أَشْھَدُ أَنْ لَّا إِلٰہَ اِلَّا اللّٰہُ وَحْدَہٗ لَا شَرِیکَ لَہٗ وَأَشْھَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُہٗ وَ رَسُوْلُہٗ

أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَأَعُوْذُ بِاللّٰہِ مِنَ الشَّیْطٰنِ الرَّجِیْمِ- بِسْمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ

اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰہِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِیْنَ۔ اَلرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ۔ مٰلِکِ یَوْمِ الدِّیْنِ۔ اِیَّا کَ نَعْبُدُ وَ اِیَّاکَ نَسْتَعِیْنُ۔

اِھْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِیْمَ۔ صِرَاطَ الَّذِیْنَ اَنْعَمْتَ عَلَیْھِمْ غَیْرِالْمَغْضُوْبِ عَلَیْھِمْ وَلَاالضَّآلِّیْنَ۔

قَدْ اَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُوْنَ۔ الَّذِیْنَ ھُمْ فِیْ صَلَاتِھِمْ خٰشِعُوْنَ (Al-Mu'minun: 2-3)

Indeed, the believers have attained success. Those who are humble in their prayers. In the first of these verses, Allah the Almighty has given the certain glad tidings of the success of believers by saying قَدْ اَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُوْنَ. But which believers? Many of their conditions are described in the subsequent verses that only those believers who live their lives according to these conditions will attain salvation. And among these conditions or qualities that a believer should possess, the first characteristic or state is فِیْ صَلَاتِھِمْ خٰشِعُوْنَ—they demonstrate humility in their prayers. The common meaning of "khashi" is taken to be those who weep and supplicate in prayer. But it has other meanings as well, and until all meanings are fulfilled, the true standard of a believer's state is not achieved. According to lexicons, the meanings of ''khushu'' include: adopting extreme humility, lowering oneself greatly, annihilating one's ego, adopting self-abasement, striving to make oneself inferior, keeping one's gaze lowered, and keeping one's voice soft and low.

So observe how vast a picture of a true believer's prayer and worship has been drawn in this single word. And the person who bows before Allah the Almighty to attain these standards of worship will be one who reaches the pinnacle of humility, who annihilates his ego for the sake of attaining Allah's pleasure, and who adopts the other characteristics that have been described. Then, while gaining nearness to Allah the Almighty, he will also pay attention to the fact that along with fulfilling the rights of Allah, he must also fulfill the rights of creation according to Allah's command. And then these prayers will also become a means of resolving his worldly affairs. Then, in accordance with the instruction of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him):

بدتر بنو ہر ایک سے اپنے خیال میں

شاید اسی سے دخل ہو دارالوصال میں

"Consider yourself worse than everyone in your own estimation; perhaps this alone may grant you entry into the abode of union." (Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part Five, Ruhani Khazain Volume 21, Page 18)

He will strive to become the embodiment of this. And while striving to become this embodiment, while trying to free himself from the clutches of his ego and self-aggrandizement, he will also resolve or strive to resolve his worldly affairs. By keeping his gaze lowered out of modesty, not only in the state of prayer but also in daily life, he will be protected or will strive to be protected from countless evils of society. The one who keeps his voice low, while understanding this in relation to worship, will also remain protected or strive to remain protected from shouting, screaming, and quarrels in his daily routine. Thus, a believer eliminates many evils related to daily routines through his prayers and worship.

So Allah the Almighty says that those people who establish such prayers and maintain such effects upon themselves have attained salvation. One translation of attaining salvation has been given as "became successful," as I had translated in the verse. But this success has great vastness in terms of how success was achieved. In the lexicon, its meanings include: creation of ease, opening of difficulties, attainment of good fortune, fulfillment of desires, receiving protection, permanence of goodness and happiness, and receiving the blessings of life.

Thus, those who perform good deeds for the sake of Allah's pleasure benefit in so many ways, or Allah bestows His grace upon them in so many ways. All this is even beyond human imagination. And to attain these blessings, Allah the Almighty has made the first and most important step for a believer the development of ''khushu'' in prayers. He has made worship the means of attaining these things.

Worldly people also sometimes display humility. In fact, if it is merely a question of weeping and supplicating, some worldly people weep and supplicate over trivial matters to such an extent that one is left amazed. In places where their worldly interests are affected, they are ready to become utterly humiliated. Or some display emotions temporarily. Upon seeing certain conditions, observing certain people's states, compassion may also arise, and upon seeing a painful situation, an extremely emotional state develops in them. But all this is either for their own interests, for worldly show, or under a temporary and momentary emotion. None of this is for the sake of Allah's pleasure. The one who seeks to attain Allah's pleasure is far removed from these superficial matters.

Regarding the emotional state of worldly people or those who outwardly and temporarily display weeping and supplication, the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) stated at one place:

"I have seen many such mendicants with my own eyes, and similarly some other people have also been observed, that upon reading a sorrowful verse, or seeing a sorrowful scene, or hearing a sorrowful tale, their tears begin to fall so quickly just as some clouds pour their large drops so quickly that those sleeping outside at night do not get the opportunity to take their bedding inside without getting wet" (meaning just as rain comes suddenly, their tears begin to flow suddenly. Then he said) "But I bear witness from my personal testimony that I have found most such people to be great deceivers, in fact, more advanced than worldly people. And some I have found to be so wicked in nature, dishonest, and scoundrels in every aspect that upon seeing their habit of weeping and supplication and their disposition of humility and submission, I feel aversion to displaying such tenderness and passion in any gathering." (Appendix to Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part Five, Ruhani Khazain Volume 21, Page 194)

So there are also such people whose tears do not take long to flow upon seeing certain scenes, but this is a temporary emotion. When their own interests are involved, such a state will never develop in that person. If at one moment they see a situation where there are no emotions, no personal interests involved, then that state may develop. But when their own interests are involved, that state never develops. Rather, they even commit oppression and never show mercy. Or there are certain other evils that are displeasing to God, or their prayers and worship are merely for show. So when this is the situation, how can such people fall into the category of قَدْ اَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُوْنَ. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (may Allah be pleased with him) relates that Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I used to narrate the incident of an elder who offered prayers regularly in the mosque for several years so that people would praise him. But Allah the Almighty, due to some past good deed of his, put it in people's hearts that everyone called him a hypocrite. (His desire was that people should praise him, but people called him a hypocrite.) Finally, one day it occurred to this elder that so much of my life has been wasted. No one has called me righteous. If I had worshipped for God's sake, at least God would have been pleased. This thought came to his heart with such force that he immediately went into the wilderness. He wept and prayed and repented and vowed: O God, now I will worship only for Your pleasure. When he returned, Allah the Almighty put it in people's hearts that this person is indeed very righteous, but who knows why people had defamed him. And children and elders all began to praise him. This elder offered thanks to Allah the Almighty: O God, only for one day did I pray for Your pleasure, and the result was that people began to praise me. (Derived from Khutbat-e-Mahmud Volume 17, Page 705)

Now observe, as soon as realization developed, when he molded his worship for attaining Allah's pleasure or worshiped with sincerity, that was being done for His sake, Allah the Almighty also became pleased. But now he no longer had the desire that people should praise him or consider him a great elder, and now despite having no desire, people began to say exactly what he had previously desired. People began to praise him. Before, he had the desire and despite wanting it, he had not succeeded. But now the situation became completely different and people began to say it.

Secondly, this also shows that Allah the Almighty, valuing some past good deeds, creates the means for someone's reformation. The mention that Allah the Almighty was pleased with some past good deed means that because of that good deed, their realization developed due to people's comments, and people calling them a hypocrite before became the cause of their reformation. And this did not happen randomly but, as I said, Allah the Almighty was pleased with some past good deed of theirs, due to which Allah the Almighty created such means that their worship became for Allah's pleasure. Because Allah the Almighty Himself wanted to reform them, that is why realization developed in them due to people's comments. And if He kept putting in other people's hearts earlier that this person is a hypocrite, it was because Allah the Almighty did not want people to praise them and thereby wrongly develop the habit of self-admiration in them, causing them to sink further into sins. Allah the Almighty wanted their reformation because of some past good deed, so He created the means for their reformation and they became included among those who attained salvation.

Thus, some past good deeds, despite subsequent mistakes and sins, become the cause of saving a person from an evil end, and a person can become counted among those who attain salvation. And this depends on Allah the Almighty's attribute of Rahman. If Allah the Almighty wishes to reform someone, He can do so in this way as well.

Here, Allah the Almighty has given the guarantee of certain salvation to those believers who strive to benefit from His attribute of Rahim, the first condition of which is ''khushu'' in prayers and worship—''khushu'' that is done purely for the sake of Allah the Almighty.

While explaining this subject, the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) compared this state of a believer to various stages of human creation. I present only the first part, i.e., اَلَّذِیْنَ ھُمْ فِیْ صَلَاتِھِمْ خٰشِعُوْنَ, which clarifies that no good deed remains a good deed, nor do worship practices remain worship on a permanent basis unless a person strives to cling to Allah the Almighty's attribute of Rahimiyyat or strives to attain it, and considers his worship merely an effort that, by His grace alone, is the means of keeping him attached to Allah the Almighty.

The Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) says:

"The first stage of a believer's spiritual existence is that state of humility, tenderness, and passion which a believer experiences in prayer and remembrance of God. That is, to create within oneself melting, tenderness, humility, meekness, and supplication, brokenness of spirit, a longing and restlessness and fervor, and by bringing upon oneself a state of fear, to incline the heart towards God Almighty—as stated in this verse: قَدْ اَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُوْنَ۔ الَّذِیْنَ ھُمْ فِیْ صَلَاتِھِمْ خٰشِعُوْنَ. That is, those believers have attained their objective who in their prayers and in every type of remembrance of God" (not just prayer, but every type of remembrance of God) "adopt humility and meekness and supplication, and with tenderness and passion and restlessness and anguish and heartfelt fervor, engage in the remembrance of their Lord." (Appendix to Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part Five, Ruhani Khazain Volume 21, Page 188)

Thus, one who remains in a state of melting in prayer, who demonstrates ''khushu'', maintains the same pattern upon himself in other types of remembrance of God that exists in prayer—the explanation of which I have already given in the lexical meanings when I described the linguistic meanings of ''khushu''. So the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) said that in every type of remembrance of God, they adopt humility, and a person is engaged in the remembrance of God even while walking about, so at that time too there is humility. And when there is every type of remembrance of God, then every action, whether related to daily affairs, keeps creating a state of meekness and fear while keeping the remembrance of God before oneself, while reminding of His commands.

Then the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) says:

"Those who reflect on the Holy Quran should understand that the state of ''khushu'' in prayer is like a sperm for spiritual existence, and like a sperm, all the faculties, attributes, and all the features and characteristics of a spiritually perfect human being are hidden within it." (Appendix to Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part Five, Ruhani Khazain Volume 21, Page 189)

Here, as I had mentioned, an example has been given from the stages of human birth. This is now being explained. Just as a sperm goes into the womb and becomes a child and is born, and then becomes a complete human being with all characteristics, similarly ''khushu'', taking one through the stages of spiritual progress, completes a person spiritually. Then he says:

"And just as a sperm is in danger until it attaches to the womb" (meaning it is at risk of being wasted until it goes into the womb where its growth is to occur according to Allah's natural law), he said: "Similarly, this initial state of spiritual existence, namely the state of ''khushu'', is not free from danger until it attaches to the Rahim God. Remember that when Allah the Almighty's beneficence occurs without the intermediary of any action, it is through the attribute of Rahmaniyyat. For example, whatever God made of earth and heaven etc. for human beings, or created human beings themselves, all this came into existence through the grace of Rahmaniyyat. But when any grace is in return for some action, worship, striving, and spiritual exercise, it is called the grace of Rahimiyyat."

He said: "This is the established practice of Allah for mankind. So when a person adopts the state of ''khushu'' in prayer and remembrance of God, then he prepares himself for the grace of Rahimiyyat. Thus, the only difference between a sperm and the first stage of spiritual existence, which is the state of ''khushu'', is that a sperm needs the attraction of the womb, and this (Rahim God, meaning) needs the attraction of the Rahim. And just as it is possible for a sperm to be wasted before the attraction of the womb, similarly for the first stage of spiritual existence, namely the state of ''khushu'', it is possible that it may be ruined before the attraction and connection of the Rahim." (Thus, some worship practices that are for show are ruined before establishing a connection with the Rahim God. He said) "Just as many people in their initial state weep in their prayers and experience ecstasy and cry out and display various kinds of madness in the love of God and show various states of being lovers, and since no connection is established with that Being of Grace whose name is Rahim" (they do all these things, but that connection with Allah the Almighty who is Rahim is not established as it should be) "and nor are they drawn towards Him by the attraction of His special manifestation, therefore all their passion and all their state of ''khushu'' is without foundation. And often their foot slips, to the extent that they fall into a worse state than their previous condition." (Now, those who join the pledge of allegiance to Prophets and then become apostates include many such people. There were also some in the time of the Promised Messiah (peace and blessings be upon him). Dr. Abdul Hakim is also mentioned. Despite having everything, despite reaching their good deeds, if one slips, one completely leaves the faith as well.)

He said: "So this is a wonderfully interesting correspondence that just as a sperm is the first stage of physical existence and it is nothing at all until the attraction of the womb takes hold of it, similarly the state of ''khushu'' is the first stage of spiritual existence and until the attraction of the Rahim God takes hold of it, that state of ''khushu'' is nothing at all." Allah the Almighty's help will come, he will reach Him, a connection will be established with the Rahim God, then that ''khushu'' will succeed. Otherwise, it is merely superficial weeping. Some say that we wept greatly, cried out loudly, but prayers are not being accepted. But there is a need to examine their conditions, whether other things are also being fulfilled or not. He said: "This is why you will find thousands of such people who at some point in their lives enjoyed the state of ''khushu'' in the remembrance of God and prayer and experienced ecstasy and wept, and then some curse seized them so that they suddenly fell towards carnal matters and lost all that state due to worldly desires and their attractions. This is an extremely frightening point that often that state of ''khushu'' is wasted before the connection with Rahimiyyat, and before the attraction of the Rahim God does any work in it, that state is ruined and destroyed." (Appendix to Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part Five, Ruhani Khazain Volume 21, Pages 189-190)

So no one can claim that their worship has reached the highest standards of ''khushu''. ''khushu'', as I have explained before, comprises all those details that I have explained in its meaning. When these details are fulfilled with complete humility and submission, then Allah the Almighty's Rahimiyyat bears fruit in them. In this example that the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) has given, a person does not know when the Rahim God's Rahimiyyat will accept him and bear fruit. Therefore, a continuous effort is needed. Just as outwardly it is not known when fertilization will occur and when the child will be born, when the child will begin to form, and then just as sometimes defects develop in the sperm even after going into the womb, the sperm becomes a carrier of them.

[At this point, someone's mobile phone began ringing inside the mosque, upon which Huzoor said: Whoever's phone is ringing, turn off your phone, and come to the mosque with it turned off.] As he had said, and the example of the sperm that was given, just as a sperm becomes a carrier of defects after going into the womb, similarly sometimes a person's initial ''khushu'', even if it bears fruit or when it does bear fruit, then sometimes the whisperer develops in it, self-aggrandizement develops, just as is the condition of those who accept Prophets and then abandon them. So it is this pride and arrogance that then separates them from these good deeds. Their connection with Allah the Almighty remains as long as the connection with God's messenger remains, and where that connection is abandoned, they fall into a pit of humiliation and misguidance. Therefore, the fear of Allah the Almighty should always be kept in view. There should be an effort to attain His Rahimiyyat. His blessings should continue to be sought. One should strive to establish a true connection with Allah the Almighty and should not become proud of one's slight efforts or the acceptance of one or two prayers or seeing a few true dreams. Allah the Almighty has not said anywhere that the acceptance of one or two of your prayers or seeing a few true dreams will count you among those who attain salvation.

Those who attain nearness to Allah the Almighty and attain salvation, despite reaching the pinnacle of their humility and submission, despite abstaining from frivolities, despite spending in the way of Allah the Almighty, despite protecting their chastity, despite fulfilling their covenants, despite fulfilling the rights of their worship, despite fulfilling the rights of their prayers and protecting them, still say: O Allah! Wrap us in the mantle of Your blessings, for without it we are nothing. Thus, it is Allah's grace alone that gives the status of acceptance to a person's continuous effort to absorb His Rahimiyyat. That is, if the effort to absorb Rahimiyyat continues consistently, then Allah's blessings are attained, and due to Allah's blessings, a person is accepted and his end is the best.

So a true believer should always keep this point in view that although Allah the Almighty has said that believers who do such and such deeds have attained salvation, but to make this salvation a part of one's life, one should not consider every advancement and every blessing that comes from Allah the Almighty as the result of one's own effort. Rather, after every advancement, one should think that I have done nothing at all. If this substance develops, then advancement will continue, otherwise, like that sperm which does not receive complete nourishment in the womb and comes out after a few weeks and is wasted, our action too, after temporarily absorbing Allah's grace, can become worthless due to some bad deed of ours and is wasted.

So, as I said, we should pay attention to our end so that, by Allah's grace, while absorbing His Rahimiyyat, every action of ours produces that child which is complete in every respect. May we be counted among those people who, as they advance in worship, their humility also continues to increase, their meekness and submission also continues to increase. If the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), whose beauty and ''khushu'' of worship we cannot even imagine, says that I too will enter Paradise by Allah's grace (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Tibb, Bab Tamanni al-Marid al-Mawt, Hadith No. 5673, Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi Beirut 2004), then how can anyone else's action alone take them to Paradise or Allah remain pleased with them? The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), despite all these things—that Allah the Almighty had given him a guarantee and he was to reform the world, he had come for this very purpose, and no one's action can match his action—even he increases his ''khushu'' and submission in such a way that in voluntary prayers there remains no awareness that even my feet have become swollen. So to absorb Allah's grace, continuous humility and fear of Allah is what everyone should keep before themselves. For every true believer, it is essential that there be a clear difference between starting and ending their prayer. If there was any trace of ego or arrogance in them before starting the prayer, by the time they finish the prayer, their heart should be cleansed of these things. Similarly are other worship practices. The end of every worship should be the end of their arrogance and the adoption of humility. In daily dealings with one another for the attainment of Allah's pleasure, one should carry a state of humility in the heart. Thus, our worship practices should be ones that keep bowing us down so that God the Almighty's Rahimiyyat continues to give them fresh and healthy flourishing fruits at all times. May every day, while pointing out our weaknesses to us, increase Allah's grace. May Allah the Almighty make us ones who always continue to seek forgiveness. May every good deed of ours, if it is a good deed in Allah's sight, be a means of attaining Allah's pleasure. May every one of us be included among those who, in Allah's sight, are ones who attain salvation.