Text Box: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم Friday Sermon HAZRAT KHALIFATULLAH AL-MASSIH AL-MA’OUD Munir Ahmad Azim 25 February 2011 ~ (21 Rabi’ul 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: إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا ۝ Surely Allah and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet; O you who believe! Call for (Divine) blessings on him and salute him with a worthy salutation. (33: 57) Today I shall expound on the duties which we, Muslims should have towards our Master the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) – Duties to him (peace be upon him), being: 1. Duties of Respect 2. Duties of love. Objective: Maintenance of the attitude of obedience and loyalty through the constant cultivation of respect and love for the teacher and exemplar of Quranic morals, in order to be able to act enthusiastically on the Quranic moral code. Subjective: Maintenance of assurance, through the remembrance of the example of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in respect of his personal conduct and his achievements in the moral domain, that the moral ideal set forth by the Holy Quran is realisable. The love for Allah is a Muslim’s highest pursuit and the highest duty. In that connection, the Holy Quran states further that this love should manifest itself in loyalty following and imitating the communicator and exemplar of God’s Guidance for mankind, namely, Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). It says: “Say thou O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) ‘If you do love Allah, follow me (and build up your moral and spiritual life on my model), Allah will love you and forgive you your sins, for Allah if Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (3: 32) Following and imitating the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is not possible, however, without maintaining the attitudes of respect and love towards him, these, in their turn, giving rise respectively to obedience and absolute loyalty. 1. Duties of Respect: Thus we arrive at four duties relating to our relation with the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) namely: (1) to respect him above all created beings. (2) to love him above all created beings. (3) to obey him without demur. (4) to be absolutely loyal to him. Starting from the side of man, these four duties form the essential condition of the moral agent’s moral perfection and the moral perfection and happiness of others – humanity at large, because true Guidance in that connection is available only through the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and that Guidance cannot be truly accepted and enthusiastically followed without maintaining the attitude implied in those duties. According to the Holy Quran, the status of Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) is that of Nabi and Rasul. Unfortunately, there is no English word capable of conveying the connotation of these terms properly. As regards the word “Prophet”, it means, according to English lexicon, a spokesman the deity, one who proclaims a divine message, a preacher, a foreteller whether claiming to be inspired or not. Thus it can be adopted as an Islamic term only in a qualified manner. Signifying there is “a spokesman of the One True God, who receives the Message from Him through Revelation, and proclaims and preachers it as a divinely appointed Teacher and as the possessor of flawless, sublime, and extraordinary spiritual and moral personality.” Thus to better enable people to understand the meaning of the titles of the Prophet of Islam, I have opted to design him in the translated English connotation of Nabi and Rasul as “Prophet” and “Messenger” respectively. Now, if we look deep into the duties of respect, it basically means to regard the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) with deep respect, trying to protect his honour come what may in every way which is to our capacity. (1&2) to respect and love him above all created beings: Thus, it is clearly our duty to maintain an attitude of positive respect as stipulated in the following Quranic verse: “…so it is those who believe in him (Holy Prophet of Islam), and honour him and help him, and follow the light which is sent down with him – it is they who will prosper.” (7: 158) In addition, a devout Muslim must at all cost restrict himself from insulting the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) for this is clearly forbidden for him to do so. “And it is not right for you to insult Allah’s Messenger” (33 : 54) The true Muslim must also put the prophet first. This divine command first came to make the first believers in the Holy Prophet’s time realise the great blessings which Allah has poured down upon them by raising from among them such a Prophet who represent the perfection of man, and the seal of prophethood. The Quran says: “O you who believe! Put not yourselves forward before Allah and His Messenger; and fear Allah: for Allah hears and knows all things.” (49: 2) “O you who believe! Raise not your voice above the voice of the Messenger of Allah nor speak aloud to him in talk as you may speak aloud to one another lest your deeds (of righteousness) be rendered in vain (thereby) and you perceive not (the loss).” (49: 3) “Verily those who lower their voice in the presence of Allah’s Messenger – these are they whose hearts Allah has disposed unto piety: for them is forgiveness and a great reward.” (49: 4) Also: the following guidance to the socially uncouth people of those days: “Verily those who shout out to you (O Allah’s Messenger) from outside the inner apartments – most of them lack proper sense. If only they had patience until you could come out to them, it would be best for them: but Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (49: 5-6) (3) to obey him without demur: Practicing positive obedience is enjoined by the Holy Quran. “… and obey the Messenger (peace be upon him)” (4: 60) “The answer of the believers, when summoned to Allah and His Messenger, in order that he may judge between them, is no other than this: ‘They say, “We hear and we obey”; it is such as these that will attain felicity.” (24: 52) Disobedience in any manner whatsoever, prohibited: “… and whosoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he verily goes astray in manifest error.” (33: 37) “And whosoever opposes the Messenger even after Guidance has been plainly conveyed to him, and follows a path other than that becoming to men of faith, We shall leave him in the path he has chosen and land him in Hell; what an evil refuge!” (4: 116) 2. Duties of love Now, if we look deep into the duties of love, it basically means to have for the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) deep love and regard him with love. Thus, it is our duty as devout Muslims to maintain an attitude of positive love – a love which transcends the love for any other created being, and thus when emphasis is put upon it, it becomes a duty. The Quran clearly states: “The Prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves (this spiritual relationship entitling him to more love and respect from the believers than for any created being related in any way).” (33 : 7) This personal spiritual love for the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) is to be cultivated, besides obeying him in all things, with overflowing love, through forming spiritual contact with him by reciting Salat and Darood, as commanded by Allah in the following verse: “Surely Allah and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet; O you who believe! Call for (Divine) blessings on him and salute him with a worthy salutation (that is, with respect and love).” (33 : 57) (4) to be absolutely loyal to him: It denotes the absolute loyalty that the devout Muslim must have towards him, emphasised as a condition of faith; hence it is duty. “But, nay, by your Lord, they can have no (real) faith, until they make you judge in all disputes between them, and find in their souls no resistance against your decisions, but accept them with the fullest submission.” (4 : 66) “And it is not becoming of a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided an affair, that they should (after that) claim any say in the matter.” (33 : 37) Being disloyal to him in any manner is prohibited: “O you who believe! Be not disloyal in Allah and His Messenger…” (8 : 28) Thus, we, Muslims, if we want to become and remain devout Muslims all through our lives must put into practice these divine commandments by upholding the interest of Islam and the love and honour of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) dear to our heart. Likewise when any truly appointed Messenger comes from Allah, he also is to be showed a special love and respect, but foremost the love and respect for Muhammad (peace be upon him) the prophet of Islam should be unconditional and eternal, such a love which brings about a spiritual change in the devout Muslim so that he may carve himself in the image of the perfect model. Insha-Allah. Ameen.