True Refuge

[Translator’s Note: All references to the verses of the Holy Qur’an are given in Arabic as they occur in the text. The English translation, presented in italics, is taken from the translation of the Holy Qur’an by Hadhrat Maulvi Sher Ali Sahib(ra). Where the Promised Messiah(as) has himself stated a certain inter- pretation of the Arabic verse, this is incorporated in the main body of the text]. A person will turn away from reliance upon material means in accordance with the strength of his faith. The more faith develops and pro g resses and becomes complete, the more a person dislikes reliance upon material means. It is, in fact, quite apparent that the world is being deceived. The things it considers to be the means of its progress are the very things that become the means of disgrace. Many false, deceptive and 18 The Review of Religions – February 2003 True Refuge Presented below, in translation, is a compilation of excerpts taken from the discourses and speeches of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi(as). The Urdu text of the excerpts is taken from Malfoozat, which is the title of the ten volumes that contain the collection of discourses, speeches and addresses of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) of Qadian, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi. Translated by Amatul Hadi Ahmad The founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as). In 1891, he claimed, on the basis of Divine revelation, that he was the P romised Messiah and Mahdi whose advent had been foretold by Muhammad, the Holy Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) and by the scriptures of other faiths. His claim constitutes the basis of the beliefs of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. fraudulent means are adopted for gaining worldly respect and status through wealth. There are many who seek to fulfil their aims through dishonest methods and they consider these to be the means of fulfillment of their goals. This is carried to such an e x t reme that stories of their success through dishonest means are recounted before friends with great pride. However, if we were to judge these achievements from the view point of justice and ma’arifat [that is, true knowledge of God] then we would see that their methods and their means do not provide any lasting plea- sure or satisfaction. Whenever it is enquired of them as to how they are, they always display a worried and dissatisfied look. Pleasure and satisfaction never appear on their faces. The signs of satisfaction appear on one’s face only with the blessing and grace of God. Until a person has complete faith in God and until such time as he acquires a true belief in God’s promises and considers God to be the only Being capable of granting him success in his aims – until, that is, a person brings about a complete reform in himself and adopts the path of righteousness, he cannot attain true satisfaction. God states, [in the Holy Qur’an]: And He protects the righteous. (Ch.7: V.197) That is, God becomes the Protector of those who adopt the way of reformation and goodness – God takes care of such people in every way. The person who has a guardian can shed many burdens of responsibility. In childhood when the mother is the guardian of her child, the child does not have to worry about its needs. The mother takes care herself of all the child’s needs. She worries about her child’s food and clothes and such like. She takes care of her child’s health and washes him and cleans him. [She is so preoccupied with the care and well being of her child that] at times she even slaps her child to 19 True Refuge The Review of Religions – February 2003 make him eat and drink or to put on his clothes. The child does not understand his own needs but the mother understands them well and she occupies herself in trying to fulfil all the child’s needs. However, when the child grows out of the total care that the mother provides, he is naturally in need of another type of ‘guardian’ or benefactor. He tries in different ways to find other people who could become his ‘benefactors’ for the fu- lfillment of his various needs. He makes other people his protector and benefactor, people who are themselves weak like him, and who are so engrossed in their own needs that they cannot take full care of the needs of another. H o w e v e r, those who cut themselves off from such reliance on others and adopt the way of righteousness and reform themselves, for such people God Himself becomes the protector and benefactor. He takes care of all their needs and wants. Such people then remain in no need of any superficial guardian. God understands their needs better than they understand them- selves. He favours them with His blessing and Grace to such an extent that such people are themselves truly surprised. A human being, however, goes t h rough many diff e rent stages b e f o re he reaches the stage where God becomes his pro t e c t o r. In other words, a person has to go t h rough many stages of having d i ff e rent ‘guardians’ before he attains the protection of God. As God himself states, [in the Holy Q u r’ a n ] : Say, ‘I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind, The King of mankind, The God of mankind, From the evil of the sneaking whisperer, Who whispers into the hearts of men, F rom among the Jinn and mankind.’ (Ch.114: Vs.2-7) 20 True Refuge The Review of Religions – February 2003 The first need of a human being is for parents but when he becomes an adult, he needs kings and rulers. More o v e r, as he advances f u r t h e r, he comes to acknowledge his mistake in placing his re l i a n c e upon others who are themselves weak human beings, incapable of p roving sufficient for his needs. It is at this stage that he turns to God and through being steadfast [in God’s path], he realises that it is God who is his true pro t e c t o r and benefactor. This re a l i s a t i o n becomes a source of gre a t p l e a s u re for him and from here on he enters a life of satisfaction. When God Himself says to a person that He will be his M u t a w a l l i, his pro t e c t o r, at that moment he finds himself in a state of joy and satisfaction such that it is not possible to fully describe. A person’s life at this stage becomes totally free fro m any sign of bitterness. It is the case that in the worldly state a person’s life is not without bitterness. The wilderness that is the world is full of thorns and bitterness. [This is well described in a Persian verse]: There is nothing except pain and pitfalls In the wilderness that is the world Comfort there is none Except in nearness to God. Those who attain the state where God becomes their friend and p rotector are freed from the anguish of the world and they enter the life of true pleasure and satisfaction. For such people there is the promise of God, [as stated in the Holy Qur’an]: And he who fears Allah – He will make for him a way out, And will provide for him from where he expects not. (Ch.65:Vs.3-4) That is, whosoever adopts the way of righteousness, God will save him from all manner of grief and affliction and God will Himself take care of him and will p rovide for him in such an unexpected way that he could not even have imagined it. [Malfoozat, Vol. 7, pp.52-54] 21 True Refuge The Review of Religions – February 2003 The reality is this that unless a person comes into the presence of God having disassociated f rom his personal desires and purposes, he cannot achieve anything. On the contrary, he suffers a loss. However, when a person aban-dons his selfish desires and selfish aims and goes before God empty handed but with a purified heart, his request will be granted and God will take care of him – the condition is that he should be prepared to die [for the sake of God] and should be ready to ignore disgrace and death in His path. The world is finite – it will come to an end but it is also the case that its enjoyment is given to those who abandon it for the sake of God. This is the reason why the person who attains nearness to God, is also made popular in the world. It is the popularity for which the worldly make great efforts – somehow to attain a title, or some status of respect, a seat in the court of nobility or the addition of their name among those of special status. In brief, it is those who are prepared to, and indeed do, give up all for the sake of God, who are granted all worldly respect and every heart is made to acknowledge their greatness. In short, those who lose [that which they possess] for the sake of God are given all and they do not die until they have gained many times more of what they gave in the path of God. God does not hold any one’s ‘debt’ but it is regrettable that those who believe these things to be t rue and those who have knowledge of the true nature of these matters are very few indeed. Thousands of people have passed away who were true in their sincerity and faithfulness to God but no one would have h e a rd or witnessed that they faced ultimate humiliation or that they were unsuccessful. Had they progressed only in worldly matters, they would have, at the very most, achieved some position of employment for a few coins and would have been among those who are not well known. However, when similar people put themselves in the service of God, they were turned into persons whose name became well known and whose g reatness and respect was 22 True Refuge The Review of Religions – February 2003 acknowledged far and wide. The names of these people shine like the stars. Worldly respect and g reatness follows those who serve [the true] religion. Blessed is he who gives precedence to religion [that is true]. The sense of pleasure and enjoyment that has been endowed by God [varies in its quality and intensity from species to species], and you see this in, for instance, a leech relative to a bull, and in a bull relative to a human being and in ord i n a r y human beings relative to people of a higher level. People of a higher level are granted a greater sense of enjoyment and pleasure. S i m i l a r l y, those who become special by becoming close to God, are also granted the pleasure and enjoyment of this world that is of a higher level [of intensity]. [Malfoozat, Vol. 5, pp.398-400]. I have stated this repeatedly that one is answerable to God a c c o rding to the extent of closeness that one has [to the God’s Messenger]. Those belong-ing to the household of the Holy Pro p h e t( s a ) w e re answerable to a greater degree [than those who were not members of his household]. Those who are at a distance may not be answerable but you [who claim to belong to his Ummah as well as being the followers of the P romised Messiah] most certainly are answerable. If there is no dis-tinction between them and you with regard to greater faith, then what diff e rence is t h e re between you? You are being watched by thousands. They observe you and your behaviour like government spies. They are true [in their observation of you]. If it is the case that the followers of the Messiah are to join [the ranks of] the Companions of the Holy Prophet(sa), are you in reality like them? If it were the case that you are not, then you would be held to account. Granted that this is yet an early stage, but one does not know when death may strike. Death is an unalterable fact that every one has to face and if this is the situation, why are you so indifferent? If it is the case that someone does not keep in contact with me, that is another matter. You, however, have come to me and have accepted my claim and accepted 23 True Refuge The Review of Religions – February 2003 me as the Messiah, then you have in fact, on the face of it, declared yourself to be like the Companions of the Holy Prophet(sa). Was it ever the case that the Companions of the Holy prophet hesitated in treading the path of truth and sincerity? Did they show signs of apathy? Were they dejected? Did they not have c o n t rol over their emotions? Were they not humble? On the c o n t r a r y, they were extre m e l y humble. So, you too should pray that God grants you the same capability. This is because no one can adopt a life of humility and meekness unless he is assisted by God. You should searc h yourself and should you find yourself to be as weak as a child even then do not despair. Like the Companions of the Holy P ro p h e t( s a ), persist with the prayer: Guide us in the right path. (Ch.1: V.6) Wake up during the night and pray to God that He may show His path. The Companions of the Holy Pro p h e t( s a, too, gained guidance only gradually. What were they earlier? They were like the tilled land of a farmer, freshly sown with seed. The Holy P ro p h e t( s a then ‘watered’ this ‘land’ – he prayed for them and as the ‘seed’ was right and the ‘earth’ was fertile, the watering of it brought forth very fine fruit. The Companions did exactly as the Holy Prophet(sa did – they did not wait for day or night. You too should repent with a true heart. Rise up at night to pray and correct your heart. You should leave your weaknesses behind and should make your word and your deed accord with the pleasure of God. He who takes this advice to heart and truly prays and implores God, God will improve his situation and his heart will undergo a change. Do not give up hope [of beneficence] from God. [Malfoozat, Vol.1, p.45] 24 True Refuge The Review of Religions – February 2003