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Friday Sermon
10th November 2006
After greeting the members with salaams Hazrat Amirul
Momeneen Zafrullah Domun read Tashahhud followed by sura Al Fatiha from
the Holy Quran and then he said:
EXPLANATION ON THE CONDITIONS OF ALLEGIANCE
In the Friday Sermon last week I spoke about two pamphlets
of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), the Promised Messiah in which he
spelled out the conditions that should be fulfilled for anyone who wished
to make a pledge of allegiance with him. As you may recall I read out
the ten conditions of allegiance (Bait) in detail. As from now on it
is my intention to speak about each one of these conditions in detail
so that it may become clear in the mind of all members of the Jamaat
what is expected of them.
To explain how each of these conditions is very important, I will incha
Allah quote profusely from the Holy Qur’an, the sayings of our
beloved prophet Hazrat Mohammad (saw), and of course, from the writings
of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), the Promised Messiah and also from
what Allah, out of His infinite Mercy has taught us. On some of these
conditions, may be only one Friday Sermon will be sufficient to give
the necessary explanations while on others more may be needed. We will
do our best to explain these subjects in ample details so that it may
be well understood by one and all incha Allah.
THE FIRST CONDITION
The first condition that was laid down by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as),
the Promised Messaih was that the one who wants to enter into an oath
of allegiance (bai’at) shall solemnly promise “that he shall
abstain from associating any partner with Allah (Shirk) right up to
the day when he shall die.’
THE MEANING OF SHIRK
Now let us examine what is the meaning of “Shirk”. The word
is derived from the Arabic root word “Sh R K” .According
to the Arabic- English dictionany by Lane when the Arabs say “sharaka
fihí” it means he shared or participated or partook with
him in it. When they say “ashraka billahi” it means he attributed
to Allah, or associated with Allah a partner or a co- partner whether
in His Person or Attributes or Dominion. In other words he believed
in a duality or plurality of God and (in a wider sense) it means he
disbelieved or misbelieved in God Therefore the word “Shirk”
has the following meanings (1) participation or co partnership (2) the
attribution of a partner to or the association of a partner with Allah
i.e belief in the plurality of Gods. From the sayings of our beloved
prophet Hazrat Mohammad (saw) additional shades of meanings are given.
But we will speak more of that in other sermons incha Allah.
Now I will give you some quotations from the Holy Qur’an so that
you may understand what Allah has said about this most grievous of all
sins.
In chapter 31 V 14to 16‘Luqman’ Allah says:
“And we bestowed wisdom on Luqman and said ‘be grateful
to Allah’ for whoso is grateful is grateful for the good of his
own soul. And whoso is ungrateful, and then surely Allah is Self-Sufficient,
Praiseworthy.
And call to mind when Luqman said to his son while he admonished him,
‘o my dear son associate not partners with Allah. Surely the association
of partners with Allah is a grievous wrong.
And we have enjoined on man to be kind to his parents- his mother bears
him in weakness upon weakness and his weaning takes two years “
give thanks to Me and to thy parents. Unto Me is the return.
And if they contend with thee to make thee set up equals with me concerning
whom thou hast no knowledge, obey them not, but be a kind companion
with them in the world and follow the way of him who turns to Me. Then
unto Me will be your return and I shall inform you of what you used
to do.”
It is a well known fact that the most basic of all religious teachings
is that God is One. It is from this most important principle that all
other noble ideals flow. The root meaning of the Arabic word “zulm”
means to put a thing in its wrong place. Therefore when man worships
any other thing besides Allah, or associates partners with Allah his
acts of worship are in the wrong place. Instead of worshipping Allah
he worships others besides him or he associates others in his worship.
And Allah has declared this to be “zulmoun Azim”.i.e ‘such
a wrong that you cannot really imagine how grievous it is”. This
gives us an idea of how this sin is really enormous in the sight of
Allah. Therefore all Muslims should do their best to avoid committing
this sin.
THE MEANING OF LAA ILAHA ILALLAHO MOHAMMADOUR
RASOUL LOULLLAH
When we declare the Islamic credo “Laa ilaha illallaho
Mohammadour rasoulloullah” i.e there is no God but
Allah and Mohammad (saw) is His Messenger, we affirm that we will worship
only Allah and no one else besides Him and that Hazrat Mohammad (saw)
is only His Messenger and nothing else. Mohammad (saw) does not share
in His Attributes or in His Person or in His Dominion and he is only
a human being like us. However he was privileged because he was a Messenger
of Allah and Allah talked to him and he delivered Allah’s Message
to mankind.
In the verse that follows Allah enjoins on man to treat his parents
with great compassion. However if these same parents try to persuade
their children to “set up equals to Allah” i.e to practice
“shirk” they should not be obeyed on that point. Nonetheless
it is incumbent upon man to be a good companion to them in this world.
Although Allah has enjoined upon man to be thankful to Him and to his
parents, nonetheless He forbids the latter to obey his parents if they
try to persuade him to practice “Shirk”. Again this gives
us an idea about how bad this sin is in the sight of Allah.
LAA ILAHA MOHAMMADUR RASOUL LOULLAH- OUR SHIELD
The Islamic credo is our shield against “shirk”. When we
recite it and ponder over it as we have been advised by the Holy Prophet
Mohammad (saw), little by little we start getting an idea of its real
meaning. When I was young, about 25 years old there were plenty of questions
that I asked myself about Allah, about where we came from and where
we were going. I even read a bit of Greek philosophy at that time searching
for the meaning of life although even at that time I was reading about
Islam also. Then one night I dreamt about the third caliph of Jamaat
Ahmadiyya, Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him). He
just appeared in front of me and said: “the basis of all philosophy
is Laa ilaha illallaho Mohammadour Rasooloulllah”. When I woke
up I was quite delighted with what he said. After some time I was really
very happy when I read in the newspaper “Al fazl” a Friday
Sermon that Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) had
delivered on this subject. Incha Allah, one of these days if I get that
sermon anew I will explain its contents to all the members of the Jamaat.
MORE VERSES FROM THE HOLY QURAN
The Holy Qur’an is full of verses in which Allah has condemned
“Shirk”. Unfortunately it will not be possible for us to
read all these verses. Therefore I have chosen a few more for the guidance
of all our brothers and sisters. The next verse that I have chosen is
from chapter 17 verse 23. Allah says:
“So set up not another God with Allah lest thou sit down
condemned and forsaken”
The message here is very clear. If we associate partners with Allah
we will be condemned and be forsaken. In other words we will not be
able to fulfill the purpose of our life which, as spelled out in the
Holy Quran, is to “worship Allah”. The fact is that if we
practice “shirk” we will close on ourselves the doors of
moral and spiritual progress.
WORDS OF WISDOM FROM ALLAH
In the same chapter Allah explains some words of wisdom that He enjoins
upon us as Muslims. I am quoting all the verses so that you may have
an opportunity to reflect upon them and try to adopt them in your daily
life. Allah says:
“Thy Lord has commanded that ye worship none but Him,
and that ye show kindness to parents. If one or both of them attain
old age with thee, never say to them as much as ‘ugh’ nor
reproach them, but always address them with kindly speech.
And lower to them the wing of humility out of tenderness. And say, ‘My
Lord, have mercy on them even as they nourished me when I was a child.’
Your Lord knows best what is in your minds; if you are righteous, then
surely, He is Most Forgiving to those who turn to Him again and again.
And give to the kinsman his due, and to the poor and the wayfarer, and
squander not thy wealth extravagantly.
Verily, the squanderers are brothers of Satan and Satan is ungrateful
to his Lord.
And if thou hast turned away from them while seeking thy Lord’s
mercy for which thou hope even then speak to them a kind word.
And keep not thy hand chained to thy neck out of miserliness, nor stretch
it forth to its utmost limit out of extravagance, lest thou sit down
blamed, exhausted.
Surely, thy Lord enlarges His provision for whom He pleases, and straitens
it for whom He pleases. Verily, He knows and sees His servants full
well.
And slay not your children for fear of poverty. It is We Who provide
for them and for you. Surely, the slaying of them is a grievous sin.
And go not nigh unto adultery, surely, it is a manifest indecency and
an evil way.
And slay not the soul, the slaying of which Allah has forbidden, save
for a just cause. And whoso is slain wrongfully, we have surely given
his heir authority to demand retribution but let him not exceed the
prescribed bounds in slaying; for therein he will be supported by law.
And come not near the property of the orphan, except, in the best way,
until he attains his maturity and fulfill the covenant; for the covenant
shall be questioned about.
And give full measure when you measure and weigh with a right balance;
that is best and most commendable in the end.
And follow not that of which thou hast no knowledge. ‘Verily,
the ear and the eye and the heart- all these shall be called to account.
And walk not in the earth haughtily, for thou canst not reach the mountains
in height.
The evil of all these is hateful in the sight of thy Lord.
These injunctions are part of that wisdom which thy Lord has revealed
to thee. And set not up with Allah any other god, lest thou be cast
into Hell, condemned and rejected.” Ch 17 v 24-40
Here we see that after giving several injunctions about how a Muslim
should live his life, again at the end Allah warns against praying to
others besides Him. Shirk will eventually cause one to be cast in Hell,
condemned and forsaken.
THE MESSAGE OF THE HOLY PROPHET IN BRIEF
Again we see that in chapter 18 v 111 Allah says to the Holy Prophet
Mohammad (saw): “Say I am but a man like you. But it is
revealed to me that your Lord is One God. So let him who hopes to meet
with his Lord do good deeds and he should join no one in the worship
of his Lord.”
The people of Mecca were idol worshippers and they prayed to many idols.
The idea that there is only One God was alien to them and they did not
like this message at all. They were given to idol worship because they
thought wrongly that it could help them in this life or in the hereafter.
But Allah sent His prophet to tell them that what they have been doing
is wrong. They should worship only One God. Moreover if they want to
meet their Lord, who created them they should practice virtue and give
up vice (this is the meaning of doing good deeds) and he should associate
no one in the worship of the Lord.
Due to limited time available we end today’s
sermon here. We will continue incha Allah with the same subject next
week. Meanwhile all of us should try to examine our own selves and eradicate
this ‘grievous wrong’ if we find it either in our thoughts,
our worship or in our actions. May Allah keep us all on the right path
and may He be always pleased with us. Ameen.
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