Hazrat Ameer’s 2016 Eid ul Fitr Message

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Assalaam-o-Alaikum Wa Rakhmatullahi Wa Barakaato Hoo.

I wish you all a very happy Eid ul Adha.

Eid-ul-Adha is widely known as Eid ul-Qurban or Eid of Sacrifice. The root of the Arabic word Qurban is qaf ra ba which means qurb or nearness, i.e., nearness to Allah. Sacrificing in the way of Allah is thus the way to attain nearness to Him. This day reminds us of the utmost submission shown by Hazrat Ibrahim by his immediate readiness to sacrifice his young son, Hazrat Ismail, in obeisance to the vision in which Allah commanded him to do so. Allah stopped him from actually sacrificing Hazrat Ismail and accepted his willingness to do so as the fulfilment of the command. Thus we are given the lesson that we must submit to Allah’s will and be ready to make any sacrifice that may be needed in doing so without questioning.

In the verse of the Holy Qur’an that I have cited above it is made clear that the act of slaughtering an animal is not the end in itself but a means to attain nearness to Him. He says:

Not their flesh, nor their blood, reaches Allah, but to Him is acceptable observance of duty on your part. Thus has He made them subservient to you, that you may magnify Allah for guiding you aright, and give good news to those who do good (to others).

The word Taqwa used in this verse means the observance of one’s duty to Allah and being in a state which keeps one conscious of His presence and motivates one to perform righteous deeds and avoid forbidden ones.

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, has said that when we place a knife on the neck of the animal which is to be sacrificed, we must also place it on the neck of the nafs al-ammaarah, the evil inciting spirit within us. Only when we do so, will we be slaughtering the evil inclinations and deeds that we may be harbouring within us. This should lead us to the absolute cleansing of our hearts from the idols we hold within it — idols of pride, ego, self-praise and reliance on worldly means. The ultimate reliance should be on Allah’s help (Tawakkul). Then only will we succeed in achieving the state where all our prayers and sacrifices, indeed our life and death, will solely be for Allah.

The process of this cleansing will make our heart clear of shirk, the association of gods with Allah. Such a heart has been likened to the house of God; it has been likened to the Ka‘ba, free of shirk when first constructed by Hazrat Ibrahim and Hazrat Ismail and when cleared of idols and purified by the Prophet Muhammad, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him. Such a heart is the place where Allah resides and this is the state that every Muslim desires for; a state of nafs al-mutma’innah, the soul at peace with itself and all its surroundings.

I pray that we are able to slaughter the animal within us on this Eid day and start a new journey of nearness to Allah.

Aameen

Posted on 11/09/201610/09/2016 by admin

Hazrat Ameer’s Eid ul Fitr Message

Those to whom We have given the Book follow it as it ought to be followed. These believe in it. And whoever disbelieves in it, these it is that are the losers. (2:121)

Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Assalaam-o-Alaikum Wa Rakhmatullahi Wa Barakaato Hoo.

A very Happy Eid Mubarak to you all!

We have just achieved the goal we set before us to observe the sacred month of Ramadan by fasting, maintaining the mandatory prayers as well as the additional ones in the form of nawafil and tahajjad. We praised Allah through the day and forsook our sleep for observing the sehr and praying in the quiet of the night. We were able to repent for our sins and plead to God to save us from His displeasure and wrath. Many of us joined the taraveeh prayer and listened to the Qur’an being recited, thus fulfilling another command of Allah:

And when the Qur’an is recited, listen to it and remain silent, that mercy may be shown to you.’ (7:204)

As we observed the fast, the foremost thought in our minds was that this was the month of revelation of the Holy Qur’an. By fasting we were expressing our gratitude to Allah for having revealed this Book for our guidance.
The verse I have cited above states that:

Those to whom We have given the Book follow it as it ought to be followed. These believe in it.

Being Muslims we are the lucky ones who have been given this Book, that is, the Holy Qur’an. So it is imperative for us to ‘follow it as it ought to be followed’.

It is important to note that the word yatloona in Arabic is derived from the root ta la wa which means ‘he followed it’ or ‘did according to it’, and this is the point of reflection in today’s message. Does mere reciting of the Qur’an suffice? Does the mere listening to it in taraveeh prayers suffice?

If we listen or read without appreciating the contents, how can we be able to follow or do according to it? If we do not make an effort to understand the Qur’an or bother to know what commands it contains, how will we be able to mould our lives according to its guidelines? This is a Book sent ‘as guide to those who keep their duty’, that is, ‘who want to become mutaqeen’; those who want to act upon and not just profess the faith.

Let us take this Eid ul Fitr as the day of further strengthening the ties we have developed with Allah by having observed in true spirit the Holy Month of Ramadan. Let this be a day when we resolve to understand the Qur’an and obey every command in it. Let this be a day when we show our sincere determination to continue to maintain and improve on the advancement we have made in the month of Ramadan and thus become of those who follow the Book as it ought to be followed.

I pray that we succeed in continuing to progress towards nearness to Allah and become true mutaqeen, the God-fearing people whose every act is to please Allah. This will fulfil in true spirit the aim of our fasting.

Aameen

Posted on 17/07/2015 by admin

Kitab Ul Bariyyah Part Three

We continue with the reading from the Promised Messiah’s book, Kitab al Bariyyah or My Exoneration. In the last extract it was shown there are three ways of finding the right path. First, Divine Guidance such as found in the Holy Quran. Second, rational argument and third, heavenly signs shown by selected persons who have Divine support.

In this extract, the Promised Messiah shows how the Christian religion fails on these three criteria.

Posted on 23/05/2015 by admin 0

A Modern Day Sacrifice

We all know of the sacrifice made by Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) and his family during this time. On the command of Allah he was prepared to give up his son because he was commanded to do so.

But how does this message from Allah relate to our modern times? How will todays youth respond to such a message?

With Eid ul Adha rapidly approaching us Faizaan Ahmad gives a short speech in the above video on the meaning of sacrifice. He looks at the traditional meaning of the word and puts it into the perspective of the youth today and what they do and how those small or large acts can be described as sacrifice.

Posted on 14/10/2013 by admin 0

Podcast: The Meaning of Eid-Ul-Fitr

Mudassar Aziz looks at the meaning of the Arabic name ‘Eid-ul-Fitr’ which is the celebration Muslims offer at the end of Ramadan.

He reads from Chapter 110, verse 3 of The Holy Quran and takes a deeper look at the words to determine the true meaning of the name and why it is important for all Muslims to understand what it actually means.

Posted on 29/08/2013 by admin 0

The Meaning of Eid-Ul-Fitr

Mudassar Aziz looks at the meaning of the Arabic name ‘Eid-ul-Fitr’ which is the celebrations Muslims offer at the end of Ramadan.

Posted on 29/08/201302/09/2013 by admin 0

Eid Ul Fitr or Celebration of Charity

Dr Jawad Ahmed gave the speech on Friday 8th August, which was the day of Eid ul Fitr.

He starts by reciting from Chapter 105 of the Holy Quran, known in English as ‘The Elephant’. He then goes on to describe the meaning of the word Fitr as an example to show that Arabic is the mother of all languages.

Posted on 24/08/201329/08/2013 by admin 0

The meaning of Eid ul Adha

The Holy Quran can be divided into injunctions i.e. commandments to do or not to do some things and examples i.e. what happens to people who follow Allah’s injunctions and those who do not.

The Holy Quran tells us to sacrifice those things that we love most when commanded by Allah. The importance of the story of Hazrat Ibrahim being asked to sacrifice his son Hazrat Ismael is given to show us that it is possible for human beings to act upon this injunction and the glory bestowed upon them in this world and the next.

Podcast