Note: The Alislam Team assumes full responsibility for any errors or inaccuracies in this translation of the Friday Sermon.
(Friday Sermon delivered on August 31, 1923)
Topics: Religious Duty, Personal Dedication, Divine Address, Intermediaries in Religion
After reciting the Tashahhud, Ta'awwudh, and Surah Al-Fatihah, His Holiness delivered the following address.
Two Fridays ago, I spoke about how a believer ought to perform religious work. I explained that all human beings are addressed by God's commandments — not prophets alone. All the injunctions of the Shari'ah apply to every person. I also explained that God does not wish to place any intermediary between Himself and His servant, and that He never sends a person whose role is to be an intermediary between Himself and His servants.
A rough illustration of what I said is this: suppose someone invites ten people to a meal and asks one person from their neighborhood to convey the invitation to them. The fact that those people attended through that messenger's conveyance does not mean they attended because of his intercession or on his account. But the commonly understood meaning of "intermediary" (wasila) differs from that of a guide (hadi) or leader (rahbar). An intermediary is like this: a king or ruler has visitors at his home whom he has no intention of receiving, but a favorite of the king intercedes on their behalf saying, "Please let them in," and so the king grants them permission — that is an intermediary. A guide, on the other hand, appears at first glance to serve the same function, since one must follow the path he shows. But he is not an intermediary, because although we follow the path he indicates, we do not reach God through him — our relationship with God is direct, and it is for the sake of that relationship that we must follow the path.
The illustration is this: a person knows a certain place and is familiar with both it and the road leading to it. In order to reach that place, we follow behind him. We are going to that particular place through his lead, but not because of him — we are following him because of the destination. Such a person is called a guide or leader. The guide's role is simply that he is going to the same destination as us — the difference between him and us is that he came to know the place and the path before we did, and so we follow him. There is no doubt that if we do not walk the path he is walking, we will not reach our destination. But there is equally no doubt that he is not an intermediary for our journey there, and we are not going because of him.
Prophets who are sent into the world, and saints and righteous persons who come, do so for this very purpose: to show God's servants the path to reaching God, so that by walking that path, servants may reach God Almighty. This does not mean in the least that we reach God because of them. God's relationship with every servant is direct, with no intermediary in between — neither any prophet is an intermediary, nor any saint.
My purpose in explaining this is that because people do not understand it, they generally do not know what their own duty is, how they ought to work, nor does any enthusiasm arise within them for that work. Commonly, people have it fixed in their hearts that the prophets and saints are the real intended ones, that there is nothing for them to do, and that they have no direct relationship with God. This is like a person being called to court — his friends might go along to watch, but they will not have the same fervor as if they themselves had been summoned. Similarly, because people have the notion fixed in their hearts that the prophets are the ones truly intended, and they do not think they too have been called, they lack the enthusiasm that would arise if they realized they too were being addressed.
They do not understand that all the prophets — such as Abraham (as), Moses (as), Jesus (as), and the Holy Prophet (saw) — became beloved to God and drew close to Him in their respective eras, and that is why we had to follow them and they became our guides. Otherwise, God made no distinction in calling everyone toward Himself. He called the prophets just as He called us. The difference lies only in effort. Some worked harder in going toward Him and drawing close to Him, and so became more beloved. This is each person's own effort. Because the Messenger of Allah (saw) showed greater effort than anyone else, he became especially close to God Almighty. This is a matter of one's own effort. God's desire is that all servants be equal in responding to His call. No one should think that God specially addresses the prophets because only they are the intended ones — rather, He addresses them because they become His beloved and reach Him before everyone else.
Since all human beings are equally addressed by God Almighty, the question arises: how should we assume responsibility for religious work? The question of whether all servants are addressed is settled — they are, and therefore all of us are responsible for this work. God addresses people through His beloved ones, and His not speaking directly to all has a wisdom behind it — different from the reason a human being cannot address everyone directly. The wisdom behind God's not speaking directly to all is that His speaking is itself a reward, and He does not wish to give this reward to every person without effort and striving. A human being, by contrast, cannot address everyone simply because his capacity is limited. For instance, I myself cannot speak to everyone nor correspond with everyone — so if I instruct an Amir, a Secretary, or a President to tell others that a certain task must be done, can those others then be lazy on the grounds that I did not address them directly? Just as the Amir was addressed by my command, so too are all the people. The command is equal for all, and no particular person is the exclusive intended recipient. But since everyone cannot be addressed directly, the command is conveyed through the Amir or Secretary.
Therefore, since the Holy Quran is for all and all Muslims are addressed by it, all their responsibilities are equal. Just as its commandments are obligatory for Zayd, so too are they for Bakr. Just as the commandments of the Quran are obligatory for Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (saw), they are equally obligatory for us. No one can say that such and such a person has more right to act upon them than we do. Acting upon God's commandments is an equal duty and equal right for all. Abu Bakr (ra) had no greater right than others to act upon those commandments and make people act upon them. Just as it was his right to protect Islam and have people observe the Shari'ah, so too it was the right of Abu 'Ubaydah (ra) and other Muslims. Just as it was obligatory upon 'Umar (ra) to support and protect Islam, so too it was the obligation of every Muslim, however humble. The difference was only that 'Umar (ra) had greater strength — and there is no doubt that the stronger will carry more burden and the weaker less — but the command was equal for both. The command applies to each according to his capacity.
Now that it has been established that every religious duty is the duty of every believer, the question remains: how should one do religious work? This will be answered easily, and the purpose of all this introduction was to bring your hearts to this point — that since all commandments are as obligatory upon us as they were upon the Holy Prophet (saw), what excuse do we have to be sluggish in fulfilling them?
I say that if anyone thinks — even with regard to Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (saw) — that it is because of him that we act upon the commandments of God, even that is shirk. A person can be fully free of shirk and a true monotheist only when he is convinced that there is no intermediary between himself and God. As for the fact that God sent one of His servants to guide His other servants — that is proof of God's perfect love, that He appointed a powerful one to serve the weaker ones. They were appointed to serve God's creation, and this is a sign of His special love. Yes, they became the masters of humanity because of that service — for whoever serves becomes a master.¹ Otherwise, from God's side, they were appointed to lift people up and bring them to God. They are the messengers of God to the people, His helpers. They are pillars and support, but they are not a barrier between human beings and God. It is not that people reach God because of them. Rather, they came so that people who were far from God might be brought close, because God does not wish His servants to be left behind.
Just as a farmer winnows grain and some falls and remains on the ground — that does not mean the farmer intends for it to remain; his intention was to take all of it. Similarly, the servant who is left behind remains so of his own accord, for God's intent and desire encompasses all human beings. So God's Word came to every human being just as it came to Muhammad (saw). Beyond that, there is a difference in individual capacities. There is no difference in the command.
And when I say there is no difference in the command — that all are equal in it — let me point this out again: if someone's capacity is less, that does not mean the command upon him is also less. The command is equal for all, but the person with lesser capacity does less, and no blame attaches to him for that. For example, if we tell people: give all the money you have for the sake of religion — one person has ten rupees and gives ten, another has less and gives less. The one with ten did not give ten because he was commanded to give more, nor did the one with less give less because he was commanded to give less. The command to both was the same: give whatever you have. Both are equal in the command. Similarly, one person can give ten hours for the service of religion and another only five. The command to both is to give their time. If the one who can give ten hours gives only five, he is a sinner; while if the one who can only give five gives those five hours, he will draw close to God.
So every believer is equally addressed by religious commandments, and all religious responsibilities fall upon every believer.
Now we should work in this manner — that all these duties are obligatory for each one of us, and each of us is responsible for them just as we are responsible for our own affairs. But there is one condition: that we work with wisdom and understanding. We should not work like fools or slothful persons. We should work like a wise, understanding, and self-respecting person. It is possible that a person works but is foolish, or mad, or sick, or ignorant — and for that reason his work produces no result. Many people in the world have the ability to work but do not know how to work. Many others lack the ability to work altogether. So our duty is to do religious work, and to do it as a wise and self-respecting person would.
Now look at how a wise person carries out his own affairs. A wise person always keeps two things in mind. First, that his work should not be ruined for any reason — he will not set conditions or restrictions on it, and will provide all lawful means for it, saying: let this work be accomplished by whatever means possible. Second, he does the work with enthusiasm. So a wise person uses all correct and lawful means for success in his work, and does that work himself with enthusiasm.
Is there a single wise person in the world who sets boundaries for his own work or lays down conditions for it? If no wise person does that, then how can a believer set boundaries and conditions for religious work?
Those who set conditions are like this: there was a cruel master who oppressed his workers. A worker came to him and said, "List all the tasks for me and write them down." He was a hardworking and capable worker and completed all the work. One day it happened that the master went out on horseback and instructed this worker to accompany him. The horse was unruly. The master fell off the horse, and his foot got caught in the stirrup, so that his head was being dragged and scraped along the ground. He called out to the worker to come quickly and free his foot from the stirrup. The worker took out the paper and said: "Please look, sir — this condition is not written here." Now consider — if this had been the worker's own father, could he have done that? Could he have given that answer? A wise and self-respecting person does all his work, and does it with enthusiasm.
Look — is there any task that a person does not do at home? Even the most distasteful tasks, people do in their own homes. They wash their children and clean them. People clean their own homes. Tailoring is a trade — in the greatest households, sewing and stitching is done. Repairs are a profession — people fix broken things themselves. Masonry is a profession — if a brick or two comes loose, a person fixes it himself and does not call a mason for a small home repair. In the home, a person is also a blacksmith, a carpenter, a butcher — he slaughters chickens and goats with his own hands and prepares them. He is also a cook and a washerman. In short, is there any profession not practiced at home? Because it is his own work, he does it without hesitation. He does not say at home, "I am a Head Clerk, I am a Deputy." Even the greatest kings work at home — some water their gardens, some chop wood. Sultan Abdul Hamid used to make furniture with his own hands. So in one's own work, a person pays no heed to anything and sets no conditions. At the office, after six hours he will say, "Time's up, I'm done." He sets the condition of six hours at the office. But in home tasks, he never says, "I won't do it, my time is up" — rather he does every kind of work. He sets no boundaries, and does the work with enthusiasm.
If a person's child is drowning and he is going to save him, and someone tries to stop him — if that person truly has passion, I think he would first break the head of the one trying to stop him and then try to save his child. Similarly, if one regards religious work as one's own, one cannot abandon it because someone provokes or tries to prevent him.
Some people give up and say, "Because so and so tells me to, I will not do this work." We say: if someone told you not to take your child out or not to look after him, would you abandon your child out of anger? Would you neglect his care because a person told you to, or because someone kept saying to provoke you, "Love your child," or "Don't beat him," or "Look after him properly" — would you then stop looking after him? Such people who abandon religious work because someone provokes or stops them can be tested: tell them repeatedly to educate their child, to look after him, and let us see if they stop teaching him or withdraw from caring for him. But if they do not behave that way in that matter, why is it done in religion?
Or why does it happen that a person says there is no one to remind him of religious work, no one to motivate him? Does he need someone to remind him to look after his child, or for other such necessary tasks? How many Secretaries and Presidents does he have who remind him to love his child or to eat his meals? If you regard God's work as your own work, then no one needs to remind you. So until there is at least as much yearning in your heart for the service of religion as there is for your own household tasks, you can never advance.
Some of you say: "We moved far from the mosque, so the congregational prayer was missed," or "No one informed us." We say: why did you not miss your meals because no one reminded you? He will say, "Hunger for food comes from within." We say: the love of religion apparently does not arise from within you, which is why you consider yourself in need of someone else's reminder.
So, to whoever considers himself a believer, or wishes to become a believer, I say this: regard every religious duty as your own obligation, and then consider it your own work. Let there be no need for anyone's reminder. Do not abandon the work because someone provokes or stops you. Do you need someone to remind you of your own work? Then why do you feel the need to be repeatedly reminded of religious duties? And why are conditions placed on them? If religion is yours, then you can place no conditions at all. All religious work — since it is your work — do it with the same enthusiasm and love with which one does one's own work in this world. This is the summary of a believer's work. If one works in this manner, the Community can advance with such speed that even the swiftest of opponents cannot match it.
But what work will those people accomplish who assign whatever tasks arise to others and say, "This is not our job — such and such people will do it"? And whatever tasks they do take on, they abandon those too because someone repeatedly reminded them of them. If not reminded, they complain: "Why was I not reminded?" And if they are reminded, they complain: "Why are you repeatedly reminding me?" What progress can such a heedless and negligent people ever make in the world? First, they distributed the work and placed it on others' shoulders. Then, even worse — when someone reminds them of the tasks they did keep for themselves, they say: "You are hounding us, our honor has been insulted, we have been humiliated."
These people are exactly like the man who did not want to give a wedding gift and was searching for an excuse. He finally went up to the roof and started stamping his feet loudly. The people of the house asked, "Who is up there?" He stormed off in a huff, saying, "So that's who we are!" and left (meaning he searched for a small issue to become insulted by and therefore have a reason to leave before giving a gift). Such people always look for excuses so that they are somehow relieved of the work of serving religion — which hangs around their necks like a yoke, as though it were — God forbid — a curse upon them. Yet a believer's duty is to do the work of religion just as he does his own work.
I have never seen a person have a fight with a village headman (numberdar) and then refuse to go when the Deputy Commissioner summons him. Then how can it be possible that you abandon the work God has placed upon you because of a quarrel with someone? If you have a beloved and you are going to him, and a fight breaks out on the way — would you turn back? So if you cannot abandon your desired destination because of a fight along the way, how can you possibly abandon prayer behind an imam because you had a quarrel with someone? Yet some followers have abandoned prayer behind certain imams because of a fight, and some imams have stopped leading prayers because some followers are displeased with them.
I also see many people who abandon religious work because of someone else, and many who set conditions in religious work. I say that all of these are signs of a corrupt self, and I advise my friends: there is no personal benefit to me in explaining your duties to you. If I tell you to do something, it is for your own advancement and your own benefit. There is no personal gain for me in it. It is not my desire to seek only my own advancement and honor. I do not want you to remain ignorant while all the credit goes to me. Rather, I want you to have honor too, and you to attain advancement. A Khalifah cannot truly be a Khalifah — indeed, a Prophet cannot truly be a Prophet — unless he desires that others become like him. So I say: understand your duties, so that you may advance.
(Al-Fazl, September 7, 1923)
References
¹ Persian proverb: هر که خدمت کرد او مخدوم شد — "Whoever serves becomes the one served (a master)." A well-known Persian adage used in classical Sufi and literary tradition.
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