"Vie with one another in good", and Tehrik-e-Jadid New Year

Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Massih V delivered the Friday sermon ( Nov 9th 2012) from Masjid Bait-ul-Futuh, UK. After the recitation of Surah Al Fatihah, Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih V recited the following Quranic verse:

“And every one has a goal which dominates him; vie, then, with one another in good works. Wherever you will be, Allah will bring you all together. Surely, Allah has the power to do all that He wills.” (2:149)

In this verse, Allah Almighty has emphasized on a commandment for all believers, which is absolutely essential for the progress of every individual in gaining nearness to God and makes a Muslim a true Muslim. The same commandment is also absolutely necessary for the communal progress of a Jama’at. This commandment relates to the goal that is set out in the verse i.e. Vie with one another in good deeds. Every human being on this planet has a goal, and he continues to make every effort to achieve it. This is true even for those who have ill intentions of causing harm to others, although the results of their objectives yield nothing but evil consequences, for example, a thief spends most of his day planning his thefts, etc. Many others make terrorism and barbarism their goal, for which they spend money, time and many other resources. They brainwash innocent children over long periods of time and use them for the vain purpose of killing innocent people through suicide attacks, etc. Unfortunately, most of these people call themselves Muslims and commit these heinous crimes against humanity in the name of religion and cause conflict and corruption in the world, giving a bad name to the beautiful teachings of Islam. Islam on the contrary teaches nothing but spreading goodness and sets the goal to a high standard of vying with one another in good deeds.

The word “wajhatun”, which is the root word for “goal” used in this verse recited at the onset of the sermon means direction, course, effort, paths, ways, means to attain an objective. Not only does a Momin direct himself on the course that is set forth by God Almighty, he must choose the right path in that direction in order to attain that objective which is to progress in the path of goodness. What that means is that one must set himself upon that path towards those good deeds, implement them and progress in them and at the same time, he must also be wary of those companions who are left behind due to their weaknesses and make every effort to ensure their progress as well. This is the only way to safeguard that the community as a whole will move forward and progress.

The Holy Prophet (saw) was sent as a mercy for all of mankind. The Jamaat that was founded by the most loyal and devoted servants of the Holy Prophet (saw) is associated with this principle which entails the fulfilment of obligations towards The Creator through worship and includes the responsibilities towards our fellow human beings through service to mankind. Service to mankind can be achieved by performing righteous acts and propagating compassion, not by committing acts of terrorism such as suicide bombings and use of other weaponry.

In this day and age, it is only Jamaat Ahmadiyya that is striving to spread peace and righteousness in its true essence, in many ways, such as propagating the beautiful and peaceful teachings of Islam, proliferating the message of Holy Quran by publishing and translating in various languages of the world, by teaching the excellent moral values, by giving the message of love to the world, by coming to the aid of those who are ill i.e. by building hospitals and clinics, and by providing education to those under privileged and remote areas of the world where access to schools is non-existent. The biggest service to humanity of course is by bringing masses under the banner of the Holy Prophet of Islam (saw). Keeping the above in mind, it can be assessed that the mission set forth for Jamaat Ahmadiyya is not an ordinar