To fulfil all rights of fidelity, Hazrat Ibrahim (as)
had to make such efforts to purify his heart and remove all 'Ghairullah'
(all that is not Allah) and filled it with the love of Allah and act according
to the will of Allah. Hazrat Ibrahim (as) had persevered in this path and
showed himself ever firm, to such an extent that he once dreamt that he was
sacrificing his son. So, concerning his dream, he could have given it several
interpretations, but his faith in Allah was so firm that he decided to go
through with the literal sacrifice of his young son, with his own hand.
Ponder over this. Imagine the state of a person if his
son suddenly dies due to some illness. That person can reach such stage where
he starts to have all kinds of doubts on Allah, and thus he opens his mouth to
utter countless complaints and objections against Allah.
So, Hazrat Ibrahim (as) crushed the love he had for his
son and above all preferred to show his love for Allah (swt). This kind of
person, Allah does not let him lose anything and he becomes the friend of
Allah.
When you read the Holy Quran, you see how much love he
had for Allah (swt) and Allah (swt) in return gave him lots of revelations and granted
him, in his progeny, prophets. Both his sons Ismail (as) and Ishaq (as) were
prophets and through them (i.e. their bloodline), many more prophets came. In the example of Hazrat Ibrahim (as), there is a lesson for
all humanity; a lesson of sincerity and faithfulness. That is why Ibrahim (as)
has been qualified as the one who showed faithfulness (fidelity) and sincerity.
Crush all 'idols' in the quest for God
Therefore, in order to show sincerity towards Allah
(swt), as well as truth and fidelity, this asks for a death of all the worldly
pleasures and you need to be ready to undergo humiliations, difficulties for
the cause of Allah and also to crush all idols which had entered the heart. These
idols cause you to devote your everything to them and thus it becomes imperative
(for you) to crush them. Idolatry does not only mean praying a photo, statue,
sun, moon etc. It is true that you are not standing before them to pray, but
there are many forms of idolatry which enter your hearts and which make your
love for Allah take a back seat. Today, Muslims in general, and the Ahmadis in
particular are not taking heed of what Allah has said. They take into
consideration what their idol/s (i.e. their Mullahs or Caliph) have said. How
then can the love of Allah enter such hearts? On the contrary you see a
manifestation of hatred for the servants of Allah and a display of love for
their idol/s.
Today you are celebrating the Eid-ul-Adha. This
festival is not just about sacrificing an animal and eating its meat. One needs
to ponder over this great Eid, for it is because of Hazrat Ibrahim (as),
through his mighty sacrifice that Allah (swt) has today blessed this Ummah
with such a great EID. Allah knew the heart of Hazrat Ibrahim (as). He
knew that his love for Him (Allah) exceeded that of his love for his wife and
son. And despite his old age and his request/ supplication to Allah to give him
a child, even though Allah gave him a son, but He tried him with that same
child, by giving him a vision and instruction to sacrifice him. And thus,
despite the fact that Allah has given him such a son in old age, he passed his
trial/ test with flying colours by believing in his dream/ vision and complying
with what Allah has shown him therein. He preferred losing (sacrificing) his
son rather than losing the love of Allah (swt), and he agreed to undergo all
kinds of difficulties for the sake of preserving his faith in the unity of
Allah. Therefore, see how Allah honoured him thereafter with great titles.
Allah says:
“Ibrahimallazi Waffa” – It is Ibrahim who
showed a remarkable example of fidelity. (An-Najm 53: 38).
It is not without efforts that he had acquired all this.
All through his life he remained sincere, faithful, and filled with Taqwa
(fear for Allah). Moreover, it is with a clean and pure heart that he received
this title.
Therefore, to receive the blessings and favours of
Allah, purity of heart is indeed very important. By purity of heart I mean that
there should not be the least presence of Shirk in our heart, there
should be no idol which/ who builds its home in our heart. If you let these
remain in your heart, then those idols shall invade your hearts and shall
manifest in you.
In the year 2000 at the beginning of the divine
manifestation, Allah (swt) revealed to me:
Purify your heart like a mirror.
(That is) Such mirror which you have cleaned, on which
there is no trace of dust or dirt and where you can see your face clearly. Likewise, you need to purify your heart well
like for a mirror. When Allah (swt) looks upon your heart, there should no
trace of dirt, there should be no trace of hypocrisy in any part thereof. When
such a heart is clean, therein is the manifestation of Allah and all darkness
leave to give way to light. But if the heart still have traces of idols, then
this heart shall remain clouded with such darkness/ dirt/ dust/ idols; the
manifestation of Allah shall be absent from it and therefore you shall be left
with no belief in the Divine Manifestation.
It is then that hatred shall spread in that kind of
heart. The solution to prevent this from happening is to make lots of duahs.
Allah (swt) knows which heart holds idols and if He wants, Allah can remove all
these idols, but for that, you need to be sincere and faithful to Allah. And
the supplications which you are addressing Allah, for them to be accepted, you
need to display sincerity and truthfulness like Hazrat Ibrahim (as) showed his
sincerity and like Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) who showed the best example. When a
person follows this example (of sincerity and faithfulness), he becomes a
blessed person, even if people humiliate him and create lots of problems for
him. It is then that Allah comes and washes away all those traces of
humiliation from him and gives him his provisions which are Halal
(licit), and where Allah opens the door of His grace and favours for him and he
becomes heir to the blessings of Allah.
Allah (swt) becomes his Wali (Guardian /
Protector / One Who takes all responsibility). It is Allah Who knows the
situations of all hearts. The one who wins the true love of Allah, Allah becomes
his Protector.
So, when you read the Holy Quran, Allah says:
Qul sadaqallaah: fattabi-‘uu Millata
‘Ibrahiima haniifaa; wa maa kaana minal-mushrikiin.
Say: Allah speaks the truth. Follow
then the religion of Ibrahim, (who was) ever turned (to Allah), and was not
among the idolaters. (Al-Imran
3: 96).
I pray that each one of us ponder over the exceptional
submission and sacrifices displayed by Hazrat Ibrahim (as). And reflect upon
how Allah accepted all these from him and rewarded him. He did all this only
for the cause/ pleasure of Allah and Allah did not let him lose anything (he
cherished). Children also must reflect upon the total submission of Hazrat
Ismail (as) and how Allah has honoured him also for all times.
So, all sacrifices which are sincerely accomplished in
the way of Allah shall never be in vain. I pray to Allah that He grants me and us
all together this true spirit of sacrifice and that whenever we make a sacrifice,
Allah accepts this from us. Insha-Allah, Ameen.
--- Eid-ul-Adha sermon delivered by Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim(aba) of Mauritius on 02 September 2017 (10 Dhul-Hijjah 1438 AH).