Jamaat Ahmadiyya al Mouslemeen

Friday Sermon of Hazrat Amirul Momeneen Zafrullah Domun

Friday Sermon 15th December 2006

After reading the Tashahhud, the Ta’uz , the first chapter of the Holy Quran Hazrat Amirul Mo’menine Zafrullah Domun said :

As members will recall, since some time, I have been speaking about the first condition of bait in Jamaat Ahmadiyya. In the past two Friday sermons we did not talk about this subject. Today by Allah’s Grace incha Allah we will continue to talk about ‘shirk’. The fact is that this subject is so vast that it is not easy to speak about it in 2 or 3 sermons. We need more time.If you refer to my last sermon on this subject you will notice that I finished with a saying of the Holy Prophet Mohammad (saw) said about ‘shirk’ among the Muslims. I also spoke about a prayer which can protect us from shirk. I hope that members will get a copy from our website and learn and recite this prayer regularly incha Allah.

Today I will continue to speak to you about a few more things that the Holy Prophet taught us about ‘shirk’ and its contrary namely ‘tawhid’. Again I would like to say that I am making a selection from the literature available on this subject. I will quote mostly from the books of Hadiths.

Abdallah narrates that he himself or someone else asked the Holy Prophet (saw): “Which is the biggest sin in the sight of Allah?”
He said “that you set up a rival in worship to Allah though He alone created you.”
I asked: “What is next?”
He said: “then that you kill your son being afraid that he may share your meals with you.
I asked: “What is next”?
He said: ‘That you commit sexual intercourse with the wife of your neighbor’. (Bokhari vol.6/284)

Then the following verse was revealed:
“Wallazina laa tad’ouna ma’allahe alahan akhara-wa la yaqtalouna nafsaltafi harramallaho illa bil haqqe wa laa yaznoune” HQ 25:68

The meaning is “Those who invoke not with Allah any other God, nor kill life as Allah has forbidden except for just cause, nor commit illegal sexual intercourse.”

In another version it is reported that the Holy Prophet has said that the greatest sin is to associate partners with Allah, to disobey parents and to speak lies. By labeling ‘shirk’ to be the greatest sin, the Holy Prophet did not fail to impress upon his companions how important it was for them to avoid this poison. All the members of Jamaat Ahmaddiya Al Mouslemeen should follow the same example. They should strive to understand very well what is ‘shirk’ and they should do their best to avoid it at all costs.

Whatever are your needs, present them to Allah- He is very Powerful. He has the capacity to grant each of your needs and nothing will diminish in His possessions or wealth if He does so. Make Allah become uppermost in your mind –Remember Him much. Pray with greater concentration. Devote yourself to Him. And then you will see how He comes to fulfill your needs. This is the secret of living a fulfilled life in this very life. Learn it so that you may receive the key to eternal bliss. May Allah help you in your endeavor.

Hazrat Mu’adh bin Jabal narrates that the Holy Prophet said:
“O Mu’adh do you know what are Allah’s rights upon His servants?”
Mu’ad replied: “Allaho wa Rasoulohu A’lamo”. This was the common reply whenever the Holy Prophet Mohammad (saw) asked a question to his companions and it means “Allah and His apostle know best.” The prophet said: “To worship Him alone and not to associate anyone in His worship” The Holy Prophet saw said: “Do you know what the rights of the servants on Allah are?” Mu’adh replied: “Allah and His apostle know best”. The Holy Prophet saw said: “Not to punish them if they do so.” ( Bokhari Vol 9\470)

From this hadith we understand that if we do not practice shirk then we can expect that Allah will save us and will not punish us for our sins.

Now I will quote some more hadiths which clearly illustrate the point why we should avoid shirk and pray only to Allah. These hadiths are what are known as Hadith Qudsi which means that their contents have been revealed to the Holy Prophet Mohammad (saw) but they are not part of the Holy Qur’an. The Holy Prophet Mohammad (saw) said that Allah said:

1. “I am so Self-sufficient that I am in no need of having an associate. Thus he who does an action for someone else's sake as well as Mine will have that action renounced by Me to him whom he associated with Me.” This means that if when we are performing an act and we associate it with Allah and some one else, Allah will not accept that action. Allah will reject it in favour of that associate. From this hadith we should understand that in our heart of heart we should always seek to please Allah alone and no one else. In everything that we do, we should aim to seek Allah’s Pleasure and we should not have the fear or love of any associate with Him. This is true sincerity and it is a rare jewel.

2. “O My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another.
O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you.
O My servants, all of you are hungry except for those I have fed, so seek food of Me and I shall feed you.
O My servants, all of you are naked except for those I have clothed, so seek clothing of Me and I shall clothe you.
O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you.
O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and will not attain benefiting Me so as to benefit Me.
O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the humans of you and the jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that would not increase anything in My kingdom.
O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man of you, that would not decrease anything in My kingdom.
O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to rise up in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what I have, any more than a needle decreases the sea if put into it.
O My servants, it is but your deeds that I reckon up for you and then recompense you for, so let him who finds good praise Allah and let him who finds other than that blame no one but himself.”
This is a very important hadith. It gives us an idea of Who is Allah. You should read this hadith several times and then slowly its meanings will dawn upon you.

3. “The first of people against whom judgment will be pronounced on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who died a martyr. He will be brought and Allah will make known to him His favors and he will recognize them. [The Almighty] will say: And what did you do about them? He will say: I fought for you until I died a martyr. Allah will say: “ You have lied - you did but fight that it might be said [of you]: He is courageous.” And so it was said. Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hell-fire. [Another] will be a man who has studied [religious] knowledge and has taught it and who used to recite the Quran. He will be brought and Allah will make known to him His favors and he will recognize them. [The Almighty] will say: And what did you do about them? He will say: “I studied [religious] knowledge and I taught it and I recited the Quran for Your sake.” Allah will say: “ You have lied - you did but study [religious] knowledge that it might be said [of you]: He is learned. And you recited the Quran that it might be said [of you]: He is a reciter. And so it was said.” Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hell-fire. [Another] will be a man whom Allah had made rich and to whom He had given all kinds of wealth. He will be brought and Allah will make known to him His favors and he will recognize them. [The Almighty] will say: “And what did you do about them?” He will say: “I left no path [untrodden] in which You like money to be spent without spending in it for Your sake.” Allah will say: “You have lied - you did but do so that it might be said [of you]: He is open-handed. And so it was said.” Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hell-fire.”

These hadiths give us an idea of how the path that leads to Allah is very narrow. We should make ourselves small in order that we may tread this narrow path. In other words we should purify our intention completely of all other than Allah and do our deeds only to please Allah alone to the exclusion of all else. If these hadiths may have depressed you a bit, allow me to cheer you up with the following one:

Hazrat Abu Dharr ra narrates that the Holy Prophet (saw) said:
“Gabriel said to me “who ever amongst your followers die without having worshipped others beside Allah will enter paradise or will not enter Hell.” And the prophet asked “even if he has committed adultery or theft”. Gabriel replied: “Even then.” (Bokhari Vol4/445).

We should not understand this hadith to mean that we can do whatever we like provided we do not commit shirk. This hadith, so to say explains what is said in the Holy Quran in chapter 4 verse 49:
“Surely Allah will not forgive that a partner be associated with Him; But He will forgive whatever is short of that to whomsoever He pleases.”

Allah will forgive other sins than ‘shirk’-of course provided we repent of those sins. Under no circumstances should we think that we can commit all types of sins provided we do not commit “shirk”. If we do like this we are acting against the spirit of the teachings of the Holy Quran As a whole. Man should do his best to avoid sins. However, despite his best efforts sometimes he may commit theft or adultery. If he repents of these, Allah will forgive him.
May Allah have mercy on all of us. May we always stay away from ‘shirk’ in all its manifestations.

Ameen.