Who is the Reformer of This Era?
Mohammad Amir from Jacobabad, walaikum assalam.
He says, ‘My question is who is a Mujaddid? What do they do? Which rank does a Mujaddid hold in sainthood?’
The word Mujaddid has been derived from the word ‘tajdeed’
in English, [Mujaddid] is Reformer.
What is it?
One who reforms.
With the passing of time, there comes about change in the religion along with change in the mindset of people.
Even if the religion is free from corruption initially, as time passes and people’s temperament changes,
their priorities change and their demands change so the religion needs a renewal.
Now, no one has the authority to make any changes to the religion himself or herself.
If they do this, it is called ‘Biddat’ which is innovation.
So this is done by those who are appointed.
God anoints certain individuals from among the saints
and these saints receive Ilham (divine inspiration) from God
through which they nullify any corruption in the religion.
For example, the nation of Prophet Mohammad has become divided into 72-73 sects,
what needed to happen
even Judaism and Christianity were subjected to sectarianism, just as Hindus and Muslims were.
What humanity needed was a universal Reformer.
A Reformer who would repair all of the religions.
This is why there is a concept of an awaited personality in every religion.
The Jews have the concept of the Messiah.
The Hindus have the concept of Kalki Avatar.
Muslims have the concept of Imam Mehdi.
His Divine Eminence Imam Mehdi Gohar Shahi was appointed as the Greatest Reformer by God
and He has been given the spiritual authority to make amendments in every religion by God.
Every religion.
What reforms did He make?
He did not make great reforms.
The reforms that He made was that He said, ‘The Christians may continue practising what they have been practising,
the Jews may continue doing what they have been doing, the Muslims may continue practising the same thing
but all of their hearts will be united with one name of God (Allah)’.
This is the reformation made by Imam Mehdi.
Once God’s name enters someone’s heart, they obtain a direct connection with God
and God will not allow them to walk on the wrong path.
Such a reformation is unprecedented!
This reformation was the final reformation.
And you will have seen that whenever people obtained the Activation of the Heart,
whether they were Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian, they all joined together in brotherhood.
As you saw today, our Sikh and Hindu brothers joined us.
They are not bothered about each other’s religious backgrounds.
Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims have united here.
They have formed a brotherhood.
This is because they all have the same divine energy in their hearts.
Now, has there been any mention of reformation or a Reformer in the Prophetic Traditions?
Yes, there has.
A Prophetic Tradition states, ‘The scholars of my nation will be like the prophets of the Bani Israel (Children of Israel)’.
This meant that all the Grand Messengers that came from the Bani Israel established religions
and when their religions would become subject to adulteration, God would send prophets.
The job of a prophet is not to establish a religion.
The word ‘nabi (prophet)’ is derived from the word ‘anba’.
Anba means hidden knowledge.
So ‘prophet’ literally means ‘the one who reveals the hidden knowledge’.
So if you say that no one [except God] can talk about the unknown knowledge,
don’t forget that prophet literally means the one who reveals the hidden knowledge.
So the prophets of the Bani Israel would receive Sahifa (divine revelations) from God
through which they would make any reformations needed in the religion.
Now, Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is the last prophet and messenger; there will be no messengers or prophets after him.
‘There shall be no prophets after me’ is a statement by Prophet Mohammad himself.
So now if there are any adulterations made in Prophet Mohammad’s religion,
since there would be no prophets after Prophet Mohammad,
this duty was assigned unto the scholars by Prophet Mohammad.
Now if we go to a religious scholar and ask him to make reformations,
he will say, ‘What reformations?’
We would tell him that Prophet Mohammad declared that
the scholars of his nation will be like the prophets of Bani Israel who would make reformations in the religions
so why are the religious scholars not doing this?
This is because they are not true scholars.
A true scholar is one whose heart is purified and has the ability to receive the divine revelations sent by God.
If a scholar is unaware of esoteric knowledge how will his heart have the ability to receive divine revelations?
This is why Prophet Mohammad said, ‘Ulema min Sadri’
Meaning: 'A true scholar is one who receives spiritual benevolence from my heart.'
Those who obtained spiritual benevolence from the Prophet’s heart, their hearts became enlightened.
When the Prophet embraces them, the entire Esoteric Qur’an is transferred into their hearts.
And then, if God wants to make any reformations in the religion through them, God sends divine revelations upon their hearts.
They make those reformations in the religion through the divine revelations.
Now, Mujaddid Alif Thani.
He has the word ‘Reformer’ attached to his name.
Mujaddid Alif Thani
means a Reformer that comes every thousand years.
Whereas the spiritual law is that a Reformer is sent after every hundred years.
It is necessary for a Reformer to be sent down every hundred years
because the religion can go through drastic changes in a hundred years.
And then a Great Reformer is sent who comes every thousand years.
It means a great reformation is needed.
So the Great Reformer came, Mujaddid Alif Thani and he made the reformations.
This was at a time when Emperor Akbar attacked the religion of Islam.
He had many wives, one was a Hindu, one was a Shiite, and others from other denominations.
In order to please his wives, he fabricated a religion called the Akbari Religion.
This caused great mischief in the religion.
Not only was it mischief in the religion, but it was also a hindrance created for Imam Mehdi’s mission.
Therefore, in order to quash this mischief, God sent Ahmad Sirhindi (The Great Reformer).
He made reformations.
The Emperor had him put in jail too but those who belong to God do not fear incarceration.
He did not fight it.
So a Reformer has to be a saint.
Someone who is not a saint cannot become a Reformer.
Why is that?
It is because he will not make the reformations based on personal knowledge.
For instance, there are many so-called Sufi scholars who also claim to be Reformers.
'Reformer of the Ages!' Isn’t that right?
They think they are Reformers.
Alright but through which knowledge are you making these reformations in the religion?
You are using the knowledge which is already available in the religion.
But the knowledge through which you claim to be making these reformations has been subjected to mischief.
The reformations in the religion will only be made by
the updated, fresh knowledge sent by God as divine inspirations upon you.
Do you have the spiritual method of receiving divine inspirations?
If you don’t then how can you be the Reformer of the Ages?
A Reformer is one who receives Ilham (divine inspiration) by God.
God sends Sahifa (divine revelation) upon prophets;
Wahi (divine revelation) upon messengers;
Ilham (divine inspiration) upon the saints
and Ilqa (divine inspiration) upon devout believers.
It is the same thing.
Right?
It means the same thing.
If you are a devout believer, you receive Ilqa.
And if it is Ilham
God has many different uses for Ilham so there are different types of Ilham.
An Ilqa is sent in the form of a thought.
How is it sent?
As a thought.
But it will be a very powerful thought and it will be accompanied by the contentment of the heart.
You will have a thought and your heart will be content with it and you will know it is the truth.
Do you understand?
That is known as an Ilqa.
When an Ilqa is sent upon a devout believer his or her Zikr will increase at that moment.
An Ilqa is not sent when your heart is heedless of Zikr.
It is necessary for your heart to be engaged in Zikr.
Why is it necessary?
It is because the Zikr in your heart will combat any evil interference.
And Ilham is of many types.
One type of Ilham is sent in the form of a voice.
And then there is another Ilham which is special.
It is sent in the form of inscription.
And when His Divine Eminence Imam Mehdi Gohar Shahi arrived,
He introduced an innovative method of sending Ilham.
What was it?
He began to speak through His representative.
Initially, this was a rare occurrence but now it has become common.
Even Jesus used this method once.
When the Gospel of Thomas was written
Jesus had been raised to the skies by God and Thomas was alone and worried because the teachings were left incomplete.
What happened was a sub-spirit of Jesus Christ entered his body momentarily
and when he began to speak, the other disciples thought that it was Jesus.
This is how they have a Spiritual Order called Pentecostal.
This is what it means.
A sub-spirit of Jesus Christ entered his body and he began to speak but it was the voice of Jesus Christ.
So this is also a method of Ilham but it is a new method.
The method before this was for Ilham to be sent as an inscription.
The inscription would go through all of the subtleties.
If there was any evil interference, the subtleties would burn it off
but if it was a very powerful evil interference, it is possible for it to cross all the subtleties
but when it would reach the tongue, God would not allow it to be spoken.
This is how the saints are protected.
His Divine Eminence showered His spiritual grace upon me before He adopted Occultation.
He appeared in my dreams and said, ‘Open your mouth’
and He inserted His tongue into my mouth and said, ‘I have removed all mischief from your tongue’.
Mischief causes a lot of problems.
For instance, if you are a verified saint of God then we must accept everything you say.
If you make a mistake, people will still believe and accept it because you are a verified saint of God, it is not their fault.
Those who are verified saints of God, God makes sure that nothing wrong slips out of their mouths.
Right?
God makes arrangements for it because God has taken their guarantee,
so he must make arrangements for their protection [against evil interferences].
If Satan makes any interferences, God has his Divine Forces that combat Satan.
Because this is about the guidance of people.
If the saint says anything wrong, people will accept it to be the truth.
People know that you are a verified saint of God
so if the saint of God says something wrong and people believe it, it is the saint who is at fault.
If the saints are at fault then God has to take the blame for his choice in friends.
Isn’t that right?
This is why God protects the saints.
He makes sure nothing wrong slips out of their mouths.
Now the one who has this divine protection is the only one who has the ability to make reforms in the religion.
Whereas the religious scholars who are trying to make reforms in the book by using the knowledge in the same book,
who are they trying to deceive?
How can you make reforms with the knowledge that you already possess?
Is that possible when it is that knowledge which has been subjected to mischief?
What kind of a 'Shaikh of Islam' and a 'Sufi Scholar' and a 'Reformer of the Ages' is he
if he has made reformations in [the Qur’an] by reading it and using the knowledge already present in it?
How is that possible?
You can only make reformations when God sends new knowledge to you
so that you can update the old knowledge.
You can’t update the old knowledge with old knowledge.