Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Muhammad: 'Khatam-an-Nabiyyin'

 

The Advent of the Seal of all Prophets, Muhammad (pbuh)

 

'O our Lord, send among them a Messenger from among themselves, who will recite to them Your Verses [revelations], teach them Your Book and Wisdom, and purify them. Indeed, You are the Exalted in Might, the Wise.'  (Al-Baqara 2: 130)

  

Hazrat Ibrahim (as) and Hazrat Isma’il (as) made a profound supplication, which Allah has mentioned in the Holy Quran, to endure until the Day of Judgement, and which gives the good news of the advent of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) as an answer to their prayer.

Thursday, September 19, 2024

Life of Hazrat Musa (as)

 

The Messengers of Allah


'The Messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and so do the believers. They believe in Allah, His angels, His Books, and His messengers. (They proclaim) “We make no distinction between any of His messengers.” And they say, “We hear and obey. (We seek) Your forgiveness, our Lord! And to You (alone) is the final return.” (Al-Baqara 2: 286)

 

Today, by the grace of Allah, I continue my series of sermons on the Prophets and Messengers of Allah. Last week, I spoke about how the Bani Isra’il found themselves in Egypt and how, over time, they became slaves under the tyrannical rule of the Pharaohs.

 

It was during that period that Allah planned to send Hazrat Musa (as) to warn Pharaoh so that he might reform. Allah narrates the life of Hazrat Musa (as) and his teachings in 22 Surahs of the Quran, with the most detailed accounts of his life and mission as a prophet found in 5 Surahs, namely: Surah Al-Araf, Surah Taha, Surah Ash-Shu’ara, Surah Al-Qasas, and Surah Ghafir (Al-Muminun).

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

'Karma' and 'Kifarah'

  

‘Are you rewarded for anything except what you have done?’ [27:92]

 

Whoever comes before God with a good deed will receive a better reward; whoever comes with an evil deed will be punished only for what he has done.’ (28:85)

 

‘He does not wrong anyone by as much as the weight of a speck of dust: He doubles any good deed and gives a tremendous reward of His own. (4:41)

  

In Hinduism and Buddhism, ‘Karma’ is the ‘sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.’ Many people believe in ‘Karma’ leading to multiple reincarnations in different states of existence before the human soul finds ultimate salvation. However, ‘Karma’, in general, is about good luck or bad fate; viewed as resulting from one’s actions.

 

From an Islamic perspective, we humans live only once in this world, and when we die, we leave forever from this world, only to give an account of our deeds on the Day of Resurrection and Judgement: man’s eventual fate is essentially linked to his own actions. On the Day of Judgement, man’s soul will testify on all deeds- good, or bad- to receive the true and enduring reward of Paradise, or the Fire of Hell as a consequence of one’s record of deeds.

Monday, September 16, 2024

Questions for Ahmadi Maulvis

 

To protect people of the Faith from doctrinal confusion and Satanic deviations and to preserve and guide them in the subtle and abstruse path of pure spirituality, Islam offers the prospects of perpetual Divine guidance through the advent of Divinely- imbued souls as servants of Faith in every era of Islam. In spiritual terminology, the Divinely-raised Reviver of the Faith is a true son, spiritual heir and successor to the Holy Prophet (sa), and he renews the true teachings of the Faith as it were in the days of the Prophet (sa) in a new century of Islam. Indeed, an appointed one of God when he is commissioned by the Lord Almighty with a spiritual mission of renewal and reform of the Ummah is known as a ‘Muhyiuddin’, ‘Mujaddid’, ‘Khalifatullah’, ‘Waliullah’, ‘Ma’mur-min-Allah’, ‘Ummati- Nabi’, ‘Imam Mahdi’, etc.    

 

 

Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya, established by the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi of the previous era, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of Qadian, way back in 1889, is deeply rooted in the Islamic spiritual tradition of perpetual divine guidance. Like the Mujaddidin of Islam who appeared in all parts of the Islamic world over the millennium and more of Islamic history, Hazrat Mirza Saheb claimed to be a recipient of Divine communion and special messages with a view to reforming the Ummah of all its doctrinal confusions and divisions so as to renew the days of the Holy Prophet (sa) as a living, thriving religion in the Later Days. Furthermore, as for the future, the Promised Messiah (as) clarified in no uncertain terms that Allah (swt) will continue to raise Mujaddidin in every century as a favour of Divine Grace and Mercy and Favour upon the Muslim Ummah till the Day of Judgement.