In the name of Allah most Gracious most Merciful Service to Humanity – a Perquisite for Being the “Best People”

To start the presentation, I will take you back in time in to a battlefield. Battle of Yarmook was being fought. Three sahaba Akrama bin abu Jahal, Sohail bin umro, Haris bin Hasham were seriously injured and as a result extremely thirsty and looking for few drops of water. One sahabi was looking for a relative and came across Akrama bin Abu Jahal. As he was about to give water to Akrama, thirsty cries of Sohail bin umro could be heard and Akrama refused to drink and wanted the water to be given to Sohail. This sahabi took the water to Sohail only to hear the cries of Haris bin Hasham. Sohail refused to take a drink and wanted the water to be given to Haris bin Hashim. By the time water could be taken to Haris bin Hashim, he passed away. The sahabi quickly returned to Sohail bin umro, only to find him dead. He than ran to Akrama bin abu Jahal and alas he had passed away as well. All three gave up their lives trying to help their fellow brothers.

Who were these people, what has made them sacrifice for others? Where did they come from?

(Conditions of Muslims before Islam)

They had emerged from a savage and brutal society in which only the strong would survive and weak were either eliminated or exploited. Rights of poor, orphans, needy and minority were completely disregarded. Indeed, women, like slaves, had no human or legal rights.

When the Arabs of that period fought their battles, they made no distinction between combatants and non-­‐combatants, women and children or old and disabled. Might was indeed right in those days.

(Change brought about by Islam)

In this atmosphere the Holy Prophet of Islam, Hadhrat Mohammad Mustafa (peace and blessings of Allah) appeared and brought with him the word of God the Holy Quran. The Holy Prophet presented a complete code of life a charter to live by. Man was explained the rights of God and the rights of fellow beings that of Humanity.

This religion provided the etiquettes of relationship between man with other men and between man and God. Strong emphasis was laid on relationship between humans and creation of a society of respect and service to humanity.

(Quranic teachings about service to humanity)

Multiple Quranic verses guide the followers to help and protect the right of those in need.

Financial sacrifice has been repeatedly mentioned. Giving sadaqah (voluntary charity) is enjoined by the Holy Qur’an, and its recipients are clearly identified:
“The sadaqah are only for the poor and the needy, and those (officials) employed
(for its collection and disbursement), and for those whose hearts are to be reconciled, and for the freeing of slaves, and for those in debt, and for the cause of Allah, and for the wayfarer – an ordinance from Allah. And Allah is Allknowing, Wise” (6)(9:60).
The rich are urged to be moderate in personal consumption of food and drink so that they may save money, and spend it on the less fortunate (10)(7:32).
“And observe Prayer and pay the Zakaat; and whatever good you send on before you for yourselves, you shall find it with Allah; surely Allah sees all that you do”
(12)(2:111)
.

Holy Quran teaches us to not only treat others justly but it wants us to be gracious and encourages us to excel all standards and treat fellow beings, as if they were our relations.

Allah the Almighty guided the Holy Prophet to set new standards for service to humanity and advised that it is the key to nearness to Allah as well.

He also declared that

“One who is not grateful to mankind is not grateful to Allah”

As narrated in a hadith-­‐e-­‐qudsi

“Allah the Almighty will ask son of Adam on the day of judgment that I was ill and you did not attend to me. Son of Adam will say O my Lord how could I have attended you, as you are the Lord of All the worlds. Allah will say did you not know that so and so my servant was ill and you did not attend him. If you had attended him you would have found me near him. O son of Adam I once requested food from you. Son of Adam will say O my Lord how could I give you food, as you are Lord of All the worlds. Allah will say one of my servants was hungry, if you had given him food you would have found me near him. O son of Adam you did not give me a drink when I was thirsty. How could I give you a drink when you are the Lord of all the worlds? Allah will say that one of my servants was thirsty and asked you for a drink. If you had given him a drink, you would have found me near him”

(HP’s personal examples)

Holy Prophet had a love of humanity, which was apparent even before he received the Quranic teachings. He was showing the signs of being “Mercy for Mankind” even before the Quranic declaration

Holy Prophet told us that “al khalqo ayalallahe” People are the family of God Almighty and Allah loves him the most who treats His family with love and compassion.

He did indeed treat humans as if they were the family of his beloved. While helping an old lady carry her belongings, while visiting those who were sick and in need, while coming from behind and putting his arms around a lonely sweaty sahabi whom no one would want to come near, while forgiving the people of Taif as they threw rocks at him, while declaring La Tasreeba alikumul Yaum as he was entering Mecca as a victorious general, while trying to free slaves, while taking his last breath and advising Muslims to follow his teachings about protecting the rights of slaves and women.

His actions were closely watched and observed by his followers. They excelled in their relationship with God Almighty but also excelled in their relationships with fellow human beings.

A social atmosphere was created where the rights of fellow beings were respected as if they were the next of kin. Rights of parents, spouses, children, relatives, neighbors, orphans, needy and the wayfarer and so on and so forth. Along with individual relationship the community was held responsible for those who are less fortunate, the prisoners, the orphans, the poor, the needy. A system of Zakat and sadaqat was established. This atmosphere of love and service to humanity was not limited to Muslims. People of every cast, creed, color, and religion beliefs were treated with respect

(Muslim society and early Muslims)

Even after the demise of the Holy Prophet (peace be on him) the early Muslims followed the same principles. The Khulafa and later the just rulers not only served humanity by took pride in service.

They took care of the basic necessities of their people. Provided them with food, water, clothing and shelter as commanded by the Holy Quran. They had complete regard of mankind and humanity. Easily accessible courts of law were established. System of treasury (bait-­‐ul mal) helped common people with allowances. These were available for people of every religion.

Examples of rightly guided Khulafa

Hadhrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) used to milk goats for those who could not manage by themselves. Once, after he became the Khalifa, a young girl approached and asked if he would continue to milk goats for her. He replied that he would continue to do it despite the fact that he was the leader of the faithful and a Khalifa.

Hadhrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) while doing his routine patrol in the middle of the night saw a camel skin tent. He saw distraught mans sitting outside and some groaning coming from inside the tent. Hadhrat Umar asked as to who he was and what was he doing there. “I am from the desert and have come here to ask the Ameerul Momineen for help. Hadhrat Omar asked about the groaning from inside the tent. The man was reluctant to respond. Ultimately he told him that it was his wife and was in labor and that he did not have any help. Hadhrat Umar immediately went home and asked his wife Hadhrat Umme Kulthoom (may Allah be pleased with her) to join him. They took some provisions with them. His wife went inside to help the lady while Hadhrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) cooked food for them. Soon the cries of a baby were heard and Hadhrat Umar’s wife called out “O Ameerul Momineen please give the glad tidings to your friend about the birth of his child” On hearing the words Ameerul Momineen this individual became extremely embarrassed but Hadhrat Umar comforted him gave him food to give to his wife. He asked him to come the next day so he could help him.

Muslims took this message and this way of life wherever they went, established schools, universities, hospitals and institutions to help the community. They excelled in education, agriculture, engineering, building, scientific advancements.

Their actions promptly earned them the title of the “Best People” the Khaire Ummat as they had excelled in their service of humanity. They were distributing goodness guiding people away from evil. They put this crown on their heads with humbleness. Even opponents and enemies acknowledged it.

(Why is being “Best People” linked to service to humanity)

Now I would like to ask a question to the audience. Why is being “Best people” linked to service of humanity? What is so special about it? To explain this I will take you the battle of Khaibar.

Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and Muslims were in front of a Fort in Khaiber. It was going to be a tough struggle as the enemy was

hiding in this Fort. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) announced that he would give out his sword in the morning to the one who will ultimately win Khaiber for the Muslims. We can imagine how sahaba felt that night waiting for the morning and hoping to get that sword. Next morning the Holy Prophet asked for Hadhrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and blessed him with the sword. Hadhrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the Holy Prophet about what message to deliver to the opponents when he wins Khaiber. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) advised him to invite them to Islam so they may be rightly guided. The Prophet explained that even if your efforts help one person along the right path, it would be better than 100 red camels. It will be the best service to humanity. It will be better than all kinds of material help.

Thus in the words of The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) the best service would be to help someone attain guidance and earn the love of God and protect them from the eternal punishment and torture both in this world and hereafter. If we remove an obstacle from the road we prevent someone’s suffering from falling. If we provide food to someone who is dying we avoid suffering of hunger but if we help someone develop a connection with God Almighty we may help protect them from eternal punishment both in this world and the hereafter. This indeed is the real service of humanity.

(Explanation of the verse)

The verse that I recited earlier explains this point very clearly. “You are the Best people raised for the good of mankind”. Not only that, “you enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil and you believe in Allah”. Thus, service to humanity will attract people to you. They will wonder as to who are these people who are promoting and practicing selfless service to mankind. When they come near you, all they find is goodness (khair) and a strong dislike towards evil (munkar). This attracts them to you and lets them learn goodness from you. Ultimately they will be guided to goodness in this world and the world to come.

Holy Prophet was also concerned about this type of service to Humanity. He strived to make sure that mankind was attracted to their creator so they can be saved in this world and the hereafter. Holy Quran testifies to his dedicated efforts.

(Muslims forgetting their role as being best people)

Unfortunately, the Muslims stared ignoring their religious teaching, forgot the lessons they had learned. Instead of being helpful to others they start hurting. They became unjust, violent, and barbaric. Their higher standards started to decline. The brightness of their character started to darken. They were no longer the leaders. They no longer were loved and respected. Instead of the general goodness, they adapted the ways of badness and evil. Rest of the world instead of being attracted to them started feeling repulsion. This condition continued to deteriorate ultimately they took the crown from their heads and threw it away disrespectfully.

I wonder how would the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) feel about the condition of these Muslims. Same people who call themselves the devout followers of the Holy Prophet have disregard most of his teachings. The society he established with his own actions, the people for whom he prayed in the middle of the night. The people for whom he pleaded in front of God Almighty. The ummat that he envisioned to be Khaire ummat has turned itself into one that is ridiculed and hated.

(Dawn of a new era by Promised Messiah)

However, a new era has now dawned. The Promised Messiah Mirza Ghulam Ahmad has indeed arrived. He is presenting the true picture of Islam. He has stressed the rights of Allah and rights of human beings. He seemed concerned about the poor, the needy, travelers, orphans, and humanity at large. He is presenting the selfless love of humanity once again. In his words

He says that my condition is such that even if I am in salat and hear someone in pain, I would rather break my salat to help that person. It is not that he did not love salat but he wanted to show us the importance of service to humanity. He again stressed the importance of sadaqat and giving alms to the needy. He established the divine scheme of Wasiyyat, which has a strong component of social service. About the funds collected under this scheme he writes,

“These funds shall also be used to help such orphans, poor and needy people, and new converts as do not have sufficient means of livelihood”. (The Will)

He is seen up at night attending to his guests, he is seen running after a guest who was leaving unhappy because someone’s mistake, he is seen concerned about the sick and the needy. He is concerned about the welfare of even his opponents. He repeatedly asks his followers to excel in goodness and rights of humanity and not only treat mankind with justice but also with Ihsan and eventually treat them like a mother treats her child.

Our beloved Imam recently drew our attention to the service of mankind. He said,

“Taqwa is not attained by only performing worship, by serving the Jama’at, by loving God and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and obedience to the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) and Khilafat. Taqwa is perfected when the rights of parents, wives, husbands, children, friends and relatives are paid, when the rights of members of the Jama’at are paid, in fact when the rights of the enemy are paid. We come to the Jalsa for spiritual development and while we keep worship and remembrance of God in view here we should also pay attention to mutual love and friendship and sympathy.” (Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih V: Friday Sermon in Germany Jalsa Salana 2012)

(Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and Social Service)

Under the divinely guided leadership of the Khulafa, the Ahmadiyya Muslim community has continued to strive for the betterment of mankind. It has paralleled all the activities and services as practiced in the time of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him).

As mentioned above, based on the directives of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him), the best service to humanity is to guide them to the right path. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has been striving for this cause from its inception. Its missionaries have been traveling to the corners of the earth to guide mankind to the right path. They have offered tremendous sacrifices in this regard. There were missionaries after missionaries who would leave their homes, their families to live in remote areas to serve. Some left their young brides at home. Some left young children and returned when they were all grown up. Some actually

passed away during their years of sacrifice and were not able to return to their homeland.

Volunteers have been going to the poor countries of Africa to help promote education, health and agriculture. One young man described his journey to remote areas in Ghana where there was no water, gas or electricity. He had to sleep on hard floors, and sometimes in jungle. He lost 25 pounds due to living in difficult conditions but persevered and served the poor needy people to provide education and agricultural services. This young man will be soon among us, our beloved Imam Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (may Allah strengthen his hands)

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is helping humanity by building and setting up small schools in Africa to offering a Noble Laureate Dr. Abdus Salam. He donated his award money to the service of humanity and help set up an International center of Theoretical Physics for students of developing countries.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is helping humanity by making small clinics in Africa to homeopathy clinics world wide to hospitals like Noor hospital, Fazle Omar and Tahir Heart institute. Thousands upon thousands of deserving people are treated without any prejudice. In fact some of the staunchest enemies of the community resort to these hospitals to get their health care. Physicians have been sacrificing and devoting their time for the service of humanity.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is serving humanity by helping the cause of Muslims. By helping to bring about economic reforms in Pakistan by Late Mirza Muzaffar Ahmad sahib to protecting the rights of Palestinians by Sir Zafarullah Khan sahib. From sacrifices in Furqan force, to sacrifices for the defense of Pakistan by Akhtar Hussein Malik and Abdul Ali Malik. The second Khalifa asked young men to volunteer themselves to sacrifice and join the Furqan force. This was being announced in one village and no one was stepping forward. There was this one old lady whose husband had passed away and she only had one son. She called out to her son that O my son why do not you get up and sacrifice yourselves for this cause. Upon hearing his mother this man offered himself for this sacrifice and many others followed suite. Thus the community has been sacrificing everything they have got for the service and betterment of humanity as the need may be.

Whenever financial help was needed for the cause of humanity, for setting up schools or clinics or hospitals, it has been the members of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community who have come forward and despite their meager resources offered everything they got. Members have put their needs, their family’s needs behind them and offered sacrifices. There are hundreds of ladies who have offered all their jewelry whenever needed.

Community has been very careful about the needs of the orphans, widows, sick and the needy both individually and collectively with various funds. There was this poor blind hafiz in the time of Promised Messiah who went to see a Hakim as his

hearing started to decline as well. Hakim sahib recommended him to drink lots of milk. Hafiz sahib said that I can get bread from the langarkhana but cannot afford milk. Maulvi Roshan Ali sahib overheard this discussion. Later that evening someone delivered milk at the house of Hafiz sahib. It was Roshan Ali sahib who anonymously delivered milk at his house for years.

“Boyootul Hamd tehrik” was launched in Rabwah to build houses for the needy. Members were asked to sacrifice. One boy wrote a letter to the Khalifa that my father has passed away and my mother works in some houses to earn Rs. 90. I have Rs.5 for some school supplies, which I would like to donate towards this cause.

More recently Humanity First has expanded the reach and offered humanitarian services the world over. Serving the disaster victims in Pakistan, USA, Haiti and Japan. Programs like “gift of sight”, “water for life”, “our kids our future”. Setting op temporary operating rooms in Ghana and countries in South America to help those in need. Most recently a Feed the hungry campaign has been launched as well for the hungry in America.

Service is engrained in our hearts and minds. The department of social service has been established in each chapter. Services like “blood donation”, “feed the hungry”, “adopt a highway”, and “adopt a family” and so on and so forth. Just recently Ahmadiyya Muslim Community launched the historic Muslims for life campaign and help save over 30,000 lives by getting donations of over 10,000 units of blood all across United States of America.

If we look around us in this jalsa salana, there are hundreds of volunteers working tirelessly to serve others. From the parking lot in hot sun to preparing and serving food to regularly cleaning toilets. Not only they serve but take pride in this service.

(Our responsibility)

My dear brothers, “Ummat” is made up of individuals. We as individuals have to develop the love of humanity. We need to present models of best individuals. Do we feel comfortable if someone asks our family, our neighbors, our friends, our classmates, and our co-­‐workers about us, about our conduct? We need to start from our immediate surroundings, our homes, our relatives, our community, our neighborhoods, schools, colleges, workplaces, communities and countries. Are they at peace with us? We intend to serve humanity. Are we serving our spouses properly, are we treating our parents with respect, are we dealing with our children with love, our showing brotherhood in our community, are we interacting with our neighbors well? We need to participate in programs for social service. Offer help and support to those around us. Those who can support financially may do so, those who can offer educational services, physical labor, bringing groceries, vacating our chairs

for those who are elderly or sick. To be the Best people we need to be the Best individuals.

We need to present the true picture of Muslims that world does not recognize. We need to stand out as individuals who mean no harm. Who love human beings and are happy to serve them. Our actions will attract everyone towards us. Service and goodness will become a tremendous pull, like that of gravity. When they come near us they will find goodness and no evil. (tamoroon e bil maroofe we tanhaona anil munkar). They will see us acting and promoting good and repelling evil. Eventually they will be attracted to the ultimate good the Almighty God. Inshallah. This puts a huge responsibility on shoulders of each one of us. Individually and as communities we will have to develop oasis of goodness. These small islands of goodness can be seen as cities are seen from airplanes at night.

Muslims want to be recognized as the People of Mohammad (peace be on him). They all make claims and try to exclude others. This verse puts a condition and gives us criteria to recognize who is the “Ummat” of Mohammad (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). Only those could be his Ummat who distribute Khair (goodness). The stronger your desires to be in the Ummat the more khair you distribute. The criteria of Holy Quran cannot be wrong. You cannot be the Ummat of Mohammad and distribute shar (evil). Your claim will be wrong.

My dear brothers and sisters you are the best people raised for the good of mankind, you enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil and you believe in Allah. Take pride in this but with humbleness continue to serve humanity.

We will come together and will Inshallah create Khaire Ummat. (The best people). We will once again put the crowns of Khaire Ummat on our heads and present to the Promised Messiah and to the Holy Prophet of Islam Mohammad Mustafa (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and make them proud. May Allah enable us to do so, Ameen.