Forbidding Access to the Mosques

And who are more unjust than those who forbid the approach to the mosques of Allah lest His name should be mentioned therein, and strive toward their destruction? (2: 115)

No Muslim can be denied the right to enter a mosque and offer prayers, and even to attend a function therein. This is a basic human right which Allah gave to His servants, and nobody has the right to hinder other people from invoking Allah, and to show Him their devotion in those places of worship. 

Moreover, it is to be specified that the verse refers to the fact that nobody can be hindered from entering the Mosques of Allah for any act of worship. A mosque is Allah’s and thus it is not the property of any person, though its management is done by people who are supposed to be Muttaqun – God-fearing! When people cease to be Muttaqun, and defy the laws of Allah, they bring upon themselves a sure damnation, and Allah has promised that in the Hereafter, their punishment will be great.

The subject matter of this verse is very true in the case of the persecutions faced by the believers of the Divine Manifestation in this era. All prophets in one way or the other passed through the same situations, suffering from being forbidden access to the Houses of Allah.

DURING THE GOLDEN ERA OF ISLAM

The Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) suffered a lot in the hands of the Quraish who persecuted and boycotted him and his followers so much so that access to the Ka’aba was quasi-impossible, especially for the grand pilgrimage, the Hajj. And if ever they were spotted near the Sacred Mosque, then the people of Mecca, in occurrence the Quraish would inflict much hardships on the innocent servants of Allah and believers in the Divine Manifestation of their age. Even the Holy Prophet of Islam was not spared!  

In March 628 AD, the Meccan troops stopped Muhammad (pbuh), the best of mankind and prophets and forbid him from entering the Sacred Mosque along with his companions for the lesser pilgrimage, i.e. Umrah. They tried to humiliate him, but the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) trusted Allah and the promise He extended for the grand victory of Islam. And today by the grace of Allah, this victory is palpable in every way in the form of the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam which Allah has secured for the preservation of the glory of Islam in its entirety.

Shocks of Trial after the Loss of Faith

Mir Abbas Ali Ludhiyanwi was among the very first disciple(s) of the Promised Massih Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) of Qadian- by joining him in 1882, when the Promised Massih (as) was beginning to appear on the religious horizon, on the very early days of the Divine Manifestation in the then British India. His sincerity and spiritual services over a period of a decade was of such quality that the Promised Massih (as) wrote about him, mentioning even Divine revelations he said he received: "Mir Sahib is a person with great spiritual condition and has a spiritual connection with this humble self. And to prove his level of sincerity, it is enough that once this humble self received an inspiration in his favour: 'aslohoo sabitun wa farohoo fis samaa' (his roots are firmly fixed and his branches are in the sky)." (Izala-e-Auham, Roohani Khazain vol.3 p.528). Yet, unfortunately for him, Mir Abbas Ali failed in the trials of patience and steadfastness in course of time, the Divine revelations regarding his lofty destiny notwithstanding.

This episode of trials of faith is a grim reminder for all believers in every age. With the appearance of the Divine Manifestation in Mauritius-with the advent of the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) in the new century of Islam- such incidents have come alive, within the ebb and flow of the life and experiences of the people who once embraced the blessings of Allah (swt), only to let go of their Imaan, to be tried with the very words and sentiments they expressed once. In an Open Letter written in December 2014, Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) profoundly reminded the concerned persons and their chieftains about the evil consequences of their bad choices and evil deeds of rejecting the Signs of Allah amidst them. The document provides interesting insights on the early days of the Divine Manifestation in Mauritius when Allah raised His Elect and even blessed the people who attached themselves with him, with inspirations and Divine revelations so as to enable them to understand and comprehend the profound reality, like the Qur'an states:

"And when I inspired the disciples of Jesus to believe in Me and in My Messenger, they said, ‘We believe and bear Thou witness that we have submitted.’ [5:112]

Read the Extracts below:  

The very beginning of the Divine Manifestation in Mauritius was overflowed with Divine Grace and Mercy, so much so that with the manifestation of His Messenger, Reviver of Faith on earth, Allah sent down His blessings in multitudinous forms upon all those who have attached themselves, their own identity to that of the Messenger of Allah of their times.