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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Friday Sermon
HAZRAT KHALIFATULLAH AL-MASSIH AL-MA’OUD
Munir Ahmad Azim
(04 Jamadal Awwal 1432 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:
يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ارْجِعِي إِلَى رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَّرْضِيَّةً فَادْخُلِي فِي عِبَادِي وَادْخُلِي جَنَّتِي
“O you Soul at peace! Return to your Lord well pleased (with Him) and He well pleased (with you). So enter among My servants, And enter My Paradise.” (89: 28-31)
Know that the human soul is of the essence of the Lord. It passes through several stages before finally reaching its goal – purification of an exquisite nature. Before reaching the climax of perfection, the soul is ripped by several desires which hinder its climb up the ladder of divine satisfaction.
Be it man or woman, each of the two gender passes through several stages in life. From babyhood to adulthood, each of them have to wage a fight against himself or herself in the hope of reaching to self-peace (which is also called, inner peace) and to bring about such a transformation in him or her which is to the taste of Allah, the Creator and Owner of each and every soul. The human soul passes through three stages which are: The soul prone to evil (al-nafs al-ammara bis-su’), The self-reproaching soul (al-nafs al-lawwama), and finally the soul at peace (al-nafs al-mutmai’na) which is superior to the other two stages.
Know that the soul prone to evil (al-nafs al-ammara bis-su’) is auto-destructive. It relates itself only to the mundane realm, with all its desires and wants to grapple what it can out of this temporal world, forgetting that it comes from Allah and that to Allah its attention must be drawn. This soul, better known as the ego and abased desire of man is found in him in his early stage of childhood, when he wants to acquire everything in his sight by sheer self-will. A child does not know of the exquisiteness of the existence of God and he does not also desire to accede to His proximity. Everything he does, he does it for himself, looking after his own needs and this continues for a long period of time till he understands that God exists and that all things must be done according to the Divine will and not self-will. But very often, it so happens that a human (male or female) does not grasp spirituality and fully indulges himself in his own desires and lust till he is overcome by this state. In this state of lust, he destroys any hope for gaining access to the Lord, by inciting the Divine wrath by associating himself with his satanic side, the same one which agrees to all his self-will exploits instead of pursuing transformation to attain Divine Love and Satisfaction. This soul becomes a veiled soul, unable to recognise the pure essence of his creation by indulging in his own desires instead of becoming aware that his selfishness will only cause his ruin and leading him astray just like Ibliss was banned from the presence of Allah.
Many trials await a soul until he finally is admitted into the presence of the Lord by pleasing Allah and having Allah pleased with Him. Like Adam manifested his ego by wanting to be eternal and having angelic attributes so as to remain in the presence of His Beloved Lord forever, even though the decision to eat of the fruit came from him, and the self-will he manifested, but yet, we cannot completely say that his decision was made out of complete egoism, because God found him to be on the right track in respect of his pursuit and desire to enter the realm of the beloved servants of Allah. Yet, it must be known also that self-will is destructive in that which in the first place made Adam lose the already paradisiacal place he and his wife had, and where they had to come on the earth of trials in order to accede to the proximity of Allah which was once readily available to him.
Thus, the soul which incites to evil (al-nafs al-ammara bis-su’) cares for his own need and disregards any other creature. His primitive desire comes to the front. This is usually the state of the infidels in the times of prophets of Allah, who have never been able to accede to a better stage than this abased stage, of primitive need for the acquisition of mundane power despite the fact that they may be high-priests, scholars, notables, and intellectuals. They may possess all knowledge in the world, but yet, whenever a Messenger comes to them from among them, usually the story of Adam and Ibliss becomes a reality again and again, in that which their jealousy and primitive need to be in control comes first instead of repentance and acceptance of their mistakes and their subsequent return to Allah. Like I said last week in my Friday Sermon, the same thing has happened in my case, when this Adam, as caliph of Allah has been opposed by the Ibliss of this era (in the form of the so-called Amir of the Ahmadiyya Association of Mauritius).
The self-reproaching soul (al-nafs al-lawwama) is that soul which comes to realise its mistakes. After succumbing to evil inspirations, it then regrets its actions and turns to Allah in repentance. By turning to God, it wants to invites upon itself spiritual solace which shall see to its liberation from the first destructive stage “instigator of evil”. Indeed the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has said: “All humans are prone to sin and the best sinners are those who repent.” This is what prompted Adam in the first place to seek the forgiveness of the Lord by reciting the words of prayers taught to him by the Lord Most-High. By teaching him the words for seeking forgiveness, Allah opened to him the door of accessibility to Him. Indeed like I mentioned last week, Allah loves that His servants, after committing a wrong, turn to Him in repentance. The repentance they feed themselves with enables them to enter the realm of a new abode, far from the abode of the ignorant. It is verily the ignorant which persists in falling prey to both their egotism and egoism. This abode of repentance is a far cry better than their past states, and gives them hope at the same time to reach better and finer stations. The stage of “al-nafs al-lawwama” (self-reproaching soul) permits them a trial and error stage to finally accede to the complete satisfaction of Allah. The self-reproaching soul tries to please Allah with all its heart, stumbling into failure and redoubling its efforts so as to repair its past mistakes. Adam tried hard to seek forgiveness of the Lord by first recognising his fault: that he forgot and listened to a second voice instead of the divine voice, taking the second voice’s (Ibliss) words as more important than the Lord. Even though God predestined him to it, but it was to test his mettle also as subsequent caliph of Allah that He left him to fend for himself when the Satan came to him to deviate him. But Allah found in him no resolution to disobey Him and thus chided him mildly and to make known that He loves His representative (that is, Adam who is of the essence of Allah) He taught him the words of repentance and at the same time accepted his repentance. Likewise, man is put before all kinds of trials – there shall be many such-like satans who shall come to deviate His servants, but after recognising their errors, Allah shall accept their repentance and turn to them with mercy.
Now, know that though it seems easy to accede to being a “soul at peace”, but it is rather difficult to reach this level. Not all humans can state that they are in peace both with themselves and with God. If we study well the Quran, we shall observe that it is only to the soul at peace which Allah addresses Himself, compared to the other two. Reaching this stage would mean that: you are in tranquillity, both with yourself and Allah; you feel serenity, peace and comfort, such a one which is from divine waters. Reaching this stage is reaching the climax of spirituality and desirability of the Lord. Not a one which comes from you, but a one which comes from both you and God, as one entity, not separate from each other. This state of union feeds the feeling of peace in “the soul at peace”, because not only is the “nafs” at peace and satisfied but God also is at peace and satisfied. Such a state is the state of lovers, true lovers – that of the servant and of his Creator. This stage calls for celebration in the most intimate way. The satisfaction which the soul reaps comes from Allah for everything within him calls out: “Allah is within me, and I within Him”, but later on this fades away to let know to one and all: “Allah and just Allah exists, not the soul, not anything else!” Such a state is the state of oblivion, where the soul after getting access to God through divine inspirations, come to understand the purpose of his creation and of the goal behind the sending of Adam to earth after having eaten the forbidden fruit. The soul in this stage of oblivion and security in oblivion calls for complete submission to the Lord, and submitting to His every will, even if these divine wills are against the very comprehension of the human mind. And this is the true knowledge he gets and which makes him prosper, both intellectually and spiritually.
Know that the al-nafs al-mutmai’na (soul at peace) is reached on earth itself. This state is for both abodes, but primarily for this present one, for it calls for security for the beloved servant of Allah, being cherished in His arms for as long as he maintains this state until he dies. Submission to the divine will is never easy. But such one who accedes to this secret is indeed lucky, for the pleasure of Allah resides in obedience to Him in His every decision, and His wrath falls down upon he who loathes the decision of Allah and keeps a distance with Him.
The prophets of Allah are first the ones who get access to this stage on earth itself. It is so because when they have surrendered to the will of Allah, to do everything as per His instruction, this is one form of “soul at peace”, because they intrinsically know it is Allah who has chosen them and it is Him alone who shall love and guide them, be it in their mission of gatherers of lost souls (back to the worship of Allah) and also as prime candidates to accede to the Divine Court with distinctions and the highest degrees of merit, despite the fact that they are humans and like humans are prone to mistakes. But as Allah is their guide, they shall overcome come what may, and they shall enter the garden of pleasure of the Lord, be it in this world and in the hereafter. Moreover, it is a fact that some of their followers also reach such prominent stages of satisfaction with the Lord after obeying Allah and His prophets and living their lives according to the divine precepts. This state is of the trust which exists between the Lord and His servant. This is what the Quran is filled with when it calls for the trust of the Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) and that of his followers. “Put your trust in Allah… Allah is sufficient for you” – “Is Allah not sufficient for His servants?” Thus, it is these people of understanding who reply to Allah’s every question by recognising the basic: that they are nothing without Allah. Allah has overall control over them, and they are but the willing slaves of Allah.
Thus such willing slaves of Allah become cherished beloved people of Allah, because not only do they recognise the supremacy of the Lord, but they never want to be separated from Allah. They live in Allah, and Allah is within them, and whatever they may do, love blossoms their heart anew, and with this love, trust and complete faith in Allah makes them wait for eternity’s touch. They see through the eyes of Allah and they harbour no ill-feeling as to the favours bestowed by Allah upon His other creatures. Instead of having a Satan to misguide them, they have angels, appointed for them by Allah to safeguard them from any mishap. They readily surrender themselves to Allah for they very well know that the more Allah is satisfied with them, the more He shall love them and come closer to them. In short, they nourish themselves with Divine love and are never dissatisfied with what befalls them. They are just as happy whenever a misfortune befalls them and whenever they receive a favour from the Lord. Their state is beyond the angelic state, in that which they possesses both the angelic attributes and the divine attributes, and that is what makes them superior to the angels in rank.
Indeed the garden of paradise mentioned in the verse 31 of Chapter 89 is actually the paradise of union of the Lord with His chosen servant, blessed and pure. This garden is both of this world and of the next abode, whereby these people (the prophets, the true followers of the prophets and the people of understanding) accede to complete satisfaction in the Lord and Him in them; and when the angels shall welcome them in the everlasting paradise (in the hereafter), saying to them:
“Enter therein in peace and Security.” (15:47)
Thus, what we must understand is that even though God has given man freewill, but this freewill or self-will is actually a trial for him. If he uses it for his own vain desires, therefore he shall taste his own spiritual death, but if he looks through this favour and use it to gain access to the Lord by abandoning his self-will to conform himself to the will of Allah, he has indeed come to pierce the secret of the wish of Allah of giving man freewill in the first place. Allah is jealous. He is jealous that the ones in whom He has breathed in His essence disregard Him and follow their abased passions. The soul at peace is the one who is beyond his own self-will, and has made his will that of God, and that is why he holds a special place in the sight of Allah, and that is why Allah addresses him directly by saying: “O you soul at peace!” and it is Allah Himself who reassures him of His satisfaction with him and gives him the good news of everlasting goodness.
Indeed Allah has several times bestowed upon this humble one the verses under comment (89:28-31) as revelation and indeed it is my prayer that all true souls capable of disregarding their own will come to embrace the divine will and surrender to Him alone and conform their lives to His desire. I often address my Lord in the following way: “O My Allah, between us there is no Me or mine, and yet as Your servant, filled with weaknesses, I call for You to be mine in such a way that at the same time I am Yours, in such a way that both Paradise and Hell become insignificant and You alone are my Focus and Goal. O Allah, You are indeed the First and the Last, You have no beginning and no end, O Allah love me for as long as You exists, such an existence of love which is everlasting as Your everlastingness, let me nourish myself with Your love and submission to Your will. Sinner as I am, yet you make me touch the sky of Your proximity to finally embrace Your goodwill. O Allah, have mercy upon your humble Munir Azim and the congregation of your pious but fragile servants. Reinforce them with Your strength and teach them through faith the essence of loving and being loved by You. O Allah, let this humble self be ever returning back to You in forever servitude and submission.” Insha-Allah. Ameen.
Announcement: 1. Another major earthquake of magnitude 7.4 hit Japan yesterday 07 April 2011.
2. Another type of mutant killer bacteria which are resistant to all sorts of antibiotics have made their appearance. These bacteria which researchers call “CRKP” are resistant to all sorts of antibiotics, even those which are strong and which the doctors prescribe to patients as a last measure (when there is no other solution). The bacteria resist even the strongest of antibiotics and this has the scientists worried. It first made its appearance in 2008 and it proved fatal for 35% of all patients which have contracted this bacteria. – Last year, these bacteria caused the death of about 25,000 people in Europe, and today the situation has worsen because no antibiotic is working to destroy these bacteria. It is reported that these bacteria are present in 36 states of the United States (of America). |
