Malfuzat – Volume I — Page 9
Malfuzat - Volume I The First Address of the Promised Messiah (as) at the Annual Convention on 25 December 1897 An Exhortation on Righteousness 9 The Promised Messiah (as) said: I deem it most appropriate, in the best interest of my community, to advise them on righteousness, because a sensible person obviously knows that nothing pleases Allah the Exalted more than piety. Allah Almighty states: إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ مُّحْسِنُونَ Verily, Allah is with those who are righteous and those who do good. It is particularly incumbent upon my community to adopt righteousness, espe- cially in view of the fact that they associate themselves with and swear allegiance to a man who claims to be divinely commissioned. In this way, they shall be delivered from any of the diverse forms of malice, rancour, associating partners with God, and worldly attachment that may plague them. It is a well-known fact that irrespective of whether an individual is suffering from a minor illness or a more serious one, they cannot be cured until remedy is sought and trouble is taken to find a cure. Even if a small black blemish appears on a person's face, this causes serious apprehension, lest the mark should spread to cover the entire face. Similarly, sin is a blemish that blackens a person's heart. Disregard for minor trespasses steer an individual to greater evil. A minor sin is like the small blemish which spreads to disfigure a person's entire face. Just as Allah the Exalted is Merciful and Munificent, He is also Mighty and punishes those who do wrong. When He observes a community boasting and making tall claims while their practical state is quite the opposite, His fury and wrath are provoked. God decides to punish such a community at the hands of disbelievers. Those who are familiar with history know that Muslims have on many an occasion been defeated by disbelievers. Genghis Khan and Hulagu Khan devastated the Muslims, and even though Allah the Exalted had promised to protect and support the Muslims, they were still overpowered. Instances like these have often transpired and the very reason for this is that the might of Allah Almighty manifests its power when He sees that although a group of people recite: (There is none worthy of worship except Allah), yet their hearts are 1 an-Nahl, 16:129