With the grace of God we are currently going through the holy month of Ramadan.

Fortunate are those who will benefit from this blessed month. Blessings of Ramad an are attained by understanding the reality of fasting and by fully benefitting from it. Doubtlessly, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said that in this month the doors of Paradise are opened, the doors of Hell are shut and Satan is restricted in fetters. However, are these doors opened for ev eryone and is Satan shackled for everyone and indeed are the doors of Hell shut down for everyone? Certainly, this is not for everyone, rather it is the believe rs who are addressed here. But is it that one achieves the beneficence of Ramada n through outward and apparent faith alone? If this was so, why would good works be repeatedly enjoined? In fact, we are told that a person belonging to any rel igion who does good works will be rewarded. One does not become the recipient of Paradise by merely keeping fast and going t hrough Ramadan. It is essential to fulfil its requisites and its conditions and to focus on good works. Otherwise, there are many in the world who eat in the mo rning and then do not eat anything till evening. There are the so-called ascetic s who adopt the habit of not eating for days at a stretch while paying no attent ion to worship. There are those who cannot eat due to some constraint, others ar e instructed by doctors to practice dietary abstinence while others, especially women, do not eating anything in their enthusiasm for diet control. A couple of days ago a mother came to see Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih whose young daughter has become obsessed to lose weight and has stopped eating. She only eats little and once a day and has lost 15 pounds in one month. Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih is awar e that there are those who fast and sleep most of the day to pass the fast. When the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) enjoined to fast and said that Satan is shackled during Ramadan and the doors of Paradise are opened up while the doors of Hell are shut, it signified that one must follow good work s. Of course one eats Sehri in the morning and breaks the fast with Iftar. There are those who fast without waking or eating in the morning. It should not be as sumed from this that one has earned the merit for fasting and Satan has been sha ckled for one. Only that person can attain the beneficence of fasting who also d oes good works and keeps fast with fear and awe of God and while doing so tries to adapt each action of his or her in accordance to the pleasure of God. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said that the fast of that person gains acceptance who fasts in a state of belief with introspection. While fasting draws one to do good it also draws one to shun evil and a believer tries and raise the level of his or her worship of God, his or her attention is drawn to nawafil (optional worship) in addition to obligatory worship, attentio n is drawn to fulfil the rights of people, attention is drawn towards financial giving and to pay the dues of the underprivileged. Then alone can one avail of t he blessings of fasting. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) used to pay alms and g ive to charity throughout the year on a matchless scale but during Ramadan his c harity used to gain the intensity of fierce wind. He used to also take his level of worship of God to an extreme level. He said that it should not be assumed th at one would gain without making any effort during Ramadan and he drew our atten tion to seeking true beneficence. He said that God has no need to keep one starv ed of food and water, that is, one who tells lies and acts on lies. Indeed, such fasting is pointless. When he drew our attention to the fact that a liars fastin g is not accepted, he drew attention from the smallest of ills to the biggest of sins. When he enjoined a person to give up lying and stay firm on truth and the person obeyed him, all his moral and spiritual weaknesses were removed. Indeed, falsehood has been likened to shirk (associating partners with Allah). The Quran states: Shun therefore the abomination of idols, and shun all words of untruth, ( 22:31) Explaining the above verse, the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said that th

e impurity of idols and the impurity of falsehood should be avoided. Falsehood i s an idol and one who relies on falsehood leaves his or her reliance on God. On one hand a person who fasts claims to do so in obedience to the commandment of G od, for God states in the Quran: O ye who believe! fasting is prescribed for you, ( 2:184) but on the other hand by using untruth he or she gives falsehood the same importance as he or she gives to the One on Whose commandment he or she is fast ing. This diarchy cannot be. God has stated fasting is for Me and I will be its r eward. It is not possible that one does something for the sake of God, to attract His love and God alone is the reward of that act but then untruth is also added to that act. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) enjoined to shun verba l untruth as well as untruth by practice, for example saying something and not d oing it. He enjoined that if someone picks up a fight with a person who is fasti ng, the response should be say I am fasting. However, if the response is also anta gonistic then it will be untruth by practice. If one does not fulfil the dues of ones work it is untruth by practice. If a husband and wife continue to quarrel a nd make no change during Ramadan with the thought of betterment during this mont h, and inculcate love and affection so that Gods love is sought, then they may ve rbally profess to fast for God but they acts prove it to be false. The extreme o f this is when precedence is given to ones trade/business over worship in spite o f the month of Ramadan. Some people even exceed this and indulge in falsehood fo r the sake of making profit, as if falsehood is of more significance than God fo r them. Fasting of people who practice this is starvation. Certainly, Ramadan can be a source of revolutionary change, but it is for those who bring about pious changes in themselves, who try and adapt their word and de ed in accordance to Gods pleasure, who try and establish Gods kingdom so that they can avail of Gods enhanced mercy and forgiveness during Ramadan. They crush to s mithereens the untruth of their self (nafs) and this is when revolutionary change comes to pass. While during Ramadan worship of God and heightened and careful st udy of the Quran is essential, it is also essential that the impact of the worshi p and the study is evident in ones moral condition. The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) once said that at the time he was not in need of enjoining not to spi ll blood for none other than the very wicked kill the innocent. He said what he would enjoin was that truth should not be killed by insisting on injustice. He s aid one should stay firm on truth and give truthful testimony, for God has state d: Shun therefore the abomination of idols, and shun all words of untruth,. The Pr omised Messiah (on whom be peace) explained that the impurity of idols and untru th should be avoided because untruth is not any less harmful than idol-worship. He said anything that diverts one from the straightforward path of truth is an i dol in ones way. He also said the damage done by the tongue is very perilous and that is why a righteous person keeps great control over his tongue. Hadhrat Khal ifatul Masih said if everyone self-reflects they will realise who is following t he poignant advice of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) for this advice of his was particularly for people of his Jamaat. Adherence to these words would so lve our domestic problems, disputes between brothers that time to time appear, w ould be removed, at least problems of our mutual dealings in Ahmadi society woul d be removed. These problems are indeed created by not adhering to truth and by giving preference to ones ego. This is why the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace ) gave so much importance to truth. Adopting truth requires a degree of humility and God likes humility. The most important advice among all that the Promised M essiah (on whom be peace) enjoined us in the extract quoted is that anything tha t diverts us from the straightforward path of truth is an idol in our way. If we are to take full benefit from the month of Ramadan, we will have to straig hten our paths of truth. We can only reach the doors of Paradise by reflecting o ver and putting in practice the pronouncement of the Holy Prophet (peace and ble ssings of Allah be on him) when he said that the standard of ones word and deed s hould be raised otherwise, God is not interested in anyone starving. In His infi

nite compassion, God has ascribed blessings and in Ramadan He removes all bounda ries to attain these blessings when He invites to enter the paradise of His plea sure but this cannot be done without adopting truthfulness of word and deed. If this is done, then like the navigation system in vehicles that leads to the corr ect destination, one would arrive at the correct place, otherwise, in spite of R amadan, one would remain lost. The vehicle navigation system is prone to error, sometimes it does not show new roads, sometimes it opts for a route that ends up being longer, other times in search of a short route one ends up driving around small streets, gets stuck in traffic. But if the path towards God is straight, it leads directly to the doors of Paradise. This Ramadan each one of us should try and straighten our paths, raise the stand ards of our truthfulness of word and deed, and try and reach the paradise of Gods pleasure. May God enable us to do so. The subject-matter [of the sermon] has be en shortened and God willing may also be addressed next Friday. Next Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih gave the news of the passing away of an elder of t he Jamaat. Choudhry Shabbir Ahmad sahib passed away on 22 July. He was 95 years o ld. He served the Jamaat for a very long period as Vakilul Maal. He was one of th e elders who played a very significant role in the Jamaat from the time of Hadhra t Khalifatul Masih II (may Allah be pleased with him). He served the Jamaat most selflessly and today we are enjoying the fruits of his service and that of other elders. Shabbir sahibs father and mother were both companions of the Promised Me ssiah (on whom be peace). He took his early education in Sialkot but passed his matriculation in Qadian where he stayed in the company of Hadhrat Khalifatul Mas ih II (may Allah be pleased with him). For his college education Shabbir sahib r eturned to Sialkot. Later, he also had the occasion to work with Maulana Sher Al i sahib when he was translating the Holy Quran. Shabbir sahib used to do the typi ng for him. He was employed as journalist in Lahore for a while. He was also a p oet, most polite and courteous and an epitome of virtues. In 1940 he worked in a ccounts for the military and although he dedicated his life (Waqf) in 1944 it wa s not until 1950 that Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II (may Allah be pleased with him ) summoned him. Shabbir sahib resigned from his job and came to Rabwah where he served as Vakil Maal till he passed away. He was enabled to serve the Jamaat from the second Khilafat till now. He also served in the auxiliary organisations. On e of Shabbir sahibs skills was recitation of nazm (poem) which he did at Jalsa in Rabwah and also here in the UK. Once Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih IV (may Allah hav e mercy on him) told him that his rendition was evocative of old Jalsas. When Shabbir sahib went on tours he took with him a projector and slides. Rather than make long speeches, he used to convey his message through slides by showin g images of our missions, schools, hospitals and mosques. This served as a Tarbi yyat tool for our own people and a Tabligh tool for those outside the Jamaat. He came to UK for 2009 Jalsa to present the thanksgiving report for the Khilafat Ju bilee. One of his sons is a missionary in USA and another is in Rabwah. His thir d son is the secretary Taleem UK, Fazal Ahmad Tahir sahib. Shabbir sahibs daughte rs and sons-in-law are also connected to the Jamaat. By way of Tabligh he used to regularly post Jamaat literature to his non-Ahmadi r elatives. His treatment with those he worked with was kind and courteous. His da ughter tells that rather than advice his family over matters he would present a good model or would narrate a tale in a manner that one was drawn towards better ing oneself. He always praised and glorified God with gratefulness. Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II (may Allah be pleased with him) advised him at the t ime of his Waqf to be concerned about Jamaat work as a mother is concerned about her children. Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih said this advice should be heeded by all those who dedicate their lives. Shabbir sahib used to forgo any personal/family needs to serve the Jamaat, he wou

ld say that he left home to serve religion and God would take care of his tasks. Some of his practices are a lesson for everyone. Once all the Jamaat books were bounded and Shabbir sahib realised that one of his personal books also got bound ed along the Jamaat books. He did not rest until he found out the individual cost of binding that his book incurred and paid it to the Jamaat. Those who worked wi th him say he would always give advice in a most delightful manner and often sai d that service of faith should be done with interest and love and one should nev er seek reward for it. When his inspectors went out for tours he used to tell th em to take the message in the words of the Khalifa of the time. He also told the m that as they went out on tours they were the representatives of the centre and as such should be careful of their word and deed. Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih said he had only spoken briefly about Shabbir sahib wit h whom he had worked personally. He said that Shabbir sahib was a man of many qu alities, he worked diligently and cheerfully. He had a great connection with Khi lafat. He was an excellent helper of the Khalifa of the time and used to pray ab undantly for the Khalifa of the time. May God elevate his status and may He prov ide many like him to the Jamaat. Some other deaths were also announced. Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih said he would le ad the funeral Prayer in absentia for them all after Jummah. Maqbool Ahmad Zafar sahib was a missionary who passed away on 25 July. He had se rved as an Arabic teacher at the Jamia. He was a learned man who had all the qua lities of a Waqfe Zindagi/murrabi. May God grant steadfastness to his family and elevate his status. Maraj Sultana sahib was the wife of a dervish. She was a courageous lady and had served as gen. sec of Qadian Lajna. May God elevate her status. Maryam Sultana sahib was the wife of Dr Muhammad Ahmad Khan shaheed. She passed away on 18 July. She was a hardworking lady who was very keen on Tabligh. She de monstrated bravery and resolve after her husband was martyred in Lahore in 1957. When his body was returned to her, she was alone with young children with no on e to support or console her. Her husband was a Moosi and she was concerned about his burial. She showed courage and hired a truck and travelled to be with the J amaat with her husbands body and her young children in the truck. She brought up h er children very well. May God with His grace continue to produce servants of Ah madiyyat among her children and their children. May God elevate her status. Bengali Complete Text English PowerPoint English PDF Slides English Summary by Wakil Ala Indonesian Summary Malayalam Complete Text Tamil Complete Text Other Languages Arabic Bosnian French [ July 27th, 2012] Find by Keyword Go Browse Friday Sermon by year: 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1935 1934 1933 1932 1931 1930 1929 1928 1927 1926 1925 1924 1923 1922 1921 1920 1919 1918 1917 1916 1915 1914 1913 1912 1911 1910 1909 1908 1907 1906 1904 1902 1901 1899Go Verses Cited in this Friday Sermo n: 22:31 2:184 Synopsis: English Urdu Blessings of Ramadan are attained by unde rstanding the reality of fasting and by fully benefitting from it. Doubtlessly,

the Holy Prophet(saw) said that in this month the doors of Paradise are opened, the doors of Hell are shut and Satan is restricted in fetters. However, are thes e doors opened for everyone and is Satan shackled for everyone and indeed are th e doors of Hell shut down for everyone? Certainly, this is not for everyone, rat her it is the believers who are addressed here. One does not become the recipient of Paradise by merely keeping fast and going t hrough Ramadan. It is essential to fulfil its requisites and its conditions and to focus on good works. Otherwise, there are many in the world who eat in the mo rning and then do not eat anything till evening. There are the so-called ascetic s who adopt the habit of not eating for days at a stretch while paying no attent ion to worship. The Holy Prophet(saw) used to pay alms and give to charity throughout the year o n a matchless scale but during Ramadan his charity used to gain the intensity of fierce wind. He used to also take his level of worship of God to an extreme lev el. He said that it should not be assumed that one would gain without making any effort during Ramadan and he drew our attention to seeking true beneficence. Certainly, Ramadan can be a source of revolutionary change, but it is for those who bring about pious changes in themselves, who try and adapt their word and de ed in accordance to Gods pleasure, who try and establish Gods kingdom so that they can avail of Gods enhanced mercy and forgiveness during Ramadan. They crush to s mithereens the untruth of their self (nafs) and this is when revolutionary change comes to pass. If we are to take full benefit from the month of Ramadan, we will have to straig hten our paths of truth. We can only reach the doors of Paradise by reflecting o ver and putting in practice the pronouncement of the Holy Prophet(saw) when he s aid that the standard of ones word and deed should be raised otherwise, God is no t interested in anyone starving. Next Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih gave the news of the passing away of an elder of t he Jamaat. Choudhry Shabbir Ahmad sahib passed away on 22 July. He was 95 years o ld. He served the Jamaat for a very long period as Vakilul Maal. He was one of th e elders who played a very significant role in the Jamaat from the time of Hadhra t Khalifatul Masih II(ra). He served the Jamaat most selflessly and today we are enjoying the fruits of his service and that of other elders. Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih said he had only spoken briefly about Shabbir sahib wit h whom he had worked personally. He said that Shabbir sahib was a man of many qu alities, he worked diligently and cheerfully. He had a great connection with Khi lafat. He was an excellent helper of the Khalifa of the time and used to pray ab undantly for the Khalifa of the time. May God elevate his status and may He prov ide many like him to the Jamaat. Death of Maqbool Ahmad Zafar sahib Missionary, Maraj Sultana sahiba and Maryam S ultana sahiba.

About Friday Sermon The Jumu ah (Friday) prayer is one form of congregational worship in Islam. It t akes place every Friday. Regular attendance at the Jumu ah prayer is enjoined on the believer. According to a Saying of Muhammadsa this congregational prayer is twenty-five times more blessed than worship performed alone. (Bukhari) Friday Sermons in the QuranO ye who believe! When the call is made for Prayer on Friday, hasten to the remembrance of Allah, and leave off all business. That is best for you, if you only knew. more

Friday Sermons in the Hadith (He who) offers the Prayers and listens quitely when the Imam stands up for sermon, will have his sins forgiven between that Friday a nd the next(Bukhari) Related resources Salat: Friday Prayer Significance of Friday in Islam The Online Salaat Guide Islamic Prayer Yearly Archive List by Khulafa