Huzoor (aba) expounded upon the Divine attribute of “Al-Qawi” – All Powerful, The Mighty in the Friday sermon today. The term “qawi” (mighty) has a different significance for human beings, meaning one can be advanced in his physical, intellectual or academic abilities, but for God, the term signifies that He encompasses the ultimate power in all respects, there is no comparison of His power to anything or anyone else as He surpasses in everything. In the Holy Quran, God addresses this attribute of His in reference to those who commit “shirk” (associating partners with God) and warns them in these words:
“And there are some among men who take for themselves objects of worship other than Allah, loving them as they should love Allah. But those who believe are stronger in their love for Allah and if those who transgress could now see the time when they shall see the punishment, they would realize that all power belongs to Allah and that Allah is severe in punishing.” (2:166)
At first glance, the verse directly addresses the idolaters, warning them of the results of their transgression; at the same time, it also turns the attention of the believers to the objective of their creation, which is to love God and to remember Him. However, it reminds those who pay heed that it is easy to forget one’s objective in this world and instead of paying due attention to the remembrance of Allah, they set their focus on worldly gains and create apparent and hidden idols for themselves, so much so that the love for these idols gains in strength till God is nowhere in sight. For a true believer however, the love of God is the first and foremost objective of his life and he practices this love in every aspect of his life.
This verse warns those who create these apparent as well as hidden idols for themselves that none other than God Almighty has the power to help them. At another point in the Holy Quran, God says that shirk (associating partners with God) is a transgression that will not be forgiven. The love for this temporary abode will only lead to a terrible end, whereas the love for Allah as a true believer practices will reap the favors of Allah in this world and in the hereafter. A believer also bears in mind that love for God cannot be complete without loving the Holy Prophet (saw). Invocating durood on him and offering salat are ways to express this love of God and the Holy Prophet (saw). A believer should also love other human beings for the sake of obtaining the love of God, as this is Divine commandment also. However, not recognizing the existence of God (such as the idolaters) or forgetting God due to worldly or other distractions can bear the same consequences i.e. disfavors from Allah. Therefore, there should be a visible difference between one who does not believe in God and one who believes God as All Powerful: the first incurs the wrath of God, whereas the latter is a seeker of love of God at every step of the way. The Promised Messiah (as) sheds some light on this type of love when he says that this. love for God is not something which takes on a false pretense. Such loves comes from the depths of all human faculties, till the heart is completely inundated with nothing but the love of God. When the heart is fully inclined as such, that is when one sees the wonders of his love and his beloved. The truth of the matter is that when one loves someone, he is fully engrossed with his beloved such that he has ingested him, meaning that he begins to reflect the qualities of his beloved so that when one sees the lover, he is indeed seeing the beloved. Hence, when a man loves God completely, he begins to reflect His Light. The word “muhabbat” has its roots in the Arabic language which means to be full of something. So in order to harvest the favors of God Almighty, one must be prepared to offer every type of sacrifice in His way and then he will witness Divine succor.
Huzoor (aba) then made reference to another Quranic passage in which God gave permission to a weak group of Muslims to defend themselves against a powerful enemy to combat the cruelties being inflicted by the enemy.
“Permission to fight is given to those against whom war is made, because they have been wronged — and Allah indeed has power to help them — Those who have been driven out from their homes unjustly only because they said, ‘Our Lord is Allah’ — And if Allah did not repel some men by means of others, there would surely have been pulled down cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques, wherein the name of Allah is oft commemorated. And Allah will surely help one who helps Him. Allah is indeed Powerful, Mighty.” (22:40-41)
In these verses, God Almighty promises to help the Muslims, although a weak group of people, against the strong party of the Mushrik (those who associate partners with God) so as to establish peace and remove the cruelties afflicted by them. The message is that war should only be fought against religious oppression, in fact, Muslims should help other religious groups to defend themselves against oppression. On the same note, those who are being oppressed but remain on the path of the truth will receive help from God in their favor. In early Islamic history, battles were fought against Muslims, yet help from God came to the weak and the inexperienced to ward off oppression. Wars being fought today have a totally different objective: they are political and / or economic wars. The battles in which the Muslims are involved today are not being fought to fight for their religious rights and cannot be called Jihad. To gain God’s favors, Muslims should turn their attention to God and His commandments. In this regard, the teachings of the Promised Messiah (as) interpret the Quranic verses most accurately, and guide mankind towards peace and towards gaining God’s favors. He (as) paints the picture of early Islam in a passage where he says that in the early days of Islam, the antagonists who were strong in every way, wealth, repute, etc, inflicted all sorts of torture upon the weak group of Muslims, and asserted every type of effort to annihilate these flag-bearers of truth. They were troubled by the thought that progress of Islam meant decline of power for them, therefore they meted out all types of trouble for the Muslims. They massacred innocent Muslims and imposed thirteen years of social boycott on them where the Muslims suffered immensely. The Prophet himself was subjected to merciless stoning, yet he displayed immense patience in wake of these cruelties. God being a witness to these sufferings then gave the permission to the Muslims to fight in their own defense and came not only to their help during these battles against the enemy but showered upon them such splendor that they became the heirs of the thrones of Persia and Rome.
Such is the practice of God Almighty and this promise holds true for all times. “Allah has decreed: ‘Most surely I will prevail, I and My Messengers.’ Verily, Allah is Powerful, Mighty.” (58:22) It is a historic fact that all opponents of God’s prophets met with failure and truth always prevailed. Same is true for the flag bearers of Islam. As long as they were on the right path and practiced the true teachings, they met with successes, but when they lost the Islamic values and the practice of its teachings, they lost all glory and splendor along with it, and all their efforts were focused towards retaining their tiny worldly governments. At present, it cannot be said that the Muslims enjoy a glorious status in the world. Even the oil-rich Muslim nations look towards the non-Muslim nations to maintain their worth in the world. So can it be said that God’s promise to endow the Muslims with honor no longer holds true? Absolutely not. God’s promise is true for all times. He is indeed All Powerful for all times. In fact, it is in testament to this attribute that He has sent the Promised Messiah, who is the reformer of this age, who has come in fulfillment of God’s promise that the light of Islam will spread to all corners of the world and the name of Islam will prevail. The Promised Messiah (as) received several revelations in which God asserted His attribute of being the All Powerful. God foretold the Imam of the age that Kings shall seek blessings from his garments, thus letting him know that he shall be successful in his mission. The world may regard this community as foolish, but it has always been the practice of worldly people to think of Godly people in this way. They forget that it is the practice of God to come to the help of His people and when His help arrives, nothing stands in its way.
As a community, Huzoor (aba) drew our attention on enhancing our relationship with God, to improve in our love for God and the Holy Prophet (saw) and to obeying His commandments. That is when we will invite His favors on us.
Remember that God is always loyal to His truthful people; therefore one never incurs any damage or loss in bowing towards Him. May Allah enable us to rinse ourselves of all evil inclinations, may He purify us from all sins, may Allah accept our efforts in His cause, Ameen.