In his Friday Sermon today, Hudhur began by explaining an aspect, that he said was part of last Friday’s sermon, but to which he could not draw attention last week. Hudhur said, as explained, the significance of rizq(provision) is not limited to material provision and wealth, rather all spiritual capacities and faculties also come in this category. The most supremely excellent form of rizq was granted to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him), who in turn passed it on to his Companions. One form of such rizq is the Holy Qur’an, then there is the Sunnah of the Prophet^sa and his sayings. The Companions attained beneficence from all these. In addition, the Holy Prophet^sa made a prophecy about the latter-days. He foretold that once again, there will be dearth of spiritual rizq which is when an ‘appointed one’ of God will come and will distribute the treasures of the Holy Prophet^sa to people. The Promised Messiah^as states:

I now present that Hadith to the audience that Abu Da’ud wrote in his Sahih and draw their attention to its evidence. So, let it be clear that the Hadith that is recorded in Abu Da’ud's Sahih is that a person named Harith shall come [...] from Samarkand who shall strengthen the people of the Prophet^sa, and whose help and victory will be binding for each believer. It has been Divinely revealed to me that this prophecy and the prophecy about the advent of the Messiah who will be the Imam of Muslims and will be from among them; in fact these two prophecies are common in their subject matter and this humble person alone is the substantiation of them both. In reality the key signs of the prophecy relating to the name of the Messiah are only two; one that when the Messiah will come he will reform the internal state of the Muslims, which will be extremely deteriorated at the time; He would reform them with his teachings.

Hudhur said, indeed the Promised Messiah^as did distribute these treasures. On the one hand are those unfortunate people who refuse to accept them and on the other are the Truth-seekers who are satiating themselves with these treasures. The spiritual treasures of knowledge and insight left by the Promised Messiah^as inspire one to love God and the Prophet^sa and prove Islam’s truth over all other world religions. Our responsiblity is to gather these treasures for ourselves.

Hudhur said those who know Urdu should try their absolute best to read the original writings of the Promised Messiah^as. He said he has drawn attention to this before and the Jama’at and the auxiliary organisations should make special effort regarding this. Those who do not know Urdu should try and read whatever is available in translations, especially in English. May God enable us to take this spiritual treasure to others in different languages of the world. Ameen.

Next Hudhur elucidated the Divine attribute of Al Hasib (The Reckoner) through a few verses of the Holy Qur’an. Citing verse 285 of Surah Al Baqarah, the translation of which reads: ‘To Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth; and whether you disclose what is in your minds or keep it hidden, Allah will call you to account for it; then will He forgive whomsoever He pleases and punish whomsoever He pleases; and Allah has the power to do all that He wills.’ (2:285) Hudhur said the faith of true believers is perfect when they keep an eye on their nafs (self) at all times and mould it according to the teachings that God has conveyed to the world through the personage of the Holy Prophet^sa. God knows the state of hearts. So, if professing something verbally, serving the Jama’at etc. is merely for show, then it is all inconsequential. If someone is active in propagating the word of God, but does not practice it himself, perhaps the people will not see it, but God sees everything. The word Yuhasib (call you to account) in the aforementioned verse signifies that God will recompense us according to our practices, the states of our heart and our intentions. This is the reason why one should always have the purification of one’s heart at the forefront of one’s mind.

‘And every man’s record of deeds have We fastened to his neck, and on the Day of Resurrection We shall bring out for him a book which he will find wide open.’ ‘Read thy book. Sufficient is thy own soul this day as reckoner against thee.’ (17: 14-15) Explaining these verses Hudhur said mankind does not remember much of its bad deeds or does not give much significance to them. God states that there is a book of record for every human being in which every little detail of what they do is being written down. Are we saying our prayers for God or for show? Are we giving out charity for God or for show? Hudhur said this is why in this life we should do our own accountability on a daily basis. However, it should also be remembered that God’s mercy prevails all else. God does not hold a person accountable right away for thinking an evil thought. If that evil thought begins to reside in the person’s mind so much so that he wills to act upon it, that is when he starts to become accountable. Hadhrat Abu Hurayrah^ra reported:

Allah's Messenger^sa said, "Allah Almighty says (in a qudsi [divine] hadith), 'Whenever My servant intends to do a bad deed then (O Angels) do not write it unless he does it; if he does it, then write it as one bad deed. (On the other hand) if he intends to do a good deed but does not do it, then write it as a good deed (in his account), and if he does it, then write it for him (in his account) as ten good deeds.' " (Bukhari and Muslim)

A Believer must continue to analyse his weaknesses and shortcomings and make every effort to wipe them out so that God can save him on the day of Reckoning, and that the accounts recorded in his book weigh heavier in the balance of virtue and purity. Hudhur explained that the book being given in the right hand signifies that a person’s good deeds outweigh the bad ones and God shall have mercy on him. The other group however will have a tough reckoning; in fact those who have committed bad deeds will give testimony against themselves. God shall hold a person accountable for the smallest of his excesses, but He is All Powerful and can forgive out of His sheer mercy.

As man is created weak and can be punished due to his bad practices, thus, for the attainment of God’s pleasure and to be protected from Hell, the all-encompassing mercy of God has taught us prayers so that they may lead us to good. The Holy Qur’an states: ‘And of them there are some who say: ‘Our Lord, grant us good in this world as well as good in the world to come, and protect us from the torment of the Fire.’ ‘For these there shall be a goodly share because of what they have earned. And Allah is swift at reckoning.’ (2:202 - 203). Hudhur explained that a true believer looks out for all good from God and tries to come in the refuge of God from all that takes him away from God and leads to chastisement. Verse 2:202 is a comprehensive prayer which is suitable for people of every social standing and spiritual capacity in order to attain spiritual development. Hudhur said it is the good done in this world that becomes a source for man being granted good in the Hereafter. Man should supplicate for worldly good which are in a way blessings from God. He should pray that he becomes pure of thought, that he may be able to carry out his duties towards fellow human beings, that he can commit good deeds, that he can worship in the best possible way, and the scope of these supplications extends out to asking for all of the good that is in one’s knowledge or not, and that may God protect him from all the evils of the world. This is how the worldly good become a source for attaining good in the hereafter.

Hudhur read two extracts from the noble writings of the Promised Messiah^as to further expound the subject of good of this world and the Hereafter. He has said that a believer aspires to achieve spirituality in his lifetime, and even when he is supplicating for worldly good, his true intention is for the worldly good to serve as means to attain spiritual goodness, for example when a person intends to travel to a specific destination, the mode of transport he chooses to take becomes a means to reach that destination. A Believer must always keep in mind his end and how he can make it the best possible end so as to reap the rewards of the afterlife i.e. to gain nearness of Allah Almighty. There is a tradition in which Hadhrat Umar^ra is seen advising an old man, who had ceased his job of planting trees as his death was imminent. He told the old man that he should continue to plant trees till the end of his time because although he himself will not reap the fruit of his hard labour, but his children will. Therefore, one should strive to gain worldly good not only for oneself, but also for the betterment of their children, so that the children do not suffer and stray away from God due to worldly difficulties. If a person has done a good job in raising his child in a religious manner, then his own worldly good continues to grow even after he has died, because his children pray for him, and these prayers continue to elevate his status in the next life. The Promised Messiah^as has explained that a man desires worldly good for two purposes: one is so that he is sheltered from the adversities and afflictions of this world. And the other is that he gains salvation in this world, which will become the foundation of his spiritual deliverance in the world to come. The reason why one should ask for worldly good is because physical health makes it possible for a person to commit those acts and deeds which will reap him the rewards in the afterlife. For example, only if a person enjoys good physical health can he offer Salat in the best possible manner. Another point to remember is that worldly good goes hand in hand with the proper use of that worldly good i.e. to gain the pleasure of God Almighty. This is the aspiration of a true believer that even his supplication of worldly good should be to gain the pleasure of God Almighty. God rewards all goodness, even if it be the weight of a mustard seed, and He is swift in His rewarding. Hudhur said that every Ahmadi Muslim is a witness of this Divine law in one way or another in his own life.

Quoting the prayer read in Salat, which is a prayer of Hadhrat Ibrahim^as ‘My Lord, make me observe Prayer and my children too. Our Lord, and accept my prayer. Our Lord, grant me forgiveness and to my parents and to the believers on the Day when the reckoning will take place’ Hudhur explained that attention is drawn to ‘reckoning’ in every Salat so that we keep an eye on every single act of ours for the attainment of good in this world which goes on to facilitate good in the Hereafter. There is need therefore to self-analyse and hold oneself to accountability, to be regular in establishing the observance of Salat, and pray for forgiveness of each other. The attention in this prayer is also drawn to not only one’s own Salat but that of their children as well. May Allah enable us to become true believers and to perform all those virtuous acts that Allah Almighty has instructed us to do and may we tread on the right path, Ameen.

Hudhur said the Jama’at office-holders should be mindful of the difference between an Ahmadi in general and an office-holder and present models in observance of Salat and other virtues. Then alone will Ahmadis in general be also drawn to these.