Note: The Alislam Team assumes full responsibility for any errors or inaccuracies in this translation of the Friday Sermon.
Delivered on 9 May 1924
After reciting the Tashahhud, Ta‘awwuz, and Surah al-Fatihah, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih said:
The duty of a believer, as taught in Surah al-Fatihah, is that he should guide the whole world. Islam has laid particular emphasis on the fact that God did not create man merely to keep his own benefit in view and to live as an individual. Rather, the purpose of man's creation is that he should live a communal life, keep in mind the benefit of the members of that community, and strive to guide them.
If we reflect, we will realise that man has been created so that he may live his life for the benefit of all. This is why Allah the Exalted says in the Holy Quran: کُنۡتُمۡ خَیۡرَ اُمَّۃٍ اُخۡرِجَتۡ لِلنَّاسِ تَاۡمُرُوۡنَ بِالۡمَعۡرُوۡفِ وَتَنۡہَوۡنَ عَنِ الۡمُنۡکَرِ وَتُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ بِاللّٰہِ ؕ وَلَوۡ اٰمَنَ اَہۡلُ الۡکِتٰبِ لَکَانَ خَیۡرًا لَّہُمۡ ؕ مِنۡہُمُ الۡمُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ وَاَکۡثَرُہُمُ الۡفٰسِقُوۡنَ ﴿۱۱۱﴾ (You are the best people raised for the good of mankind; you enjoin what is good and forbid evil and believe in Allah. And if the People of the Book had believed, it would have surely been better for them. Some of them are believers, but most of them are disobedient.) [3:111] Why is this so? Because your quality is that you have not been created merely to perfect your own selves, but you have been created for the establishment of the people.
Hence it is the very duty of a Muslim that he should not look to his own benefit, but should live his life to benefit others. This is the purpose and the very object of a Muslim, and this very theme has been expressed in Surah al-Fatihah—that man should not keep his own personal benefit in view, but that bringing benefit to others should be his foremost aim. Thus, at the beginning of Surah al-Fatihah, in Al-hamdu lillahi Rabbil-‘Alamin, the relationship between God and the servant is not mentioned; nor in Ar-Rahmanir-Rahim is the servant's relationship with God expressed; nor in Maliki Yaumid-Din is his relationship with God expressed. Rather, the relationship between God and the servant is expressed in only three places, and in all three the community is mentioned, not any individual.
Thus the first place is Iyyaka na‘budu, when man turns towards God. At that point the question of "I and Thou" arises between the servant and God. But he says Iyyaka na‘budu—that "O God, we worship Thee." Here na‘budu (we worship) has been used, not a‘budu (I worship)—that is, "we" has been said, not "I," even though it is "I" who worships, not "we." And saying "we" can only be correct if two things are found.
First, that all mankind worships God—but this is entirely false as observed in reality, because there are atheists in the world who curse God, and there are polytheists who rub their noses before idols and ask favours of them. So to say that the whole world worships God is completely wrong. Yes, there is another way in which saying "we" can be correct—and that is the principle that an act is sometimes attributed to someone because he will do it in future, or because there is a desire that he be made to do it at some future time. In this sense, Iyyaka na‘budu can be said to mean: we shall make all mankind worshippers of God. And the peculiarity of the language also shows that others besides oneself are included in this phrase. So in this sense, Iyyaka na‘budu does not mean that the whole world worships—because that would be contrary to fact—but rather it means: I shall cause everyone to worship Thee, even though at present not everyone worships Thee. But I shall cause them to worship Thee, and if they do not come to Thee now, they will come later. This is the correct meaning, and on this basis it is right to say "we" instead of "I."
The second place in Surah al-Fatihah where the relationship between the servant and God is expressed is Iyyaka nasta‘in. Here too, it is not asta‘in but nasta‘in, and in it there is the acknowledgment: "We seek help from Thee alone." This acknowledgment too does not appear correct on the surface, because neither is the whole world Muslim, that it should seek help from God alone, nor do all Muslims seek help from God. So it would be wrong to interpret this as meaning "we all seek help from Thee." Rather, its correct meaning is—and can only be—that "I shall bring everyone to servitude to Thee, and then, having become Thy servants, they will seek help from Thee."
Then, thirdly, in Surah al-Fatihah the relationship between God and the servant is combined in this phrase: اِہۡدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الۡمُسۡتَقِیۡمَ ۙ﴿۶﴾ (Guide us in the right path —) [1:6] Here too the servant does not say ihdini (guide me) but says ihdina (guide us)—that is, "guide us all," not "guide me alone." In this, the believer is taught that he should include everyone with himself and keep in view the benefit of all.
When this is the station of a believer, is it not strange that if every person calling himself an Ahmadi is told to preach in his own area, he should say, "What need have I? I myself have already found guidance; why should I care for others?" If a person says this, or even if he does not say it but shows it through his conduct—that is, does not preach the truth to others—then his condition is greatly to be regretted, because he speaks falsely before God while calling out ihdina. Can a person whose hand is wounded say, "I am well"? Or can a person whose foot cannot properly move say, "I am strong"? Or can a person whose nose is cut off, or whose eye or ear is defective, call himself handsome? If not, then how can any man be satisfied considering himself guided, when Allah the Exalted has declared all mankind to be like one body? As I have shown from Surah al-Fatihah, man is made to stand before God collectively, not individually, and it is taught that your gaze upon the benefit of any matter should fall upon the community, not upon the individual, and that while looking at all, you should reflect upon yourself—not that you should keep your own benefits in view and take no notice of others. So the person who knows the reality of ihdina and کُنۡتُمۡ خَیۡرَ اُمَّۃٍ اُخۡرِجَتۡ لِلنَّاسِ تَاۡمُرُوۡنَ بِالۡمَعۡرُوۡفِ وَتَنۡہَوۡنَ عَنِ الۡمُنۡکَرِ وَتُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ بِاللّٰہِ ؕ وَلَوۡ اٰمَنَ اَہۡلُ الۡکِتٰبِ لَکَانَ خَیۡرًا لَّہُمۡ ؕ مِنۡہُمُ الۡمُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ وَاَکۡثَرُہُمُ الۡفٰسِقُوۡنَ ﴿۱۱۱﴾ (You are the best people raised for the good of mankind; you enjoin what is good and forbid evil and believe in Allah. And if the People of the Book had believed, it would have surely been better for them. Some of them are believers, but most of them are disobedient.) [3:111]—how can he say, "I am well, what need have I to worry about anyone else"? For Allah the Exalted wishes to see man showing sympathy for mankind, and it is the duty of every Muslim to spend his whole life for the guidance of all mankind. If a person does not spend his life in conveying guidance, then his prayer carries the colour of hypocrisy and dissimulation, because he is not truly saying Ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim.
I have repeatedly drawn the attention of the community towards preaching (tabligh), but most people are still slow in carrying out this task. Some people take part in other religious works, and if a lecture or sermon is being held, they will busy themselves with arrangements, seating people, keeping them quiet—but will not consider it necessary to preach themselves. If all Ahmadis without exception considered preaching their duty, then very soon the whole world would turn towards guidance. For it cannot be that if the truth is properly explained to the people of the world, they would not understand it.
If people are made to understand in such a way that no stubbornness or prejudice arises in them, and they come to know that ahead of them, in the direction they are going, lies fire, but in the direction to which you are calling them lies paradise—then it is not possible that they should not be guided. So the first condition for preaching is that it should become clear to people that fire lies ahead of them, and that if they continue in that direction, they will fall into the fire, and that you wish to save them from it. When they become convinced of this, they will surely turn towards you; but if they are not convinced that fire lies ahead of them, they will not turn towards you, nor will they find guidance.
The second condition for preaching is that you should tell them in such a manner that they do not feel humiliated by your speech, because sometimes a person, on feeling humiliated, turns towards destruction and prefers destruction to guidance. So do not create contempt in their hearts, but do say to them: "Fire lies ahead of you—save yourselves from it." The Paighami (Lahori) group avoided creating contempt and hatred in the hearts of others, but they did not tell people that fire lay ahead of them, and that what they were calling them to was paradise. They fulfilled one condition but abandoned the other, and the result of that was disastrous. Some among you do tell people that fire lies ahead of them, and that what they call them to is paradise, but through your preaching, contempt and hatred towards you are created in their hearts, and so they do not turn towards guidance, and they hold back. Contempt and hatred should not be created towards you by people, nor should you be slow in warning them of the fire ahead. So I draw your attention to this: that by remaining in this state of negligence, Ahmadiyyat will never spread, nor will it spread by thinking that the maulvis are preaching in our place, nor will progress come by thinking that paying our contributions is enough and there is no need to preach. Until all people engage in spreading Ahmadiyyat, there will be no progress. The purpose of the maulvis is only to keep religion established and to prevent any disruption in it; the task of other people is to convey to everyone the religion which has reached them from God through the Prophet. In this same way, we too can achieve success, and Ahmadiyyat can spread.
Our community should, once and for all, resolve firmly and rise up to convey Islam to all other people, and abandon negligence, because this very negligence is the obstacle to success and the hindrance to our progress. Otherwise, Allah the Exalted is not niggardly in granting success, nor is there any deficiency in His treasures, nor does giving to earlier peoples diminish His treasures—rather, God's treasures are as full now as they were before. The deficiency and negligence are on your part; you do not fulfil the condition which opens the mouth of the treasury. May Allah the Exalted grant our community the ability to fulfil those conditions by which the treasury of Allah the Exalted is opened, so that we may obtain His bounties.
(Al-Fazl, 23 May 1924)
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