بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Friday Sermon
HAZRAT KHALIFATULLAH AL-MASSIH AL-MA’UD
Munir Ahmad Azim
12 November 2010
(05 Dhul Hijjah 1431 Hijri)
(Summary of Friday Sermon)
After having greeted everybody with the Salutations of Peace, the Messiah (Massih’ullah) read the Tashahhud, Taouz and Surah Al Fatiha and then he said:
I continue the sermon of last week and at the same time the refutation to what the anonymous disciple (Anas Siddiqui) of the World Islamic Mission wrote in his book.
On page 11, the anonymous author asks: “Will the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) be the only person who cannot make this distinction? How can the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) not be aware of these (bad) innovations”, these people still ask?
In the Hadith No. 4303 of Ibn Majah the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) said that he will recognise his disciples by their foreheads, their hands and feet which will be lit by the Wuzu (ablution). This proves that the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) is not Omnipresent after his death because he does not know those who would follow the religion taught by him. He will not be aware of the innovations (Bidat) they do after his death.
On the first page of his book Hazir Nazir the author presents its first argument to prove the omnipresence of Satan.
“O children of Adam! let not the Satan cause you to fall into affliction as he expelled your parents from the garden, pulling off from them both their clothing that he might show them their evil inclinations, he surely sees you, he as well as his host, from whence you cannot see them; surely We have made the Satans to be the guardians of those who do not believe.” (7:28)
Abu Huraira (ra) narrated that the Prophet (saw) said: “When the Adhan is pronounced, Satan takes to his heels and passes wind to avoid hearing the Adhan. When the Adhan is over, he comes back, and again takes to his heels when the Iqamah is pronounced and after its completion, he returns to whisper into the heart of a person (to distract him from his prayer) and makes him remember things which he does not recall before until man forgets how many Rak’ah he prayed.” (Bukhari Vol. 1 No. 582)
The author’s conclusion:
1. No one can see Satan and yet its ubiquity is confirmed by the said Hadith.
2. We should not conclude that Satan has all the attributes of Allah. It is true that only Allah is Possessor of His powers - that is to say He gets His powers and qualifications from no one anyone or from nowhere.
3. That the capacity and powers of Satan are the gifts of Allah. – See verses 14-16 of Surah 7:
He said: “Then get forth from here, for it does not befit you to behave proudly therein. Go forth, therefore, surely you are of the abject ones. – He said: ‘Respite me until the day when they are raised up.’ [Allah] said: ‘Surely you are of the respited ones.’”
The author’s conclusion: God has shown mercy to Satan and allows him (Satan) some use of His attributes.
Elucidation of problem No.1
In Surah 55 verse 15 and 16, Allah says: “He (Allah) created man from clay like pottery. He created the jinns from a pure fire.”
Hazrat Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “The angels were created from light and the jinns were created from the spark of fire and Adam was created as it was described (in the Quran) to you (that is to say, from clay).” (Muslim Vol. 4 No. 7134)
In Sura 2 Verse 35, Allah says: “When We said to the angels: ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam’, they prostrated except Iblis who refused, wa arrogant and became a disbeliever.”
Literally the word ‘Iblis’ means someone who is extremely desperate. In this verse it is the name given to the jinn Iblis who refused to prostrate before Adam (peace be upon him) as a symbol of subordination to Adam and his posterity. He asked permission from Allah to tempt mankind until the Last Day. He was not an angel as we often tend to believe but he was of the jinns who form a separate species from that of the angels.
In Chapter 18 verse 51 Allah says:
“When we said to the angels:” Prostrate yourselves before Adam”; they prostrated themselves except Iblis who was of the jinn, who rebelled against the commandment of his Lord.”
Jabir (ra) reported that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “Iblis places his throne upon water; he then sends detachments (for creating dissension); the nearer to him in rank are those who are most notorious in creating dissension. One of them comes and says: I did so and so. And he says: You have done nothing. Then one amongst them comes and says: I did not spare so and so until I sowed the seed of discord between a husband and a wife. The Satan goes near him and says: ‘You have done well. A’mash said: He then embraces him.’” (Muslim Vol.4 No.6755)
According to verses and Hadiths above there is evidence that the devil or Satan as being a jinn do not mean a single person. But there is an army of demons and jinns. They are an entire population. Their supreme leader is called Iblis. But they are invisible to humans.
Most people confuse the word ‘invisible’ and the word ‘ubiquitous or omnipresence’. The anonymous author of the World Islamic Mission was unable to distinguish between “invisible” and “ubiquitous” because he dared to declare that no one can see Satan but his ubiquity is confirmed.
On page 4 the author presents his second argument.
“And We have sent you as a mercy for the worlds (Rahmat-ul-lil-Aalamin)” (21:108) and he also introduced the verse 130 of Chapter 9.
So we see (according to the author), on one hand Allah is the Lord of the Worlds, on the other the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) has the ability to be merciful, that ability being acknowledged by Allah the Most High.
Elucidation of problem No.2
This verse means that the appointment of Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a Prophet of Allah is truly a blessing and a mercy from Allah to the world.
We can also say that Allah has sent His mercy to all mankind in the person of Muhammad (peace be upon him). In what way is the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) a source of mercy?
In a few words, it suffices to say that he has awakened the world from its lethargy, negligence and carelessness by transmitting knowledge to mankind so that all can distinguish truth from falsehood. He warned humankind of two ways, that of salvation and ruin. The unbelievers of Mecca claimed that “This man is sowing the seeds of discord among our clans and separating close relatives.”
In this verse Allah informs: “O stupid people! You are wrong in assuming that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is a source of grief and distress for you; in reality he is a blessing and a mercy from Allah.”
“In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful” was established at the beginning of every Surah except for Surah 9. And before he starts any act a Muslim who dedicates his life to Allah, hoping to receive His mercy shall recite this formula. The attribute of Rahman (The Gracious) is applicable only to Allah. But the attribute of Rahim (Merciful) is a general term that can also be applied to humans.
In Chapter 7, Verse 152 Allah says: “And (Moses) said: ‘O my Lord, forgive me and my brother and let us enter into Thy mercy, for Thou art the Most Merciful of the merciful.’”
There are other verses in the Qur’an (25:71) and (39:54) explaining that Allah is the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.
Abu Huraira (ra) reported: I heard Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) as saying: “Allah created mercy in one hundred parts and He retained with Him ninety-nine parts, and He has sent down upon the earth one part, and it is because of this one part that there is mutual love among the creation so much so that the animal lifts up its hoof from its young, one, fearing that it might harm it.” (Muslim Vol. 4 No. 6629)
Hazrat Abu Huraira (May Allah be pleased with him) reports that they asked the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), “Curse the polytheists”, whereupon he replied: “I was not sent as someone one who curses but as a mercy.” (Muslim Vol.4 No.6284)
Aisha reported that two persons visited Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) and both of them talked about a thing, of which I am not aware, but that annoyed him and he invoked curse upon both of them and hurled malediction, and when they went out I said: “Allah’s Messenger, the good would reach everyone but it would not reach these two.” He said: “Why so?” I said: “Because you have invoked curse and hurled malediction upon both of them.” He said: “Don’t you know that I have made condition with my Lord saying thus: ‘O Allah, I am a human being and that for a Muslim upon whom I invoke curse or hurl malediction make it a source of purity and reward.’” (Muslim Vol. 4 No. 6285)
It is clear that although the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) was merciful, Allah alone has the capacity to forgive one and all. In other cases the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) cursed others and had given explanations about his covenant with Allah, namely: That the said curse is a source of piety and reward it for the cursed Muslim.
In what end has the anonymous author of the book Hazir Nazir from the World Islamic Mission focused on the mercy of Muhammad (peace be upon him)? Is it that people cry their heart out to him? Begging him for his mercy?
There is no doubt that the anonymous author wanted to prove that, while being ubiquitous or omnipresent Muhammad (peace be upon him) is a mercy to the worlds and can give merciful protection to whom he wants despite their carelessness and that he may decide to grant protection to whomever he wants despite all their sins.
It is true that Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent as a mercy to the worlds and he was merciful. He tore the Arabs from the well depth of degradation and led them to the summit of civilisation. It never existed, does not exist and never shall exist a person like the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). If the idea enters someone’s mind that the mercy of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) has a quality equal to Allah, that he is ubiquitous, that he can give merciful protection to people at will despite their carelessness, then nlet it be known that the person in question is extremely wrong in his perception for Allah says in Chapter 17 Verse 112.
“And say: ‘Praise be to Allah Who never has a son, Who has no partner in His Kingdom and has never taken a protector against humiliation’. And proclaim His greatness.”
After that it is unfortunate that a supposedly learned man went as far as saying: “Even God has shown mercy towards Satan and left him some of His attributes.” (See page 3 of the book Hazir Nazir published by the anonymous author of the World Islamic Mission).
Time does not allow refuting the other pages that the anonymous author of the World Islamic Mission wrote in his book Hazir Nazir, for example, pages 6, 7, 8 and so on.
If Allah gives me the opportunity in future sermons Insha-Allah, I shall refute them. In the meantime, there is the Eid-ul-Adha (Eid of Sacrifice - the greatest Eid) coming soon and my sermons will be based on the explanation of the sacrifice of Hazrat Ibrahim and Ismail (peace upon them) to commemorate their sacrifice.
Before concluding this sermon, I extended an invitation to all theologians, and especially the Mawlana Anas Siddiqui who does not share my conviction that he answers me in writing (on what was said in the sermon – and theprevious one also) and I‘d make it a duty if necessary, to produce a booklet in rebuttal (Insha-Allah). Ameen.
