Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Prophecy on Disasters in Mauritius


ISLAM theorises that the clear knowledge of the unseen is only given to His chosen Messengers. The Holy Qur’an confirms: “He is the Knower of the unseen, and He does not grant anyone ascendency over His domain of the unseen, Except him whom He chooses as His Messenger. And in front of him and at the back of him march angels as sentinels.”  [Surah Al-Jinn, 72: 27-28]. Thus, Allah the Almighty raises His Chosen Messenger in every era to warn the people about their excesses, shake their conscience about their irresponsible behaviours and greed and to take precaution against terrible events waiting to unfold as a consequence of what their hands have earned. The Holy Qur’an testifies: “We never punish until We have sent a Messenger” [Surah Bani Isra’il, 17:16].

When the All Powerful, Almighty, Allah raises His Divine Messenger, heaven and the earth will bear witness to the truth of the Messenger. His veracity and truthfulness will be established through powerful signs. Consequentially, heavenly signs may appear, illuminating the whole sky in a flash, or the earth may tremble so powerfully as to turn everything over it upside down! In this age of climate change, people have neglected the ecological insights of the Holy Qur’an. The theology of ecology that Islam teaches has been completely ignored by the ‘Muslims’ themselves. The abuse and mistreatment of the environment is beginning to catch up with us, everywhere in the world. The effects of human greed, environmental degradation and irresponsible exploitation of natural resources overwhelm communities with death and devastation on a colossal scale.

On 30 December 2012, the Khalifatullah Hazrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib made some predictions for the year 2013 during the reading of the second part of his Appraisal of Events 2012. It is to be recorded that the following has been fulfilled:

Monday, April 1, 2013

The Prophecy on ‘Qamaran Munira'

Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), the Promised Massih and Mahdi of Islam was vouchsafed many glad tidings and Divine Prophecies regarding the brilliant and successful future of his physical and spiritual progeny. The spiritual progeny of the Promised Massih (as), who shall speak with the Holy Spirit, will spread the message of Islam to the ends of the earth and the victory of the Divine Path over all other material ideologies will take shape under their hands. Among the Ahmadi Muslims, there is no doubt or difference on this basic postulate, though the believers differ among themselves on the interpretation and application of this general principle. Among the prophecies vouchsafed to the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as) in this regard include the following:  

“He gave me the glad tidings: you shall have a son,
Who shall one day become My darling.
I shall dispel all darkness through this Moon,
And demonstrate the transformation of a world;
It’s not just a glad tiding, but it is the very sustenance of my soul,
Holy is He who disgraced the enemies!”                                             
                                   - [ DURR-E-THAMIN, p. 50; Essence of Islam, Vol. V, p.51 ]

“THE MOON OF PROPHETS SHALL COME, and your task shall be accomplished. A son will be born to you and Divine grace shall be brought closer to you. In other words, he will be the source of Divine Grace…” -[TIRYAQ-UL-QULUB, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol.15, p.220; Essence of Islam, Vol. V, p.51]

Sunday, March 31, 2013

The Festival of Easter : Religion, Myth and History


Across the world, the Christian communities today are celebrating the Festival of Easter. The religious practice of Easter seeks to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ (as). The rituals and traditions that make up this festival have interesting origins in the ancient world. In other words, the lineage of the present festival and associated rituals can be traced back to the pagan worship norms of ancient communities. As it happened, the pagan practices were adapted and modified and transformed to a ‘Christian’ milieu. It is apparent that to accommodate the deviations from the original message of Jesus (as), much theological engineering was done to reshape and reconstruct the belief systems within Christianity as well.  In his Friday Sermon of 29 March 2013, the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius throws searching light on the pagan origins of these Christian religious practices by drawing upon the studies and writings of Christian scholars.  

Read the Extracts from the Friday Sermon:

Easter is a day that is honoured by nearly all of contemporary Christianity and is used to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Hazrat Isa (as)). Christian believes that Jesus (as) rose again from the dead three days and three nights after he was crucified. The holiday often involves a church service at sunrise, a feast which includes an “Easter Ham”, decorated eggs and stories about rabbits. Free thinking Christian scholars in bewilderment have often questioned all these incongruous activities. Why rabbits? Why not a puppy or any other animals? Rabbits do not lay eggs, why not orange or onions etc., because they also roll. Why are these traditions so ingrained in Easter Sunday? And what do they have to do with the resurrection of Jesus?

Thursday, March 28, 2013

The Elixir of Truth in Divine Prophecies


March 23 is an important date in the modern history of spiritual Islam. It was on this Day in 1889 that the the Jamaat-e- Ahmadiyya was established by the Promised Massih Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of Qadian. [Inset: a photo from the 2005 Jalsa Salana at Qadian, which the present writer attended]. He initiated the Bai’at Programme through which devout Muslims could express their allegiance to the Divine appointee. In a special speech to mark the occasion on Saturday, 23 March 2013 the Chosen Messenger of our times, the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius spoke at length about the sacred, foundational prophecies that undergird the belief about the coming of Divine Messengers/Massihs’/Mahdis’ in the Latter Days of Islam. The speech beautifully captures the essence of Divine prophecies foretold in the sacred writings of Muslims, Christians and the seers of other religious. It demonstrates how these prophecies have been fulfilled in the times of the Promised Massih (as) and also reflects on their contemporary significance. The spiritual outlook regarding the continuity of Divine revelations and the appearance of Divine Messengers in future, who will speak with the Holy Spirit, as emerging from the writings of the Promised Massih (as) and as discussed in the speech must be of special interest to devout Ahmadis.   

Read the Extracts from the Speech:

Today 23 March 2013 establishes 124 years since an event took place in the once unknown small village – Qadian – situated in the province of Punjab in India. It was an event destined to change the course of history. In Islamic literature, the Quran predicts a thousand years during which Islam will suffer an extraordinary decline.

“He regulates His command from the heaven to the earth; then shall it ascend to Him in a day the measure of which is a thousand years of what you count.” (As-Sajdah 32: 6).

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) has predicted that this decline will not begin until three hundred years after his advent: “The best century is the one in which I live, then the second and the third will be good, afterwards lies will spread, truth shall disappear; cruelty, excesses, differences and divergences shall appear”. (Miskat, Bukhari & Tirmidhi).