Hazrat Abu Bakr

Hazrat Abu Bakr Hazrat Abu Bakr was one of the very earliest converts to Islam and became the closest friend of the Holy Prophet. His devotion and piety were of a very high calibre and on the death of the Prophet he was elected the first Khalifa. He said: “Whether you are alone or in the company of others, you should fear God for, he who fears God gets rid of hardships and troubles and God opens up ways for his livelihood in such a way that he could not even imagine. He who fears God gets his weaknesses covered up by Him and is granted a very great reward.” “O ye people, ask for peace and security from God. After you have attained certainty, there is nothing better than peace and security. You should stick to truthfulness because it leads to virtuous deeds. Truthfulness and virtuous deeds takes one to paradise. You should shun from telling lies for lies make a man commit evil deeds. Lies and evil deeds push a man into hell. Jealousy, rancour and cutting oneself off from others should be avoided. You should not turn your backs on one another. You should become brothers to one another as God has commanded you to become brothers.” “I urge you to fear God. Stick to the Laws of God. Listen to Him whomsoever God has entrusted your affairs—and obey Him, for He will get rid of his low passions, greed and unwieldly anger. Do not feel proud. It does not behove that he who is created from dust and has to go back to dust should display pride. He has to be devoured by worms. Today he is alive and tomorrow he will be dead. Every moment that passes carries him nearer to the time of his death. You should, therefore, count yourself among the dead people. Do good deeds for they will be accepted. Shun all things against which God has warned you and ask for His mercy without delay. Use your sense and reason. Be righteous through the fear of God. He has told you why people before you were ruined so be careful.” “You should always keep the company of the truthful and righteous people.” What is Islam? Islam literally means Peace, surrender of one’s Will; and to be in amity and concord. The significance of the name Islam is the attainment of a life of perfect peace and eternal happiness through complete surrender to the Will of God. The Quran — the Holy Book of the Muslims — interprets it to be the religion whose teachings are in consonance with human nature. Islam, as the Quran has stated (5:4), is the completion of the religion inaugurated by God in the beginning of the world, on His sending the Quran through the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be on him). As a child is taught his alphabet, so God taught the religion to the world gradually and little by little, by sending His prophets at different times and to different peoples. When the world reached that stage of understanding when it was ready for the final lesson, He sent the last and complete Book through the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be on him). This Book not only corrects the errors which had found their way into various religions, but preaches the truths which have not been preached before, on account of special circumstances of the society or the early stage of its development. At the same time it gathers together in itself the truths which were contained in any Divine revelation granted to any people for the guidance of men (The Quran 98:4). Lastly, it meets all the spiritual and moral requirements of an ever advancing humanity. This is Islam which is wrongly called Muhammadanism. According to Islam, the object of man’s life is its complete unfoldment. Islam does not support the idea that man is born in sin. It teaches that everyone has within him the seed of perfect development and it rests solely with a person himself to make or mar his fortune. We created man in the best make says the Holy Quran (95:5). The cardinal doctrine of Islam is the Unity of Godhead. There is none worthy of worship but the one and only God, and Muhammad is His Prophet. He is free from all defects, Holy and Transcendent. He is All Good, All Mercy and All Power. He has no partner. He neither begets nor is He begotten, because these are the traits of frail and weak humanity. Furthermore, Islam helps us to establish a permanent relationship with God and to realise Him during our earthly life as our Helper in all our affairs and undertakings. This Unity of God is the first and foremost pillar of Islam and every other belief hangs upon it. Islam requires belief in all the prophets, including Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Confucious and Zoroaster. We regard them all (and many more not mentioned here) as heavenly teachers born to reform and regenerate man and lead him to God. Adherents of some other religions may consider it an act of piety to use disrespectful words and heap abuse on the prophets of other religions, but if a Muslim were to show the slightest disrespect towards the founder of any other faith, he does so at the cost of his own faith. He has to utter the respectful benediction Alaihis-Salam (peace be on him) after mentioning the name of every prophet. Thus Islam establishes peace between all religions. ^s The REVIEW of RELIGIONS The Review of Religions is the oldest magazine of its kind published in the English language in the Indo-Pakistan Sub-Continent. Its first issue was published in 1902 and it has been continuously published since. It bears the distinction that it was initiated under the direction of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, the Promised Messiah himself. During more than eighty-one years the message of Islam has been conveyed through this magazine to hundreds of readers and many fortunate persons have recognised the truth of Islam and accepted it through studying it. The articles published in it deal not only with the doctrines and teachings of Islam but also set forth a comparative appreciation of the teachings of other faiths. One of its outstanding features is the refutations of the criticism of Islamic teachings by orientalists and non-muslim scholars. It also presents solutions in the light of Islamic teachings of the problems with which the Islamic world is from time to time confronted. A study of this magazine is indispensable for the appreciation of the doctrines of the Ahmadiyya Movement and the teachings of its holy Founder. Printed by The Eastern Press Ltd, London and Reading Published by The Review of Religions, The London Mosque, 16 Gressenhall Road, London, SW185QL