There was mention of such excessive rainfall somewhere that there were fears of damage. His Holiness (as) said: “Just as the people take extremes in excess or deficiency in the matter of divine injunctions, the treatment of Allah Almighty towards them in return is also of high or low extremes.”
A certain individual asked: “What invocation should I recite?” The Promised Messiah (as) said: “You ought to recite the prayer for God’s forgiveness. There are only two states of man: either that he does not sin or that Allah Almighty saves him from the bad outcome of that sin. Hence, when a person invokes the forgiveness of God, they ought to keep both these concepts in mind. Firstly, one ought to beg God Almighty so that He covers and hides one’s past sins and secondly, one ought to seek from God the ability so that one may be saved from committing sin in the future. However, seeking forgiveness through a mere verbal recitation will not suffice; rather, one should seek forgiveness from their heart. One ought to supplicate in the Prayer in their own tongue as well; this too is necessary.”
The Promised Messiah (as) said: “Adopt righteousness. Righteousness is the root of everything. The meaning of righteousness is to save oneself from each and every sinful tendency, no matter how small it may be. Righteousness is when a person avoids a thing where even the possibility of wrongdoing may exist.”
The Promised Messiah (as) said: “The heart is like the main canal that branches off into smaller channels, which are also referred to as major or minor canals. Smaller distributaries branch off from the canal of the heart, such as the tongue among other things. If the water flowing from the minor canal or minor distributary is contaminated, filthy and impure, one can deduce that the water from the major canal is also polluted. Therefore, if you observe that someone’s tongue, or their hands and feet, or any other limb is steeped in impurity, you can understand that their heart is the same.”
There was a discussion on not offering the Prayers behind someone who is not a part of the community. The Promised Messiah (as) said: “Show steadfastness and do not offer the Prayer behind anyone who is not a follower of this community. There is benefit and virtue in this course of action; herein lies your triumph and a manifest victory. It is this which shall prove a stepping stone for the progress of the community. Even in a worldly context, those who are discontent with someone or displeased with their enemy do not speak to them for at least a few days, but your displeasure and discontent are for the sake of God. If you continue to mix with them just as before, you will deprive yourself of the special attention with which God Almighty has blessed you. When a pure community is separated from the rest, it is then that it flourishes.”
Someone posed a question about the spiritual ascension (mi’raj) of the Noble Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, to which the Promised Messiah (as) said: “All of it is true. The mi’raj did take place, but not in a state of physical wakefulness and with physical things; rather, it took place in a different manner. Gabriel (as) too would come to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and descend from above. The manner in which he would descend was the very manner in which the Holy Prophet (sas) ascended into heaven. Neither could he who descended be seen by anyone else, nor could anyone see the one who ascended. In a Hadith recorded in Bukhari it is written: ثُمَّ اسْتَیْقَظَ, which means ‘then he woke up.’”
There was mention of Noah’s ark. The Promised Messiah (as) said: “The Bible and science possess such enmity between one another as though they were two wives married to the same husband. It is written in the Bible that the flood covered the entire world, and that the ark was three hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide, and that Noah (as) brought into the ark seven pairs of each animal that was pure and two pairs of each animal that was impure; however, both these notions are false. Firstly, Allah the Exalted has never punished a nation until He sends down His message to them through the Messengers, and when did Noah (as) preach to the entire world so that the whole of it deserved to be drowned? Secondly, how could all the creatures of the world, animals, both beast and bird, seven pairs of each, or two pairs of each, fit in such a small ark which was only three hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide? This proves that the book has been altered and it is now ridden with many errors. It is astonishing that various scholars of Islam, in their simplicity, have included such tales in their own works as well. It is the Holy Quran alone that is free from such senseless stories. These sorts of allegations cannot be levelled against the Holy Quran; for it neither mentions the length and width of the ark, nor does it state that the flood engulfed the whole world in its entirety. The Holy Quran only uses the Arabic word al-ard, which means ‘the land’ in which Noah (as) preached his message. The word Ararat, which is the name of the place where Noah’s ark came to rest, is actually a compound from ara-reet, which means, ‘I see the peak of the mountain.’ The word reet means ‘the peak of a mountain.’ In the Holy Quran, Allah the Exalted has used the word judi, which means ‘My munificence and grace,’ that is to say, the ark rested on God’s munificence and grace.”
The Promised Messiah (as) said: “Foolish Muslim clerics issue edicts to engage in jihad on the most trivial of matters. Although jihad has always been a measure of last resort, these people assert that it is the first course of action. It was when the wicked would not refrain from their evil that the command was given to take up the sword. It is obvious that when every concept has been conveyed fully and cogent arguments have been presented, if despite this, someone is disloyal to God, and shows ingratitude for His signs and then does not refrain from mischief, and creates obstacles in the way of religion, then it would not be inappropriate to state that the saying ‘good riddance’ is apt in the context of such people. The Messenger of God, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was not first in taking up the sword; in fact, he did so only as an act of defence. The truth is that they were first in raising the sword against the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and ultimately, they were struck with the very same sword.”
Someone sent a message to the Promised Messiah (as) saying: “I will bring a Muslim cleric from India to have a discussion with you. However, Muslim clerics do not like coming to Qadian, so you come to Batala.” To this, the Promised Messiah (as) said: “The reason these people hate Qadian is because I reside in Qadian. So if I was in Batala, then they would begin to hate Batala. They do not have to stay with us in Qadian, they can stay with anyone else, wherever they please. There are atheists, they are free to stay with them. I do not wish to argue. My objective is merely to advise the people. If they are not satisfied the first time, they should hear my counsel again, and then again.”
The Promised Messiah (as) said: “In order to go from this world to the next, there is one avenue for the dead. Those who die always go to the next world, but aside from this way, there is no other road. It would appear that the Messiah (as) also followed this road to join the dead. Otherwise, why would he be sitting in the company of John (as)?”
The Promised Messiah (as) said: “Righteousness begins to show its effect on a pious person in this very world. This is not reserved only for a time to come, rather shows its fruits in this world. In fact, just as a poison and antidote affects the body immediately, righteousness affects a person in the same manner.”1
1 Al-Hakam, vol. 5, no. 29, dated 10 August 1901, pp 3-4