English Translation of a Friday Sermon (Delivered on 12th February 1909): Prohibiting Worshippers from Mosques — A Great Injustice
“Only One Quran, One Prophet, One God”
by Hazrat Maulana Nur-ud-Din (English translation by Dr. Zahid Aziz)
The Light (UK), December 2009 Issue (pp. 4–5)
Editor’s Note: We translate below a Friday khutbah [sermon] delivered by Hazrat Maulana Nur-ud-Din as Head of the Ahmadiyya Movement on 12th February 1909, printed in Badr, 18th February 1909, p. 2. Explaining a passage of the Quran, he shows his intense disapproval of sectarian mosques.
وَ مَنۡ اَظۡلَمُ مِمَّنۡ مَّنَعَ مَسٰجِدَ اللّٰہِ اَنۡ یُّذۡکَرَ فِیۡہَا اسۡمُہٗ وَ سَعٰی فِیۡ خَرَابِہَا ؕ اُولٰٓئِکَ مَا کَانَ لَہُمۡ اَنۡ یَّدۡخُلُوۡہَاۤ اِلَّا خَآئِفِیۡنَ ۬ؕ لَہُمۡ فِی الدُّنۡیَا خِزۡیٌ وَّ لَہُمۡ فِی الۡاٰخِرَۃِ عَذَابٌ عَظِیۡمٌ ﴿۱۱۴﴾ وَ لِلّٰہِ الۡمَشۡرِقُ وَ الۡمَغۡرِبُ ٭ فَاَیۡنَمَا تُوَلُّوۡا فَثَمَّ وَجۡہُ اللّٰہِ ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰہَ وَاسِعٌ عَلِیۡمٌ ﴿۱۱۵﴾ وَ قَالُوا اتَّخَذَ اللّٰہُ وَلَدًا ۙ سُبۡحٰنَہٗ ؕ بَلۡ لَّہٗ مَا فِی السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الۡاَرۡضِ ؕ کُلٌّ لَّہٗ قٰنِتُوۡنَ ﴿۱۱۶﴾ بَدِیۡعُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الۡاَرۡضِ ؕ وَ اِذَا قَضٰۤی اَمۡرًا فَاِنَّمَا یَقُوۡلُ لَہٗ کُنۡ فَیَکُوۡنُ ﴿۱۱۷﴾
“And who is more unjust than he who prevents (people) from the mosques of Allah, from His name being remembered in them, and strives to ruin them? (As for) these, it was not proper for them to enter them except in fear. For them is disgrace in this world, and theirs is a grievous punishment in the Hereafter. And Allah’s is the East and the West, so whichever way you turn, there is Allah’s purpose. Surely Allah is Ample-giving, Knowing. And they say: Allah has taken to Himself a son — glory be to Him! Rather, whatever is in the heavens and the earth is His. All are obedient to Him. Wonderful Originator of the heavens and the earth! And when He decrees an affair, He only says to it, Be, and it is.” (The Holy Quran, 2:114–117)
In the preceding section God the Most High has said that you must not treat others scornfully; rather it is befitting that if someone has been granted knowledge, power and prestige by Allah, then in gratitude for it he must help those who do not possess these blessings, instead of ridiculing them. That is prohibited. Hence Allah said:
لَا یَسۡخَرۡ قَوۡمٌ مِّنۡ قَوۡمٍ عَسٰۤی اَنۡ یَّکُوۡنُوۡا خَیۡرًا مِّنۡہُمۡ
“Let not one people laugh at another people, perhaps they may be better than them” (The Holy Quran, 49:11).
It is to be regretted that whenever people come in possession of anything at all they begin to look down upon the other creatures of God. The consequences of this are dangerous for them. The habit of treating others disdainfully reaches the stage where, if someone has control of a mosque, he prevents those people who hold different views from him from entering the mosque. He does not understand that those people too take the name of God. By doing this, he does not make the mosque flourish, but rather
“strives to ruin it”.
Until the 12th century, separate mosques did not exist among Muslims. It was after that time that mosques for Sunnis and Shias became separate. Then mosques for Wahhabis and non-Wahhabis became separate. And now separate mosques are countless. These people did not feel any shame from the knowledge that there is only one mosque in Makkah and only one in Madinah, and there is only one Quran, only one Prophet, and only one God, so why should they create such sectarianism? They should have entered the mosques with hearts full of fear of God.
It was for this reason that the Holy Messenger [Muhammad], may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him, said that when a Muslim enters the mosque and the prayer has already started he should enter it calmly and with dignity, showing respect as if entering the court of a great king. But if they show no fear of God, and stop people from praying in mosques then they will meet with
“disgrace in this world”
And
“a grievous punishment in the Hereafter”.
Remember that it is the height of injustice to prevent anyone from entering a mosque. Look at the example of your Holy Prophet who allowed Christians to worship in his blessed mosque as in a church.
Allah here consoles the Companions of the Holy Prophet, saying that they should not grieve over being denied entry to the mosque [in Makkah] since He is their Helper, and in whichever direction they turn their horses, and whichever way they face, Allah will turn that way to help them. Hence, whichever way the Companions turned, they were greeted there by victory and triumph.
It is a great teaching that you must not prevent anyone from entering a place of worship nor look upon any creature of God with contempt. This does not mean that you should not preach the true religion to the people of the world. It does not mean that at all. What it means is that you must deal with them in a well-mannered and amiable way. If someone holds the wrong belief, correct him at once. For example, when Christians say that God has a son, tell them that God the Most High is far above having the need to depend upon a son, as all that is in heaven and on earth belongs to Him and all are obedient to Him.
Given the views and ideals expressed above by the Head of the Ahmadiyya Movement in 1909, it is highly unjust to object that the Ahmadiyya Movement has increased divisiveness in Islam by creating another sect. On the contrary, as can be seen from this khutbah, this Movement reminds Muslims that for all of them
“there is only one Quran, only one Prophet, and only one God”.
Ideally, there should be no separate mosques for different groups. But as Ahmadis were denied entry to mosques by the leaders of other Muslims and declared as expelled from Islam, they had no choice but to form separate organisations and mosques, until a time comes when other Muslims give up their sectarianism.
The same issue of Badr carries a ‘question and answer’ column, with answers by Hazrat Maulana Nur-ud-Din. The first question he was asked is as follows:
“What were the beliefs of Mirza sahib which made him isolated from the general body of the Muslims?”
His answer was:
“The claim of Mirza sahib was this: Allah the Most High speaks to me, and it is a grace He has bestowed upon me, and Allah has appointed me as Imam and Mujaddid [Reformer] of this century, and called me as Mahdi. People were displeased and said, and still say, that this claim is a fabrication and is false.” (p. 3)