Living Signs of Divine Favours

In his Friday Sermon of 17 July 2020~ 25 Dhul-Qaddah 1441 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hadhrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius narrated a number of interesting, pure dreams made by devout members of the Jamaat in recent times. These dreams, in their own different ways, confirm the validity, power and blessings of prayers in the Divine Way. When believers remain true to the covenant of the Faith, observe the moral teachings of the Holy Prophet (sa) by following in the footsteps of the Khalifatullah (aba) of their times, and show sincerity of purpose in utter self-surrender to the Will of God amidst the trials of earthly circumstances; the Divine gaze keeps such humble ones relatively safe even in times of grave dangers, and elevates them morally and spiritually that they become blessed with countless favours of the Divine. Indeed, the light of Divine mercy and grace embrace and illumine them and their surroundings in myriad ways that they become living signs of pure Faith, notes Hadhrat Saheb (aba) in the discourse. 

Read the Extracts from the Friday Sermon Below:  

 '...I tell you about an amazing dream that one of my followers in Kerala, Sulfikar Ali Sahib saw last week. 

This dream is based on the importance of duahs and trust in Allah that Allah will grant [realise] these duahs, and it is an extraordinary sign that this dear disciple saw this dream on 05 July 2020, and since a long time, Allah had already helped me to prepare these series of sermons on the theme of duahs, and last week Allah inspired me to start my Friday sermons on the subject of invocations, without me being aware of this dream. It was not until after the sermon last Friday that I learned of this dream. So this is by no means a coincidence. The ways of Allah are truly extraordinary.

So the dream (which he saw around 3:00 a.m.) is as follows: He found that he was in the company of a few people, making fervent invocations to Allah (swt), a lot of Duahs ... yet, he thought there was no way his duahs would be accepted and was on the verge of despair. Then the person who was with him, told him not to despair, but to increase his invocations because Allah (swt) listens to the prayers of His servants in distress ... he advised him to repent a lot, to seek Istigfaar and to continue with his prayers so that Allah the Most Merciful will listen to him. So he continued his prayers ... in abundance. Eventually, he reached a space where he understood that he was meeting Allah. Appearing in the form of a person ... the being said to him: “Your prayers are accepted, you are going to be granted Jannat (paradise)”.

Du'ah: Invocation to Allah- II

Alhamdulillah, all glory, greatness and praise are for Allah (swt), Master of the universe Who gave me, this humble servant the Tawfiq to continue the subject of my Friday Sermon today on the invocations (duahs) that He taught me.

So, whoever hears these duahs and those who bear witness to how these duahs come down from the heavens are very lucky and fortunate among the billions of creatures who inhabit this world....

So listen carefully to these spiritual treasures, these duahs that come directly from my Lord, Allah (swt): -

O My Lord (Rab)! I am a victim of the atrocities of my opponents and the water in my eyes [i.e., my tears] are witnesses to it. It is these tears that know this oppression better.

O Allah! My tears know these atrocities better. How should I console my heart? What to tell it? With whom will I share this pain, because it is a war of pain and suffering and that is my very ordeal! Suffering for religion has killed me and my heart is shattered to pieces. If I had not received the support of my Beloved, then this is the same death that I would have acquired.

O My Master! This favour is certainly Yours and at every moment it is this same hope that I conceive that all my difficulties will be erased.

O my Master! This burden of pain is very heavy.

O my Beloved! Do not hide Your face; that’s my remedy.

O my Master! Treat us with mercy. We have hope and trust in You.

O my Beloved! We are faithful to You; we trust You, and all of Your promises are true. We have come to the brink of peril [dangers] and it is from this very place that we must call You.

Du'ah: Invocation to Allah- I

'Who is it that answers the distressed when they call upon Him? Who removes their suffering? Who makes you successors in the earth? Is it another god beside God? Little notice you take!' .---(Surah An-Naml; 27: 63).

After having expounded on the ATTRIBUTES OF ALLAH – and I hope that you understood the subject well - I begin today a series of sermons [Friday sermons] on invocations [to Allah] - DUAHS.

In the light of the verses that I have just recited before you, I will teach you some invocations (duahs) that Allah (swt) Himself taught me by His grace and His favours. And personally, I think that Allah (swt) had taught in the same way [these invocations] to His chosen servants in the past and I ask you all to listen carefully to these invocations and to say “Ameen” [May it be so] in your hearts.

Allah Himself opened my mind, enlightened my mind, and my heart, and He placed these extraordinary words on my lips [lit. in my mouth], so that I can address Him. As for me, I am just a beggar in front of [my doorstep] my Master’s door. It was by His grace and favours that He taught me how to address Him. Even if these invocations already exist, and I do not know of their existence, then it is a great favour of my Master to have taught them to me; certainly these are extraordinary invocations. So I have to be very grateful to my Allah [God] and I am very fortunate that Allah (swt) Himself taught me all these duahs [invocations]. Alhamdulillah.

O Allah, I am very weak, full of sins; every day by the weaknesses that overwhelm me [that I have], I commit sins. O Allah, I ask You to wash me of all my sins, to cleanse myself of all the faults that I have, to test my heart by the piety of hearts, O You Who effaces the stumbling of sinners.

The Attributes of Allah-XI

By the grace of Allah and the Tawfiq bestowed by Him, I have yet again the opportunity to continue to expound on the attributes of Allah (twa).

Hazrat Abu Huraira (ra) reported Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) as saying: “There are ninety-nine names of Allah; he who commits them to memory would get into paradise. Verily, Allah is odd [He is one, and it is an odd number] and He loves odd numbers.” (Muslim).

In the Hadith compilation, Sahih Al-Bukhari, it has been recorded concerning the beautiful names of Allah that they are ninety-nine, i.e. one hundred minus one, and whoever believes in their meanings and acts accordingly, will enter paradise; and Allah is Witr (One, which is an odd number) and loves ‘the witr’ (i.e. odd numbers).

Allah is the Creator (Al-Khaliq); the Formidable Creator. This attribute points to the complex and astonishingly beautiful organization of constituent parts of the universe with their complete dependence on an underlying order [that is fundamental and very precise] that is found both in the cosmic universe and each atom or microscopic element.

Man’s part in this lies in acquiring in his soul not only knowledge of the whole and the minutiae of the parts of the physical universe but in knowing generically, and in detail, the arrangements of the spiritual universe – things such as the role and rank of the different angels, as well as the advent of the messengers and prophets of Allah and their ranks in the divine order.

‘Ad’iyah’: Prayers of the Righteous

Qur’an addresses the human soul’s abiding quest for Divine illumination and a good life by teaching enduring prayers from the lives of the Prophets and other Divine savants of the past. These sublime invocations deal with almost every phase of the human condition, invoking the Exalted Lord’s Grace and Mercy, Forgiveness and Compassion; bringing solace and hope to the bruised and the broken; strength and courage to the deeply vulnerable; giving protection to the devotee from stumbling on the journey of life. 

Reproduced below are certain Qur’anic supplications for developing a worshipful attitude to Allah Subhaanu wa Ta’ala, Whose Sovereignty and Control defines our life chances and Whose remembrance (Zikr) is the surest way for hearts to find peace and tranquility. 

‘My Lord, I take refuge with You from the goadings of the evil ones; I seek refuge with You, Lord, so that they may not come near me.’ (23: 98-99)

Lord, we believe in what You have revealed and we follow the messenger: record us among those who bear witness to the Truth. (3:54)

A Dear Prayer for All Hajjis

O Allah, the call has been given,

And Your servants are coming to You,

To Your Glorious & Holy House,

To accomplish that very deed which represents

The Ultimate proof of their love and submission to You. 

Submission to You in all humility is what You seek,

And Forgiveness and Your Love and Mercy

Is what we seek;

Rush to Your servants, O Allah

And accept their Hajj;

Inspire their hearts to remain true to the promise of

Reform throughout the rest of their lives,

And O Allah open my way to You,

So that the treasures of Your Kingdom may be

Always at my reach,

To distribute to Your sincere and devoted servants.

May they also accede to Your nearness,

And taste Your Love and

Give them the ability,

To communicate with You,

Their hearts connected with You,

And Yours with them,

And enlighten them, O Allah

To be truly submissive to You,

In all aspects of the word;

A Muslim am I, O Allah,

By Your Grace and Mercy;

Bless my Muslim brothers, sisters and children,

Who have forsaken everything to come to

Your Holy Ka’aba,

To accomplish the fifth pillar of Islam,

To accomplish such a worship,

Which shall Insha-Allah see to their

Glorious elevation in Your Sight and Paradise,

Be it in this world and the hereafter,

Forever.

O Allah, accept this plea,

And bless us all in Your way,

Under Your righteous Guidance,

And cherished in Your everlasting love,

And protect us always from the accursed Satan,

And all forms of evils which exist within us,

And all around us. Ameen.

.....By Hazrat  Muhyi-ud-Din Munir A. Azim, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam, 24 July 2019. First appeared in Le Mauricien and can be viewed here. 

Divine Revelation of 20 July 2019

DIVINE REVELATION

After Tahajjud prayers

Saturday 20 July 2019

17 Dhul-Qaddah 1440 AH

After performing his Tahajjud prayers in the early morning of Saturday 20 July 2019, while being fully conscious, Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (atba) was meditating on and praying to Allah when he remembered those who left the Divine Manifestation. He felt sorry for them and was asking Allah how can such people turn their backs to His truth, especially those who were with him since the beginning of the Divine Manifestation and who noted down and witnessed so many divine signs and manifestations? Just then, Allah revealed to him [in Arabic & Creole]:

Fatawakkal ‘alallaah. Innaka ‘alal-Haqqil mubeen. Innaka laa tusmi-‘ul-mawtaa wa laa tusmi-us-summaddu-‘aaa-‘a izaa wallaw mudbireen. Wa maaa anta bihaadil-‘umyi an-zalaalatihim. ‘In tusmi-u ‘illaa may-yu’-minu bi-Aayaatinaa fahum Muslimuun. Wa izaa waqa-‘al-Qawlu ‘alayhim ‘akhrajnaa lahum Daaabbatam-minal-‘arzi tu-kallimuhum ‘annannaasa kaanuu bi-‘Aayaatinaa laa yuuqinuun.

Translation [English]:

Put your trust in Allah ; you are indeed upon the clear truth. 

You will not be able to make the dead hear, nor will you make the deaf hear the call when they have turned their backs retreating. 

And you cannot guide the blind from their error. 

You will only make those who believe in Our Signs and who submit [as Muslims]. 

And when the word befalls them, We will bring forth for them a creature from the earth speaking to them [saying] that the people were, of Our Signs, not certain [i.e. They had doubts in Our Signs].

A Prayer at the Ka'baa Shareef

‘The first House (of worship) to be established for all mankind was the one at Bakka. It's a blessed place; a source of guidance for all people; there were clear signs in it; it is the place where Abraham stood to pray; whoever enters it is safe. Pilgrimage to the House is a duty owed to God by people who are able to undertake it’. (3:97) 

Remember the time when Abraham and Ishmael raised the foundations of the House, praying, ‘Our Lord, accept this from us; for You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. Our Lord, make us devoted to You; make our descendants into a community devoted to You. Show us how to worship and accept our repentance, for You are the Ever Relenting, the Most Merciful’. (2:128-129) 

The Promised Messiah, Al Imam Al Mahdi, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of Qadian (1835-1908 AD) never had the chance during his lifetime to visit Makkah to offer his obeisance at the holy Ka’baa Sanctuary. Yet, some of his disciples could make that sublime spiritual journey during his time, and one of them was Pir Munshi Ahmad Jan. When the Pir Saheb was about to go on Hajj pilgrimage in the year 1302 AH/ 1902 AD, Hadhrat Massih Mauod (as) gave him several instructions on fervent prayers to be invoked on his own behalf while at the Ka’baa Sheriff in Makkah. In this context, when the journey for Hajj pilgrimage was to take place, the Promised Messiah (as) wrote to Pir Saheb in a letter:

‘Remember the request of my humble and unworthy being that when by the grace of Allah the Almighty you are granted the honour of visiting the House of Allah, please pray on behalf of this humblest of Allah’s servants with great humility and submission at that praiseworthy and blessed place in the following words:

‘O Most Merciful of all the mercifuls, a servant of yours –humble, unworthy, full of shortcomings, and unskilled—Ghulam Ahmad, who resides in the country of India, prays that:

O Most Merciful, be pleased with me.

Forgive my faults and sins, as You are Most Forgiving and Merciful.

Grant me the ability to do what pleases you greatly.

Create a separation between me and my self as East is separated from the West.

Let my life and my death and all my capacities be an offering in Your way.

Grant me life in Your love, and let me die in Your love.