Why Islam is not a ‘religion’ in the narrow sense: Reclaiming the true meaning of ‘din’
Prayers for Ahmadis of Pakistan and Malaysia
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Jamaat Mexico holds its seventh Jalsa Salana
A visit to the Ahmadiyya Mosque at Southfields by SR Littlewood (1926)
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THE WEEKLY
www.alhakam.org AL HAKAM | Friday 23 October 2026 | Issue CDXLIX Ahmadiyya Archive & Research Centre (ARC), 22 Deer Park Road, London, SW19 3TL, UK info@alhakam.org | ISSN 2754-7396
Doubting your faith?
Why it happens and practical steps you can take For many believers, doubts can be frightening. Questions enter the mind: Does God really exist? Why was my prayer not accepted? How do I know Islam is true? Is Ahmadiyya the true sect of Islam? Sometimes the immediate reaction is fear and avoiding the question. A person may think that this is a sign of weak faith. Others may feel ashamed and keep their thoughts to themselves, worried that family members, elders or even missionaries may judge them. Yet the Holy Quran, the life of the Holy Prophet (sa) and the teachings of the Promised Messiah (as) present a very different approach. Islam does not tell us to pretend that questions do not exist. Rather, it teaches us to distinguish between sincere questions and unnecessary thoughts.
Having a doubt is not the same as rejecting faith One of the most reassuring incidents is found in Sahih Muslim. Some Companions came to the Holy Prophet (sa) deeply troubled. They explained that thoughts entered their minds that they considered so serious they were embarrassed to mention them. The Holy Prophet (sa) replied, “That is faith manifest.” (Sahih Muslim, Kitab aliman, Hadith 132a) This does not mean that every doubtful idea is itself an expression of true faith. But it can indicate that the individual cares about their faith. If the individual did not care, they might not ask questions and would keep such thoughts to themselves. Their concern about their faith was itself evidence that faith remained important to them. This
distinction is essential. Not every doubt should be treated in the same way There is also another side to the matter. Some questions are genuine intellectual questions. They can be researched, discussed and answered. Other thoughts are repetitive and obsessive. A person finds an answer, but immediately asks the same question again in another form. No amount of reasoning seems capable of bringing peace because the issue is no longer simply a lack of knowledge. The Holy Prophet (sa) specifically warned about this kind of cycle. He explained that Satan may cause a person to repeatedly ask who created one thing and then another until the thought reaches the question, “Who has created your Lord?” The Holy Prophet (sa) advised that, when a person reaches this point, they should seek refuge with Allah and stop pursuing the thought. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab Bad‘ alKhalq, Hadith 3276)
How to deal with doubts? Doubts should neither be ignored nor allowed to dominate a person’s mind. The best approach is to deal with them calmly, honestly and methodically. A doubt can either weaken faith or become the reason a person studies more deeply and develops a stronger level of faith. 1. Do not remain with a vague feeling such as “I am having doubts about Islam”. Write the actual questions down, whether they concern the truth of Islam, the claims of the Promised Messiah (as) or the existence of God. Once the question is clearly defined,
Hadith-e-Rasul – Sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa
The indignity of begging
َّ َ َ َ َ ّٰ ُ َ ﻋ ْﺒ ِﺪ ا�� ِ� ﺑْ ِﻦ ﻋ َ� َ� ـ رﺿﻰ ا��� ﻋﻨﻬﻤﺎ ـ ﻗﺎل ﻗﺎل ّٰ ُّ َّ :وﺳﻠﻢ �ﻠﻴﻪ � ��ا ﺻﻠﻰ � ْ َّ َ َ ُ �َِ ُاﻟﻨ ُ َ ّ َ ا�� ُﺟﻞ � ْﺴﺄل اﻟﻨ َ ّ ”ﻣﺎ ﻳ َ َﺰال ﺎس َﺣﺘﻰ ﻳَﺄ� ِ َ� ﻳ َ ْﻮ َم َْ ُ َ ْ ُ َ ْ ْ َ َ .“ﺎﻣ ِﺔ ﻟ� َﺲ �ِ� َو ْﺟ ِﻬ ِﻪ ��ﻋﺔ �� ٍﻢ اﻟ ِﻘﻴ Hazrat ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar (ra) narrated that the Holy Prophet (sa) said: “A man will continue begging from people until he comes on the Day of Resurrection with not even a piece of flesh on his face.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab az-zakat, Bab man sa’ala n-nasa takaththuran, Hadith 1474)
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, In His Own Words
Do good to those who do good approach a knowledgeable person. Speak to your local missionary, parent or officebearer, or write directly to Huzoor-e-Anwar (aa). 2. If a serious thought arises, do not build your entire understanding from a thirtysecond clip, a comment section or an anonymous online argument. Research reliable sources, such as the Holy Quran, ahadith or the writings of the Promised Messiah (as), rather than social media debates. Jamaat platforms offer abundant resources that can be utilised. 3. A person may have gradually become absorbed in material life and stopped praying due to doubts. In such a case, they should identify when these doubts crept in. The answer may show that the doubts were emotional rather than intellectual. 4. The people we spend the most time with have a powerful influence over the way we think, speak and eventually believe. A person who constantly surrounds themselves with people who mock religion, ridicule worship or treat faith as foolish should not assume that this environment will have no effect on them. 5. Pray. The Holy Prophet (sa) frequently Continued on page 3
In the same manner, I trust that my community will improve in their practical state. For they are not hypocrites and are absolutely free of the conduct of my opponents, who praise the officials when they meet them, but then call them disbelievers when they return home. Take heed and remember that God does not like such behaviour. You who hold a relationship with me—and who do so only for the sake of God—ought to do good to those who do good and forgive those who do evil. No individual can be from among the Truthful until they become sincere. A person who is hypocritical and duplicitous is ultimately caught. There is a famous saying:
� ������دروغ�رُا
A liar has no memory (i.e. a lie is quickly caught). On this occasion, I would like to speak of another important point as well, which is that rulers are often required to embark on military campaigns. And these are also for the safety and protection of its citizens. As you have observed, our government has had to engage in wars on the Frontier. Although the people of the
Friday 23 October 2026 | AL HAKAM
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This Week in History 23 - 29 October A glimpse into the rich history of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat 23 October 23 October 1883: On this day, the Promised Messiah (as) said that prior to 24 October on one occasion, he received the following revelation from God Almighty:
ارگ امتم ولگ ہنم ریھپ ںیل وت � ں ںیَم زنیم ےک ےچین ےس ای آامسن ےک ُاُورپ ےس دمد رکاتکسوہں۔ “If all people should turn away, I can help from below the earth or from above the heaven.” (Tadhkirah [English], p. 140) 23 October 1940: A delegation all the way from Calcutta arrived in Qadian to visit the town’s educational institutes. Members of this Kamal-Yar-Jung Education Committee also had an audience with Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) on this day. To read more, see: “Coming from every distant track: Kamal Yar Jung’s education committee visits Qadian” at www.alhakam.org. 23 October 1947: After the sad events of the Indian Partition, Major-General Kodendera Subayya Thimayya and Husain Shaheed Suhrawardy visited Qadian on this day and held meetings with the elders of the Jamaat. They wanted to know about the situation in and around Qadian. They were accompanied by Dr Dinshaw Mehta, the famous associate of Mahatma Gandhi. (Silsila Ahmadiyya, Vol. 2, p. 217)
24 - 25 October 24 October 1987: On this day, during his tour of the United States, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV (rh) laid the foundation stone of the Baitul-Hameed Mosque in Los Angeles. (Silsila Ahmadiyya, Vol. 4, p. 844) 25 October 1924: Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra)
commenced his journey back to Qadian after his successful tour of England. Huzoor (ra) departed from London’s Waterloo Station on this day along with his entourage. (Tarikh-eAhmadiyyat, Vol. 4, p. 461) 25 October 1926: On this day, Hazrat Maulana Zahoor Hussain returned to Qadian after two years of imprisonment in Russia. This devout missionary travelled to the Soviet lands to spread the message of Islam Ahmadiyyat but was apprehended upon his arrival on false suspicions of espionage. He patiently faced barbaric torture and other hardships during his captivity. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 4, p. 475) 25 October 2013: On this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aa) inaugurated a mosque in Brisbane, which was the first Ahmadiyya mosque in Queensland State, Australia. (“Muslim Leader Arrives in Brisbane” www. pressahmadiyya.com)
26 - 27 October 26 October 2012: During his Friday sermon on this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aa) mentioned the sacrifices of the Jamaat in Pakistan and said: “The number of life sacrifices presented by the Jamaat in Pakistan during the previous two years was unprecedented. Anyway, these sacrifices will not go in vain; rather, they will pave the way for future victories.” Huzooraa also mentioned some martyrs, Saad Farooq Sahib, Bashir Ahmad Bhatti Sahib and Dr Raja Abdul Hameed Khan Sahib of Karachi and Riaz Ahmad Basra Sahib of Ghatialian, District Sialkot. 27 October 1904: On this day, the Promised Messiah (as) embarked on his journey to the city of Sialkot. The entourage commenced its journey from Qadian at 4 am. The Promised
Messiah (as) covered half the distance seated in a palki (palanquin) and the other half of the journey, towards Batala, on foot. Huzoor (as) reached Batala by 8 am. From Batala Railway Station, a second-class rail carriage was reserved for the travelling party. Hazrat Ahmad (as) reached Sialkot at around 6 pm. (Tarikh-eAhmadiyyat, Vol. 2, p. 359) 27 October 1963: On this day, the Alam-eIn‘ami award was introduced for Atfal-ulAhmadiyya. Previously, it was distributed among the leading majlis of Khuddam-ulAhmadiyya only. The first ever Alam-e-In‘ami was given to Sialkot Majlis. (Al Fazl, 31 October 1963, p. 8)
28 - 29 October 28 October 1966: On this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih III (rh) laid the foundation stone of Masjid Aqsa, Rabwah. (Al Fazl, 20 October 1966, p. 1) 29 October 1905: During his stay in Delhi on this day, the Promised Messiah (as) visited the shrines of the Sufi saint Hazrat Muhammad Nizamuddin Auliya (rh) and the renowned Sufi musician, poet, and scholar Amir Khusrow Dehlvi. Khawaja Hasan Nizami also had an audience with Huzoor (as) that same day. This date also marks a profound example of absolute obedience by Hazrat Hakeem Maulvi Noor-ud-Deen (ra), who arrived in Delhi that very day. He had been busy examining patients at his clinic in Qadian when he received an urgent telegram from Hazrat Ahmad (as) instructing him to come to Delhi immediately. Without a single moment of hesitation, he left everything on the spot and set off instantly. He departed in such haste that he tied his turban and slipped into his shoes while already on the move, not even pausing to check if he had money in his pocket for travel expenses. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 2, pp. 425-426)
AL HAKAM | Friday 23 October 2026 Continued from page 1
Frontier are Muslims, in my view they stand in the wrong. Their engaging in battle against the British is not justified in any religious aspect or regard, nor do these people actually fight for any religious purpose. These people ought to tell us whether the government has given Muslims freedom or not? Indeed they have; such freedom the like of which cannot be found anywhere in Kabul or in the surrounding regions. We do not hear favourable reports about the Amir of Kabul. Greed is the only reason for which these fanatic frontiersmen fight. A mere ten or twenty rupees is enough to drown their warrior spirit. These people are tyrants who mar the name of Islam. (Malfuzat [English], Vol. 2, p. 201)
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َ َْ َ ُُْ َ �َ ُ َ َ prayed: َوب ﺛ �ُِب ْﺖ ﻗْل ِ�� ََعْلﻰ ِدَّیٰنَِک ِ “ َّیا َمﻘْلِﺐ اَّلﻘْلO Changer of the hearts! Strengthen my heart upon Your religion.” (Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Kitab alqadar, Hadith 2140) A person once told the Promised Messiah (as) that he no longer felt pleasure in prayer and that doubts and satanic whisperings kept arising despite his efforts to remove them. The Promised Messiah (as) reassured him not to become disheartened, explaining that spiritual tranquillity eventually comes from Allah, and said: “Man should not tire.” He advised him to ُ َّیَا َ� ��ُ َّیَا َﻗ �ُْی pray َ frequently in prostration: َوم ُ َ ْ َ ََْ “ ِِبﺮَحًمَتَِک أَسَتﻐِْیﺚO Ever-Living, Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining God! I seek help with Your mercy.” He then warned against haste and explained that, through continued striving, satanic attacks eventually become weaker. (Malfuzat [English], Vol. 7, 2024, p. 184)
How should we research our doubts? Once we have established that a question is genuine and requires an answer, the next question is: how should we actually research it? Research does not mean watching a few short videos, reading comments or searching until we find someone who already agrees with us. If the matter concerns our faith, it deserves serious, patient and fair investigation. 1. Be clear about what you are actually questioning Sometimes a person says, “I don’t think Ahmadiyyat is true anymore.” But that is too broad to research properly. A better question is: “What exactly made me think this?” Perhaps the real issue is that someone has claimed that one of the prophecies of the Promised Messiah (as) failed. Now the matter can actually be investigated. What was the prophecy? Where and when was it published? What was the full wording? Were any conditions attached to it? Is the critic quoting the whole prophecy or only part of it? Likewise, if someone says, “I am beginning to doubt whether God exists”, ask what the actual question is. Is the concern,
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Prayers for Ahmadis of Pakistan and Malaysia On 16 October 2026, in his Friday sermon, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih (V), highlighted the persecution of Ahmadis in Pakistan and Malaysia, including the involvement of some government authorities and urged increased supplications and voluntary prayers for Allah’s protection. Huzoor (aa) said: “At this time, I also wish to remind you once again to pray for the Ahmadis in Pakistan. In the name of Allah the Exalted and His Messenger (sa), oppressors – who are in fact terrorists or people with vested interests of their own – are persecuting Ahmadis with the utmost cruelty. At times,
government officials too are backing them. For fear of the mullahs, the asiran [those imprisoned for their faith] are not granted bail or judges are afraid to rule in their favour. There are some courageous officials and there are also judges who occasionally show courage. Generally, however, those who foment disorder in the name of Islam have created an atmosphere of fear in the country and the entire state machinery is afraid of them. May Allah the Almighty soon bring about the means for these wicked people and those who foment disorder to be brought to account. [Amin.] “Ahmadis in Pakistan should also place particular emphasis these days on durood
[invoking blessings upon the Holy Prophet (sa)], istighfar [seeking Allah’s forgiveness] and the [special] prayers I mentioned previously. They should give particular attention to nawafil [voluntary prayers] and pray most earnestly to seek refuge with Allah the Almighty from these oppressors. May Allah the Almighty also enable them to do so. “Similarly, the Jamaat in Malaysia is also facing very difficult circumstances. There too, certain government bodies are treating Ahmadis harshly. Our mosques are raided and arrests are also made without any cause. May Allah the Almighty keep the Ahmadis of Malaysia too in His protection and care.
“Why was my prayer not accepted?”, “Why does suffering exist?” or “What evidence is there for a Creator?” These are different questions and require different answers. 2. Go back to the original source If somebody claims that the Promised Messiah (as) made a false prophecy, do not immediately accept either the objection or the response. Find the actual prophecy and read it in full. Ask what exactly was revealed, when it was published, whether it was unconditional, whether repentance, prayer, behaviour or any other condition was mentioned and what happened before and afterwards. Sometimes one sentence is shown and someone says, “Look, this never happened.” But the full prophecy may contain conditions or other details which change how it should be understood. Before calling something a “failed prophecy”, first establish what the entire prophecy actually said. When it comes to prophecies, it is important to distinguish between the words of a revelation and assumptions about exactly how or when it will be fulfilled. The Holy Quran gives an important example in the story of Hazrat Noah (as). When his son was being overwhelmed by the flood, Hazrat Noah (as) prayed:
returned the following year and performed Umrah. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-shurut, Hadith 2731-32) These examples teach an important principle. Sometimes the revelation is true, but its timing, application or manner of fulfilment may be assumed incorrectly. So, if someone says that the Promised Messiah (as) initially understood a revelation in one way and later understood it differently, the question should be whether the revelation itself was proved false or its fulfilment was initially understood differently, and whether this also happened to previous prophets of Allah. If you accept a principle in the life of Hazrat Noah (as) or the Holy Prophet (sa), then that principle should fairly be considered when examining the Promised Messiah (as). 3. Test the alternative belief as well When researching the claims of the Promised Messiah (as) or the truth of Ahmadiyyat, do not only ask, “Can Ahmadiyyat answer this objection?” Also ask, “Does the alternative belief itself fit the Holy Quran?” For example, one verse often discussed regarding Jesus (as) is:
Sunni interpretation holds that all Christians and Jews will believe in Jesus (as) when he comes – a clear contradiction. The researcher should therefore ask: how are these verses reconciled? If an interpretation contradicts the Quran, it should not be accepted. The aim is to gather all the relevant verses and examine which understanding is most consistent with the Quran as a whole. 4. Be willing to say, “I don’t know yet” A young person can watch ten videos in twenty minutes and suddenly feel that ten unanswered objections mean their entire faith has collapsed. That is not necessarily true. If you do not know the answer to something, it is perfectly reasonable to say, “I don’t know yet.” Not knowing the answer to a question does not automatically prove that the opposite belief is true. Write the question down, find the relevant sources and investigate it properly or seek advice from a learned person. 5. Research and prayer should go together Finally, religious research should not become only an intellectual exercise. When discussing those who doubted his claim, the Promised Messiah (as) advised that, alongside investigation, a sincere seeker should turn to Allah and ask Him to disclose the truth. (The Heavenly Sign [Nishan-eAsmani], 2005, p. 66) Whether someone is investigating the existence of God, the truth of Islam or the claim of the Promised Messiah (as), they should research sincerely while also praying sincerely. Find the original source, read the full context, check the conditions, compare the principle with the Quran and the lives of previous prophets, examine the alternative belief as carefully as your own and, throughout that process, continue asking Allah for guidance. The aim is that your faith should gradually become more than something you inherited from your parents or community. Through study, reflection, prayer and your own experiences with Allah, you should come to understand for yourself why you believe what you believe.
َ ُ ْ َ َ َ َر ِ�ب إِ �ن ْاِب�ِ� َِم ْْن أ ْﻫ َِلی ََوإِ �ن ََو َْع َُدك اَّل َﺤ �ﻖ
“My Lord, verily, my son is of my family, and surely, Thy promise is true.” Allah replied:
َ� ُ ُ َ َ َ َوح ِإَّن ُٗہ َّل َ ْْی ََس َِم ْْن أ ْﻫ ِْلَک َّیا َّن
“O Noah, he is surely not of thy family.” (Surah Hud, Ch.11: V.46-47) Hazrat Noah (as) had understood how Allah’s promise applied and Allah then clarified its meaning. The promise itself was not false; rather, its application had been understood differently. A second example comes from the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. The Holy Prophet (sa) had seen a vision that he and the Muslims would enter the Sacred Mosque. The Muslims set out for Umrah, but the Quraysh prevented them from entering Mecca that year. Hazrat Umar (ra) was troubled and reminded the Holy Prophet (sa) that he had said they would go to the Ka‘bah. The Holy Prophet (sa) pointed out that he had not said they would enter it that same year. The Muslims
َ� َ ْ ْ َ ْ � َ َ ََ اب إِۡلٰا َّل َ ُْی ْﺆ َِم� �� ِِب ِٗہ ﻗ ُْب َْل ََمَوْ ِﺗ ِٗہ ِ َوإِن َِمْن أﻫ ِْل اَّل ِﻜَت
“And there is none among the People of the Book but will believe in it before his death.” (Surah an-Nisa, Ch.4: V.160) A well-known Sunni interpretation is َ that ﻗ ُْب َْل ََمَوْ ِﺗ ِٗہ, meaning “before his death”, refers to the death of Jesus (as) and that he will return before the Day of Judgement and all the People of the Book living at that time will believe in him before he dies. A researcher should not simply accept or reject this interpretation because someone presents it confidently. They should ask how the interpretation fits with the rest of the Holy Quran and whether this belief contradicts the Quran. For example, regarding Christians, the Quran says:
َ َ اء إَّل َ ٰﻰ َّیََوْ ِم اَّل ْ ِﻘ َْی َ َ ْ ْ َ ََ َ َْ ُ َُ َْ ََْْ َ اَم ِﺔ ِ َفﺄ�َرَّیٰنا ِبْیٰنُھﻢ اَّلﻌُداَوَۃ َواَّل َُبﻐﻀ
“So We have caused enmity and hatred among them till the Day of Resurrection.” (Surah al-Ma’idah, Ch.5: V.15) This verse alludes to the fact that Christians will remain until the Day of Resurrection, whereas the aforementioned
(Asif Munir, Missionary, New Zealand)
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Why Islam is not a ‘religion’ in the narrow sense: Reclaiming the true meaning of ‘din’ Iftekhar Ahmed Ahmadiyya Archive & Research Centre
The problem with religion Words have afterlives and the most consequential among them are those that appear entirely innocent. Some words become windows, others, while still pretending to be transparent, harden imperceptibly into walls. Today, calling Islam a religion seems like the most natural thing in the world. The phrase adorns university handbooks, interfaith brochures and the religion boxes on government forms, filled in by Muslims and critics alike with equal unconcern. Islam can properly be called a religion in ordinary English. Yet the word religion can be made to do more ambitious and quietly damaging work. It can assign faith a private room furnished with belief, worship, personal identity and the ceremonies that mark birth, marriage and death. Islam will not fit in that room. The trouble is that before the conversation about Islam has even begun, the word religion has already arranged the furniture. In Europe, confessional war and the rise of sovereign states helped turn faith into a private affair. Christianity retained different public roles in different countries, but governments increasingly claimed the right to decide where its authority ended. Islam, however, speaks to the whole human being. It addresses the heart and the tongue, the market and the family, politics and human appetites, wealth, treaties, war, forgiveness and death. We often hear the familiar reply that Islam is a comprehensive way of life. This contains a genuine truth, even if repeating the phrase carelessly has turned it into a cliché. Islam is din. It is life itself ordered before Allah, inwardly through iman, i.e., conviction and faith, and outwardly through worship, obedience, mercy and justice. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) explained that a true teaching is measured precisely by this: does it address every aspect of a person’s life or only a few selected, private matters?1 The scale of din is human life itself. Under a privatised understanding of religion, a person might worship at the mosque on Friday, then treat Monday’s business as exempt from the same moral demands. Under din, there is no such separation. The Friday prayer, the fair wages paid to an employee on Monday and the refusal to cheat a customer are all gathered under one single, undivided accountability to God.
When religion fails to describe Islam Modern society usually treats religion as a stable, universal category. We assume it is a name that applies equally across cultures to describe what people believe, how they worship and what they hold sacred. Scholars such as Wilfred Cantwell Smith and Talal Asad challenge that assumption. The modern category of religion carries a particular history into definitions offered as universal.2 Western scholars decided which traditions belonged together under the name religion. Their decisions shaped what later appeared to be a neutral description of the world.3 When we force Islamic traditions to answer questions formed around a Western division between religion and secular life, the word becomes a means of deciding which parts of Islam count as properly religious.4 A borrowed word might seem helpful at first, but it arrives carrying its history on its back and that history has its own designs. Stretching the concept to include Islam without questioning its assumptions hides the problem. After all, why do we confidently separate religions from other allencompassing worldviews like capitalism, communism or secularism? These systems also teach people what to value, demand allegiance and order societies, yet they are not given the name.5 When we apply the Western label of religion to Islam, it can distort the faith’s scope and import Judaeo-Christian assumptions by stealth.6 For example, a definition built around Christianity encourages people to look
for a church or clergy equivalent in Islam. It can also suggest that a Muslim’s faith should quietly step aside from economics and politics, as though the limits European governments placed on Christianity should decide where Islam must stop. Ordinary English will keep its conventions and no one is demanding that the word religion be banned. Muslims can, of course, speak of Islam as a religion in ordinary English. The danger begins when the English word is allowed to govern the meaning of din. Translation is always a bargain with imperfection and we accept those terms daily without much distress. The harder, more demanding task is to remain alert to the moment when a borrowed term crosses from clarifying Islam to quietly editing it. We must notice when a label, initially offered as a courtesy, becomes a constraint. A name first proposed as a convenience can end up acting as a constitution. To be fair, a concept can have a troubled history but still be useful for rough comparisons. For academics trying to map out different traditions, the English word religion retains some modest use.7 The confusion arises when we mistake a scholar’s definition for the reality it is meant to describe. When we crown religion as the master category into which all traditions must fit, we make Islam accept limits drawn for Christianity.
How empire privatised faith and remade Islam The modern category of religion did not descend from the heavens. It was fashioned in the crucible of human argument and historical conflict. In 17th-century Europe,
amidst the bloodshed of religious wars, thinkers sought a definition of religion that could embrace competing Christian confessions. Asad traces how belief came to be treated as religion’s defining feature, increasingly separable from public order and law.8 The more faith was understood as private conviction, the easier it became to leave law and government outside its reach. Protestant emphasis on inward belief helped make this separation seem natural.9 Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, the renowned Muslim jurist and diplomat, described how the supposed conflict between religion and science was bypassed by confining religion to worship, rites and ceremonies. He also recognised the efforts of Christian ministers to recover its “old and true position” as the source of moral and spiritual values “governing the whole field of life”.10 The secular state nevertheless claimed the right to decide which matters belonged to religion. Religious institutions could remain powerful while the state decided which of their claims would carry legal force.11 European empires carried distinctions between the religious and the secular into their scholarship, law and administration abroad, where local people contested and adapted them. Defining what counted as religion was never merely classification. It was an exercise of colonial power.12 Once a faith was named and categorised as a religion, it could be counted, compared, regulated and, ultimately, reduced. Colonial officials put scholarly classifications to work. The footnote and the garrison worked in tandem. In the great 19th-century comparative charts of world religions, Islam fitted badly and it was made to pay for the awkwardness. European scholars divided the world’s faiths through deeply racist and theological hierarchies. For example, Buddhism was sometimes praised as a noble Aryan philosophy, while Islam was dismissed as derivative, Semitic and crudely Arabian. One prominent European scholar even dismissed Islam as merely a side-branch of Judaism and Christianity, scraped together by an Arab for Arabs.13 The catalogue of such verdicts is long, but to repeat every colonial insult at length is only to grant the old tribunal another sitting. In Egypt, for example, the reordering of law involved Egyptian rulers’ efforts to strengthen the state as well as European pressure and, from 1882, British occupation. New courts and imported codes progressively displaced sharia jurisdiction
AL HAKAM | Friday 23 October 2026 in commerce and criminal law. Family law and religious endowments remained, increasingly set apart as the proper sphere of religion.14 Rules once justified through obligations to God were increasingly recast as commands of the state.15 Islam could then be described through the beliefs, rites and family matters left to it, as though commerce and public law no longer belonged to its concerns. Wilfred Cantwell Smith traced how the defence of Islam could change the way Muslims understood it. Under attack, a living faith could become a fixed system to be vindicated on the critic’s terms.16 Tayob also shows Muslim thinkers challenging and reworking the definitions of religion offered by European scholarship.17 When a colonised mind wins its case by conceding to the coloniser’s rules, that victory is also, in some measure, a capitulation.
Reclaiming din: Islam as an action, not a label Islam begins with its own language and that language opens up a world that modern Western categories were not designed to understand. The Holy Quran does not present itself as an entry in a taxonomy of world religions. Its grammar begins elsewhere, with words like din, islam, iman and ummah. These words ask how a person believes, obeys and lives with others before God. We can translate din as religion without assuming that the two words cover exactly the same ground. A translation that stops at private belief and worship leaves much of the Quran’s teaching outside the word.18 Din concerns how a person lives before God. What one believes makes claims upon what one does.19 The Quran refuses to confine din to a devotional corner of life. The word names judgment in the opening Surah. Elsewhere it names the Islam accepted by Allah and the teaching perfected for the Prophet’s (sa) community.20 In his exposition of Surah al-Maun, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) explains din here as service to the Community. The Surah describes a man who pushes aside the orphan and fails to urge the feeding of the poor. It also condemns those who withhold ordinary help. Neglecting others belongs to what it means here to deny din.21 Older translations sometimes tried to translate din as law. This at least made room for obligations beyond private worship, but the Quran’s call includes social order and ethics right alongside belief and worship. 22 When we separate these elements to fit the modern Western mould, we see exactly what is lost: taken alone, law becomes rules to be enforced, worship turns into empty liturgical theatre and belief becomes mere admiration, contemplated safely at a distance. The word islam itself is a verbal noun, the name of an action carrying submission, surrender and willing obedience. The decision is renewed through every act of a person’s life, long after the moment of conversion.23 The inward act of surrender takes physical shape in everyday conduct. The Quran binds that surrender to how a person treats others.
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The Promised Messiah (as) gave this concept of surrender its most searching formulation. He defined Islam as the act of laying one’s soul at the very threshold of God with absolute contentment and without reservation.24 The true Muslim holds nothing back. Appetite, livelihood, family, speech and power all come under the claims of din. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) illustrated this during what seemed to be an ordinary dispute about vocational education. When some argued that teaching trades to the poor diverted attention away from din, he replied: “Islam is the name of setting right all branches of life.” Work undertaken with love of din and a spirit of sacrifice, he explained, is itself din. Teaching the poor to earn their living was part of that religious duty.25 Islam rectifies worldly life from within, in every dimension. The Quran places prayer, life and death within a single, indivisible declaration: “Say, ‘My prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are (all) for Allah, the Lord of the worlds’” (Surah al-An‘am, Ch.6: V.163). The decisive word is life, the life lived in the market, the household and the public square. Din judges the partition modern society takes for granted, treating public business as serious while leaving private devotion comfortably optional.
Law, worship and the moral life The desire to rescue Islam from being a privatised religion comes with its own major temptation. Today, some political movements attempt a shortcut: they try to restore din to public life by simply handing it over to the government. They act as though the machinery of state legislation and police enforcement could somehow do the work of teaching people to live justly before God. Wael Hallaq argues that the modern Islamic state is a contradiction.26 The state, in his account, claims the right to make law, command obedience and shape the people it governs. Giving it an Islamic name leaves those claims intact. For Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV (rh), the question began with the people who would have to live under the law. The prophets first prepared people to accept divine law willingly. He warned against using sharia simply to seize political power. Government, he insisted, must deal justly with everyone, irrespective of faith or creed. This was the secular principle he endorsed. For Muslims living in Western countries, this, of course, does not mean asking the state to impose Islamic law on others.27 A legal code can be proclaimed in an afternoon. The human character capable of bearing it with justice and wisdom cannot. Islamic legal history makes the point concrete. Across centuries, jurists addressed family and civic duties as obligations before God. What a person owed to another was also a matter of obedience to Him.28 Rulers can also turn religious law into a demand for obedience to themselves. They cannot make their own commands sacred simply by issuing them in the name of Islam. The Quran addresses outward conduct and the conscience that governs it together. It is no coincidence that the great classical books of Islamic jurisprudence begin with chapters on worship. Criminal codes come later.29
Worship trains the willing, selfdisciplined soul. Law then speaks to people who recognise a duty even when there is no official present to enforce it. Modern theories of religion have often treated ritual chiefly as a way of expressing beliefs or representing social life.30 The Promised Messiah (as), however, explained how the body can educate the soul. The physical postures of worship act powerfully and directly upon it. Outward physical humility, when enacted with sincerity, ripens over time into genuine, inward humility.31 Prayer, fasting and almsgiving (zakat) do not just express an already-formed character. They teach us to attend to God, restrain appetite and recognise what we owe to the poor. And they accomplish all of this long before a government administrator has had occasion to arrive. Adding more rules to a private faith does not restore the life that was cut away from it.32 The old cliché that Islam is a whole way of life has survived because it preserves a truth that modern categories try to evade.33 The Quran provides the necessary principles for physical, moral and spiritual development, while leaving many specific details to be worked out by human reason and changing circumstances.34 No government system can exhaust guidance of that magnitude, nor is it meant to. For Muslims, wherever they live, din offers moral guidance on political questions precisely because issues of justice, property, war and public obligation are fundamentally moral matters before they are technical ones. The idolatry of the state commences at the exact moment when power over bodies begins to imagine itself sovereign over hearts. Din runs deeper than politics, which is why it can guide a Muslim’s judgement of political power.
The test of ordinary life For Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aa), faith is tested in the texture of ordinary life. A believer, he insists, must carry taqwa, i.e., mindfulness of God, equally into family dealings, social relations, commercial transactions and international obligations. No worldly affair is exempt from the claims of din.35 Contracts, wages, promises and the quiet, unwitnessed opportunities for deceit all enter a divine account in which nothing is overlooked. For the Promised Messiah (as), to be a Muslim is to devote one’s entire being to God. That devotion is shown in worship and obedience, in sympathy for God’s creatures and in a willingness to serve them and bear their burdens.36 The mosque, the market and the neighbour all stand under the judgment of one Lord. Huquq Allah, that is, the rights and duties owed to God, and huquq al-‘ibad, that is, the rights and duties owed to God’s creation, are not two separate checklists. They bind worship to the fulfilment of our duties towards others. To say that Islam is not a religion, i.e., not in the modern, privatised, bounded sense of the word, is to begin the work of recovering its reach into every part of human life. When faith is separated from law, belief from public life and inward conviction from outward discipline, what remains can no
longer express the whole teaching. Under din, the individual and the community are alike answerable to God. Those who exercise power in a family, a business or a government remain answerable to a judgment they cannot escape. Islam gathers worship and mercy, law and family, knowledge and economy, bodily discipline and spiritual ascent under the single command of Allah. It joins the solitary prayer to the public trust, the heart’s fear of God to the hand’s pursuit of justice and life in this world to final answerability. An age that keeps faith apart from daily life can reduce religion to a private sphere. The Quran, which addresses the whole of life, calls it din.
Endnotes 1. Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad, Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam (Tilford: Islam International Publications, 2007), p. 33
2. Wilfred Cantwell Smith, The Meaning and End of Religion (New York: New American Library, 1964), pp. 16-17; Talal Asad, Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993), pp. 28-29 3. Abdulkader Tayob, ‘Decolonizing the Study of Religions: Muslim Intellectuals and the Enlightenment Project of Religious Studies’, in Journal for the Study of Religion 31, no. 2 (2018), pp. 7-35, at p. 10 4. Talal Asad, Genealogies of Religion, pp. 28-29 5. Shahab Ahmed, What Is Islam? The Importance of Being Islamic (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016), pp. 180-184 6. Timothy Fitzgerald, The Ideology of Religious Studies (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 21 7. Jonathan Z. Smith, Imagining Religion: From Babylon to Jonestown (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982), p. xi 8. Talal Asad, Genealogies of Religion, pp. 40-43 9. Philip Wood, ‘Paradigms of Religion and the Swift Birth of Islam: Wilfred Cantwell Smith Revisited’, in Leif Stenberg and Philip Wood (eds.), What Is Islamic Studies? European and North American Approaches to a Contested Field (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2022), pp. 154-175, at p. 156 10. Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, Islam and Modern Life (Islam International Publications, n.d.), pp. 4-5 11. Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003), p. 191 12. Timothy Fitzgerald, The Ideology of Religious Studies, p. 23; Philip Wood, ‘Paradigms of Religion and the Swift Birth of Islam’, p. 157; Abdulkader Tayob, ‘Decolonizing the Study of Religions’, pp. 8-9 13. Abraham Kuenen, as quoted in Tomoko Masuzawa, The Invention of World Religions: Or, How European Universalism Was Preserved in the Language of Pluralism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005), pp. 145, 196 14. Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, pp. 208-211 15. Wael B. Hallaq, The Impossible State: Islam, Politics, and Modernity’s Moral Predicament Continued on page 6
Friday 23 October 2026 | AL HAKAM
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NEWS Lajna Imaillah Canada holds national Majlis-e-Shura 2026 Ayza Anwar Muavina In-Charge Press & Media, Lajna Imaillah Canada On 28 August 2026, Lajna Imaillah Canada held its annual National Majlis-e-Shura, attended by 361 delegates from across 19 regions of Canada. The programme began with attendees listening to the live Friday sermon by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aa), delivered from Islamabad, UK. Following the conclusion of the sermon, the Shura programme officially started with a recitation from the Holy Quran, followed by the Lajna Imaillah pledge. Sadr Lajna Imaillah Canada, Nadia
Mahmood Sahiba, led the inauguration of Majlis-e-Shura. The report of Shura efforts made in the previous year was presented by Secretary Shura, Mansoora Rauf Sahiba, along with the implementation reports on the specific proposals which were presented by the National Tarbiyat and Umur-e-Talibaat secretaries. Delegates were reminded of the Divine commandments about shura and taqwa. While some delegates participated in the sub-committees, the remaining delegates had a special programme in the afternoon, enhancing their knowledge and awareness of important topics of this current era. The day concluded with silent prayer and dinner hosted for all delegates.
Continued from page 5 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2013), pp. ix-x, 82-83 16. Wilfred Cantwell Smith, The Meaning and End of Religion, p. 105 17. Abdulkader Tayob, ‘Decolonizing the Study of Religions’, pp. 8-9
27. Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, The Relationship Between Religion & Politics in Islam (Tilford: Islam International Publications, 2017), pp. 13-15, 28-30 28. Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad, Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam, pp. 234-235; Wael B. Hallaq, The Impossible State, pp. 82-83
18. Brent Nongbri, Before Religion: A History of a Modern Concept (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013), pp. 39-42
29. Wael B. Hallaq, The Impossible State, pp. 116-118
19. Talal Asad, Genealogies of Religion, p. 219
31. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam, in Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 10, p. 319; Malfuzat [Urdu] (2022 ed.), Vol. 4, p. 79
20. The Holy Quran, Ch. 1: V. 4; Ch. 3: V. 20; Ch. 5: V. 4 21. Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad, Tafsir-e-Kabir, 15-volume edition (Farnham: Islam International Publications, 2023), Vol. 14, pp. 514-515 22. Brent Nongbri, Before Religion, pp. 41-44 23. Wilfred Cantwell Smith, The Meaning and End of Religion, p. 103 24. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Lecture Lahore, in Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 20, pp. 151-152 25. Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad, Friday Sermon, 15 January 1937, Khutbat-e-Mahmud, Vol. 18, pp. 31, 34-35 26. Wael B. Hallaq, The Impossible State, pp. ix-xiv, 1-2, 23
30. Talal Asad, Genealogies of Religion, pp. 55-58
32. Talal Asad, Genealogies of Religion, pp. 2829; Shahab Ahmed, What Is Islam?, pp. 190-192 33. Shahab Ahmed, What Is Islam?, p. 188 34. The Holy Quran with English Translation and Commentary (Islam International Publications, 2018 ed., reprinted 2019), Vol. 2, pp. 752, 818819, commentary on Ch. 5: V. 4 and Ch. 5: V. 102 35. Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Friday Sermon, 6 March 2015, Khutbat-e-Masroor, Vol. 13, p. 159 36. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Aʼina-eKamalat-e-Islam, in Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 5, pp. 59-62
Jamaat Mexico holds its seventh Jalsa Salana Amen Aqeel Haider Mexico Correspondent Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Mexico held its Seventh Jalsa Salana on 28-29 August 2026, at the Baitul Afiyat Mosque in Mexico City. The Jalsa was held along with the special occasion of the inauguration of the Baitul Afiyat Mosque, which also took place on 28 August. The total attendance at this year’s Jalsa was 124. The majority of attendees were Mexican nationals, with members attending from San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico City, Querétaro and Mérida. International guests also joined from the United States, Canada, Belize and Cuba. This year, the
main Jalsa Gah was established in a marquee directly in front of the mosque. On Friday, prior to the Jumuah prayer, a flag-hoisting ceremony was held, followed by the unveiling of the plaque of the Baitul Afiyat Mosque by Noman Rana Sahib, Missionary and Sadr Jamaat Mexico. The Jumuah prayer was then held in the mosque, with men praying on the ground floor and ladies on the upper floor. Later that evening, the opening session of the Jalsa Salana was held in the marquee outside the mosque. A special message from Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aa) was also received, which was translated into Spanish and was read out in both English and Spanish during the first session of Jalsa
East Midlands Region holds event to celebrate centenary of Fazl Mosque Ibrahim Bonsu Regional Amir East Midlands, UK The East Midlands Region of Jamaat UK held an event to celebrate the Fazl Mosque’s centenary at the Baitul Ikram Mosque in Leicester on 3 October 2026. The attendance was 115, with nearly 50 external guests consisting of dignitaries such as the Lord Mayor of Leicester, Cllr Kulwinder Singh Johal; High Sheriff of
Leicestershire, Mel Thomas QPM; Policing Area Commander for South Leicester, Inspector Paul Crewe; and representatives of faith and charity organisations across the East Midlands. Councillors across the East Midlands included Cllr Deepak Bajaj (former Lord Mayor of Leicester), Cllr Marcus Lapsa of Coventry and Cllr Shelagh McKiernan of East Staffordshire, Burton (former mayor). The centenary exhibition of the Fazl
Salana, before the commencement of the speeches. The second session of Jalsa Salana was held on Saturday morning. The ladies held their own session inside the mosque, while the men held their session outside in the marquee. The Jalsa concluded on Saturday afternoon with the guest session. Various guests attended, including government officials, religious leaders, educators and neighbours of the mosque. This session was particularly significant as it provided an opportunity to introduce the newly inaugurated Baitul Afiyat Mosque to the surrounding community and to share the peaceful message of Islam with our
neighbours and guests. During the concluding session, missionary Adnan Haider Sahib delivered a speech on “Baitul Afiyat: The House of Peace and Security”, reminding members of their duty towards making mosques houses of peace and security through their actions and examples. Several distinguished guests then shared their thoughts and sentiments. They expressed their happiness at being able to join the members of the Jamaat Mexico for its Jalsa Salana and spoke with great enthusiasm about the newly inaugurated mosque becoming a positive part of the wider Mexican society.
Mosque and Jamaat literature was on display for the guests alongside refreshments. Tours of the mosque, which created an interactive atmosphere, were also organised prior to the commencement of the formal proceedings. The formal event started with a recitation from the Holy Quran by Regional Missionary, Muneeb-Ur-Rahman Sahib, followed by a welcome address by my humble self, briefly outlining the purpose, contribution and the significance of the centenary celebration of the Fazl Mosque. The High Sheriff of Leicestershire was next to address the audience, who praised the contribution of the Fazl Mosque to British society and the need for communities to always strive to live in peace and unity. The Lord Mayor of Leicester also shed light on the significance of the Fazl Mosque and the dire need for communities’ peaceful coexistence.
Videos about Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya and Khilafat alongside the history of the Fazl Mosque were also relayed. The gathering was also addressed by Cllr Marcus Lapsa of Coventry and Cllr Shelagh McKiernan of East Staffordshire, Burton, who shared similar sentiments to the earlier guest speakers. The vote of thanks was done by Regional Missionary for Nottingham and Burton-on-Trent, Abdul Ghaffar Sahib. This was followed by the climax of the evening, which was the address of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aa). The event concluded with silent prayer, followed by dinner. As guests left, they received brochures of the centenary celebration and special gift bags were presented to the dignitaries. Many guests gave interviews at the end of the event and much positive feedback was received.
AL HAKAM | Friday 23 October 2026
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ago...
100 years
A visit to the Ahmadiyya Mosque at Southfields by SR Littlewood (1926) Islam in London Not only East and West, but romance and reality meet as never before in the coming of the handsome young Emir Feisal [i.e. Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud], Viceroy of Mecca and son of the King of the Hedjaz – a “sheik” before whom all the creations of Valentino and Novarro are mere shadows – and his opening next Sunday of London’s first mosque. If one wants to get a full sense of all that it means, one should visit the Mosque itself, as I did yesterday. This plain but beautiful little white-domed building, nestling half-hidden in an old orchard amidst surroundings one is tempted to call indescribably “suburban”, may come as something of a shock to those whose idea of a mosque is associated with the arabesques of Granada or the splendours of Cairo and the Golden Horn. It is best seen from the slope of West Hill, Wandsworth, itself a more or less opulent boulevard, with memories of Wandsworth’s other days. Some artist of genius might possibly do justice to the vision. About the foreground linger remnants of rural charm – a grass-grown lane deep in nettles, but strewn at the moment with broken umbrellas and outworn corsets. To the right an old country mansion stands dismantled, in well-wooded grounds, round the wall of which the electric railway sweeps in quite a fine curve.
The muezzin’s call It is not until one has taken one’s fill of this suburban land-scape – so typical, for good or ill! – that one notices under the very brow of the hill the white dome of the Ahmadiyya Mosque. The minarets are there, one at each of the four corners. They will be used by the “muezzin” to call the faithful to prayer, but are out-topped by several neighbouring villas. Nowadays, when so many of our churches and chapels flaunt what is called a “Byzantine style”, there is little to distinguish the Ahmadiyya Mosque, with its unorthodox glazed windows, from some Christian conventicles. Blended of plainness and good taste, it is now practically finished, though the garden pool and fountain for ablutions have still to be filled. With the help of a couple of British workmen, lunching leisurely against its white walls, I discovered the “imam” – or incumbent – of the Mosque. Mr Dard is an Indian Muslim, turbanned and blackbearded. He might, for everything except his gold spectacles, have walked out of the “Arabian Nights.” With much dignity and courtesy he showed me over, sending for
the key a bright little dark-eyed rogue of a Muslim boy who looked as if he should make his fortune on the films. Over the door are inscriptions in Arabic and Persian. They tell us that “Allah alone is to be worshipped and Muhammad is His prophet.” The significance of this, the “imam” explained, is not arrogance on Muhammad’s [sa] part, but, on the contrary, a disclaiming of worship. Within I found the deep-piled blue carpet, upon which no shoe may tread, already laid down and reverentially roped off. There is electric light, and radiators are promised, but no decorations of any kind were to be, or will be, seen and no seats save those at the entrance for the taking off of shoes. The idea of sitting to worship brought a hint of a smile to the face of my Oriental friend. Nothing to suggest ritual of any kind was there, save the tiny little chancel or niche, orientated to Mecca, where the “imam” himself will lead the worshippers in prayer.
Islam and Judaism The Mosque, so he told me, will be open to Jews and Christians as well as Muhammadans. “Between Islam”, he claimed, “Judaism and primitive
Christianity there is no essential difference. We all believe in one God, and before Him and Him only – we prostrate ourselves.” Upon many things the “imam” enlightened me, among them the fact that the Ahmadiyya is a sect, founded in 1889 by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, [peace be upon him], whose tenets are all towards tolerance. They are against [so-called] Holy Wars and every sort of oppression. They accept, as sympathetic with themselves, the prophets of all religions in which one God is worshipped. There are, the “imam” told me, altogether about two thousand Muhammadans in London. As the Southfields mosque can only hold two hundred at most, it is not likely to prove too large. As I had come along West Hill, a sight had greeted my eyes which set me thinking. It was a “crocodile” of some score or so of blithe English girls stepping along cheerily in uniform – all health, hope, and hockey. “What would the mosque do for them?” The “imam” reassured me. “Women will be allowed”, he said, “to enter and to worship in the mosque, though not with men. Women with us have a higher status than the West has ever given them; though we consider that Western nations go to extremes.”
The popular belief that the Quran promises no future life for women seems to be an entire fallacy. It is written in Surah anNisa’ that “whosoever doeth the things that are right, whether male or female, being a believer these shall enter Paradise.” (4:125) Whirling away on the electric, I pondered whether the headmistress, if she were among the blest, would altogether sanction those promised “gardens of delight” where: “[There will wait on them youths, who will not age], With goblets and ewers and [and cups filled out of a flowing spring] … [And there will be fair maidens with wide, lovely eyes], [Like pearls, well concealed and protected], As a reward for that which they have done. Therein shall they hear no vain discourse nor accusation of sin, But only the saying, Peace! Peace!” [56:18-27] Anyhow, who can pretend now that a London suburb is without romance? – The Referee, 26 September 1926 (Transcribed and edited by Al Hakam from the original English, published in the October 1926 issue of The Review of Religions)
Friday 23 October 2026 | AL HAKAM
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Friday Sermon Mubarak Mosque, Islamabad, UK
25 September 2026
Following his Master (sa): The Promised Messiah (as) on finding Allah’s grace through trust, devotion and submission After reciting the tashahhud, ta‘awwuz and Surah al-Fatihah, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aa) said:
In the past few sermons, I have been speaking about the highest level of trust [i.e., tawakkul] in Allah, as demonstrated in the life of the Holy Prophet (sa). Today, I will speak about how the Promised Messiah (as), the true servant of the Holy Prophet (sa) in this age, explained this example for us, what teachings he gave regarding it and how he himself acted upon them. The Promised Messiah (as) states: “True trust in Allah is to gather, to the best of one’s ability, the means that Allah the Almighty has appointed for attaining a certain objective, and then devote oneself to prayer, beseeching God: ‘O God, You alone bring about a favourable outcome for this.’ There are hundreds of calamities and thousands of difficulties which can destroy and overturn these means. Protect us from their effects and enable us to attain true success and reach our ultimate objective.” (Malfuzat, 2022, Vol. 4, p. 288) A person makes use of the available means, but there are many difficulties
and circumstances in which the means upon which one relies may be destroyed. Therefore, one should seek Allah’s help, praying that Allah the Almighty protect us from their harmful effects. This is the state through which a believer can attain the blessings of Allah the Almighty. The Promised Messiah (as) states: “To become pleased with Allah the Exalted, cannot be attained by everyone; it is, in fact, the highest level of trust in Allah, cutting oneself off from the world – contentment and resignation to the will of God, where a person no longer has any misgivings and complaints about his Supreme Lord. And Allah the Exalted being pleased with His servant depends on the perfect sincerity and loyalty of the servant and the highest degree of his purity and piety and perfect obedience. From this, one learns that the Companions (ra) had completed all the stages of ma‘arifat [divine cognisance] and suluk [journey to God].” The Companions (ra) attained such a
rank in having a connection with Allah and placing their trust in Him that it has been made an example for us. The followers of Jesus (as) say that he used to cure the sick. However, the Promised Messiah (as) says that did this increase his disciples in their trust in God? One’s standard of trust in God can only increase by His grace and if one focuses their entire attention towards Him. The Promised Messiah (as) states: “If you search for an example of this (trusting God) among the disciples [of Jesus Christ], you will never find it. Therefore, it is not prudent to be pleased merely with the healing of the sick. (This in itself does not accomplish anything. It is recorded even regarding saints that they are able to exhibit miracles. The Promised Messiah [as] says that it is not prudent or wise to be pleased merely with this.) One who craves spiritual excellence cannot be happy with these things. That is why I desire that you purify your heart and develop such a relationship with God Almighty that that Beneficent
Supreme Lord becomes pleased with you, and you become pleased with Him. Then He will endow your body and your words with such blessings that even those who cure ailments will be astounded and humbled upon witnessing them.” (Malfuzat [English], Vol. 7, p. 516) In other words, if one develops such a connection with Allah the Almighty, then those who heal the sick would be humbled. Thus, if a believer places his trust in Allah the Almighty and develops a relationship with Him, he can himself become capable of manifesting miracles. On another occasion, drawing attention to trust in God and complete devotion to Him, the Promised Messiah (as) said: “Also remember that there is no ointment for the wound of affliction as soothing and comforting as trust in Allah Almighty. The person who puts his trust in Allah Almighty finds solace and satisfaction within himself even in the severest of difficulties and adversities. He does not feel bitterness and
AL HAKAM | Friday 23 October 2026 torment in his heart. At the very most, the final result of this trouble may be death if that is the immutable decree (the decree that cannot be changed).” Difficulties also befall a believer, but if his faith in Allah is firm, he does not allow them to overwhelm him. He states, “Nonetheless, what would happen from this? The world is not a place where one can live forever anyway. Ultimately, a day and time comes upon everyone when this world must be abandoned. Then, if death is the consequence of it, what harm would it cause? For the believer, this death is even more comforting, becoming the means to unite with the Beloved. (If a person is a true Muslim, with true conviction in Allah Almighty, he is fine with this, understanding that he will meet Allah the Almighty.) This is so because he has complete faith in Allah Almighty and trusts in His omnipotence and knows that the next world for him is that of eternal comfort. “Therefore, a simple calamity, whether it is an illness or any other type of calamity, cannot be the cause of suffering or torment. Rather, that calamity is adjudged a painful chastisement in which there is no faith and trust in Allah Almighty.” If difficulties befall a believer, they are not a punishment for him. Punishment occurs when he has no faith in Allah and does not place his trust in Him. “Such a person does suffer severe torment (who has no faith). If someone fancies that he would not face death, then this notion is false because Allah Almighty has declared this world to be impermanent. For such a person, there will be a very painful hell in the next world for which he should be prepared.” (Malfuzat [English], Vol. 7, pp. 384-385) Thus, this also provides a general answer to those who ask how we can know whether a difficulty or hardship is a punishment or a trial from Allah. The Promised Messiah (as) would advise his followers, according to the circumstances, to place their trust in Allah. It is narrated that Hazrat Master Nazir Husain Sahib relates that the Promised Messiah (as) said: “Think not that Allah Almighty is weak. Indeed, He is the possessor of immense power. When you put your trust in Him for support in any matter, He shall come to your aid, just as He Himself states:
َ �ٰ َ َ� َ ََو ََم ْْن �َّی ََتَوََّک ْْل ََعَلی الّٰل ِِہ َف ُُھَوَ ََح ْْس ُُب ٗٗہ
“(The Holy Quran, 65:4) “‘And he who puts his trust in Allah – He is sufficient for him.’” (Rawayat Ashab-eAhmad, Vol. 3, p. 184) Describing the qualities of the fortunate, the Promised Messiah (as) states: “Another [great bounty] is the station of tawakkul [trust in God] upon which they are established with utmost firmness. That pure spring can never be attained by anyone besides them, rather, it is made pleasant and agreeable solely for them. The light of cognition lends them such support that very often without there being any resources and finding themselves far away from normal means, they lead such jovial and cheerful lives and pass their days in such prosperity as if they possessed thousands of treasures.” Even when the conveniences to which they have become accustomed are unavailable, those who place their trust in
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Allah live with great happiness, as though they possessed thousands of treasures. “Their countenances display the freshness of wealth and the steadfastness of the rich. They have perfect trust in their Benevolent God in times of hardship, with a cheerful heart and complete certainty.” (Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya – Part IV [English], p. 340) They have a relationship with Allah the Almighty, and therefore even amid hardship and difficulty they continue to place their trust in Allah and do not turn away from Him. They do not become consumed by thoughts such as, “Who knows what is happening? Is this a trial, an examination or a punishment?” If their trust in Allah is complete and they are fulfilling the rights owed to Allah, then Allah surely bestows His grace upon them. The Promised Messiah (as) states: “Those who are reliant upon God and incline towards Him never perish. What can a person who is constantly preoccupied with his personal efforts attain except for humiliation? Since the world has been created, this has been the practice of Allah that the people who abandon the world, attain it, and those who run after it, are deprived of it. Even if the people who do not enjoy a bond with God Almighty, attain something for a few days through their machinations and deceit, it is useless (people typically resort to deceit and falsehood to attain the word), for in the end, they are forced to see utter failure. The best people in Islam were always those who did not care about the world in comparison to religion.” He states: “The Saints Qutb-ud-Din (rh) and Mu‘in-ud-Din (rh) lived in India. These people worshipped God in secret, but God brought their high rank out into the open.” Then the Promised Messiah (as) relates an incident: “I saw the son of a pir in Batala completely covered in dust who was chasing after some deputy [commissioner] in relation to the cases of his land.” The officer was a government official, and this man would go after him regarding his cases or in order to acquire property. The Promised Messiah (sa) says, “I wondered that if he had possessed true virtue (he called himself a Pirzada, claiming to be the progeny of saints), and was one who trusted in God, then why would he have to bear such distressful events?” (Malfuzat [English], Vol. 9, p. 326) The Promised Messiah (as) says: “The reason why so many sins have arisen in the world is that the degree of certainty a person has in the pleasures of this world, worldly honour, and worldly wealth and possessions is not found in his belief in the hereafter. (This is why a person commits sins.) Just as a person can place his trust in a chest filled with precious jewels and pure gold which is in his possession, he cannot place the same trust in God. “And just as people fear worldly governments and worldly authorities, and resort to flattery (or sycophancy) towards them in order to make their living, they do not fear Allah the Almighty in the same manner. What is the reason for this? The reason is that the apparent means and worldly resources (the material means that are visible before a person) appear so certain to him that religious beliefs seem
insignificant in comparison.” (Nuzul-ulMasih, Ruhani Khazain, Vol. 18, p. 468) Worldly means are visible before him, while faith in God and religious beliefs are given no importance. Thus, when there is no reliance upon Allah the Almighty, and there is no concept of giving precedence to faith over worldly matters – something that we repeat in every pledge we make, and which we will also repeat at the Khuddamul-Ahmadiyya Ijtema – then this weakness of belief and faith will deprive such a person of the blessings of the hereafter as well. They have considered this world to be everything and continued striving to attain it. Some attained it, while others passed away in their efforts to attain it, unsuccessful. Or they attained it, only for it to subsequently be lost, after which they spent their lives undergoing great worldly suffering. They belonged neither to faith nor to the world. In this regard, a poet has said: “Neither did they attain God, nor the union with the beloved.” Explaining deeply concerned he was with bringing people towards Allah the Almighty and making them mindful of the hereafter, and how much pain he felt for this, and how he would pray for this the Promised Messiah (as) said, addressing Allah the Almighty: “Behold, my soul flies towards You with complete trust, just as a bird returns to its nest. Thus, I desire a sign of Your power, but not for myself and not for my honour. Rather, I desire it so that people may recognise Thee, so that people may recognise You and adopt Your pure ways, and so that they may not turn away from guidance by rejecting the one whom You have sent. I bear witness that You have sent me and that Thou hast manifested great signs in my support.” (Tiryaq-ul-Qulub, Ruhani Khazain, Vol. 15, p. 511) Allah the Almighty Himself gave the Promised Messiah (as) the name Mutawakkil [one who places his complete trust in God]. Thus, he says: “A sign of the descent of the Messiah is recorded as being that he will have placed his hands upon the wings of two angels. This points to the fact that his right and left hands – which are the means of acquiring intellectual knowledge and inner illumination – will rely upon heavenly agents entrusted with various tasks (meaning those who have been entrusted with this task, as in angels).” In other words, the knowledge of reason, the inner spiritual lights, and matters of spiritual insight and religious understanding will come through this means – with the help of angels. This is the meaning of placing his hands upon the two angels: he will rely upon their support. “He will not acquire this knowledge through schools, books or spiritual mentors, but from God Almighty Himself. He will be granted ‘ilm ladunni (that is, he will receive knowledge that is taught by none other than God), and God Himself will also take responsibility for and provide for his necessities of life. “For the past ten years, this revelation had already been published in Barahine-Ahmadiyya (the Promised Messiah [as] gives the example of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya) concerning this humble servant:
ْ َ� َ� ٰ َ� � ْ َ َ َ َ َ َ� ِِاَّنَک ِِبَا ْْع ُُی ِِنَنا ََس �َّم ْْی ُُتَک اْل ُُم ََتَوَ ِِّک ََل ََو ََعَّل ْْمٰن ُُہ ِِم ْْن َّل ُُدَّنا ِِعْل ًًما
“That is: ‘You are before Our eyes. We have named you Mutawakkil, and We have taught you knowledge from Ourselves.’ “[…] It is established from numerous ahadith and from the Holy Quran that when a person develops complete detachment from all else and places complete trust in God, the angels are appointed to serve him, and each angel serves him according to the responsibility entrusted to him.” (Izala-eAuham, Ruhani Khazain, Vol. 3, p. 476) One day in a gathering of the Promised Messiah (as), the discussion turned to trust in God. The Promised Messiah (as) said: “I find that the state of my heart is a strange one. When it is extremely humid, and the heat becomes immensely intense, people begin to hope with a sense of certainty that rain will soon follow. Similarly, when I find my casket to be empty (in other words, when he had no money), I feel a firm sense of certainty in the grace of God that now it will be replenished, and this is exactly what happens.” Then, the Promised Messiah (as) swore by God Almighty and said: “When my pouch (or his pocket or bag) is empty, the sort of joy and pleasure that I experience in trusting God Almighty at such a time is beyond my ability to explain. (The Promised Messiah [as] said that when he had nothing, his trust in God would only increase.) My state at such a time is extremely comforting and satisfying, in comparison to when my pouch (or his pocket) is full.” (Malfuzat [English], Vol. 2, p. 43) Commenting on these words of the Promised Messiah (as), Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad Sahib (ra) writes: “The money pouch of the saintly people generally remains empty; (that is, those whose life is devoted to God do not accumulate wealth. Their treasures are generally empty, and their pockets remain devoid of worldly riches, as they distribute whatever they possess among others.) But observe the remarkable degree of the Promised Messiah’s (as) trust in Allah. It was like the confidence of an astute farmer who, on the basis of repeated experience with a particular well, is certain that when its present supply of water begins to run low, its underground springs will open of their own accord and the well will once again become filled with water. (At times, after a well has been dug, its water is drawn out repeatedly until it becomes dry; yet, gradually, water begins to accumulate in it once again.) “In the same manner, the heart of the Promised Messiah (as) was imbued with the firm conviction that, as soon as my pocket becomes empty, the unseen Hand of Heaven will once again fill it, and there will be no hindrance in the work that God has entrusted to me. “This is that very station of divine succour concerning which Allah Almighty announced to the Promised Messiah (as) at the very outset:
َ �ٰ ََ اٍف ََع ْْب ََد ٗٗہ ٍ َاَل ْْی ََس الّٰل ُُہ ِِبَک
“‘Is Allah not sufficient for His servant?’ “The truth is that, from the very beginning to the end, this divine revelation remained over the Promised Messiah (as) like a cloud of mercy.” (Sirat-e-Tayyibah, p. 146) An incident relating to trust in Allah is found in the life of the Promised Messiah (as). In connection with the delay in the
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publication of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, the Promised Messiah (as) wrote a letter to Haji Muhammad Wali Sahib, a distinguished official of the State of Kapurthala. He wrote: “The previous letter of yours was filled with such fervour and bitterness. (He wrote a letter following the delay in publication of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, as he had donated some money towards its publication. When he did not receive it, he wrote a letter. And so, with reference to this letter of his, the Promised Messiah [as] wrote:) Your previous letter was filled with such fervour and bitterness and contained such harsh and unpleasant expressions, that it was immediately apparent that your ill opinion had reached an extreme level of foulness.” He had written the letter in considerable anger, and from his letter it was evident that his anger had reached an intense level. The Promised Messiah (as) therefore remarked that, had there been no commercial relationship concerning the purchase and sale of the book, he could never have imagined that such words would have proceeded from his pen. Since he had given money, he could not tolerate its delay and therefore expressed such words. He further stated: “It is therefore evident that such an unfortunate attachment [to worldly wealth] has disturbed the temperament of a person of such standing. It remains to be seen to what extent this inner agitation and distress may ultimately lead. As for this humble one, the whole of this undertaking rests upon no one’s support or reliance except that of the Divine and Glorified Being.” In other words, this work is being carried out with reliance upon Allah Almighty, and, God willing, it shall be completed. However, certain obstacles arise along the way. I have neither the power nor the authority to remove them by my own strength. Thus, he should not display such impatience. The Promised Messiah (as) further wrote: “In view of this, it would perhaps be advisable to cancel the transaction and return the amount that was sent. (If he thinks that the Promised Messiah [as] took his money from him), then perhaps this may bring peace and tranquillity to your mind. (Perhaps, upon receiving his money back, his anger will subside). There seems to be no other reason for such agitation except that the separation from a few rupees – which one must eventually spend anyways – has caused your temperament to fall into anxiety, regret, distress and perplexity. “It is with this consideration that this letter is being sent: if, as I have understood, these harsh and unbecoming expressions have arisen for this very reason, then inform me, so that I may return the amount you sent and thereby provide the remedy whereby you may be able to tame your speech (i.e., the harsh manner in which he was speaking) and to restrain one’s tongue is among the characteristics of the believers.” In other words, it behoves a believer not to speak in such a manner and to restrain their tongue, and if, by returning his money, it will bring about this reform and cause him to adopt the restraint of speech that is the blessed way of believers, then the Promised Messiah (as) was prepared to return the money to him. The Promised Messiah (as) then wrote: “Moreover, if you were to see the treatise
Surma-e-Chashm-e-Arya, you would know that I had already announced that if anyone is displeased on account of the delay in the publication of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya and wishes to have his payment returned, he should inform me, and the amount paid by any such purchaser will be refunded.” The Promised Messiah (as) had already announced that, as he was engaged in writing Surma-e-Chashm-e-Arya, the publication of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya might be delayed. Thus, if anyone was in haste and wished to have his money returned, he may do so. The Promised Messiah (as) then wrote: “It should also be clear to you that those who harbour ill opinions and utter foul or unbecoming words cannot cause us any harm. Rather, by entertaining ill opinion, they become the embodiment of the words:
َ ٰ ۡ ُ� َ َ الُّدۡن ََیا ََواۡلٰۡاِخ ََِرَۃ َخ ِِسَر
“‘He has lost this world and the Hereafter.’ “This entire undertaking is from the Lord of Majesty, and it is He alone who shall bring it to completion in the best and most excellent manner. (In other words, he had no need of their money. This was the work of Allah Almighty, and he had complete certainty that He shall bring it to completion.) “Even if all of mankind were to develop in their hearts the same thoughts that you entertain today, they could not cause us the slightest harm. Our Gracious Nurturer is with us – the One Who commissioned us in an age of darkness – and He alone is sufficient for us.” Hazrat Sheikh Yaqub Ali Sahib Irfani (ra), commenting on this letter, states: “This letter also provides an insight into the Promised Messiah’s (as) complete trust in Allah. It is for this very reason that divine revelation bestowed upon him the name Mutawakkil [one who places his complete trust in Allah]. In short, this letter is a mirror reflecting the pure and exemplary life of the Promised Messiah (as).” (Maktubat-eAhmad, Vol. 1, Letter no. 5, Addressed to Haji Muhammad Waliullah Sahib, pp. 399400) Regarding prayer and trust in Allah, the Promised Messiah (as) stated that all difficulties are resolved through prayer. The Promised Messiah (as) stated: “All difficulties are resolved through prayer. What do we possess in our hands? If we have any means of wishing well for anyone, what is it? It is nothing more than the instrument of prayer which God has bestowed upon us. Whether it is for a friend or an enemy, we cannot turn black into white or white into black. We have not the slightest power of our own; whatever we possess is only what God Almighty grants us through His grace.” He further stated: “When a person is faced with difficulties, he naturally experiences anxiety and distress; nevertheless, he should never relinquish his trust in Allah. The occurrence of such conditions of anxiety is necessary for the development and progress of human character and spiritual stages. However, one should never allow despair to draw near.” A person may naturally become restless and anxious, desiring that a matter should be resolved quickly. Yet this must not lead him to despair or cause him to abandon his trust in Allah.
“This must never be the case, for despair is a characteristic of the disbelievers. Various thoughts and doubts may assail a person and cause him anxiety, but faith dispels these doubts and misgivings. Human nature gives rise to anxiety, whereas faith removes it.” (Malfuzat, 2022, Vol. 4, pp. 271-272) In other words, human nature may produce restlessness, but when faith is complete, it drives that restlessness away, and they have firm faith in their success. Thus, although the requirements of human nature may cause a person to experience anxiety, a person possessing perfect faith ultimately dispels this anxiety. While drawing attention towards prayers and advising the development of reliance upon Allah the Almighty, the Promised Messiah (as) states: “The second aspect of prayer is to reform the self and attain the ability to do virtuous deeds to meet a good end. In this, the degree to which one trusts Allah the Exalted, has faith in Him, and moves forward untiringly, is the degree to which one will attain excellent results and fruits. All difficulties will be removed, and the supplicant will reach the lofty station of righteousness” (Malfuzat [English], Vol. 7, p. 74) While describing this aspect of the Promised Messiah’s (as) reliance upon Allah, Hazrat Sheikh Yaqub Ali Irfani Sahib – who has written a biography of the Promised Messiah (as) – states: “Despite the fact that he would exert the utmost effort and endeavour in making preparations for a case, he would never place his reliance upon these means. Rather, the Promised Messiah (as) would resort to prayers, and the Being of God Almighty would always remain in his mind. He alone was the One to be worshipped and the One that was sought, and upon Him alone did he place all reliance and trust.” (Hayat-eAhmad, Vol. 1, Part 3, p. 317) An incident has been recorded in history that after the Promised Messiah (as) had been commissioned by God, an elderly Hindu, who was a friend of the Promised Messiah’s (as) father, came to Qadian. He relates an incident concerning the Promised Messiah’s (as) circumstances and his reliance upon God. The Hindu said that he was around prior to the birth of the Promised Messiah (as). He related this incident by stating that he was around prior to the birth of the Promised Messiah (as). He had held him in his arms and played with him. He said that ever since he had reached the age of maturity, he had been extremely righteous. Whilst praising the Promised Messiah (as), the Hindu man said: “He did not engage in any worldly occupations. He did not become absorbed in playing and amusement like other children. There was never any mischief, disorder, falsehood or abuse in his character. Myself and those of my own age used to consider him indolent, simple-minded and foolish, and would think: ‘How will this man ever support a household? He was raised in my very hands. (The Hindu man was mentioning this about the Promised Messiah [as]) How will he spend his life? Apart from remaining in a separate room, he had no other occupation. He neither struck anyone nor was he ever struck himself.” This, too, is a habit of young men: there are quarrels and disputes; when they go outside, [at times] they hit others or are
themselves struck; in this way they learn. Since he had not learnt any of this, what, then, would he do? (He was considering all this from a worldly perspective.) He further said: “He neither spoke ill of anyone nor allowed anyone to speak ill of him. It was a remarkably pure life. However, in our eyes it was not a good life. If it is viewed from a religious perspective, it was indeed a very pure life, but in the eyes of us worldly people (the Hindu man says), it was not a good life. He did not go anywhere, nor would he speak much unless it was for something particular. “If we ever said anything to him, such as: ‘What is happening in the world? You should also live in this way. At least come outside for the sake of playing and amusement,’ he would say nothing, but would instead smile and remain silent. We would say to him: ‘Come to your senses. Eat, earn something and do some work.’ Upon hearing this, he would remain silent. “The Promised Messiah’s (as) father would say to me, ‘Numberdar [Revenue collector]! Go and call Ghulam Ahmad. Let us advise him.’ I would go and call him. Upon hearing his father’s command, he would come immediately, sit quietly and keep his eyes lowered. “His father would say, ‘Ghulam Ahmad, my son, I am greatly concerned and apprehensive about you. How will you earn your livelihood? How long will you spend your life in this manner? Earn a livelihood; how long will you remain like a bride? One must be concerned about food and sustenance. Look, the world earns, eats, drinks, and engages in work. There will come a time when you will marry; you will have a wife and children. They will require food, drink and clothing. They will be your responsibility; looking after them will be your duty. In this state, I am afraid to arrange your marriage. Face the reality and forsake this negligence and simplicity. How long will I survive? I know eminent British officials and rulers, and they have great regard for me. I can write you a letter; get yourself ready, or, if you would like, I will go with you and give a recommendation for you.’ “Mirza Ghulam Ahmad would not give any response. His father, Mirza Ghulam Murtaza Sahib, would repeatedly say the same thing to him. Eventually, when he did reply, he would say: “‘Father, tell me this: I am employed by the Chief of all officials, the Master of all dominion, the Best of all judges – that is, I am a servant of the One Who is the Master of all kingdoms – and I am obedient to my Lord, the Lord of all the worlds. Why, then, should I worry about anyone else’s employment? Nevertheless, I will not disobey your command either. If you tell me to take up a job, I will do so.’ “Upon hearing this response, Mirza Ghulam Murtaza Sahib would fall silent and say, ‘All right, my son. Go and attend to your place of seclusion.’” When he had left, the Hindu who narrated this incident said that when Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad would go from there – he was in his youth at the time – his father would tell them, “My son will remain a cleric. I should at least find a mosque for him where he might earn ten or twenty maunds of grain. But what can I do? He is not even suited to the work of a cleric. How
AL HAKAM | Friday 23 October 2026 will he make a living after we are gone? He is certainly pious and righteous, but this is no age for such people. This is an age for clever men.” Then, becoming tearful, he would say, “Where do we possess the purity that Ghulam Ahmad possesses? This man is not of the earth; he is of heaven. He is not an ordinary man – he is an angel.” Having said this, the elderly Hindu himself became tearful. The old man who was relating the incident began to weep and said: “If only Mirza Ghulam Murtaza were alive today (the Hindu was an old friend of his), he could witness his son’s rise and advancement – if the father of the Promised Messiah (as) could see the exalted position his son has attained. The intelligent men and mullahs of the world are now dependent upon his door and God has granted him such a station and manifested His Power through him in such a way that all the learning and intellect of others appear insignificant before him.” (Tadhkiratul Mahdi, pp. 300-302) Thus, this Hindu was acknowledging that if Mirza Ghulam Murtaza were alive today, he would realise that the very person who had placed his trust in Allah and sacrificed everything for His sake was now the one from whom the entire world was learning. The Promised Messiah (as) states: “Once, I happened to be in need of 50 rupees. As is sometimes the case with those who live a life of poverty and reliance upon God, we had nothing with us at that time. So, when we went out for a walk in the morning, the thought of this need inspired me to pray in that wilderness. We went to a secluded place and prayed beside the stream, which is situated three miles from Qadian in the direction of Batala. “As soon as I had finished praying, I received a revelation, the translation of which was: ‘Observe how I accept your prayers.’ We then returned happily towards Qadian and headed towards the marketplace to inquire at the post office. (This was prior to the time of making his claim.) We wished to find out whether any money had arrived in our name that day. Accordingly, we received a letter stating that someone had sent 50 rupees from Ludhiana, and most probably that money reached us that very day or the following day.” (Nuzul-ul-Masih, Ruhani Khazain, Vol. 18, p. 612) Upon hearing a prominent man’s view that the Muslim belief that difficulties can be resolved through prayer makes them very weak – that is, that the belief that prayer is a means of resolving difficulties prevents them from taking practical action, and that there are people who turn only to prayer and do not make use of the means available to them, thereby becoming weak – the Promised Messiah (as) stated: “He who denies prayer denies God. Prayer alone is a means of attaining the recognition of God, and the time has now come when His authority must be acknowledged, willingly or unwillingly. In reality, atheism prevails everywhere. The condition of gatherings nowadays is such that those who make a mockery of prayer, reliance upon God and saying inshaAllah [God willing]” regard such things as foolishness. (These circumstances have become even more prevalent nowadays.) Otherwise, if they had even the slightest love
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for God, why would they be offended by His name? Whoever loves someone inevitably mentions the name of their beloved in one way or another. If, in their view, God is nothing, then the door of death is open – let them try closing it. It is astonishing that, to the extent that we place our hopes in His existence, the other group is equally despairing of Him (that is, those who oppose belief in God and are atheists). In reality, the grace of God is necessary. If He does not unlock the locks of the heart, who else can unlock them? If He wills, He can grant even a dog the understanding to comprehend His words, while He may deprive a human being of it.’” (Malfuzat, Vol. 6, pp. 169-170) Hazrat Mian Allah Yar Sahib, a contractor, relates, “The Promised Messiah (as) called me and said, ‘Do you have any wood?’ I replied, ‘Yes, Your Holiness. There is some jujube, acacia and peepal (sacred fig) wood.’ The Promised Messiah (as) said, ‘Some charpoys are being made for the guest house. Their legs have to be made, and there is a need for them.’ I said, ‘We can make them from peepal wood.’ A man said, ‘Your Holiness, peepal wood becomes weak and its legs do not last long.’ The Promised Messiah (as) said, ‘The One for Whom they are being made is not poor; He is All-Sufficient.’ (Meaning, we are making them for the sake of Allah, so it is fine. They will last for some time. According to the circumstances at present, this is sufficient.) “He further said, ‘When the first garment becomes worn out, He grants a new one. There is no need to worry.’ The Promised Messiah (as) instructed me to make 20 charpoys and bring them. Everything has to become defective one day, but he expressed, with great reliance upon Allah, that ‘Allah is the Being Who gives, and if something becomes damaged, He will make arrangements for it again.’” In any case, he was told to fulfil this need. He states, “I was about to leave after receiving the instruction to make the legs of 20 charpoys, when a blacksmith also came there and mentioned the afflictions he faced from the non-Ahmadis. He said, ‘They torment me when they find me alone in the village. Pray that Allah Almighty may save me from their harshness. They have taken my anvil (the heavy iron block on which they heat and hammer iron). They stole it, and now I cannot work.’ “The Promised Messiah (as) said to him, ‘Place your reliance upon God. Allah the Almighty will be your Helper and Supporter. Surely remember that whoever belongs to God, God belongs to him. (If you are suffering difficulties because of being an Ahmadi, then, insha-Allah, these difficulties will be removed. Your needs will be fulfilled.) If you do not abandon God, He will provide your provision for you. We shall also pray for you.’” (Taken from Rawayat Ashab-e-Ahmad, Vol. 4, p. 465) In this gathering where he expressed his own reliance upon Allah, he also instructed another person to place his reliance upon Allah and to pray. Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra) relates a piece of advice which the Promised Messiah (as) gave to a sincere follower. In one narration, Hafiz Nur Muhammad, resident of Faizullah Chak, wrote to him stating that he heard from Hafiz Hamid Ali that the Promised Messiah (as) said, “If one
ever has to appear before a ruler in a court case or for some other matter, then before going, one should recite Surah al-Fatihah seven times and write ‘O Mighty One [Aziz]’ seven times on one’s forehead with one’s finger. In this way, Allah the Almighty grants success.” Commenting on this, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra) writes that “Perhaps he said this in order to create a state of independence from anyone other than Allah, as well as a state of reliance upon Allah.” (Sirat-ul-Mahdi, Vol. 1, Part 2, Narration 468, pp. 441-442) Meaning, if one prays in this manner, one’s attention will be directed towards Allah the Almighty, the fear of anyone other than Allah will disappear, and insha-Allah, Allah will also bestow His grace upon you. Regarding the decisions of court cases, the Promised Messiah (as) states: “My own principle is that even if the worst human brings forth a court case, the authority of Allah is at work, and whatever God Almighty wills, He causes that verdict to be issued. To place one’s reliance upon a human is shirk [associating partners with Allah]. Rather, even if one were to take a case before a wolf, God would even grant the wolf understanding.” (Malfuzat, 2022, Vol. 4, p. 177) Countless court cases were brought against him, but he possessed such a certainty in, and reliance upon God Almighty that he never experienced an occasion – nor did he believe any occasion would occur – in which the opponent would succeed. Regarding an incident of this nature, Hazrat Maulvi Abdul Karim Sialkoti (ra) relates: I remember vividly that on the day that the district superintendent came to Qadian to search the home of the Promised Messiah (as), there was no prior news or knowledge of the impending search, nor could there have been. On that morning, our respected Mir Sahib (as in Mir Nasir Nawab Sahib) heard from somewhere that today a warrant would be coming along with handcuffs as well (to arrest the Promised Messiah [as]). Mir Sahib was shocked and became extremely anxious. He hurried in to inform the Promised Messiah (as), and as he was overcome by emotion, he expressed the matter at hand with grave difficulty (He delivered the news with great difficulty because he was overcome with emotions due to the fact that they were coming with handcuffs and an arrest warrant). His Holiness (as) was writing Nur-ul-Quran at the time, and he was engaged in a very subtle and delicate subject. The Promised Messiah (as) raised his head, smiled, and said: “Mir Sahib! People wear bangles of silver and gold on occasions of worldly joy. I shall deem that I have put on bangles of iron in the way of Allah Almighty.” (The Promised Messiah [as] had profound trust in Allah). Then, after a pause, the Promised Messiah (as) said: “But this will never happen, because the government of God Almighty has its own ways of wisdom. God does not allow His divinely commissioned vicegerents to be humiliated.” (Malfuzat [English], Vol. 2, p. 26) Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra) writes that Maulvi Sarwar Shah Sahib narrated to him: “During the days of the court case with Karam Din in Gurdaspur, and the magistrate had fixed a date [for the hearing],
the Promised Messiah (as) was in Qadian. Two days before the date of the hearing, he sent me to Gurdaspur so that I might extract and prepare certain references there, because references were to be presented at the next hearing.” He relates, “When we arrived at the house in Gurdaspur, we called out to the late Dr Muhammad Ismail Sahib (ra) from the door.” (They went to his house and opened the door.) He further states that upon hearing them call out, the doctor began weeping uncontrollably and became extremely distressed. After some time, he came downstairs while wiping away his tears, and said, “Muhammad Husain Munshi came to me. (He was a clerk in the court, and he was also an opponent of the Movement.) However, he came and told me: ‘A gathering of the Aryas was held today, and an Arya friend took me along with him. After the gathering concluded, they announced that everyone else should leave because they were holding a private meeting. I remained there with this friend. He told me to sit in one corner and that we would leave together.’ “He further said that, ‘During their private meeting, one person stood up. (According to Muhammad Husain) this man mentioned the Promised Messiah (as) by name and said to the magistrate, “This man is our staunch enemy and the murderer of our leader Lekh Ram. Now he is your prey in your hands, and the eyes of the entire nation are upon you from every direction. If you allow this prey to escape from your hands, you will become an enemy of the nation.” He then made various other statements intended to incite him. “‘Upon this, the magistrate replied, “It has already been my desire that, if possible, I should send not only Mirza, but all of his associates and witnesses in this case, to hell. But what can be done? The case is being conducted with such intellect that I cannot find any opportunity to lay hands upon them. However, I now swear that whatever happens, I shall take judicial action at this very first hearing.”’ “Muhammad Husain said to me, ‘You do not understand what judicial action means. It means that every magistrate has the authority – at the beginning of or during a case – to arrest the accused whenever he wishes, without accepting bail, and place him in custody.’ After conveying this information, he said, ‘Doctor Sahib, I have conveyed this news to you. You should make some arrangements. In my opinion, there can be two possible courses of action. (He worked in the courthouse, so he gave advice based on his legal opinion.) One option is to try to have the case transferred from here to the Chief Court. The other is that, by whatever means possible, Mirza Sahib should not appear before the court again for a hearing and should submit a medical certificate.’” He relates: “We also became extremely frightened. We decided that someone should immediately be sent to Qadian to inform the Promised Messiah (as). It was already night, and we could not arrange any means of transport. So, two or three men set out for Qadian on foot. “The Promised Messiah (as) reached Qadian at the time of the morning prayer. I briefly conveyed the matter to him, but the Promised Messiah (as) said calmly, ‘Very
Friday 23 October 2026 | AL HAKAM
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well, we shall go to Batala. Khwajah Sahib and Maulvi Muhammad Ali Sahib will meet us there on their return from Lahore, and we shall mention the matter to them as well. We shall find out there what result came from the attempt to have the case transferred.’ (They had gone there for this purpose.) “Accordingly, the Promised Messiah (as) came to Batala that very day. Maulvi Muhammad Ali Sahib and Khwaja Sahib also met us there while travelling back. They informed him that the attempt to have the case transferred had not been successful. Upon hearing this, the Promised Messiah (as) did not turn back. Rather, he proceeded to Gurdaspur, and on the way he did not inform Khwajah Sahib and Maulvi Sahib of the incident. He made no mention of the fact that this news had been received from the magistrate. “When he reached the house in Gurdaspur, he went, as was his custom, and lay down on a charpoy in a separate room. However, at that time, we were extremely apprehensive, wondering what would happen now. “After a short while, the Promised Messiah (as) called me. I went to him and found him lying straight on his back, with the palms of both hands joined together beneath his head. When I entered, he turned onto one side, rested his head on the palm of his hand with his elbow supporting him, and lay there. He said to me, ‘I called you so that you might tell me the whole incident – what did the magistrate say?’ “I related the entire incident to him, explaining what had been said. The Promised Messiah (as) listened silently. When I reached the word ‘prey,’ and related that the magistrate had said, ‘You have the prey in your hands,’ the Promised Messiah (as) immediately sat upright. His eyes began to sparkle, and his face became red. He said, ‘Am I his prey? I am not prey – I am a lion, and a lion of God! Can he dare lay his hands upon the lion of God? Let him try!’ “As he uttered these words, his voice became so loud that everyone outside the room was startled and turned towards it in astonishment, although no one entered the room. The Promised Messiah (as) repeated the words ‘the lion of God’ several times. At that time, his eyes, which were normally lowered and half-closed, were wide open and truly shone like the eyes of a lion. His face had become so red that it was difficult to look at. Then he said, ‘What can I do? I have already presented myself before God, saying that for the sake of Your faith, I am ready to have iron placed upon my hands and feet’ (that is, he was ready to be handcuffed), but He says, “No, I shall save you from disgrace and acquit you with honour.”’ Then the Promised Messiah (as) began speaking about the love of God and continued speaking passionately for approximately half an hour. When he spoke of the words of Allah the Almighty, he had complete certainty and expectation. He said, ‘No matter what he may say against me, he can never lay his hands upon me.’” (Taken from Sirat-ul-Mahdi, Vol. 1, Narration 107, pp. 84-88) Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra), while mentioning this incident, writes that the
power of faith is very great. There is an incident concerning the Promised Messiah (as). He narrated this very incident concerning the jail. Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) says that he was not present in the gathering in which this incident took place. He was in Gurdaspur, but he was not present in that gathering. A friend told him about it. He mentioned Khwaja Kamaluddin. Khwaja Kamaluddin Sahib and other Ahmadis were worried because the case was before a certain magistrate. The Aryas had put considerable pressure on him, saying, “Mirza Sahib is opposed to our religion. Punish him, and this will be your national service.” When the Promised Messiah (as) heard this, the magistrate had apparently said, “Very well, I shall certainly punish him. Now he is in my hands.” When the Promised Messiah (as) heard this, he leaned on his elbow and said, “Khwaja Sahib, can anyone lay a hand upon the lion of God?” Consequently, Allah the Almighty punished that magistrate. Hazrat Muslehe-Maud (ra) writes that the first thing that happened was that the magistrate was transferred from Gurdaspur. Then he was demoted. Not only was his promotion halted, but he was given a lower post. He had been an Assistant Commissioner – an Extra Assistant Commissioner – but was made a Munsif, that is, a simple magistrate. Then another magistrate came and gave the decision, and that decision was in favour of the Promised Messiah (as). (Taken from Some Important and Necessary Matters, Anwar-ul-Ulum, Vol. 16, p. 293) Regarding this same case, Chaudhry Ghulam Sarwar Bajwa Sahib relates, “When the criminal case concerning Karam Din was brought against the Promised Messiah (as), one day, after consultation among many scholars and lawyers, they told the Promised Messiah (as) that efforts should be made to have the case transferred. The Promised Messiah (as) replied that one should not place all reliance upon worldly means, but should place one’s trust in God.” (Rawayat Ashab-e-Ahmad, Vol. 1, p. 85) On the day of the decision in the Karam Din case, the Promised Messiah’s (as) remarkable trust in Allah was manifested in the following manner. Babu Ghulam Muhammad Sahib Sani relates, “During the time of Chandu Lal, before Atma Ram, the Promised Messiah (as) said, ‘This man is very malicious, and it is impossible to know what is within him. When he comes before me, he stands with his hands folded and behaves with great humility, saying, “Hazrat, my position is such that I cannot fall at your feet (he displays outward humility).” Yet he makes us sit there all day and then says, “Please come tomorrow.” He does this every day. These are merely ways of causing trouble. Apparently, they will fold their hands and say certain things, while in practice they are doing something entirely different.’ “In any case, when the time came for the verdict to be announced in Atma Ram’s court, a large number of police were called in and water was sprayed, while the entire court was surrounded and cordoned off by the police.
“At that time, Khwaja Kamaluddin Sahib interpreted the situation to mean that the magistrate was going to impose a sentence. Addressing this humble servant, he said, ‘Convey my message to the Promised Messiah (as): This man appears determined to do evil. If Hazrat gives permission, three lawyers should be called. Muhammad Shah, a lawyer from Lahore, Fazal Din Sahib, and myself. One should be sent to the Divisional Court, another to the Governor, who is currently on tour, while I shall remain here.’ “When I went and conveyed this to the Promised Messiah (as), he laughed heartily. In response to the entire proposal that He should not go because the magistrate would arrest Him, the Promised Messiah (as) said: “‘He is a Kashmiri, is he not? He has lost heart.’ “He then said, ‘Go and tell them that until today, we have followed your legal
advice. Whatever legal counsel you have given, I have followed it. Now leave the matter to God. My trust is in God, not in you.’ “I went and conveyed exactly this message, and Khwaja Sahib took great offence and stood there with his head bowed.” (Rawayat Ashab-e-Ahmad, Vol. 4, p. 235) Such is the remarkable state of placing one’s complete trust in Allah, which we see manifested everywhere in the life of the Promised Messiah (as), following the example of his master, the Holy Prophet (sa). May Allah enable us also to attain the highest standards of trust in Him. (Official Urdu transcript published in the Daily Al Fazl International, 16 October 2026, pp. 1-8. Translated by The Review of Religions.)
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