Hudhur gave a discourse on verses 2 – 4 of Surah Al A’la in his Friday Sermon today.

The translation of the verses reads: ‘Glorify the name of thy Lord, the Most High
, Who creates and perfects, And Who designs and guides’ (87:2-4).
Hudhur explained that it is traditional that we recite this Surah in the first r
akah (one unit of Salat) of Friday Prayers as well as the Eid Prayers, in line w
ith the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). Sur
ah Al Ghashiyah is recited in the second rakah. It is also traditional that the
Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) read Surah Al A’la in the fi
rst rakah of Witr Prayer, Surah Al Kafiroon in the second and either Surah Al Ik
hlas or all the last three Surahs of the Holy Qur’an in the third rakah.
In his detailed Urdu commentary comprising of most Surahs of the Holy Qur’an entit
led ‘Tafseer e Kabeer’, which Hudhur called a treasure of knowledge that must be ava
iled of, Hadhrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) explains that ‘Glorif
y the name of thy Lord, the Most High’ signifies to praise and extol our Lord Who,
in His quality of Rububiyyat (to sustain and nurture) is Most High and Whose gr
andeur is over and above everyone else’s. It is the responsibility of a believer,
who accepts that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) was t
he last law-bearing Prophet and whom God made a perfect example, to extol God’s na
me in the world. Each person who is associated with the Prophet in the true sens
e should follow his blessed model, as God states in the Qur’an: ‘Verily you have in
the Prophet of Allah an excellent model…’ (33:22). In terms of glorification of God,
the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) had the most supreme
model, yet in his humility he would pray to God, ‘…make me remember You and make me
grateful to You…’. During the raku and sajdah postures of Salat his Tasbih (glorific
ation of God) would be exceptional. In raku, having recited Subhana Rabbiyal ‘Azee
m (Holy is my Lord, the Most Great), he then stood upright and recited Sami Alla
hu liman hamidah (Allah listens to him who praises Him) followed by Hamdan Kathi
ran Tayyiban Mubarakan Fih (praise which is bountiful, pure and blessed). Hadhra
t ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said that the beauty and the length of t
he raku and sajdah of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him)
was indescribable. A Hadith relates that once the Holy Prophet (peace and blessi
ngs of Allah be on him) came to the mosque and facing the Qibla, he went into sa
jdah posture. The duration of his sajdah was so long that it caused great concer
n. To the extent that it was thought that he had passed away. When a companion w
ent near the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) he rose from sajda
h. When he was asked why his sajdah was so long, he replied, ‘Jibraeel had come to
me with the glad-tiding that whoever invoked Durud (salutations and blessings)
on me will have mercy shown to him and whoever will invoke peace on me will have
peace given to him and I was prostrating in thankfulness of this.’
Hudhur explained that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him)
used to extensively glorify God and was grateful to Him at every small bounty an
d blessing that was given to him. His diet was most frugal, at times he would ha
ve nothing to eat and other times he would simply eat dry bread. Yet he would ex
press extreme gratefulness to God and glorify Him. Hudhur explained that Traditi
ons relate that before Surah Al A’la was revealed, the Holy Prophet (peace and ble
ssings of Allah be on him) had taught another prayer for the sajdah posture of S
alat. However, after the revelation he taught to read, Subhana Rabbiyal a’ala (Glo
ry to my Lord, the Most High) as well as taught to read Subhana Rabbiyal ‘Azeem du
ring raku. Hadhrat Javeria relates that once when the Holy Prophet (peace and bl
essings of Allah be on him) left at the time of morning Prayer she was sitting o
n the Prayer mat. When he returned home, she was still on the mat doing Tasbih.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) enquired what was she doing
since morning and she replied that she had been doing Tasbih. The Prophet (peac
e and blessings of Allah be on him) said since he left he had only repeated four
phrases three times but if they were to be compared with Hadhrat Javeria’s entire
Tasbih, they would be weightier. These phrases were: ‘Holy is Allah according to
the number of His creation, Holy is Allah according to the pleasure of His Self,
 Holy is Allah according to the weight of His Throne and Holy is Allah according
to the ink [used in recording] His words.’ Hudhur said while this demonstrates th
e spiritual levels of his blessed wives that they had attained with the help of
his holiness, it also illustrates the supreme level of concentration and focus o
f his own Tasbih that entailed him repeating these phrases three times over a lo
ng period of time. Clearly he had the most elevated insight into the Greatness o
f God and did his Tasbih in view of that. After the victory of Makkah, as he ent
ered the city on camel-back, his head was bowed down and even in triumph the Pro
phet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said the following prayer in utter
humility: Holy are You O’ Allah, all glorification and praise is Yours. O Allah,
forgive me.’
Hudhur said such was the magnificent and blessed model of the Holy Prophet in ev
ery aspect of gratefulness to God and in His Tasbih. It is for us to aspire to f
ollow this blessed model. His model draws the attention of the ummah to the fact
that we should not rely on worldly means, rather we need to do Tasbih of the Lo
rd. Hudhur said there are others who sustain and nurture us in this world, like
children are nurtured by mothers and later in life one is sustained by one’s super
iors and the government. However, their quality of sustaining and nurturing is f
ull of flaws. No matter how sincere a mother is in looking after her baby, her n
urturing is far from perfect. Similarly there is weakness in the care provided b
y one’s superiors etc. They wish to be praised by their subordinates but do not qu
ite fulfil the import of the praise and of course false praise leads to hypocris
y. However, our Lord, the Most High is free from all flaws and is Holy. By virtu
e of His Rahmaniyyat (quality of being Gracious) He provides the means of sustai
ning us and by virtue of His Raheemiyyat (quality of Mercy) He blesses us incred
ibly and also listens to our prayers. In short God has many attributes through w
hich He extends His kindness to us. It is for a believer to practice Glorify the
name of thy Lord, the Most High and do Tasbih of the Perfect Lord and to partak
e of His benevolent attributes and to avoid His chastisement. Hudhur said we sho
uld pray to God for protection against all evil; indeed one who does sincere Tas
bih is taken in God’s refuge. The Holy Qur’an has called Salat a form of Tasbih, it
is therefore essential to be regular in it. Hudhur explained that in extolling G
od’s name in the world we have the supreme example of the Holy Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be on him) who truly honoured summoning people to God. The Ho
ly Qur’an states: ‘And as a Summoner unto Allah by His command’ (33:47) and ‘O Messenger
! convey to the people what has been revealed to thee from thy Lord;’ (5:68). Hudh
ur said without doubt the Holy Prophet fulfilled this task. It was his objective
to extol the name of his Lord, the Most High from the very beginning, but the r
evelation of this verse enhanced it further. He carried on with his Tabligh with
gentleness, wisdom and steadfastness and in every sense of the word honoured Ta
sbih of God. Even in times of difficulty he moved onwards while doing Tasbih and
instilled this spirit in his Companions through his power of holiness and they
too gave great sacrifices.
Explaining the second verse recited at the start of the sermon, ‘Who creates and p
erfects’ Hudhur said God has created man in a form with all necessary powers and s
trengths and has made him with progressive matter. As a child grows and develops
all these powers and strengths are enhanced according to the environment in whi
ch the child is growing. Some have mental and physical weakness but generally sp
eaking this is not the case. In other words, man has been given the capacity to
become a reflection of God’s attributes. The most perfect model of such a reflecti
on was the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) to whom God rev
ealed the last and perfect teaching according to the evolutionary stage man had
reached at the time. God has put both anger and gentleness in human nature. It s
hould be used at the appropriate times. Indeed, the Quranic teaching is exactly
that. Hudhur said forgiveness and leniency in every matter can destroy societal
peace. Wise people who are drawn to God always adopt the way of moderation and t
heir practice is always in accordance with the situation. Hudhur said ‘Who creates
and perfects’ also connotes that when things go wrong, God gives the capacity to
put it right. It is through Divine power that man has been bestowed with a brain
that he can use to invent things for his own ease and facility. Many diseases w
ere not known to man in the past. God gave man the capacity to develop and evolv
e and increased his mental capacities making him aware of new things through whi
ch he can make his life better.
Hudhur gave the example of heart disease. He said in earlier times human life wa
s very hard and diet was such that heart disease was not common. However, with h
uman development this disease also increased and gradually man learnt how to tre
at it more effectively. Through the progressive stages of angioplasty now effort
s are being made to treat it with stem cells. Thus God provides capacity in huma
ns as they progress. This is by virtue of His Rububiyyat. If He makes an irregul
arity apparent He also teaches man how to treat it and provides its antidote. A
believer in the Unity of God always attributes all new research to God. Hudhur s
aid when God guides mankind towards the cure of physical ailments why would He n
ot do so in the sphere of spiritual ailment? In every age He sent Prophets for t
his reason and when human life became an amalgamation of spiritual ailments He s
ent the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and revealed His p
erfect teaching which made beastly people into godly people. After an age, when
even the Muslims forgot to put this teaching in practice, in accordance with His
promise, God sent the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) who discovered pearls
of knowledge in the existing teaching of the Holy Qur’an and cured spiritual ailm
ents. He asserted that the cure of the ailments of the ummah was in this teachin
g. In medical field doctors make discoveries after long and arduous research, ho
wever God gave the cure for spiritual ailments 1400 years ago in the perfect Sha
riah and pious people in every age availed of it. In the latter-days, the Promis
ed Messiah (on whom be peace) informed us of the cures for the new ailments. He
removed all doubts about any form of abrogation in this teaching and then alone
the real cure and antidote could be appreciated.
Those who say that there was no need for a Messiah to come are increasing in the
ir spiritual ailments but they are not prepared to acknowledge the Imam of the a
ge who is sent by God and they do not accept him. Hudhur said is all this enmity
, suicide bombings, terrorism the teaching of Islam? Is oppression in the name o
f God and religion the teaching of Islam? Most certainly it is not. These people
have declined to understand the teaching of Islam due to their unawareness or o
bstinacy and are committing all these acts to please their ‘temporary lords’ whereas
the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) calls people to the One and Only Lord b
y virtue of that teaching which was revealed to the Holy Prophet (peace and bles
sings of Allah be on him). Hudhur said on one hand they proclaim that a reformer
is required and there is need for Khilafat and on the other hand they are not p
repared to accept the healer who God sent.
Hadhrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) explained two meanings for [
the final of the three verses recited at the start], And Who designs and guides.
Since God put a great potential for progress in man, He also provided means to
realise it. Firstly, He created man according to the teaching and then He sent H
is teaching. Secondly, when man deviated God sent guidance in accordance to the
need of the time. The perfect teaching that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing
s of Allah be on him) brought ensured that dues of God as well as dues of mankin
d were paid. Now that the guidance has come, a believer should abide by it and i
f anything is not clear then one should turn to the ‘healer’ who has been sent with
the healing and should turn to God with sincerity asking for His guidance. It is
also an obligation to do Tasbih of God and take His message to others and this
is a sign of a believer who is free of any irregularity.
Hudhur prayed that may God enable us to turn with sincerity to the one whom He h
as sent and to put God’s teaching in practice, to do His Tasbih in a correct manne
r, worship Him and take His message to others.
Hudhur asked for special prayers for the Ahmadis of Egypt where a commotion has
been raised against us and about a dozen of Ahmadis have been imprisoned. Prayer
s should be made for their speedy release. They probably think that by imprisoni
ng the Ahmadis they can take their faith away. With the grace of God Ahmadis the
world over are very strong in faith and this is what the Egyptian Ahmadis too a
re telling Hudhur. Initially, they held one Ahmadi lady as well but have now rel
eased her. Hudhur said prayers should also be made for Pakistan and the situatio
n there. God has provided us with the means to take the message of the Promised
Messiah (on whom be peace) to the world, it is the task of man to avail of it. M
ay God keep everyone safe from every type of trouble and calamity and make them
those who turn to Him.
Full text not available.
Urdu pdf
Tamil pdf
English PDF Slides
English Summary by Wakil Ala
English PowerPoint
Bengali Summary
Other Languages
Arabic
Bosnian
French
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1909 1908 1907 1906 1904 1902 1901 1899Go Verses Cited in this Friday Sermon: 33
:22
33:47
5:68
Synopsis: English Urdu Commentary on Surat Al Aala v. 2-4, Holy Prophet (S.A.W
) was a perfect example to extol God s name in the world, Attention to ways of g
lorifying Allah as taught by Holy Prophet (S.A.W), Holy Prophet carried on with
his Tabligh with gentleness, wisdom and steadfastness, Explanation of the second
verse recited in the beginnig, Man has been given the capacity to become a refl
ection of God’s attributes, God guides mankind towards the cure of physical ailmen
ts as well as in the sphere of spiritual ailment, Promised Messiah (A.S) came to
treat spiritual illness, Prayers for Ahmadis of Egypt.

About Friday Sermon

The Jumu ah (Friday) prayer is one form of congregational prayer in Islam. It ta
kes place every Friday. Regular attendance at the Jumu ah prayer is enjoined on
all believers. According to a Saying of The Prophet(sa) a congregational prayer
is twenty-five times more blessed than prayer performed alone. (Bukhari)
Friday Sermons in the Quran“O ye who believe! When the call is made for Prayer on
Friday, hasten to the remembrance of Allah, and leave off all business. That is
best for you, if you only knew.” more
Friday Sermons in the Hadith“… (He who) offers the Prayers and listens quietly when
the Imam stands up for sermon, will have his sins forgiven in between the presen
t and the last Friday” (Bukhari)
Related resources
Salat: Friday Prayer
Significance of Friday in Islam
The Online Salaat Guide
Islamic Prayer
Yearly Archive List by Khulafa