A Prayer under Divine Inspiration

O Allah! Give me success in my supplications,

And show me my days of joys.

O my Lord,

Be for me,

And O the Knower of my pain and sadness,

O the One whom the weak ones adore,

Purify me and adopt a lenient attitude towards me.

All the opponents have renounced me and have humiliated me in all sorts of ways,

I did not have any other alternative which presented to me,

Than to go in quest of Thy help and support.

O the One who fulfils prayers,

I have complete hope that Thou will give me back my days.

When my Sun is preparing itself to set and my heart has become tired with worry,

I take an oath on Thee O Allah that my supplications are not because I am behind fame and glory;

No! But instead it is for Islam which the enemies are attacking.

The sun has set on Islam and Ahmadiyyat and there is darkness everywhere.

O my Lord! Have Mercy upon us and accept my supplications.

‘Shaqqul Qamar’: Miracle of Islam

'The Hour draws near; the Moon is split. Yet whenever the disbelievers see a sign, they turn away and say, ‘Same old sorcery!’  (Surah Qamar, 54: 2-3)

In the Islamic sacred tradition, this verse of the Qur’an is generally associated with a special miracle of the Holy Prophet of Islam (sa), known widely as the event of “Shaqqul Qamar”, or the ‘splitting’ of the Moon. There are several Ahadith that confirms the miracle. The authenticity of these traditions are beyond reproach as the transmission chains and channels pertaining to them go all the way to the great companions of the Holy Prophet (sa), such as Ibn Abbas, Anas bin Malik, Abdullah bin Masud and others. The traditions on the subject can be seen in all the major collections of Ahadith: Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, etc. 

For instance, in Sahih Al Bukhari, one can read several traditions being reported on Shaqqul Qamar:

1.  Narrated Abdullah bin Masud: "During the lifetime of the Prophet the moon was split into two parts and on that the Prophet said, 'Bear witness (to thus).'"

2.  Narrated Anas:  "That the Meccan people requested Allah's Apostle to show them a miracle, and so he showed them the splitting of the moon."

3. Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: "The moon was split into two parts during the lifetime of the Prophet." (Volume 4, Book No:56,  Traditions: 830-832)

4. Narrated Anas bin Malik: "The people of Mecca asked Allah's Apostle to show them a miracle. So he showed them the moon split in two halves between which they saw the Hiram' mountain."

5. Narrated 'Abdullah: "The moon was split ( into two pieces ) while we were with the Prophet in Mina. He said, "Be witnesses." Then, a Piece of the moon went towards the mountain."

6. Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas: "During the lifetime of Allah's Apostle the moon was split (into two places)."

7.  Narrated 'Abdullah: "The moon was split (into two pieces)."  (Volume 5, Book No:58,  Traditions: 208-211)

Hadhrat Ali (ra) is reported to have affirmed to have heard the account from several persons that once a number of polytheists came to the Prophet Muhammed (sa), and said, 'If you claim to be a prophet, split the moon which is now in the sky into two parts.'

Gambling and other Betting Games

Nowadays gambling has taken extraordinary dimensions and is setting to destroy all in its path. It does not differentiate between nations and religions. Nowadays, those who proclaim to be Muslims are also not spared from this affliction, this satanic attraction. Therefore, stop with gambling habits before calamities from Allah strikes you.

Islam is a religion which seeks to make you follow the established divine commandments, such commandments which are addressed not only to the believers but also to whole humanity. Allah has established the need for you to seek your daily bread (food) and that you obtain money through licit means. As for gambling, hazard games like lotteries, horse betting, “household baskets”, card games, casinos, and lotto etc., all these force people to depend on chance, and give them a false hope to get easy money, such money which if obtained are without making any efforts and through illicit means. Those who fall prey to this do not respect the divine principles to seek one’s living. Islam is a religion which works beautifully. It has established each thing in its own place, and thus established that the riches of others are not licit for us.

It is not allowed for one to take something except through licit means and seeking the permission and consent of the proprietor. Gambling means taking other’s money through the garb of falsehood, through dishonest means. Allah has forbidden this in His Holy Book (the Quran):

“And do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly or send it (in bribery) to the rulers in order that (they might aid) you (to) consume a portion of the wealth of the people in sin, while you know (it is unlawful).” (2: 189)

Eclipses in Ramadan: A Great Sign

‘When eyes are dazzled;

And the moon eclipsed;

when the sun and the moon

are brought together’.

       - The Holy Qur'an, 75: 8-10 

One of the greatest signs in favour of the claims of Hazrat Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius as the Divinely-raised Reformer (Muhyi-ud-Din/Mujaddid) of this age is the total eclipse of the Sun and the Moon in the same Holy Month of Ramadan 1424, in November 2003.

According to the available scientific information on both total and partial eclipses over the millennium, the total eclipses of November 2003 are such a rare heavenly sign.  In the last 1400 years of the Islamic history, the total eclipses of the Sun and the Moon in the same Ramadan has occurred only very few occasions that they can be counted on our human fingers. In November 2003 when the total eclipses took place, it was occurring only the seventh time in 1400 years of Islamic history! And the next occasion is so distant that no one alive on the face of earth today will be around to witness the same astronomical phenomenon, when it occurs again in the second half of the next century!

On the other hand, partial eclipses of the Moon and the Sun can occur together in the same Holy Month at an interval of every 22 or 23 years, a fact confirmed by the great Ahmadi astronomer Dr. Saleh Muhammad Allahdin Sahib as well.  Leaving the whole millennium of Islam, in the 19th century itself, the partial eclipses of the Sun and the Moon have occurred together in the same Ramadan 9 times. It was one of such occurrences in 1894 that formed the backdrop of the claim of the Promised Massih Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of Qadian. The ‘rarity’ in that case was that there was a Divine claimant at that point of time and that such a heavenly phenomenon was visible from Qadian after many centuries. Regarding the significance of the Heavenly Signs in support of the claims of a Divine Reformer, the Promised Massih (as) was very clear about the scope and limits of the Prophecy of double eclipses in the same Ramadan and he states:

‘We are not concerned with how often solar and lunar eclipses have occurred in the month of Ramazan from the beginning of the world till today. Our aim is only to mention that from the time man has appeared in this world, solar and lunar eclipses have occurred as Signs only in my age for me. Prior to me, no one had this circumstances that on one hand he claimed to be Mahdi Maoud (The Promised Reformer) and on the other, in the month of Ramazan, on the appointed dates, lunar and solar eclipses occurred and he declared the eclipses as signs in his favour.

State of the World and the Celestial Signs

A Divine Mission in an age of raw passions

By the grace of Allah, throughout the years in which God dipped me in the fountain of His Divine Manifestation, He has taught me lots of things of which I never knew before. He taught me the languages of the birds and also of His beautiful creations of earth. All through the years, through His eyes, I have felt cherished in a special cocoon: Divine Love. He made me into an Adam (as) to reach out to people and make them understand the philosophy of life and living for a special purpose: the worship of one God.

Among the things He showed me is the need for peace, not only at our inner level, but also at world level. Through the inspirations He vouchsafed me, He taught me that the real cause of human strife and wars is due to selfishness, on one hand and the sacrilege of God’s remembrance and association to God in His Pure and Only Divinity, on the other. When people let go of the thread of unity, of sincerity and spirituality and preferred to indulge in self-interest, and when he forgot to act according to the divine laws, and forget to respect the rights of others, in the same go, he showed to himself the way down to hell; a hell of his very own creation.

Gone are the harmony and concord he should have gotten had he held fast to the commandments of God and act decently in the best interest of one and all. The respect he should have had for his neighbours, friends, surroundings, and his very own family, had he acted upon this respect and defended the spiritual values bestowed to him since the creation of the heavens and earth, he should have been successful in opening the secret door leading him to God.

Ilham: “Diamond will cut diamond”

Future: Riches and people

In his testamentary will, known among the Ahmadis simply as the Al Wassiyat, the Promised Massih (as) indicated in profoundly subtle language, the future trajectories, his Jamaat, and especially the administrative mandarins within it, shall pass through in the ebb and flow of time when he wrote about the larger challenge awaiting it in the time of riches:  

“Where will the money come from? And how will such a community be born- a community of people willing to perform heroic feats for their faith? These are not the questions that worry me. I am more concerned that people coming after me may stumble when entrusted with such large amounts of wealth and that they may take to the love of this world”.  

     

  -Hadhrat Ahmad (as) [ Al Wassiyat,  p.28, Qadian: Nazarat Nashro Ishaat, (2003) ]

The Conditional Continuity

In 1939, the establishment of the Jamaat e-Ahmadiyya completed its 50^th anniversary, since the first Bai’at was initiated by the Promised Massih (as) in March 1889. Speaking at the Annual Jalsa at Qadian that year, Hadhrat Khalifa Sani (ra) famously observed:

“…O Community of believers, and O workers of righteousness, I say to you that Khilafat is a great bounty of God Almighty. Value it as such. So long as the majority of you continue established in faith and righteous conduct, God will continue to bestow this bounty upon you. But should a majority of you be deprived of faith and righteous conduct, then, it will be for the Divine will to determine whether to continue this bounty or to withdraw it. Thus, there is no question of the Khalifa going wrong. You will be deprived of the Khilafat when you yourselves become corrupt.”

[1939 Dec 28-29-Proceedings of the Annual Conference at Qadian, quoted in “Fazl-e Umar”: The Life of Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad Khalifatul Masih II , p. 234, by Mujeebur Rahman, London: Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya, UK (2012).

The ‘Deconstruction’ of Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya

The noted French philosopher Professor Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) famously argued that every philosophical, religious and social institution, no matter how framed and secure it seems, is never fully complete and self-sufficient by itself. Instead the system depends on non-systematisable elements that produce and sustain the system's very possibility. If we are to understand the true nature of power and authority being exercised by the institutional elites through privileged interpreations, the demystification and deconstruction of the ideas, values and meanings that are embedded in the system is inevitable and unavoidable.     

In the Islamic religious order, the idea of Divine revelations and the possibility of Divine Reformers appearing in every century is central to any discussion on the continuing vitality of Islam as an ethical way of living and being for individual believers. Against this backdrop, the description of the Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya as a complete way of institutional life for all times to come hangs on a precarious hope. The idea that the man-elected Khalifa will remain immune from injustice and that the Ahmadis may not stumble in course of time and that they will protect themselves against the onslaught of moral corruption had been belied by the experience of history and the incidents of our own times.   

The Restatement of Islam for Our Times

Angels and Divine Revelations

Angels are a part of Allah’s creation, they do what they are commanded, they depend on Allah in the same way as men or His other creatures. Allah is not dependent on them for the manifestation of His power. Had He willed, He would have created the universe without angels, but His perfect wisdom willed their creation. So angels came into being. Allah created light for the eye and bread for hunger. He created light and bread not because He was in need of them but because man was in need of them. The angels only manifest the will and wisdom of Allah. 

Divine Revelations are words and instructions from Allah and Allah speaks to His chosen servants and reveals to them His purpose. The recipient provides neither the meaning nor the words of revelation. Both come from Allah. Revelation provides real sustenance for man. Man lives by it and through it, man comes to have contact with Allah. The words, which embody a revelation of God, are unique in their power and majesty. No man can coin such words. They carry treasures of knowledge and wisdom, and they are very deep in meaning. They are like a mine the stone of which is the more valuable the deeper you dig. Indeed, a mine is nothing compared with divine revelation. A mine can be exhausted, but not the wisdom of divine revelation.

Divine Revelation is like a sea with a scented surface and a bed strewn with the most precious pearls. Those, who turn to the surface, enjoy the fragrance of the surface, and those, who dive deep, find the pearls below. Revelation is of many kinds, sometimes it consists of ordinances and laws, sometimes of exhortations. Sometimes it brings knowledge of the unseen, sometimes knowledge of spiritual truths. Sometimes it conveys the goodwill and approval of Allah, sometimes His disapproval and displeasure, sometimes His love and regard, sometimes warnings and rebukes. Sometimes it teaches points in morals, sometimes His insight into secret evils. In short, our belief is that God communicates His will to His servants. These communications vary with circumstance and the spiritual status of the recipient.

Spiritual Darkness and the Mahdis (the Guided Ones)

When darkness prevails in the world and human beings sink deep in sin and evil, when without the help of God it becomes difficult for them to release themselves from the hold of Satan, then out of His mercy and beneficence, Allah chooses from out of His own loving and loyal servants, those whom He charges with the duty to guide the world.