The Lecture of Hazrat Maulana Saeed Ahmad Khan rahmatullah alayh Delivered in England: The Work Commissioned by Allah Ta'ala is "the" Work (Part 1)

Excerpts from a booklet entitled "The Letters of Maulana Saeed Ahmad Khan Saheb": Translated by Maulana Mohammed Kadwa (Publisher: Idara Isha'at-e-Diniyat (P) Ltd. 

Allah Ta'ala has structured the foundation of His Deen upon the work of dakwah. Deen can only regain it's universal lushness and vendure upon the buoyant revival of the mission of dakwah. Allah Ta'ala instituted this mission of dakwah with many sacrifices and not with ease and comfort. Subjecting 124,000 Sahabah radiyalaahu anhum to numerous sacrifices, the work of dakwah forged ahead. Hadhrat Nuh alayhis salam was made to undertake dakwah for a lenghty period of 950 years. He was subjected to such sacrifices that he would get "swamped" by the stones hurled at him and Hadhrat Jib'reel alayhis salam would then come to his rescue and haul him out of the mound stones. Similarly, Hadhrat Ibrahim alayhis salam, Hadhrat Musa alayhis salam and other Prophets alayhimus salam were all constrained to toil hard in the field of dakwah. Finally,  Rasulullah sallalaahu alayhi wasallam was made to embark upon the task of dakwah with a collective struggle and sacrifice of all the Ambiyaa alayhimus salam put together. As he himself once remarked, "In regard to Deen, nobody was harrassed as I was." The implementation of dakwah brings in it's wake numerous mountains and hurdles as this creates the yaqeen of Allah. The yaqeen of the power and control of Allah Ta'ala can never be embedded into the heart until and unless one is faced with hurdles and obstacles. Rasulullah sallalaahu alayhi wasallam adopted his prophetic sacrifices as well, thereby drawing the Ummah to follow suit.

Following the demise of Rasulullah sallalaahu alayhi wasallam, Hadhrat Abu Bakr radiyalaahu anhu was faced with the opposition of all quarters the moment he extended dakwah to the people. He was faced with many internal problems. meanwhile, extensive preparations were underway to attack Madinah Munawarrah thereby increasing their external problems as well.

We tend to panic over the most trivial hurdles and obstacles. The Sahabah radiyalaahu anhum had to put up with relentless obstacles whilst residing in Makkah. This humble servant means that the most seemingly trivial hurdles of the Sahabah radiyalaahu anhum surpasses the greatest of our hurdles. Apart from the worldly losses they sustained in Makkah, their lives and the lives of their wives, children and parents were all being sacrificed in support of this cause but they valiantly faced up to all the stumbling blocks in the wake of this mission. As a result, following their arrival in Madinah Munawarrah they were able to challenge the mightiest of internal as well as external obstacles and break them as though they were breaking spiders web. The hurdles faced by one who continuously engages in the work of dakwah are nothing more than spiders web. He who has assumed Allah as his Rabb and Rasulullah sallalaahu alayhi wasallam as his Prophet can never under any circumstances say that he has no time for Deen. In fact, he ought to assert that he has no time for dunya (world) under all circumstances. 

This worldly life is but a life of fun and futile play resembling the life of dreams. Upon reaching the grave, one astoundingly realises that the entire world and it's pursuits which he employed as a pretext to avoid setting aside time for Deen, is nothing but a life of futile amusement and dreams. After his death he will regret and lament (over his life wasted away in the dunya but it would be to no avail). 

Friends! The work which people tender as an excuse is not work in reality. Work in it's true sense is the activity delegated by Allah. As Allah Ta'ala declares: "And I have not created Jinn and mankind (for any reason) except that they worship Me." [Surah 51: Verse 56]

All other forms of activities and pre-occupations are nothing but excuses. Isn't Istinjaa (post-excretory ablution) some form of activity as well? Is this not a necessity? Failure to attend to the call of nature will no doubt have a disastrous effect on the life of a person. A person is therefore compelled to visit the toilet but in accordance to his need. Have you heard of anyone visiting the toilet to take a rest? This is so because it is not a resting-place but a place of necessity.

Work in its true senses lies in obeying the divine commands of Allah Ta'ala and following the blessed life-style of Rasulullah sallalaahu alayhi wasallam. Allah ta'ala had delegated many representatives to carry out His work. In other words, they (the representative) were instructed to establish a relationship between Allah and His servants. But alas! we are guilty of forsaking the work of Allah Ta'ala by engagng in eating, drinking, building houses, running businesses and other futile amusements! Then are we not liable for divine retribution?

I (Maulana Saeed Ahmad Khan rahmatullah alayh)  had the opportunity of visiting Bangladesh when it was still under Pakistani rule. I met about eight Burmese youth. All of them were Surtees - hailing from Surat, Rander and suburbs - who were great businessmen in the glorious times of Rangoon (before the communist regime came into power). On many occasions, aided by Rangoon funds, rugs worth well over 80,000 Rupees used to be purchased for the masjids (of India). The yarn used in the manufacture of those rugs was so thick that they had to be trimmed at least twice before they were suitable for sajdah purposes. (Hadhrat Maulana recollected just this one example to express the wealth of Burmese in former times). Upon inquiring about their purpose of coming over to Bangladesh, they replied that they were owners of massive factories and businesses but they lost everything in just one day. They were owners of those factories and businesses in the morning but by the evening all of it fell into the hands of the government. I asked them, "Is the Almighty Allah of Rangoon different to the Allah of this country? At least your lives were saved out there. Here you may lose your lives as well. There is no annihilator but Allah Ta'ala. Only Allah Ta'ala is the saviour as well as the annihilator. On account of certain divine principles, He either destroys or He protects. If you lead a life of disobedience unto Allah Ta'ala, He will in accordance to His fixed principles, destroy you. If not in this world, He will destroy you in the Hereafter.

Following a detailed narrative about Spain and Russia, Hadhrat Maulana went on to say further: If only people were to proclaim and promote the Kalimah of Allah and adopt the life-style of Rasulullah sallalaahu alayhi wasallam on a universal level, Allah Ta'ala, in conformity to His divine code will bring about a life of peace and tranquility in this world. Once the work of dakwah is promoted, churches will transformed into masjids or else masjids will turn into churches. Allah Ta'ala doesn't require the masjid structures but He looks towards the 'aamal of the masjids. Once the 'aamal of the masjids take leave from the Muslims, the masjids are destined to become churches and stables. Allah Ta'ala does not care about the aftermath of the masjids once their 'aamal are relinquished.

Many years ago, whilst visiting Baitul-Muqaddas, I explicitly mentioned that it (Baitul-Muqaddas) is not in the hands of Muslims. A place where the Imaam deceives the people by performing twenty rakaats of taraweeh with Surah Rahman alone and where naked women shamelessly tour about! How can one then consider it to be in the hands of the Muslims? On the face of it, it was in the hands of the Muslims but in reality it was not. Once the 'aamal of the masjids are done away with, Allah Ta'ala does not require the masjid structure even though it may be Masjid al-Aqsa. The country and the earth belongs to Allah alone. He is at liberty to hand it over to whomever He pleases - to our enemy our to our friend.