progress. But all Muslims SHOULD think themselves in terms of one brotherhood. This is what UMMAH stands for. You should all be one. We should be one. ONE UMMAH (UMMAT-E-WAHIDA). This is the real purpose of the Ummat-e-Muhammadiyya, to make all humanity realise that they all belong to one same community, one same class, one same caste, and that is, the Community of Allah, the Ummah of Allah, the people of Allah, the Unique God. 

This is not the time to fight and launch bombs and viruses on one another. This is the time for you all to be annihilated in Allah. You should lose yourselves in Allah so that you may be able to submit to His will willingly and derive pleasure from this submission. This is not the time to blame one another, to throw dirt on one another. It is the time for repentance and forgiveness; it is the time to Arise and Create a New World, a spiritual world. This spiritual revolution can come in many ways depending on your contributions towards the success of the true faith in this world. 

Those who help the cause of Allah with every fibre of their beings, they are the fortunate ones. Angels will descend on them and bless them and they will be able to guide the world because they strive to repel evil with goodness. They strive to see good, do good and spread joy everywhere they go. They are the rays of divine light and hope in the world. 

Islam is all about hope, about forgiving and striving to be better. The Khalifatullah has come in this world to give you that essence of Islam so that Islam does not become a burden on you, but rather it makes you fly with the wings of divine love. If you embrace Islam truly and completely, you are the ones who will conquer this world. You will be the true rulers. But if greed, arrogance and all kinds of evils take away the breath of Islam from you, it is you who shall be the losers. Strive then to gain the pleasure of Allah, strive to reform yourselves so that you may be able to reform the world around you. You should become truly Muslims before seeking to reform others; otherwise the master will not be able to teach his students anything. 

As for the Khalifatullah, his only Master is Allah and He is ruled by Allah. So, I am here to give you good advice and to enable you to take the right decisions so that you may straighten your Iman and Islam and be truly Muslims in every way.

 

When we think, we should think in terms of one brotherhood. We should be one in Islam and rid every evil which mars our faith. The one who is truly successful is he who overcomes Satan and does not let him have any share in him. His heart, his soul, mind and body come under the ultimate protection of Allah. That is why keeping connection with Allah is highly important. Allah is All Hearing, All Seeing. He knows all and can change a situation for the best.  

This is the prayer of our beloved prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that his Ummah, i.e. us, the Muslims of yesteryears, today and tomorrow can strive to balance pour lives on earth in such a way that Islam is reflected in every prism or state of our lives. The Muslims become good mirrors for one another and continue to do reformation and bring about the greatest spiritual revolution in the world. This will happen when all negativity will be replaced by positivity of mind and soul towards a common goal, to lead all people to Allah in truth and sincerity, with faith and love. 

For this noble work, you all need to remain connected and focus in your mission, and not let Satan break your brotherhood. The Islamic brotherhood should be sacred. Only then will the prayer of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) be realised in that which His Ummah will be safeguarded from the displeasure of Allah and hell and be welcomed in the paradises of the pleasure of Allah, Insha-Allah. Ameen, Summa, Ameen, Ya Rabbul Aalameen.


----Friday Sermon of 10 September 2021~02 Safar 1443 AH delivered by Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius.