Friday Sermon of
Hazrat Amirul Momeneen
Zafrullah Domun

22 AUGUST 2008

› Last part on Hazrat Hakim Molvi Nuruddin (ra).

› He was opposed to introducing celebrations other than eids.

› Concerning he open letter to Mirza Masroor Ahmad and the inability to reply.

› The need for reform is so evident.

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

Incha Allah this will be my last sermon on the life and works of Hazrat Hakim Molvi Nuruddin (ra). This does not mean that there is no more to say about him. In fact we have plenty more to speak about him. But for the time being what I have already said should suffice to give Ahmadis an idea of what an extraordinary man he was. May Allah illumine his tomb and grant him a very special place in Paradise.

Last week I ended my sermon by saying that Hazrat Molvi Nuruddin (ra) received a dismissal note from the Maharajah and he was out of a job. We will take the story from there. While working for the Maharajah Molvi Nuruddin (ra) received a substantial salary every month. Besides that he received very important gifts from time to time. But he did not hoard this money. He used to spend it on the unfortunate people of society, namely the sick, the needy the widows and the orphans. He did not put any money in any savings account. Whatever he received he spent on good causes as we have just said. In Jammu where he was working the shopkeeper where he used to take his groceries usually said to him that he should spare some of his money. But he used to reply that if he did so it would mean that he did not rely on Allah. On the day that he was dismissed the shopkeeper told him if he remembered what advice he used to give him about sparing some money. Molvi Nuruddin told him that even in the circumstances in which he was he spurned his advices as before.

This conversation was going on when a messenger brought him a sum of four hundred and eighty rupees which was his salary for the days of the month that he had worked. The shopkeeper was not very happy with this situation. Suddenly came another emissary who brought him a large amount of money from the Rani (queen). The surprise on the face of the shopkeeper was quite visible. So he told Molvi Nuruddin: "This is all very well, but you owe nearly two hundred thousand rupees to a creditor and he is not likely to let you depart without your making such arrangements as he should consider satisfactory for the discharge of your debt." At that moment an agent of his creditor came and told him respectfully:” I have received instructions from my master to make all arrangements about your departure and the dispatch of all your baggage, and to advance to you in cash whatever amount you may desire."

Molvi Nuruddin (ra) asked him to convey his thanks to his master, and added: "I have received more than I need from the Treasury and from another source, and I shall take all my baggage with me."

The shopkeeper stood up, shook his head and remarked: "It seems there is favouritism with God also. We have to work hard from morning to evening to earn a few rupees, and here is this fool of a creditor who, instead of demanding the repayment of his loan, is ready to advance more."

Molvi Nuruddin said: "Allah is aware of the hearts of His creatures. I shall, Inch a All a h , repay this loan in a short while. These matters are beyond your ken."( Hayat Noor p 177)

Now I will tell you how he came to settle in Qadian for ever. Molvi Nuruddin was free from his work so he returned to his birthplace in Bhera where he started the construction of a house. For the purchase of some construction materials he went to Lahore . When he finished his errands he thought of delaying his return home and went to pay a visit to Hazrat Masih Maood (as) in Qadian. During a conversation with him Hazrat Masih Maood (as) said:"Are you free now?" to which he replied in the affirmative, and felt it would not be appropriate to ask for leave to depart the same day. He thought he should postpone his departure for a couple of days.

The next day Hazrat Masih Maood (as) said to him: "You would need someone to look after you, so you might send for your wife." He wrote to his wife to come over, and intimated that as he might have to stay in Qadian for some time, further construction of the building should be suspended. Once his wife had arrived in Qadian, Hazrat Masih Maood (as) observed one day: "Molvi Sahib, you are fond of books, you might have your books sent over from Bhera." He made arrangements accordingly. Some days later he was told not to consider Bhera as his home any more. He felt some apprehension at this. He would not visit Bhera again, but it might not be possible for him to stop thinking of it as his home. He often mentioned later that God, of His grace, so controlled his thoughts that the idea of Bhera being his home never crossed his mind. (Maulvi Nuruddin By Sir Zafrullah Khan p 89).

Just imagine what he did. He was a man who had travelled a lot. He has been doing a job which brought him plenty of money. He lived an austere life because he spent most of his money on others and in the service of Islam. He was in the process of building a house in his home place in order to settle down. But for Allah's sake he abandoned all and came to settle in Qadian, a far off village where the next train station was eleven miles away and whose connection with the world was only a sub post office. In brief he settled in Qadian for Allah's sake. The bond between him and Hazrat Masih was really special. Eventually he would become the caliph of Hazrat Masih Maood (as) because he was a model for Ahmadis of that time and for all others to come.

Now I will tell you about an incident which illustrates how noble was the soul of Molvi Nuruddin and how selfless a man he was and how much he relied only on Allah for all his needs. I will quote from Sir Zafrullah khan's book “Molvi Nuruddin”. On page 91, he said:

“About a year after he had settled at Qadian, a man came from Jammu and presented to Maulaw i N u r-ud-D i n ra one hundred and ninety five thousand rupees in cash. That was the exact amount that he owed to his creditor. He enquired why the money was being presented to him. The man explained that the Maharaja had laid down the previous year that the contract in respect of the forests of the State would be subject to the condition that the contractor would pay one half of his net profit to Maulavi N u r-ud-D i n ra . Tenders were made on that basis and the contract was assigned to him, and he had brought one half of the net profit to be handed over to Maulaw i N u r-ud-D i n ra . The latter directed him to take the money back to Jammu and pay it over to his creditor. The following year the contractor came with one half of the net profit of that year, but Maulaw i Sahib ra refused to accept it.

The contractor urged that he was under obligation to pay it to him. It was a condition of his contract. But Maulaw i Sahib ra would have none of it.

"You accepted it last year; he pleaded."

"That was a divine bounty bestowed to relieve me of my indebtedness. Now I have no such need."

These days in Jamaat Ahmadiyya mainstream, plenty of days are celebrated. You have Masih Maood day, Musleh Maood day, khilafat day and so on and so forth. Plenty of days of celebration indeed! Now I will tell you an opinion of Hazrat Molvi Nuruddin on such celebrations. I quote from Sir Zafrullah Khan's book on page 231:

“In the beginning of April 1911, a Muslim daily of Lahore proposed that the birthday of the Holy Prophet (saw) should be celebrated as a festival, and the Simla branch of the community sought the directions of H a d rat Khal i fatul Mas ih (ra) concerning the proposal. He replied:

"The Holy Founder ( saw) of Islam appointed only two festivals for the Muslims, and Friday is also a festival day. Any other festival would be an undesirable innovation. In this way people will go on adding to the festivals. The A h mad i s would wish to celebrate the anniversaries of the day on which the Promised Messiah (as) received his first revelation, and the day of his death. The companions of the Holy Prophet (saw) were devoted to him but they did not celebrate a third festival. The Promised Messiah (as) was the greatest lover of the Holy Prophet (saw) and had such a festival been permissible he would have celebrated it. Such suggestions are foolish, those who make them only seek popularity; they are not inspired by any spiritual motive."

From this opinion, it is very clear all such celebrations are “undesirable innovations” and hence they have to be stopped. Those who say that this Jamaat does not need to be reformed should reflect on some of the practices of this Jamaat and wonder how far it is fulfilling the purpose for which it was created in the first place. Before ending I would like to tell you a few of the revelations that he received from Allah. He said:

There are plenty of his dreams and revelations also but for the time being these will suffice. For the past two months I have been telling you about the different aspects of the life of Hazrat Molvi Hakim Nuruddin (ra) . Since he was an epitome of the teachings of Islam, that is why most probably Hazrat Masih Maood (as) said that he was an example and if all the members of the Jamaat were like him, it would have been really fantastic. He was an example before and he is still an example today.

May Allah help each one of us to remain on the right path for ever. By the Grace of Allah we are on the right path and our opinion is the right one. What I say may surprise many but Allah has revealed to me several times:

… Innaka a'la siratim moustaqim - Surely you are on the right path

Innaka tahdi ila siratim moustaqim – Surely you guide to the right path.

I will take this opportunity to inform all the members of our Jamaat and the world at large that a friend of mine drew my attention to a very grave mistake that had slipped into the Centenary Khilafat Message of Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad on 27 th May 2008 . On the 8 th June 2008 I wrote an open letter to him drawing his attention to what he had said. We posted the letter on our website and we also sent him a copy in which we said that if he would send any reply, that reply would be posted on our website. I waited for almost two months. There was no reply at all. Allah knows better if he was made aware of what we had said or not. But it is difficult to believe that those who are near and dear to him should not have apprised him of the contents of our letter. Therefore since Sunday 17 th August 2008 we have posted a new letter on our website in which we have said that the “extract” from his message is not to be found in any published literature of the Jamaat. In their attempt to justify their wrong ideas about khilafat they have even resorted to misrepresenting the words of the revelations of Allah to Hazrat Masih Maood (as) . I have also told him that out of his sheer Grace Allah has made me an Imam for the righteous and I have also reminded him of some previous published revelations.

Meanwhile I have had some conversations with some Ahmadis. Of course, despite their best attempt they cannot answer my questions. I have told them that they should go and query those who may enlighten them on these matters. Now you just imagine if the caliph is unable to explain the questions that are posed to him, how will an Amir in Mauritius , or the missionaries from Jamiah or to even a less er degree some speech makers of the Jamaat answer these questions. They are blind how can they lead others! Therefore just to get out of an embarrassing situation they tell these poor Ahmadis “there is no need to answer the questions of Zafrullah Domun; he has nothing to do with our Jamaat! Would you have ever thought that the members of the Jamaat of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) would have fallen so low?

Members would recall that when in the beginning we were saying that there is a need for reform, the mantra was that the caliph is here; there is no need for anyone else to come; he is quite qualified and well equipped to make the necessary reforms. Unfortunately for him he continues to make some blunders and the last one is the one that I have pointed out above. And today the mantra has changed. Today they want to delude the simple minded Ahmadis that there is need for reform and that Allah will raise one amongst them. Their ignorance of history is as crass as that of the Jews, the Christians and even the Muslims because all of these people are still waiting for the arrival of their Messiah. But as far as the Ahmadis are concerned they should have shown some caution when one of them says that he has come from Allah. But unfortunately they have been “the first to reject the message”. They have ignored their Holy Quran justifying the verse of the Holy Quran where it is said:

“And the Messenger will say “O my Lord my people indeed treated this Quran as a thing to be discarded” (25:31).

Remember also that Allah says: Innama yatazakkaro ouloul albaab which means only those endowed with understanding will take heed”. That is to say those who have been given understanding by Allah will heed what comes from Allah and will reject everything else because they fear only Allah.

Soon Incha Allah I will write a pamphlet to refute all the fallacious objections that are being leveled at us to prevent the Ahmadis from understanding what better favours Allah has kept in store for them.

May Allah bless you all. As from next week incha Allah we will start speaking about the month of Ramazan.