The Attributes of Allah- IV

By the grace of Allah I continue after a month (4 weeks) the 4th part of my Friday Sermon on the attributes of Allah. As I told you, Allah has no need to lie. He Himself is Malik, Rahman and Rahim. He is also Al-Haqq. He made the truth clear when people use tricks and all kinds of illusions to deceive people. We have this clearly in the example of Hazrat Musa (as).

So when we read the Holy Quran, it also mentions the example of Hazrat Dawud (as). Allah (swt) says that two people climbed the walls and entered the castle of Hazrat Dawud (as) and they said to him: O Dawud, do not be afraid; don’t think we are thieves or burglars; it won’t do you any good to make noises. In fact, we came to present a case [a concern] to you. I have a ewe, but he (my friend present here) has 99. He tells me to give him my eve, so that will make a number of 100 (i.e. 100 ewes). But I told him I only have one and I can’t give it to you. So tell us what to do.

So Hazrat Dawud (as) gave his judgment, but immediately after he turned to Allah (swt) in prostration and thought that Allah was in fact testing him. Allah certainly tested him and warned him against greediness to acquire small kingdoms to add to his own kingdom. Allah (swt) made him understand that he should not put pressure on the kingdoms that were nearby (in the vicinity), to be careful not to commit excesses.

The Attributes of Allah- III

By the grace of Allah I continue my 3^rd part of the Friday Sermon on the attributes of Allah and it is only Allah (swt) Who can give me the grace, the opportunity and the knowledge to elaborate this subject in depth. Without His help and His divine grace it will not be possible for me, weak creature that I am to speak on such an important subject. And this subject is important in the lives of all believers so that they know Allah (swt) through His attributes, and we must make it our duty to read His attributes every day [especially in these difficult times that we are living today]. Insha-Allah.

I continue the subject where someone lies to receive praise, to accomplish his greed, to receive honour, greatness, and grab property that does not belong to him. He does nothing to get it all; he does not work hard to earn it all honestly, but he acts dishonestly, and lies in order to steal the property of his neighbour or brother or the property of his sister. He is greedy; he likes that he alone wins all that and so, in order to reach to this end, he tricks his brothers or sisters, and makes them sign documents to grab their wealth and then he turns his back on them and pushes them away in order to enjoy alone these riches.

If we look at the example that the Qur’an gives us, we will find that there are people who lie and use flattery to gain praise because of greed and you see these situations also in religion. 

The Attributes of Allah- II

By the grace of Allah, last week I started my sermon on the attributes of Allah and I thank Allah (swt) very much for giving me the Tawfiq to continue on the same subject today too. When you follow last Friday’s Sermon, you will understand better that in concrete terms there is no mention of Allah as Haqq, but in fact when you analyze His attributes, but then the truth is included. From the point of view of praise, one cannot even conceive a lie about Allah and from Allah [in connection to Allah].

The second reason that people lie a lot is because of greed. There are a lot of lawsuits going on [in court] regarding wealth and property matters or loan and repayment cases, debt cases etc. Much of this business is the result of the lies that people tell due to their greed.

Let’s [now] look at country level. You see that because of the thirst for power, because of a greed for power, politicians make all kinds of promises in order to come to power, and in this quest, there are a lot of lies going on during the electoral campaign, where one party criticizes the other party, throws mud on it [i.e. dishonouring] it [and all people involved in it], and makes all kinds of shenanigans where very often there are even elections which are held in a country where there are mischief and frauds and all this opens the way for a fight and disorder: the political parties throw mud on their opponents, they make such electoral campaigns where they meet the other parties and watch them carefully lest their opponents come to power. In this quest for power, there are promises made with the electorate, and there are also many lies that are spoken. All this is the result of greed, the desire to grab power, to stay in power, to have fun [with the people’s money] as we say and in all this it is the people who still suffer a lot during the five years [to come] when these politicians deceive people, and lie to them because of their greed.

Now a Being Who owns everything and Who does not depend on anyone and Who, on the contrary, everyone depends on Him, so what is the use for Him to lie? He is already the Master of the universe and therefore the very aspect/ notion of greed is completely removed.

The Attributes of Allah

Alhamdulillah, like I told you last week I shall deliver a series of sermons on the attributes of Allah. Before starting to prepare this sermon several weeks before, like usual I pray to Allah for guidance and Allah at once made me understand that I should talk a bit on His attributes and this is indeed a divine grace that each time when Friday comes and I have to deliver the sermon (Khutba Jumu’ah), Allah (swt) guides me on a particular subject. All these of manifestations and signs of Allah and show how Allah directs His Chosen Servant. Alhamdulillah.

So, as per what Allah (swt) has made me understand, and maybe before my time also, Allah may have guided His other prophets, His chosen ones and showed them the same explanations. That is why we say that the Messengers of Allah are like a chain, whereby each link is attached to another link and all links form a chain, and to enhance that chain, to make it more beautiful and attractive, and to give it its real value and splendour, a medallion is needed. So, without the medallion, the chain does not have its true value and it loses all its splendour. So all of us prophets of Allah are one family who speak the same word, revive the true value of each prophet that Allah (swt) sent to earth and all prophets [indeed] revive the true value of each prophet that Allah (swt) sent to earth and all the prophets, we all gather behind our chief master. And the chief master of all prophets is Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh).

This is why with his coming and before also, the prophets who came before him had praised him and prophesied about his coming, so that we know his value and greatness, whereby his advent encompasses all the divine teachings which were brought or existed before through the prophets (as) before him. That’s why the Quran told us that Hazrat Muhammad (saws) is the Rahmat-ul-lil-Aalameen; a blessing for all the universe, for all people and his message and the religion he brought are for all of humanity. And to give true value to this medallion whereby all the time it will remain shiny, pretty, attractive, then every time there is a need for someone who comes from Allah to revive His pure and truthful teachings whereby there is no innovation; such teachings which shall lead [the people] directly to one God and win His love.

“AL HAQ”- A Divine Attribute

The essence of pure belief is captured in the concept of Taqwah or God- consciousness. When one attains a stage of certainty of faith and establishes a true and real bond with the Truthful Being, it invariably leads to changes in a person- in one’s perceptions and priorities, both internally and externally. Such a person shall be able to walk under the shadow of Divine Help. The special Light or guiding force takes care of all his/her/their spiritual and material affairs in ways that will baffle and confound the mundane world. When a community of such believers straddle the earth, the spiritual light it emanates will illumine the world, conquering the darkness of disbelief and forces of evil. Such a community, howsoever small or insignificant in numbers or material riches it might appear, eventually vanquish their apparently ‘superior’ enemies in the battle of progress and endurance.

The universality of this spiritual principle is a recurring theme in the lived history of Divine Messengers and their spiritual communities. The most important testimonial of its practical application is available to us from the times of the Holy Prophet of Islam (sa) when the early believers have had to literally confront, far superior armies on the battlefields. It is the readiness to struggle and sacrifice, make efforts and change destinies that characterizes and distinguishes a believer from others. Through grit, determination and a sense of pure belief, the small band of believers go on with their tasks and missions, achieving what are, otherwise, apparently formidable and un-achievable. 

At another level, the principle is a profound commentary on the subtle ways of the Truthful God, AL HAQ. In his Friday Sermon of 08 February 2013, the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius provides a profound commentary on the Divine Attribute of Al Haq and exhorts the believers - Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam- who have the Divine mandate to re-establish the faith in this age to take heart from the theory and praxis of this important spiritual principle in their every day lives.

Read the Extracts from the Friday Sermon:

“And say, ‘Truth has come, and falsehood has departed. Indeed is falsehood, ever bound to depart.’” (17: 82)