Divine Message and Our Choices- 2

Guidance & Misguidance: Rewards & Punishments: Part 2

 

“Those who reject Allah and hinder from the Path of Allah, for them will We add penalty to penalty, for that they used to spread mischief.” (An-Nahl 16: 89)

 

Allah has established the system of reward and punishment as the result of the deeds and intentions of mankind on earth. The rewards are doubled and multiplied much more - to a larger extent, more than one can imagine - for the true believers who recognise, accept and follow His Messenger whenever He sends one to this world.

 

As for those who harbour hatred and hinder people from the way of Allah, by restricting them from listening to the prophet of Allah and to believe in the Divine Message he has come equipped with, therefore such people invite upon themselves penalty upon penalty because not only have they disbelieved but they have also contributed to a larger extent to the ruin of the faith of others, lying as barriers in their path to forbid them from the way of Allah.

 

Hell is a place made by Allah to punish the evildoers in the hereafter. Paradise and Hell each has seven levels. The concept of stages or levels in Hell is based on the extent and weight of the sins committed by the sinner and those levels are associated with different kinds of punishments that are both physical and spiritual in nature.

Divine Message and Our Choices

 

Guidance & Misguidance: Rewards & Punishments

 

'And Allah’s is the direction of the way, and some (paths) go not straight. And had He willed He would have led you all aright.' (An-Nahl, 16: 10) 

The existence of man revolves around his Creator and he does not even perceive it except for the truly intelligent. When Allah sends His Messages or Revelations upon His Elect, He guides him to guide the people through them. These Divine Messages come in the form of good news as well as warnings. The good news is imparted to all the people without distinction, giving them the blessed opportunity for reform. Those who submit to the will of Allah and reach out their hands to receive the divine boons are those who will go to become lights in their own rights through the light of Allah and His Messenger. They are those who will light up new lights through their efforts to invite others to Allah, and to accept the gift of Divine Revelations and the advent of a Messenger in their era.

As for those who turn their back to the Divine Messages and Messenger, they are those who fall prey to the mirages which the Satan make them see – of a world filled with success and power which are but flimsy and fake.

Had Allah wanted, He could have guided all people on the Straight Path. He has the power to do so. Apart from His Chosen Path, the Path of Righteousness, there are other paths which are crooked and misleading and which do not lead to Allah. This is the trial which He has set upon man, to seek the true path, tread on it and keep walking and striving, despite the great hurdles on the way so that they may accede to none but Allah.

The Rejection of Prophets

According to the Holy Qur’an, across time and history, most people choose to remain deaf to the voice of truth, and they condemn themselves to spiritual death by rejecting Divine messages. “Never has an apostle come to them without their deriding him” (36:31) “Even before you [Prophet], We sent messengers among the various communities of old, but they mocked every single messenger that came to them: in this way We make the message slip through the hearts of evildoers. They will not believe in it. That was what happened with the peoples of long ago, and even if We opened a gateway into Heaven for them and they rose through it, higher and higher, they would still say, ‘Our eyes are hallucinating. We are bewitched.” (15: 11-16)

 

People who reject revelation and prophethood, in their incredulity, confuse revealed truths with illusory “enchantment” or “sorcery” and when Elects of God appear with revelations, they are invariably ridiculed. Such men reject Prophets based on their false notions/beliefs and flawed reasoning on God’s ways (Sunnat Allah), especially on the continuity of perpetual guidance through His servants in morally-darkened times. “We have sent down the Reminder Ourself, and We Ourself will guard it (from all corruption).” (15:10) "O children of Adam, if Messengers come to you from among yourselves, rehearsing My Signs unto you, then whoso shall fear God and do good deeds, on them shall come no fear nor shall they grieve." (7: 36) 

Recently, a man ignorant of the Qur’anic insights on the rejection of Prophets by people sought to parade his sectarian prejudices against the Ahmadi Muslims by raising a question: “Why the Qadiani Prophet, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad [i.e. the Promised Messiah, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as)] was not accepted by all people?” The comprehensive response given by Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (aba) of Mauritius on the occasion deserves to be studied by every truth-seeker.

Read the Extracts from the Response Below:

The Ethics of Democratic Renewal

 Towards a Political Revivification-I

The Muslim world discovered over the 15^th century of the Hegira, especially during the last fifteen years, a political revival. This is evident, at least in form, both internationally and locally. From Baghdad (in Iraq) to Beirut (in Lebanon) via Riyadh (in Saudi Arabia) and Ramallah (in Palestine), the time seems to have come, or will come, for the people to verily choose, the democratic process that is still in its infancy [as we say in Creole, it is still in ‘kindergarten’, in a trial and error course], as if the heads of state, the leaders do not want the people to come up front to practice true democracy. The free practice of democracy is not yet fully liberated. 

For example, Palestine till today does not have a democratic system where people can freely elect their President. From the start of Yasser Arafat’s reign in 1989 until his death in 2004, and now even after his death after Mahmoud Abbas became the ruler of the country, it is a small group of people who elect the President and in all these offices / political positions, it is Mahmoud Abbas himself who is the President, and thus he can do whatever he wants to do, without having to account for his actions to the people, and then this tradition that they have, to keep the power to govern for them [i.e. the heads of state], is perpetuated.

 

Democracy, the democratic process is certainly present at least on the lips, but in truth it is an autocracy [or authoritarianism], a terrible dictatorship, especially in the Muslim countries that reign there. But despite this, in the global aspect, in the world despite the trial and error stage of this democracy and the time it takes to be fully practiced, but it cannot be denied that there is an evolution where, previously, the Authoritarianism, if not dictatorship, was the only mode of operation. But the question arises: Does this really mean that democracy will solve all problems?