MAGAZINE: EDITION JUNE 2022
The God Summit

Special and Historic Concluding Message by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aba) to the God Summit 2022

The Review of Religions takes full responsibility for any errors in translation. The God Summit was held by The Review of Religions on 14th and 15th May 2022. In a special video message from his office in Tilford, Islamabad, UK, Hazrat Khalifat-ul Masih V (aba) said the following:

‘In the name of Allah the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful.

The Review of Religions is holding a Summit this year on the existence of God, and they had requested me to also say a few words and address them. At this time, I will present some incidents of the acceptance of prayers; however, before doing so, I would like to briefly present a few examples from the Promised Messiah’s (as) profound and insightful words regarding prayers. This explains what the essence of prayer is, the state in which prayers are accepted, and the type of prayers that are heard. The Promised Messiah (as) states at one place:

“I say truly, if one  cries before Allah the Almighty with utmost humility, it moves and attracts the mercy and blessings of Allah the Almighty.”

In other words, if you submit and weep before Allah the Almighty in prayer in a truly fervent and heartfelt manner, He will then bestow His grace and blessings and accept such prayers. The Promised Messiah (as) then says:

“It is when facing trials and tribulations that one’s prayers take on an extraordinary form and manifest astonishing effects. The truth is that our God is recognised through prayer.”

He says further that, “prayers bring about wonderful results, however people are not aware of the true manner of prayer, which are necessary for the prayers to be accepted.” When one becomes familiar with the true etiquettes of prayer, fulfils all the due requisites of prayer and offers prayer properly, weeping and pouring their heart out before Allah the Almighty while expressing their needs, Allah the Almighty listens to his prayers and He also displays evidence of His existence to him.

The Promised Messiah (as) says on another occasion:

“One who prays to Allah the Almighty to be alleviated from difficulties in times of adversity and hardship, as long as he elevates his prayer to their peak, will attain contentment and prosperity from Allah the Almighty (with the condition that he strengthens his prayer to the pinnacle level of excellence. He says that you should also remember the following:) even if he does not attain the intended desire or purpose of his prayer, he still is granted some other form of blessing or tranquillity from Allah the Almighty.”

It is not necessarily the case that a person’s prayer for a specific purpose will certainly be accepted. If the person’s sincerely prays in the sight of Allah, and he elevates his supplications to reflect the true essence of prayer, then even if he does not attain what he specifically prayed for, Allah the Almighty will surely grant him serenity, comfort and contentment “Without any doubt, he does not fail in his purpose.”

Such a person does not believe that he has failed in obtaining his objective, that his prayers were left unanswered, or that he could not recognise God the Almighty. The Promised Messiah (as) says:

“Without any doubt, he does not fail in his purpose. In addition to finding success, his strength of faith and conviction grows stronger (he increases in belief and faith. However as for those who do not resort to prayer, he says:) those who do not turn to Allah the Almighty, remain forever blind and die in this state. One who prays with all his heart and soul can never remain bereft of success and progress. In fact, the prosperity that one cannot attain through wealth, power or health, but rather is something that is granted through Allah the Almighty, can be granted by Him in whatsoever means He pleases.

Indeed, this is granted when one offers a complete and excellent prayer.”

When one prays in this way, all of these things that one desires are attained. This peace and contentment cannot be acquired through having wealth, nor through having political power or authority, nor through one’s physical health. However, when you pray, Allah the Almighty provides through His grace such means for you that He fulfils all your desires, which cannot be otherwise fulfilled through any worldly means. The Promised Messiah (as) says:

“If God the Almighty so desires, He can confer a sincere and truthful person through prayer, when in the midst of passing through difficulties and hardships, such contentment and bliss which even a king cannot enjoy on his throne. This in other words can be described as attaining one’s true objective, which is ultimately achieved by those who supplicate to Allah the Almighty.”

Elsewhere the Promised Messiah (as) says:

“It is a reality that one who does not display practical actions, does not truly pray.”

One who simply states that they have prayed but neither exercises practical means, nor reforms their actions, and nor conforms to the will of God the Almighty, is one for whom we cannot deem that they truly pray. It is essential to improve one’s actions, and it is also necessary for one to apply practical measures. Then when one prays, Allah the Almighty will accept such prayers. In the case where a person’s hands are tied and he has no recourse to practical means or resources, there Allah the Almighty knows the intention of a person. He is aware that he is righteous and sincere and submits to Him devotedly, thus He accepts such prayers. The Promised Messiah (as) says:

“If you pray whilst your deeds are not upright, you are placing Allah the Almighty on trial. This is wrong as you should not try to put Allah the Almighty on trial. This is why it is said that before praying, expend all your faculties and strength. And this is the true meaning of prayers. Firstly, it is essential that you reform your beliefs and actions.” Be mindful of the nature of your deeds and beliefs. You need to consider whether you have full belief and trust in Allah the Almighty. You should recognise that none other than Allah the Almighty can fulfil your needs.

Now, with these words, as I mentioned before, I will present some accounts and incidents.

Our mu‘allim from Ivory Coast has written an incident. He writes regarding a devoted local Ahmadi, Abdullah Sahib, who narrates that ‘my brother had been arrested by the police. The courts sentenced him to twenty years in prison, charging him [on the false pretext of] with selling intoxicants. I was deeply concerned as my brother had been seized by the police whereas he was not guilty nor a criminal.’ He then wrote a letter to me, in London and says, “in this state of anxiety I wrote a letter to Khalifatul Masih for prayers and I started praying myself as well for my brother’s release. Despite this, I could not envisage any prospect of securing his release. One day I saw you in a dream (he is writing this to me), Khalifatul Masih, and you say to me, ‘do not worry and be patient, your brother will very soon be released.’ When I woke up in the morning I felt very relieved and had firm belief that, Insha’Allah (God willing), Allah the Almighty would display a miracle and my brother would be set free and return.”

However, let alone his brother being released, a few days later his mother’s health took a downward turn and had to be admitted to a major hospital in the city. He said, “I was quite worried as I was already facing one distressing situation, and now had to face another adversity with my mother falling ill. I felt utterly helpless and was deeply worried, as it appeared that my difficulties were all piling up. Then, I prayed and at night and went to sleep.” In the dream he saw me and I said to him, “get up and open the door.” He says, “I woke up suddenly and opened my eyes to realise that someone was knocking at the door. I went to open the door, where my elder brother was present. He said that today the police had released him and that with the grace of the Almighty Allah, this is a miracle of prayer, and of having a connection with the Khalifa of the time.”

Now, here is an account from Benin. A few countries lie between [Benin and Ivory Coast]. Those in these countries have no direct interaction with one another in so much as the people living in these countries aren’t personally acquainted with each other. Yet, the manifestation of the impacts of prayer appear in all places. A new Ahmadi there says that, “In our village, only three children qualified for the secondary school exams, all of whom were Ahmadis. There was no education or studies to give hope of anyone of them passing the board exams with anything resembling good marks or grades, in fact to even pass at all.” He says that he wrote a letter to me saying, “please pray, we have exams but do not have any facilities to study here in our village and we have recently accepted Ahmadiyyat. Only three children have been selected from the village whilst all others have not been selected [for the exam]. Please pray that we pass with good marks or grades. Good results aside, we will be fortunate to even pass.” I replied to him that may the children find success. He says, “When we received this letter we were certain, and my children became assured that undoubtedly Allah the Almighty would bestow His blessings and grace, and all three children would succeed.” When the results from the board arrived, they not only passed, but in fact they passed with excellent marks. He says, “Since then our faith and conviction in Allah the Almighty has strengthened even more than before.”

There is another account, which is from The Gambia. Here was a person called Umar Sahib, who with his family did the ba‘iat [oath of allegiance to join the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community] in 2017. His wife was suffering from uterus cancer. Their daughter was born seven years prior to this and after this she got cancer. The doctors declared that there was no cure and that it was impossible for her to bear children. His wife remained very distressed and concerned as a result of this. She was suffering from an illness, she was unable to have children, and in terms of life and death, she had no idea how long she had left to live and whether she would experience the joy and happiness of her daughter growing up. After doing the bai‘at, he says his wife took a leaflet which had my picture on it [Hazrat Khalifatul Masih]. She says “I do not know why but I felt at peace after seeing this picture. I kept on praying and supplicated to Allah the Almighty for peace and tranquillity.” Then she wrote a letter to me and stated, alongside a request for prayer, her wish to be cured from her illness and to have children. Allah’s grace manifested in such a manner that a short while later, she was expecting. When the doctors and nurses checked her, they were astonished, because they had already delivered a prognosis and had said that it was medically impossible for this woman to now have children. After a pregnancy check-up, they then assessed her cancer. There as well they found that there was no sign remaining of the cancer. The doctors were amazed and asked this new Ahmadi lady, “which medicine did you take that has left no trace of your cancer, has removed all your worries and difficulties, and enabled you to have that which was believed to be medically impossible.” She replied, “I did not take any medication. I wrote to the Khalifa of the time for prayers, and was praying myself, and this all is the blessings of prayer. This is my treatment and cure and Allah the Almighty has showered His blessings as a result.”

There is a lady from Kababir. She says, “I had six miscarriages and the doctors had declared this to be an exceptional case. There appeared to be no hope of having children.” During this time her husband visited London, where he met me. He explained  the background to the situation and requested for prayers. I replied that Allah the Almighty will confer His blessings and grace, Insha’Allah Ta‘ala (God willing) and her pregnancy will withstand and she would have a child. Sometime later, her pregnancy endured and she was blessed with a daughter, with the grace of Allah. The blessings did not end there, rather after having a daughter, Allah the Almighty blessed them with a son as well.

In 2005, A mu‘allim in Malda in the province of Bengal, India, suffered from kidney problems. The doctors attempted to treat it, but to no avail. And so the doctors declared that the end was in sight for him and that nothing more could be done. When I went to Qadian in 2005, he had a family mulaqat (private audience) there. The mu‘allim Sahib mentioned his illness and requested for prayers. Sometime later he returned to the hospital for another check-up. The doctors were left astonished that his kidneys had recovered in an extraordinary fashion. After this, by the grace of Allah he has been in completely normal and good health.

So this is the grace and blessings of Allah of prayer, which transforms the impossible into the possible.

Then, there is a person who lives in France who says, “I lived in an area where there were no Ahmadis.” He did the ba‘iat in 2016. He says, “In childhood, at the age of eight or nine, I read a book called The Anti-Christ. This book mentioned three groups of people, one who attain prosperity and success, the second of the cowardly, and the third of the martyrs. At the time I prayed to Allah that He may include me in the group of the prosperous.” Sometime later he emigrated from an Arab country and settled in France. He says, “There I watched a TV channel and was introduced to the Jama’at through it.” It was MTA that he watched, which he continued to do so. He became convinced of the truth of the Jama’at, however did not take the ba‘iat. He said, “For some reason I did not have any children. I started to listen to the prayers of the Promised Messiahas that broadcast on MTA. I used to recite these prayers and would pray myself. Through the blessings of these prayers Allah the Almighty blessed me with children after some time, whereas the doctors had previously determined that it was not possible for me to have children.” He says that, “Through the acceptance of my prayers, this was a sign of the truthfulness of the Promised Messiah (as) displayed to me.”

Another person says that, “A khadim [youth] was concerned and anxious due to not being able to find employment. One day he arrived here, overcome with distress and began to cry a lot. The reason why he was crying was because it was not possible for him to give chanda [alms].” Anyhow, the missionary said to him to write to Khalifatul Masih regularly and request him for prayers. A short while later this youth came, and where previously, on the one hand, he was unable to give any chanda at all,  he now said, “Hand me the Wasiyyat form I want to do Wasiyyat.” The missionary said, “How will you do Wasiyyat when you have no income?” He responded, “Allah the Almighty has accepted these prayers, and has blessed me with permanent employment where I earn 40,000 francs. I will use this to enter into the Wasiyyat scheme. As Allah the Almighty bestowed His blessings and grace and displayed the manifestation of the acceptance of prayers, I feel it is necessary for me to join Wasiyyat.”

With sincerity and devotion he regularly gives chanda. His faith and conviction in Allah the Almighty goes from strength to strength and has increased even more.

A missionary from Congo Kinshasa writes regarding a certain person:  

“According to our arrangement we distributed food amongst prisoners and we informed the prisoners about Islam. Sometime later a person came to our mission house and said he wanted to take the ba‘iat. We asked him why he wanted to take the ba‘iat, what had happened, where he had come from and who he was. He said, ‘I was imprisoned in the same jail that you had visited. I was innocent and imprisoned despite being blameless. The crime had been committed by an acquaintance, who fled and they arrested and imprisoned me.’ He said, ‘I also participated in the programme when you visited the jail, where you led a silent prayer at the end and explained the wisdom behind prayer. There I prayed, “O Allah, if you truly listen to prayers, and if these people are truthful, then help me and grant me release from here, as you know that I am innocent.”’ He says, ‘I thought in my heart that if this Jama’at is true, Allah the Almighty will certainly accept my prayers. As I continued to pray the thought entrenched even further in my mind, that if the Jama’at is true, then my prayer would be accepted and Allah the Almighty would provide the means for this from the unseen. Subsequently, this is what then came to pass. My colleague who was the real criminal and had fled, suddenly returned. Not only did he come back, rather, in the jail he announced publicly that I was innocent and he gave himself up as the real culprit. And so, this is a reason I have come straight to the mission house after my release.’ When provided with further information about the Jama’at he said: ‘Allah the Almighty Himself has given me the proof of this Jama’at, has shown evidence of His existence and proof of the acceptance of prayers.’ He immediately took the Bai’at and joined the Jama’at.”

The Promised Messiah (as) states at one place:

“God provides proof of His Self through His might

This is the unveiling of that Incorporeal One.”

This is how Allah the Almighty displays His signs.

There are countless accounts and incidents, which people send every year and I have only presented a mere few. May Allah the Almighty strengthen all of us in our belief, faith and conviction. May Allah the Almighty enable to us to pray properly. May Allah the Almighty accept our prayers.

And may Allah the Almighty bless this Summit and the objectives for which it is being held. May it prove to be a means of refreshing and invigorating everyone’s faith.’