Mahdaviah Insight (A Publication of Mahdavia Islamic Center of Chicago )

February 2018 (Jamadi ul Awwal/Jamadi us Thani, 1439 H) | Vol. 3, Number 8

Editorial: The One with Evidence (Sahab-e-Bayyanah) In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

The month of Jamadi ul Awwal has great significance for Mahdavis because this is the month of the birth of Allah’s Caliph, Inside this issue: Hazrat Syed Muhammed (Jaunpuri) Mahdi Alaihis-Salaam. He AS came to propagate the teachings of Vilayat -e- Muhammadiya and this is the primary purpose of his advent. Just like any other matter, the Muslim Ummah is divided on the subject of Mahdi and some people have gone to the extreme point to question the need for his advent. In fact, these people should ask Allah SWT why he sent Imam Mahdi in the Ummah of Prophet Muhammed SAS. They should ask Prophet Mu- hammed SAS why he explained about the advent of Mahdi in as many Ahadith that they have reached the level of Mutawatira (recurring). Therefore, we don’t have to answer their question. Editorial 1 Among those who believe in the advent of Mahdi, we see that a large majority of Muslim Ummah is still waiting for the ad- vent of this personality, this include people from Shia Islam and Sunni Islam. It is only the Mahdavia Community which has a The Purpose of 2 firm belief that Hazrat Syed Muhammed (Jaunpuri) AS is the Caliph of Allah and the Mahdi as promised. the advent of When Allah SWT sends someone (a prophet or a Caliph) for the guidance of Mankind, He will send that person with an evi- Mahdi (A.S.) dence (Bayyanah). There are only two places in Qur’an wherein it is said “AFAMAN KANA ALAA BAIYYINATIM-MIR- RABBIHI..”. One is verse 14 of Surah Muhammed and the second one is in verse 17 of Surah Hud.

1.Translation: “Can then he, who stands on clear evidence from his Lord, be like those for whom their evil deeds are beauti- Mubaiyyin E 3 fied for them, while they follow their own lusts”. (Al Qur’an, 47:14) In this verse, Allah SWT clearly laid down the difference Kalaamullah between Prophet Muhammed SAS (who is with a clear evidence (proof) from his Lord) and the infidels of Makkah such as Abu Jahal and his companions.

2. Translation: “Is he who relieth on a clear proof from his Lord, and a witness from Him reciteth it, and before it was the Kids’ Section 4 Book of Moses, an example and a mercy? Such believe therein, and whoso disbelieveth therein of the clans, the Fire is his appointed place. So be not thou in doubt concerning it. Lo! it is the Truth from thy Lord; but most of mankind believe not”. (Al Qur’an, 11:17) In this second verse, the Qur’an clearly laid down a difference between someone who is on a clear proof from his Lord (This should be someone who has been sent by Allah. Since Prophet Muhammed SAS is the last in the chain of Urdu Poetry 4 prophets, therefore, this person should be a Caliph of Allah and he is the Mahdi, the Promised) and those who are in love of this world, therefore, cannot be equal to him (Mahdi). Further, the evidence (Bayyanah) that is given to Mahdi by Allah SWT is the Vilayat of Prophet Muhammed SAS. Mahdi AS presented this verse (11:17) in proof of his Mahdiyat.

The evidence (Bayyanah) which is in the form of Vilayat-e-Muhammadiya, is so important that without which one cannot

even strive for the ultimate goal of human life (Deedar-e-Ilahi). It is for this purpose, the Prophet SAS has instructed the Um-

mah to go and make covenant with him even if you have to crawl on ice because he is the Caliph of Allah, Mahdi. In other

words, the teachings of Ihsan will remain out of bound if one does not have the benefit (Faiz) of Vilayat. The whole purpose of above discussion is to underline the importance of understanding the need and importance of the advent of Mahdi in the

Ummah of Prophet Muhammed SAS.

Editorial Team As Mahdavis, when we have accepted Hazrat Syed Muhammed Mahdi AS who was born on 14th Jamadi ul Awwal 847 H, as 1. Zareen Syed Mahdi, the promised, we have much more responsibility to strive hard for putting all the teachings of Mahdi AS (obligations of Editor-in-Chief Vilayat along with obligations of Nabuwat) into practice to reach our goal. If we focus on the teachings of Mahdi AS, it is very clear that our goal is not to seek this world but the creator of this world, our goal is not to seek Jannah but the Creator of MICC has an Editorial Team Jannah, knowing our Lord (Allah) and having His Irfan. If this is our objective of this life, we can not follow the course outline and a Review Board to ensure the quality of the where we cannot have a chance to go beyond Jannah. Thus, our course outline is different from others; our objective of life publication. is different from others. As Mahdi AS said, “Even if all the eight paradises are given to you. Do not be content with them. Be magnanimous and ambitious; be in love with the Truth (Haq). You are the Phoenix of the near-by mountain. Soar (as high The Newsletter, being a collaborative project, will also be available at as you can).” www.miccusa.org, www.promisedmehdi.com, promisedmehdi yahoo group, and We are pleased to present the February issue of Mahdaviah Insight. In this issue, you will find an article on the purpose of Promised Mehdi facebook page. AS the advent of Mahdi , another article explains the terminology on Mubaiyyin-e-Kalaamullah, kids’ section on brief his tory The authors are responsible for the of Islam, and Urdu poetry. Please find time to read and share the Newsletter. Your comments and suggestions are always contents of their article; editorial board may or may not agree with the appreciated. opinions expressed by authors. Editorial Team

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Mahdaviah Insight February 2018 page 2

The Purpose of the Advent of Mahdi (AHS) Syeda Khundza Nida Mahmood

Quote from the In the name of Allah, the most High. (a) Allah SWT does not like those people who love others with the same degree as they love Him. Article) There are two main objectives of the advent of Hazrath. Mah- (b) Allah says believers are those who love Allah the (AHS.) most (more than anyone and anything) di Maa’ud (i) The revival of the true spirit of Islam, which was di- (c) In the verse of Surah Taubah, after giving a list of “The second minishing due to the mundane love and lust of this all these people and all those things which are world. usually lived and loved, Allah Almighty warns that if objective of the (ii) The accessibility of the teachings of Ehsan (Vilayat) the love of these people and those things increases in your heart more than the love of Allah, His apos- advent was to bring As far as the first objective is concerned, we see that Hazrath tle and striving in His Cause, then they should wait Mahdi Maa’ud (AHS.) brought back the Islam of our Prophet’s for the torment. The punishment for such people is the servants of Allah era by establishing Shariah and by eradicating customs, that they will not be guided by Allah Almighty. closer to Him by habits and innovations (Rasm, Aadath Bid’ah). Our Prophet (PBUH) has said about Hazrath Mahdi (AHS.) that he will not As it is clear that Allah’s love is prime in the teachings of making them reach abandon any sunnah by re-establishing it and will not leave Hazrath Mahdi (AHS.) . Now the question would be to find any bid’ah by erasing it. Therefore, Hazrath Mahdi (AHS.) pre- the way to love Allah. Let’s again refer the Holy Qur’an the spiritual zenith, pared the groups of people, who in fact were even praised by for guidance: one of the non-Mahdavi writers as: “They were not human where they can beings but angels of heaven who were sent down to purify the “Say (O Muhammad to mankind): "If you (really) love earth.” Allah, then follow me (i.e. Muhammad), Allah will achieve the ultimate love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Oft- The second objective of the advent was to bring the servants Forgiving, Most Merciful." (Al Qur’an 3:31) goal of their of Allah closer to Him by making them reach the spiritual existence: zenith, where they can achieve the ultimate goal of their exist- Thus, following Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) (Ittibah) is the ence: The Vision of Allah, if Allah wills. Hazrath Mahdi (AHS.) essential element that is required in the quest to love The Vision of Allah, if himself explains the aim of his advent as follows: “We have Allah. It is for this reason, Hazrat Mahdi (AHS.) has taught been sent only for the Vision of our dearly loved Allah.” Allah us by saying “My religion is the book of Allah and the Allah wills. ” says in the Quran, “Say (O’ Muhammad) this is my way, I following of Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) . Hazrath Mahdi do invite unto Allah on clear evidence as the seeing with (AHS.) is the perfect follower (without error) of the Prophet one’s eyes – I and one who follows me.” Here in this verse (PBUH) . the words “who follows me” are meant for Hazrath Mahdi (AHS.). This kind of invitation cannot be given by any follower The guided people were those whose hearts were filled except the one who is perfect in following the Prophet (PBUH), with great devotion and love for Allah, and this love alone who is as innocent as the Prophet (PBUH) and who is ordained was their sole motivation to live their lives devotedly by Almighty Allah to accomplish this task. obeying and following the commands of Allah (SWT) and when needed, they sacrificed their lives and so did their (AHS.) The essence of the teachings of Hazrath Mahdi is the dear ones. It was nothing but the true spirit of the love for intense love for Allah (Ishq-e-Ilahi) as he (AHS.) said, “We have Allah that made all such things easy for them. ———— brought the religion of lovers.” These infallible words encom- pass all the teachings of Hazrath Mahdi (AHS.) and are in total Today we don’t have to face the challenges of the past. Al-Qur’an conformity with the Quranic verse in which Allah says: “And And yet, we still find it difficult to be steadfast in our faith of mankind who take others besides Allah as rivals, they and the reason for this could be our lack of love for our (Inviting towards Allah’s love them as they love Allah. But those who believe Creator. True, eternal love. Baseerath (believers) love Allah the most” (Surah Baqarah, 165). This ) verse shows the distinction between the believers and non- May Allah help us find that love for Him and guide us on “ Say (O’ believers with love as the criterion.. It is not permissible to the straight path. May Allah guide us to follow His Proph- love others with the same degree of love as we love Almighty et, Muhammed (PBUH) and His Caliph, Hazrat Mahdi e Muhammad) this is Allah. It is said in Surah Taubah, Ma’ud (AHS.) . my way, I do invite “Say, If it be that your fathers, your sons, your brothers, unto Allah on clear your mates, or your kindred, the wealth ye have gained, evidence as the the commerce in which ye fear a decline or the dwellings in which ye delight – are dearer to you than Allah or His seeing with one’s Messenger or striving in His cause—then wait until Allah eyes – I and one brings about His decision and Allah guides not the rebel- lious.” who follows me" If we examine these verses of Surah Baqarah and Surah ( Al Qur’an, 12:108) Taubah, it all becomes clear to us how Ishq-e-Ilahi is so indis- pensable for the believers. We understand by the given

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Mahdaviah Insight February 2018 page 3

MUBAYYIN-- Hadith

It was narrated that 'Amir

In the Name of Allah, The Most High. Imamuna AS did the Bayan e Quran between the said: "I was told that Bashir bin prayers of Asr and Maghrib. Huge crowds gathered Mubayyin is derived from the Arabic root word Bayaan. Sa'd came to the Messenger to listen to those divinely revealed words. And one of Allah and said: 'O Messen- Bayaan means explanation definition statement etc. of the miracles of the Bayan e Quran by Imamuna ger of Allah, my wife 'Amrah Mubayyin means person who explains, defines, clarifies. AS was that every person heard the words in his or bint Rawahah told me to give This is also part of the status and one of the titles of her own mother tongue. If somebody spoke Hindi he a gift to her son Nu'man, and Imamuna AS, and also one of the objectives for the ad- wil hear it as spoken in Hindi, if somebody spoke she told me to ask you to vent of Imamuna Mehdi AS. In the Surah Al Qiyamah, Gujarati, he will hear it in Gujarati language. bear witness to that.' The Prophet said: 'Do you have Allah says: “Thumma inna AAalayna bayanahu” (75:19) any other children?' This is translated as “ explain its de- Another miracle of this Bayan e Quran was that people sitting closer and farther will hear the voice, tails to you is upon Us”. (and to make it clear) evenly with the same volume of sound. The bayan e Quran of Imamuna AS was not recorded in the writ- This is the promise of Allah made in the Quran to the ten form, but was memorized by his companions people, and Allah has taken the responsibility to explain (As’haab), word to word. The same tradition of do- the real meaning of the Quran. So, one of the objectives ing the bayan e Quran between the prayers of Asr of the advent of Imamuna AS was to explain and clarify and Maghrib, was carried on by his Caliphs, and (Reference: Sunan an- the real meaning of the Quranic verses, as intended by after them the successive Murshids of the time. The Nisa’I 3683) Allah. It is for this reason, one of the titles of Imamuna Murshids trained their successors in the bayan e AS is Muradullah i.e. he explained the real meanings of Quran and it was one the prerequisites to be able to the Quran, by explaining what Allah intended by those do the bayan e Quran. This tradition continued for a verses. few centuries, after the Imam AS had passed away, but lately this tradition has become extinct and anti- There are numerous commentaries on the Quran. The quated. commentary on the Quran is called Tafsir. The plural is Tafaseer, the commentator is called Mufassir. The earli- Here we present one such example of explanation est of the tafaseer is by Abdullah Ibn Abbas, a compan- or interpretation as presented by Imamuna Mahdi AS based on Allah’s command: ion of the Prophet PBUH. There are other important ones, such as Tafsir Ibn Kathir etc. Naql: Naql: It is narrated that Imam Mahdi AS, while expli-

cating the Qur’anic verse, “O ye who believe! Draw A tafsir is based on explaining the general meaning of not near unto prayer when you are drunken”, he AS the verse, the circumstances of the revelation of a partic- said, “The drunkenness (Sukara) here also means Imam Mahdi AS is ular verse (Shaan e Nuzool), and the interpretation of the the drunkenness of the world.” (Naqliyat Bandagi narrated to have said, commentator (mufassir). The main difference between a MiaN Abdul-Rasheed RZ, 213, page 117(Englsih “If Allah gives the tafsir and the bayan e Quran of Imamuna AS is that the version)) power, one should Bayan was not based on his personal interpretation of not perform miracles the verse, but that the meanings of the verses were We can see that how Mahdi AS has explained the (Kashf-o-Karamaat) taught and revealed to Imamuna AS, directly by Allah meaning of “Sukara” to include all intoxicants and to serve one’s own Himself. As Mehdi AS said that this servant of Allah gets the most lethal being the drunkenness of the love of purpose ass this is not fresh revelation every day, and does not say anything this world. Intoxication also includes lust and greed an act of perfection.” out of my own interpretation. for the material wealth and love to retain it. This is also a proof of him being the explainer of Qur’an. N Hashia Insaaf Nama Mahdi AS has also said, "This servant would be an op- Now when we read this Qur’anic verse, we will un- Naql # 490, page 116 pressor and slanderer (Zalim and Muftari of Allah) if he derstand that whenMarag we is stand a Hyderabadi up for the spe- prayer cialty commonly found in studies and thinks of the meaning of Quran in seclusion (Namaaz), we should remove everything that would (English version) weddings. and comes out and explains {bayaan} the bring intoxication and that include the love of this Quran. Whatever this servant says and does or reads, world. he does it under the command of or under the permis- sion of Allah. Whichever Verse (of the Quran) is shown, he reads and he explains it as instructed by Allah. I am taught by Allah every day. This is the situation this serv- ant is in."(Naqliyat Bandagi Miyan Abdur Rasheed RZ Naql #9, page 47).

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Mahdaviah Insight February 2018 page 4

Kids’ Section: Important Events in Islamic History - A Urdu Poetry Chronology—Part 2

In the Name of Allah, The Most High.

616CE There were two important and influential personalities from among Quresh at the inception of Prophet Muhammad’s prophethood. One being Umar ibn Kids Section: RZ SAS SWT Khattab and the other being Abu Jahal. Prophet prayed Allah to guide and bless with Imaan to at least one of them for the strength of Islam. RZ Allah SWT accepted his prayers and blessed Umar with imaan. The episode is very interesting and provides a great lesson. Umar RZ came out one day with his sword and wanted to kill anyone who accepted Islam be- cause he was a bitter enemy of Islam at that time. He went to his sister’s house and when he was still outside her house, Umar RZ heard the recita- tion of Qur’an from within his sister’s house. It has such an impact on him that he accepted Islam and eventually became the Second Khalif of Islam after Abu Bakr Siddique RZ. It clearly shows that no one can accept the right path unless he/she is guided by Allah SWT. Therefore, we should al- ways prayer for guidance from Allah.

619CE: The event of Mi’raj took place around three years before the migration to Medina by Prophet SAS. The first part of journey was from the Grand Mosque at Makkah (Masjid Al-Haraam) to Jerusalem (Bait Al-Maqdis) and it is known as Isra. The second part of journey was from Bait Al-Maqdis to the Heavens, known as Mi’raj. Our Prophet SAS was blessed with the Vision (Deedaar-e-Ilahi). Besides our Prophet SAS was also gifted with the last two verses of Surah-e-Baqarah and five times prayer (namaaz) a day was made obligatory for the Ummah. This was also the year in which the Proph- et SAS lost two of his close family members, one being his wife, Hazrat Kha- dija RZ and his uncle, Hazrat Abu Talib.

622CE: After facing persecution and harassment at the hands of Quresh, Prophet Muhammed SAS decided to migrate to Medina (known as Yathrib at that time). Some Muslims have already migrated to Medina quietly. The people of Medina were very much happy and received the Prophet SAS with opti- mism and enthusiasm. Since then the Yathrib is known as Madinatun-Nabi. (Madina basically means a City in Arabic). The Prophet lived in Makkah for 13 years after declaring his Prophethood. His age was around 53 years when he migrated to Medinah. This is also the starting point of Islamic lunar calendar (Hijri Calendar)

624 CE: Apoll fish is a Hyderabadi One of the greatest battles of Islamic history—The Battle of Badr took place specialty. Marinated fish fil- in this year. This is just the second year after migration. The Prophet SAS led lets are dp fried and lightly this battle with 313 Muslims against a well-equipped force of Makkans tossed in a masala seasoning. numbering about 1,000 fighters. Allah SWT helped the Prophet SAS and due Serve as an etizer or with the to this miracle, the Quresh were defeated and Abu Jahl and other big lead- main course. ers of Quresh got killed. This’s the first significant victory for Muslims against infidels after so much of persecution in Makkah. Ingredients:

(Source: Several books) Fish 250gms A cup of curry leaves 4-5 green chillies, chopped 1 teaspoon chopped garlic ¼ tsp turmericpowder 1 tsp chilli powder 1 tsp ginger garlic paste 1 egg 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1 tsp corn starch 1 ½ tsp chilli paste

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