Note: The Alislam Team assumes full responsibility for any errors or inaccuracies in this translation of the Friday Sermon.
Friday Sermon Delivered by Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad (ra) on the 9th of November 1923, Published in Al-Fazl, 16 November 1923
Topics: Jalsa Salana, Organizational preparedness, Tabligh, Training
After reciting the Tashahhud, Ta'awwudh, and Surah Al-Fatihah, Huzoor(ra) said: Although due to a throat ailment and a severe cold I am not able to deliver a formal address, nevertheless, since the days of the Jalsa are drawing near, I consider it appropriate — despite my indisposition — to deliver the sermon myself.
The first instruction, without which no aim or objective can be fulfilled, is that the purpose and goal of this Jalsa must be kept firmly in view. So long as the purpose and aim of any undertaking is not known, a person cannot exert his full effort toward it. Friends should therefore make every arrangement to attend the Jalsa, even at the cost of some personal inconvenience.
Since the sermon is composed in accordance with the general needs of the community and reaches other friends through print, I take this opportunity — through the medium of the sermon itself — to especially draw the attention of friends residing outside Qadian: they should make every effort and exert themselves to attend the Jalsa, coming even if it means setting aside other commitments. Not only should they come themselves, but they should begin working right now to bring those within their sphere of influence as well.
Many people think: just as we are Ahmadis, so too are our friends who are under our influence — we will take them along when we set off, and they will readily come. But those who have not yet entered the Movement, in whose hearts the greatness of the Movement has not yet taken root — to ask them at the very last moment to accompany you, when they have already made prior commitments, is to demand something impossible. Calling on them to travel at that moment can serve no purpose.
Those who happen to be on holiday or at leisure during those very days make arrangements two full months in advance. One person has planned to attend a wedding, another has arranged to visit friends, and yet another has made plans for some household task. To then ask them to cancel those prior decisions is to wish for the impossible. Therefore, before they commit themselves to other engagements, our community members should begin encouraging their friends to join the Jalsa. Once a person has made a decision, reversing it becomes very difficult.
I therefore first counsel those who have contacts with truth-seeking and justice-loving individuals: begin the effort at once. There are many people who hold back from our Movement out of diffidence and hesitation. For them, these very days can be the means of removing that hesitation — because when a momentum is created, others observing it are drawn into the same current. When they see people converging from all directions, a desire will awaken within them as well.
Generally speaking, when a large number of people gather at one place, it itself generates interest. It is human nature that when a person sees many others engaged in something, a yearning for it arises in his own heart. Since hundreds and thousands of people are arriving from all directions during these days, whoever observes this flow also feels an inner stirring.
Moreover, the Jalsa has a particularly powerful impact of its own. Consider: non-members would ordinarily never enter a temple of the Arya Samaj, yet people of many different faiths gather at their conventions — because human nature is drawn to the extraordinary. Similarly, during the days of the Jalsa, people think to themselves: "One wonders what goes on there — let us go and see." Furthermore, people generally do not like to come alone, as there is a sense of awkwardness in their hearts — "If someone asks why I am here, what shall I say?" But when the days of the Jalsa arrive and people are coming in large numbers, they feel no such embarrassment, for they can simply say: "Just as others are going to see the Jalsa, so are we. What harm is there in attending a Jalsa? After all, we attend other gatherings too."
In truth, the breadth of our work demands that we cultivate general sympathy and direct our attention toward people at large, for this is exceedingly beneficial to our tabligh. I therefore say: even if an opponent — the most hostile of enemies — comes to Qadian and leaves still an opponent, the victory will still be ours, for some measure of reverence for the Movement will inevitably take root in his heart.
Indeed, it has happened on many occasions that when a maulvi outside made false allegations against our Movement in opposition, a non-Ahmadi — who differed with us on doctrinal grounds yet had visited Qadian on some occasion — refuted that maulvi and said: "No, I have myself been to Qadian. These people are very devout. I may not be an Ahmadi myself, but the things attributed to them are not to be found among them." The testimony of such a person makes an excellent impression upon the general public, because they reason: this is the evidence of an opponent. So though such individuals may remain enemies, they become a cause of many others becoming our friends — and precisely because they are opponents, they are the finest witnesses to our truthfulness, for despite their enmity they acknowledge our virtue.
Bringing people to Qadian is thus of immense benefit, and there is no better occasion for bringing others to Qadian than the days of the Jalsa. All friends, therefore, should bring as many people with them as possible during these days, and should begin their efforts to do so right now.
I now draw the special attention of the workers here in Qadian. When friends from outside bring others with them, the inevitable consequence will be that more people will arrive and the work will increase. They too should therefore begin their preparations from this moment.
There is no doubt that our officers are very capable and understand well that supplies cannot be gathered all at once — which is why they begin collecting provisions well in advance. However, in my view, they have not yet developed the same awareness regarding the necessity of recruiting and preparing workers in advance — training them beforehand for the tasks they will be required to perform.
Consider how many soldiers a government keeps ready and what great expense it bears for them — is this wasteful? No. It is so that they may be available when the time comes. For no worker can perform his duty with excellence unless he has previously practised it.
There is a well-known parable: a foolish king, thinking there was no need to maintain such a large army, dismissed it — and in its place assigned a few rupees each to butchers, reasoning: "These men know how to wield a blade; when the need arises, we shall put them to work." When the neighbouring government learned of this folly, it launched an invasion. The king sent all the butchers out to fight. But after a short while they came running back, saying: "Your Majesty, the enemy takes no account of vein or sinew — they strike without distinction. At least three or four of us would need to hold one man down and turn him over to cut his throat — and in that time, they would already have killed several of our men."
Now, a parable is always constructed to illustrate the extreme case. But even setting aside the extreme, there is no doubt that such situations arise constantly and every day. A person cannot perform a task for which he has had no practice, however ordinary that task may be.
I have a personal example of this: a house was under construction and the carpenters were chiselling wood. I was young at the time. Watching them strike the chisel, I thought it looked easy and felt a desire to try it myself. When the man stepped away, I picked up the chisel — and with the very first blow, I injured my finger. Similarly, on another occasion, a labourer was doing some work; I insisted on trying my hand at it. When someone handed me the implement, it landed on my own foot.
Skills always come through practice.
I have explained this repeatedly: those from whom work is to be taken should be made to perform that very work in a simulated manner two months in advance. Consider how keen the Holy Prophet (saw) was on practice. He even held military exercises inside the mosque — and on one occasion, he had the Abyssinians engage in a martial display within the mosque itself. Some maulvis who have translated this hadith have described it as entertainment, and have cast aspersions on the Holy Prophet(saw) by calling him a spectator of amusements who showed such things to his wife. But this is the kind of "entertainment" without which no nation can survive. The nation that does not know this "entertainment" becomes the entertainment of the world — just as monkeys are kept by street performers and made to dance, so too does that nation fall into the hands of others who make it dance to their tune.
So though such activities may appear to be entertainment, they are in truth drills and exercises. I have drawn attention to such drills on many occasions, yet I have observed that not once has this been attended to in the manner I intended. I draw attention to it again: those from whom work will be taken should present themselves now and begin practising the tasks they will be assigned. They should not regard such exercises as beneath their dignity. When a man of the stature of the Holy Prophet(saw) engaged in such activities, what objection could there be for us? And the practice of something one will have to do in the future is not called entertainment — it is in reality a form of preparation.
It is therefore absolutely essential to practise work before the time comes. For instance, a large group should be made to practise lifting and carrying heavy loads, and other tasks that are likely to arise should be rehearsed. Consider how firefighters are drilled: artificial houses are constructed, furnished with goods, then set ablaze — and the firefighters must extinguish the fire and save the contents. If they are not drilled in this way, when a real emergency comes they will panic and stand helplessly watching. Such exercises are therefore the signs of a nation's vitality. A person who considers his own duties beneath his dignity is short-sighted indeed.
I offer one further piece of advice to the workers: a person cannot fully understand his own work through his own reasoning alone. If he relies solely on his own thinking, dozens of matters will escape his attention. The workers here should therefore write to friends from outside right now, asking them: what difficulties do they face on the road and upon arriving here, and what means and measures might remove those difficulties? In other words, ask them both about the problems they encounter and about possible solutions to those problems.
All of these matters require preparation from this very moment. Alongside this, I would add: even the officers cannot make proper arrangements unless others present themselves for service in advance. Therefore, those who are able to offer themselves for work at the Jalsa should do so right now. By this I do not mean that those who cannot present themselves may simply refrain — rather, I make an exception only for traders who set up stalls at the Jalsa to earn their livelihood for the year. Apart from them, all others can present themselves. The officers in charge should form groups of workers right now and teach them what they will need to do.
I trust that if friends work in this manner, they will be far more successful in their endeavours than ever before.
(Al-Fazl, 16 November 1923)
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