All the Objectives of Building the House of Allah Have Been Fulfilled by the Advent of the Holy Prophet (sas)

Friday Sermon, June 16, 1967, Mubarak Mosque, Rabwah.

“Allah wants the elderly people of the Community as well as the youths; and men of the Community as well as the women, to realize the Divine wisdom behind the foundation of Ka‘bah, so that, they are considered the people of understanding in the sight of Allah; and that they become able to understand His call, His commandments and the underlying wisdom; and join the group of those purified ones who are showered upon the grace of Allah the Almighty all the time.”

After the recitation of Tashahhud, Ta’wwuz and Surah Al-Fatihah Huzoor said:

The whole day, yesterday, I had a severe bout of headache and as a result I am feeling very weak now. But I would like to continue the series of my sermons about the twenty-three objectives (related to the House of Allah) and express my views about the last objective in today’s sermon.

The twenty-third objective of building the House of Allah was related in the verse,

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“And, our Lord, raise up among them a Messenger from among themselves, who may recite to them Thy Signs and teach them the Book and Wisdom and may purify them; surely, Thou art the Mighty, the Wise.”

In this verse it was said that a Prophet would be raised here who would remain alive till the end of the days, that is, he would remain alive on account of his blessings and owing to the Divine bounty; an everlasting life would be bestowed on him, and he would be given an everlasting shariah, which would never be abrogated, for that would be (a perfect and immaculate shariah). And such an umma would be raised that would be based on true understanding. This umma would be taught wisdom and given cogent arguments in its favour, and would be associated with a Living God, a living Prophet and a living shariah.

This objective, too, has been fulfilled by the advent of the Holy Prophet (sas) as the Holy Quran itself makes this claim, on which I am going to shed light now. The Promised Messiah (as) says:

“Now see, Ibrahim (as) had also prayed that a Prophet be raised from among his progeny in Arabia. Was that prayer readily granted? Nay, for a long time after Ibrahim (as) nobody could even imagine what impact the prayer would have. But the prayer was ultimately accepted in the form of the advent of the Holy Prophet (sas) and how splendidly was it answered!”2

The (above mentioned) verse discusses five points:

1. Advent of a perfect servant of God.

2. Unending chain of manifest signs.

3. Coming of a perfect shariah and its staying until the Judgment Day.

4. Philosophy behind the injunctions of the shariah.

5. As a result of this shariah a party of the righteous ones will continue to appear unto the Judgment Day.

The claim of the Holy Quran that the advent of the Holy Prophet (sas) is a direct result of the Ibrahimic prayers has been made at various places. At present, I would like to present some verses from Surah An-Naml. Allah the Almighty says:

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“Say, ‘I am commanded only to serve the Lord of this city which He has made sacred, and to Him belong all things; and I am commanded to be of those who submit to God; And to recite the Quran’. So whoever follows guidance, follows it only for the good of his own soul; and as to him who goes astray, say, ‘I am only a warner’. And say, ‘All praise belongs to Allah; He will soon show you His Signs, and you will know them.’ And thy Lord is not unaware of what you do.”

Keeping the context and the pronoun the verse has used, when we analyse the prayer , mentioned in the earlier verse, we come to understand that the prayer of Ibrahim (as) and Ismael (as) (our Lord, raise up among them a Messenger from among themselves) means that, the Lord of Ibrahim (as) and Ismael (as)! at whose hands You have the Ka‘bah rebuilt, and declared the sanctity of the prestigious House; raise a noble soul from amongst the inhabitants of this Bait-e-Haram, and take him in Your providence, make him Your chosen and elected one, favour him with extreme nearness of Your Self, and having given him a complete and immaculate shariah send him in the world as Your Prophet and a perfect guide, so that he should call humankind towards Allah, the Lord of all the worlds, and establish them on the perfect Unity of God. Allah the Exalted answered this prayer and had the announcement made by the Holy Prophet (sas) in the world, that is,

“Say, I am commanded only to serve the Lord of this city which has been made sacred.”

that is, the prayer of Ibrahim (as) and Ismael (as) has been granted and I have been commanded by the Lord of all the worlds to take the worship of the Lord of this sacred city and the Ka‘bah to its pinnacle. And I, having appeared as His perfect servant, call humankind to God, the Lord of the Ka‘bah, the Lord of the sacred city to Whom belong the perfect powers (), and who is ascribed with all the best names. He does as He wills and no power in the world can stand against Him. I have been commanded to be with Al-Muslimun (those who submit) and present to the world the perfect example of a Muslim. In short, there [in 2:130] He made Ibrahim (as) and his progeny utter this prayer, and the Holy Quran preserved it. And here [in 27:92] He made the Holy Prophet (sas) announce to the world that he had been commanded to worship the Lord of this sacred city, and as a result of the Ibrahimic prayers he had stood up in this age to guide humankind.

The second, third and fourth point discussed here found its mention in,

(who may recite to them Thy Signs and teach them the Book and Wisdom). That is, a perfect servant will appear, and with the appearance of the perfect servant the world will start witnessing an unending chain of manifest signs. He will give them the teaching of and along with the teaching of the perfect and complete Book he will also teach them the wisdom behind the commandments mentioned in it. All the three points: recitation of the signs, teaching the book, and explanation of the wisdom and philosophy thereof, which are part of the prayer are implied in (to recite the Quran). According to the idiom of the Holy Quran the word Tilawat signifies narrating the signs, their learning and teaching, absorbing their influence, and shaping one’s life accordingly. It also signifies studying the book and the philosophy behind it, reading it out to others, acting upon it, and making others follow it. The literal meaning of Tilawat given in Mufridat-e-Raghib is as follows:

That is, Tilawat is particularly related to conveying the sense that the books that descend from the heavens have to be followed. They can be followed in two ways; by recitation and by acting upon their commandments. (Following its commands and prohibitions is also implied in Tilawat). Tilawat also means to respond to the influence that the book seeks to exert by way of persuasion and inducement, that is, to be influenced by the wisdom described therein.

Allah the Almighty says in Surah Al-Anfal, 8:3.

That is, believers are those that when heavenly Signs are recited to them they increase their faith. What I mean to say is that the word Tilawat has been used in the sense of signs as well in the Quranic terminology. Likewise, the word Tilawat has been used for the recitation of the Book, acting upon whatever has been commanded therein, and for setting personal examples for others. As Allah the Almighty says in the Holy Quran:

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That is, recite that from the Book of your Lord which is being revealed to thee (The process of revelation was continued at that point in time.), that is to say, act upon it and read it. (Whatever a man reads he reads for others and for himself as well. The first recipient of this command was the Holy Prophet (sas) himself, therefore, it would mean that you become an example for others to emulate by yourself acting upon it.) The Holy Quran invariably says about the Prophets that each one of them declares that he is that is, I am the first to follow the orders and prohibitions. I lay my neck under the command of God and thus being a leader I set an example for you. I do not say to you to tread this path because it leads to God. What I say is that this path leads to God and I am treading it; follow in my footsteps so that you, too, reach God. Thus, according to Mufridat-e-Raghib, Tilawat literally means to act upon something with knowledge and example. Following it with knowledge is done by wise talk, whereas following it with example is done by shaping your life accordingly. In short, Allah the Almighty had the Holy Prophet (sas) pronounce that is, I have been commanded by God to recite this Quran to you. The Holy Quran itself has used the word ‘Quran’ for its verses also. It says that is, these are manifest signs. Thus, would mean, I read out the manifest signs to you. Similarly the Holy Quran also claims that it provides a perfect shariah. Thus, would mean that God has commanded me to present the perfect shariah in the form of a book and by being (the first to follow it) as well. For, when a question was put about the morals of the Holy Prophet (sas), Hazrat Ayesha (ra) replied, ‘Read the Holy Quran, [you will find the answer there]’ (). Thus, the prayer was that is, the Prophet would go on presenting to the world the manifest signs. And the Holy Prophet (sas) claimed that the prayer had been answered, and that with the command of God (recite the Quran) he was presenting the manifest signs to the world.

Another prayer was (teach them the Book) and the Holy Prophet (sas) said, (recite the Quran) that owing to the acceptance of the supplication I am presenting the perfect shariah to the world.

Another prayer was that he would teach them wisdom, and the Holy Prophet (sas) said, that is, I present this Quran, which is full of wisdom and is , to the world. As a result of acceptance of all the three prayers Allah had the Holy Prophet (sas) pronounce a two-word sentence and thus hinted to all the three points. The lexicon also corroborates these meanings.

The fourth point was , meaning that he would purify them. Corresponding to the Holy Prophet (sas) said in these verses (So whoever follows the guidance, follows it only for the good of his own soul).5 Thus, he presented to the world something more than what had been prayed by Hazrat Ibrahim (as). In the words, (so whoever follows the guidance) he announced, I have brought to you all the means of purification of soul. Therefore, the prayer of (may purify them) has been answered. But I would like to tell you that purification of your soul will not be done out of any coercion. The true means of purification of soul are these which I present before you.

(So whoever follows the guidance, follows it only for the good of his own soul.)

Now, having striven, making sacrifices and exhibiting sincerity of intention by laying your lives in the cause of Allah you yourself will have to purify your souls. Though I have brought the means, but this purification of soul will not be forcibly imposed on you, rather you have the freedom of conscience. You will have to strive to use the given means of purification, to benefit from them, and as a result of that to attain the nearness of God, and to achieve purity and cleanliness. No other or superior power will, or can, do the purification of your soul by coercion. Thus, implies that the means of guidance and purification of soul have been provided; whoever seeks for himself the path of guidance, benefiting from these means of purification of soul, does it for his own good. Whereas the phrase (and whoever errs, errs only against it)6 implies that he who does not benefit from these means of purification of soul and does not heed to the paths of guidance, and instead treads the paths of wickedness, and turns towards Satan and starts following him instead of turning towards God, I clarify one thing to him that he will also not be prevented by means of coercion from going astray. 7 that is, I am only a Messenger from among the Warner Messengers. True that I am the most honoured, the best, the excellent and nearest to Allah the Almighty, but I am no more than a Warner. I am not going to coerce you, neither am I going to reclaim you from going astray nor lead you to the paths of guidance with coercion. that is, Say that all praise is due to Allah, Who has invested Islam with the manifest signs, the Book, the wisdom and means of purification. He raised a Prophet who set a perfect example before the world. Whose obedience enables one to win the love of his Lord and inherit His favours. And then Allah, to Whom belongs all praise, (He will soon show you His Signs) will again show His manifest signs and reveal the knowledge of the Holy Quran at the time of the renaissance of Islam. He will expound on its philosophy and will provide such means by which it will become easy for the world to tread the paths of faith, and they will, heartily, start making sacrifices for their Lord. At the time of the renaissance of Islam, which is the time of culmination of its propagation, a whole world will come into the lap of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sas) and under the shade of his mercy. At that juncture, all the promises of God made in the beginning, such as all mankind will become the beloved united umma of Allah, will also see their fulfilment.

In short, five points were raised in the verse (And our Lord, raise up among them a Messenger from among themselves). One of the objectives and the prayers was that a Prophet be raised among them who should have the traits mentioned here, that is, he should be the perfect example and by whose virtue spiritual bounties continue forever. Secondly, the world be invested with an unending chain of manifest signs. Thirdly, there should be a perfect shariah which should not allow any default or interpolation into it until the Day of Judgment. Fourthly, when human intellect will have reached its pinnacle and culmination point, the Prophet should teach them wisdom and impart them the reason and logic for any commandments. Fifthly, as a result of that he should provide them the means of purification of the soul.

The fact of the matter is that the purification of soul is not possible without manifest signs and without expressly related commandments of the shariah whose underlying philosophy and wisdom have also been given. The main objective was to meet the basic end of raising and establishing the umma of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sas). He who considers the Holy Prophet (sas) to be the best example and follows in his footsteps, he who benefits from the manifest signs, he who acquires the knowledge of injunctions and prohibitions of the perfect shariah and becomes conversant with the philosophy thereof and complies with them and attains the purification of soul; that person and that people are those about whom was said, (founded for mankind) in the beginning of these verses, and was also said, (you are the best people, raised for the good of mankind). Thus, the verses were began with the words (Surely, the first House founded for mankind) and was concluded at (And our Lord, raise up among them a Messenger from among themselves). In fact the twenty-two objectives mentioned in these verses cannot be achieved without the points raised in , on which I have shed some light. And the Muslim umma cannot become the best umma unless those objectives are achieved. Now I would like to read out to you two extracts from the writings of the Promised Messiah (as) about the Holy Quran’s being (the Book) and about the wisdom in this shariah. He says:

“Of all the current revealed books on earth the Holy Quran is the only book which is conclusively proven to be the Word of God … Its doctrines are so perfect and firm that irrefutable proofs bear witness to their truth. Its commandments are based only upon truth … It possesses the excellence that … It does not impose any doctrine by mere authority, but sets down the reasons for the truth of that which it teaches. It establishes every purpose and objective with proofs and arguments. It sets forth convincing arguments for the truth of every principle and carries the mind to perfect certainty and full understanding. And whatsoever errors, impurities, flaws and disorders may have found their way into the doctrines, actions, words and deeds of people, it dispels all those evils with cogent and convincing arguments. It inculcates all the good manners whose awareness is necessary for every man to be a human being. It repels every corruption as forcibly as it is prevalent these days. Its teaching is very straight, powerful and intelligible.”8

Similarly the Promised Messiah (as) says:

“These are the delicate insights which have been named as wisdom in the Holy Quran as He says, 9 that is, He grants wisdom to whom He pleases and whoever is granted wisdom has indeed been granted abundant wisdom. In other words, wisdom comprises of abundant good, and whoever has got wisdom has attained abundant good. Hence, these sciences and understanding, which are in other words called ‘wisdom’, on account of this abundant good are like a vast ocean, which are bestowed upon the followers of the Word of God. Their reflection and observation is so blessed that high order verities are reflected in their mirror-like souls, and perfect truths are manifested to them.”10

In short, these are the twenty-three objectives that are associated with the reconstruction of the House of Allah. The need to describe them was that one day Allah the Almighty, very forcefully directed my attention to the point that the proper upbringing of the present generation, who was the third generation of Ahmadiyyat, was highly important for the victory of Islam. If the Ahmadis who are below 25, or who have been Ahmadis for less than 15 years, are not trained properly the achievement of the objectives would become greatly difficult for which Allah the Almighty had sent the Promised Messiah (as) as (the champion of God in the mantle of Prophets), and for which Allah the Almighty has founded the Ahmadiyya Jama‘at. Thereafter, Allah the Almighty directed my attention to the fact that the methods which should be adopted for their training and education find mention in the verses on which I have been delivering these sermons. If the objectives are understood well and efforts are made to achieve them, this generation of ours, with the grace of God, will be able to discharge the responsibilities that are going to be laid on them in near future. This is because my attention was directed to the point that the next 20 to 25 years are highly significant and revolutionary for the renaissance of Islam; and that the means of great magnitude for the victory of Islam will be produced in that age and the people will enter into, or heed to, Islam in scores; at that time they would be in need of as many missionaries and Mu‘allims. Wherefrom the Jama’at would arrange the missionaries and Mu‘allims if planning is not done today? Thus, show your consideration for it and keep the objectives discussed in these verses in view. And train and educate your youth in light of the holy Book of Allah in the same fashion as is requisite to achieve those objectives, so that when the need arises, a great many of them should be able to devote their lives as missionaries and Mu‘allims in the cause of Islam, and that the aim of uniting humankind at one faith is achieved.

During these sermons somebody wrote to me that the sermons I was delivering were also related to a revelation of the Promised Messiah (as) mentioned in Tadhkirah p.801, which is as follows:

“He who realizes that the foundation of the Ka‘bah was a design of Divine wisdom is very wise, for he has access to the mysteries of the universe.”11

Thus, I believe that God has directed my attention to this point, so that the elderly people of the Community as well as the youths and men of the Community as well as the women come to understand the Divine wisdom associated with the foundation of the Ka‘bah; so that they are considered the people of understanding in the eyes of Allah, and that they are able to understand His call, His commandments and the underlying wisdom; and join those purified ones who are ever blessed with the grace of Allah the Almighty. Although the scheme I am going to present before the Jama‘at aims at training the youths who are up to 25 if born Ahmadis, or 15 if they are new entrants, but to educate the children we need to educate their elders first, so that they are able to educate this generation. Thus, the people addressed second are all men and all women of the Jama‘at who are over 25 at this point in time. I alone or only a few companions of mine cannot educate hundreds of thousands of youths who are below 25, or below 15. We will have to purify every home, so that everyone brought up in these homes may become a warrior of God and win His pleasure. We will have to arrange for the purification for every colony, every town and every city so that the generation, who lay their lives and consume their time, honour and wealth for the honour and prestige of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sas), are born and brought up in this very atmosphere.

In other words, the education of elders is the first step so that the youths who are going to be burdened with highly significant responsibilities in near future could be educated with their help. Remember that we are bound to face Divine wrath if we exhibit negligence in this regard. God will then raise another people who will inherit the Divine promises. Thus, worry for your lives and get prepared to discharge the responsibilities I am going to assign to you through a scheme initiated under the Divine will, about which, if God enabled me, I would express my views in coming sermons, Inshallah.12