Text Box: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم Friday Sermon HAZRAT AMIR’UL MOMENEEN MUHYI-UD-DIN AL KHALIFATULLAH Munir Ahmad Azim 25 September 2009 (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 read the following verse of the Holy Quran:  “Shadi-dallaahu anna-huu laa ilaaha illaa huwa wat malaaa-ikatu wa Ulul ilmi qaa-imam-bil-qist. Laa Ilaaha illah huwal Aziizul Hakim” Allah bears witness that there is no god but He, and (so do) the angels and those possessed of knowledge, maintaining justice. There is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise. (Ch. 3 Al-Imran V.19) Through several other verses in the Quran, Allah is trying to make people understand the importance of Knowledge. Knowledge is a Light enabling man to know his Lord. Despite the fact that man does not have the full capacity to know his Lord, Allah the Almighty has taught him several ways to perceive Allah in all things. Man will be successful in his aim to perceive Allah only when Allah gives him the faculty of the mind, whereby he obtains the necessary knowledge, be it material and spiritual in order to live on earth and at the same time increase his approach to Allah. Man is that being who has been qualified as “Ulul-Ilmi” – The one who has received knowledge or instruction. Allah says in Chapter 96 Verse 2-6:  “Iqra bismi Rabbikallazii khalaq, khalaqal-insaana min ‘alaq. Iqra ‘wa Rabbukal-‘Akram, Allazii ‘allama bil Qalam; Allamal insaana maa lam ya’-lam.” Read, in the name of your Lord, who created; He created man from an embryo. Read, and your Lord, Most Exalted. Teaches by means of the pen. He teaches man what he never knew. Thus these verses of the Holy Quran show us that it is Allah Who is the Giver of knowledge which man possesses. It is Him alone who gave man the faculty to write, speak, learn and analyse. Allah gave him a mind to differentiate between good and evil. Knowledge of good and evil and the liberty to choose the path which he (man) wants to follow, has given man a more elevated rank than the rest of the categories of animals. When we analyse in depth the Holy Quran, we perceive that each word which a prophet pronounces, he pronounces it by the will and with the permission of Allah. Knowledge of the invisible penetrates them (the prophets) by the means of the Holy Spirit which comes to illumine their souls with knowledge that they have to know, so that they may be able to preach correctly the word of Allah. The ordinary man has the capacity to approach his Creator by the means of his devotions towards the Creator of the universe; and each human has each received from Him (Allah) a certain talent which later on he develops so as to use it in the best way and for the welfare of humanity. Hadith: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has said: “The one whom Allah loves, He gives him knowledge of religion and guides him on the right path.” (Ibn Majah) When someone loves his Creator and does lots of efforts to come closer to Him and to obtain His love, then Allah pours down upon him exceptional knowledge which comes from Him (Allah) alone. This person can afterwards receive truthful dreams, visions and even revelations for Allah has said in the Quran that He sends down revelations upon whom He likes. And in Chapter 16 Verse 3, Allah says: “He sends down angels with revelation by His command on whom He pleases of His servants saying: Give the warning that …” When we analyse knowledge in the mundane context, we observe that Allah has elevated the level of knowledge even amongst ordinary people. Each one has a certain talent or knowledge of things which he develops; scientists also have received knowledge in various fields (like space, medicine, technology, etc.) so that they may use this knowledge for the betterment of humanity and acknowledge the existence of Allah. Unfortunately not all scientists believe in the existence of Allah. The discoveries which they make sometimes leave them in such a state of exuberance upon their success that they forget that this success comes from their Creator; but the opposite happens, whereby they forget to praise Allah for this and on the contrary they attribute these exploits to their own efforts. On the other hand there are scientists who recognise the signs of Allah and recognise the truth which is found in the Holy Quran. If each Muslim analyses the Quran, he will see that Allah has revealed certain secrets of the universe in it and if he tries hard and does a profound research, he will come to perceive the truthfulness of the existence of Allah and will not come to have doubts about it. There is a Hadith which says that even if one has to go to China to acquire knowledge, then he must do so. This Hadith shows that there is no limit in the research for knowledge. Knowledge is vast and we will never come to reach the end of it. From the time that we were babies till we will be buried in our tombs, we will never stop learning; we can never say that we got hold of the entire knowledge. “The one who knows his self, knows his Lord.” Knowledge of Allah is more important than any other kind of knowledge, but this does not mean that we stop acquiring academic knowledge! No! But we must keep a balance between the two. Knowledge of spirituality is more essential for our physical, moral and spiritual state. The degree of faith is knowledge in itself for it leads towards Allah and a perfect obedience towards Allah. Thus true faith is showed by the one who shows a complete and perfect obedience to Allah. We see that model in our beloved master, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). In the eyes of the world he was an ignorant person (who does not know how to read and write) and Allah through His immense grace had made him become the greatest of teachers for humanity. And Allah has given the Muslims the command to send the salutation of peace upon him when hearing his name being pronounced. Each commandment that there is in the Quran, we (Muslim and humanity in general) must be grateful towards Allah because through the revelation of the Quran and other sacred books which came before the Holy Quran, Allah has always been there to give humanity the appropriate knowledge so that it may come nearer to its Creator. And this is our aim in this life: that we have our Lord (Creator) nearest to us in this world itself before meeting Judgement Day. There is some knowledge which is hidden for us; for example, we do not know the time of our death and the time for the Hour (the Day of Judgement). Nobody has come to acquire this knowledge for this is found only in Allah’s Wisdom; it would be too good to be true to have man doing evils in this world and when his death is approaching he becomes pious, prays a lot and does all sorts of good actions. No! Allah does not judge His creatures like this. Like I have already explained at the beginning, man has received knowledge of good and evil and it is for him to decide which path he will choose for Allah has warned him against evil and has shown him wisdom and beauty of the right path. Chapter 16 Verse 29: “The ones whom the angels cause to die, while they are unjust to themselves. Then would they offer submission: We did not do any evil. Nay! Surely Allah knows what you did…” (These evil persons will enter Hellfire). Verse 31 of Chapter 16 expound on the good people: “And it is said to those who guard against evil: What has your Lord revealed? They say, Good. For those who do good in this world is good. And certainly the abode of the Hereafter is better. And excellent indeed is the abode of those who keep their duty…” Allah is now showing me, teaching me this Hadith which is found in Bukhari: “People who possess knowledge are the inheritors of the prophets.” We all know that there is no rank which is greater than that of apostleship (the stage of a prophet), or greater honour than the heritage of that prophet. The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) has also said: “That which is in the heavens and earth intercede in favour of the people who possess knowledge.” (Ibn Majah) Thus one day the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) got a question (from his companions): “O Prophet of Allah (peace be upon him), who is more honourable?” The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: “The most honourable amongst you in the eyes of Allah is the one who is the most God-fearing.” They then asked: “It is not what we wanted to ask you.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The most honourable amongst people is Yusuf – a prophet of Allah, son of a prophet of Allah, who was (in his turn) son of a prophet of Allah, who was son of the friend of Allah (Prophet Ibrahim).” The companions again told him (the Prophet): “This is not what we wanted to ask you.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Is it then about the Arabs that you asking? The best of them in the Time of Ignorance is the best of them in Islam when they have knowledge (and understanding of the religion of Allah).” Thus, it is my prayer that we become amongst the most honourable in the eyes of Allah like gold is superior (in value) to silver. Let us all recite often this prayer (and I had already received this supplication in form of revelation): “Ya Alim, Rabbi zidni ilma.” (O Allah, Possessor of Perfect Knowledge, increase our knowledge). May Allah give us always the faculty to maintain our love and faith in Him and He opens for us the door of His Mercy. Ameen, Soumma Allahoumma Ameen. Ya Rabbul Aalameen.