Text Box: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم Friday Sermon HAZRAT AMIR’UL MOMENEEN MUHYI-UD-DIN AL KHALIFATULLAH Munir Ahmad Azim 26 March 2010 (10 Rabi’ul Aakhir 1431 Hijri) (Summary of Friday Sermon) After having greeted everybody with the Salutations of Peace, the Khalifatullah read the Tashahhud, Taouz and Surah Al Fatiha and then he said: I wish to remind our members, that today for the Jummah, among us we have our brothers and sisters of the Gentil and Hortense family who came from Rodrigues and are members of the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam (they came to assist also the several programs in the vent of the celebration of the Massih Maoud Day). They are those people who had the immense divine grace to take the Baiat (oath of allegiance) and assist the different functions, Jummahs and Jalsa Salana held in Rodrigues last year, and they are by the grace of Allah still faithful with the Jamaat. May Allah reinforce their faith all the more and make them firm and steadfast on the “Siraatwal Mustaqiim” (the right path). Insha-Allah, Ameen. I now proceed with today’s Sermon, in the event of the Massih Maoud Day celebration, and my Sermon is based on the same subject: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (on him be peace) was born in India in a little village called Qadian on the 13 February 1835. He came into this world along with a twin sister named Jannat who died some days later. At the age of 40 he began receiving divine revelations and prophetic visions. Despite the fact that Hazrat Ahmad (on him be peace) was chosen by Allah as the Reformer of the age in 1882, he nevertheless hesitated to take the oath of allegiance from his adherents. It was only on the 23 March 1889, under divine orders that he invited the world to Ludhiana to bind themselves with him in a spiritual bond, the oath of allegiance. He had been clearly guided by Allah through this revelation: “When you have made up your mind you must trust in God. Make an ark under Our eyes, and under Our command. Those who will take the oath of allegiance at your hands will really be giving their hands into the Hand of God. The Hand of God is over their hands.” On the 12 January 1889 he published a pamphlet wherein he detailed the conditions of the oath of allegiance for all those who wanted to join the Movement. On 4 March 1889, Hazrat Ahmad (on him be peace) published another pamphlet at Ludhiana and after some days, he came back in his natal village of Qadian and stayed at a companion’s place, Sufi Ahmad Jaan. In the second announcement he mentioned the purpose of the oath of allegiance and the purpose of founding a community of believers who shall manifest the glory of Allah, His power and majesty. This community will have therein sincere people who through their deeds will guide others to become sincere and bring about a blessed change in the world throughout. On 23 March 1889, he gave his first oath of allegiance (Baiat) in the house of Sufi Ahmad Jaan, in a small room which is today known as the ‘Place of Baiat’. That day, 40 people made the pact of allegiance with him, and among them were ladies, and one of these ladies was the wife of Hazrat Nur-ud-Din (May Allah be pleased with him). Her name was Sughra Begum. When he founded the Ahmadiyya Community and took from his adherents the oath of allegiance on the 23 March 1889, it is only in 1891 that he received divine orders to proclaim himself the Messiah and Mahdi of the time. It was on this occasion when he said: “I am the light of this dark era; the one who follows me will be saved from all obscurities and dangers which there will be on his path. Allah has sent me to guide man towards the true God with peace and patience. My mission is that I must reaffirm your faith and prove the existence of Allah, for faith has been lost and you all (the world) have lost their trust in Allah.” He said also that “Jesus also saw the Jews in the same state of spiritual decadence and I also am seeing yours.” What is moreover interesting is that the Promised Messiah (on him be peace) in his declaration has clearly stated the purpose of his mission and objective of his Movement, that Allah wants that he founds a community of believers to manifest His glory and power. Allah shall make this community expand so that He established the love of Allah, righteousness, purity, piety, peace and goodness amongst the people. Allah will reinforce you with the Holy Spirit and He shall bless you, like He promised that thousands of people shall join your rank. He shall be guardian over you and assure you in your progress, which shall amaze the world. He said that among you (the Ahmadi Muslims) there shall be people who will be spiritually elevated and shall become the Chosen ones of Allah till the Day of Judgement. This is a decree of Allah the Almighty; He does what He pleases! A companion of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (on him be peace), Hazrat Mir Muhammad Ismail said that the Promised Messiah (on him be peace) was very kind, with a gentle temperament. He readily forgave others and covered the faults of people. He was humble, loyal, and simple and had lots of love for Allah and his master the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). He held respect for all saints and great personalities in the history of Islam. He used to keep his word; he had dignity and was very firm in the decisions he took. He had a smiling and open face. Verily, he was such a light which illumined the world for its own good and one can describe him as like a gentle rain which falls after years of drought. Allah sent the Promised Messiah (on him be peace), blessed him with a blessed physique which attracted the hearts of all those who looked at him. He was of whitish complexion, with black hair, full beard, brown eyes with long eyelashes. His face used to shine from time to time like pure gold. Once there was a debate between Hazrat Ahmad (on him be peace) and the Christians. The latter told him that if he succeeded in curing the blind, handicapped and deaf like did Jesus, then they would be convinced that he was the Promised Messiah. Upon hearing this, Hazrat Ahmad (on him be peace) replied them as thus “It is in Christian books that it is mentioned that Jesus has cured the handicapped etc. But I don’t believe in this, but rather I am convinced that the Christians believe firmly in this and I believe that they read the Bible and know very well what answer Jesus gave to his disciples. Had he not say that even it be that their faith be a small as a mustard grain, they also would be able to cure the blind, dumb, deaf etc. simply if they pass their hands over them?” Hazrat Ahmad (on him be peace) then said, “Now the moment has come to prove your faith and if your succeed I shall admit to (the truthfulness of your perception) of Christianity.” The Christians realized that they have fallen into a great trap and all three of them left the debate and went away. Hazrat Ahmad (on him be peace) wrote a Book entitled ‘Sat Bachan’. In this book he counter-attacked the Arya Samaj on the person of Baba Nanak. He said that the message of Baba Nanak which was mentioned in Granth Sahib was the truth but that later on, writers interpolated these writings and added their ideas. In this book, Hazrat Ahmad (on him be peace) discovered several relics belonging to Baba Nanak and he proved that Baba Nanak was a devoted Muslim. What is more important is that his cloak was known as ‘Chola Sahib’. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (on him be peace) went to Dera Baba Nanak at Gurdaspur and he asked to see the cloak of Baba Nanak. After some hesitations, the guard relented and went to look for the silver key which give access to the place where the cloak is preserved. This cloak was enveloped in some 300 covers made of silk, cotton and fine clothes, and one by one they had to lift them to finally see the cloak. It took for about one hour to achieve this job. When the Promised Messiah (on him be peace) saw the cloak, he was overjoyed for he discovered what he had been looking for. On the cloak there was written: “There is no god to be worshipped except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.” Moreover, there was written the Chapter Al-Fatiha among other verses of the Holy Quran. All these verses were embroidered on the cloak. Hazrat Ahmad (on him be peace) said that there were other reasons why Baba Nanak was to be considered a Muslim Saint. He once saw Guru Baba Nanak in a vision and talked with him. Baba Nanak told him that he is a Muslim and that Islam is the true religion. Towards the end of 1891, Nazeer Hussein invited Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (on him be peace) in a Mosque to answer to some questions. His intention behind this invite was to instigate the crowd of 5000 of his partisans against the Promised Messiah. These people were armed with knives and stones to attack the Promised Messiah (on him be peace) and those who would be accompanying him. Fortunately by the grace of Allah the police reached on time to prevent this. The story of Red Drops happened on 10 July 1885. After having finished his Fajr prayers, Hazrat Ahmad (on him be peace) went to lie down on a Charpoy (a small wooden bed) in a room besides the Mubarak Mosque. Abdullah Sanauri was with him to massage his feet and he related the event, saying that this happened on Friday the 27 Ramadan: “I was meditating on the great blessings upon myself when I saw the body of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) trembled suddenly. Hazrat Ahmad (peace be upon him) laid his eyes on me, thereupon I saw that Hazrat Ahmad (peace be upon him) had eyes filled with tears. A little later I saw a drop of red liquid on his feet, just below his ankles, and they appeared to have freshly fallen. I have touched it with a finger of my right hand, and then I smelled it, but there was no smell of any kind. Then I noticed another important stain on his shirt over his ribs. This too was also fresh. I stood quietly and looked everywhere to find the source or cause of these drops. The room was very small and had a low ceiling and I searched every nook and cranny in order to fully satisfy myself but I did not find visible traces that could cause red drops. So I went again to sit on the charpoy (little wooden bed) again and began to massage the feet of Hazrat Ahmad (peace be upon him). After a while he got up, went out into the mosque. I followed him there and sat behind him to massage his shoulders. I asked him questions about the drops but he responded with indifference. I asked again the same question. Thereupon Hazrat Ahmad (peace be upon him) asked me what I meant by that. I indicated to him his shirt. He looked at me and then explained briefly the phenomenon of Kashf (Vision), by which things seen in a vision actually materialise in the physical world. What had happened was narrated by Hazrat Ahmad (peace be upon him) as follows: “While in a vision in a state of awareness, I saw a big beautiful building. There was a sofa on which sat an imposing figure. It was God Himself. I thought to myself, being a humble officer in the court of God. I wrote some decrees which I set before the Almighty for His signatures. He asked me to sit on the couch with deep affection and fatherly love. Then he dipped His pen in red ink, shook a little, and then signed the papers. The red drops that you see are those which fell from His pen, when He shook it.” The Promised Messiah (on him be peace) asked me to see if drops have fallen on my clothes or my cap, and to my delight, I saw a drop on my own cap as well. I was deeply touched and impressed by this mysterious phenomenon. I asked Hazrat Ahmad (peace be upon him) to give me the shirt that had the red drops. He hesitated a little, fearing that in the future, his followers might take this as an object of worship. Finally, the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) relented on the condition that the shirt be buried with me when I die.” Once there was an inhabitant of Mardan who learnt that there was a great physician in Qadian. He therefore came to Qadian for treatment with Hazrat Maulvi Nur-ud-Din Sahib. He was an arch-enemy of the Promised Messiah. He rented a house at a distance from the Ahmadiyya centre. By the grace of Allah he got cured and thus prepared himself to go back home. Before his departure, an Ahmadi friend of his suggested that he visit their Mosque, the Mubarak Mosque. He accepted on the condition that when he goes there he must not see the Promised Messiah (on him be peace). Thus, the Ahmadi friend brought him to the Mosque, but upon their reaching the Mosque, the Promised Messiah (on him be peace) suddenly opened the door of his home which had an entry in the Mosque for some work. The man, upon seeing the Promised Messiah (on him be peace) was so overwhelmed by his appearance and was so fascinated with him that he lost all control of himself and fling himself at the feet of the Promised Messiah (on him be peace) and supplicated the Promised Messiah to let him integrate his Jamaat (Community) at this very moment. This is in summary an insight of the life of the Promised Messiah (on him be peace) and anecdotes which form an integral part of Islam, as signs which supports the veracity of Islam in all ways. At that time, Allah sent His Chosen Servant as Messiah for the reform of the people and to guide them towards Allah and likewise today, Allah has raised this humble servant who is standing before you today and has blessed me with the mantle of honour as the Messenger of Allah of my time to accomplish the same work as the Promised Messiah Hazrat Ahmad (on him be peace), that is, to revive the teachings of Islam and lead the people of all nations towards the worship of one God – Allah the Almighty. Allah O Akbar!