Spiritual and Temporal Benefits of All the Peoples in the World Have Been Bound up With the House of Allah

Friday Sermon, April 21, 1967, Mubarak Mosque, Rabwah.

“The first objective of building the House of Allah is discussed in the words (founded for mankind). The purpose of rebuilding the House of Allah at the hands of Ibrahim (as) is to bind up spiritual and temporal benefits of all the peoples in the world with this House.”

After Tashahhud, Ta‘wwuz and Surah Al-Fatihah Huzoor recited the following verses from the Holy Quran:

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And then said:

These verses, which I recited in the last two Friday Sermons and I have also recited them in the sermon today, discuss the twenty-three Divine objectives of the House of Allah and that their achievement is associated with the advent of the Holy Prophet (sas). Though all of these promises were made with Hazrat Ibrahim (as) about two and a half thousand years prior to the advent of the Holy Prophet (sas), yet all of these promises and prophecies were fulfilled and all the objectives were achieved, in their true sense, with the advent of the Holy Prophet (sas) and descent of the Quranic shariah.

The first objective of building the House of Allah as was discussed in an earlier sermon is (founded for mankind). The purpose of rebuilding the House of Allah at the hands of Hazrat Ibrahim (as) is to bind up spiritual and temporal benefits of all the peoples in the world with this House. It is evidently clear that during the two and a half millennia, which had elapsed between Hazrat Ibrahim (as) and the Holy Prophet (sas), it could not have been asserted that all the peoples of the world were benefiting spiritually and temporally from this House of Allah. The fact is that most people of that time were unaware of even the geographical location of the House of Allah or Mecca, and most of them entertained no love for the House. They would not be drawn to it and had no respect or regard for it. They were not sure whether certain blessings and bounties had been bound up with the House of Allah and that they could have partaken of them only if they had been aware of them. But with the advent of the Holy Prophet (sas) the House, which had sunk into oblivion, was recognized by the world and they also came to know of its blessings. The hearts of the peoples inhabiting every part of the world were irresistibly drawn to it and all the promises made by the Lord of Hazrat Ibrahim (as), the Lord of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sas) and our Lord, began to see their fulfilment.

Now I am going to describe how and in what way the promise of (founded for mankind) was fulfilled through the Holy Prophet (sas). It is evident that the promise that entire humankind would seek blessing from Mecca was made with all the peoples; and rationally speaking the fulfilment of this promise is impossible without an immaculate shariah. Therefore, the descent of the perfect shariah of the Holy Quran was inevitable before the promise was to be fulfilled. The Holy Quran claims to be (this is a perfect Book)3 and that the Quran is an immaculate and perfect shariah. The evidence in support of this claim furnished by the Holy Quran is (there is no doubt in it). According to the four meanings of (doubt) which can be applied here, four arguments have been presented to prove the fact that the Holy Quran is, from every aspect, a complete, perfect and immaculate book.

According to one connotation of the word (doubt) the Holy Quran is the only perfect book which can meet the spiritual, physical, social, moral, economic and political needs of humankind; and it is the only perfect book which fulfills all the genuine requirements of human nature, because this book proves its need and veracity by virtue of its intrinsic excellence and eminence and unparalleled teachings. If I take up this argument again as a claim and start adducing further arguments in its support, this single argument alone will take a lot of time. Those who are conversant with the Holy Quran to some extent also know the fact that the arguments, eminence and unparalleled teachings of the Holy Quran are such as prove its excellence over all the past Books.

The Promised Messiah (as) was once asked as to what was the need of the Holy Quran in the presence of the revealed books of the Israelites. He replied, the Holy Quran is a very vast book and sheds light on scores of sciences. It has Surah Al-Fatihah in its beginning. If you could present from any of your holy books the knowledge and convincing arguments as have been expounded in only Surah Al-Fatihah, we would consider your books to be paralleled with the Holy Quran. It has been quite some time since the challenge for this competition was issued. A number of Popes, who headed the Catholic church, have come and gone. So is the case with other Christian sects. But none of them has ever dared to take up the challenge and furnish from their scriptures arguments that are contained in Surah Al-Fatihah, which the Promised Messiah (as) had vowed to present from this Surah.

Thus, one meaning of (there is no doubt in it) is that this book can establish its need and veracity by virtue of its intrinsic qualities, excellence and unparalleled teachings. The failure of the heads of the Christian sects to accept the challenge of the Promised Messiah (as) to this date–to which he had invited them when the question of the need of the Holy Quran arose–shows quite explicitly that the contents of their revealed Books can not be presented in comparison to that of Surah Al-Fatihah.

The second argument of this book being a perfect one mentioned in (there is no doubt in it) is that the Quranic teachings, with the help of their convincing arguments and manifest signs, can lift up man from the barren wilderness of conjecture and supposition to high altitudes of conviction. God Almighty has preserved this book; it would therefore, possess this quality for ever. One meaning implied in the word (doubt) is that this book is under the protection of God Almighty, and Satanic deception cannot find its way into it. Hence, the influence it is exercising on human soul today will continue unabated until hereafter. This shows that this is a perfect book.

Another implication of (there is no doubt in it) is that no guidance or verity that could be found in a perfect book has been missed out of it. In many a place [in his books] the Promised Messiah (as) has invited [the advocates of] other religions to a competition in this regard too. For example, he demanded from them to present any true and authentic argument of the existence of God from their books which he may fail to show from the Holy Quran. Thus, every verity that any Divine book makes claim of is found in it, and many more such verities which are not found in other books are also found in it. Therefore, this is the perfect book.

Another argument implied in the fourth meaning of (there is no doubt in it) is that compliance with the Quranic teachings will safeguard you from all kinds of adversities and calamities and that you will come under the protection of Allah the Exalted. Then, no deception, or power, or intrigue of the world would harm you in true sense. One suffers a loss only when something is really lost. But if somebody loses five rupees and his father gives him five rupees in lieu of the lost five rupees and ten extra rupees for the anxiety he suffered; no sane person in the world will consider it a loss when his five rupee loss is being compensated with fifteen rupees. Allah the Exalted promises here safety for you saying, you will not suffer from any loss or tribulation if you act upon the teachings of this book. He does not say that nobody will be able to inflict upon you any harm; for a believer has to make sacrifices in the cause of Allah. But that which is regarded as a hardship by the worldly people is a comfort for a true believer. His God, his Lord and the one Who is his Master for Whose sake he bears with the afflictions, produces such means for his pleasure, delight and comfort that he deems afflictions from the persecutor of no import and firmly believes that even if he were to be persecuted greater his Lord would shower even more love on him. Hence, this is a book whose true believer is never at a loss. The other Divine books are not on a par with it. Therefore, it is proven that it is this book that is (the Book). God Almighty says in Surah An-Nisa’:

“O mankind! the Messenger has indeed come to you with truth from your Lord; believe therefore, it will be better for you.”4

O mankind, Hearken! a perfect prophet with perfect truth has come to you from your Lord; Who created you with a specific purpose, and passing you through different stages of development and evolution He has brought you to a stage whereat He can admit you into his immaculate heaven. Listen, the Messenger has come. All your limbs, your tongues and your hearts should testify to his truth. If you believe in this perfect Messenger, follow his teachings, and live up to the teachings of this immaculate shariah, then you will become the best people. Once you have become the best, you will be able to benefit all humankind. People of every age and nationality will derive worldly and spiritual benefits from you. Unless you attain that station the world with its inhabitants in various parts could not derive any benefit from you. And until all the peoples in the world benefit from you it could not be said that you have been raised ( ) for the betterment of the world. And unless it is proved that you have been raised for the betterment of the world, the promise of (surely, the first House founded for mankind) would not be fulfilled. Therefore, responding to this call believe in the Quranic shariah and mould your lives accordingly. This will make you the best people.

Thus, the objective of (founded for mankind) was achieved when the Holy Quran was revealed. Allah the Exalted says in Surah Aal-e-‘Imran:

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“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.”

The verse in fact claims that the umma of Muhammad (sas) has been raised for the benefit of all humankind in keeping with the prophecy and promise of Ibrahim (as). An umma which is (raised for the good of mankind) has been trained for the benefit of all humankind, and the argument furnished in its support is that this is ‘the best umma’. Hence, it is proven that this umma is who has been raised for the well-being of all humankind. The argument is: If you reflect on all the shariahs in the world, you will reach the conclusion that every shariah was revealed in keeping with the ability of the people to whom it was sent. The shariah given to the people of Hazrat Noah (as) reveals the spiritual faculties and aptitudes of that people. The shariah bestowed on Moses (as) tells us about the spiritual faculties and potential of the Israelites–people of Hazrat Moses (as). The same is the case with the followers of all the other Prophets. In any case, any shariah that is vouchsafed by Allah the Exalted to any people is vouchsafed according to the spiritual abilities and capabilities of that people, as Allah burdens not any individual or nation beyond their capacity.

The second very evident fact is that the Quranic shariah, in comparison to all the earlier shariahs, is the most perfect, immaculate, consummate and complete. If you compare the Quranic injunctions (commands and prohibitions) with those of earlier shariahs, you will find that over seven hundred injunctions (commands and prohibitions) have been sent down for this umma, whereas Hazrat Moses (as) was given only a handful of injunctions. Besides that, hundreds of Quranic injunctions are such as have never been found in any of the past shariahs. This proves the fact that injunctions (commands and prohibitions) of all the earlier shariahs were limited in their scope, as the abilities of the people to whom they were sent were limited too. As the Quranic shariah is perfect and immaculate, it is an evidence that at the time of the revelation of the Holy Quran mankind possessed perfect spiritual capabilities, or else the Holy Quran would not have been sent down to them.

Hence, excellent features of the Quranic teachings bear testimony to the excellence of the faculties of this umma. The excellence of the Quranic teachings, their comprehensiveness and grandeur lead us to the conclusion that the people to whom the Holy Quran was sent excel all the past peoples in terms of their faculties, or else the Holy Quran would not have been sent to them. That is to say, the people to whom the Holy Quran was sent are superior, unrivalled, peerless and the noblest of any other past people in regard to their capabilities and faculties. When these capabilities and faculties of this umma were nurtured by the Quranic teachings through the arch angel Gabriel and by the holy influence of the Holy Prophet (sas), and with the blessings of his obedience they produced such noble and holy souls which, in their numbers, spiritual status, and disposition were the best and perfect as compared to the spiritual progeny of all the past Prophets. The promise of (founded for mankind) would not have been kept until such [the best] people had been raised, that none among the previous people could rival them and they would excel all and none could surpass them in future. That is to say, they were to attain the maximum heights of prominence and perfection. For, a deficient shariah and inadequate nurturing cannot be expected to benefit the whole world. In short, none of the peoples have ever been or will ever be equal to the Muslim umma in benefiting others till the last day. The Holy Quran says, that is, you have been raised for all the peoples in accordance with the promise with Hazrat Ibrahim (as). The whole world will receive benefits and blessings from you. The reason for that is that you are the best people from both respects: in terms of faculties, and in terms of training that you got from the noble example of the Holy Prophet (sas) and excellent manners that you have adopted. It can be only you people who will be beneficial to the whole world. Thus, your attaining to the standard of the best people, your further progress in this regard and finally your attaining to the faculties to the point of perfection, and then nurturing of those faculties and capabilities to the perfection point bear ample testimony that the promise, that is, the House of Allah was raised for the benefit and welfare of the whole world, has been fulfilled.

Also it is to be kept in mind that man can be of any service to the whole humankind only when he treats every person with fraternity and equality, without allowing any discrimination and inequity. Thus, all the requisites to establish human honour and respect are to be found in the Islamic shariah, the Holy Quran, the conduct of the Holy Prophet (sas) and his traditions. Islam has wiped out all discrimination and differences between different people and has established the honour and respect of humankind as a whole.

At Hajjatul Wada‘ (farewell pilgrimage) the Holy Prophet (sas) said in his address: Listen! your Lord is one. He is the Being by Whose providence all the people, traversing various distances, have reached a stage that their spiritual and moral faculties and capabilities have become alike, and now they are prepared to embrace the final shariah. Your Creator is one Who has created your physical and spiritual faculties alike with no difference at all between one people and another. True that individuals vary in their spheres of development, but no such difference exists between one nation and another. It is not that one nation is inferior or degraded or their making is such that they cannot thrive or flourish in physical, spiritual, intellectual, moral, social or economic terms. Beware and listen attentively that your Lord Who created you, your strength, your faculties and abilities, and finally perfected your development by passing you through evolutionary stages, is indeed One and only. Remember that your father is also one, that is, all of you are descendants of Adam. In short, your Creator is one, so is your father Adam. Had you been descendants of different fathers you would have said that you had inherited varying faculties from your respective fathers, and that your father was nobler and superior as compared to others, hence, you automatically inherited that nobler and higher status from him. But it is wrong to say thus because father is one. Similarly, if there were more than one God and Creator, one people would say that the God who created them was more powerful, more knowledgeable, more omnipotent, more affectionate and more merciful, thus, he invested them abundantly. The creator of others was less knowledgeable, less omnipotent and less merciful; so he was not as loving to his people as their lord was, therefore, they were less endowed with and consequently they were inferior. But when your Lord is one and your father is one, you must know that no Arab is superior to any non-Arab, neither any non-Arab has any excellence over any Arab. Nor, any black has any excellence over any red, nor any red is superior to any black. Another version goes, neither any red is superior to any white, nor any white has any excellence over any red. Merit of excellence in the sight of your Lord, based on the faculties that He endowed you with, is only one and that is righteousness. Only he is nobler in the sight of God Almighty who is more righteous. But you have no knowledge of the sight of God.

“So ascribe not purity to yourselves. He knows him best who is truly righteous.”6

Nobility depends solely on the fact how your deeds are measured by the sight of Allah. We do not know whether He looks at us with love or anger, therefore, one should not flaunt his nobility. This is just one example that I have cited here, but Islamic teaching is full of such admonitions and teachings; For example, Islam does not acknowledge anybody’s superiority merely on the basis of wealth. On the contrary, it says that the rich have no right on their wealth unless poverty is eradicated. The Holy Quran says:

“And in their wealth was a share for one who asked for help and for one who could not.”7

In my view, the verse implies that no rich person is entitled to his wealth unless basic necessities of life are provided to every individual in the society. Once they have been provided, the rest is Allah’s grace which Islam does not prevent from spending appropriately and lawfully. Islam does not allow to lay five or six meals on your table while the neighbour is starving. Thus, no people as a nation, is superior to any other in any case; for instance, when it comes to learning, all minds are equal in intelligence. Brilliant and genius brains and dull and dunces both are found among every people. They all enjoy their respective capabilities. This is unlikely that all the individuals of one Nation happen to be dull in learning while all individuals of another nation happen to be genius.

It is true that even donkeys of the ruling nations are raised to a high position. For instance, there was a fellow student of mine at Oxford. He did not turn up for the second term. The system there is that whoever cannot cope with the syllabus they do not waste his money. When a term ends and a student goes home, they send him a letter after the result not to turn up for the next term. In English it is called “sent home.” I was not aware of this system then. When he [the fellow student] did not come back I enquired about him from other fellow students and thought deaths and accidents do occur, God knows what stopped him. A student told me that he had been ‘sent home’. When I went to Delhi in 1944, I happened to eye a face at the railway platform and recognized instantly that he was the very person who had been “sent home.” He was then [in 1944] a high officer in the British government. Both of us recognized each other and greeted one another. I said to myself, since they have sovereignty over our country, in the idiom of our country, they appoint even their asses as officers over us. In short, there are brilliant and dull brains both among every people, and there is no exception to this rule. Neither all brains of a people are brilliant, nor are all dull. Brilliant, average and dull, all types are found in every nation.

Islam does not promote differentiation; on the contrary, it establishes equality. For example, Islam lays great stress on acquisition of knowledge, which means, everyone should be provided with as much education as his faculties and abilities allow him. This also implies that a student with very low grades, who passes an examination only with grace marks, should not be awarded scholarship, as it will be of no use. But to waste the talent of a genius student is tantamount to being ungrateful to God and causing loss to nation. In short, Islam has established equality and fraternity between one man and another. It seeks to purify the hearts of every sort of spite and malice, and enjoins to love each other like brothers. The fundamental teaching of Islam is based on three major pillars; absolute justice, kindness and kinship. Should all those nations that enjoy international status and have international ties and relations, decide to adopt the principle of absolute justice, and going further, if they adopt kindness, and even greater than that the principle of kinship, all disputes in the world would be resolved. And nations will start benefiting from each other instead of contriving to inflict damage upon one another. Thus, by giving this fundamental command, Allah the Exalted tells us that some of you will not be able to go beyond ‘absolute justice’. They should not fall down from that spiritual station, or else they will not remain Muslim any more. Some of you will rise higher than ‘absolute justice’ and attain to the station of ‘kindness’ but not go beyond that. If they forsook the station of ‘kindness’ and notwithstanding their faculties they fell below justice, then remember, they would be deprived of numerous blessings they could have attained otherwise. This is not an inconsequential loss, rather it is a very serious one. Yet, some of you are such as attain, or can attain, the station of ‘kinship’, which is a station beyond both of the earlier ones. To them Allah says that they should not be content with ‘kindness’, or else they would deprive themselves of matchless and unparalleled Divine favours, grace and blessings. In short, Islam establishes equality, brotherhood and love among human beings on the basis of these three pillars.

I am short of time, now; otherwise, I wanted to talk on this objective at length as this subject is one of the basis of the twenty-three objectives. The last objective is also as important as this one, and I shall touch on the ones in between briefly. An Ahmadi friend had a dream also in this regard. (He could not understand the interpretation of this dream). A few days back he wrote to me that he saw me (and some of my associates) in Qadian close to the stairs of that part of Mubarak Mosque which was built later. (There may be many youths among you who could not understand as they have never been to Qadian. But those who have been there know that the portion of Mubarak Mosque built later had stairs leading to a crossing.) He saw that he was standing there with some friends, meanwhile I arrived taking quick steps with a cheerful and radiant face and climbed a few steps. Then I looked at him and his friends. Then I climbed a few more steps and looked at them again and then climbed all the steps in one go. Having reached there I called Adhan. They thought it was time for Asr prayer and that I would lead the Asr prayer. They noticed that I unusually prolonged the Adhan I called before the prayer. This portion of the subject that I am relating is similar to calling to a special programme so that when I come on to that programme, as a result of full awareness of its background, you should be able to understand your responsibilities. (The unusual prolonging of the Adhan is a clue to this very fact.)

In short, (founded for mankind) was just one objective of building the House of Allah. This is a highly important objective as all the other objectives are intimately associated either with this one or the last objective discussed in (our Lord, raise up among them a Messenger from among themselves, who may recite to them Thy Signs). I wanted to discuss this objective at length so that you fully comprehend the point that the prophecy of (founded for mankind) could not have been fulfilled until the best people had been raised. And the best people could not have been raised until the Quranic shariah had been revealed, which is perfect and immaculate. Since every shariah is sent down in proportion to the faculties of the people of its time, and since the Quranic shariah is perfect and immaculate in every respect, we draw the conclusion (no other conclusion can be drawn except this one) that the people of that age to whom it was addressed, and the people to whom will it be addressed till the last day, could understand the Holy Quran on account of their faculties and capabilities. Having accepted and imbibed the Quranic shariah and partaken of the bounties and blessings of the Holy Prophet (sas), their countenances and faces were so altered in appearance that to a fact-finding eye they became new human beings. That is to say, nothing was left of their former countenances or features, instead new features emerged. Like a silkworm, when it has produced silk and come out of the web it has weaved around itself, it no longer remains the earlier worm anymore. Its former head, eyes and features are absolutely transformed. It had no wings before, but within 24 or 48 hours it grows wings, new head is developed and new eyes emerge. Exactly the same is true for those who believed in the Holy Prophet (sas). Earlier, they were worms of the earth, but then they were invested with fresh insight, new [spiritual] eyes and brains by Allah. He endowed them with fresh energy for flight and they started rising high into the skies. And when such people had come into existence, the promise of (founded for mankind) was also fulfilled.

It also illustrates the kind of responsibilities towards the service of humanity laid on a people who have been declared as the best people by the Holy Quran. May Allah the Exalted enable us all to discharge our responsibilities. Amen.8