Al Fazl, 17 & 24 August 1922
9 July 1922
[…] Tarbiyat of children
Before leaving for Hong Kong with his two sons, Mian Ghulam Mujtaba Sahib requested Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II[ra] to give them some advice.
Huzoor[ra] said:
“Before exhorting your sons, I advise you to take special care of the religious and worldly tarbiyat of your children. In general, there are two faults in parents, i.e. they either blindly trust or highly doubt their children. The lack of balance in these two things spoils the children.
“The parents, in good faith, think when their children see them obeying the rules of religion and hear them talking about religion, they will automatically learn, so there is no need to tell them anything. However, this idea is completely wrong, the result of which is that the children are deprived of acquiring religious knowledge. On the contrary, some parents doubt that their words have any effect on their children, so there is no need to tell them anything; they think their children will learn on their own.
“Both of these things should not happen and instead of such mistrust, there should be good faith. Moreover, rather than blind trust, there should be some cautious wariness. Thus, it should be realised that the children will not be able to learn by merely watching their parents or listening to their words, rather they also need to be instructed and advised.
“Moreover, we should also realise that whatever we tell the children, it will have an effect on them and they will accept it. We should pay special attention to these things.
“Apart from the above, there are two more things which cause a defect in the tarbiyat of children and that is that either too much kindness is shown or too much strictness. No matter what the children do, they are not exhorted. Even if they defame the sacred religious things, it is said that their hearts should not be dispirited for now – they will understand when they grow up. On the contrary, sometimes the children are treated so harshly that they begin to hate their parents. These two defects are such that owing to them, children are ruined. Neither should one be overly strict nor overly kind. […]”
Obedience to parents
[Hazrat Khalifatul Masih said]:
“After advising you (Mian Ghulam Mujtaba Sahib), I believe it is enough to tell your children to obey you and listen to what you say.
“Guides are not always available to everyone and should be considered as God’s grace. There are many people whose eyes fill with tears when they see someone’s father guiding his children and they wish there was someone to advise them too. However, the strange thing is that the world always likes the opposite. Those whose parents are alive and give advice to them say they are always hard on them and never let them rest, and those whose parents have passed away complain that they wished their parents were alive and would advise them. Thus, the presence of parents should be considered a blessing by the children and should be highly cherished.”
13 July 1922
The works of the Promised Messiah in the eyes of Khawaja Ghulam Farid Sahib
Maulana Ghulam Ahmad Sahib Akhtar submitted that before Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira was called for treatment by Nawab Sahib in the Darbar of Bahawalpur, Hazrat Khawaja Ghulam Farid of Chacharan was also consulted. On this, some people who were in prominent positions in the state at that time and considered themselves religious, objected that “Hazrat Sahib (i.e. Hazrat Khawaja Ghulam Farid) sometimes does not care about religion at all and now he has suggested that a ‘Mirzai’ [a derogatory term for Ahmadis] should be called [for the Nawab of Bahawalpur].” When this matter reached Khawaja Sahib from a source, he said, “Mirza Sahib’s [the Promised Messiah’sas] works are full of wisdom like that of Shaikh al-Akbar [Ibn Arabirh]. These people do not understand this fact and keep raising their voices.”
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih said:
“On the one hand, these people used to revere him as ‘Hazrat Sahib’ [i.e. Khawaja Ghulam Farid of Chacharan] and on the other, they thought he did not care about religion.”
Al Fazl, 24 August 1922
6 July 1922
Relief in hardships
Advising a friend who had been encircled by difficulties for some time, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih said:
“One faces a lot of difficulties, but many times there is relief in hardships. You can comfort your heart by saying that you are sick and thus cannot work. However, look at the companionsra [of the Holy Prophetsa] who went through so many hardships and suffering when they could have worked but were not allowed to do so. They endured afflictions for 13 years. Those who [migrated] to Abyssinia returned at the time [of the conquest] of Khyber. What a great trial it was, but then Allah changed their state.
“Sometimes the time for the end of the trial has arrived, but a person loses courage by mistake and becomes disappointed. Thus, you should not lose heart. I will pray and you should also do istighfar [ask for forgiveness]. There was also a practice of piri-muridi [hagiocracy] in your family. Perhaps Allah the Almighty wants to purify your wealth.
“If the hardships do not go away, then the only reliance of the believer is not on this world but the next world. A believer considers his time in this world to be of less status than the interval in which a traveller sits under a tree during his journey. The non-Ahmadis say that they [Ahmadis] roam around without hearth and home. You should not feel sad about it because the earlier people have even objected to the prophets and they were laughed at too. As far as [the accusation of] wandering is concerned, the believer only prostrates on the threshold [of God] and this is the only door for him. You should understand that God has caused these people to help you, so this is not a bad thing because God has many ways of giving. He blesses a person through whichever means He wills.
“The state of the companionsra at the time of the Battle of Ahzab [Trenches] was that on one side were the Jews who were opposing and on the other side was the enemy’s army, and hunger had left everyone on the verge of death. They had tied stones on their stomachs [due to hunger]. The Holy Prophetsa himself had tied stones as well. The hypocrites also taunted at that time that, ‘These are the people who say they will conquer the Arabs and now they cannot even leave their homes.’ However, God helped them [and they triumphed].”
7 July 1922
Advice for Muslim students
On the mention that Muslim students fail more in exams, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih said:
“The mental condition of Muslim students is such that they cannot work hard in acquiring knowledge. This deficiency is caused by excessive eating of meat. Muslim students should reduce meat consumption, and along with that, they should make a habit of bathing every day. Moreover, they should drink cow’s milk instead of buffalo milk. Buffalo milk is useful to increase body fat, but it does not benefit the brain, and in fact, it is harmful.
“Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] I used to say that whoever drinks buffalo milk becomes like a buffalo. By merely looking, we observe that the mental state and the way of thinking of a cow is not found in a buffalo. The cow’s eyes look as if she is thinking and pondering over something. It seems that such an appearance of the cow attracted the Hindus to worship her. Since the buffalo does not have the same level of understanding as the cow, its milk does not have the same effect on the brain as cow milk.
“It is a proven fact that the traits found in an animal have an effect on a person who uses any of its parts. It is for this reason that Islam forbids eating the meat of carnivores, etc. so that their ferocity does not affect human nature.”
The idea of cow worship
On the mention that the Vedas state that beef was served to guests, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih said:
“The idea of cow worship arose later among the Hindus, and in those countries where the economy of the people is based on agriculture, the worship of cow had already started. Hence, the cow was also worshipped in Egypt, which shows that since the cow was a useful animal for agriculture and needed to be protected, they began to worship it to keep it safe. However, this method was not correct. Behold, how wisely Islam did the same thing [in another way]. In Arabia, the horse was a very useful and necessary animal, and its shortage could have harmed the country. Therefore, in order to protect it, its meat was declared makruh [disliked]. Makruh is not unlawful but its use is not preferred. Thus, where the horse was protected, it was also ensured that people did not worship it by considering it a sacred animal because the consumption of its meat was only declared makruh and not forbidden.”
17 July 1922
Record of human actions
A friend asked, “It is mentioned [human] actions are recorded, is there a register with the Lord Almighty in which all these actions will be recorded?”
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih said:
“These actions will be preserved. We observe that the [sound] vibrations we make here are present in the air and are recorded through an instrument. Hence, is it not possible for the Lord of all the worlds to preserve human actions?”
The purpose of punishment
The same friend asked, “Punishment is given to the criminal so that people may get a lesson, but who will learn a lesson from the punishment that will be given in hell?”
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih said:
“Punishment is not only given to teach a lesson [to others], rather it also has other benefits. The fact that it serves as a lesson is a general concept, however the most deserving of the punishment is the person himself who has committed the crime, so they may realise their mistake.
“If a person has a child and he commits a mistake, the parents who punish him do not intend to teach a lesson to others, but they do so to make their child correct themselves for the future. Hence, punishment has two benefits. One is to teach a lesson to others and most of all to reform the person himself.
“The fact is that Allah is Holy and free from faults. A servant cannot achieve His nearness unless they are also purified. The people who have faults and sins make their hearts dark and rusty, their defects will be removed through what is called punishment or the torment of hell.
“Its name is actually islah [reformation], but it is called punishment because we can only understand it as punishment. An example to explain this matter is that if a person who is ignorant sees a doctor piercing him with a sharp instrument, he will think the doctor is stabbing him with a dagger. However, those who understand [surgery] know that it is not a dagger and his body is being restored by removing harmful and toxic substances. It should be called islah or an operation. Hence, the word punishment is used in the general sense.” […]
(Translated by Al Hakam from the original Urdu published in the 17 and 24 August 1922 issue of Al Fazl)