Thursday, March 31, 2011

The Enduring Blessings of Islam

Most Ahmadis today somehow believe that Allah has abolished the Divine Scheme of sending Mujaddidin in every century to revive the Muslims and to renew their Faith. They consider that sincere believers have to be content with the man-elected Khulafa in the Ahmadiyya Community for all practical purposes and that for the purpose of Divine guidance in future, if any, only an Ahmadiyya can elevated with Divine revelations by Allah (twa). The Divine Prerogative of choosing and selection whoever He wills has come tom an end with the establishment of Ahmadiyya Khilafat- at least, that is what the leaders and the priests within would like common Ahmadis to believe as religious doctirne.

On the other hand, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of Qadian presented Islam as a living faith that produced through the centuries of its existence, countless saints and godly people. More importantly, Hadhrat Ahmad (as) firmly believed that these blessings will certainly continue till the Day of Judgement amongst sincere believers who followed the fundamental teachings of Islam. We are presenting below certain extracts from the writings of Hadhrat Ahmad (as) that affirms the enduring blessings of Islam and points out the mistaken notions of the Shia Muslims in this regard. Reflective Ahmadis will find remarkable lessons in the episode:  
It must be clear to you that when a true seeker lives Islam obediently and completely and each of his faculty truly and automatically follows God’s commands then the overall results of his efforts is that Allah sends signs of guidance to him on a larger scale without any intermediary veils. That is to say that this person will directly experience Allah on a higher level. Many kinds of blessings fall on this person. These commands were accepted due to his faith and because it was obligatory on him.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Mujaddid and the Sign of ‘Laila-tul- Qadr’

The Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as) writes:

Allah gives glad tidings to the faithful in Surah Al Qadr that His prophet and His revelation descended from the heaven during the period of Laila-tul- Qadr (the Night of Decree).

Every Muhaddath and Mujaddid who is commissioned by Allah always appears during the Night of Decree. 

Do you understand what is meant by the Night of Decree? The Night of Decree or the Laila-tul- Qadr is the name of a night when spiritual darkness reaches its ultimate gloom. That gloom, metaphorically, demands a light from heaven for its dissipation. This night is symbolically called the Night of Decree. In fact, it is not a night, but a period, which is referred to as a ‘night’ because of its intense darkness. 

One thousand months is the approximate life span of a human being. It is also a period after which normal human senses ceases to function. The elapse of a period of one thousand months, following the demise of a Prophet or his spiritual successor also signals the commencement of a ‘night’ of darkness. This ‘night’ triggers fervour in the heavens and the seeds of the birth of one or more reformers (Mujaddidin) is stealthily sown. Thus such a Mujaddid or prepare to emerge at the head of the new century. The following verse is also an indication by Allah towards this phenomenon:

           

  “The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months” (Surah Al Qadr, 97:4) .
  
It means that anyone who perceives the blessings of this Night of Decree, or anyone who benefits from the company of the Mujaddid of the age, is better than an eighty year old man who failed to behold this blessed time. Even if he witnessed a single moment of this blessed era, it was better than his past one thousand months. Why is that moment better?

'Khalifatullah' appears with the 'Rooh-ul-Qudus'

The Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as) writes:

“Let it be known that it is the established custom of Allah that whenever a Messenger, a Prophet or an appointed recipient of Divine Revelation is sent for the reformation of mankind, it becomes imperative that he is accompanied by such angels who instill guidance in all loving hearts. They induce the hearts towards goodness.  They continue to descend until the darkness of profanity and corruption gives way to the break of the dawn of faith and truthfulness. The Almighty God says: “The angels and the Spirit descend upon them by the command of their Lord with their Lord’s decrees concerning every matter. It is all peace, till the break of the dawn”. (Surah Al Qadr, 97:5-6) .

So the appearance of the angels and the Holy Spirit only takes place at the advent of a person of distinction, who is dressed in the garb of Khilafat and honored with a direct communion with God. This Khalifa is specially gifted with the Holy Spirit and the angels in attendance are deputed to descend on all pious hearts. The reflection of this heavenly glow falls on people of receptive talent, and consequently the whole world is engulfed in the dazzle of this intense light.    

As a result of the noble influence of the angels, the hearts of such people are voluntarily inclined towards virtuous thoughts and are thus charmed by the concept of the Unity of God. Upright hearts are charged with the inclination towards the search of truth. The spiritually frail are granted fortitude. Everywhere a breeze begins to blow which is supportive to the objectives of the Mujaddid. An invisible hand is beckoning humanity so that they of themselves are hastening towards that reform which will bring out the best of their talents. Mankind is in a state of agitation and stir in anticipation of what is to come.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Heavenly Signs for the Messiah

Heavens and the Earth bear witness when a Messenger of Allah appears on the horizon to call mankind on the path of Allah. According to the Holy Qur’an, eclipses of the sun and the moon are important signs of the approach of the Last Days. The Holy Qur’an says:  He asks: When will be the day of Resurrection? When the eye is dazzled, And the moon is eclipsed, And the sun and the moon are brought together, On that day man will say, whither to escape? (75: 7-11)

In the tradition attributed to the 7th century Imam Muhammad al Baqir, also known as Muhammad bin Ali, it is stated about the appearance of the Al  Imam Al Mahdi: For our Mahdi (Divine Reformer) there are two signs which have never appeared before since the creation of the heavens and the earth, namely the moon will be eclipsed on the first night in Ramadhan and the sun will be eclipsed on the middle day in the same month of Ramadhan, and these signs have not appeared since God created the heavens and the earth Dar Qutni, Vol 1, page 188.

During the time of the Promised Massih (as), the solar and lunar eclipses were observed from Qadian in 1894. Hadhrat Ahmad (as) stated that the eclipses represented heavenly signs in favour of him. He famously asked the people to ponder over the fact that the sign was manifested in his country and that the wisdom of God does not separate the sign from the person for whom the sign is meant. Likewise, Allah has raised Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim (atba) of Mauritius as the Messiah of Allah in the new Century. Countless heavenly signs have appeared on the Mauritian sky in the last decade, bearing witness to the presence of Divine Manifestation in our times. Reflecting on the issue, Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) stated:  'Allah has sent this humble self with lots of heavenly signs and the most flagrant and being a prophecy of both the Holy Qur’an and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) is the eclipse of both the moon and the sun in the same month of Ramadhan back in November 2003 (November 9 and 23). 

At that time (in the Jamaat Ahmadiyya Al Mouslemeen), Allah made me stood up and proclaim that I was the one whose advent is announced through this heavenly sign in our present era, that this sign is for the advent of this humble self. Moreover, during the course of the Divine Manifestation (in its beginning), there were the rare (and frequent at that time) manifestation in the Mauritian Sky of sun-halos or what is also known as full-circle rainbows (October 2002 +, December 2007 etc.). Later on, in 2004 (June 8), scientists from all round the world took Mauritius as a vital centre for the observation of the extremely rare “Once in a lifetime” Venus Transit.

It must be noted also that more than once, the name of Allah has appeared in the Mauritian Sky, and witnessed personally by this humble self along with a group from among my disciples. In addition, twice there has been the witness of the crescent of the moon along with its star (an Islamic symbol), where six months back on 11 September 2010, there have been once again this manifestation in the sky (after Maghrib and Esha prayers), to which I am a personal witness.

Likewise, all round the world there have been manifestation of such like phenomena, so that they act as an eye-opener that all these rare occurrences in this special era (2000-till now – in my times). And now, I am going to prophecy yet another heavenly phenomenon, which is the splitting of the moon into two. Such phenomenon has happened in the times of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saws) and in my times also, such sign shall be witnessed by my friends and foes alike as a proof of my truthfulness as the Chosen Messenger of Allah of this era, the second Muhammad (saws) whose advent has been prophesised in the Holy Qur’an in Chapter 62. This prophecy (moon-splitting) shall be physical and spiritual, both literal and metaphorical.  (Friday Sermon of 25 March 2011).