Note: The Alislam Team assumes full responsibility for any errors or inaccuracies in this translation of the Friday Sermon.
Friday Sermon delivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad(ra) Khalifatul Masih II Date: 25 April 1924 Published: Al-Fazl, 6 May 1924
Topics: Divine Unity, Promised Messiah, End Times Prophecy, Nature of kashf, Scholarly Corruption
After reciting the tashahud, ta'awwudh, and Surah Al-Fatihah, Huzur(ra) recited the following verses:
"And they say: The Most Gracious has taken unto Himself a son. Assuredly, you have brought forth a monstrous thing, whereby the heavens might almost be rent, and the earth split asunder, and the mountains fall in ruins — that they ascribe unto the Most Gracious a son, when it does not become the Most Gracious to take a son." (Surah Maryam, 19:89–93)
He then spoke as follows. There are many matters in this world which people fail to grasp on account of their ignorance and lack of understanding, and there are some matters which transcend ordinary human reason and which ordinary people, owing to their unfamiliarity with them or their deficiency in spirituality, are unable to comprehend, and so they begin raising objections.
Those who raise such objections are generally people who have fallen away from spirituality. The Holy Prophet(sa) counted among such people the religious scholars of the era of the Promised Messiah(as), and declared that the scholars of that time would be the worst of all creatures, and that their wickedness would exceed all bounds. He even described them as asharr al-nās — the most wicked of people — and as dābbat al-arḍ — meaning that their outlooks would be superficial and they would be entirely devoid of spirituality. They would be called scholars, but in reality they would be ignorant; they would be regarded as rightly guided, yet they would in truth be misguided. Their misguidance would not be confined to themselves alone — they would also lead others astray and become their leaders. Outwardly they would appear learned, having memorised logical terminology, storing philosophical maxims and speaking with great fluency and flair, yet the true knowledge would not be with them — that is, the knowledge by virtue of which, in Quranic usage, a person is called ʿālim (scholar), and for the lack of which a person is called jāhil (ignorant).¹
In Quranic terminology, jāhil does not mean one who is unacquainted with the conventions of logic and philosophy. Nor, according to Quranic usage, is a person called ignorant merely because he cannot read the Arabic of the Quran and Hadith well. Rather, in Quranic usage, an ʿālim is one who possesses understanding of the faith, closeness to God, and ʿirfān — deep spiritual knowledge of Him — and one who is distant from the court of God is called jāhil. Under this Quranic definition of knowledge, the people of the age of the Holy Prophet(sa) were designated scholars or ignorant, and it was this Quranic knowledge that served as the criterion between scholar and ignorant in that era — not the branches of learning that are prevalent today. And if today's popular sciences were to be made the measure of scholarship for the people of that era, then the greatest and most distinguished Companions would be counted as ignorant, because these popular sciences did not exist at that time.
Can anyone establish that logic and philosophy existed in the time of the Holy Prophet(sa), and that the Holy Prophet(sa) and Abu Bakr(ra) had studied logic and were well-versed in its terminology? Never — for all these sciences came later; they were not prevalent in the time of the Companions. Logic and philosophy were translated from Greek in the third century. If someone had asked Hazrat Abu Bakr(ra) a question in logical terminology at that time, could he have answered it and satisfied the questioner? Or if someone had asked him about those extended meanings of Arabic words that later became conventional, would he have been able to provide them? Then again, if someone had asked Hazrat Abu Hurayrah(ra): "Tell me, Abu Hurayrah, what is a hasan hadith and what is a marfūʿ hadith?" — could he have answered that and satisfied the inquirer? Never. He would have replied only: "I do not know hasan and marfūʿ; what I know is that I heard this from the Holy Prophet(sa)." The reason Abu Hurayrah would not have been able to specify is simply that these categories had not been formulated at that time. Even today many people are unfamiliar with this science: if one were asked what a marfūʿ muttaṣil hadith is, many would be perplexed and unable to answer. But if one were to give the definition — that it is a hadith whose chain of narrators has no gap and whose transmission reaches the Holy Prophet(sa) — no one would deny it, and even the most unlettered person would understand it, although this is the very same definition that is compactly contained in the term marfūʿ muttaṣil. So what is knowledge? It is merely the knowledge of a few technical terms: one who knows them is called a scholar, and one who does not know them is called ignorant. But in Quranic usage, we will call him a scholar who is close to God and has attained His ʿirfān. By this definition we will call Hazrat Abu Bakr(ra) more learned than Labid — even though in terms of conventional terminological knowledge, it is Labid who would be called the scholar and Abu Bakr the ignorant one.
So the scholars of the latter era, by the Holy Prophet's (saw) definition, will be ignorant despite being called scholars. They will recite the Quran, yet the Quran will not descend below their throats. They will be called huffāẓ of the Quran, but they will be unacquainted with its meaning and essence. It is precisely because of their unfamiliarity with the meaning and essence of the Holy Quran that the so-called scholars of this era have denied the magnificent prophecy that was fulfilled through the very existence of the Promised Messiah(as). That prophecy is this: the Promised Messiah(as) stated that he saw in a kashf (vision) that he was God, and that he then intended to create the heavens and the earth, whereupon a new earth and a new heaven were created.² Today, those who call themselves scholars, upon reading this kashf, say that Mirza Sahib was a polytheist, that he laid claim to divinity. Yet the Promised Messiah(as), in narrating this kashf, pointed to a great Quranic prophecy. And had he not received this kashf, that prophecy would, as it were, have remained unfulfilled.
That prophecy is this: Allah the Almighty says, "And they say: The Most Gracious has taken unto Himself a son" (19:89) — meaning that in the latter age there will be a group which will say that the Most Gracious has a son. Allah says, "Assuredly, you have brought forth a monstrous thing" (19:90) — this is their polytheistic doctrine, which will spread so far in that era that "the heavens are almost rent asunder thereby, and the earth is split, and the mountains fall in ruins" (19:91). Because of the spread of this false belief, all the pathways of spirituality will be obliterated. The earth upon which God had been worshipped, and the heaven which had been sending down mercies, and the great and eminent scholars of religion who had from time to time assisted the faith with their knowledge — it will nearly come to pass that the heaven and earth split apart and the scholars perish, because the order of the world is sustained by tawḥīd (Divine Unity), and it is tawḥīd alone that is manifest within it. If tawḥīd is extracted from it, not only would heaven and earth split asunder, but the entire world order would be overturned and nothing would remain.
Tawḥīd is the root, and it is tawḥīd alone upon which all the prophets, from Hazrat Adam(as) to the Holy Prophet(sa), have consistently insisted. The very purpose of their being sent was to establish tawḥīd. Their requiring recognition of themselves was solely because they brought tawḥīd. They emphasised ṣadaqāt (voluntary charity) and zakāt (obligatory alms) and declared them obligatory because these are a means of drawing near to Allah and an aid to attaining Him. Similarly, when they commanded noble morals, it was also for this same purpose — because those created by the One God do not cause suffering to others, and they know that all people are their brethren. Therefore, whether one takes religion, or noble morals, or ṣadaqah and zakāt — none of these is itself the ultimate purpose; the real objective underlying all of them is tawḥīd, which is the root of them all, and by which the order of the world stands. For if God is given a partner and a son is imagined for Him, disruption would enter the order of the world.
It is toward this disruption of the world order that Allah the Almighty points, by way of prophecy, in the Holy Quran, saying that in the latter age Christianity will advance and the belief in the "Son of God" will spread and flourish to such an extent that it will be as if God's unity is obliterated — and not only unity, but the earth upon which worship used to be performed, and the heaven that used to send blessings and mercies down upon humankind, will nearly split asunder, and the scholars of religion will perish.
At that time, a being will appear who will save heaven and earth from splitting apart, re-establish them in their rightful places, and he will be none other than that Jesus who will have Maryam-like qualities who will refute the doctrine of divine sonship — and he will be the one who will declare that the tomb of Jesus is in Mohalla Khan Yar, and that he is superior to that Jesus whom you, O Christians, call God and the Son of God. This prophecy was thus fulfilled with great clarity through the Promised Messiah(as): a being came into existence and such means were provided by God that the spiritual earth and heaven and mountains were saved from splitting apart and being shattered. They were on the verge of splitting, but his existence prevented them from doing so, and he re-established them anew. It is as though he created a new earth and a new heaven. Observe — of a man near death it is said that he will die within a few minutes, but when he recovers, one says that he has been given a second life, and this is how it is expressed in every language. Similarly, since the heaven and earth had come near to splitting — for what God said, that the saying that a human being is the Son of God nearly causes heaven and earth to split, was not said idly but was in fact the prevailing condition — yet before they split, God sent a man of Maryam-like qualities so that he might refute the doctrine of sonship and re-establish the spiritual earth and heaven and mountains. In this verse, physical and material heaven and earth are not intended, nor can material mountains be meant, because their connection is stated to be with the Christians who call the Messiah the Son of God — and it is through their sciences and technology that the Christians have further developed the material heaven and earth and mountains. So material heaven and earth cannot be the meaning here. This is a prophecy, and in prophecy metaphors and figures of speech are used. It is the spiritual heaven and earth and mountains that are meant here, and there is no doubt that these spiritual heaven and earth were on the verge of splitting — but a means was created whereby they were re-established in their places.
And the Promised Messiah(as) came and, through proofs and arguments, established that the Messiah whom the Christians declare to be the Son of God is dead, and that he himself is superior to him. Thereupon the spiritual earth and heaven returned to their places, and it appeared as though they had been newly created. This is the meaning of that kashf in which Hazrat Sahib writes that he saw he was God and that he then intended to create the heaven and the earth and created them.² This is a kashf and is subject to interpretation — just as all visions and dreams are subject to interpretation.
In this regard, Taʿṭīr al-Anām, a book several hundred years old in which interpretations of the dreams of great saints have been compiled, states that when a person sees in a dream that he has become God, the interpretation of this dream is that God has been attained by him and that he is walking on the straight path (sirāt al-mustaqīm). This interpretation is recorded in a book that predates these scholars by several hundred years. Thus, the meaning of the Promised Messiah's(as) kashf of being God was that in that age all people were astray — only Hazrat Sahib was rightly guided, and he alone stood firm upon tawḥīd. Then he spread the tawḥīd that God had given him throughout the world, and re-established the spiritual earth, heaven and mountains that were on the verge of falling and being shattered.
This, then, was the meaning of creating a new earth and a new heaven — that the word of Allah and His tawḥīd should be spread throughout the world. And it is to this that the Gospel points in the saying: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the same was in the beginning with God." The meaning is that spiritual life in this world is attained by people through the descent of God's Word, and the transformation of the world also depends on God's revelation — not on the words and pretensions of the mullahs. And this transformation through revelation and the word of God takes place in the world precisely when the spiritual earth and heaven begin to fall. It is then that, in order to re-establish them, a transformation is brought about in the world and God's word descends. Thus, under this principle and in accordance with the Quranic prophecy, it was necessary for the Promised Messiah(as) to bring about a transformation in the world and to create a new spiritual earth and a new spiritual heaven. This kashf points toward that — yet these mullahs accuse Hazrat Sahib of polytheism on account of it and say that he claimed to be God. But these ignorant ones do not know what its meaning is.
It was the Promised Messiah(as) who came and established tawḥīd — otherwise, where was tawḥīd before? Did these mullahs themselves possess tawḥīd — the very ones who have attributed divine attributes to the Dajjāl? About the Dajjāl they say that he will cause rain to fall, that he will turn withered crops green, that he will restore the sick to health, and that every affair will be in his power. I am astonished at what a perverse reasoning these mullahs have — attributing divine attributes to the Dajjāl while awaiting his arrival, yet objecting to the kashf of the Promised Messiah(as). Could any fool say that causing life and death, bringing rain and turning withered crops green are not divine attributes? Likewise, who can say that making days longer or shorter is possible without having power over the sun, moon and stars? The Dajjāl's making days longer and shorter is only possible if divine attributes are granted to him and the sun, moon and stars are considered to be in his possession.
Then these people do not merely grant divine attributes to the Dajjāl — they consider him more powerful and more endowed with attributes than even God, for Allah the Almighty says that He does not alter His ways, and it is His way that He does not restore the dead to life in this world. Thus, when the Holy Prophet(sa) said to the Companion Jabir(ra) regarding his martyred father that God said to him, "Make a wish and I will fulfil it" — his father said, "Send me back into the world so that I may be slain in Your path once more." Thereupon God said: "It is My law that after death people are not returned to the world." This makes it clear that God does not break this law of His by restoring any dead person to life again. But these mullahs say that the Dajjāl will kill and then restore to life. Thus the devotees of the Dajjāl grant him attributes even beyond divine attributes.
And this too is foolishness on their part — that they understand the Dajjāl's killing and reviving to be in a literal sense, saying that he will kill and revive physically. What is meant, rather, is that the Dajjāl will shatter the earth on which God's worship used to be performed, and will rend that spiritual heaven which used to send down blessings, and will draw to his side the religious scholars who are the mountains, and whoever refuses to join him he will destroy. So just as the Dajjāl will carry out his work, in the same way God will send the Promised Messiah to nullify the Dajjāl's mischief, and the Messiah will come and re-establish the earth and heaven in their places, and will wrest them from the Dajjāl's hold and bring them into his own, and will establish religion through such proofs and arguments that even scientists will be unable to refute them. This, then, is the meaning of creating a new earth and a new heaven, and this is what the kashf of the Promised Messiah(as) is pointing toward. Yet it is remarkable that the mullahs object to it — whereas had Hazrat Sahib not said this, it would have been these very scholars who would have said: what kind of Promised Messiah is this, who did not fulfil the purpose for which he was sent — that is, he did not refute polytheism?
This kashf, therefore, confirms the truth of the Promised Messiah(as) rather than — naʿūdhu billāh min dhālik — marking him as a polytheist, because he established the spiritual earth and heaven and obliterated Christianity. He called the greatest of priests to every kind of contest, yet they did not come. He gathered such proofs and arguments against which Christianity cannot stand. Thus it has been rationally established that the purpose of Hazrat Sahib's advent was fulfilled. As for its fulfilment in practice — it is not necessary that this should happen immediately. The Holy Prophet(sa) was sent 1,300 years ago; has Islam spread throughout the entire world? Has the whole world become Muslim? What right then do these people have to say: why has the whole world not accepted Mirza Sahib, and why has it not bowed its head before him? I say: look at the signs that are being fulfilled one by one, that are drawing hundreds of thousands toward the community, and thousands of Christians are coming toward the community of the Promised Messiah(as). The hearts of the critics cannot deny these effects when they behold them. And they will soon see that the Promised Messiah(as) came and created anew the earth and heaven, and that the great prophecy that the Quran conveyed regarding the latter age was fulfilled through his advent. God will fulfil this prophecy and will establish the truthfulness of the Promised Messiah(as) before the world — even if his opponents wear out their noses in their supplications against it.
As the Promised Messiah(as) himself used to say:
The eyes of the blind are veiled by a hundred veils.
Their eyes are veiled — they cannot see the truth. I say that the work of the Promised Messiah(as) was itself defined as: he will create a new earth and a new heaven. Had Hazrat Sahib not related this kashf, it would have been these very scholars who would begin to say: what kind of Promised Messiah is this who did not fulfil the purpose for which his coming was foretold — that is, he did not refute polytheism. Thus this kashf has confirmed the Promised Messiah(as), and by no means, naʿūdhu billāh, branded him a polytheist — for he established the spiritual earth and heaven and countered Christianity. His proofs and arguments are such that Christianity cannot withstand them. So it has been established by reason that Hazrat Sahib's mission was fulfilled. Those who deny it will soon see that God will prove his truthfulness to the world — however much his adversaries may exhaust themselves in their opposition.
¹ Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ, Kitāb al-ʿIlm, Bāb fī Faḍīlatihi, al-Faṣl al-Thālith.
² Tadhkirah, p. 189. (https://new.alislam.org/library/books/tadhkirah?option=options&ppage=189)
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