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Jamaat Ahmadiyya al Mouslemeen
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Friday Sermon of |
After reciting the Tauz, the Tashahhud and
the first chapter of the Holy Quran Imam Zafrullah Domun said: Since our childhood while attending the
innumerable functions organized by the Ahmadiyya Jamaat we have been fed a diet
of obedience especially to those in authority. Almost everyone in the Jamaat
knows easily by heart the hadith “he who obeys my amir obeys me and he who
disobeys my amir disobeys me”. Similarly the hadith “you should obey even if an
Ethiopian slave whose brain is the size of a grape is made an amir over you” is
quite current in the Jamaat. Such Hadiths have been used by those in authority
only to exact obedience from the members of the Jamaat. However no one ever questioned whether these
Hadiths are really authentic or not and what are their legitimacy. Some people
thought that a missionary coming from Jamiah Ahmadiyya was a great authority on
every aspect of Islam. Personally since my young age I tried to live Islam in
my daily life and I started studying our books and tried to increase my
knowledge as much as possible. During those early days in the mid 1970s
whenever I had time I would be found reading. At that time I had the
opportunity of reading plenty of Hadiths but I did not make any systematic study
of Hadiths. I did not even know that there existed a science of hadith that
might enable one to sift true and untrue Hadiths. Throughout the years I have
come to know that the understanding of Hadiths is very long and painstaking
process. Recently through the availability of many important studies on the net
I have only become aware how ignorant we Ahmadis especially those in Mauritius
are about the study of Hadiths. Moreover within Jamaat Ahmadiyya not much has
been published on Hadiths or its study not even in Urdu. Furthermore even what
Hazrat Masih Maood as has said on Hadiths is not as often quoted as
other matters. A student of Islamic history can easily
understand what importance Hadiths have played in legitimizing the government
of those in power. Consequently there were many fabricated Hadiths and
fortunately for us they have not found their place in the two main books of
Hadiths namely Bokhari and Muslim. If in the past some Islamic rulers
fabricated some Hadiths to legitimate their point of view today some rulers use
some Hadiths to legitimize what might appear obnoxious. In our sermons we have
often argued that the social boycott exercised by the majority Ahmadiyya mainstream
Jamaat over our minority Jamaat is unislamic. Some members of the mainstream
Jamaat feel really ill at ease with this unislamic boycott which runs counter
to what true teachings of Ahmadiyyat stands for. But those who are temporarily
in power are trying their best to tell their members that this is a legitimate
Islamic measure because it has the sanctity of caliphal approval. Hence we read
in the November 2010 Number of “Le Message”, one of the propaganda instruments
of (anti)-Ahmadiyya doctrine: “It has been narrated on the authority of Abu
Hureira that the Messenger of Allah saw said: “It is obligatory for
you to listen to the ruler and obey him in adversity and prosperity, in
pleasure and displeasure and even if another person is given (rather undue)
preference over you”. (Muslim-1836). Islam, being a practical religion does not
ignore the fact that someone might see something undesirable in his leader. Is
it a reason to disobey him? The holy Prophet is quite clear: one should be
patient and obey. If someone dislikes something in his amir or
leader, he should be patient because if he distances himself a little from the
Jamaat, he will die in ignorance” (Bokhari).” Now let me tell you some other Hadiths about
the subject of obedience so that you might know how even today some people
misuse Hadiths to justify their obnoxious and unislamic measures. Concerning
the hadith about the slave being appointed it exact words are as follows: “If a slave is appointed over you and he
conducts your affairs according to the Book of Allah, you should listen to him
and obey.”(Muslim 1838). In some other versions the slave is even qualified as
“Maimed Abyssinian Slave” What we should note in this hadith is that the
leader has to carry out the affairs of the Muslim not according to the words of
later leaders but according to the Book of Allah. Now in Mauritius we have said
that the social boycott has been initiated by the caliph and implemented by the
local Nizamis helped by a clique in England. I have challenged them before and
I say it again now that this social boycott is against the Book of Allah. From
the Holy Quran we understand that those who are in authority should strengthen
family ties and should not break it. But the mainstream Ahmadiyya leadership
does the contrary. In the Holy Quran Allah says: Would you then, if you are placed
in authority, create disorder in the land and sever your ties of kinship? It is these whom Allah curses so that He makes them deaf and makes
their eyes blind.(HQ 47:23-4) From the hadith quoted above we understand that
obedience is due to an amir who conducts the affairs of the Muslims according
to the Book of Allah. If the amir and his close circle are not doing this then
there should be no obedience at all for him. In another hadith it has been narrated on
the authority of Ali who said: “The Messenger
of Allah saw sent an expedition and appointed over the Mujahids a
man from the Ansar. (While making the appointment), he ordered that his word
should be listened to and obeyed. They made him angry in a matter. He said:
Collect for me dry wood. They collected it for him. Then he said: Kindle a
fire. They kindled (the fire). Then he said: Didn't the Messenger of Allah (may
peace be upon him) order you to listen to me and obey (my orders)? They said:
Yes. He said: Enter the fire. The narrator says: (At this), they began to look
at one another and said: We fled from the fire to (find refuge with) the
Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) (and now you order us to enter it).
They stood quiet until his anger cooled down and the fire went out. When they
returned, they related the incident to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be
upon him). He said: If they had entered it, they would not have come out.
Obedience (to the commander) is obligatory only in what is good.”( Muslim
H1840R1) Now comb Ahmadiyya
Literature and you will rarely see this hadith being quoted. It is not quoted
because if people know about such hadith they will question many stupid
instructions that they have received in the name of Islam. There are many
important lessons for every thinking Muslims in this hadith. To begin with in
order to exercise authority one should know the Book of Allah. As an amir or
caliph one is not allowed to give any instruction which is against the
commandments of Allah. Should there be any such
commandments one should disobey or else one will be punished with hell.
Moreover in the circumstances quoted above the Holy Prophet saw
commended those who disobeyed this stupid instruction in another version of the
hadith. Hence no one even the caliph is to be obeyed when he goes against
Allah’s instructions and ask people to sever their ties of relationship with
one another. Those who have obeyed him and disobeyed Allah should make amends
and ask Allah for forgiveness and also ask those they have offended for
forgiveness. Anyhow this is my humble advice to them. If they follow it, they
will profit and if they ignore it they will have to account for it. In another
version the prophet said “ Laa taa’ato fi mar’siyatillah, innamat taa’ato
fil ma’roof” meaning “ there is no obedience in disobedience to Allah –
obedience is in what is ma’roof (good and reasonable). As I have just told you
the Ahmadiyya leadership wants to preserve an apparent unity in the Jamaat by
practicing an Islam of their own making. They say that one should obey whatever
the circumstances by resorting to prayer and patience. However there are other
hadiths which tells us that as Muslims we should only have the fear of Allah in
our heart and for his sake we should always uphold the truth. In another
version of the hadith quoted in Le Message the wordings are more or less the
same but with some additional words. I quote it in full: “The Messenger
of Allah (may peace be upon him) pledged the oath of allegiance from us on our
listening to and obeying the orders of our commander in adversity and
prosperity, in pleasure and displeasure (and when somebody is given preference
over us, on our avoiding to dispute delegation of powers to a person deemed to
be a fit recipient thereof (in eye of one who delegated it) and on our telling
the truth in whatever position we be without fearing in the matter of Allah
reproach of the reproacher.”( Muslim Vol
page 251) Here we
understand that we should not fear to speak the truth for Allah’s sake even to
our amir. There are also
other Hadiths which give us an idea of what we should do when we see the ill actions of an amir or a
caliph for that matter. Here we see that efforts should be made to stop
the Amir acting unjustly. Those who try to do so in speech or deeds will be
saved from Allah’s wrath but those who abet; they will be punished as the amir
will be punished by Allah. Hence coming back to our case in Mauritius, those
who disapprove of all the measures that are implemented by the amir and his
nizamis will be saved by Allah. But all those who help the amir in these unislamic
actions prepare themselves to face Allah with their full load of sins. When I
speak of the amir I never forget the caliph. Furthermore another hadith has been quoted in
Le Message to say that one should not move away from the Jamaat or else one
will die in ignorance. First of all I want to make it clear that I did not move
away from any Jamaat. The caliph, behaving as if the Jamaat is his personal
property and acting on the report presented to him by his amir in Mauritius
told me to go and make my own Jamaat. As an obedient subject I carried through
with his request and since I have never regretted it. If the Hadith says that a
Muslim should not move away from the Jamaat, nowhere in the Hadith or in any
commandment of Allah do we see that any Muslim should be banished from a
Jamaat. As far as we are concerned we have a divine approval for our Jamaat and
we do not need any caliphal blessings for it. When Allah is with us we do not
care at all if the world is against us! However listen to what the Holy Prophet
said in another of his Hadiths: “It has been
narrated on the authority of Huthaifa b.Al-Yaman who said: People used to ask
the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) about the good times, but I used
to ask him about bad times fearing lest they overtake me. I said: Messenger of
Allah, we were in
the midst of ignorance and evil, and then God brought us this good (time
through Islam). Is there any bad time after this good one? He said:
Yes. I asked: Will there be a good time again after that bad time? He said: Yes, but
therein will be a hidden evil. I asked: What will be the evil hidden
therein? He said: (That time will witness the rise of) the
people who will adopt ways other than mine and seek guidance other than mine.
You will know good points as well as bad points. I asked: Will there be a bad
time after this good one? He said: Yes. (A time will come) when there will be
people standing and inviting at the gates of Hell. Whosoever responds to their
call they will throw them into the fire. I said: Messenger of Allah, describe
them for us. He said: All
right. They will be
people having the same complexion as ours and speaking our language. I said:
Messenger of Allah, what do you suggest if I happen to live' in that
time? He said: You should stick to the main body of the Muslims and their
leader. I said: If they have no (such thing as the) main body and have no
leader? He said: Separate yourself) from all these factions, though you
may have to eat the root of trees (in the jungle) until death comes to you and
you are in this state.”(Muslim H 1847). In this
hadith we understand that in times of turmoil people should look for the group
that has an imam. The Arabic words used are “talzamon jamaa’atul
Mouslemeen wa imamohoum” which is translated as “stick to the “Jamaatoul
Mouslemeen” and their imam. IS it then just a coincidence that our Jamaat
is known as Jamaat Ahmadiyya al Mouslemeen.” Is it then just a coincidence that
Allah has said to this humble servant “We have made you an imam for the
righteous.” Incha Allah we will continue this discussion in our next sermon. |