Verily you have in the Prophet of Allah an excellent model, for him who fears Al lah and the

Last Day and who remembers Allah much. (33:22) Say, If you love Allah, follow me: then will Allah love you and forgive you your f aults. And Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful. (3:32) In order to become the recipient of Divine grace, favours and blessings, God has taught to become His Abd (servant), those who follow His commandments. Last Fri day sermon mentioned that by following Gods commandments one comes into the categ ory of true Abd. For this purpose God has sent numerous instructions so that we can become corroborators of So they should hearken to Me and believe in Me (2:187) a nd gain the pleasure of being a true Abd and experience acceptance of prayers. A lthough there are numerous Quranic commandments to attain this objective, but hu man nature is such that it is more influenced by practical example. When one cla ims to love someone, one tries to adopt every practice of the beloved. When fait h is included in this love one wishes to please the beloved as well as secure on es faith. We are fortunate to be included in the Ummah of the Holy Prophet (peace and bles sings of Allah be on him) who was an exemplar of all the Quranic commandments, p resenting a perfect and blessed model. The aforementioned verses draw attention to this subject and command that a Muslim claiming to have faith will accomplish faith and will gain nearness to God when he or she will follow the blessed mode l of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). Without following his blessed model it is pointless to hope for the Hereafter, without it piety canno t be called piety, worship is not worship. Without following his blessed model, Dikhr (remembrance of God) cannot reach that stage from which one gains nearness to God, salvation from sin is not possible without it and one cannot partake of Gods Raheemiyyat (Divine quality of being Merciful) and one cannot attain Gods lo ve. He was the most beloved person of God and if he is not followed, one cannot attain Gods love either. Fortunately, we are Muslims but we will only derive the beneficence of being a p art of the Ummah when we will try to walk in the footsteps of the Holy Prophet ( peace and blessings of Allah be on him). He made is very clear that Gods nearness and love cannot be attained by following steps which he did not practice. In th e current age, it is the favour of his true and ardent devotee, the Promised Mes siah (on whom be peace) that he has guided us to understand and indeed practice the true example of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). H e informed us that some new innovations of worship which are not to be seen in t he blessed model of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) ca nnot attain nearness to God because in order to attain nearness to God it is ess ential to follow the Prophets blessed model. Before presenting examples of the blessed model of the Holy Prophet (peace and b lessings of Allah be on him) which is guidance in becoming a true Abd, here is w hat the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) wrote about the status of the Holy P rophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). He wrote: Say: O my servants who have committed excesses against your own selves despair no t of the mercy of Allah, surely Allah will forgive all sins. [39:54] In this ver se instead of: O servants of Allah; the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of All ah be on him] was commanded to say: O my servants. This verse was revealed in th is form so that God Almighty might convey the good news of limitless mercies and might comfort those who are broken-hearted in consequence of their sins. Thus, Allah the Glorious desired to exhibit a sample of His mercies and to make it man ifest to what extent He honours His faithful servant with special favours. By ad opting the form: Say: O my servants; God in effect said: Look at My beloved Mess enger and see at what high rank he has arrived through his perfect obedience to Me that now all that is Mine is his. He who desires salvation should become his

servant. That is to say, he should obey him so perfectly as if he was his slave. Then whatever sins he might have committed will be forgiven him. The word abd in Arabic idiom also means slave as it is said: even a believing slave is better tha n an idolater [2:222] In the verse to which we have drawn attention, it is indicated that he who desir es salvation should establish the relationship of a slave with this Prophet. Tha t is to say, he should not step outside his commandment and should consider hims elf bound to his obedience as a slave is bound and he would then obtain salvatio n. One pities those benighted souls who bear such rancour towards the Holy Proph et [peace and blessings of Allah be on him] that they consider that names like G hulam Nabi, Ghulam Rasul, Ghulam Mustafa, Ghulam Ahmad and Ghulam Muhammad, amou nt to associating the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be on him] with God, whereas the verse indicates that these names are a means of salvation. As a bd implies that a person so named should refrain from every kind of freedom and self-direction and should be completely obedient to his master, therefore, the s eekers after truth have been urged that if they wish to attain salvation they sh ould adapt themselves to this condition. This verse has the same connotation as the verse: Say, If you love Allah, follow me: then will Allah love you and forgive you your faults [3:32]. Perfect following demands that devotion and full obedience which is conveyed in the expression abd. The verse: Say: O my servants; means in effect: Say: O my fol lowers, who are involved in sins, despair not of mercy of Allah; for Allah, thro ugh the blessing of your following me, will forgive all your sins. If the word s ervants in this verse is construed as meaning the servants of Allah, the meaning of the verse is perverted for it cannot be true that God Almighty would forgive all idol worshippers and disbelievers without their believing in and following the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be on him]. Such an interpretatio n would be contrary to the express directions of the Holy Quran. [Essence of Islam , Vol. I, pp. 204 206] This is glad-tiding for that person who obeys the Prophet (peace and blessings o f Allah be on him) and follows him because his perfect following erases the wors t of sins. If one truly wishes to become an Abd and beloved of God it is most im portant to continue to follow the blessed model of the Holy Prophet (peace and b lessings of Allah be on him) rather than follow it at the odd opportunity. The p ractice of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) was not lim ited to any one aspect nor was it specific to Ramadan. According to Hadhrat Aisha h (may Allah be pleased with her) his life was a personification of the Holy Qura n in all aspects of life. The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) also wrote: It should be remembered that the purport of the verse is that those who become th e sincere servants of the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be on him] will be bestowed the light, the faith, the love and the passion which will deliv er them from all that is beside Allah, and they will be freed from sins and will be bestowed a pure life in this world and they will be delivered from the narro w and dark graves of human passions. This is indicated by the Hadith: That is, I am the resurrector at whose footsteps the dead are raised. The Holy Quran is ful l of the idiom that the world had died and that God Almighty revived it through sending the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be on him] as is said: Kno w that Allah quickens the earth after its death. [57:18] In the same way, it is said with reference to the companions of the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be on him]: He has strengthened with inspiration fr om Himself [58:23] This means that God helped them with the Holy Spirit. The help of the Holy Spirit is that it revives the hearts, delivers from spiritual death, bestows pure faculties, pure senses and pure knowledge, and carries a person to the station of nearness to God through certain knowledge and conclusive argumen ts. [Essence of Islam, Vol. I, pp, 206 207]

This is giving preference to pleasure of God and this is what the Companions of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) practiced. As a result they were granted spiritual life and pure powers with which they fought Satan. They attained knowledge of the Quran and acquired certainty of belief in God and gained His nearness. They achieved all this by following the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be him) and they gained insight of the commandment of: An d as for those who strive in Our path We will surely guide them in Our ways (29:70 ). The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) wrote: This knowledge on which salvation depends cannot be obtained without that life wh ich is bestowed through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Quran affirms it emphatically t hat that spiritual life is obtained only through following the Holy Prophet [pea ce and blessings of Allah be on him] and that all those who repudiate obedience to him are dead and do not possess that life. Spiritual life means the intellect ual and active faculties which are brought to life by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Quran shows that the commandments of God to which He desires man to conf orm are six hundred. In consonance with this the wings of Gabriel are also six h undred. Till the egg of humanness lies under the wings of Gabriel bearing these six hundred commandments, it cannot hatch the baby of being completely lost in A llah. The reality of man has the capacity of six hundred eggs. A person whose si x hundred eggs are covered by the six hundred wings of the capacity of Gabriel i s the perfect man whose spiritual birth is perfect and whose life is perfect. If one looks with care one finds that the spiritual issue of the egg of humanness which by the blessing of the following of the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be on him] were born to the Holy Spirit, are more perfect and complete than the spiritual children of all the other Prophets. This is indicated by the verse: You are the best of people who have been created for the good of mankind. [3:111] [Essence of Islam, Vol. I, pp. 207 208] Having being declared as best of people, it is incumbent on us to try to bring a bout the spiritual revolution which we have been given the teaching for. We will only be able to reform others if we have reformed ourselves. We should continue to self-reflect and see where and how are we making efforts. Indeed, a sinful p erson can go on to become an Abd, but only though following the perfect and bles sed model of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) with all ones capacities. Next some examples from the life of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of All ah be on him) were presented. He was that great Prophet who would be busy during the day in matters of governance and in the spiritual development of his follow ers. He would be thus busy in ordinary times but in times of emergency and war h is engagements used to be extreme. Yet, we do not find any impediment in his wor ship of God during day or during the night. His worship at night time would be s o intense that his feet would swell due to standing up for long periods of time. As the Quran states: Verily, getting up at night is the most potent means of subd uing the self and most effective in respect of words of prayer. (73:7) It is rela ted that Hadhrat Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked the Holy Prophet (p eace and blessings of Allah be on him) that he was already close to God so why d id he put himself through so much pain. He replied that being close to God did i t not make his obligation that he was a grateful servant of God. It is Gods favour on us that not only did He make us Muslims, He also enabled us to take the greetings of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on hi m) to His true and ardent devotee, the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace). This

favour alone is so huge that we could never thank God for it. It should be the effort of every Ahmadi to try and pay the dues of worship of God according to hi s or her capacity. The routine to offer Nawafil (optional Salat) in Ramadan shou ld not be temporary and should not be to attain worldly objectives; rather it sh ould be to express gratefulness. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) was extremely regular in observance of obligatory Salat. Even during severe illness he would go to the mosque walking with support. He put great sign ificance on worship yet he did not like pretence in this regard. Once he noticed a dangling rope at home and upon asking was told that Hadhrat Zainab (may Allah be pleased with her) would use it as support when she became tired during Salat . The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said that one should stan d in Salat for as long as one could manage worship with ease but when tired, one should sit down and continue worship. Some people make it habitual to sit and o ffer Salat some stay in bed to offer Fajr, this is incorrect. One should try to the best of ones ability when offering Salat and everyone should gauge their capa city in this regard. In spite of his exemplary worship and gratefulness, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said that no one will be admitted to Paradise owin g to their practices. When asked, he replied that even he would not be admitted to Paradise on this basis and said that only Gods grace and mercy would facilitat e his entry to Paradise. What a sublime example of humility and fear of God is t his. It is great cause for concern for those who show airs and graces at their e very pious act. May God always keep us wrapped in His grace and forgiveness and may He enable us to offer true worship and to adopt humility. The Holy Prophet ( peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said adopt piety in your tasks and find the way to Divine nearness. He said no one should wish for death; if he is pious , he will develop in piety and if he is wicked, he will be enabled to repent. In deed the capacity to repent also comes from God. In Ramadan one tries to remove ones shortcomings, this practice should be continued after Ramadan. Here, the Hol y Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) addressed those who are drawn towards repentance in order to enhance in piety and who pray that indeed death is inevitable but may one be overcome by it when God is pleased with one. The Ho ly Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said that not utilising ones capacities and Gods blessings, is insolence and the correct use of ones capacities is worship. To use ones ears, eyes, tongue, hand and feet to do pious tasks beco mes worship. Listening to pious matters with ears makes one recipient of Gods ple asure whereas it is a sin to listen to back-biting. It is also not correct use o f ones ears to keep them permanently shut so that one may not hear something bad, in fact it is a kind of insolence. It is the same with the use of other faculti es. We are going through Ramadan these days and it is Gods command to eat at Sehr i and break the fast at Iftar. If someone does not follow this, it is insolence and a sin, unless there is some constraint. If one does not fast in spite of goo d health, it is also insolence and a sin. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) had remarkable forbear ance and tolerance. Before the commandment of prohibition of alcohol, once an in ebriated Companion spoke inappropriately to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) but he did not say anything to him. There are many incidents of his forbearance after he migrated to Medina and had great power at his disposal . Once a Jew started arguing with him and kept addressing him as O Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). He was the ruler of Medina and his Companion s did not like this form of address. While Muslims addressed the Holy Prophet (p eace and blessings of Allah be on him) as O Prophet of God, the non-Muslims addre ssed him with his family name as Abu Qasim. The Companions told off the Jew for his form of address but he insisted that he would use the name which was given b y the parents of the Prophet. Hearing this, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing s of Allah be on him) smiled and said the Jew was right, indeed his parents had named him Muhammad. He told his Companions not to be angry. Once a well-off woma n usurped someones property and was punished. The tribes became restless that a w

oman of high rank had been punished and sent someone to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) to intercede. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) expressed displeasure. Indeed, he was an embodiment of affe ction but he was displeased at the intercession against Gods commandment. He said : Those who have gone before you were destroyed, because if any one of high rank committed theft amongst them, they spared him; and it anyone of low rank committ ed theft, they inflicted the prescribed punishment upon him. Islam does not perm it this. By Allah, if even my daughter Fatima were to commit this crime, I would have punished her. These days sense of justice is missing among the Muslims and that is the reason for their decline. We should be most careful in this regard. Our office-holders should also fulfil the dues of justice and should try and mai ntain such standards, for this is a perilous matter and becomes a source of decl ine. The Prophets (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) sense of justice with the e nemy was in light of the Quranic commandment. Once he sent some Companions towar ds Makkah as messengers. The Companions met some men within the boundary of the Kaba and they suspected that the men would inform the people of Makkah. The Compa nions attacked and killed the men. Later, a delegation from Makkah came with the complaint that their men were killed. Rather than remind the people from Makkah of their own atrocities, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on h im) agreed to pay blood money. The Prophets (peace and blessings of Allah be on h im) respect for the sentiments of others is demonstrated in the tradition where a Jew came to him with the complaint that Hadhrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) had hurt his feelings by saying that Muhammad was superior to Moses. It is indeed a fact that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on hi m) was most excellent among all the Prophets. However, his judgment was in favou r of the Jew and said that Hadhrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) shou ld not have spoken to him in that manner. The Holy Prophets (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) demeanour towards thos e who serve humanity is evident in the tradition where during a skirmish with pe ople of a tribe the Muslims took some prisoners. Among these prisoners was the d aughter of the renowned generous Arab called Hatem. When the Prophet came to kno w about this, he negotiated with her and on her recommendation pardoned the peop le of her tribe. As regards the Prophets (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) respect and honour for women, according to Arab customs men used to beat their women. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said: women are Gods m aids and are not your maids. He once told a Companion who asked him about rights of wife, feed her whatever God has provided you with, clothe her with what God ha s given you to clothe, do not slap her, do not verbally abuse her and do not tur n her out of the house. These days such incidents come up, people should think ab out this. On the one hand they engage in prayers and on the other hand they are disobeying the commandment. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said: The best of you i s he who is best to his family, and I am the best among you to my family. In spit e of his other demanding engagements, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of A llah be on him) used to do household chores in a fine manner. Hadhrat Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) relates that whatever time he spent at home he would be busy helping and serving the family. He would patch up his clothes himself, would milk the goat and if he came home late he did not awaken anyone and would have his food by himself. Therein is a lesson for those men who think it is a si n for them to do house work and who think it is the duty of the wife to always s erve food. Such people are not satisfied unless they have ranted and raved at th eir wives. Some of them do Jamaat work but such is their attitude at home. In som e families the mother and sisters are scornful if their brother serves tea to gu ests and they say that their brother is slave to his wife, that their poor brothe r/son has to do house work. At times such men are misled and they become harsh in their attitude with their wives. Such men are not poor this or the other when the

y practice the blessed model, in fact they will be poor this or the other when t hey are harsh to their wives and will be held accountable. They should have caus e for concern. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) used to pray for his o wn children and other children who lived with him: O Allah, I love them, You love them too. He never punished children and always trained them with love and praye r. When the first fruit of the season came he would pray for the fruit to be ble ssed and then first give the fruit to the youngest child in the assembly. It is also related that he used to play with children. Most parents love their childre n but some do reprimand them needlessly. Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih met with a you ng man recently who told him that he was scared all the time and was suffering f rom depression. The cause for his psychological illness is that his father would beat him up all the time. When the father was asked what was the reason for doi ng this he said it was important to keep an influence on the children. Such is t he state of some parents. Here, one gets to hear that some parents kill their ch ildren for their personal pleasures. These days such news is rife. Then there ar e those who love their own children but cannot tolerate other peoples children. T he Holy Prophets (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) blessed model was to lo ve all children. He repeatedly enjoined good treatment of neighbours. It is rela ted that once he said: By God he is certainly not a believer, he is certainly not a believer, he is certainly not a believer. When the Companions asked who he ref erred to, the Prophet said, one from whose harm and ill treatment his neighbour i s not safe. Thus a few aspects have been mentioned today. Be it good treatment of relatives, or matter of mutual cooperation, or matter of overlooking something indulgently or matter of shunning suspicion or matter of keeping positive thoughts about so meone or any other high moral, the blessed model and advice of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing of Allah be on him) can be found everywhere. Thus the perfec t Abd created a revolutionary change in the ignorant of that age. Today if any m odel is to be availed it is this blessed model so that we can be the recipients of Gods blessings and adorn our world and our ending. Prayers should be made toda y and in the last remaining two days of Ramadan, because Ramadan is a month of a cceptance of prayers and prayers should be made for the rest of your life that m ay God make us true believers and may we follow the blessed model. The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said that salvation does not come from o nes efforts, rather is brought about by Gods grace and He never negates the law th at He has fixed to attain that blessing. And the law is: Say, If you love Allah, f ollow me: then will Allah love you and And whoso seeks a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him... (3:86) May God enable us to understand this reality and may this Ramadan depart having shown us its real insight and may we follow the blessed model till the next Rama dan, traversing new objectives. English PowerPoint English PDF Slides Tamil Complete Text Other Languages Arabic Bosnian French [ August 17th, 2012] Find by Keyword Go Browse Friday Sermon by year: 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972

1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1935 1934 1933 1932 1931 1930 1929 1928 1927 1926 1925 1924 1923 1922 1921 1920 1919 1918 1917 1916 1915 1914 1913 1912 1911 1910 1909 1908 1907 1906 1904 1902 1901 1899Go Verses Cited in this Friday Sermo n: 33:22 3:32 2:187 29:70 73:7 3:86 Synopsis: English Urdu We are fortunate to be included in the Ummah of the Holy Prophet(saw) who was an exemplar of all the Quranic commandments, presenting a perfect and blessed model. The aforementione d verses draw attention to this subject and command that a Muslim claiming to ha ve faith will accomplish faith and will gain nearness to God when he or she will follow the blessed model of the Prophet(saw). Fortunately, we are Muslims but we will only derive the beneficence of being a p art of the Ummah when we will try to walk in the footsteps of the Holy Prophet(s aw). He made us very clear that Gods nearness and love cannot be attained by foll owing steps which he did not practice. In the current age, it is the favour of h is true and ardent devotee, the Promised Messiah(as) that he has guided us to un derstand and indeed practice the true example of the Holy Prophet(saw). This is glad-tiding for that person who obeys the Prophet(saw) and follows him b ecause his perfect following erases the worst of sins. If one truly wishes to be come an Abd and beloved of God it is most important to continue to follow the bl essed model of the Holy Prophet(saw) rather than follow it at the odd opportunit y. The practice of the Holy Prophet(saw) was not limited to any one aspect nor w as it specific to Ramadan. The Holy Quran shows that the commandments of God to which He desires man to conf orm are six hundred. In consonance with this the wings of Gabriel are also six h undred. Till the egg of humanness lies under the wings of Gabriel bearing these six hundred commandments, it cannot hatch the baby of being completely lost in A llah. The reality of man has the capacity of six hundred eggs. It is Gods favour on us that not only did He make us Muslims, He also enabled us to take the greetings of the Holy Prophet(saw) to His true and ardent devotee, t he Promised Messiah(as). This favour alone is so huge that we could never thank God for it. It should be the effort of every Ahmadi to try and pay the dues of w orship of God according to his or her capacity. The Holy Prophet(saw) had remarkable forbearance and tolerance. Before the comma ndment of prohibition of alcohol, once an inebriated Companion spoke inappropria tely to the Prophet(saw) but he did not say anything to him. There are many inci dents of his forbearance after he migrated to Medina and had great power at his disposal. The Holy Prophet(saw) used to pray for his own children and other children who l ived with him: O Allah, I love them, You love them too. He never punished children and always trained them with love and prayer. When the first fruit of the seaso n came he would pray for the fruit to be blessed and then first give the fruit t o the youngest child in the assembly.

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

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