A Celebration of Spiritual Revival in this
Era
A Celebration of Spiritual Revival in this
Era
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.
‘Sirat-un-Nabi’ Reflections
‘There is a time set for every people: they
cannot hasten it, nor, when it comes, will they be able to delay it for a
single moment. O children of Adam! Whenever there come to you Messengers from
among yourselves, relating My revelations to you, then whosoever (by accepting
them) are conscious of God and live righteously, there will be no fear,
nor will they grieve.’ (7: 35-36)
‘He it is Who has raised among the
Unlettered people a Messenger from among themselves who
recites unto them His Signs, and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and
wisdom, although they had been, before, in manifest misguidance; And among others from
among them who have not yet joined them. He is the Mighty, the Wise.
That is Allah’s grace; He bestows it on whom He pleases; and Allah is the
Master of immense grace.’ (62:3-5)
These verses of the Holy Qur’an, in their own mystical and subtle ways, allude to the philosophy of Divine guidance for humanity in darkened times. These verses unmistakably foretell a remarkable spiritual event of profound historic proportions: the advent of an Elect of God in the Later Days of Islam; the raising of an ‘illuminating moon’ [Qamaran Munira] who will reflect the pristine light of the Sun of Faith, Hazrat Muhammad(sa), as though the Divine servant is a ‘mirror image’ or the second coming of the original Holy Prophet (sa) himself in this era, Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah.
SOLUTIONS
Certainly, when the “source”
has become dry, the paths of good deeds, virtues and excellent qualities which
sprung from this source have disappeared. This is exactly what we see today. I
have already explained this in detail and made it clear that the only way to
rebuild this source and keep it flowing with the deeds of Deen which are
profitable is this work which is called Dawa/Tabligh, which we can
consider really and truly like the Ruh (soul) of Islam. As long as we do
not revive this work, we will not be able to accomplish anything good in this temporal
life because no nation, no people can know glory without having excellent
qualities and high characters that only Islam can produce.
It is our duty as soon
as possible to revive this work of Tabligh which is indeed obligatory.
Only then can we have hope of bringing the true Deen of Islam to life in
the Muslim community. Only by this means can we truly recognize and understand
Allah (twt) and His Beloved Prophet (pbuh), and thereafter submit to their
commands and desires [i.e., the commands of Allah and of His Messenger (pbuh)].
To succeed in doing this, we need to adopt the exact methods and means which Nabi Kareem Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) used and which he put into practice to transform the Arabs (from the period of ignorance to Islam). Allah (twt) says in the Holy Quran: “Indeed in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example to follow...” (Al-Ahzab, 33: 22)
In his Friday Sermon of 17 June 2022 ~16 Dhul Qaddah 1443 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius continues the larger reflections on the spiritual maladies that afflict the Muslim psyche today: the mental attitudes and emotional roadblocks that prevent them from engaging with energy, vigour, enthusiasm and enterprise in the larger goals of Dawah (preaching and propagating Islam). In this discourse, Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) points out how to think through the confusing maze of Muslim renewal in this complicated era.
As Hazrat Saheb (aba) alludes in the discourse, based on Qur'anic principles and Prophetic practices, the Sahaba-e-Kiram, the pure Companions of the Holy Prophet (sa) and the Tabi'un, the pious generations that followed them became living exemplars of the Faith in the early days of Islam, and wherever they went to preach the message of Tawheed, people en masse abandoned their pagan notions and embraced the Light of Islam in their midst. As time went by, and the original spirit of faith ebbed away; decadence and degradation have returned to the societies that were once 'Muslim'. And today, in the fifteenth century after the Holy Prophet (sa), the Muslims in general seem to be bereft of the true essence of Islamic teachings in their everyday lives. Even worse, far from upholding the spirit of Tawheed as Muslims, many among them have turned into tomb-worshippers; instead of praying God, they invoke the intercession of long-dead saints, just like the idol-worshippers performing rituals before the lords beside Allah (swt), [God forbid].
Against this dismal contemporary scenario of gross misunderstandings and corrupt religious practices, reclaiming the true teachings along with its progressive potential and transformative spirit is the larger responsibility of the lovers of Allah (swt), including common followers of the Faith today. Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) notes that this task can only be achieved through sustained work involving every segment of the Muslim society, and not by the Ulama and others working in silos. Promoting goodness of every kind and forbidding the bad from spreading in society are the real tasks of everyone at their own levels- indeed, duties and responsibilities are attached to every 'Muslim'- the one who has surrendered his God-gifted free will and submitted his everything to the Divine commandments. Moreover, Tabligh, or striving in God's cause by communicating Divine message to people also entail the willingness to withstand hostilities and insults at the hands of unfair critics and enemies of the Faith, like the Prophets in the past has shown: with patience and fortitude, they preached and lived the message of God against all odds, and the strength of their conviction and the beauty of their character changed hearts and they became victorious in the battlefield of Dawah. It is by following in the footsteps of true lovers of the Faith and in adopting their strategies and steps of engagement with the people that we can make progress in the path of Dawah, indicates Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) in this discourse.
In a world riven by competition,
and conflicts over mundane resources and other material interests among different groups splintered on
diverging identities; the Muslim Ummah everywhere also face these profound
structural and existential conditions of societies today. Whereas Allah (swt)
has willed the diversity of His creation as a grand Sign of His Unicity, and to
test the true mettle of the humans who inhabit this world, the real challenge
and larger task of the Muslims in every era is to become a beacon of divine light
and spiritual hope. In a morally- darkened world of egoistic
passions of jealousy, hatred and arrogance; creating an alternative social order is indeed a heavy responsibility: a world inspired by faith in
God and the higher values of life and fostered by true piety and goodwill for
everyone.
Islam preserved
and perfected in itself the true purpose of all religions which preceded it. By destroying
the impurity of idolatry and restoring the sublime faith in the Lord of mankind, Islam helped to mould purified and refined humans who
strived hard to reflect Divine attributes in their way of being, doing and
living through the centuries. Indeed, like the communities who were bestowed Divine Law in the past, leading
the world on spiritual purification was the heavy responsibility cast on the
shoulders of the Muslim Ummah by the Creator of
the Universe through His best Prophet, the Holy Prophet of Islam, Hazrat
Muhammad Mustafa (sa). Muslims who walked in the path of God became beneficiaries of Divine bounties as they were helped and assisted by God and His angels in their strivings. Indeed, the preservation of the true Faith and real spirituality
is a Divine Promise engraved upon the Holy Qur’an by Allah the Almighty
Himself.
At a
time when severe misfortunes have engulfed the Ummah, and sectarian disputes and violence destroy social peace in several lands, Muslims ought to recognize the extraordinary
magnitude of the task in front of them in the service of their noble Faith: of preserving
the good legacy and fair names of the pious ancestors- by repossessing and
displaying the solid Imaan (faith of
the early Muslims)- in their everyday lives; by being a force for good- enjoining
good and forbidding evil in their own communities wherever they are, Insha Allah, Aameen.
Read the Friday Sermon Below:
Moreover, in this era of moral and spiritual corruption where people have lost their inner compass of righteous living, and consequentially, the world is afflicted with many maladies and calamities of all kinds, Hazrat Saheb points out that it is all the more important for humanity to move away from the frenzy of hedonism and return to its sense of balance and moderation by rediscovering the value of Divine-restraints and other higher values of spiritual realization. To guide human kind through this darkness, the All Merciful Lord, our God, has raised a chosen spiritual guide in our midst. In this context, Hazrat Khalifatullah (aba) in this discourse, once again acknowledges his spiritual mission and Divine mandate, and brings forth to all our collective attention the Divine revelations that were vouchsafed to him almost 14 years ago concerning the appointment of a 'Khalifatullah', the model-exemplar of Faith; the high representative of Allah (swt) in the mantle of the prophets of the past- with all the spiritual titles attached with it, with a view to renew the true legacy of 'Tawhid' and to combat 'Shirk' in all its manifestations, Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah.
By the immense grace of Allah, we have reached the month of Shawwal after 29 or 30 days of fasting and sacrifices in the month of Ramadan.
If Ramadan was a training for all believers to
control and devote themselves more and more in the acts of worship to seek the
forgiveness of our Lord and the opportunities to please Him, then Shawwal is
that month during which the believers are to maintain that promise they made to
Allah in that which they will remain steadfast in His path and walk the way of
humility, simplicity and hold high the place of sacrifice in their lives for
the sake of Allah.
We, Muslims have the foremost duty to be true
to our Islam and Ramadan taught this to us and granted us the time and
opportunity to do so. Allah says in the Holy Quran:
Allah has promised those who
believe and do deeds of righteousness, that for them there is forgiveness and a
great reward. [Al-Maida,
5: 10]
If the Eid was a reward for you, unfortunately not all Muslims around the world get the opportunity to receive the Eid that you receive. So you should be thankful to Allah and strive with your selves and all means that you have to help change the world into a better one.
Yet, the treacherous terrain of Satanic impulses divert man to the aggressive pursuit of material glory and honour, of pride and riches, of power and pelf. When a people or a nation is drunk on the evil and injustice of dominance and of total control, enslavement and oppression of another people inevitably follows. Such a vicious and decadent socio-political-religious order is bound to bite the dust through its internal contradictions when a new, superior order emerges to replace it. This is the law of the rise and fall of nations in the world.
The coming of a Khalifatullah in this context represents a transformative moment when an old order crumples to dust and a new spiritual order takes its place in the world. In the spiritual history of human kind, High representatives of Allah have always been raised amongst almost all nations and peoples. Indeed, It is the pierce light of Divine commandments that help the messengers to guide their people with wisdom and prudence against all odds. It is by obeying Allah and following in the footsteps of the messenger of God that small bands of Divinely-inspired groups outsmart their much larger opponent groups, relying completely upon the Exalted Might of the Lord, and in their own readiness to sacrifice everything in His way. The revolutionary transformation in the spiritual outlook of such wo/men comes about due to the sublime teachings and noble example of the Divine savant in their midst. The larger purpose of the establishment of the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam in this era, with the advent of the Khalifatullah Hazrat Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (aba) of Mauritius, is indicative of the continued vitality and application of the time-tested Divine Law of spiritual revolution, Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah.
Reproduced Below are extracts from the Friday Sermon of 28 May 2021 ~15 Shawwal 1442 AH delivered by Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius.
The Objectives of the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam- 1
The goal of Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam in this world is revolution in governance (This is - one of the meanings of: ‘Arise and Create a New World’).