Note: The Alislam Team assumes full responsibility for any errors or inaccuracies in this translation of the Friday Sermon.
Delivered on 4 January 1924
Published in Al-Fazl, 15 January 1924
Topics: Tabligh, Sacrifice, Jalsa Salana, Community Growth
After reciting the tashahhud, ta'awwudh, and Surah al-Fatihah, Huzur(ra) said:
First, I express gratitude to Allah the Exalted, Who by His grace and bounty brought this Annual Gathering (Jalsa Salana) to a most successful conclusion. On this occasion, given the changes in weather and the large number of guests, there were many difficulties in the arrangements, and my own health was also unwell. Yet by the grace of God, on the one hand the arrangements were made in the finest manner, and on the other hand, despite the great number of guests, friends were enabled to carry out their work admirably. I pray that Allah the Exalted may continue to grant us His abundant support in the future as well.
After this, I also express great pleasure at the services rendered by friends. The time of those who sat comfortably in their homes has passed, and the time of those who devoted themselves night and day to the work during the days of the Gathering has also passed. However, the opportunity for spiritual reward that was given to those who worked at this Gathering was not given to those who sat at ease. Though the time was very short, those who worked during that short time earned their reward. I therefore say to those who did not participate in service that today they are not equal to those who served — rather, they are lower than them in rank. They should endeavour to participate in service at the next Gathering.
The past year has gone; the Gathering came and concluded. Now a new year has begun and it is a new matter, requiring new preparations and new efforts. I therefore draw the attention of friends to focus on expanding the Community in their respective areas. If any community is capable of safeguarding Islam, does safeguard Islam, and has the intention of doing so, it is the Ahmadiyya Community alone.
I do not say that you should expand the Community so that more people join your ranks and you become a powerful organisation that is honoured in the world and safe from the attacks of enemies. Rather, I draw your attention toward tabligh for a higher purpose — and that is this: expand the Community so that Islam may be protected and the word of Allah may be exalted. Your sole purpose in tabligh should therefore be that Islam grows and is safeguarded. Do not do this work for your own personal ends; do it for the exaltation of the word of Allah.
I know that turning hearts is a very difficult task. To bring even one person around is more difficult than lifting a mountain from one place and setting it down in another. Yet it is also true that there are very few hearts in the world that can withstand the truth. Not everyone can be an Abu Jahl or an 'Utbah. In contrast to them, there were also hundreds of thousands of people who accepted Islam. Do not fall into despair upon encountering certain stubborn temperaments; rather, keep in mind the righteous and receptive souls who stand against them.
I announce the programme for this year: bring people to your side across India in such a manner that no community in India can consider us insignificant or despicable — and do this not so that we may be honoured and grow, but so that Islam may be honoured and Islam may grow, and then, as our work expands, we may be afforded greater opportunities for sacrifice, and may become ever more deserving of God's favours.
There is no reason for us to despair, because the more someone considers us insignificant and despicable, the more our faith increases — for we say: despite our being lowly and weak, our works are still greater than those of the powerful, and our Imam was truly from God, and our Community is truly from God. Therefore we must not despair.
God's gaze is not upon communities as such, but rather upon the greater sacrifices they make. When the Community grows, sacrifices will also increase, and when sacrifices increase, the result will be that yet more of God's favours will descend upon us. I therefore counsel the entire Community to devote more attention to tabligh this year than before.
In particular, I draw the attention of the Qadian Community to focus especially on tabligh, because it is essential for them to direct their attention particularly toward tabligh in order to set an example for others. At the very least, they should spread Ahmadiyyat throughout the greater part of this district.
(Al-Fazl, 15 January 1924)
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