Love for the Holy Prophet

  

Islam preaches belief in all the Prophets of Allah and calls for love and respect among all of us (prophets). Yet for a true believer in Islam, it is necessary to love the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) more than one’s own family. This love is essential, for it teaches the believer the value of obedience to Allah and obedience to His Prophet; and the Prophet who has been granted the highest rank before Allah is indeed Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). Thus, naturally and contextually in Islam, respect and love for the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) must be elevated. Allah commanded His Prophet to say: “If you love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” (Al-Imran 3: 32)

The Sacrifice behind Eid-ul-Adha

 

Eid-ul-Adha (Bakr Eid) remains a profoundly sacred moment – the greatest Eid – which recalls an extraordinary story: that of the Prophet Hazrat Ibrahim (as) and his son Hazrat Isma’il (as). Allah commanded Hazrat Ibrahim (as) through a vision to sacrifice his son, Hazrat Isma’il (as). Hazrat Isma’il (as) had not yet reached the age of puberty, yet at this tender age he accepted with complete submission that his father should sacrifice him by Allah’s command; Hazrat Isma’il (as) displayed unparalleled courage and faith. The Qur’an honours him in these words, where his sacrifice was immortalised: “When they both submitted (to Allah’s command) and Ibrahim laid him down upon his forehead, We called out to him: ‘O Ibrahim, you have indeed fulfilled the vision.’ Thus do We reward those who do good. Surely this was a clear test.” (As-Saffat 37: 104-107).

Islam: An Incomparable Gift

 

Islam is a gift that Allah has given to humanity at its birth; and it is a more honourable gift for anyone who is born Muslim and who grows up in the Islamic environment. A child’s upbringing in this honourable environment means that the parents also have a very great responsibility to guide them and maintain them in this Islamic, pure environment until these children become sufficiently mature, especially after the age of puberty, to know the difference between good and evil and to choose with full awareness to follow the path of truth, the path of Islam; and to make effort themselves to remain attached to the straight path, and to do everything possible to gain the pleasure of Allah, and to become a true Muslim, not by birth or by the Islamic environment in which they grew up, but by choice; a choice that is personal, that is pure, where a child, an adolescent, or even an adult – whether a young adult or even one in middle age – all have a choice to make. After the parental education they have received, where their parents guided them towards Allah, towards His Deen, towards good practice that will lead them to Paradise, will they follow this path or follow a path led astray by the influence of bad companions, bad guides who exist in the world and whose primary work is to divert them from the straight path?

Bai’ah & Sincerity in Repentance

  

Sincere repentance towards Allah is a great obligation for every Muslim. When a person makes a mistake, falls into sin, or deviates from the straight path, he must return to Allah with a humble and sincere heart. Repentance is not merely words on the lips; it is a deep commitment in the heart, a true regret and a firm decision not to return to the same error again.

 

In the Holy Qur’an (Az-Zumar, 39: 54), Allah says that His mercy is vast and He forgives all sins if people return to Him with sincerity. This shows that despite the number of mistakes a servant may commit, the door of forgiveness remains open if he/ she asks for His forgiveness sincerely.

 

In a Hadith reported by Anas bin Malik (ra), the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant than a traveller who finds his mount after losing it in the desert.” (Bukhari, Muslim). This comparison shows the depth of Allah’s joy when a servant returns to Him.

Youth and the Future of Ummah

In his Friday Sermon of 11 December 2009, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius spoke on the role of the youth in shaping the nation. As the future of a community critically depends upon the emotional, intellectual and spiritual culture of  its youth; Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) underscores in this discourse the importance of education and proper training of the youth in the true values of life. Against the backdrop of the materialist cultures of our societies failing its youths, Hazrat Saheb (aba) exhorts the young Muslims to turn to the values of Deen-i-Islam, and correct their elders in clearing theological misconceptions and deviant social practices that compromise an ethical Islamic social life. 

Drawing inspiration from the Abdals [great men of faith in the past], the young Muslims could inculcate within themselves the spirit of good conduct and righteousness in their every day life. Building a spirit of selflessness and service to others even at the cost of one's own self; gaining self control by practicing Divine commands such as offering Tahajjud, and offering regular Salaat at the prescribed timings; being grateful to God by sharing the benefits of one's resources and skills with others in need; abstaining from sins and avoiding evil pathways- Hazrat Saheb (aba) maps deep insights on spiritual values that can empower the youth against all destructive temptations in our times.  

Read the Friday Sermon Below: 

               وَإِذَا بَلَغَ الْأَطْفَالُ مِنكُمُ الْحُلُمَ فَلْيَسْتَأْذِنُوا   

‘And when the children among you have attained to puberty...’ 

[The Holy Qur’an, (24: 60)].  

 

Youth is a very important step in the life of man. It is a stage where his intelligence is strengthened and where he is in a better position to understand practical life through reflection and analysis. If in his youth a person does not acquire a good formation, then he will waste his youth in vain and bad things, and this will put him in a dangerous situation, for his life will take a wrong turn (direction). But if in his prime youth the person prepares himself to follow the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and does the required preparation to take up his own responsibilities as they should be taken, it is then that he will be able to convert a dead nation into an alive one, through his good conduct and his enthusiasm to work — and this dedication of his become a model for others to follow.

Service to the Mosque

 

The Houses of Allah: Part 4  

Service to the Mosque is an act of tremendous blessings. In a Hadith narrated by Hazrat Anas (ra), the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said that the blessings of all good deeds of the Ummah were presented to him, even the blessing of removing a speck of dust from the Mosque. (Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi)

During the time of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), there lived an old Abyssinian lady who had made it her occupation to sweep and clean the Mosque. She died during the night time. The Sahaba buried her without informing the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). When he came to know about it, he was bewildered and made them understand that he should be informed whenever someone among the believers died and he went to the cemetery and prayed on her (i.e. either Duahs or the Janaza Prayer – as per different versions). (Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Majah)

 

Cleaning the Masjid is an honourable act. Even the elder Sahaba such as Hazrat Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab (ra) used to sweep and clean the Mosque. This blessed work should not be viewed with disdain and disgust as it is no ordinary menial work. For every speck or particle of dust removed from the Mosque, Allah rewards the one cleaning His House with great blessings.

Revelations of 19 July 2023

  

In a special message to members of the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International today, Hazrat Imam Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius shared recently received Divine revelations, and issued special guidelines for the social conduct of members; behaviour with proper respect towards Jamaat system; behaviour with mutual respect and trust towards each other, reassuring harmony and amity within the spiritual order. Extracts from the divine message is reproduced below:

Innaaa arsalnaaka bil-haqqi bashiiranw-wa naziiraa.

We have sent you with the Truth, 

as a bearer of glad tidings and as a Warner.

I am a Warner from Allah; 

I have been sent in this Era.

The blind and the seeing are not alike.

The believers have been called "the living" because by accepting the truth they receive a new life and the disbelievers are called "the dead" because by rejecting the prophet of Allah, the Divine manifestation and the truth which is the elixir of life eternal they bring spiritual death upon themselves.

It is not possible for the Khalifatullah of this Era to make those who have deliberately shut their hearts and ears listen to and accept the Divine Message.

Such people spiritually are dead and defunct as those buried in the grave.

Life and Times of Shuayb (as)

 

Allah (swt) has created the humans as His trustee(Khalifa) on earth. We owe our Creator, our very existence. Human life and progress for a period are all entirely due to His mercy and unending blessings. The Divine Trusteeship entails grave responsibility of conduct on our part. As trustees of Allah (swt) on earth, we owe a duty to care for all of His creations on earth- being just in all financial transactions; doing fair in all human relations; remaining moderate and balanced in our social engagements, etc. It is to remind us of this heavenly trust on our shoulders that the Prophets and saints of God appear in every era, among the people- 'weak' and 'forgetful' and 'prone to the temptations of Satan' as we flawed humans are.

Hence, it is height of stupidity and ignorance to challenge common sense and combat God's Message. Blinded by their own passions, the arrogant elites in their vanity laugh at the messages they dislike, seeking to fight against God and His Elects when they come to lead them to prudence and wisdom. If only the spiritually blind had the 'vision' to recognize the Light they are missing! The light of wisdom that the Prophets bring in do not profit  a people who are self-satisfied, who remain aloof from, and who show contemptuous disregard for the higher values of life that these messengers teach- clinging as those earthly worms to the pleasures of a fleeting time. Like Qur'an testifies in the case of numerous communities that persecuted Prophets in the past, Divine justice will pursue their excesses in ways they will least expect, and in moments of His choosing their reckoning would take place. Indeed, going by evidence of what happened in the recorded past, Divine vengeance is something to be wary of, by anyone who is sensible. Allah's mercy and blessings engulf a people who listen and follow the Divine commandments and teachings that the Prophets bring in, for their own welfare in this world and for salvation in the world to come. 

Divine Calamity To Those Who Disobey

In his Friday Sermon of 26 November 2021~20 Rabi’ul Aakhir 1443 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius explains the life and times of Prophet Shuayb (as) as a spiritual lesson for our times. The Holy Qur'an preserves the example of Hazrat Shuayb (as) as a man of Divine principles and ethical restraint in a society given to the worship of riches at any cost. Yet, all that people amassed in excess through unfair methods proved to be of no use to them on the day of Divine punishment. On the other hand, those who follow the Prophets in letter and spirit, they become recipients of Divine Mercy and Grace in every era, Insha Allah, Aameen.

Read the Friday Sermon Below: 

'Obey and Follow the Messenger'

Obedience to Allah & the Khalifatullah

 

“And whoso obeys Allah and His Messenger, and fears Allah, and is mindful of Him, it is they who will be successful.” (An-Nur 24: 53) 

The responsibility of the Messenger of Allah, the Khalifatullah is so great and vast and frightening that it reminds one of the commandments of Allah and His Messenger Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) to obey Allah and the divinely-appointed Messenger and to fear Allah and to obey Him in everything He has said and to regulate and live our lives as per His Instructions, in the Holy Quran and in the practices (Sunnah) and sayings or teachings (Hadiths) of His noble prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). 

Allah (swt) appoints His own representative (Khalifa). I have always believed in this, because the first Khalifatullah whom Allah (swt) sent was Hazrat Adam (as) with the Ruh’il Quddus (Holy Spirit) and by the grace of Allah this has been continued throughout the eras and Allah appointed Hazrat Dawud (as) as the Khalifatullah of his era, and this kind of divine appointment to caliphate is a continuous process for as long as humans exist on earth. So, I always believed that such divine-appointed and divinely-guided caliphs will come to guide men in the right path.

Finding ‘Balance’ in the Trials of Life

The Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) is reported to have said:

'This life is the dwelling of crookedness; not straightness, and the residence of sadness; rather than happiness. Those who acquire knowledge in its true reality will not feel joy in times of ease, nor grieve in times of hardship. 

Verily, Allah the Exalted has created this life as a test and the Hereafter as the dwelling of recompense. He made the test of this life a reason behind earning the reward of the Hereafter and the reward in the Hereafter as compensation for the test in this life. He takes so that He gives and tests so that He recompenses.

The life of this world vanishes rapidly and changes suddenly. Therefore, beware of its sweetness so as to avoid the bitterness of its depriving, and beware of its delights so as to avoid the pains they lead too. 

Do not excessively build a life that Allah has decided is bound to destruction, and do not recline to (or like) it. Verily, Allah has ordained on you that you should avoid its danger. Otherwise, you will expose yourselves to His Anger and justifiably earn His Punishment."

This prophetic wisdom is, in many ways, also a summation of the Qur’anic message on the fleeting nature of our fortunes in this world, and that everything is subject to a law of nature or the Divine Law. The Holy Qur’an says, “No misfortune can happen, either in the earth or in yourselves, that was not set down in writing before We brought it into being- that is easy for God- so you need not grieve for what you miss or gloat over what you gain.” (57: 23) Long ago, Luqman the Wise counselled his son to endure with fortitude what befalls and the Qur’an notes: “Bear anything that happens to you steadfastly” (31:17).

Our Wishes and Divine Expectations

The Qur’an alludes to the wisdom behind this balanced approach to our earthly life’s contingent circumstances- fortunes and misfortunes; situations that can and will evolve in the fullness of time in the life of a believer. With a deeply flawed sense of the human self- "foolish and unjust", according to the Qur'an- man is inherently incapable of making the wise decision as regards what is harmful or beneficial for him without Divine guidance. Our wishes, desires and inclinations are to be tempered in accordance with Divine commandments and expectations wherever applicable, depending on the varied circumstances of one’s life. 

Allah (swt) encourages the believers to trust in His better knowledge of how things will turn out to be in the end, and of what benefits a person in his present life and the Hereafter. Submission to God and adherence to Divine expectations would better serve and suffice the believer's larger interests, says the Qur’an in its own inimitable style: 

“You may dislike something although it is good for you, or like something although it is bad for you: God knows and you do not.” (2: 216)

“Live with them (your wives) in a goodly manner: if you dislike them, it may well be that you dislike something which God might yet make a source of abundant good." (4:20) 

One of the Divine revelations recieved by the Promised Messiah (as) in the previous era on the same theme is as follows: 

"God will bestow your reward in full and will be pleased with you and will perfect your name. And it is possible that you hold something dear, yet in reality it is harmful for you; and it is possible that you dislike something , yet in reality it is beneficial for you. God Almighty knows the end results of things and you do not know." [Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Part IV, p. 391, UK: Islam Int'l Publications, (2016). 

Imam Ibn al Qayyim al-Jawziyya (691-751 AH; 1292-1350 CE), the medieval polymath and classical commentator of the Holy Qur’an, has left behind a deeply insightful exposition on this theme of the Qur’an, advising the believing servants on how to profit from these profound words of the Book of God.

The Wisdom of Obedience to God

We are Nothing Without Allah.

Dear brothers and sisters of Islamic faith, my dear disciples, neither you nor I owe our existence to our own will. The vast universe and the many creatures it contains are the work of the one and only Creator, with a set of rules / laws for each species and creation. This Unique Creator is Allah.

At first, apart from the Creator, there was no creature. Then Allah (swt) decided to create living beings, such as the angels, jinn and humans. Among these creatures, more specifically, the jinn and humans, there are those who use their life to do good, while others use it to do evil. Allah says:

“And by the day as it appears in brightness; And by that which He has created, the male and the female; Certainly, your efforts and deeds are diverse (different in aims and purposes).” (Al-Layl 92: 3-5).

Thus, it is clear that the man and the woman must fill their days and nights with various efforts for their survival on earth and therefore they will have to face the consequences of their actions on the Day of Judgment.

“But as for one whose scales are light, His refuge will be an abyss. And what can make you know what that is? It is a Fire, intensely hot.” (Al-Qariah, 92: 9-12).

Man and woman, in short the human race must fulfill their duty to its Creator, and the main duty is the exclusive worship of Allah (swt) and to make every effort to build their lives on the basis of Islam - complete submission to Allah - and to serve Him in all sincerity and piety.

Allah says: “I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.” (Az-Zariyat, 51: 57).

And in serving Him, he must also serve humanity because the essence of God is in every human being on earth.

Ramadan: Fasting and Obedience

“Fasting & Obedience”:

By the grace of Allah, we are going to enter once again in the extremely holy and sacred month of Ramadan. First of all, we need to thank Allah the Almighty who has given us this great boon and enabled us to receive this month once again. This is indeed such a month which is worth a whole lifetime. And it is Allah Almighty who gives us this assurance. To better understand the importance and worth of this month and to help us benefit from this blessed month to the maximum, Allah says in the Holy Quran, in the Surah Al-Baqara, Verses 184-187:

O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may guard (against evil). For a certain number of days; but whoever among you is sick or on a journey, then (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days; and those who are not able to do it may effect a redemption by feeding a poor man; so whoever does good spontaneously it is better for him; and that you fast is better for you if you know. The month of Ramadan is that in which the Quran was revealed, a guidance to men and clear proofs of the guidance and the distinction; therefore whoever of you is present in the month, he shall fast therein, and whoever is sick or upon a journey, then (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days; Allah desires ease for you, and He does not desire for you difficulty, and (He desires) that you should complete the number and that you should exalt the greatness of Allah for His having guided you and that you may give thanks. And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am very near; I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on Me, so they should answer My call and believe in Me that they may walk in the right way.

Let’s analyse what Allah is telling us (in these verses):

Oh you people who have faith (Iman), Oh you believers, We have made fasting (Sawm/ Roza) obligatory upon you like We made it obligatory upon the people or nations before you.

‘la-’alla-kum tatta-quun’ – so that you may guard (against evil), so that you may tread on the right path, so that you may have Taqwa (fear of Allah).

This fasting for a determined numbers of days and those who are travelling or are sick, then they shall have to replace the missing fasts afterwards. And those people who have the means, (as expiation) they need to feed a poor.