In the name of Allah

The All Compassionate, the All Merciful

17th Rabial-Awwal 1444 (14th October 2022)

Islamic Universal Association

20 Penzance Place, Holland Park

London, W11 4 PG

www.arafeh.co.uk

 

Jihad An-Nafs – Part 101

Purification of the heart-Part 43

When we remind ourselves of the reality of death we will evidently prepare for the hereafter in the best possible way. Allah (s.w.t.) has given us time, so we should not waste it. There are so many ways to draw close to Allah (s.w.t.), such as, by giving charity, seeking knowledge, fasting, educating, memorising the Quran, etc. However, it will be too late for those who have used this world only to serve themselves and have rejected the guidance of Allah (s.w.t.). In his context the advice of Imam Ali (s.w.t.) in Sermon 188 from the Nahjul Balagha is very beneficial, which reads:

“I advise you, O’ people, to fear Allah and to praise Him profusely for His favours to you and His reward and obligations on you. See how He chose you for favours and dealt with you with mercy. You sinned openly, yet He kept you covered. You behaved in a way to incur His punishment, but He gave you more time.

I also advise you to remember death and to lessen your heedlessness towards it. Why should you be heedless of Him, who is not heedless of you? Why expect anything from him (the angel of death) who will not give you time? The dead whom you have been watching suffice as preachers. They were carried to their graves, not riding themselves, and were placed in them but not of their own accord. It seems as if they never lived in this world and as if the next world had always been their abode. They have made lonely the place where they were living, and are now living where they used to feel lonely. They engaged in what they would leave behind, and did not care for their final destination. Now they cannot remove themselves from evil, nor add to their virtues. They were attached to the world and it has deceived them. They trusted it and it overturned them.

May Allah have pity on you. You should hasten towards (the preparation of) houses which you have been commanded to populate, and towards which you have been called and invited. Seek the completion of Allah’s favours on you by exercising endurance in His obedience and abstaining from His disobedience, because tomorrow is close to today. How fast are the hours of the day, how fast are the days in the month, how fast are the months in the years and how fast are the years in a life.”

• Imam Ali (a.s.) advised his followers to fear Allah (s.w.t.) and to praise Him for His countless blessings that He has bestowed upon His servants.
• He also advised them to remember death and not to be heedless of it and their commitment to Allah(s.w.t.) because the angel of death will act promptly.
• We should learn from the dead and see how helpless they were for we will certainly follow in their footsteps and face the inevitable.
• Our efforts are sealed at the point of death, and these efforts will determine our position for the hereafter.
• Time in this world is passing by so swiftly, we should therefore hasten to prepare ourselves with the best provisions for our afterlife by obeying Allah (s.w.t.) and refraining from what He has forbidden.

 

Second Sermon

Birth anniversary of the Holy Prophet (s.a.)

The 17th of Rabial-Awwal marks the birth anniversaries of the Holy Prophet (s.a.) and our sixth Imam, Jafar As-Sadeq (a.s.) and I congratulate Imam Mahdi (a.j.f.) and the Muslim Ummah.

Allah (s.w.t.) sent messengers to every nation and community, calling its people to worship Him alone. These messengers were truthful, virtuous, trustworthy and rightly guided servants who strove hard to guide their people to the right path and conveyed Allah (s.w.t.)’s message to them in full, without concealing, omitting or adding anything to it. Each of them promoted the Shariah of the previous prophet. Some of them brought scriptures while others did not bring any books. Sometimes there were more than one prophet in a single town or city, who fulfilled the duties of prophethood. However, the Holy Prophet (s.a.) was undoubtedly the leader of all the prophets as he brought the final revelation and completed the religion of Allah (s.w.t). The flow of his divine message which continued for twenty-three years proclaimed the Unity of God and demolished the edifice of superstition, ignorance and disbelief and set up a noble conception of life and devotion to one God. More than 1400 years have passed since his appointment, yet his core message of salvation, his motto of the oneness of God, his weapon of nobility, his path of light, his program of guidance and his invitation to unity are still valid.

He was born on the 17th of Rabiul-Awwal in the year 570 of the Gregorian calendar on Friday at dawn in the holy city of Mecca. His emergence has been mentioned in the Torah and the Evangel. Although, the ‘first to be created was his light’, the Holy Quran does not deny the revelations that came before it; rather it testifies to their truthfulness and completes them. When speaking about the prophets that came before him, the Holy Prophet (s.a.) has said,:“I am the prayer of my ancestor, Abraham and the glad tidings of Jesus. My position and that of the other prophets is like the following parable: A man builds a perfect and beautiful house but leaves one brick missing from a corner of the house. People come and gaze at the house. Noticing the missing brick they say: “Will a brick not be put in this niche?” Now, I am that brick and the last of the prophets.”

There are several Ayahs in the Holy Quran and in the Islamic traditions that highlight the following:

• Characteristics of the messengers of Allah (s.w.t.)
• Aim of the prophets’ mission.
• Reflection of people’s attitude; those who deny or accept the invitation of the messengers.
• Following the messengers are beneficial in this world and in the hereafter.
• Allah (s.w.t.)’s promises a reward to those who accept His invitation and cautions those who deny His revelation.
• Messengers have been duly supported by Allah (s.w.t.).
• Those who decline to accept the messengers will face dire consequences.
• The core message is the same but the mission may differ due to time and circumstances.
• Islam is a perfect and comprehensive religion which was revealed by Allah (s.w.t.) to the Holy Prophet (s.a.).