Knowledge and Will Power for Practical Reformation

A couple of Fridays ago some sermons were given in light of Friday sermons of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding reformation of practices. The need to remove some impediments to reformation of practices was mentioned and it was explained that the impediments to the reformation of our practices were stronger than the impediments to our creed and beliefs. The subject was carried forward today.

It should be remembered that the purpose of the advent of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) was not just reformation of beliefs. He said that he had come to connect man to God and for man to pay the dues of mankind. These matters are dependent on practices. The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said: ‘Remember mere verbosity and phraseology cannot avail unless it is followed by practise.’ He also said: ‘Make your faith weighty. Practise is the ornament of faith. If man’s lifestyle is not right then there is also no faith.’

Wishing to be useful to the mission of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) can only be made possible when each one of us tries our utmost to remove the impediments to the reformation of our practices. Reformation of our practises alone will draw others to us and we will be able to help in the completion of the mission of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace). The strength to reform others can only come about after our own reformation. Our triumph is not in subjugating anyone nor indeed is it to attain worldly objectives. It is to make the world submit to God and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). If there is no difference between us and the others, why should the world listen to us? Rather than be impressed by others, we have to impress them. There is need to free ourselves from any worldly influence. There are many obstacles in this way for which we have to instil inner strength that would help remove these obstacles. We have to propose some principles to contend with the world which each one of us would follow and firmly adhere to. This will require sacrifice of nafs (the self) and will require generating a special environment. The world today is like a global village and as mentioned before, the evil of thousand miles away has reached every household through the electronic media just as all that is good has also reached each household. However, the rate of spread of evil is more than the spread of good. It has been mentioned before that in addition to this, the standards of what is good and what is bad has also changed. Something which Islam deems bad and sinful is considered trivial in an irreligious society. In fact, certain such things are now even considered good.

Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) said that dancing is part of Western culture. Perhaps it was not as common in the time of Hazrat Musleh Maud as it is today through the agency of television and the internet. Some homes have been turned into dance houses. In some families dancing takes place in the name of entertainment during family functions, especially during weddings. Ahmadi families should be completely free of these practices and attention should be given to this matter. Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) said that although dancing was part of Western culture, there was a time it was not considered good but was later accepted as part of tradition. In earlier times men and women danced by holding hands, this changed and they started dancing with their faces close by and gradually the distance between them decreased and now dance has changed into something very vulgar with semi-clad dancers appearing on television. This gradual spread [change in dancing style] happened because those who spread this stayed firm on it in spite of protestations against it and were ultimately successful. Now there is vulgarity and nakedness even on Pakistan television, a Muslim country, in the name of en