Malfuzat – Volume III — Page 40
40 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad needed as much as obedience is required. The condition, however, is that this obedience ought to be sincere, and this is the challenge at hand. For obedience, one must slaughter their base desires. Without this, obedience is impossible. It is base desires which have the potential to become an idol in the hearts of even the greatest believers in God’s Oneness. How blessed were the companions, may Allah be pleased with all of them, and how lost this community was in obedience to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. It is true that no group of people can be deemed a nation, and the spirit of community and unity cannot be blown into them, until they adopt the principle of obedi- ence. If a community is plagued by differing views and disunity, then one may be certain that these are signs of ill-fate and decline. One factor among others, which resulted in the weakening and decline of the Muslims was mutual discord and internal dissension as well. Hence, if difference of opinion is set aside and the entire community obeys one leader—to whom Allah Almighty has made obedi- ence obligatory—any objective can be achieved. The hand of God rests on those who are one community. This is the secret that lies beneath the surface. Allah Almighty likes unity and unity cannot be developed without obedience. In the time of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, there were many learned companions who commanded wise views because this was the nature vested in them by God. They were experienced in principles of rule and administration, because ultimately when Hazrat Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, and Hazrat Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, and other compan- ions became the Caliph and assumed rule, the impeccable manner in which they managed the heavy burden of sovereignty sheds ample light on their capability and wise judgement. But despite this, in the presence of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, when he would say something, all of these companions would consider all of their own views and knowledge to be worthless, and they would consider it necessary to act upon whatever instruction was given to them by the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. They were so lost in obedience to the Holy Prophet sa that they would seek blessings from the water left over after the Holy Prophet sa would finish with his ablution; they considered his holy saliva to carry blessings. If the companions did not possess this nature of obedience and submission, and if each of them gave preference to their own view, resulting in disunity, they would not have attained to the lofty ranks that they acquired. In my view, the one argument that is amply p. 35