Monday, April 21, 2008

Characteristics of the Imam

It is set out in an authentic Hadith that he who fails to recognize the Imam of his age will die the death of ignorance....This direction of the Holy Prophetsa entails that every seeker after truth should continue to seek the true Imam.... The question arises: Who can be called the Imam of the age, and what are his characteristics, and in what respect is he to be preferred to other recipients of revelation and dreams and visions? The answer is that the Imam of the age is the person whose spiritual training is undertaken by God Almighty Himself Who invests his nature with such guiding light as enables him to overcome all philosophers and logicians of the world in every kind of debate. He refutes the subtlest criticism of every description so well by his God-given power, that one is compelled to admit that he has come into the world equipped with all the resources needed for its reform and thus he was not to face humiliation before any opponent He is the spiritual Commander-in-chief of the Muslim forces and God Almighty designs once again to make the faith victorious at his hand. All those who seek shelter under his banner are also equipped with the highest capacities. He is bestowed all that is needed for reform and is endowed with all knowledge that is required for repelling objections and setting forth Islamic excellences.

[Zarurat-ul-Imam, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 13, pp. 472-477]

Monday, April 7, 2008

Muhammad: the fountainhead of every grace

I always wonder how high was the status of this Arab Prophet, whose name was Muhammad, thousands of blessings and peace be upon him. One cannot reach the limit of his high status and it is not given to man to estimate correctly his spiritual effectiveness. It is a pity that his rank has not been recognized as it should have been. He was the champion who restored to the world the Unity of God which had disappeared from the world; he loved God in the extreme and his soul melted out of sympathy for mankind. Therefore God, Who knew the secret of his heart, exalted him above all the Prophets and all the first ones and the last ones and bestowed upon him in his life-time all that he desired. He is the fountain-head of every grace and a person who claims any superiority without acknowledging his grace, is not a man but is the progeny of Satan. He has been bestowed the key to every exaltation and he has been given the treasury of every understanding. He who does not receive through him is deprived forever. I am nothing and possess nothing. I would be most ungrateful if I were not to confess that I have learnt of the true Unity of God through this Prophet. The recognition of the Living God we have achieved through this Perfect Prophet and through his light. The honour of converse with God, through which we behold His countenance has been bestowed upon me through this great Prophet. The ray of this sun of guidance falls like sunshine upon me and I continue illumined only so long as I am adjusted towards it

[Haqiqatul Wahi, (Qadian, Magazine Press 1907); Now published in Ruhani Khazain (London, 1984), Vol. 22, pp. 115-116].

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

A Call to All Muslims

O ye Muslims, if you believe truly in God Almighty and in His Holy Prophetsa and are awaiting Divine help, then be sure that the time of such help has arrived. This affair is not from man, nor has it been devised by man. In fact, this is the dawn which had been prophesied in Holy Scriptures from ancient times. God Almighty has remembered you at the time of your dire need. You were about to fall into the pit of ruin, but His Compassionate Hand has come to your rescue. Be grateful and jump with joy that the day of your revival has arrived. God Almighty would not permit the ruin of the garden of His faith, which was irrigated by the blood of the righteous. He does not desire that, like the religions of other people, Islam also should become a collection of ancient tales, which should exhibit no current blessing. He Himself provides light when the darkness is at its height. Do you not look for a new moon after the night of complete darkness? You comprehend fully the physical law of nature, but, alas, you are wholly unaware of the spiritual law which it resembles.

[Izala-e-Auham, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 3, pp. 104-105]