By A. Abdul Aziz, Press Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim JamaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢at, Sri Lanka.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ (Given below is an excerpt of the Friday Sermon of Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Supreme Head of the world-wide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam, delivered on 12^th November, 2010 at ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Baithul FuthuhƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, London, U.K., gave a discourse on the subject Patience and Steadfastness.) ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

His Holiness recited the following Quranic verse at the beginning of the sermon: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-O ye who believe! seek help with patience and prayer; surely, Allah is with the steadfast.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ (2:154)

He elaborated that through patience and prayer a believer (momin) will achieve success and blessings of Allah. This is what all the previous Prophets of Allah taught their followers and this is what the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) taught us. There are different verses in the Holy QurƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢an that have covered this topic and through which we get the real meaning of patience. Patience means that we remain steadfast through any sort of trial and tribulation that comes our way without objecting.

We have seen in the history of religion that all the Prophets and their followers have gone through hardships. No Prophet is dearer to Allah than the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and he and his followers also went through these trials and tribulations, but they did not complain and remained steadfast in their faith. It is human nature that if we go through a prolong period of trials that we get tired and we say that when will that time come when we will be victorious and our enemies will be defeated. Allah reassures His believers that I am with those that remain patient and steadfast. To achieve this closeness to Allah, we must be vigilant in our prayers and remain steadfast.

A true believer should always remember Allah in his heart and should always be punctual in his prayers and should not doubt his faith. Another meaning of patience is to stay away from all evil and follow all the commandments of Allah.

These days, some people are pressuring Ahmadi Muslims by telling them all your JamaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢at or your Khalifa (Supreme Head) tells you to do is to remain patient and steadfast and that all these hardships against Ahmadis will go away. There are others who have distributed pamphlets saying that Ahmadis are lying because they have been persecuted for more than 100 years and Allah is not helping them.

What these people are trying to do is ignite the emotions of Ahmadi Muslims by saying that they are weak in their faiths and that no other Prophet or his followers have been tried for this long. There are many examples that we can show them including the followers of Prophet Jesus (peace be on him) who hid in caves for the first 300 years.

This is merely propaganda by our enemies. They might succeed in trying to dissuade a few people but the majorities of Ahmadis are believers (momin) and will remain steadfast in their faith.

Once a companion (sahabi) asked the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) about this and said how long we should remain patient. Another narration (hadith) where a companion asked the Holy Prophet (PBUH) ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Do you pray for us that Allah may reduce our hardships.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ The Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) replied, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-There have been people before you who had their graves dug and then a rod would be brought and they would be hit in the head and the head would be split in pieces but they would remain steadfast till the end. Sometimes a steel comb would be used to rip open a believerƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s flesh, the bones would be crushed, but he would still remain steadfast.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

By giving this example, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) explained to his companions the golden principle of a righteous community that there will be trials and tribulations, but if you pray and are patient and remain steadfast then you will overcome this.

Once a companion of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad – Promised Messiah (peace be on him) told him that a certain clergy (moulavi) at a school harasses me and he was worried about it. Please pray that he gets transferred from there. The Promised Messiah (peace be on him) smiled and said that when you have entered this community, then you should follow its teachings. If there are no hardships, then how will you reap the benefits of AllahƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s blessings? The Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) endured thirteen years of hardships in Mecca and some of you might not even know its details and eventually his enemies all perished. There will come a time upon my community that our enemies will no longer exist.

Allah has promised us that his JamaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢at will prosper and will spread all over the world. If Allah so desires he can get rid of all our hardships but Allah is teaching us a lesson on how to remain patient and steadfast.

The Promised Messiah (a.s.) said that he had received a lot of letters from people who used to use abusive language towards Ahmadis asking for forgiveness because they have performed baƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢iat (initiation) and are Ahmadis. Allah has promised that those who are steadfast will be blessed with unimaginable bounties.

Ahmadiyya Khalifa said that the Promised Messiah (a.s.) said this in November, 1902 and by coincidence I am telling you this today after 108 years later. These words show the truth of the Promised Messiah (a.s) and his complete faith and obedience to Allah. He said that if Allah has said He will help us then Inshallah Allah will not leave us. This is another prophecy of the Promised Messiah (a.s.) that is coming true today. Allah has promised us that He will spread this Jamaat to all the corners of the world.

Those people who persecute us and try to suspend Ahmadi students from schools and colleges in Pakistan and try to destroy their business and above all they martyr Ahmadi Muslims. All these persecutions are helping us spread the message of Ahmadiyyat and is growing. The numbers of initiations (baƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢iats) outside of Pakistan are increasing day by day. Inshallah this will result in the fulfillment of another prophecy of Promised Messiah (a.s.) that when your numbers will increase, your enemies will be silent automatically.

His Holiness said that it our responsibility to spread the message of Ahmadiyyat and to do Tabligh. There are priests and mullahs who used to express hatred toward us who now have performed baƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢iat. If we are patient and pray to Allah and remain steadfast, then Inshallah we will see more rewards from Allah.

The Promised Messiah (peace be on him.) has said that the time is not far when you will witness the triumph of Ahmadiyyat and all its enemies will be silent.

Ameer-ul-Mumineen also recited the following verse: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-And seek help with patience and prayer; and this indeed is hard except for the humble in spirit,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ (2:46) His Holiness further explained that we must increase our relationship to Allah by trying to be humble and not become arrogant. Allah said to the Promised Messiah (a.s.) that, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-I like your humility.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ This meant that Allah was pleased with the Promised Messiah (a.s.) and gave him the glad tiding you will be blessed with immense success.

Ahmadiyya Supreme Head said that we should not doubt this at all and Allah will always protect this JamaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢at and we will Inshallah spread far and wide. A believerƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s faith must be strong. He must take all the trials and tribulations with a stride and remain steadfastness and above all remain humble.

Ahmadiyya Caliph recited another verse: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Who know for certain that they will meet their Lord, and that to Him will they return.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ (2:47) This is a further example of how Allah will bless those that are humble and remain steadfast.

He said that when through the Promised Messiah (a.s.), Allah has ordained that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”JihadƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of the sword is no longer necessary; a true believer (momin) threw away his sword and remained humble and steadfast. They say that we are ready to sacrifice ourselves but do not stray away from the commandments of Allah brought by the Promised Messiah (a.s.). This is a message to those terrorist and extremist organizations that you are not following the true teaching of Allah by killing innocent people. We should strive to be humble and follow the laws of the country that we reside in. Today, only Ahmadi Muslims are following this true teaching of Allah by remaining humble and patient and steadfast.

His Holiness said that these are the people that Allah has given the glad tidings to: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-It is these on whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy, and it is these who are rightly guided.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ (2:158) Whoever says anything about us that your community has been persecuted for so long and therefore you are a false JamaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢at can say whatever he wants. Allah is with us. Allah will continue to shower His blessings on our JamaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢at as long as we remain consistent in our prayers and are patient and remain steadfast. May Allah enable us to achieve these blessings Ameen.