Tarbiyyat Extracts from 4/4/14 Friday Sermon: "Essence of True Love for Allah"

 ‘Nay, whoever submits himself completely to Allah, while he is excellent in conduct, shall have his reward with his Lord. No fear shall come upon such, neither shall they grieve.’(2:113). That is, God and God’s love becomes their object of desire and God’s blessings is their reward.

The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) wrote the following about signs of true love:
"Love is a wonderful thing. Its fire consumes the fire of sin and extinguishes the flame of disobedience. There can be no question of 'punishment' where there is perfect and true love. One of the signs of true love is that the lover dreads the very thought of being estranged from his beloved. He thinks himself doomed at his smallest fault, and sees the beloved’s displeasure as a deadly poison. He is also beset by a great longing to meet his beloved, and absence and separation takes the very life out of him. That is why he does not only regard as sinful, actions which are regarded as such by the common man— e.g., murder, adultery, theft and bearing false witness—rather, he considers even the slightest estrangement from God, and the slightest inclination towards anything other than Him, as a grave sin. He, therefore, constantly seeks forgiveness (Istighfar) from his Eternal Beloved.

This is why when God breathed life into man He called it Ruh [spirit], for his true happiness and peace lies in acknowledging and loving God and submitting to Him."

 

The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said: ‘When man is completely at peace with Allah the Exalted and does not have any complaints, it is at such time that he develops a personal love of God.'

 

The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said: ‘A believer has the tenor of one who loves ardently and he is true in his ardent love. His passion for his Beloved, that is God, is of utter devotion, love and sincerity and he submits to God with humility, supplication and resolve. No worldly pleasure is a pleasure for him and his soul is nurtured by the ardent love of God. He is not perturbed that his Beloved is above care and does not lose courage when he experiences silence and lack of response from Him.'

Tarbiyyat Extracts from 1/24/14 Friday Sermon: "Reformation: A Collective Responsibility and Effort"

It is the task of the missionaries, ameers and office-holders to formulate their programs in accordance with these discourses so that these important matters are brought to the attention of the Jama’at again and again so that it is extremely clear to every Ahmadi and is instilled in them what their practices should entail.

 

We need to find out and analyse how many of us are eager as regards worship of God!...Rather, by making this love of worship a part of our life throughout the year so that we have nearness of God on a permanent basis. How many of us experience acceptance of prayers through God’s love and to whom He speaks? Having accepted the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace), it is the obligation of every Ahmadi to try and attain this level for he came to bring about this very revival of Islam.

 

In terms of worldly matters people copy and emulate others but we do not emulate and copy in religious matters. We do not emulate the model of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) and his companions in doing which there is no question of incurring any loss, in fact there is immeasurable gain!  A main reason for this mind-set is that our religious scholars, our missionaries and office-holders do not try to repetitively mention in their respective circles that efforts should be made to attain love of God as indeed there is need to do so! Or their own examples do not draw attention of others.

 

If seeking piety and nearness to God becomes widespread in our Jama’at, we can have a large group of people through whom sin can be erased to a great extent.  For this purpose, missionaries, ameers and office-holders should try to reform in their individual spheres and reform people by telling them that God informed the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) that those who will follow him completely will gain Divine nearness and God listens to most prayers of such people. With the grace of God we have such people in our Jama’at. They write to Huzoor about their experiences and Huzoor often relates them. These experiences motivate and inspire others to emulate them so that a close connection with God is established.  The Promised Messiah (as) has said:  'And it is completely true that if a person believes in Allah the Exalted with true intention and purity of heart, and makes spiritual endeavours and remains engaged in prayers, ultimately his prayers will definitely be answered.’  

 

Sometimes it is erroneously thought that some sins are big and others small. As a result it gets embedded in one’s heart and mind that some sins are small and inconsequential. Attention was drawn in a recent sermon that some asylum seekers make false submissions in their cases. Not only do they harm their own case, they are also a cause of disrepute of the Jama’at. Missionaries and office-holders should also repeatedly advise against falsehood. It should be repetitively mentioned that there is no such thing as small or big sin, sin is sin and it should be avoided. Every falsehood is falsehood and this shirk (to associate partners with God) should be avoided. If one’s connection with God is strong there is no need to worry, signs will manifest themselves. Those who advice others should also remember that they themselves should be ever in search of higher levels of strength of resolve and in practical terms there should be uniformity between their word and deed.

Tarbiyyat Extracts from Huzur's (aba) 1/17/14 Friday Sermon

The difference between the lifestyle of the Companions at the time of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) before and after they believed is astonishing. What was the lifestyle of those who believed in the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him)? Among them were thieves, robbers, wicked men who married their own mothers or bequeathed their mothers away, who killed their daughters, who gambled and who drank excessively...And then, after they believed in the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) they instilled an incredible revolutionary change and inculcated an astonishing strength of resolve. As soon as they believed they decided that they were going to strengthen their hearts to practice every commandment.

The Companions used to drink alcohol and we know what alcohol does.  A Tradition relates that once before the commandment regarding prohibition of alcohol was revealed, Companions were drinking in a house. They had emptied one pitcher of alcohol and were about to open the second when a voice came from the street that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) had said that God had commanded him that consumption of alcohol was prohibited for Muslims from that day onwards...a person who was completely inebriated took a stick and broke the pitcher of alcohol. Others asked him why he had done that, he should have first found out what the instruction meant...he said that after hearing the instruction of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) he first obeyed and would later find out about the limitations and specifications.

There are three types of people in this world. There are people whose practices are weak because their faith is not complete. There are people whose practices are weak because their knowledge is not complete and then there are people who have faith and knowledge but their hearts are so corroded that both these aspects are not sufficient and they need support. Just as broken bones need plaster to mend or metal plates are inserted in the bones through operation to mend them. Over time, once healing takes place, these supports are removed. Similarly, some people need temporary support. Our Nizam e Jama’at, our office-holders, our auxiliary organisations should become sources of removing these weaknesses.

Tarbiyyat Extracts from 1/10/14 Friday Sermon: "Knowledge and Will Power for Practical Reformation"

It has been mentioned before that in addition to this, the standards of what is good and what is bad has also changed. Something which Islam deems bad and sinful is considered trivial in an irreligious society. In fact, certain such things are now even considered good.Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) gave an example of dancing, that is part of Western culture. Perhaps it was not as common in the time of Hazrat Musleh Maud as it is today through the agency of television and the internet. Some homes have been turned into dance houses. In some families dancing takes place in the name of entertainment during family functions, especially during weddings. Ahmadi families should be completely free of these practices and attention should be given to this matter.
Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) beautifully explained that in order to reform our practices we need to instil three-fold aspects: strength of resolve, correct and proper knowledge and strength to implement. 
If a person wishes to lift something but cannot, he stops and thinks and analyses the situation, perhaps changes the way he lifts and is then able to lift the object. In this instance he would have combined knowledge with correct use of his strength and attained what he wished. God-given capacity is always there but it needs to be used properly. The very same principle needs to be adapted to implement practical capacity and to remove weakness in implementation of matters and for this knowledge should be enhanced so that it can overcome weaknesses.
In order to reform practices strength of resolve, abundance of knowledge and strength to implement is required.  Some people have to instil strength of resolve, some are in need of strength to implement but for some the burden is too much and for them the society has to play its role, Jama’at has to play its role, the auxiliaries have to play their role.

Tarbiyyat Extracts from Huzur's (aba) 12/20/13 Friday Sermon:"Self Reformation: Breaking Bad Habits"

The third impediment to reformation of practice is to only keep immediate or short-term matters in view. Matters of faith and creed are long-term and relate to the Hereafter.

The fourth impediment to reformation of practice is the correlation between habit and practice...Once habits are formed it becomes difficult to shake them off.  God commands to advice and even if there is an iota of faith in someone, advice works. A person had the habit of swearing. When a complaint was sent to Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) he sent for the person and asked him why did he swear? The person swore and said who says I swear, without realizing what he was saying.  These days people are drawn to watching unsuitable films on the internet etc. Their case is like taking an intoxicant, they do not eat, do not sleep, simply sit and watch films, not caring about their family, wife and children. 

The fifth cause of impediment to reformation of practice is family: wife and children. The wife may have demanded something or the son may have asked for money which the father could not provide, or money may be required for treatment of an ailing child. The person may think of usurping the money left as a trust with him to meet his needs and not care about the consequences.

Borne out of undue indulgence some parents in particular in this liberal society – although this also goes on the underdeveloped countries – do not make their children conform to Islamic teachings.  Someone living in the developed world marries his daughter off in Pakistan and on the very first day tells the son-in-law that his daughter’s upbringing has been very pampered and she is free to do what she wants so no restrictions should be put on her. The daughter is very haughty because of the father’s encouragement and does not think anything of her husband.

The sixth cause of impediment in reformation of practice is that man does not constantly watch himself.  We should be mindful that the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) told us there are 700 commandments in the Holy Qur’an to be abided by.

There is the example of one shopkeeper going to Salat and the other keeping his shop open to attract all the customers while the first shopkeeper is away offering Salat! Complaint was received about Rabwah shopkeepers in this vein but now a report has been sent that they have all agreed to shut their shops during Salat times.  Ahmadis all over the world need to be mindful of this matter. 

The eighth impediment in reformation of practice is that it becomes extremely difficult to bring such reformation about unless the whole family is reformed.  Everyone in the family should make an effort but the head of the family has an important role to play...Today we need to pledge that we will give sacrifice of our personal wishes, wishes of our family and will fully try to give each such sacrifice which brings about reformation of practice.

Tarbiyyat Extracts from 12/6/13 Friday Sermon: "Introspection and Self-Reformation"

Ease of travel, television, the internet and various media have made localised evil international evil. Contacts are forged on the internet across thousands of miles to spread evil. Young women are deceived into falling for lax morals and are even made distant from faith...each Ahmadi also needs to commit to a personal Jihad to avoid this foulness.

It should be remembered that we cannot avoid the facts. Progressive communities keep an eye on their weaknesses and we should keep an eye on the facts. We cannot feel happy that 50% or such and such percent of us are reformed. If we are to bring about a revolutionary change in the world we need to keep 100% reformation as our target.

If a sense of responsibility is instilled in us we would consider service of faith as a Divine blessing. Some may say in response to this that indeed they consider service of faith a Divine blessing, but 100% of the office-holders do not think this. Matters are brought to Huzoor’s attention showing that office-holders do not have self-control and tolerance. If someone speaks to them in a loud tone their ego and honour gets in the way and false sense of pride surfaces. One who considers work as Divine blessing tolerates everything for the pleasure of God and the knowledge that all honour belongs to God forces him to be humble and meek. Close scrutiny tells us that the adage of ‘Assume that you are worse than all the rest’ is not being acted upon and in some form or the other egotism flares up. We have appreciation of [revelation given to the Promised Messiah] ‘He is pleased with your humble ways’ [Tadhkirah 2009 edition, p. 931] but do not think that this is also the teaching he gave to those who took his Bai’at.

If one is given an office or the opportunity to serve, then the following words of the Muhammadan Messiah should always be remembered: ‘I was but poor, helpless, unknown and without talent!’ One fulfils the rights of service of faith when this helplessness, meekness and humility are inculcated and this may lead to hope of: ‘For this may admit you in the abode of union with God!’

Tarbiyyat Extracts from 11/29/13 Friday Sermon: "Seeking the Pleasure of Allah"

 (Huzur (aba) referenced sermons delivered by Hadhrat Musleh Ma'ood (ra)
which describe great incidents of truthfulness and sacrifice.)

(Promised Messiah (as) was completely truthful in many different court
cases, and was well known and became a shining example for his great
honesty and truthfulness.  People had great respect for him.)

Prophets of God come in this world to establish truthfulness and honesty
and set a model which a beholder cannot escape being impressed with…the
Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) did not invent canons
and machine guns. What was it that he gave to the world, the protection of
which was the responsibility of his followers? It was the spirit of
truthfulness and high morals. This was missing at the time; he first earned
it and then gave this treasure to the world. The responsibility on his
Companions, their children and the children of their children was to
safeguard these matters.

Reading the incidents of the sacrifices the Companions made to protect the
life of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) make
hairs stand on ends and seeing their love even today a wave of love
develops.  (The example of Hadhrat Talha (ra) was given that how in the
battle of Uhad, he raised his hand to protect the blessed face of Holy
Prophet (saws) and because of the continuous onslaught of arrows and
firing, he permanently lost use of that hand.)

(Another example related was of the son of Syed Hamid Shah Sahib, who was a
sincere Ahmadi and companion of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace).
 His son mistakenly killed a person during a fight which the other person
started.  But, when asked, he admitted that he killed the person because he
felt he should confess the truth and the the punishment of the world is
less than punishment of the Hereafter.  Despite confessing, he was
acquitted once the truth came out.)

What is needed is that the Jama’at realises that by sending the Promised
Messiah (on whom be peace) Allah the Exalted has put a huge responsibility
on them. Even if a person has mammoth amount of ills, it is not difficult
to rid of them if he resolves to do so. A famous saying of Jesus (on whom
be peace) is that even if you have an iota of faith in your heart, you can
move mountains. The day a believer resolves no impediments remains in his
way.