We particularly present our slogan of ‘love for all hatred for none’ before others. We do so to remove the misunderstanding that the Ahmadiyya Jama’at and its members have rancour or ill-will towards others or that we consider ourselves better than others. We also use this slogan to make it clear to the world that Islam teaches love, peace and kindness and it is not correct to associate cruelty and viciousness with the faith of Islam. We employ this slogan to signify that we wish to live together by breaking down walls of hatred. When we serve humanity in any way at all or when we disseminate the message of Islam (Tabligh) we do so because we have love for every person in the world and we wish to remove hatred from each heart and instead sow the seeds of love. We do so because this is what our master, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) taught us. We have observed how he agonised owing to his compassion for mankind during his nightly worship of God; indeed he agonised and wept in his prostrations before God to such a degree that God has recorded this agony of his in the Holy Qur’an as a proof for those who have no rancour or malice in the hearts and it would endure till the end of time. This was recorded so that those who were to make objections against him in times to come could reflect over it before raising their objections and those who associate themselves with Islam may try and follow his blessed model. It is indeed stated in the Holy Qur’an: ‘So haply thou wilt grieve thyself to death with sorrow after them if they believe not in this discourse.’ (18:7)
What was it that the people of that time not believe in which agonised the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him)? They did not believe in desisting from associating partners with God, in making man son of God. Shirk or associating partners with God is a sin which God has called unpardonable. It is love and compassion for every human being, even for an idolater, with which one makes practical effort to bring them to the right path and also pray for them. If Ahmadis are to have real insight of ‘love for all hatred for none’, they should try and learn its ways from our master and benefactor, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and by gauging our level of understanding of Unity of God.
An example of this is when the people of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) exceeded all limits in their cruelty and oppression towards him, rather than pray against them, he raised his hands to pray to God and prayed for them to be guided. When other tribes persecuted him he prayed to God, ‘O God, guide the tribe of Dos.’ His love and compassion was not limited to his own. His heart-rending passion was only to establish Unity of God and to save the world from ruin. Today there are a thousand types of idolatries in the world and a large majority of humanity does not believe in the existence of God and there is need to adopt the teaching as taught by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) in order to establish God’s kingdom and His Unity in the world.
We should not feel smug by merely raising slogans that the world appreciates and through which we are praised in various places. We should be mindful that this slogan is just one source to attain the broader objective for which man was created. Our humanitarian works, our promotion and practice of love and our rejection of hatred and our hatred for hatred itself is to attain God’s love and to establish Unity of God. We do not hate any individual, rather we hate satanic practices and we feel compassion for those who follow these practices and it is owing to this compassion that we wish to take them away from these foul practices and save them from Divine chastisement. Our love for worldly people is not borne of any worldly motive, we simply wish to eliminate their hatred and we do not seek anything from them and we do what we do to seek the love of God and to uphold Unity of God. Therefore, we should not raise slogans merely to be liked by others but should do so to attain our objectives.
We are fortunate that the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) chose us in this age to seek God’s love and to seek compassion for humanity and gave us the teaching to attain these. He said:
‘There are two perfect parts of faith; one is to love God and the other is to love mankind to such an extent that one considers its difficulties one’s own difficulties and to pray for it.’
He also said: ‘It is not a good way to inflict pain on someone merely on the basis on religious differences.’
The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said: ‘My faith is to not even be too harsh with the enemy. I say truthfully, do not consider anyone your personal enemy and completely give up the practice of holding rancour.’ One may think when there is not to be any hatred for anyone then what enmity? But the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) has explained it to us that we should not consider anyone our personal enemy from among those who hold enmity against us on religious grounds. We can correct them but should not have personal enmity with them and should not follow the practices of harbouring rancour. He also said:
‘Compassion and sympathy with humanity is a great form of worship and is a tremendous source to gain pleasure of Allah the Exalted.’ He also said: ‘Allah the Exalted states, be sympathetic to people regardless of faith and ethnicity. Feed the poor, free slaves, and relieve those in debt and support those under burdens and pay the dues of true compassion with humanity.’
The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said: ‘I do not like the words of those who limit their compassion to their own ethnicity. I advise you again and again to never ever restrict your sphere of compassion.’ He also said: ‘You should extend compassion to God’s creation as if you are their blood relative, just like mothers are with their children. One who does good with natural passion like that of a mother can never be ostentatious.’
These are the standards of love and compassion for others as commanded by God and His Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and stated in the Holy Qur’an. Such is the beautiful teaching of Islam about love for creation. Can we attain this level from anywhere else apart from God and the one sent by God in this age and in subservience of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him)? Most certainly, we cannot. Thus, ‘love for all hatred for none’ is not our ultimate objective; rather, it is a means to end; to attain God’s love.
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih said that some time ago he felt that the workers and management of Humanity First had the idea that if they gave their services unconnected with faith, perhaps the world would appreciate them more. Huzoor explained to the central management here that their significance was in being connected to faith and the Jama’at is mentioned in their works somehow or the other. And there was nothing wrong to, if need be, mention the Jama’at in some instances. What should be in sight is that we have to serve humanity to gain God’s pleasure. And we serve humanity because it is God’s commandment to pay the dues of mankind. We also need to have a connection with God and need to safeguard our worship because without this, there is no benefit in serving humanity either.
They [the central management] understood, but Huzoor wanted to tell the workers and management of all the other branches of Humanity First in other countries, with the odd exception, most of whom are Ahmadis that their work will be blessed when they will forge a strong bond with God and will try to aim their work to seek God’s blessings and will start their work with prayers. Without this none of our works can be blessed no matter how much intelligent planning is done.
Huzoor had wanted to speak on this subject for some time as he felt it was an important matter to be addressed. Coming back to the subject of the slogan ‘love for all hatred for none, Huzoor wished to make it very clear that there is no doubt that the virtue of serving creation, compassion for creation, to eradicate enmity and to spread love is a great piety, but it should not be considered that this slogan is the objective of our life. We should not think that abiding by this slogan is attaining our objective. This slogan is in fact a means to an end, the end being the objective of our life. It is a stepping stone towards the objective for which the advent of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) took place and then in his subservience the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) was sent by God in the current age to attain the objective. And that objective is to instil true insight into Unity of God and to try and practice all of God’s commandments. To make the blessed model of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) one’s objective and try one’s level best to attain it for it alone leads to attainment of all kinds of high morals and virtues.
A discussion ensued at the time of Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) when articles were published in Al Fazl [newspaper] or some eminent people presented their viewpoint as to what should be the motto of the Jama’at. The motto given to the Jama’at by Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) or the one to which he drew their attention at the time was one which strengthens faith, strengthens belief, through which dues of God are discharged as well as dues of mankind are discharged. There were two eminent individuals one of whom had proposed that our motto should be ‘…vie, then, with one another in good works…’ (2:149) while the other said our motto should be ‘I shall give precedence to faith over worldly matters.’ Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) agreed that there should be some motto or the other. All organisations in the world keep a motto and if they are serious and trustworthy in attaining their aim, they make serious effort to attain their objective so that they can be distinctive among others.
In the world slogans are raised to have mottos about moral development, slogans are raised to have mottos about academic development and if human rights are violated somewhere political organisations make freedom their motto and make efforts in this regards and raise slogans. Any other specific situation elsewhere gives rise to specific mottos. The reason to have a motto is to establish it in the world and to also keep it in view at the same time. There are thousands of good causes in the world and if one of them is chosen, it is obviously good to have it as a motto. However, this does not mean that all other good things are not needed in conjunction. In fact mottos are made by keeping in view what is needed and what is available and choosing one good cause.
Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) said that some mottos are inter-connected. For example the mottos ‘obey God’ and ‘advance in virtues’ are interdependent because obedience of God is not possible without advancing in virtues and one who is not virtuous cannot be obedient to God. Similarly the mottos ‘I shall give precedence to faith over worldly matters’ and ‘I shall try and excel in good works’ are congruous and inter-linked. Thus, all virtues are good and we should try and adopt them. However, as far as mottos are concerned, sometimes some people restrict themselves completely to a motto and consider it everything. Like our youngsters and some others who have forgotten about their faith but are very keen to raise the slogan of ‘love for all hatred for none’ simply to show-off. Indeed, this is a great slogan to promote the teaching of Islam with sincerity but it is not our only objective. Huzoor said our objectives are most extensive. Similarly compassion for creation is not everything; if remembrance of God is missing from hearts then it is of no benefit.
Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote that when he read the articles [about the proposed mottos] he was reminded of an account of a Jew who told Hazrat Umer (may Allah be pleased with him) during a conversation that he felt great envy towards Muslims. Hazrat Umer (may Allah be pleased with him) asked what caused the envy. The Jew said, the envy was that Islam has a unique quality in that there was nothing in the world that was not included in Islamic commandments, and was not in the Holy Qur’an. It has everything from personal matters to matters of international significance and their resolutions. And this is what generated envy.
If this is kept in view, it is quite evident that in Islam it is not correct to choose any one thing as a motto. No doubt, ‘…vie, then, with one another in good works…’ (2:149) is a fine motto and similarly ‘I shall give precedence to faith over worldly matters’ is also fine, it is also referred to in the Holy Qur’an as: ‘But you prefer the life of this world. Whereas the Hereafter is better and more lasting.’ (87:17-18). These verses are usually recited during Friday Prayer and there are countless other teachings in the Holy Qur’an. There is no teaching in the Holy Qur’an that cannot be made a motto; whatever one looks at draws one’s heart to it.
After this preamble, Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) said we learn from the Holy Qur’an that the time of the advent of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) was an illustration of the Quranic verse: ‘Corruption has appeared on land and sea…’ (30:42). Every kind of corruption was prevalent at the time. The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) was the ظل (shadow/reflection) of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him), therefore his time is also ظل of the Holy Prophet’s (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) time. And we see that every kind of deterioration has reached its height in this age. Thus, today religion is needed, all kinds of morals are needed as well as all worldly good and advancement is needed. While faith has left people’s hearts so have high morals and true religious progress has ceased. Because what is known as progress these days is in fact a display of self-centredness, be it on personal level or international level. Progress now only means personal interests, it cannot be called progress for the world because only one section of the world is benefitting from it while the other section is being subjugated, be it political subjugation or financial subjugation. In some form or the other one section of the world is being subjugated and there is no progress for them and those who are progressing have vested interests which they label as progress.
To say that such and such verse of the Holy Qur’an should be made a motto and such and such verse should not is not correct. Every verse of the Holy Qur’an should be our motto, as indeed it is. Our motto is the entire Holy Qur’an, however, if another motto is required, Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) said God has appointed it through the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and it is:
لا الہ الا اللہ محمد رسول اللہ
(There is none worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger). This is the essence of the entire Holy Qur’an and the fact is that all teachings and all higher objectives as accessed with Unity of God. Similarly mutual connections of people and man’s connection with God also come under Unity of God and Unity of God cannot be made evident without the help of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and this is the reason لا الہ الا اللہ is followed by محمدرسول اللہ . One Who is worthy of worship or God can only be found through the help of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). That is, he alone is the means through which the True God can be seen and when help is sought from the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) then one sees the subject of لا الہ الا اللہ evident everywhere [in the Qur’an] from Surah Al Fatihah to Surah Al Nas. It was indeed the blessed person of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) who established true Unity of God in the world as some among the earlier people had made Ezra son of God while some had made Jesus son of God while others worshipped angels. It was the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) who removed all the corruption and it was him who was raised by God to establish Unity of God and with the grace of God it was established through him. It is indeed the motto of لا الہ الا اللہ that we raise with our Adhans and when a person comes into the fold of Islam he professes to لا الہ الا اللہ because this is what true Islam is.
When someone becomes spiritually weak it is because he has lost sight of لا الہ الا اللہ because if one always keeps لا الہ الا اللہ in view one is saved from spiritual weaknesses. The objective is not to simply verbalise لا الہ الا اللہ like many people do, even if they tell lies they do so by saying لا الہ الا اللہ whereas articulating لا الہ الا اللہ brings into focus God’s greatness and His fear and all His attributes. And as mentioned earlier the reality of لا الہ الا اللہ is only manifested through the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). Unless a person is completely devoted to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) neither he can fully understand perfect Unity of God nor can he understand its detailed manifestation, which is the Holy Qur’an. Those who do not understand Unity of God by being devoted to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) remain embroiled in shirk (associating partners with Allah) in spite of being intelligent.
Let alone non-Muslims, a large number of Muslims have made Pirs (spiritual guides) and ascetics their gods. While Ahmadis are blamed to, God forbid, commit blasphemy against the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and are thus excluded from the fold of Islam, in reality it is these people who have not understood the station of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and as a result are distant from Unity of God.
In this age true insight of Unity of God has been given to the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) which was granted to him because of his complete devotion to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). Those whom the world calls Kafir (infidels) are the true banner-holders of Unity of God. It was through his complete devotion to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) that the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) found that Hazrat Isa (on whom be peace) had died a natural death and it was shirk to consider him alive. Thousands of scholars and jurists before him associated Divine attributes with Hazrat Isa (on whom be peace) for example that he was alive in the heavens, that he used to raise people from the dead and had knowledge of the unseen. However, by virtue of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) today no Ahmadi adult or child can abide by this creed. Similarly there are many other things which the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) informed us through his complete devotion to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him), by assimilating his light and removed shirk from us.
It was the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) alone who showed people of this age the manifestation of لا الہ الا اللہ and this alone is the essence of Islam and which should be accepted by each such person who completely believes in the Unity of God. The rest are all details which are different for different people, just as the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) told some people that great virtue was serving one’s parents, while he told others that great virtue was Jihad in the way of God and yet others he told that great virtue was observance of Tahajjud Salat. Thus drawing attention of everyone to remove their basic weakness but this did not mean that they did not have to practice other virtues.
It should be remembered that all Quranic commandments are excellent and beneficial in their own right but لا الہ الا اللہ is dominant over them all. This is the real motto which we need to keep in sight at all times and we need to reflect over the need for Unity of God and its establishment. Unity of God does not simply mean that one is not an idolater or does not consider a person living like God is Living or associates a person equal to God, rather Unity of God has a connection with everything in the world. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) used to profess Unity of God at the time of going to sleep and during his ablutions. Whenever a person becomes reliant on some worldly means he commits shirk and his claim to be a believer in Unity of God is negated because Unity of God necessitates that man is only reliant on God. The very meaning of Unity of God is that man looks up to the One God alone in everything, be it spiritual or temporal. There is no doubt that all good phrases are good mottos, but in order to be a perfect believer in Unity of God, it is essential that everything apart from God is invalidated for him. Thus, the real motto is
لا الہ الا اللہ محمد رسول اللہ
in which are all virtues and it also gives the resolutions to any problem in understanding Unity of God. The blessed model of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) is before us to remove any problems and his blessed model was explained by Hazrat ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) as an embodiment of the Qur’an. This phrase encapsulates high level of Unity of God, establishes high level of practice of Quranic commandments and also highlights details of the commandments. Thus, whoever understands the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him), understands God and understands everything because shirk is at the root of all ills, negligence and sins.
Through abiding by Unity of God high morals, knowledge, culture, politics and excellence in other arts are instilled in man because the light of God is an antidote to all ailments. Thus, our motto which is appointed by God is لا الہ الا اللہ (There is none worthy of worship except Allah) the rest are all details which can be useful as advice. Dajjal is evident in full force in this age and his objective is to give precedence to worldly matters over faith, therefore it is our task to raise the slogan of giving precedence to faith over worldly matters in response. This is why the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) has included this proviso in his conditions of Bai’at and it means that we will abide by the teaching of faith and will display the beautiful countenance of Islam in response to the objections of every opponent and we will do all this in order to uphold
لا الہ الا اللہ محمد رسول اللہ
We have taken the Bai’at of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) in this age for attaining this purpose.
A revelation of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said: ‘Hold fast to Unity, hold fast to Unity, O sons of Persia.’ (Tadhkirah, p. 64, 2009 edition). Sons of Persia does not only mean or signify his family, in fact the entire Jama’at comes under it in spiritual terms and thus this instruction is for the entire Jama’at. It is a matter of principle that in times of trouble man holds onto something special. It is stated here that hold onto Unity of God in times of troubles which carries everything. It is the duty of our Jama’at to ever keep the motto of لا الہ الا اللہ in sight. Today shirk and atheism is spreading fast and we cannot adorn our life in this world and the Hereafter by restricting ourselves to one motto. We cannot also abandon our worship and Salat in our presumption to serve humanity. Whoever does this has nothing to do with the Promised Messiah. We need to ever have our real objective and motto in sight so that we may be the recipients of worldly as well as spiritual blessings. May God enable us all to understand this!
Next Huzoor announced that he would lead funeral Prayer of Sadeeq Akbar Rahman Sahib, son of Faizur Rahman Sahib. He passed away after long illness of cancer on 7 May 2014 at the age of 40. Although he did not serve the Jama’at as an office-holder he was always a very keen worker. He had a strong bond with Khilafat and had great belief in God and prayers. He endured his long illness with great patience. May God forgive him and grant him high station in Paradise. May God grant steadfastness to his mother and widow! He leaves behind a small child. May God be their Helper and Protector!