This is a great favor of Allah on us Ahmadis that he gave us the opportunity to accept the Imam of this age. If an Ahmadi ponders, he will realize that he cannot return this favor even if he spends all his life in being grateful to Allah.
It is said that there are around two billion Muslims in the world at this time. The prophecy and directive is in front of all of them that the Messiah and the Mahdi will appear in the fourteenth century [after Hijrah].
The Holy Qur’an, by saying wa akharina minhum lamma yalhaqu bihim [And among others from among them who have not yet joined them. (62:4)], diverted attention further to this aspect.
The Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be on him thus further clarified by saying, Search him among the non-Arabs. He also directed to go to him and to have his Salam conveyed to him even if you have to walk on your knees on slabs of ice.
And then Allah taught Muslims prayers to always stay on the guidance and with the guidance. But yet only 5-7 % availed the opportunity to recognize the Imam of the time even though the Muslims pray the supplication of ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim [Guide us in the right path. (1:6)] in their worship many times.
May the prayer of ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim [Guide us in the right path. 1:6] become the voice of the hearts of the Muslims. And may the Muslim ummah be the inheritor of the blessings of God and that may the world see them with an eye of honor and respect.
Explaining the verse of ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim [Guide us in the right path. 1:6], the Promised Messiah, peace be on him, says,
“As the Holy Qur’an has directed to follow a ruler for civic responsibility, the same directive is for spiritual civic responsibility. It is a pointer toward the same when Allah teaches the prayer ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim [Guide us in the right path. 1:6], siratalladhina an’amta ‘alaihim [The path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings… 1:7]. One should consider that though neither a believer, nor a human, nor even an animal is deprived of the favors of Allah, but it cannot be said that Allah has directed to follow any of them. Therefore, the meaning of this verse is that provide us the opportunity to follow the ways of those on whom the rain of heavenly favors has showered. Therefore, the hint in this verse is that you be with the Imam of the time.”
The companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, availed the favor quite well which emanated 1400 years ago. They were always in the worry how they refresh their faith. The words of ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim [Guide us in the right path. 1:6] were on their tongues. Every word and prayer emanated from the depths of their hearts when they offered Prayers. They had developed such relationship with the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, that its example cannot be found. And therefore Allah also blessed them so that they attained the honor of radiyallahu ‘anhum [Allah is well pleased with them… 5:120]. Thus to attain this favor and to be steadfast on guidance, to tread upon siratal-mustaqim (right path), forever abiding by the directives of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, and accept the Imam of the time, the Messiah and the Mahdi, we will have to develop such a relationship which may make us the inheritors of the favors of Allah forever. And as we have made the pledge at the time of allegiance that we will have this relationship above all others, and will give it preference over all other relationships, as is written in the 10th condition of initiation.
Thus, just by performing initiation, we cannot surmise that our prayer of ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim [Guide us in the right path. 1:6] has been accepted, or that Allah accepted the ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim [Guide us in the right path. 1:6] prayer of our ancestors and had us born in their homes. It is not enough that Allah provided us the opportunity to accept the Imam of this age. In accordance with the directive of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, we have to move our steps forward after we have accepted this Imam.
If it is not the blessing of Allah, one can never with his effort show complete obedience and fellowship. One will have to turn to God to absorb his favors.
Therefore, if we have to abide by the pledge of allegiance with the Imam of the age in reality then we need to understand the reality of ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim [Guide us in the right path. 1:6]. There is need to ponder over it. There is need to offer this prayer fervently because after being attached to this Imam, only this is not enough that we pledged allegiance to the Imam of the time, and that is it. Rather, we will have to develop an attachment with the system which was established by the Promised Messiah, peace be on him, and the explanation of which he narrated with clear exposition in his booklet Al-Wasiyyat [The Will]. That system is the system of Khilafat.
Thus, fortunate are those of us who, after accepting the Promised Messiah, peace be on him, established the relationship of affinity and fidelity with the second manifestation. But, for an Ahmadi, only this is not the culmination of ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim [Guide us in the right path. 1:6]. One should always be judging his self. The prayer of ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim [Guide us in the right path. 1:6] is a continuation of perpetual progress forward, and being in the search of the way to guidance at all times; it is the mark of a believer to pray for its permanence.
There are also ones who perform a lot of good deeds, offer their Prayers, but they are not good in treatment of their families. These also are the people who deviate from the way of guidance. They may be offering the prayer of ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim [Guide us in the right path. 1:6] but are not acting on all the directives because the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, has said, The best among you is the one who is good with his family.
A person establishes the pledge of allegiance with the Promised Messiah, peace be on him, on its basis, and then from that are obtained the relationships of nearness to God. Guidance is not just to accept a person sent by Allah, or not just being affiliated with the Community but to mold lives to the teaching and to establish oneself on it is the basis for the foundation of guidance.
Therefore the prayer of ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim [Guide us in the right path. 1:6] is not just for discharging the rights of the Creator, it is not just to strengthen one’s belief, but this prayer also is for discharging the rights of creation.
No one in this world can have a greater spiritual status than the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be on him. His scribe who recorded his revelations-could be called secretary in today’s world-attained such a status of nearness that the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, called upon him all the time to write down revelations. This status shows that he had trust in him. In the eyes of others too, Abdullah bib Ubayy, scribe of revelations, for sure would have had a status because he wrote the revelations of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be on him. But what was the end? He stumbled and was lost all status. In the same way, during the time of the Promised Messiah, peace be on him, there were people who were advanced in love and affection. When their misfortune stumbled them they turned into severe enemies and started hurtling filthy and low blames on him, and started raising new objections by the day. Therefore, the prayer of ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim [Guide us in the right path. 1:6] is very important for an honorable end. Ponder over it and rehearse.
The Promised Messiah peace be on him, advising us, said at one place,
“If there is a part of deficit in dealing with Allah, the same will be from the other side.”
That is, if there is deficient dealing from this side then though Allah does not engage in deceit but understands it, you will not get reward due to the deceit from your side. Allah knows everything.
It is necessary to take account of one’s self. There are billions of Muslims in the world, they offer the prayers if ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim [Guide us in the right path. 1:6] but because it is a matter of repeating words like memorized by a parrot, therefore, after the Prayers their attention is towards mischief and disturbances. Only filth pours out of the mouths of some. They utter only filth while standing in the mosques. Or they are immersed in their mutual mischief. Is this that sirat mustaqim [right path] for which the prayer has been taught? Of course, it is not.
Before us are the paths. The sirat mustaqim [straight path] was to make man after abandoning the traits of animals, and then it was to turn him into a civilized man. And then turn civilized men to godly men.
The Promised Messiah, peace be on him, says,
“It is the change in the internal review that I want to see in my Community. “
These reviews will keep diverting our attention towards the pledge of allegiance and our responsibilities. The Promised Messiah, peace be on him, said,
“Until a person does not have a trove of real good deeds [not one or two], until then he is not a believer. That is why Allah has taught the prayer of ihdinas-siratal-mustaqim [Guide us in the right path. 1:6] in Surah Fatihah that man may not understand it a virtue just not committing grave sins like theft, adultery, etc., rather it is clarified by saying siratalladhina an’amta alaihihm [The path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings… 1:7] that reward is a separate thing; unless one attains it he cannot be considered good and pious. Notice that Allah has not taught the prayer that do not count me among the sinful and the transgressors but rather taught that count me among the ones who are blessed. “
The Promised Messiah, peace be on him, says at a place,
“Realize that the root of every good is in belief in God. As much a person’s belief in God is weak, that much weakness and laziness exists in carrying out good deeds. But when the faith is strong, and Allah, with all his perfect attributes, is ascertained to the extent, a peculiar change takes place in the actions of man. One who believes in God cannot commit sins.”
Just to accept is not enough. May we be the ones who progress forward in nearness to Allah. To continue the reward of Ahmadiyyat among our generations, may we never be lax in our efforts and prayers. The worldly comforts of these countries may not divert us from attaining our objectives.