Faith and Fellowship in Rodrigues

All my Rodriguan brothers and sisters who are present here, Assalamoualaikum Warahmatullah Wabarakaatuhu. I wish to first of all thank you for your presence, and today verily is a historical date: 07 November 2014. We are performing our Friday Sermon in Oyster Bay here in Rodrigues.

And like you all know, my stay here in Rodrigues is for the purpose of seeking a place and also for the construction of our Mosque. And by the grace of Allah, a place has been found, and the construction of the mosque is in progress, but there is also the fact that our opponents of the different religions and from the different sects in Islam are putting obstacles in our works, creating problems so that the construction work of our Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam mosque here in Rodrigues is stopped. It is unfortunate that after doing the necessities for the construction the authorities then reacted differently. It is unfortunate that despite our arrival in Rodrigues, with all the procedures done with the authorities so that we may go forward with the construction project of the mosque and our Mission House here, and to make our Jamaat function and also to have our centre, whereby our brothers and sisters can have a good place for them to perform their Jummah, their programmes and prayers in congregation regularly (therefore there are problems cropping up because of the plans of our opponents).

Another thing I have noticed. When I came here the last time, that is, some months back, I saw the enthusiasm, with the new members etc. But this time around, with this humble self’s presence in Rodrigues, I understood what evil strategies our opponents are using to stop us from propagating the unicity of Allah, to stop our progress. They are making their best in this direction. Therefore those new members who were still weak in faith, whose faith had not had an opportunity to be reinforced in the correct way – and that is why also we need a centre so that someone does this work, to give spiritual education to our members – therefore, the scheming people have seized these opportunities (to brainwash the new members) and unfortunately there are among them people who have left the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam. We have to be frank (reveal the truth). By the reports that we received they have come to know what kind of bad works the opposition have made to influence those people who had left the Jamaat. I need to stress that I am not talking of only one group of people, but this is the work of many who have participated to remove these people from the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam, and we can say also from Islam altogether.

Decadence in Rodrigues society

Therefore, when I analyse all that has transpired in Rodrigues (everything has changed). I used to know Rodrigues well, how its inhabitants were nice, and used to love listening to religious speeches. It was in 1993 that I came to Rodrigues for the first time, and this continued till the year 2000. Rodrigues was a very quiet place (island). There used to be no fear to stay here. You could leave the house peacefully, leave the door open and nobody would enter to steal. We did not also hear about crimes and violence.

“I Believe”: Zafrullah Khan’s Faith

“I believe that subordinate prophets will continue to arise in Islam when mankind strays from the path of righteousness and needs divine revelation. It is necessary that, as the pattern of human life develops, mankind should have a living example set before them of a life utterly pure and devoted to the service of God and man”.

 -Sir Zafrullah Khan Sahib (ra) on American Radio Speech, in 1950

Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khan Sahib (ra) (1893-1985), arguably one of the greatest public figures to have emerged among the followers and disciples of the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as), stated these ringing words in a context where he was explaining his inner most spiritual convictions and beliefs as a devout Muslim. In the 1950’s, the US radio service CBS invited Sir Zafrullah Khan Sahib, who at that time was the Foreign Minister of Pakistan with a formidable reputation of being a preeminent leader-statesman of the Muslim world, to deliver this address in the series on “This, I believe”. This speech was rebroadcast almost sixty years later on The Bob Edwards Show on July 23, 2010 and is now publically available on You Tube and also in Ahmadi media networks. 

This special speech of Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khan (ra) is a public testimonial of his deeply held spiritual convictions and as such, it beautifully captures the sum and substance of the faith that the Promised Massih (as) had taught all his life and left behind as his spiritual legacy for all his followers and disciples. All members of the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya need to ruminate and profoundly ponder over the ringing words of this great ambassador of the Ahmadiyya community.  

For the benefit of our Ahmadi readers, many of whom have been misguided by their current leaders and scholars with the notion that “Ummati-Nubuwwat’ in Islam has been replaced by a system of man-elected man or ‘Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya’, we reproduce below the transcript text and audio of the Speech.  

Spiritual Balm for the Diseases of the Heart

“Oh mankind! There has come unto you an exhortation from your Lord, a balm for that which is in the breasts, a guidance and a mercy for believers.” (10: 58).

Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah, My Rab (Lord, Allah) has given me this opportunity in my Friday Sermon of today to explain the remedies for diseases of the heart (7^th Part: “The Heart”). 

Note that cure and remedies of the diseased hearts lie only in obedience to the Quran and in pure and perfect Iman (faith); you can analyse and try to understand that Allah the Exalted says in the verse of Chapter Yunus which I have recited in the beginning of my sermon after Surah Al-Fatiha.

The Quran is a cure for that ignorance of the heart. Ignorance is a much more fatal disease to the heart in comparison to sicknesses of the body. Diseases of the heart are bad character, evil beliefs, destructive and ignorant customs, etc. The Quran is a salutary healer of all these diseases, for it embraces, advices, admonishes, gives warnings, encouragement, etc. Thus, the cure and healer for the disease of the heart is the Quran. 

Yaum-e-Ashura: Remembering Imam Hussein

My sermon will be on the Islamic month; especially the 10^th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic Calendar which is the Yaum-e-Ashura. It is an historical date and deeply memorable in Islam whereby lots of events, in addition to the one at Karbala, took place in the past, and also whereby other events will take place in the future. It is a day which is full of the blessings and on this day, Allah accepts and fulfils prayers made with sincerity. It is recommended to obtain a fast on this day and also one on either the eve or the next day of the Ashura.

On the day of Ashura, perform Ghusl (a complete bath); trim your nails, put on clean clothes and enable yourself to enter a state of Ibaadat (worship of Allah). On this day, besides the obligatory prayers, do some recitations of the Holy Quran, then read two cycles of voluntary prayers by reciting in each cycle after the Surah Al-Fatiha, ten times the Surah Al-Ikhlaas (Qul Huwallaaho Ahad…); After the prayer, read one time the Verse of the Throne (Ayatul Qursi) and nine times the Darood Ibrahim (which we read daily in our Salaat); afterwards ask of Allah whatever you want (which is permissible in the eyes of Allah). Invoke Him with sincerity!

Hazrat Muhammad (Peace & Blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “On the day of Ashura, the one who reads four voluntary cycles of prayer, and in each cycle, after the Surah Al-Fatiha reads eleven times Surah Al-Ikhlaas, Allah forgives him all his sins and will build for him an illuminated minbar.” This form of prayer purifies a believer from all his sins, and elevates him in his faith, and attracts on him the blessings of Allah. It is recommended to observe two fasts, that is, the 9^th and the 10^th day of Muharram. Hazrat Muhammad (Peace & Blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “After the obligatory fasting of Ramadhan, comes the greatness of the Ashura fast, and the latter wash away the sins of the preceding year.” It is also highly recommended on this day to perform other forms of worship to seek the pleasure of Allah, for example: to help the needy people in any way, to feed the poor, give away Sadqua (charity), etc.

The 10^th of Muharram will always remain engraved in the mind of each and every Muslim so that they may always remember the drastic days which befell upon Hazrat Imam Hussein.