LECTURE FIRST: POTENTIAL AND ACTUAL "JANNAT" (PARADISE)

May God make you profit by your living a pious life and your submitting to the will of Imam of the time. You must bear in mind luckily for you, you are living in the dominion of the descendants of the Prophet whose sovereign power for sometime was usurped by the tyrants. After all God has restored it to its legitimate claimants. By this He has proved the rightfulness of the cause of the Imams and the utter falsehood of the pretences of their opponents.

The Holy Qur'an says, "they intend to put off the light of God by blowing it by their mouths. But God has decided to keep His light burning for ever." This refers to the Imams. Their enemies did their best to put out the Light of God. Thank God for the favour He had done to you by keeping the devine light burning for ever for your good. Kee aloof from those who turned their backs to this light and have shown utter ingratitude to him. They have no harm to God but to themselves. They have scratched their bodies by their own nails. They have treated with scorn the holy mosques of God and the arches of the mosques. To put it in plain language they have wronged the Imams, the descendants of the Prophet. The Holy Qur'an says, "O Momins, go to the mosque properly dressed." The mosque here stands for the Imam. The enemies of the Imam enjoy peace and prosperity under them and yet they revolt against them. This is the work of traitors. God is with the Imams. No treachery can succeed with them. He always helps their cause and makes their mission prosper.

Last time I explained to you the meaning of the Verses upto theVerse: "Jannat has been kept ready for the pious and it is not far away from them." There are two forms of "Jannat", the potential "Jannat" and the actual "Jannat." The potential "Jannat" is embodied in the "Dawat-ul-Haq" i.e. The teachings of the Imam of the Time. The "dawat" id the substance of the Qur'anic teachings and the extract of everything that pertains to religion. When a "Momin" is initiated into the mystery of this faith, he is being prepared, stage by stage, by the knowledge acquired through the Imams and his living a straight life: for the second "jannat" the actual "jannat." He cannot enter this "jannat" unless he gets over his animal nature by this process.

Just as an embryo in a womb cannot experience life in this world unless it develops into a full-formed babe, similarly man in this material world which is is a sort of a second womb for him, has to develop, through knowledge and practice, the qualities of the inmates of Paradise before he can experience the life in the "jannat." The life there is as much different from the life of this world as our life from the life in the womb.

I have pointed out to you that every "hadd" in his time whether he is a Prophet, a "wasi" or an Imam, from the point of view of his teaching is a "jannat" who qualifies for an entry into the actual "jannat" and experiencing a new life.

The verse referring to "jannat" is followed by second verse which says, "This is what you have been promised for every "awwab" and "hafeez." The word "awwab" means one who in all activities and even non-activities in this life, looks to his Lord for guidance. This is the sum and substance of religion which is a ceaseless chain, link within a link. It has two sides, the celestial and terrestrial. On the terrestrial side of the chain the links are placed one above the other every one of whom derives his authority from his immediate predecessor right upto to the Prophet. On the celestial side are the angels, the spiritual beings, on rising scale upto the "Tablet" and the "Pen" which are the upper head of the celestial chain.

The Prophet says, "Between me and my God there are five mediums one above another. They are Gabriel, Mikaeel, Isfrafeel and the Tablet and the Pen." This is the highest point which an "awwab" can reach for his authority.

The word "hafeez" indicates that the different positions of the Imams are well-defined. Every one of them has a fixed position. It is they who guard the various steps in spiritual progress. God says, "We have adorned the firmament of this world with the stars. We have guarded them against every intruding devil. If these devils attempt to listen to what is going on in the celestial world they will not be allowed to hear. They will be thrown away from every direction and will be severly punished." In another passage He says, "We have brought down the ‘Zikr' and We are its preservers."

We shall deal with these verses in the next ‘Majlis'. May God help you in deriving the fullest benefit from this knowledge and acting on it. May He guide you to the right path which is the only straight path leading to salvation.


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