Text Box: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم Friday Sermon HAZRAT AMIR’UL MOMENEEN MUHYI-UD-DIN AL KHALIFATULLAH Munir Ahmad Azim 18 June 2010 (05 Rajab 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: وَقُلِ الْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكُمْ فَمَن شَاء فَلْيُؤْمِن وَمَن شَاء فَلْيَكْفُرْ “Proclaim O Prophet, This is the truth from your Lord; Then, let him who will, believe, and let him who will, disbelieve.” (Chapter 18 Verse 30) Religion is that delicate issue which regulates the lives of human species. But amongst them, there are also some who even say that they have no religion whatsoever. Religious beliefs and freedom has been the foremost subject matter of many studies since the dawn of civilisation. Allah says in the Holy Quran: “There is no compulsion in religion…” (Chapter 2 Verse 257) That simple, yet profound aspect of Islam is very meaningful. What this verse actually means is that: There is no compulsion in (accepting) the religion (of Islam). Why so? The verse continues, “…truly the right path has become clearly distinct from error; therefore, whoever disbelieves in the Satan and believes in Allah he indeed has laid hold on the firmest handle, which shall not break off, and Allah is Hearing, Knowing.” So Muslims can always show the difference between the right and the crooked paths, but not force the non-Muslims to accept Islam. The Holy Prophet of Islam, beloved Muhammad (peace be upon him) has also been instructed by Allah to deliver to the people the message of Allah, but not to force Islam upon them, for Allah tries with guidance His servants to know who really are sincere in their worship of Him. Allah addresses His Prophet as thus: “Therefore, you remind (them), for you are only a reminder; you are not a watcher over them.” (Chapter 88 Verses 22-23) But yet we find before Islam and even after its advent many a civilisation have forced their people to disregard truth coming from Allah, even though these people’s heart were inclined to accept that basic truth: The Existence of a Creator, the Almighty God. Nowadays, this rise of coercion against freedom of religious beliefs has taken the form of fanaticism and intolerance to bear the divine truth. Each religion and each sect therein is exulting in the fact that it is it the righteous religion or sect, perfectly aware that there saying so do not at all confirm this fact. We have as example, the Jews and the Christians in the times of the Prophet of Islam, who took themselves and their respective religion as best in the face of the rising of Islam. The Prophet of Almighty God (Allah) was made to proclaim loud and clear that the messages he was receiving is the truth from Allah, such a truth which will not only benefit the Arabs spiritually, but this benefit will also be in the physical and material form also. But alas, they preferred to turn their backs to the divine favours ready to be poured down upon them if only they had the inclinations to accept it and revel in them. Amongst those Arabs, there were many of them who were ready to accept the truth coming from God through His Prophet, but they were made to suffer tortures because of their faith and love for Allah and His Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). These sincere people, upon having faith in Allah and His Prophet, were made to receive the boons of divine signs, true dreams and visions, thus reinforcing their faith. They declared loud and clear that they believed in the Messenger sent to them by Allah, but what happened altogether? They were persecuted, humiliated, blamed; all these for the cause of Allah, because in the eyes of the chiefs of Arabia, of Mecca, they were paupers and have to curbs to the wills of the higher in status and follow their vain religions (the worship of idols). Now, let us analyse the word religion. According to dictionary definitions, it refers to people’s beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of a deity or deities, and divine involvement in the universe and human life. But what is essential in the understanding of religion is that all beliefs which all peoples since the dawn of time have got came from Almighty God, the One, Unique, without partners. It is with the erosion of time that religion became the scapegoat of multiple false deities, for all prophets, messengers and divine reformers came with one common message: the Unicity of Allah, to worship Allah alone and to follow the prophets of Allah for they came with the divine messages for the betterment of these people’s lives. It is unquestionable that Islam indeed recognises human rights, in fact from its very beginning, long before these ideas were developed and documented in its modern secular form by the West. Islam advocates human rights via the Shariah (Islamic Laws). These objectives include the establishment of justice, individual education and preservation of human welfare or interests by protecting and preserving the freedom of thought, worship, rights to property and preservation of the progeny. These constitute the inviolable principles of “human rights”. What many fail to understand is that Islam is the only religion that honours its followers to the utmost. Islam regards its adherents, both originally born Muslim as well as converts, as invaluable assets. Once they come to the fold of Islam, they stand equal. Therefore, the responsibilities, duties and rights of all Muslims are basically the same. Individually, they are equally entitled to achieve success in this world as well as salvation in the hereafter, guided by and within the restrictions set up by the Shariah. We, Muslims firmly believe that we are in the territory of truth, the right path. We have got the blessing from Allah to bathe in the brightest light – the light of faith. This objective nevertheless is achieved through respecting the commandments of Allah and curbing one’s will to the decrees of Almighty God and never rejecting the light of His divine messages through His messengers, each time He sends one of them to the world for the revival of Islam. Islam is truth and guides towards the Ultimate Truth, that is, Allah. Thus, for us, Muslims, truth is light and falsehood is darkness. Therefore, it is a grave injustice to us, Muslims if we were to deviate from that truth. Thus, we come to the question of apostasy in Islam. Islam prohibits renouncing one’s belief in the most glorious of religions; indeed the perfect one. If Islam were to grant permission for Muslims to change religion at will, it would imply it has no dignity, no self-esteem. And people may then question its completeness, truthfulness and perfection. Apostasy means treason of greatest extent. Treason may not only be in political and military grounds but also to the sacrilege of one’s honour or family honour. Thus, as Islam is the foundation of Truth and pure to its roots, treason therein, where the Muslims renounce their God-given faith, then this treason is greatly disapproved by God Himself and by His prophets and the believers. Allah says in the Quran: “They swear by Allah that they did not speak, and certainly they did speak, the word of unbelief, and disbelieved after their Islam, and they had determined upon what they have not been able to effect, and they did not find fault except because Allah and His Messenger enriched them out of His grace; therefore if they repent, it will be good for them; and if they turn back, Allah will chastise them with a painful chastisement in this world and the hereafter, and they shall not have in the land any guardian or a helper.” (Chapter 9 Verse 74) Let’s look at two examples of Apostasy or Irtidad in Islam: (1) One where the person is born Muslim from Muslim parents and has lived with Muslim beliefs as regulators of his life. If such a person renounces his pure faith after knowledge and practice of Islam have been his guidance throughout his life, then such a person according to the laws of Islam merits that he be disregarded, and the Muslims must have no considerations for such a person, for Allah had given him the perfect faith easily through birth, but he had not seized the golden opportunity given to him to perfect himself physically, morally and spiritually. Thus, if such a person apostates Islam and afterwards repents, this is better for him, for none has the right to judge the faith of man except Allah. Who knows, Allah may have accepted his repentance and forgiven him. But what is essential to know here is that the act of apostasy itself merits a punishment, but it is not for us humans to do it, when Allah has clearly stated that it is He who punishes or forgives His servants. If Allah is to punish the apostate, then Allah will surely like indicated in the verse find ways and means to punish him in this world itself, and in the Hereafter, his consequences will be more grievous. (2) The second one is the person who is born in a non-Muslim family, with non-Muslims values, but afterwards accepts Islam and comes in contact with the true values as preached by Allah and His prophets. Such a person, if after having come to get the message of Islam and recognised the truth of it, and then renounces it afterwards, then this type of person is to be disregarded unless he repents. His repentance in this case, for he was not born with Muslim values, is to be accepted, but he must never revert back to apostasy after the clear message of Allah has come to him. Islam is a religion which is not only tolerant, but peaceful, but if pushed to its limits, then, Islam recommends that refutations are to be made to defend one’s life and honour. But what we must well bear in mind is that these rules regulate the Muslim World, Muslim countries which regulate the states therein with the Muslim Laws only. The laws of each country have to be respected, be it a Muslim country or a non-Muslim country. If we take Mauritius as example, we find ourselves in a multi-cultural society with different cultures and religions co-existing. Such a country’s good laws have to be respected, such laws which do not go against the basic human rights. Such as it is, a life is sacred, and in the Quran itself, we are taught to respect the religions of others, and if there be apostates in Islam in a non-Muslim country, then it is not our duty to take the law into our hands and go against the laws of the country. Some Muslim Scholars views the punishment of apostates from Islam as to being put to death. As it is, the Quran do not precise the actual putting to death of a Murtad (one who goes against his religion – Islam) but what is precise is his punishment (by Allah and not by man) in this actual life and his future punishment in the hereafter. Thus, foremost in such situations, the basic laws of the Quran are to be observed. Religiously, morally and legally, man has no right to do wrong. But, Allah has given freedom to man to choose his path, but before letting him choose, Allah sends from time to time His prophets and messengers to guide him to the right path. If before the advent of a messenger, he finds death, then Allah knows best how to deal with him, but Allah has clearly stated that those who turn their backs to the divine messages after clear proofs have been sent to them, then their consequences will be grievous. They shall taste such a punishment which is according to their evils and turning away from the truth from Allah and ridiculing the prophets of Allah. What has transpired against the Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia is purely unislamic. Never have we, Ahmadi Muslims voiced out that we disbelieve in Islam. On the contrary, we have voiced out that we are Muslims, preaching the true teachings of Islam, believing in the Holy Prophet of Islam Muhammad (peace be upon him) and believe in all the basic tenets of Islam. What we are in advance to the other Muslims is that when Allah has manifested Himself once again through His Promised Messiah Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (on him be peace) we have recognised and accepted the truth of his claim as clearly pointed out in the Holy Quran. Moreover, what you, the Sahih Al Islam has in bonus compared to the other Ahmadi Muslims and other Muslims of different sects is that you have believed in the Messenger of Allah of this era, and you are doing great jobs for the cause of Allah as a sign of your submission to Him and clearly paying obeisance to Him. If this is not Islam, then what it is? Thus, the tortures and killings of the innocent Muslims, be them Ahmadi Muslims or otherwise is clearly condemnable in the eyes of Allah, and indeed the torturers and killers shall be paid back for their abominable actions. May Allah help us to better understand our Islam, keep firm on its pace and fight with our honour and life, come what may for the resplendent truth it stands for. Patience is in our book of life, it regulates our faith and ardour, but when Islam and its basic teachings and the innocent Muslims are being tortured and killed, should we remain motionless and be onlookers of these massacres? May Allah enable us to be of great help to Islam, to help our brethrens in one way or another who are facing difficult times, be it in our prayers, or with our courage and body strength (depending on the situations we find ourselves) for one day