After reciting Tashahhud, Ta’awwuz and Surah al-Fatihah, His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba) warned that while there are some benefits to social media, there are also harmful aspects. Opponents of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community take advantage of this and use foul language and make false accusations against the Community, which injure the sentiments of Ahmadis, leading some Ahmadis to respond in a wrongful manner.

Huzoor (aba) instructed Ahmadis not to respond in ways which can be taken to mean something else in the wrong sense. Huzoor (aba) also instructed Ahmadis not to respond using inappropriate language or respond in a manner which can become the means of degrading anyone in any way, as opponents can use this to falsely claim that Ahmadis dishonour the Holy Prophet (sa) or his companions.

Huzoor (aba) stated that those who level accusations at the Promised Messiah AS and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community cannot truly “comprehend the rank which we (Ahmadis) hold the Holy Prophet (sa) or his companions to the millionth degree”. Huzoor (aba) further emphasised “everything we possess is sacrificed for the Holy prophet (sa). He is the Seal of all Prophets who is God’s beloved and final law-bearing prophet. Not only do our hearts revere (hold deep respect for) the rank of the Holy Prophet (sa), but we also hold dear the rank of His (sa)’s companions”.

In addition, His Holiness (aba) guided the Jamaat: “If an Ahmadi says such things that can be taken to mean the wrong thing in any way, they become a means of defaming the Promised Messiah AS and the Jamaat”.

His Holiness (aba) expounded on this topic by narrating some sayings and writings of the Promised Messiah AS which demonstrate his etiquette, practice and guidance with respect to opponents of the Promised Messiah AS and the Jamaat.

The Promised Messiah AS said, “You must remain patient and always exhibit patience”.

On one occasion, the Promised Messiah AS stated “people curse at me, but I do not care about their cursing, nor do I feel sorry for them, because they are helpless. The only way they can hide their helplessness and depravity is by cursing. They employ vulgarities and absurd ploys because they have no arguments or any answers, and so cursing is all they can do”.

The Promised Messiah AS also said, “They can issue edicts of disbelief, file false cases, and concoct different types of false accusations and slander. They can exert all their efforts against me, and they will witness who the ultimate decision will be in favour of. They may try whatever they please, but Allah the Almighty is with the Promised Messiah AS, and so they shall witness who will ultimately prevail”.

The Promised Messiah AS also said, “If I were to start caring about their (the opponents and slanderers) current state, it would take away from the task which God the Almighty has entrusted to me. Therefore, while I do not care for their cursing, I advise my community that it would behold them to hear their curses and endear them, and under no circumstances should they respond with cursing, because that eliminates blessings. They should exhibit examples of patience and forbearance and exhibit their morals. Certainly, remember there is a dangerous divide between intellect and passion. Intellect cannot prevail in the presence of passion and anger. However, a person who exhibits examples of patience and forbearance is given a light which brings about a new lustre to their abilities of intellect and understanding. Then, this light begets light. Since anger and passion darken the heart and mind, darkness begets darkness”.

His Holiness (aba) also said that those who become self-proclaimed scholars and respond on social media to non-Ahmadis and so-called clerics should abstain from doing so. Furthermore, if they want to search for answers, they should consult scholars of the Jamaat (those who possess in-depth knowledge of the Jamaat’s literature), and the responses given should be powerful and should emphatically refute the allegations being raised.

His Holiness (aba) instructed members: “You must act according to the teachings of the Promised Messiah AS, which are the true teachings of Islam. Otherwise, while being a part of the Jamaat, you will be defaming it”.

Huzoor (aba) then ended with the following prayers and advice to the members of his community: “May Allah the Almighty save us from the evil of the mischievous and grant sense to those who display their false honour and, at times, become the means of spreading disorder and chaos because of the language they use. Instead of responding on social media, if you were to prostrate before Allah the Almighty, offer our prayers with absolute devotion and sincerity and develop such pain in our prostrations that swiftly stirs the Honour of Allah the Almighty, then we will quickly attain much better results than what these people seek to attain by giving responses. Hence, every Ahmadi should abstain from using any sort of language which needlessly gives the opponents any opportunity to say that an Ahmadi said, ‘such and such’. Our morals must be of the highest and loftiest standards. Those who do not have lofty morals do not honour their pledge of allegiance to the Promised Messiah AS. Therefore, everyone should assess themselves and ponder that, instead of giving inappropriate responses, focus on prayers. May Allah the Almighty enable all of us to do so, and may He turn the opponents’ evil back onto them and protect against them”.

Ameen.