Trial and Tribulation - Part 2

Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as)
Review of Religions, October 1997

Presented below in translation is the second and final part of a speech delivered by Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, on 28 December 1907 on the occasion of the annual Convention held in Qadian, India. The original Urdu text is taken from Malfoozat, Volume 10, pp. 89-99.

Translated by Amatul-Hadi Ahmad

No one knows what will happen today nor what is to come tomorrow. Just now I have received several letters from Rawalpindi that there was an earthquake which made people scream and some even say that in its severity this earthquake was equal to that which occurred on 4th of April. You should note that in this month alone there have been three earthquakes and God has informed me of another, even more powerful earthquake which is yet to come. That earthquake will be so severe that people will be driven to madness. People have through their negligence forgotten God and are sitting comfortably but those who have found God are ready to accept the bitterness of a hard life. The visitation of tribulations is necessary. God's way cannot change. Every one should occupy himself in prayer and should ask for forgiveness and should try to make his own pleasure come together with the pleasure of God. He who decides in good time does not stumble. Wealth, progeny, wife, brothers, all should be regarded as if they have no relationship with one as they are all given as a trust of God. As long as they remain alive, one should value them, respect and serve them but should God call them back and take back what was given in trust, one should not be (too) saddened by it.

The root of religion lies in this that one should in all matters put God before all else. In actuality we belong to God and God belongs to us. What concern do we have for anyone else! Not one but a million children may die but if God is pleased with us, there is no cause to feel sadness. Even if one's children stay alive, without God's blessing, they too can become a source of trial and tribulation. Some people end up in prisons because of their children. Sa'adi has related a story about a person who was shackled due to the mischief of his children. One should consider one's children as one's guests who should receive hospitality - one should console them and try to please them but no one must be given priority over God. What can your children do for you? The pleasure of God, on the other hand, is a necessity.

It is those who do not lean fully towards God, who suffer during the performance of salat from the distracting rush of thoughts and ideas which occupy their minds (and hence they are unable to concentrate on their worship). Just think if a prisoner was standing before a ruler, could any thoughts (other than those pertinent to that situation) move through his mind? Certainly not. He is all the time attentive towards the ruler and his only concern is what judgement he would pass. At that time he is oblivious to even his own existence. Similarly, when a person turns to God with a sincere heart and falls at God's feet with true feelings in his heart, then it comes about that Satan dare not divert his attention by any distracting thoughts.

Satan is the enemy of human beings and in the Holy Qur'an he has been named Uduw (a long-standing enemy). He first turned out your father, then not being satisfied at that, he now wishes to take all of you into hell. This second attack is much greater in significance than the first one. He has from the beginning indulged in evil and he wishes to overwhelm you but so long as you give God precedence in all matters, he will not be able to overwhelm you. When a person suffers pain in the path of God and does not succumb to Satan in the process, such a one is granted a light (from God).

When a believer gives God precedence in all things, he ascends (spiritually) towards God. In this very life he is taken up to God and he is granted a special light. In this ascent he rises above the grasp of Satan until a time comes that Satan's hand cannot touch him at all. God has made a physical likeness of everything (spiritual) and it is pointing to this (battle between Satan and a righteous human being) that it is stated in the Qur'an that when Satan tries to ascend to the skies, Shahabe-Saqib, a bright star-like flame pursues him and brings him down. The term Saqib is used for a bright star and it is also used to refer to something that makes a hole in something. Saqib is also used to refer to something that ascends to great heights and it is used as a simile to describe that state of man in which he has attained complete faith in God and consequently he ascends towards God when he is granted a special power and force and a light with which he brings Satan down. The term Saqib is also used to refer to one who kills. It is incumbent upon every believer that he should try to kill his own Satan and destroy him. Those who are not familiar with the science of spirituality laugh at such matters but in actuality they themselves are an object of mirth. There is one law that is apparent and like it there is another law that is the law of the inner (world). Allah has stated referring to me that, 'Thou art from me like Najmus-Saqib' which means that Allah has created me for the purpose of destroying Satan. In other words, 'Satan will be destroyed at your hands'. Satan cannot climb very high and if a believer ascends some height then Satan cannot overwhelm him. A believer should pray to God that he may be granted such power as would enable him to destroy Satan. Eradication of all the bad thoughts that arise in one's heart is dependent upon the destruction of Satan.

A believer should act with steadfastness and should never lose heart. He should always pursue Satan with a view to killing him and (if a person tries to do this) he will see that one day he does succeed. God is Merciful and Gracious. He grants success to whosoever strives in His path. The high status of man lies in this that he should attempt to slay his Satan. Some people leave to one side this essential task which is the real goal of a believer and, instead, go after other things. For example, someone has a dream or his lips utter a few (revealed) words and he begins to think that he has become a saint. It is precisely on this point that people are deceived. Dreams can be seen by all manner of people including prostitutes and other people of low moral standing and some of their dreams may even come true. To become proud about such things is a curse. Assuming that someone has some dreams and they even come true, what can come of such things? Is it possible that a person who is dying of thirst can be saved by just a few drops of water? It can never be so. On the contrary, his condition will become even worse. In the same way, until a person's knowledge of spiritual matters is complete, such dreams are of no consequence.

The best and satisfactory state for a human being is that in which the state of his deeds is clear and correct. His actions should vouch for this and the blessings of God and powerful and extraordinary signs should be with him and always support him. It is only then that he is with God and God is with him. Satan creates an opportunity for himself in everything to deceive and divert people (from the right path). It is because I have repeatedly presented my own revelations that some people have had the idea that they too should do the same. This is a tribulation that has been imposed upon them and Satan helped them in this path of destruction. Consequently they began to receive satanic revelation and to hear voices from within themselves. People such as Chiragh Din, Ilahi Bakhsh, Faqir Mirza and many others met their destruction in this path and there are many others still who are treading the same path.

Members of my Community should move away from such things. On the day of Judgement God will not ask them how many dreams they had, rather, they will be questioned about righteous acts and as to how many good deeds they performed. Revelation is an act of God, it is not an act of man. To consider God's act to be the cause of pride and joy is the work of an ignorant person. Observe the (life of) the Holy Prophet (sa) and see how he used to worship. Sometimes he would stand up all night so that his feet became swollen. When his wife enquired as to why he strives so hard when he has been purified of sins, he replied, 'should I not become a grateful servant (of God)'.

A person should never give up hope. The onslaught of sins is a very severe thing and reform seems difficult but one should not despair. Some people say that we are sinners and we are overwhelmed by (the demands of) the self so how is it possible for us to become righteous. They should consider that a believer is never without hope. He who despairs (and thinks that there is no hope) is none other than Satan himself. A believer should never be a coward. No matter how much a person is overwhelmed by his sins, God has placed such ability in man that he eventually does overcome sin. God has placed in man a power that burns away sin and this power is there in man's nature. You see, no matter how much water is heated - it can be heated so much that it burns whatever it touches - but even then if this water is poured over fire, it will quell the fire. This is because God has placed this characteristic in water that if it is poured over fire, fire is put out.

Likewise, no matter how much a person is immersed in sins, no matter how much he is drowning in bad deeds, even then he has the capacity to put out the fire of sins. If this ability had not been given to man, he could not then be held accountable for himself. What is more, then even the appearance of Prophets and Messengers would have been unnecessary. The reality is that the nature of man is pure and if there for the physical hunger and thirst, there is also food and water. A human being needs air to breathe, so it is there. So when all that is required for the physical body is provided, then why should there not be provided the requirements of the soul? God who is ever Merciful and ever forgiving and who covers up the faults of his servants, He has provided all the necessary provisions for the preservation of the soul. If a human being were to search for the spiritual water, he will find it. If he searches for the spiritual bread, it will certainly be given to him. Just as there is a law of the physical world, so there is a law relating to the spiritual world but the condition is that one must seek. He who seeks shall find. He who strives to find God will certainly meet the pleasure of God.

The present age is the last age. It was full of darkness. God had promised that in this age there will appear a sun. The Maulvis should look around and see what state goodness is in. One person murdered a child for a piece of jewelry worth a few Rupees. The Maulvis who label me with the Fatwas of infidelity should be asked if it is not the case that I, too, recite the Kalima (proclamation of God's Unity), so why is it that for them I become worse than the Hindus and the Christians and others. The reality is that these Maulvis are slaves to their selfish greed. Someone said to me once, and how well he put it, that if we wished to silence these Maulvis all we have to do was to call them and pay them two Rupees each. They would all keep quiet after that and no one would have opposed me. I replied that I had trusted in their righteousness but little did I know that they would turn out to be slaves of their selfish desires. They used to stand on the pulpit and ask where is Moses (as), where is Jesus (as)?

Little did I know that despite delivering such sermons, they would still adhere so stubbornly to the inherited ideas about the death of Jesus (as) as if the whole basis of Islam hinged on the issue of the life of Jesus (as).

But these people can do whatever they like. It is now God's intention to destroy Satan. This is Satan's last battle and he will now definitely be destroyed. He will most certainly be killed. Satan, too, has taken refuge in the life of Jesus (as) and with the proof of the death of Jesus (as), Satan himself will be destroyed. Satan has found respite among the Christian clergy and those who assist them. However, congregating with the Messiah from God are angels and people who are true. (At the same time), opposition to Islam is becoming strong and forceful.

Firstly, this age is such that due to the spread of the use of postage, telegram, railways etc., the whole world is becoming like one town. News reaches us at all times, people travel to different places and India especially is a country in which all sorts of different people are to be found. There are people who deny the existence of God altogether. Then there are those who believe that one should do whatever one wants to and there are the Brahmu who deny the (need for a revealed) Book. There are those who worship man, and also those who believe stones to be god. There are over a hundred thousand converts to Christianity. There are those who worship the sun, those who worship water and those who worship fire. The earthquake had destroyed the great temple of fire-worship but a new one is now being built. They do not, however, realise that another earthquake is on its way. There is freedom of such a degree that whatever anyone wishes to say, it is uttered - others are not considered at all. In short it is that time and, especially in India, it is that environment which had already been prophesied. The Christians have published nearly fifty thousand copies of books against Islam. The Arya Samaj state that after every billion years a Book comes to the world and that is, again and again, the Vedas and these Books come in India and the Sanskrit language is made specific for them as if God has no knowledge of any other language. No one knows why God has become so enamoured with India! Despite all this why have the Hindus been faced with such humiliation? At present the Christians have kings, Muslims have kings, Buddhists have kings but the Aryas have no sovereign anywhere. One does not know why God likes India so much! Is it perhaps because 'Yogis' live here! (Under the teachings of the Aryas) these are men who (unable themselves to have children) search for strong men so that they could give birth to handsome children. A further condition here is that such a man should belong to the class of Brahmans!

The unholy belief of the Aryas about reincarnation also invites mirth in that they believe that a soul, even after having been redeemed and being in a place of Mukti, is still turned out of there because of sins it has not even committed, and turned out as a dog, a pig or a cat. The Aryas state that God keeps in every human being a seed of sin which is used for catching him out again. What one cannot understand is why there are different punishments for this sin that is deliberately carried as someone comes back as a lion and someone else as a goat, one person as a scorpion and another as snake. Some become horses and some elephants. One person is made into something pure and another into something that is not holy and pure. Again, some people are sent back as men and some as women. What is the reason for these differences?

There is yet another strange problem with the Aryas and that is that due to different sins there are different cycles of change for different sins and from this it is obvious that there should be as many sins as there are such cycles of change and as the revealed Book is only the Vedas, so all those sins should have been detailed there. However, when we look at the commandments of the Vedas, their number even according to the Aryas is no more than a few hundred but there are thousands of different types of animals in the jungles and many thousands of different kinds of insects that are creeping on the earth. Then there are the innumerable number of birds as well as the animals of the oceans. Where have all these different cycles of changes come from?

Again, the Aryas state that the souls will be taken out of paradise and the reason for this is that their worship was for a limited period and limited worship should carry only a limited reward. This belief is very sinister. The Aryas may be carrying out worship with a view to receiving only limited reward, there is no such limitation in Islam. Our pledge with God is eternal and we do not worship God with a view to receiving reward for a limited period. On the contrary, such a view is considered by us to be a denial of God. We have taken the yoke of God's worship and placed it on our shoulders for ever. Should God take away our life, this will not bring any change to our motive. We will die taking the reward of that worship with us. We do not place any limitation upon it.

It is thanks to God that the Holy Qur'an does not present such a God, a God who is of such deficient attributes that He is neither the Master of all the souls nor the Master over all particles. He can neither redeem them nor can he accept repentance. In contradistinction to this, we learn from the Holy Qur'an that we are servants of a Lord God who is our Creator, who is our Master, who is our Provider. He is ever Gracious, ever Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgement. For the believers it is a cause for gratitude that He has granted us a Book that describes accurately His attributes. This is a great blessing of God.

One has to feel sorry for those who have not appreciated this blessing. One also feels sorry for those Muslims before whom an excellent 'meal' is laid and they have been given a glass of cool water to drink but they have turned their backs on it and do not take of this meal. A fine and spacious palace has been prepared for them to protect them from all the tribulations of the world, a palace in which thousands of people can enter, but one is sorry to see that they do not enter it themselves and prevent others from entering it.

Has it not been already stated that in the final days a trumpet will be blown. Is revelation not the voice of God? The Prophets who appear have the status of a wind organ and by blowing into such an organ it was meant exactly this that a Messenger will be sent who will proclaim to the people that your time has come. Who can reform anyone until God does not himself reform someone? God grants his Messenger a power of attraction and absorption through which people become attracted to him. The work of God is never without result - a natural attraction will do its work. That time has now come of which all the previous Prophets have been informing from the beginning. The time for the decision of God is near - fear it and repent!

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