After reciting Surah Al Fatihah, Huzoor (aba) recited these verses:

Behold! the friends of Allah shall certainly have no fear, nor shall they grieve — Those who believed and kept to righteousness — For them are glad tidings in the present life and also in the Hereafter — there is no changing the words of Allah; that indeed is the supreme triumph. [10:63-65]

Huzoor (aba) based the entire Friday sermon on elaborating upon these verses which shed light on the characteristics of a Wali (Friend of Allah). Huzoor (aba) said that Awliya (plural of Wali) are guaranteed that they shall have no reason to fear or to grieve as long as they keep progressing in their belief in God and Taqwa (righteousness) and for such believers, there is a promise that God Himself will become their friend, and they are the recipients of Divine blessings in this world and in the Hereafter.  Huzoor (aba) further elaborated that a true believer is one who remains steadfast in his belief even if he incurs a worldly loss because he has firm faith in the rewards that he will reap in the next world, promised by God Himself.  But the first and foremost prerequisite to become worthy of this promise is that one must fulfill the obligations of becoming friends of Allah.  It is often noticed that one offers a whole lot in the way of our worldly friends, but in order to become the friends of God, one must be prepared to follow His commandments and to live his life in a state of fear of losing the pleasure of God. It is indeed not easy to achieve the status of a Wali. Huzoor (aba) then recited the following verses:

Only they believe in Our Signs who, when they are reminded of them, fall down prostrate and celebrate the praises of their Lord, and they are not proud. Their sides keep away from their beds; and they call on their Lord in fear and hope, and spend out of what We have bestowed on them. [32:16-17]

These verses remind us again of those Believers who fulfill the rights towards their Creator in order to gain His closeness. When God makes such people His friends, He forgives their sins, and they become free of sins (past and future).  God shows us this path of friendship with Himself which is a beautiful relationship to have, yet in certain cases, man is ungrateful and he adopts the path of rebellion and denial in the existence of God, the result of which is that he becomes Hellbound.

The Promised Messiah (as) has said that God is Independent and Besought of all; He does not need anyone to be friends with Him.  It is man who benefits from this friendship with Allah, and what a friend to have, One Who never abandons His loved one in this world or in the next and Who forgives his shortcomings.

And say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah Who has taken unto Himself no son, and Who has no partner in His Kingdom, nor has He anyone to help Him on account of weakness.’ And extol His glory with all glorification. [17:112]

One should make every effort to purify one’s heart, so that when God glances into it, there is not even a speck of sin.  On this path of purification of one’s soul, man shall meet with many successes in the world and will have led a good life to the end.

Huzoor (aba) then presented a Hadith that on the Day of Judgement, there will be three groups of Awliya (the friends of Allah). God will ask the leaders of each of these groups why they performed righteous deeds in the world. One person on behalf of the first group will say that they did so to attain the Promised Paradise. God will then lead this group into Paradise, bestowing upon them His favor. The leader of the second group will say that they did so to save themselves from the Fires of Hell.  God will then lead them into Paradise, bestowing upon them His favor as well. The leader of the third group will say that they did so to acquire the Love of Allah and to attain His nearness. God will then remove all barriers between Himself and this group, and He will lead them into Paradise and angels will be with them and they will be closest to God. The leader of this third group will indeed be the best of all human beings, the best among the Awliya: Hadhrat Muhammad Mustafa (may peace and blessings of Allah be on him).  Up until his demise, the Prophet (may peace and blessings of Allah be on him) desired nothing more than the love of Allah. He is indeed the most excellent example of absolute faith in Allah and the best among all the righteous people.

In another Hadith, it is narrated one cannot attain nearness to God Almighty till he loves someone for His sake. Huzoor (aba) also presented another hadith on the authority of Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (rz): The Messenger of Allah (saws) said, "Verily, Allah likes three things for you and disapproves three things. He likes that you should worship Him Alone, not to associate anything with Him (in worship) and to hold fast to the Rope of Allah and not to be divided among yourselves; and He disapproves for you irrelevant talk, persistent questioning and the squandering of the wealth."[Sahih Muslim]

Huzoor (aba) presented another hadith on the authority of Hadhrat Umar Bin Khattab which talks about love of people with one another for the reward of gaining Allah’s favors. These are the people who shall have no fear, no grief, and their righteous deeds shall be to gain the pleasure of God and the prophets of God shall envy their relationship with God.  The purpose of the advent of prophets is to bring a revolution in the spiritual lives of people, and hence the highest status of awliya is reserved for the prophets, and the most supreme of them is the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings of Allah be on him). In the present day, God’s wali are those who are from the Ummah (community) of the Holy Prophet of Islam, and those who believe in the Promised Messiah of the Latter days, as he is the one who will unite all believers on one hand and remove the differences from amongst them.  Ahmadis along with non-Ahmadis should ponder over this and it is only the love for one another, the obedience to Nizam-e-Jamaat, the bond with Khilafat that will reap them the rewards of the world and the Hereafter. It is through this path that one will attain the purpose of his creation. Huzoor (aba) read out an excerpt from the writings of the Promised Messiah (as) about the spiritual progress of man in this world and in the next. When one sets foot in this direction, then God helps such a person to reach the heights in his quest of Divine love and wisdom.

May Allah Almighty enable us to strive to achieve this status and to acquire His friendship. May He forgive our sins and cover them with the shades of His infinite Mercy, Ameen.