Jamaat Ahmadiyya al Mouslemeen

Friday Sermon of Hazrat Amirul Momeneen Zafrullah Domun

Friday Sermon 04th April 2008

After reciting, Tashahhud, Ta’ouz and the first chapter Al Fatiha of the Holy Quran, Hazrat Amirul Mo’menine Zafrullah Domun said:
Today we will continue with some extracts from the Book “Zarouratoul Imam” which was written and published in October 1898. It is only towards the end of this approximately 50-page booklet that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (a.s) has explained why he has written it. He says:

“I have frequently written about these issues in my books, but the incident that has induced me to return to them once again, is an error of judgment by a friend of mine, having learnt of which I wrote this booklet with a great anguish in my heart.
The details of this episode are as follows: In September, 1898 A.D., which conforms to Jamadi-ul- Awwal, 1316 A.H., a friend of mine—whom I believed to be innocent, devout and God-fearing, and of whom I have always thought well but whom I now believe to be mistaken in some of his thinking, and I remain anxious lest it should cause him any harm -God is the One to judge him-—traveled to Qadian with a respected friend of mine to see me. He recounted before me a number of revelations he said he had received. I was very much pleased to know that God Almighty had honored him with revelations. However, in the course of narrating his revelations, he related to me a dream in which he had said with regard to me, 'Why should I pledge Bai‘at at his hand, it is he who should pledge allegiance to me!' From this I learnt that he did not believe me to be the Promised Messiah, and that he was unaware of the true concept of Imamat. Therefore, sympathy on my part demanded that I should write this booklet in order to explain to him the doctrine of true Imamat and to spell out the importance of Bai‘at.”(p45)

The way Hazrat Masih Maood (a.s) explains this matter shows the nobility of his character and why he really qualifies to hold the office of Imam. He is very careful not to offend at all. As a real teacher he explains the matter so that others may understand. He does not use any threat and or insults or ridicule or even any curse. Out of sympathy for his friend he explains the whole matter because he did not want his friend to be in error. What a character! What an example! If one compares the attitude of Hazrat Masih Maood (a.s) and the attitude that has been shown to us, one can easily make the difference a noble soul and one who just aspire to be noble. He did not condemn him at all but he used his persuasive powers to explain the reality of the matter to his friend because he loved this friend and he did not want any thing bad to happen to him.

Several times he would use words “please be not offended if I am saying this.” or “for Allah’s sake please be not offended” and he will end with these words:
“If there be anything unpalatable in it, I apologize to everyone, as I do also to my friend who claims to be the recipient of revelations. I have written all this in sheer good faith. I love this dear friend of mine with all my heart, and beseech God to be with him.”

At another place while speaking about the experiences of his friend, he says:
“I am sure if this respected gentleman pays greater attention, his revelations may soon assume a kind of perfection.”

He said this after explaining that there are three levels of revelations“lower; middle and superior”
And then he says:

“I do not deny that springs of spiritual knowledge could open to you. This, however, is not the case yet. Dreams and visions are subject to figurative and metaphysical interpretation but you took your dream literally. The Mujaddid of Sirhind saw in a vision that the Holy Prophetsa was granted the rank of Khalilullah through him. And what is more Shah Waliullah Sahib saw in a vision as though the Holy Prophetsa had pledged Bai‘at at his hand. But because of the depth of his knowledge he did not think the way you did, and interpreted the vision.”

Here I have given you a few extracts to illustrate how he dealt with his friend with great respect and love and also I have explained the background to the writing of the booklet.

I ended my sermon last week saying that Hazrat Masih Maood (a.s) had said that an Imam of the time should have several qualities in himself which qualifies him for the office. The last of these qualities, he said is the capacity to receive visions and revelations. Then he goes on to explain what distinguishes true revelations from those that come from Satan. He says:

“Now, when satanic inspirations are so frequent, one will naturally doubt the credibility of all revelations. No revelation would seem to be reliable in view of the possibility that it might be of satanic origin. More so, when the same thing happened to a great Prophet like Jesus(a.s). This seriously undermines the credibility of the recipients of revelation. Is revelation then a kind of ordeal? The answer to this question is that this is no occasion to lose heart, for it is the Divine Law that in this world everything valuable and precious is accompanied by adulterations. Look! There are pearls that are recovered from rivers and then there are cheap pearls which people make artificially and sell. Now the trade of genuine pearls cannot be stopped just because there are imitations pearls also, for the jewelers whom God Almighty has endowed with insight, recognize at a single glance the genuine pearl from the fake one. Hence, the jeweler of the pearls of revelation is the Imam of the age. By keeping his company, a person can readily distinguish between the real and the artificial. O mystics! O victims of this alchemy! tread this path with care and remember that true revelation, which is purely from God Almighty, is accompanied by the following signs:

1. It is experienced in a state when the fire of anguish melts a man’s heart and it flows towards God Almighty like limpid water. This is what the Hadith refers to, which states that the Holy Quran was revealed in a state of pathos, so you should recite it with a feeling of anguish.

2. True revelation is accompanied by a quality of pleasure and ecstasy; it bestows conviction for an unknown reason, and it penetrates the heart like a nail of steel and its wording is eloquent and free from error.

3. True revelation has a certain grandeur and loftiness about it; it hits the heart hard, and it descends upon it with might and with an awesome voice. On the contrary, false revelation is marked by a faint voice like that of thieves, eunuchs and females, for Satan is a thief, a eunuch and like women.

4. True revelation carries in it the effect of Divine powers. And it is essential that it should contain prophecies that come to be fulfilled.

5. True revelation continues to make a person more and more pious with each passing day, and cleanses his inner impurities and filth, and enhances his moral condition.

6. True revelation is testified by all the inner faculties of a man, which are illumined by a new and divine light. He finds a change in himself, his earlier life suffers death and a new life begins, and he becomes a medium of compassion for mankind at large.

7. True revelation does not end with a single revelation, for God’s voice has continuity. He is most Kind. He speaks to whosoever He blesses with His attention, and answers his questions. His supplications are answered at the same place and in the same instant, though at times there comes a break.

8. The recipient of true revelation is never a coward and is not afraid to confront an opponent who himself claims to receive revelations, no matter how hostile he may be. He knows that God is with him and that He will cause his opponent to suffer a disgraceful defeat.

9. True revelation is a means for understanding spiritual verities and a science, for Allah does not wish to keep the recipient of His revelation ignorant and devoid of knowledge.

10. True revelation is also accompanied by many other blessings. One who has converse with God is granted honour and awe inspiring prestige by heaven.”

At several places in his writings Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (a.s) has spoken about the characteristics of true revelations. I have deemed it appropriate to read you this particular extract because in a nutshell, he has said almost all that needs to be said about this subject. Without wishing to show any pride I would like to say in all humility that Allah, Almighty has given to His humble servant revelations that have many of these characteristics. But the ignorant ones are saying that what I receive comes from Satan. Therefore I advise them to read the characteristics of satanic revelations as they have been described in this book and they compare it to the many revelations that I have already published and they may take their own conclusions. But as Hazrat Masih says in this book:

“The present age is so flawed that most of the philosophically disposed persons, naturalists, and the followers of Brahmu faith deny revelation of this kind. Many have departed from this world in this state of denial. But the truth remains the truth, even if the entire world denies it, and falsehood remains falsehood, even though the whole world endorses it. Those who believe in the existence of God Almighty and consider Him to be the Architect of the universe, and know Him to be the All-Seeing, the All-Hearing and the All-Knowing, would be foolish not to believe that He speaks as well. Can He not speak Who sees and knows, and Whose knowledge encompasses each and every minuscule particle without the aid of any physical means? And, it is also wrong to say that though His attribute of speech was functioning in the past, it no longer does so, as if to say, that His attribute of speech is a thing of the past and is no more. Such a belief produces hopelessness. If some of God’s attributes do in fact become redundant after a time, and not even a trace of them is left, then all His other attribute also become doubtful. Woe betides such minds and such beliefs! After accepting all the attributes of God Almighty, they get hold of a knife and excise a vital part of these attributes and throw it away. It is a pity that Aryas put a seal on Divine revelation after the Vedas, and the Christians did likewise, as if mankind needed eye-witnessed revelation for their personal enlightenment and spiritual knowledge, only until the time of Jesus(a.s), and future generations are so unfortunate as to have been deprived of it permanently. While the fact is that man is ever in need of direct experience and personal insight. A religion can only survive as living knowledge as long as God Almighty’s attributes continue to manifest themselves afresh; otherwise it becomes mere tales and soon dies out. Can human conscience accept such failure? How can God Almighty’s grace shut the door of revelation upon us, when we find ourselves in need of such absolute knowledge as is not possible without converse with God and without great heavenly signs? Have our hearts in these times changed or has God become a different God? We do admit that the revelation vouchsafed to one man at one time can refresh the spiritual knowledge of millions, and that it is not necessary for each and every person to receive it, but we can never admit that revelation should be completely done away with and we should be left with mere tales which none of us has witnessed. It is quite evident that when a matter continues to remain in the form of a story for hundreds of years and there is no fresh example for its verification, most philosophically minded persons will not accept such tales without strong evidence, particularly when such tales relate to phenomena which are considered contrary to reason in this age. That is why, with the passage of time, people with the philosophical bent of mind have been ridiculing such miracles, and they do not give them any credence at all. In this, they are quite justified because they feel in their heart of hearts that if God is unchanged, and His attributes are unchanged, and our need is also the same as before, and every soul is crying out for spiritual enlightenment, then why should revelation have ceased?”

The is what Hazrat Masih Maood (a.s) has said. These are not my words. If in his time he spoke about those who did not believe in revelation, he did not mention Ahmadis. But today the Ahmadis, in general are behaving like those people whom Hazrat Masih Maood (a.s) was criticizing in his time. What a pity! The teachers have forgotten their lessons.

More incha Allah next week.

Ameen.