In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. We praise Him and invoke blessings upon His Noble Messenger.
In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. We praise Him and invoke blessings upon His Noble Messenger.
As I had stated yesterday, my topic today relates to a matter concerning which I am certain that it is very important. And this is not based on mere speculation or conjecture. Quite the contrary, there is a decision and a decree of the Holy Quran concerning it also. Upon hearing this some people may perhaps say that this is just an ordinary matter and that, in fact, we know it already. Of course the condition of the hearts of people is known to none except Allah the Exalted, but in view of the current conditions I can say, and indeed do state, that many such things will be said concerning this topic which are not known by most people and which I have also not seen in any book.
Since the topic is so general that most—upon seeing its heading—would dismiss it as ordinary and already understood prior to discussing it, I consider it necessary to inform you that this topic is extremely important and essential, so do listen to it with attention. Should Allah the Exalted grant me the ability, I shall convey in it many such things that if you take note and act upon them, God Almighty shall make them the means of much good and excellence for you. However, before I embark upon the actual topic, I wish to state one more thing and it is this.
Some people who come to participate in the Jalsa [Annual Convention], spend all their time roaming about. This is highly objectionable. Allah the Exalted has not given them wealth to waste. If they had come here to simply wander around aimlessly, what was the need for them to come here at all? The people who come here after suffering hardships and spending their money, do so for the purpose of listening and benefiting. Nevertheless, the complaint has reached me that some people get up and leave when a speaker is presenting his topic, thinking that they have heard these things already. I say to such people that if this statement of theirs is correct—that what has been heard before should not be listened to again—then they should also not read the Holy Quran again and again and abandon it after reciting it once. They should also do the same in regard to the five daily Prayers and Fasting, but this is not right. Thus, even if something that is being narrated has been heard before, it should still be listened to with full zeal and heartfelt attention; for, even this will beget great benefit, and that concept will become more deeply impressed upon the heart.
Then, if one person gets up from a gathering, a second one also stands up upon seeing the first, and then a third, and so a number of people begin to leave and this is a very unpleasant situation. But yes, if someone has an urgent need to leave; for example, to go to the washroom, such a one may get up and leave. However, the individual should quickly return upon fulfilment of the need so that he may be able to attain the purpose and objective for which he has come and to acquire the gain and benefit for which he is participating in the Jalsa.
The Holy Prophet (sas) has said that when a person sits in any gathering of virtuous people, he benefits even without listening to the things being said there or acting upon them. It is narrated in the hadith that some men were sitting in a gathering and God Almighty inquired from the angels as to what such and such of His servants were doing. (The Holy Prophet (sas) says that Allah the Exalted did not ask about them because He did not know; actually, God Almighty knew the whole story all too well.) They said that they were engaged in the remembrance of Allah. God Almighty replied that whatever they had asked for, He had bestowed it upon them. The angels said that there was also a man sitting with them who was not engaged in the remembrance of Allah; he was just sitting with them. God Almighty said that the individual sitting with them cannot be unfortunate. He would reward and honour him as well.3
This means that even though the one sitting in the company of the virtuous may not receive guidance at one time, he will certainly be blessed with it at some other time. It cannot be that despite sitting in such a gathering with sincerity of heart, such an individual should remain a disbeliever; albeit true, the one who sits just once or twice—never to return thereafter—remains a disbeliever. This statement does not apply to him. Therefore, one should try to the utmost to remain seated in the gathering and if someone is faced with some urgent need, he should go and quickly return after attending to it.
Recently, I had delivered some sermons concerning the subject of prayers, and within them, such topics were mentioned, by the grace of Allah the Exalted, from which many people benefited. I have received many a letter in which it was written that much benefit was derived from these sermons. A person from Lahore wrote to me about these sermons, but his name was illegible. It appears God Almighty has employed His attribute of Sattar [the Concealer] with respect to him. He expressed amazement at what I had done, that I had disclosed those methods which had been kept secret and hidden all along, and from amongst which the sufis [mystics] would disclose barely one such method after exacting years of service from people, whereas I had readily disclosed everything.
In addition to this, he also wrote that I was indeed obliged to do so, for I had much love for my Jama‘at and this is why I had informed them of those methods. Concerning this, I say that it is not only out of love for my Jama‘at that I had explained those techniques. There is no doubt in that I have love, and such a love that no one would have even for his own kith and kin, but I communicated those ways for this reason as well, that I know the God who has informed me of those ways is such a God that as much as one spends from the wealth He has given, He causes it to increase that much more and it becomes the means for the bestowal of yet greater rewards. This is indeed why I did not empty my home by informing people to the extent that I did; rather, I filled it all the more.
Then again, I was certain that by informing people of these, I would suffer no harm at all, for knowledge is not the kind of thing that diminishes upon being spent, but rather it increases upon being spent. But even if I had believed that [it diminishes upon being spent], then, as the Noble Companions (ra) said, if they had a sword placed upon their neck and they were to remember something that the Holy Prophet (sas) had said, but which had not yet been communicated to anyone, then before the sword could sever their neck, they would convey that information.4
Accordingly, I also affirm that even if all the ways that I was expressing were to come to an end as I was communicating them, I would still have set forth all of them. Thus, at that time I conveyed as many as I could, and the thought crossed my mind that I had expressed all the ways relating to prayer that I knew of. However, when I returned home after Prayer and started supplicating, God Almighty taught me so many ways as I had never imagined before.
Even now, I had written down notes to the extent that I was capable for the topic that I wish to speak on, but on my way here, God Almighty had made many more things clear to me. Thus, I had mentioned the ways of supplicating which were highly essential. Nonetheless, what I wish to say now is even more important than the way to make prayers. If one comes to understand this well, and acts upon it, then his prayers will naturally find acceptance.
Last year I had intended to talk about this very topic, but since I had started another subject, this was left behind. The wisdom of God Almighty in this was that now when I began to write down notes about it, the notes of last year looked like those of a student as compared to those of a teacher, because I have been given to understand many more things than before. In short, I wish today to convey to you some things about the topic of Remembrance of Allah, and I want to do it on this occasion because most people do not read the newspapers. Thus, things conveyed upon some other occasion reach only those people who are in the habit of reading the newspaper.5
The methods I had conveyed regarding how to make prayers have been published, but there are likely many among you who may have only come to learn today that I had related something about prayer as well. Thus, I have selected this occasion to talk about Dhikr-e-Ilahi so that in this way thousands of people will be able to hear it and through them, this matter will be disseminated further.
1 I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, the One who has no partner, and I bear witness that most certainly Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. After this I seek refuge with Allah from Satan the rejected. [Publisher]
2 In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High, Who creates and perfects, And Who designs and guides, And Who brings forth the pasturage, Then turns it black, rotten rubbish. We shall teach you the Quran, and you shall forget it not, Except as Allah wills. Surely, He knows what is open and what is hidden. And We shall facilitate for you every facility. So go on reminding; surely, reminding is profitable. He who fears will soon heed; But the reprobate will turn aside from it, He who is to enter the great Fire. Then he will neither die therein nor live. Verily, he truly prospers who purifies himself, And remembers the name of his Lord and offers Prayers. But you prefer the life of this world, Whereas the Hereafter is better and more lasting. This indeed is what is taught in the former Scriptures—The Scriptures of Abraham and Moses (Surah al-A‘la, 87:1–20). [Publisher]
Abu Hurairah narrates the Messenger of Allah (sas) said: Allah has some angels who look for those who celebrate the praises of Allah on the roads and paths. And when they find a people celebrating the praises of Allah, they call each other, saying, ‘Come to the object of your pursuit.’ He added, ‘Then the angels encircle them with their wings up to the sky of the world.’ He added, ‘[After those people have celebrated the praises of Allah, and the angels return], their Lord, asks them [the angels] though He knows better than them, “What do My servants say?” The angels reply, “They extol Your Holiness, they proclaim Your greatness, they praise You, and they glorify You.” Allah then says, “Have they seen Me?” The angels reply, “No! By Allah, they have not seen You.” Allah says, “How would it have been if they had seen Me?” The angels reply, “If they had seen You, they would have worshipped You more, glorified You more, and praised You more often.”
Allah says [to the angels], “What do they ask Me for?” The angels reply, “They ask You for Paradise.” Allah says [to the angels], “Have they seen it?” The angels say, “No! By Allah, O Lord! They have not seen it.” Allah says, “How would it have been if they had seen it?” The angels say, “If they had seen it, they would have desired it more, sought it with greater zeal and developed a greater yearning for it.” Allah says, “From what do they seek refuge?” The angels reply, “They seek refuge from the Fire.” Allah says, “Have they seen it?” The angels say, “No, By Allah, O Lord! They have not seen it.” Allah says, “How would it have been if they had seen it?” The angels say, “If they had seen it, they would have fled from it hastily and would have had extreme fear of it.” Then Allah says, “I make you witnesses of how I have forgiven them.”’
The Holy Prophet (sas) said, ‘One of the angels would say, “There was so-and-so amongst them, and he was not one of them, but he had just come for some need.” Allah would say, “These are those whose companions even will not be left deprived”’ (Sahīh al-Bukhārī, Kitāb ad-Da‘wāt, Bāb Fadli Dhikrillāhi ’Azza wa Jall; Hadith 6408).
Abu Dharr narrates: ‘If you were to place a sharp steel sword on this (and he pointed to the nape of his neck) then I felt that I was carrying out a word (command) which I heard from the Holy Prophet (sas), I would do it before you proceeded (Sahīh al-Bukhārī, Kitābul ‘Ilm, Bābun al-‘Ilmu Qabl al-Qauli wal-‘Amal).
5 And especially the Al-Fazl newspaper because the Friday sermons etc. of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih II (ra) are published in this regularly, in sequence, after they are prepared with great effort and diligence.
