Text Box: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم Friday Sermon HAZRAT KHALIFATULLAH AL-MASSIH AL-MA’OUD Munir Ahmad Azim 18 March 2011 ~ (12 Rabi’ul Aakhir 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: رَبُّكُمَا عَنْ هَذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ إِلاَّ أَن تَكُونَا مَلَكَيْنِ أَوْ تَكُونَا مِنَ الْخَالِدِينَ “Your Lord only forbade you access to this tree so that that you do not become angels or live eternally.” (7:21) Know that the desire to govern and self-will which is its corollary have serious consequences and pose great danger. It is for example the desire for autonomy that prompted Adam to eat the fruit of the tree. Satan told Adam and Eve: “Your Lord only forbade you access to this tree so that that you do not become angels or live eternally.” Satan had a plan but the Divine plan is much more superior to the horrors and evil intentions of Satan who wanted to have for himself all divine favours. The Divine plan is in the well-being of man, here in this case referring to Adam and raises him to the highest level of His esteem, making him become his Caliph on earth. Hearing the words of Satan, inviting him to eat of the tree and being innocent and ignorant of the evil guidance of Satan, Adam, who has started to think, eventually believing that an unlimited stay in the proximity of the Beloved was the supreme object of his quest and that obtaining a state was angelic – a fact or his opinion – was far better than the human condition. Only after taking this reasoning (dabbara) Adam came to eat from the tree, and his behaviour was such that because he had taken his situation in hand. He had a desire, and it was the supreme Love of God, and looking at the pure states of the heavenly angels, and wanting to live forever with his Beloved, Adam decided it was much better to live in God’s Love eternal and achieve an angelic ranking rather than remain in ignorance of his origins (if it turns out that he be destroyed even before reaching ecstasy in the Divine Love). But in fact, this is precisely what God wanted from him, so that, He may send him on earth and make him become His lieutenant (khalifa) in his new home. What looked like a fall was in reality a spiritual uplift. It is not to humiliate Adam that God sent him on earth, but to take him to perfection. Indeed, the latter (Adam) began a sure elevation to God, taking turns in coming close to Allah and the divine election, or that of humility and deprivation - and it is the realisation obtained by the latter that is most perfect. Every believer must be convinced that a prophet or a messenger’s condition does not change except only to reach a higher status. This is one meaning of the verse: “And the life to come will be better for you than the present one” because indeed the condition that you will be given thereafter O prophet is better than where you are now. And this truth we have recognised in the person of the Prophet of Islam Muhammad (peace be upon him), who followed the lead of his ancestor (that is, Adam); he succeeded where no one has previously succeeded. Also today, the opportunity came to this humble person, because God has chosen his new Adam to create a new world. Though weak and helpless, He raised me as His lieutenant (khalifa), embracing at the same time the Islamic prophetic mission which aims to revive the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) for this new world. Adam and Muhammad (peace be upon them), though two different people, but if they are seen from the divine point of view, is certainly alive or even interlaced in my person (Khalifatullah & Rassoolullah) for the revival of Islam, to guide humanity to acknowledge its mistakes and to raise it from the level of sinner to that of beloved of God. After having understood this, know that the Divine Plan - and it is to God that the government (tadbir) and will (Mashi’a) properly belong - is to populate the earth of the sons of Adam (on him be peace) , and according to His good will there would be among them virtuous men, and men who are manifestly unjust to themselves. His wisdom was designed to demonstrate this in the world of Evidence (‘alam al-shahada) - that is to say, this world with all its temporary attractions. That is why this fruit was the cause of the fall of Adam, as his fall was a way to demonstrate the degree of lieutenancy that God had given him. What could be nobler than a sin that which bring about the lieutenancy (khilafa) on earth for us, and which makes repentance becomes a tradition (sunna) for the sons of Adam until the Day of Judgement! The fall to earth of Prophet Adam was thus the effect of a divine decree, well before the creation of heaven and earth. Even before he had created Adam, God had made him fall down to earth. This is a well calculated work from the Lord of Heaven and Earth, which is also in strict conformity with the Noble Quran wherein the Almighty says: “I am going to place a lieutenant on earth.” How benevolent that divine decision appears which constitutes of making Adam eat from the tree through the trial of Satan, then the send him down to earth to grant him the honour of being His lieutenant (khalifa) and a guide (imam) for the generations that were to follow! After arriving at this conclusion, we must now enumerate the favours which Adam enjoyed during this event and it appears to us that the elite has with God such states (of being) that he does not share with anyone else, and it is through them, with the exclusion of ordinary beings, that God executes His plan. Having to eat the fruit, and the fall to earth that followed made manifest in fact many good after-effects. In paradise, Adam and Eve knew that God in His attributes of Provider (Al-Razzaq), Donor (Al-Mu’ta) and Benefactor (Al-Muhsin). But in His secret Compassion (Al-Lutfihi Khafi) who presides over the divine plan, it pleased God to reveal Himself to them as the Magnanimous (Al-Halim), He who conceals (the faults of His servants) (As-Sattar), The Forgiving (Al-Ghaffour), the Indulgent (At-Tawwab), The One who chooses (His Elects) (Al-Mujtabi). His magnanimity was indeed that He did not eagerly chastise them for their act, which is the characteristic of this attribute, which allows a frame of time to the sinner (whether to forgive him and then pardon him, or better to exercise His power over him by making him suffer a painful revenge). But God turned over to them as He who conceals (faults). Because after eating the fruit, their nakedness were rendered manifest to them as they had lost their heavenly garb. Adam then hid their nakedness with leaves of Paradise as stated in the Holy Qur’an: “They covered themselves up with the leaves of the Garden of Eden.” This was indeed the veil with which God covered them. But God still wanted to inform Adam that He had elected him; the election resulting into two spiritual stations: the Return to God (al-Tawba ilayhi) and that of Divine Guidance (al-Hadaya indahu). Wanting to make him know about his election and the concern that preceded the creation, God predestined him to eat of the tree, but that this act did not constitute a reason to divert him or deprive him of His support. Instead, it was an opportunity for God to manifest His love to Adam. God loves that His slaves – humans – turn to Him in repentance after committing a wrong. Adam did a good thing despite the fact that it was disguised as a wrong, as it was only after he had fallen that he actually found his real place as a elected representative of God, and it is through this fall that he could actually surpass the angels in their states and to accede to his rightful place as the Elect of Allah, and to be known as the beloved of God. Do we not recognise that just like human love, if sincere can transcends sins to the point that forgiveness is granted to the beloved? Similarly, where I said, even more, the love of God is greater than the love we give to our spouses and children or own parents or friends. The love of God is beyond human capacity, for God forgives the most serious faults and sins except of course Shirk (associating to God other divinities). The rest of the verse (which concludes the story of the fall of Adam): “Then his Lord chose him” should not be taken as indicating a precise moment of divine election as this (election) was even before Adam was created. It simply means that it is only after transgression that the effects of this election shall became apparent and that is why God emphasises the matter by saying: “Then his Lord chose him, accepted his repentance and guided him”, that is: thus the effects of the election appeared on him as well as those of concern (since it was given time to him to repent and it is to be noted that it is the Beloved Himself who taught him the prayer of repentance) and divine guidance. The verse thus contains three indications: the election, that of the repentance which is its consequence, and that of guidance which is the result of repentance. After sending Adam down to earth, God revealed Himself to him by His wisdom, as He had revealed Himself to him by His great power in paradise, and that, because this world appears as one of causes and intermediaries. When Adam came on earth, he learnt agriculture and labour and everything he needed to earn for a living, so that God does what He had previously announced: “That He makes you not leave paradise for you (singular) shall be saddened.” The sadness He refers to is not the opposite of eternal bliss, but simply fatigue caused by work, the best evidence being that God did not say you (plural) would be unhappy because, but it is a fact that human fatigue and household expenses are borne by man and not by the woman, according to assertions that this other verse makes: “Men have authority over women because of the virtues by which He raised one above the other.” It is man who gets to bear the loads and responsibilities, for his spiritual level, if sharpened to the highest level can make him accede to the divine grace, and make him surpass the spiritual state of the woman because we have to admit, though the woman is the servant of God, she also can access Divine love, but never more than man, because man is the hope of God’s lieutenancy on earth, and the woman, his spouse represents the hope for the continuation of humanity, of this lieutenancy, with the help of her husband. Thus, the misfortune which this verse speaks about does not mean rupture or separation. And even if this were the case, we would have given an acceptable interpretation and make it a synonym of pain and endurance and it would have been a perfectly acceptable interpretation for the acquisition of divine satisfaction in this world and forever. May Allah grant us all, men and women the skills required in the spirituality so that He couple our weaknesses with His strength, so that His help to become the symbol of His love toward us, and so that tomorrow the lieutenants that God can be born for the revival of religion, guidance and to teach people to approach God with repentance, all of which being signs for them of their becoming closer to God; and not only for them but also for the future generations. Insha-Allah, Ameen.