I am the 'Mahdi' of this Era

  

On the 'Mahdi'

Today, we come on a most controversial subject, even among Muslims, and that is the advent of the Mahdi. Both the second advent of the Messiah, as well as the Mahdi of the Last Days represent each a prophecy in itself, such a prophecy which links the both of them: Messiah and Mahdi.

Bear in mind that “Mahdi” is derived from the word, “Haadi”, which means “to guide” and “Massih” means “the Anointed One”. Now, the term “anointed” refers to the ritual act of pouring or rubbing oil on a person as a sign of sanctification. In a broader sense, it signifies being chosen or set apart for a special purpose or role. We use “anointed” not just for prophets but for kings as well when they are chosen to rule over their kingdom.

 

When we study the information on Mahdi, we notice that he is not directly and clearly mentioned in the Holy Quran as well as the two most authentic Books of Hadiths in Islam, i.e. Sahih Al-Bukhari and Muslim. There are many narrations on Mahdi, the larger part of them being qualified as weak (Da’if) or not so authentic by the Muslim Ummah. But then, if Mahdi is not plainly mentioned in Quran and both Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim have avoided mentioning him in their respective Sahihs, how then to be sure that one Hadith which the Muslim Ummah regards as weak (Da’if) can actually be powerfully true and be fulfilled in this era?

Zionist Wars and the Awaited Messiah

 

The Signs of Qiyamah- 2

'But man desires to persist in his evil ways. He asks, “When will be this Day of Resurrection?” When eyes are dazzled and the moon is buried in darkness, and the sun and the moon are joined together, on that day man will say, “Where to escape?” Alas! There will be no refuge.' (Al-Qiyamah, 75: 6-12)

Humanity is in danger. Islam is in danger. Muslims are in danger. Innocents are in danger. A global community that preserves modesty and faith in one God is being beaten, crushed, and killed in extremist Zionist wars. As I mentioned last Friday, the Jews are doing all this to hasten the arrival of their Messiah, while the Christian world watches this disaster without taking real action, merely talking, condemning, and not taking steps to stop the bloodshed of innocents in Palestine and Lebanon, where over 2400 people have died since last year. These attacks on Lebanon are not just from last year or this year; they date back to 1978. This is what true terrorism looks like! 

Family Duties of the Muslim

  

‘All of you are guardians and all of you are responsible for your subjects. A man is the guardian in his home and responsible for his wards and a woman in her home is a guardian and responsible for her wards.’ ---Prophet Muhammad (sa) [Reported by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih, Chapter: Friday prayer in villages and towns, 1/248-249: Hadith 893].

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‘Indeed Allah will question everyone who is responsible about his charge, whether kept or lost.’ [Reported by Al-Tirmidhi in his Sunan, Book of Jihad, Chapter: Regarding the imam, 4/208, on the authority of Anas ibn Malik]. 

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'Preach Islam through Good Deeds'

 

The Duahs of the Holy Prophet ^(sa) & The Promise of Allah- Part 5

'O you who believe! Remember Allah with much remembrance. And glorify Him morning and evening. It is He Who blesses you, as do His angels, to get you out of darkness into light, and He has always been Merciful to the believers. Their greeting on the Day they meet Him will be, “Peace!” And He has prepared for them an honourable reward. O Prophet, We have sent you as a Witness and a Bearer of glad tidings and a Warner, as one who calls people to Allah by His leave, and as a light-giving lamp. Give good news to the believers that they will have a great bounty from Allah. Do not obey the disbelievers and the hypocrites. Overlook their annoyances, and put your trust in Allah. For Allah is sufficient to take care of all matters.'  (Surah Al-Ahzab 33: 42-49)

Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah, I am continuing the fifth part of my Friday sermon concerning the invocations of our beloved Prophet and the promises that Allah has made to us through him.

‘You Are Not A Muslim’

  

Sufyan Bin Abdullah related, “I said to the Messenger of Allah, ‘Tell me a statement on Islam such that I need ask no one else but you about it’. He told me, ‘Say, ‘I believe in God,’ and be upright.’ ”  

‘One who observes the same prayer as we do, faces the same direction in prayer as we do, and partakes from the animal slaughtered by us, then such a one is a Muslim concerning whom there is a Covenant of Allah and His Messenger: so you must not seek to hoodwink Allah in the matter of this Covenant.’  

'A believer is still within the scope of his religion as long as he does not shed forbidden blood....If anyone curses a believer, that is like murdering him; and if anyone accuses a believer of disbelief, that is like murdering him...A slanderer will not enter the Garden of Paradise’. 

 

‘People, We created you all from male and female, and made you into races and tribes so that you should get to know one another [like relatives from the same origin]. In God’s eyes, the most honoured of you are the ones most mindful of Him: God is all knowing, all aware’. (Holy Qur'an, 49: 14)

Signs of True Muslims

 

Tarbiyyat Lessons- 21

Islamic teachings empower individuals in their everyday lives. Divine commands in the Holy Qur’an guide our souls and minds to distinguish between what is right and wrong so as to truly prosper through a God-centric life of pure devotion, clean habits, justice-orientation, and spirit of kinship and service to all humanity. If we hold true Faith and sincere allegiance to the Way of Life practiced by the Holy Prophet of Islam (sa), it will enable us to form personal habits and preferences that will reflect the true wisdom of the same values he preached. When we embrace Islam in our inner temperament and behaviour, we will be intuitively guided to good deeds and productive habits; we will also move away from frivolity and wastage and bad habits, and truly prioritize that which will benefit the individual person, her family and friends and the society at large, both in this world and in the world to come, Insha Allah.

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‘The servants of the Lord of Mercy are those who walk humbly on the earth, and who, when the foolish address them, reply, ‘Peace’; those who spend the night bowed down or standing, worshipping their Lord, who plead, ‘Our Lord, turn away from us the suffering of Hell, for it is a dreadful torment to suffer! It is an evil home, a foul resting place!’

 

They are those who are neither wasteful nor niggardly when they spend, but keep to a just balance; those who never invoke any other deity beside God, nor take a life, which God has made sacred, except in the pursuit of justice, nor commit adultery.

The End of Israeli Excesses

 

In his Friday Sermon of 19 April 2024, Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius reflects profoundly on the state of the world from a spiritual perspective. No people have a permanent monopoly over divine favours by virtue of their special claims of pious ancestry from God's prophets and messengers. Divine blessings and favours on particular communities are crucially depend upon their good conduct and sincerity of purpose vis-a-vis Divine commands, including prohibitions. When a people deviate from the right path by ignoring ethical standards and moral considerations in their affairs, and thereby commit excesses in the land in pursuit of dominance without any limits, the rejection of God of these sinful ones will reflect in their great fall, and the rise of another people in their place in the new cycle of history.  Hazrat Saheb (aba) illustrates these vital spiritual themes with reference to the delusions and excesses of the extremist Zionist-entities in the ancient land of Palestine/Israel today. 

Read the Extracts from the Sermon Below:       

'Today, the Muslim world is suffering terribly. Muslims around the world are no longer united like before during the lifetime of our beloved Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). Today everyone prefers to protect their own skin and enrich themselves from the deaths of innocent people. So-called Muslim countries are “Muslim countries” in name only and each strives to please the International Islamophobic Community to exclude thousands of innocent people from their action plans. These plans which were to be for the construction and propagation of Islam throughout the world, are today reduced to a competition to enrich themselves and arm themselves with bombs and other weapons of attack in order to blackmail other countries in the race for power and wealth.

The call of Allah and His prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has no effect on them. Hearts are closed to mercy and compassion. For example, it has been almost 77 years since Israel was declared an independent state following a UN vote on the partition of Palestine. And since then, it has become a major power in the Middle East.

 

Israel has fought around fifteen wars against the Palestinians, including the so-called “Six Days” War in June 1967, which resulted in the occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, as well as the Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai. Israel then unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem, then the Golan, decisions denounced by the international community. Today Israel is seeking by all means to monopolize a country, a state that is ultimately not its own. The Jews who came to Palestine seeking refuge for the first time decades ago aimed to take Palestine and exterminate the Muslims of Palestine. After receiving socio-political and military aid from the United States of America, as well as the UN, extremist Jews who dream of an “Aliyah” (emigration to the Promised Land) renounced their own humanity to ransack the lands and houses and other properties of Muslims and take them into their possession. But this Promised Land is promised to the true believers of Abraham and all the prophets of his [biological and spiritual] lineage. If Jews deviate from the divine teachings, then no promise is attached with them. On the contrary, this promise is for those who truly submit to the will of God, the Most High. From the line of Abraham was born Ishmael (as), his eldest son, and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

 

It is clear that the true religion of all the prophets of God [Allah], the One, is Islam [Complete and peaceful submission and obedience to Allah the One]. All the prophets of Allah since the creation of the Universe have been monotheists. It is the only religion or way of life that is acceptable to God. Those who turn away from this truth find themselves deprived of these blessings. Unfortunately, the followers of the Israelite prophets (derived from Israel – the prophet Jacob [Yaqub]) had let go of the Rope of Allah, namely, His commandments including His prohibitions, and they only followed their own imagination and neglected the recommendations of prophets like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. They were an ungrateful people as Allah describes them to us in the Holy Quran.

 

So, with the delusion that this Promised Land was still theirs, extremist Jews sought by all means to gain access to Palestine to claim this Land as their own. But Allah has another plan. The religious sites where His memory is celebrated, He will certainly protect, and all those who protect these sites with courage, faith and hope in His mercy will be greatly rewarded in the afterlife. The trials accumulate but this does not mean that Allah has abandoned His followers. He certainly tests them and uses them as models – models of patience and virtue – to the world.

 

Intruders and oppressors will certainly be punished. There is a set time for everything. The decree of Allah is like this.

 

Today we see people, peoples who never stop fighting among themselves - Two brother nations. Here we have the image of good and evil, of God and Satan. Those who want to grab land and wealth just to enrich themselves, and use the “Aliyah” as an excuse to trash Muslims and storm the world, well, let me tell you, their time is now counted. Soon Allah will swallow them up in the earth like the rebellious people of old who disobeyed the prophets.

 

The Muslim countries – so-called Muslim countries – but which help the oppressors of Muslims to win wars for their own profits; well these are traitors in the eyes of Allah. Let us remember the peace treaties that were signed with Arab countries neighbouring Israel: Egypt in 1979, under the terms of which this country recovered the Sinai in 1982, and Jordan in 1994. Israel is considered the first military power in the Middle East and the only one in the region to possess nuclear weapons. Since its illegal establishment in Palestine, Israel has received nearly US$300 billion from the United States.

 

Israel continued to occupy the West Bank but unilaterally evacuated the Gaza Strip in 2005, controlled since 2007 by the Islamist movement Hamas. Around 450,000 Israeli settlers live in civilian settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law. Israel faced two uprisings (intifada) by Palestinians in the occupied territories in 1987 and then in 2000. The first concluded with the signing in 1993 in Washington of the Oslo Accords with the PLO on autonomy in the territories.

 

From the start of the war in Syria in 2011, Israel was careful not to be drawn into the conflict, but it campaigned against the presence of Hezbollah and Iran, which intervened alongside the Bashar al-Assad regime, and had accused Tehran of wanting to establish itself militarily in Syria with a view to threatening its security.

 

It had struck, especially from January 2017, “thousands of Iranian and Hezbollah targets,” according to a former Israeli chief of staff. Former American President Donald Trump had then adopted a policy of unwavering support for Israel since taking office, breaking with decades of American diplomacy in the Middle East.

 

In December 2017, he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, provoking the anger of the Palestinians and the disapproval of the international community. On 25^th of March 2019, he signed the decree officially recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

 

The country is governed by fundamental laws which act as a constitution and are voted on in parliament. In 2018, parliament adopted a law defining the country as “the nation-state of the Jewish people”. The law, which gives Jews the “unique” right to self-determination in Israel, was denounced as “discrimination” in particular by the opposition and the large Israeli Arab community.

 

We see here that despite the disapproval of the international community, nothing is concretely done to restore their rights to the Palestinians, to Palestine. Muslims are consciously crushed, mutilated and killed so that the Muslim generation dies out in Palestine, where they are forced to leave their land and thus the Jewish, Israeli oppressors will take over Palestine as a whole.

 

But fortunately the Israeli Arabs who are the descendants of the Palestinians who remained on their land after the creation of Israel support the Palestinian cause.

 

May Allah come to the aid of Muslims and protect their sacred places and destroy the power-hungry thieves and tyrants who steal land solely because of their thirst for power and money. Jews believe that they are still the beloved servants of Allah, but they lost this status when they let go of Allah’s rope and associated others with Allah. They broke pure monotheism and Christians also followed suit. Today, Muslims, true Muslims who are monotheists and who have not yet fallen into the trap of the West, it is they, it is we who are the true heirs of the prophets of old, and the day will most certainly come when Allah will give us our rights. The truth must prevail, Insha-Allah. Just as the world witnessed the end of Ariel Sharon and the dictators and oppressors of Muslims, the world will witness the end of Israel, and of the leaders who govern that state, and of all those who aid and support it. Insha-Allah, Ameen.

Ramadan 2024: Public Message

 

Ramadan, Layla-tul-Qadr & Eid-ul-Fitr: 

The Blessings of A Lifetime

Muslims all round the world are commanded by God Almighty to fast the month of Ramadan. Ramadan is such a blessed month wherein the very first verses of the Holy Quran – the Holy words of Allah – were revealed to Muhammad (pbuh) through the Chief of all angels, Jibreel (Gabriel). Those first revelations have the power even today to make the true believer tremble with awe and love. Its very evocation brings about solace and happiness for the believer at the divine boon received in that blessed moment in time.

Twenty-nine or thirty days of blessings: yet, those days hold therein a concealed night, wrapped in the mystery of divine knowledge, to deliver to those who successfully attain and receive it, the blessings of a lifetime. The Night of Decree (Layla-tul-Qadr) as this night is called is like the most precious of pearls, more precious than any treasure in this world. It is the gateway to such divine blessings which can erase a sincere person’s sins and make him pure like a newborn babe.

'Tawheed' & 'Shirk'

 

'And hold firmly to the rope of Allah and do not be divided. Remember Allah’s favour upon you when you were enemies, then He united your hearts, so you - by His grace - became brothers. And you were at the brink of a fiery pit and He saved you from it. This is how Allah makes His revelations clear to you, so that you may be (rightly) guided.' (Al-e-Imran, 3: 104)

 

Allah has put a responsibility on us - the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam - to make the world come under the Millat-e-Wahida, or Ummat-e-Wahida – as one nation, people or community of believers, and that time is fast approach. We are already seeing its realisation and effect through a clear and illuminating light. The project to bring the world as a Millat-e-Wahida also forms a part of Tawheed (the Oneness of Allah), and has a great link with Tawheed.

From all over the world, despite the Islamophobia that has crept into the world, we are finding that after more than twenty years, the world has opened itself to Islam. Allah is inspiring hearts to become Muslims. Now, with the same fervour, Allah has trusted to this humble servant - His Khalifa [Khalifatullah] – the mission to spread the message of His Oneness throughout the world. Apart from me, there are many Muslims around the world who are doing excellent work in the field of Dawa/ Tabligh. They are giving their time and efforts in this endeavour. Now, with the Divine Manifestation, slowly but surely you will find how Allah will open many hearts to recognize the Manifestation of this era with the advent of His Khalifatullah. Victory does not come at once. It comes step by step, and when you find the dawn of that victory, it will have a different effect on your hearts.

'Knowledge' and the Muslim

 

Knowledge is a critical factor that can determine the fortunes of an individual, and the fate of a nation. When deployed effectively, the light of knowledge can illuminate hidden realities, and thereby dispel the darkness of ignorance. In the secular realm, knowledge is inextricably intertwined with power and triumph, authority and eminence. Those who master useful knowledge relevant for practical application in everyday life, they gain ranks, status, and authority and superiority in this world. Nations that employ rational faculties and develop science and technology effectively; they rule over others who ignore the laws of progress and prosperity embedded in the commanding heights of knowledge.

 

Beyond secular knowledge, Islamic tradition attaches great importance to the pursuit of spiritual knowledge and insight that leads to recognition of God’s exalted station and highest essence by way of unveiling and eye-witnessing.  Knowledge of the Attributes and Names of the Divine, knowledge of Divine Decrees and Bounties also enable one to know that God is Powerful over all things, and to be mindful in choosing wisely in this life, and to seek forgiveness for sins and mistakes. And several traditions of the Holy Prophet (sa) point to the eminent station of the knowledgeable believers:

“The one among you who has the most knowledge of God is the one whose fear of Him is the most intense.”

 

"If anyone travels on a road in search of knowledge, Allah will set him upon a path to Paradise. Verily the angels lower their wings being content with the one who seeks knowledge. And whosoever is in the heavens and on earth, even the fish in the sea, ask forgiveness for the person of knowledge. The virtue of the pious scholar over the devoted worshipper is as the superiority of the full moon over the rest of the stars. Those who have knowledge are the heirs of the prophets, for the prophets did not leave behind dinars and dirhams; they only left behind knowledge: whosoever receives it, receives an abundance of good fortune.”

 

With the appearance of an Elect of God in an era as a 'heir of the prophets', the treasures of spiritual knowledge and insight become available on an abundant scale for the benefit of all sincere seekers of higher truths, and it is by following such a man of deep religious knowledge and spiritual insight that the renewal of the Faith takes place. In his Friday Sermon of 02 October 2009, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius provides a fascinating exposition on Islamic teachings that underscore the significance of acquiring knowledge, especially knowledge of Religion, in the life of a believer. 

The Fate of Muslims & Unity

“… when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows it, there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve.” (Al-Baqarah, 2: 39) 

 

“Fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah. But if they cease, then Allah sees all that they do, but if they pay no heed, be sure that Allah is your Protector; the best Protector and the best Helper!” (Al-Anfal, 8: 40-41)

 

The times we are living are difficult times for Islam. While those who sow hatred against Islam are doing their best to destroy the true path that leads to Allah The Almighty, on the other hand, Allah is inspiring other hearts to accept Islam. Through the satanic plans of the hate-mongers who sow hatred against Islam – whereby they have devised strategies to picture the religion of Islam as a terrorist religion, but Allah is devising another vaster plan, for the great victory of Islam.

The Rope of Allah- 2

'And hold firmly to the rope of Allah and do not be divided. Remember Allah’s favour upon you when you were enemies, then He united your hearts, so you - by His grace - became brothers. And you were at the brink of a fiery pit and He saved you from it. This is how Allah makes His revelations clear to you, so that you may be (rightly) guided.' (Al-e-Imran, 3: 104)

 

This verse of the Quran calls you every time. And you will not be able to achieve this without passing through Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). That is why in the Quran and also in the Hadiths, more instructions are given to have Muhabbat (love) for Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). And after that, the subject that comes is that there needs to be a link between the two [for one another]. This is not a separate matter. They are branches of one central subject. As you progress further in this matter, there are still many open paths and many beautiful views ahead. It is like a tree that has its roots well planted in the earth and its branches spread out and each branch shows its own beauty, its own greenery. But despite showing their beauty separately, they are always part of the same tree. And they cannot be separated from their tree. It is exactly the same for the Ummah of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). And this is how the Ummah is spread. It blooms and propagates and develops. And all of us together - all Muslims - we are branches of one single being. I try to clarify this subject in reference to the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam, the Jamaat that Allah has given me to bring this unity, to re-establish this Islam. Put in your mind that you are the only beings that are part of me. So: “O green branches of my own being! I am the tree that regained life after receiving water and food from Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). And I saw a new spring. O people of the Jamaat who are connected with me, you are the flourishing branches of my tree.”

'O Allah': Whispers of the Heart

 

O Allah, forgive me my sins,

Overlook my many faults, mistakes and failings,

Absolve of me of my bad deeds

O my dear Lord, the All Hearing, the All Seeing

I take refuge with You

From the goading of the evil ones;

Save me from the pangs of Evil.

 

O Allah, strengthen my soul in its struggle

Against the evil within and outside;

Secure me from the temptations of the baser self;

Save me against my own impulses and excesses

Protect me from self-inflicted wounds

 

O Allah, do not abandon me

In the wilderness of an unguided existence;

Bless me with a share of Your grace and mercy,

Grant me a Light to walk in the footsteps

of Your noble prophets and saints

For, whoever is gifted Divine wisdom

Has truly been given much good

Unity of the Muslim Ummah- 2

 

Reaching for Unity (Pt.2)

 

Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah, I shall continue to expound today in my sermon about the Unity of the Ummah, and why the community of Muslim believers cannot bring itself to unite while the non-believers are successfully uniting themselves in their common goals.

 

So, the third cause…

 

THIRD CAUSE

 

Disagreement among the people of truth does not arise from lack of zeal and aspiration, nor does union among the people of misguidance arise from loftiness of aspiration. Rather disagreement among the people of truth arises from their misuse of high aspiration, and union among the people of misguidance arises from the weakness and impotence that come from lack of aspiration. What impels the people of guidance to the misuse of their high aspiration - and hence to disagreement, and rivalry - is the desire for heavenly reward that is counted as a praiseworthy quality in the Hereafter.

 

It is even recorded in authentic traditions of the Holy Prophet that at the End of Time the truly pious among the Christians will unite with the people of the Quran and fight their common enemy, i.e. irreligion. Then the people of religion and truth will sincerely unite not only with the truly pious and spiritual ones among the Christians, but with all classes of pious and sincere people refraining from the discussion and debate of points of difference in order to combat their joint enemy, i.e. aggressive atheism.

'Ummah': Unity in Diversity

 

In his Friday Sermon of 30 December 2022~ 06 Jamadi’ul Aakhir 1444 AH, Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius begins a series of reflections on forging unity within the global Muslim Ummah. As the existential conditions of the Muslims around the world are characterized by deep diversity- languages, races, regions, nations and peoples, etc.-and the Ummah is virtually split into numerous sects and factions, with each group claiming monopoly over the Truth; formidable challenges confront the tasks of Muslim unity.

Through this discourse, Hazrat Muhyiuddin (aba) addresses this vital question of Islamic unity by calling attention to the foundational guidance of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) on the role of sincerity and humility in religious relations. People are prone to 'worship' their own ideas and inherited notions, customs and practices; preferring their own position, wealth and power and other passions of the self. On the other hand, overcoming the inclinations of the self and preferring others to one's own dictates is the path to spiritual progress and God realization. For the sake of Divine approval and pleasure over the Ummah as a whole- rather than seeking fringe benefits and cheap sectarian victories-, people have a strong basis in religious sincerity and humility for remaining united for collective welfare and attracting Divine blessings, points out Hazrat Saheb (aba).      

A Vision for A Just World

In his Friday Sermon of 16 December 2022 ~21 Jamadi’ul Awwal 1444 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius speaks movingly about the struggles of persecuted minorities; stateless refugees and other peoples caught up in climate change-induced migration; the deep connections between ecological disasters and armed conflicts, and also the problem of modern slavery: human trafficking across borders amidst deepening misery and despair at home in several lands.  

Speaking against the backdrop of the material conditions in Mauritius, Imam Azim (aba) urges fellow citizens to be deeply grateful to God for the available social blessings of peace, relative prosperity and global standing of the nation, and at the same time, Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) gently reminds people to be conscious of long-term societal trends, and also be aware of the moral and ethical obligations the people owe to fellow beings in their midst- especially those in suffering and are vulnerable due to their difficult circumstances.  In this eloquent discourse, Hazrat Azim (aba) invites our attention to the obligations of our common humanity towards the refugees and the vulnerable migrants. Warning against the pitfalls of indifference, silence and negligence, Hazrat Saheb (aba) urges one and all to stand up for the less privileged and try to make a difference in our surroundings for our collective welfare and shared progress. Muslims especially have a duty to be the forces of good; fighting evil within and outside; standing up for justice and equity. Indeed, true faith and allegiance to Divine worship requires us to be mindful of the needs of our fellow beings and ease up their travails, and engage ourselves in the larger causes of humanity, reminds Hazrat Saheb (aba).

Faith: 'Muslims under Trial'

 

In his Friday Sermon of 04 November 2022 ~09 Rabi’ul Aakhir 1444 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius calls attention to a very sobering lesson for all true believers in every era: the future and good fortune of a people is linked to their piety and righteousness in life. Likewise, according to sacred spiritual wisdom preserved in the Holy Qur'an, when a people become lawbreakers and deviates from Divine teachings, the quagmire of misguidance, misfortune and enslavement would engulf them in a cycle of never-ending despair and disaster. 

According to the profound wisdom and prescient assessment of the Holy Prophet (sa), fatal flaws can encircle a people under trial when they let go of the true spirit of Faith, embrace materialism and splinter into different sects and political groupings. When they drown in immorality and injustice; worship money and ease; neglect the poor, and oppress the defenceless; become enamoured of other cultures even at the price of one's Faith and corrode the strength of its values through frequent disputes, schism and factional feuds; they themselves will be complicit in external intervention in internal affairs, perpetuating the vicious cycle of degradation of faith and moral fibre and consequent national decadence. Pointing to a sacred tradition of the Holy Prophet (sa) on the aforesaid theme, Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) observes in this discourse that each one of the signs of decadence is discernible in the dire state of our world today, especially in the predicament of the Arab nation.        

 

Reflecting on the continuing Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories- including East Jerusalem [the land of the holiest Masjid Al Aqsa]- without any fair deal for the people under subjugation for over half a century, and the recent events involving Arab leaders facilitating Israel's integration into the regional rivalry against Iran, in the backdrop of US- scheming in the region; Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) notes the searing reality that despite their public statements, the Arab leaders in the ring show no real commitment to the cause of the Oppressed, as they are more concerned about their own narrow interests of power and pelf. The agony and misfortune of foreign occupation and the humiliation of subjugation today is a grim reminder of the ways in which Divine vengeance engulfs a people under trial, observes Hazrat Saheb (aba) in the discourse.

'Salah': Errors to Avoid- 2

 

Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah, I continue today the second part of my sermon on the correct way of performing our Salat (Prayers) and to thus avoid all errors which may annul our prayers.

 

8) Reluctance to stand in the front line in the congregational prayer.

 

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “If the people knew what (reward) is in the call (Adhan) and the first row (in congregational prayers), and they found no other way to get that except drawing lots, then they would draw lots.” (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi)

 

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) also said: “If anyone goes out from his house after performing ablution for saying the prescribed prayer in congregation (in the mosque), his reward will be like that of one who goes for Hajj pilgrimage after wearing Ihram (i.e. the two pieces of sheet worn by the Hajj pilgrims).” (Abu Dawud)