Munir Azim Sahib: Years before the Divine Call

[The series of articles on the family and spiritual background of Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib of Mauritius looks at his life before the Divine Call.  The previous instalments in the series were published here at the Sahih Al Islam Blog on October 24 & 26 & on November 03, 2011. While the first two parts detailed the family lineage and provided an account about the righteous parents of the Khalifatullah, the third instalment dealt with the events of his childhood days, especially his Thabligh encounters against the spiritual opponents of Ahmadiyya Islam and his enthusiasm and enterprise in spreading the message of Islam among the people as a young man. 

The current instalment chronicles the services of Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib to the Jamaat of the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as). In his intrinsic quest for rendering services to Islam, he preferred to work with the organizational framework of the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya, rather than pursuing job opportunities elsewhere. It is highly unusual for someone who has not graduated from any Jamia to become a full-pledged missionary of the Jamaat. Yet, Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib went on to serve and become highly effective and successful in his Dawa works in Mauritius and outer Islands so much so that even the Caliph of the day was highly appreciative of his selfless services to the Jamaat. Through out this period, his devotion to the cause of Islam enabled him to transcend the pettiness and decadence he observed and witnessed among the employees of the Jamaat, including hierarchical superiors within the Ahmadiyya establishment. The article further provides extracts from a recent speech - intensely moving, retrospective reflections on those eventful years-by the Khalifatullah].

The Argument of Last Mujaddid

The coming of Prophets and other Elects of Allah for the guidance of mankind is a perennial theme in spiritual history. The Holy Qur’an says that such servants of Allah have always been raised among all communities and every people have had their own divinely-guided souls. “And for every people there is a Messenger” (10:48, 13:08; 16:37). A well known tradition from the Holy Prophet of Islam (sa) indicates that hundreds of thousands of Messengers have passed away before his own advent.   

As the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) was himself a chain in the grand Divine scheme of guided souls leading common people in the path of Allah, he gave the glad tiding of the continuity of divine revelations and the coming of other Elects of Allah in future. That is why the Promised Messiah (as) wrote in his book Izala Auham that the door of coming of Messiahs will remain open and never close. He further said:

“I am the claimer of Promised Messiah, and this is not the only claim of mine, that only I am the one and the last Promised Messiah. Hence, according to me it is possible that after my age (time period) ten thousands (10,000) Promised Messiahs shall come. But for this age (time period) I am the Promised Messiah.”

He then, writes:

 “It is also evident that this view is not mine alone. The ‘mirror images’ of the Massih could be several persons’- This is also not just a personal opinion of mine. This is actually the essence of the great prophetic traditions in this regard. There could be around 30 Dajjals till the Day of Judgement. Thus 30 Dajjals might appear in the world. Based on the prophecy “Li Kulli Dajjalin Isa”, atleast 30 Massihs should come. Due to these descriptions, the other Massihs will make an appearance at some other time. All this is perfectly possible”.   (Izala Auham, pg.197)

Today, Ahmadis have completely moved away from the real spiritual path of Islam which anticipates the coming of Elects of Allah in every age. Forget about 10,000 Massihs or even the comparatively smaller figure 30 Massihs, mentioned by the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as), his own so-said Jamaat has discarded his teachings by the way side. They do not even expect a single Massih to come in their midst now as they feel they have an elected Khilafat system which is designed to last till the Day of Judgement in the fashion of the Christian Khilafat. Already, they have declared the Promised Massih (as) as the Last Mujaddid before the Day of Judgement. Such thinking is in line with the mentality of other peoples of the past who also thought that after their Prophet, no one will come in future!

Mujaddid of the Last Millennium

Ahmadis today believe that Mujaddidiyat or the advent of Divine Reformers appointed directly by Allah the Most High has come to an end with the departure of the Promised Massih (as). They think that there is no scope for any Mujaddid to come in the new century of Islam as Hadhrat Ahmad (as) has claimed to be the Mujaddid of the Last Millennium.

Out of the 91 Books that the Promised Massih (as) is reported to have written in his entire life, his claim of being the Mujaddid of the Last Millennium is mentioned only once, in a lecture delivered on November 02, 1904 at Sialkot. [Left: Title Page of the First Edition]. In Lecture Sialkot, the Promised Massih (as) postulated that the current millennium is the last and final one before the Day of Judgement. He then wrote:

“Since it is the last millennium, it was inevitable that the Imam of the latter days should be born at the turn of this millennium. After him, there is no Imam and no Messiah except the one who comes in his image, for in this millennium the world comes to an end as all the Prophets have testified. This Imam, whom God has designated as the Promised Massih, is the Mujaddid of this century as well as that of the last millennium”     [p. 9, Qadian: Nazarat Nashro Ishaat (2007)] 

Based on this sole statement, Ahmadis today conclude that no Mujaddid will come in the entire Millennium. Those who take a second look at the statement will find:  there is no Imam and no Messiah except the one who comes in his image”.

It means that others can come so long as they are “in his image”. The door for spiritual elevation in subsequent ages is closed only in the case of those who reject the Elect of Allah of the day- the Promised Massih (as) in his era. In other words, Allah will raise the spiritual progeny of the Promised Massih (as) to all the spiritual blessings that are promised in the Holy Qur’an (4:70).  The Promised Massih thus did not come to cancel the great Prophetic tradition about the coming of Mujaddidin in every century. Those who come after him will only confirm his truthfulness, they do not replace him. So while he remains the Mujaddid of the Last Millennium, others will come after him. This is how the Promised Massih (as) himself understood his claim, for he never claimed that Mujaddidin will not come after him.

The Misguiding 'Sathyadoothan' !

Sathyadoothan’ [in Malayalam, it means “True Messenger”] is the Malayalam organ of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Kerala. This venerable journal, established in the early part of the last Century by very distinguished Ahmadi elders, has had an enviable record of enlightening the people of Kerala on the mission and message of the Promised Massih (as) through its elegant articles. Of late, however, unfortunately, the journal is repeatedly drifting away from its high standards, even making blatant errors in the interpretation and understanding of the views of the Promised Massih (as). It is now virtually misleading and misguiding Ahmadis on the most important spiritual issue of the day: the future of Divine Guidance.

In its quest for elevating the status of the current Khilafat arrangement in the Community among its common members, the monthly journal is on a campaign mode:  that Allah cannot and will not raise a Mujaddid in the new century because the current and Fifth Khalifa is Divinely- appointed and guided. It argues that the status of the Khalifa is even above that of Mujaddidin who appeared in every century of Islam. And the institution of Mujaddidiyat is inexplicably dismissed as a mere “temporary phenomenon” that happened to last through the entire Islamic Era. Astonishingly, it put the Khilafat of early Islam (that lasted only 30 years after the death of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) and in spite of its perceived absence for over a millennium from among the Muslims) as the “enduring phenomenon” which made a reappearance after the death of Hadhrat Ahmad (as) with the institutionalization of Khilafat in the Community in 1908.

While dismissing the very need for Mujaddidin in the presence of the “permanent” Ahmadiyya Khilafat, the Journal is cautious enough to acknowledge that prophets can come even in future as the Holy Qur’an keeps the door open for revelation and prophethood through its several verses. It begets a pertinent question: Will the coming Messenger of Allah not be the Mujaddid of his era? Why only the Khulafa elected by men can be raised to these Divine offices as Elects of Allah when the Holy Qur’an offers this possibility of spiritual elevation for ALL righteous believers? 

Even while describing Hadhrat Ahmad (as) as the Mujaddid of the Millennium, the current Khalifa of the Community is on record stating that an Ahmadiyya Khalifa can declare himself as the Mujaddid if and when Allah so informs him through revelation [Friday Sermon of June 10, 2011]. In other words, even the Khalifa does not believe that a Mujaddid will not be raised in future. This is in spite of what his own disciples and scholars of the Jamaat are expressly holding forth in their articles in the Sathyadoothan.   

Divine Signs for the New Massih

In the time of a Messenger of Allah, innumerable signs appear in favour of the Divine Manifestation. Even people who are not prophets might be blessed with divine revelations in favour of the truthfulness of the Messenger. The Holy Qur’an provides an instance: “And remember My favour when I inspired the disciples saying, ‘Believe in Me and My Messenger’, they said, ‘We believe and bear Thou witness that we have submitted’” (5:112). Likewise, the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as) was vouchsafed the following revelation: “People, whom We shall direct through revelation, will assist you” (Brahin-e-Ahmadiyya).

In a speech on June 22, 2011, Hadhrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius shared with the world the revelations received by one of his disciples. Read the extracts from the Speech:

The revelation is for the Prophet of Allah and Allah has instructed the person to tell this message to the Prophet of Allah. When receiving this message, the disciple of the Khalifatullah felt her chest squeezed (and heart beating fast) and she felt anguish physically restricting her from speech. The feeling persist till after Witr prayers, and it was after that her tears were shed silently that she was able to speak. The revelation (originally in Creole) is as thus:

Translation: “O Prophet of Allah (x3)! When you need information, search it with people possessing Taqwa, who have the fear of Allah in their heart, who are pious, who tread on the right path. Be careful!”

Thereafter, Allah makes her understand that there is a verse in Surah Al-Hujarat which therein is the same message. “Be careful! Be very careful! Do not take information here and there. Search it with people possessing Taqwa, who have the fear of Allah in their heart, who are righteous. Look for your information, O Prophet of Allah (x3)…”

Ahmadi Youth on Facebook

In the Friday Sermon of March 11, 2011 Hadhrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius called the attention of the Muslims, especially the Ahmadi youth, to the   moral dilemmas and ethical perils associated with the mindless usage of contemporary social networking sites, including the Facebook. Alarmed with verifiable and recurring reports about the  indulgence of Ahmadi persons in immoral practices over the social networking sites, the Messenger of Allah for our times reminded the current head of the Ahmadiyya Community on his patent and abject failure in reining in the erring members within the fold of his regulatory control and appealed to his better sense and moral consciousness: “...fear Allah O Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, fear Allah and wake up from your long sleep of ignorance before it is too late for you!” 

Read the Extracts from the Friday Sermon:

Since some time we are constantly witnessing the emergence of newer and so-said social networking which is to connect people all round the world with colleagues, friends, family etc. Facebook, being the major e-company to have the larger part of the social networking market has over 500 million people connected to it. Created in 2004, it has over the years become so popular that now all and sundry have access to it, and instead of doing good use of such internet and communication facilities, people are more and more sharing such vital information and personal photos, including intimate and even indecent ones which makes a fracas to morality and decency and it questions the purpose of religion and the responsibility of religious leaders to bar such en masse decadence.

It is a pity that the Ahmadiyya youths have fallen prey to such attractions, and it is even more a pity that their caliph cannot make them leave these sites and concentrate on more religious matters. As a matter of fact, religious matters have become secondary, while mundane attractions, such as chatting, involving oneself in illicit relationships, through public chats with Non-Mahram women and men; all these are the truth which have unfortunately seized the once pure Jamaat of the Promised Messiah (on him be peace) and the Muslim Community as a whole. The decadence of the Ahmadi people is ever on the front.

Whither Kerala Ahmadis?

The news is spreading like wildfire in Kerala. That Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius is a recipient of divine revelations and that his teachings and instructions are well within the guidance of the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as). In spite of the Jamaat establishment doing all that it could to nip this message in the bud, Allah has elevated him as a Messenger of His in this age and his mission is thriving and progressing by leaps and bounds.The institutionalization of Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam in Kerala has sent shockwaves down the spine of the Kerala Ahmadiyya establishment. For the Ahmadiyya establishment is wary of  and worried about the powerful sway of truth and its ability to swing the general Ahmadi opinion on the matter. 

To tackle the new ‘threat’, the establishment is adopting a comprehensive strategy: misguide people through all methods possible! Thus, the Maulanas are continuously writing in their official magazines that Allah shall never send an Elect of His in future and that the Ahmadiyya Khilafat is the permanent divine institution for all time to come.

Secondly, the Maulanas are spreading false information about the new Massih and his disciples in Kerala. In spite of claiming to belong to the Jamaat of the Promised Massih (as), they have no qualms about indulging in such cheap tactics. After the Kerala disciples of Hadhrat Sahib organized their first public meeting recently to explain their mission, and the programme became a huge success with all sorts of groups showing interest on the message, the Ahmadi Maulvis went to town telling common Ahmadis that the disciples of the new  Massih were working in collaboration with the worst enemies of the Jamaat!

The Legacy of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya

Every Ahmadi believes that the Promised Massih (as) came with a Divine Mission to restore the teachings of Sahih Al Islam. And the Ahmadiyya Khilafat was instituted with the objective of taking the message of the Promised Massih (as) to the whole world. After the first Khilafat, what began as a tussle over the doctrinal interpretations culminated into differences over the form of leadership- Anjuman versus Khilafat. Inevitably, there was a split in the Community, leading to the separation of ways of the disciples of the Promised Massih (as) and the formation of two groups.

The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement (LAM) under the Imaarat of Maulvi Muhammad Ali Sahib (ra) identified itself more closely with the mainstream Islamic world, hoping to dilute and bridge the doctrinal claims of the Promised Massih (as) so to find accommodation and acceptance within the prevailing Muslim orthodoxy and its standards of legitimacy. Thus, they emphasised the Mujaddid claims of the Promised Massih (as) and explained away the concept of his being an “Ummati Nabi” and declared that no prophet whatsoever can ever come after the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa).

'Prophets will Come': Musleh Maoud

One of the basic convictions of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the belief in the continuity of revelations and the advent of Divine Reformers till the Day of Judgement. The Jamaat has been vigorously proclaiming for more than hundred years that, according to the Holy Qur’an and Hadith, prophethood continues after the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) and prophets will always be arising among Muslims.

Yet, today the same Community is rejecting a Messenger of Allah when he has made an appearance! They believe that the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as) is the Last Prophet and that after him there is only their man-elected Khilafat system till the Day of Judgement!! 

In his book Anwar-e-Khilafat, published in 1916, Hadhrat Mirza Basheeruddin Mahmud Ahmad (ra) argued as follows against those who believe in the finality of prophethood: 

“Likewise they say that however much a person may advance in virtue and goodness...but God will never make him prophet, never raise him to that dignity. Their thinking thus is due to not assigning to Allah the attributes due to Him; otherwise, to say nothing of one prophet, I say there shall be thousands of prophets…They question the prophethood of the Promised Massih, but I say, even now there can be a prophet”. [p.62; p.124 of the online edition]

I ask, Is prophethood a mercy or a curse? If it is a mercy, then why has it come to an end after the Holy Prophet Muhammad? It should have increased all the more after him. He was a prophet of a very great status. Therefore a prophet comes after him must also be of a great status, not that no one could at all become a prophet”. [p. 64; p.126 of the online edition]

Even if someone placed a sword on my neck and told me to say that no prophet can come after the Holy Prophet, I would say to him: you are a liar, a great liar, Prophets can come after the Holy Prophet, most certainly they can”. [p.65; p.127 of the online edition] 

 
Online edition of Anwar-e-Khilafat is available at the Al Islam website. For the link, click here. 

Solemn Prayers for the Light of Guidance

Allah, the Most High has always been sending His Messengers. It is entirely under Allah’s discretion where and when to raise a Messenger of His and no creature of the earth can interfere with this Divine Decree. Common Ahmadis would willingly sacrifice their lives to hold onto this belief. Yet today, they are not being allowed by their leaders and scholars to consider that Allah can speak to an Ahmadi Muslim and raise him as a Messenger of His in the new century of Ahmadiyyat, to lead them in the path of Divine Love. Worse still, as is to be expected in the time of an Elect of Allah, the religious leadership had the audacity to boycott the new Messenger of Allah by expelling him from the Nizam-e- Jamaat. Yet, Allah, the Most High did not discard His servant and in fact, raised his spiritual status and elevated him with his own Jamaat. The Holy Qur’an says: “Thy Lord has not forsaken you, nor is He displeased with you. Surely every hour that follows is better for you than the one that precedes. And your Lord will give you and you will be well pleased” [93:4-6]. 

Even as the Jamaat of the new Massih is progressing by leaps and bounds, the villains who conspired to harm the Massih is biting the dust: The scheming National Amir of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat in Mauritius, Amin Jawahir, who played the lead role in the expulsion episode was disgraced recently by his own Khalifa on charges no less serious than corruption and maladministration!  Would someone who abused his position and privilege to persecute God’s Messenger have a fate other than humiliation and loss of face among his own people?   

In a message to world Ahmadis in 2008, Hadhrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib invited them to consider his Divine Mission and asserted that anyone who considered his claims with purity of heart and nobility of intentions and sought the light of guidance from Allah will definitely receive signs in favour of the Divine Manifestation and recommended that they follow the advice rendered by the Promised Massih (as) in this regard. 

Read the extracts: 

“Today by Allah's Grace, I take Allah as witness to say that I am one of those persons who speak with the Holy Spirit ( rouhil qouddous ). It is indeed a great proof in favour of Hazrat Massih Maoud as that Allah has raised someone in his Jamaat to guide people towards him. In fact the spiritual heritage of Hazrat Massih Maoud (as) has been bequeathed to us. However, as at today the physical heritage is in the hands of others. Now it is up to you to see of which heritage you want to partake. The caliphs are the administrators of the Jamaat after the departure of a prophet until Allah sends someone else. Listen well my brothers and sisters, I swear that there are no lies in what I say and I do not have any ulterior motive.

Khalifatullah as a Laila-tul-Qadr

In his book “Victory of Islam”, the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as) specifically linked the coming of a Khalifatullah in every century with the spiritual concept of Laila-tul Qadr. He clearly stated that the Khalifatullah appears to rouse people to spiritual consciousness and that angels descent with him- through revelations, they enable him to provide a living testimonial to the vitality of Islam in every age. In his Friday Sermon of June 03, 2011, the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius explained this important point from the blessed writings of the Promised Massih (as).

Read the extracts from the Friday Sermon:

“By the grace of Allah, one of my sincere disciples called my attention on the fact that the Promised Messiah (as) draw the people’s attention to the coming of a Khalifatullah, especially when he speaks about the period of a Khalifatullah as a Laila-tul-Qadr (Night of Decree, of blessings) and that when the Caliph of Allah comes down to earth, he comes down accompanied with the light of Allah which thereafter the sincere people who surrounds the Khalifatullah receive.

By the grace of Allah, the Promised Messiah (as) has in other others say he has come to earth in the mantle of a Khalifatullah, but that which is much more surprising is that he has already said that not only in his time there shall be one (a Khalifatullah), but this Khalifatullah shall come in confirmation of his (the Promised Messiah’s) truthfulness. It is this Khalifatullah who shall come in conformity with his words and he shall come in confirmation of his truth like the Promised Messiah (as) came in confirmation of the prophecy of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa), where the Prophet of Allah (sa) said (while putting his hand on the shoulders of Salman Farsi) that when faith shall go to the Pleiades, then there shall come someone from Persian descent shall bring it back.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (1835-1908)

By most accounts, the second half of the Nineteenth Century was a period of transition, with the industrial revolution in Europe driving the need for capturing markets abroad and thus, most parts of the world coming under colonial subjugation at the hands of the new European empires. Even as material riches increased on a global scale, the decline and fall of religious mores and spiritual values was staring mankind in the face.

It seemed as though there existed a direct correlation between scientific creativity and atheistic/ agnostic tendencies in society where religion was seen as meaningless ritual hindering mankind from its secular progress. It was also a time characterized by the decline and fall of the Great Muslim powers in Asia and Europe and general spiritual stagnation in the Islamic world.

The spiritual shine and intellectual appeal of Islam came under relentless attack at the hands of an ascendant Christianity, glittering with the zeal of the missionaries and the material power of the European empires.

Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (1835-1908) rose on the religious horizon at this great moment in world history in defense of true spirituality and ethical belief in the Unity of God. He argued that true spirituality has deserted all religions because of the bad innovations introduced by misguided adherents who gave a golden opportunity to unscrupulous enemies of religion to mount a scathing attack on real religious practices and thus put the fort of true spirituality under siege.