Faiths Explore Gratitude and Spirituality

The Race to Conquer the
Secret of Life
14
The Spiritual Benefits of
Fasting
24
Navigating Life in the
21st Century
32
Visits to
Sacred Places
54
vol. 110 - issue sixjune 2015 www.reviewofreligions.org
NAVIGATING
LIFEinthe
21st
Century
Spirituality,
Morality
&Material
Progress

Said one who had the knowledge
of the Book, “I will bring it to
thee before thy noble messengers
return to thee.” And when he saw
it set before him, he said, “This is
by the grace of my Lord, that He
may try me whether I am grateful
or ungrateful. And whosoever is
grateful is grateful for the good
of his own soul; but whosoever
is ungrateful, truly my Lord is
Self- Sufficient, Generous.”
Islam, The Holy Qur’an,
Ch.27:V.41.
Hazrat No’man Bin Bashirra
narrates that the Holy Prophetsa
said from his pulpit, “He who
is not grateful for small favours
cannot be grateful for the bigger
ones. He who cannot be thankful
to men cannot render thanks
for the favours of Allah.To talk
about the blessings of Allah the
Almighty is thankfulness; to not
mention them is ingratitude.”
Islam, The Holy
Prophetsa
, Musnad Ahmad
bin Hanbal, Volume 4, p.278.
Those whom Allah has blessed
should express their gratitude and
should deal with His creation
kindly and humanely.They should
not be proud of God-given
abundance, and they should
not viciously trample the poor.
Islam, The Promised
Messiahas
, Malfuzat,
Volume 4, p.438–439.
Be not like those who honor
their gods in prosperity and
curse them in adversity. In
pleasure or pain, give thanks!
Judaism, Midrash, Mekilta
to Exodus, 20:20.
The unworthy man is ungrateful,
forgetful of benefits [done to him].
This ingratitude, this forgetfulness
is congenial to mean people. But
the worthy person is grateful and
mindful of benefits done to him.
This gratitude, this mindfulness,
is congenial to the best people.
Buddhism, Anguttara
Nikaya, I.61.
Whatever I am offered in devotion
with a pure heart – a leaf, a flower,
fruit or water – I accept with joy.
Hinduism, Bhagavad Gita.
God created foods to be received
with thanksgiving by those who
believe and know the truth. For
everything created by God is good,
and nothing is to be rejected if
it is received with thanksgiving;
for then it is consecrated by
the word of God and prayer.
Christianity, The Bible, 1
Timothy, 4:3-5.
The Holy Prophet
Muhammadsa
prophesied
that the Promised Messiahas
would be raised near a
white minaret, east of
Damascus. This prophecy
was fulfilled with the advent
of the Promised Messiahas
from Qadian, India, a city
directly east of Damascus.
The Promised Messiahas
& imam mahdi
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas
, the Promised Messiah
and Mahdi was born to a noble family in Qadian, India.
From an early age he had a keen interest in religion and
developed a love for the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa
. He
was also known for his honesty, friendliness and resolve.
Over time his knowledge and understanding of religion
and its application to society deepened. Being a Muslim
it was his firm belief that all religions were true at their
source but with the passage of time had drifted away
from their original teachings; he upheld the dignity of
religion and demonstrated its relevance to everyone.
His earnest defence of religion was ultimately blessed
when he started to receive direct revelation from Allah
– a blessing that he continued for the rest of his life.
His mission was to revitalise the truth that all religions
held within them and to revive the teachings of Islam. It
was through this that he would bring mankind together
and establish everlasting peace.
In 1889, under Divine Guidance, Hazrat Ahmadas
founded the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community – a
community that has since grown in its stature and
strength and has remained active in conveying the
message of Islam to the ends of the earth.
Hazrat Ahmadas
had established himself as a respected
writer and had written over 80 books. His writings
have been translated into more than 60 languages and
continue to inspire readers to this day. One of his greatest
scholarly works was The Philosophy of the Teachings of
Islam, prepared as a paper and read out at the Conference
of Great Religions in 1896.
He also wrote a fascinating treatise in 1899 entitled Jesus
in India, a book that uncovered remarkable evidence
of Jesus’sas
journey to India. In 1902, the Promised
Messiahas
initiated The Review of Religions which has
covered a vast array of topics on religion, philosophy
and contemporary issues of the day. It is the longest
running English magazine in defence of Islam and the
values it teaches.
From 1889 until the time of his demise in 1908 tens
of thousands of people accepted him. This blessing
has continued and will continue through his Khulafa
(successors).
Currently under the fifth successor, we are seeing that the
tide of acceptance is worldwide and that the message of
Prophet Ahmadas
has really reached the ends of the earth.
©makhzan-e-tasaweer
founder of
the review of religions
Gratitude
world faiths

8 Untold Stories
14 The Race to Conquer
the Secret of Life
How arguably the greatest
discovery of the 1900s was made.
Azhaar Ashraf, UK
24 The Spiritual Benefits
of Fasting
The holiest month for Muslims,
Ramadan, is approaching.
Rabeeb Mirza, Dublin, Ireland
32 Navigating Life in the 21st
Century: Spirituality,
Morality & Material Progress
What is the link between these
aspects and how can we use them
to our benefit in our lives?
Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaba
54 Visit to Sacred Places
One of Britian’s leading professors
in religion and Islam recounts
his memorable experiences
to Rabwah and Qadian.
Professor Ron Geaves, Cardiff, UK
60 The Economic System of Islam
How does Islam imagine
the ideal economic system?
Second part in series.
Hazrat Mirza Bashir-Ud-Din Mahmud Ahmadra
70 The Age of Hazrat A’ishahra

at the Time of Her Marriage
(Rukhstana) to the Holy
Prophet Muhammadsa
Part 2 from the Life and
Character of the Seal of Prophets,
explaining one of the most
contentious issues of our times.
Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmadra
contents
june 2015 Vol.110 issue six
24
32
14

Manage m ent B o ar d
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Sayed, Sarah Waseem, Shahzad Ahmad, Tariq H. Malik
W eb Devel o per & I T
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Note about references
Verse references to the Holy Qur’an
count ‘Bismillah…’ (In the Name
of Allah…) as the first verse of each
Chapter. In some non-standard texts,
this is not counted. Should the reader
refer to such texts, the verse quoted in
The Review of Religions will be found a
verse earlier, i.e. at one verse less than
the number quoted in this journal.
For the ease of non-Muslim readers, ‘sa
’
or ‘(saw)
’ after the words, ‘Holy Prophet’,
or the name ‘Muhammad’, are used
normally in small letters. They stand
for ‘Sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam’ meaning
‘peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him’. Likewise, the letters ‘as
’ or ‘(as)
’
after the name of all other prophets
is an abbreviation meaning ‘peace
be upon him’ derived from ‘Alaihis
salatu wassalam’ which are words
that a Muslim utters out of respect
whenever he or she comes across
that name. The abbreviation ‘ra
’ or ‘(ra)
’
stands for ‘Raziallahu Ta’ala anhu and
is used for Companions of a Prophet,
meaning Allah be pleased with him
or her (when followed by the relevant
Arabic pronoun). Finally, ‘rh
’ or ‘(rh)
’ for
Rahemahullahu Ta’ala means the Mercy
of Allah the Exalted be upon him.
In keeping with current universal
practice, local transliterations
of names of places are preferred
to their anglicised versions, e.g.
Makkah instead of Mecca, etc.
THE
PHILOSOPHY
OF THE
TEACHINGS
OF
ISLAM
MIRZA GHULAM AHMAD
THE PROMISED MESSIAH & MAHDIAS
The Review of Religions
serialised the famous treatise
The Philosophy of the Teachings
of Islam, by the founder of
the Ahmadiyya Muslim
Community. Initially written
for the Conference of Great
Religions on December 26-
29,1896, each speaker at the
conference was asked to present
to the audience the beauties
of their own religion based
upon its scripture, proving that
it was the true religion, based
on the following topics:
• The Physical, Moral,
and Spiritual States of Man;
• What is the State of
Man after Death?
• The Object of Man’s Life and
the Means of its Attainment;
• The Operation of the Practical
Ordinances of the Law in
This Life and the Next;
• Sources of Divine Knowledge
SERIALISED IN
The Review of Religions
Read online:
www.alislam.org/books/
Or purchase here:
store.alislam.org/englishbooks.html

medicine prescribed by His Holinessaba
,
each one of us remained safe from this
disease). We witnessed, once again, the
fulfillment of the prophecy revealed to
the Promised Messiahas
, “I will protect
whosoever is in your household [i.e. spir-
itual community].”
Surdah Nuzhat
Ahmadiyya Muslim
Community , Liberia.
A Mexican Tale
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious,
Ever Merciful
“We Will Surely Guide Them in Our
Ways”
This is a story I narrated briefly when
I was asked to introduce a dear friend,
who had embraced Islam at the age of
31 years, after almost three months of
investigation and visits to our mosque/
mission house in Merida, Mexico. It
was, as I had also said on that occasion,
an amazing reflection of the sincerity of
this person’s desire to serve God and an
affirmation of the truth of a very pro-
found verse of the Holy Qur’an. When
he was a much younger man, my friend
had wanted to serve God and as a Cath-
olic, he had taken the oath of celibacy,
poverty and obedience; however, when
he arrived and began his spiritual jour-
ney, he was shocked to learn of the go-
ings on within the supposedly sacred
walls of the institution. When those
in authority learned of his having wit-
nessed such sinful activities, they made
it impossible for him to continue with
his spiritual journey. So he left, disil-
lusioned and distraught. His life took
a turn in the worst possible direction,
which adversely affected his physical
and mental state.
However, his desire to seek out and
serve God was sincere. Many years later,
in November 2014, Imam Noman Rana
and I arrived in his hometown of Meri-
da, Mexico and started distributing fly-
ers. Our radio advertisements began to
play on the local stations and the news
spread of our message of, ‘Love for All,
Hatred for None.’He started to commu-
nicate with us through Whatsapp and
each day we would discuss and answer
his questions. The questions were very
simple and straightforward: “Who are
you?”, “What do you believe in?”,“Why are
you here?” and so on. Many days passed
and no meeting had taken place between
us nor had it been discussed. Unknown
to us,he used to pass by our mosque and
mission house a number of times dai-
We continue our newly
launched series of ‘untold stories’
from around the world.
Ebola Miracle
When the Ebola virus disease broke out
in West Africa, the National President
& Missionary In-charge of the Ah-
madiyya Muslim Community Liberia,
wrote a letter to the Khalifah, Hazrat
Mirza Masroor Ahmadaba
, worldwide
Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Com-
munity, informing him of the outbreak
and requesting his prayers. The last
sentence of that letter read: “Beloved
Huzuraba
[His Holiness], please pray for
us [i.e. the Liberia branch of the Com-
munity], that may Allah the Almighty
treat us in the same manner as He treat-
ed the Community a hundred years ago
during the plague outbreak.” Allah the
Almighty, by His sheer Grace and Mer-
cy, accepted the prayers of the Khalifah
of our time and protected each and ev-
ery Ahmadi Muslim in Liberia from
this deadly disease. We bore witness to
the sign of the acceptance of prayers of
the Khalifah and the blessings of be-
ing in this beautiful Community of the
Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdias
.
We received the blessings of obedi-
ence to our Khalifah (as by taking the
[UNTOLD]
STORIES
8 The Review of Religions | june 2015 june 2015 | The Review of Religions 9

instead at the mosque. So these things that
I thought were going to be difficult are, it
seems, not so difficult. Some time ago when
the Imam told me about the fact that in
Islam there is no room for such a thing, I
understood him, but I could not resist teas-
ing him by saying that this was not in the
contract I had signed!”
As of April 11th
, nearly 40 people have
accepted Islam-Ahmadiyyat (the revival
movement of the true Islam) in just a
matter of months. Our weekly classes/
open house about Islam and our free
weekly introductory Arabic language
class has had record numbers of attend-
ees, with full halls and at times almost
50 participants.
Waseem A. Sayed PhD
Merida, Mexico
endnotes
1. Holy Qur’an, Surah Al-‘Ankabut, Verse 70.
ly and had observed us praying, talking
with people on the phone and meeting
them in the mosque. One night, after
two or three weeks, he arrived at the
mosque and we welcomed him inside.
Discussions continued, which were less
about any skepticism and more a case of
someone wanting to tell us his story. He
began to frequent the mosque more and
more. Eventually, the stage came that
not a day would pass by without him
visiting us and sharing time with us,
and having a coffee and sometimes even
a meal with us. During these months,
from November to January, slowly but
surely, others began to embrace the
message of Islam-Ahmadiyyat (the re-
vival of the true Islam) and eventually
he also joined. The impact of this deci-
sion of his was immense; it immediately
drew my attention to the verse of the
Holy Qur’an where Allah guarantees
to man, that if someone looks for Him
sincerely, He will lead such a person to
Himself: “And as for those who strive in
Our path — We will surely guide them in
Our ways. And verily Allah is with those
who do good.”[1]
When I asked him re-
cently what was it that made him accept
the message of Islam-Ahmadiyyat, he
said something strange:
“At first,” he told me, “I had asked you if
you were those who believed in the Prophet
Muhammadsa
because the thing that had
drawn my attention was the word ‘Ah-
madiyya’ in the name of your Community
and I had wondered if there was something
different about the Islam you preached.
Then, when I got closer and closer to you it
was such a wonderful feeling of being ac-
cepted and respected and treated as if I was
a part of you, even though you all knew
that I was a Catholic. I was very impressed
with your appreciation and your repeated-
ly telling me how kind and gentle you be-
lieved me to be. In the end, I realised that I
was already a member and all that was left
for me to do was to sign and acknowledge
this and so I did. I so very much appreciate
all that I am learning and I know this will
go on but I want to tell you that it has not
been easy. You can never appreciate and re-
alise in fact how difficult it has been. How
it is hard for my family and my mother to
understand what I feel and where I find
myself but I am grateful to God that you
came and had you not come, I would surely
never have gotten to see the real Islam in
operation. I knew things about Islam but
I did not have the profound understanding
that I am acquiring. I had discussed how it
would be difficult for me to leave the many
customs and rites and rituals, but I now
find all those things to be trivial and in
fact, this holy week, because of the holidays,
I was blessed to be able to finally come to
the Friday prayers and a while back when
there was some other big event, I did not
even realise that I was missing it and was
Do you have an
“Untold
Story”
you wish to share
with us?
Email us your unique story at
editor@reviewofreligions.org

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hydrogen bonds between A-T and C-G,
respectively.This base pairing allows the
compact organisation of DNA with sec-
tions of these paired letters creating genes
that code for particular amino acids that
go on to form protein structures, which
are involved in complex functions.
How was this grand discovery made? To
find this answer, we will have to travel
on the tantalising wings of history to
appreciate the underlying science. We
are in 1952, where the main cast of this
particular story includes scientists James
Watson,Francis Crick,Maurice Wilkins
and Rosalind Franklin. Others, such as
Linus Pauling, Erwin Chargaff and
Raymond Gosling also play a role. The
story really begins on May 1st
, 1952, in
the famous King’s College London labo-
ratory,where an X-ray camera is clicking
on a 100-hour exposure of a hereditary
molecule called DNA in a process known
as X-ray crystallography. The work is
being carried out by a talented 32-year-
old molecular biologist by the name of
Rosalind Franklin. Once developed,
this photograph will be instrumental in
revealing the structure of DNA and hold
the key to understanding how the blue-
print for every cell of the body is passed
down through generations. Close by, at
Cambridge University,are two scientists
targeting the same prize: Watson, a
23-year-old American viral geneticist,
and Crick, a 35-year-old British physi-
cist. They have been offered the chance
to work at the famous Cavendish labo-
ratory at the University of Cambridge,
in order to unravel the elusive structure
of DNA.[1]
They were not successful in the begin-
ning: Watson and Crick presented their
first model at a seminar hosted at the
Cavendish Laboratory. Prominent per-
sonalities such as Rosalind Franklin,
Maurice Wilkins and Professor Lawrence
Bragg were in the audience,but the meet-
ing went poorly since Watson and Crick
represented DNA as a triple-stranded
helix (as opposed to a double helix) and
Arguably, the greatest discovery of the
1900s came with the elucidation of the
structure of deoxyribose nucleic acid,
otherwise known as DNA, our genetic
blueprint.DNA can be thought of as let-
ters of the alphabet that come together
to form words of functional significance.
And though there are 26 letters in the
English language, in the language of
DNA, there are only four letters. These
are known as Adenine (A), Cytosine
(C), Guanine (G) and Thymine (T).
Similar to the rules of English grammar,
DNA has a base-pairing rule—that is,
the base (or letter) A can only pair with
T, and C can only pair with G to form
The Race to Conquer
the Secret of Life
by Azhaar Ashraf, UK
Current Affairs
The story really begins
on May 1st, 1952, in the
famous King’s College
London laboratory, where
an X-ray camera is clicking
on a 100-hour exposure of
a hereditary molecule called
DNA in a process known
as X-ray crystallography.
© Sergey Nivens | shutterstock.com

hand.Rosalind Franklin was a renowned
expert and this was the very place where
Watson could see the best X-ray images
of the DNA structure.During Franklin’s
short time at King’s University London,
she had discovered the existence of DNA
in two states referred to as the A-form
(dry form) and B-form (wet form,found
in living cells). In an attempt to possi-
bly work with Franklin on this problem,
Watson tried to convince her that DNA
was a helix but she remained defiant.
According to Watson,she became angry
and confronted him upon which Watson
had to make a retreat fearing she would
strike him.[4,5]
But before Watson left that day, he
popped in to see Maurice Wilkins and
insisted on being shown the famous
X-ray photograph 51 that Rosalind
Franklin had acquired through such
painstaking work. When he saw it,
Watson was astonished and was con-
vinced with this conclusive evidence that
DNA was actually a double helix,and not
a triple helix. On the train ride home,
Watson sketched the image he had seen
placed the bases on the outside of the
structure, with the phosphate molecules
placed on the inside.
For the benefit of readers not familiar
with DNA structure,DNA is composed
of two components: the basic building
blocks known as bases (A, C, G,T) and
a deoxyribose sugar-phosphate backbone.
Rosalind Franklin fervently objected to
this duo’s premature model, correctly
pointing out that since DNA could
readily take up water, the phosphate
molecules (which are a water-loving
chemical group) should be on the outside
whilst the bases should be on the inside.
Professor Bragg,who supervised Watson
and Crick,reprimanded the duo and sug-
gested they cease working on the DNA
structure. Despite these setbacks, both
continued to work secretly on this pro-
ject. Watson and Crick quickly realised
that there was just enough evidence out
there to build the structure of DNA using
their models and it was just a matter of
putting the clues together for a complete
and coherent model. In addition, they
knew that quite a few zealous scientists
were working on the problem; hence it
became a race against colleagues to beat
them to the finish line. Recognition and
glory was up for grabs.[2,3]
And so in January of 1953, attempting
to put the pieces of the DNA puzzle
together,Watson procured a draft copy of
a scientific manuscript written by chem-
ist Linus Pauling through his son, Peter,
who was working in Cambridge as a
Ph.D student.Interestingly,Pauling had
made exactly the same mistake Watson
and Crick had made a year earlier, by
suggesting that DNA possessed a triple
helix structure.Conscious of the fact that
Pauling might be able to resolve the issue,
Watson made haste to King’s College
London with Pauling’s manuscript in
Moreover, Crick concluded
that DNA must form an
anti-parallel double helix,
where the two complementary
strands of DNA run in
opposite directions. And all
of this progress was only
possible because of the final
piece in the puzzle, the
famous image from Rosalind
Franklin’s painstaking work.
the race to conquer
the secret of life
James Watson and Francis Crick (right),
co-originators of the double-helix
model, with Maclyn McCarty (left).
© 2005 Lederberg and Gotschlich.

for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid’by Watson
and Crick.[12]
It was an article that would
revolutionise the world of science forever!
But the crux of this enigmatic story
lies in this question: why did Maurice
Wilkins disclose Franklin’s data to a
competing scientist without her permis-
sion? Perhaps it was a case of a clash of
personalities. It is known that Franklin
was an articulate, passionate, strong and
fierce individual, always up for debate.
She stood in complete contrast to the
soft-spoken,deliberate and shy Maurice
Wilkins. Unsurprisingly, this created a
harsh environment of intense conflict,
an environment quite typical of research
laboratories.Perhaps this was the reason
that led Maurice Wilkins to surrepti-
tiously share Franklin’s precious data. It
is likely that we shall never know.[13]
The journal Nature published a set of three
papers,the first being Watson and Crick’s,
followed by Maurice Wilkins’ and last
but certainly not least, Franklin’s [14,15,16]
“Thus our general ideas are consistent with
models proposed by Watson and Crick
(1953)”, Franklin stated in her paper,
oblivious to the fact that their model
was indeed based on her data.[17]
Sadly,
Franklin passed away in 1958 from ovar-
ian cancer,possibly due to frequent X-ray
exposure. In 1962, Watson, Crick and
Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize
but none of them made any particular
mention of Franklin.[18]
In 1968, James Watson wrote a contro-
versial book,The Double Helix: A Personal
Account of the Discovery of the Structure of
DNA.[19]
In this,he defamed the memory
of Franklin by tagging her as “terrible,
bad tempered Rosy”who never shared her
data with anyone, despite the fact that
she had died ten years previously. She
was cast as a villain in his narrative at a
time when she was not present to defend
herself.Crick and Wilkins both objected
to this portrayal because in Crick’s words,
“The book was misleading and in bad taste.
It doesn’t illuminate the process of science,
rather distorts it.”[20]
One cannot take
away the passion and zeal with which
Watson and Crick worked away to solve
the mystery surrounding the secret of life;
however, it is worth stating that without
the access to Franklin’s X-ray images and
on a newspaper, which he showed to an
elated Crick.Both agreed that DNA was
a double helix, but they still needed to
figure out how the chemical constituents
of DNA fit into this amazing structure.[6]
Recollection of clues from the past
reminded Watson and Crick about the
dinner they had with a great chemist,
Erwin Chargaff. The unlikely heroes
asked such very basic questions of
Chargaff that he was surprised at their
lack of basic chemistry knowledge,
especially regarding the key differences
between the bases of DNA. Chargaff
taught the two curious investigators
that the amount of Guanine equalled
the amount of Cytosine (G = C) while
the amount of Adenine equalled the
amount of Thymine (A = T).[7,8]
Thus,
through assimilation of different pieces
of information, they deduced that the
bases would form hydrogen bonds inter-
nally whilst the phosphates would hang
on the outside—just as had been origi-
nally proposed by Franklin. Moreover,
Crick concluded that DNA must form
an anti-parallel double helix, where the
two complementary strands of DNA run
in opposite directions. And all of this
progress was only possible because of
the final piece in the puzzle, the famous
image from Rosalind Franklin’s painstak-
ing work.[9]
The new model put together by Watson
fitted the experimental data exception-
ally well and Crick later observed that
they had found the gold before anyone
else in this treasure hunt. Crick began
telling everyone at the Eagle pub, just
around the corner from the Cavendish
lab, that he and his colleague had found
the secret of life.[10,11]
On April 25th
,1953,
a modest 900-word article appeared in
the journal Nature, titled ‘Molecular
Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure
One cannot take away the
passion and zeal with which
Watson and Crick worked
away to solve the mystery
surrounding the secret of
life; however, it is worth
stating that without the
access to Franklin’s X-ray
images and data, it would
have certainly taken longer
for the duo to solve the riddle.
the race to conquer
the secret of life
An English Heritage blue plaque for Rosalind
Franklin at Donovan Court, Drayton
Gardens, Chelsea, SW10 9QS in the Royal
Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
© Gareth E Kegg

This is a melancholic story indeed.
Franklin’s crucial contribution to Watson
and Crick’s work became a footnote
in scientific history with the price of
Franklin’s hard work being the offering of
her life,at the tender age of thirty-seven.
Franklin was a great scientist who could
have possibly secured two Nobel Prizes
for her work both on the elucidation of
the structure of DNA and viruses; sadly
though, Nobel Prizes are not offered
posthumously.
About the Author: Azhaar Ashraf is a scientist
with a Master’s degree in experimental
neuroscience from Imperial College London.
He has worked on models of dementia in
the laboratory leading to several scientific
publications. He has special interest in
Alzheimer’s dementia and wishes to pursue
it as a research career. He is a senior member
of Ahmadiyya Muslim Research Association
UK (AMRA) and serving as the Editor of
AMRA Scientific Journal.The AMRA serves to
promote science and research based careers to
its members as well as highlighting the intrinsic
harmony between religious and scientific
thought. AMRA members actively explore and
develop approaches towards using the Holy
Qur’an as a source for secular knowledge with
special emphasis on prospective research ideas.
endnotes
1. Brenda Maddox, Rosalind Franklin: The Dark
Lady of DNA (HarperCollins Publications,
2002).
2002).
3. James D. Watson, The Double Helix: A
Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure
of DNA (W&N Publications, 1968).
2002).
7. Erwin Chargaff,“Chemical Specificity
of Nucleic Acids and Mechanism of Their
Enzymatic Degradation”, Experimentia 6,
(1950): 201.
8. Erwin Chargaff,“Preface to a Grammar of
data,it would have certainly taken longer
for the duo to solve the riddle.
Franklin had moved to Birkbeck College
on April 25th
, 1953, to work on viruses.
Here, she famously discovered the com-
plex structure of viruses and the location
of their infectious elements. Sir Aaron
Klug,who was her last collaborator,stud-
ied her notebooks and letters after her
demise. He won a Nobel Prize in 1982
on his impressive work in the field of
electron microscopy and the structure of
viruses, most of which was based upon
and a continuation of the work Franklin
started. Klug, unlike Watson, Crick and
Wilkins, acknowledged Franklin’s con-
tribution to his work in his prestigious
speech at the auspicious occasion of the
Nobel Prize ceremony.[21]
the race to conquer
the secret of life
Rosalind Franklin and Photo 51
© Robin Stott
Francis Crick in his office. Behind him
is a model of the human brain that he
inherited from Jacob Bronowski.
© Siegel RM, Callaway EM: Francis Crick’s
Legacy for Neuroscience: Between the α
and the Ω. PLoS Biol 2/12/2004: e419.

Biology: A Hundred Years of Nucleic Acid
Research”, Science, 172 (1971): 637-642.
10. Brenda Maddox, Rosalind Franklin:The
Dark Lady of DNA (HarperCollins Publications,
2002).
12. James D. Watson, Francis H. Crick,
“Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids; A
Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid”,
Nature 171(4356), (1953): 737-738.
14. James D. Watson, Francis H. Crick,
“Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids; A
Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid”,
Nature 171(4356), (1953): 737-738.
15. Maurice H.F. Wilkins, Alex R. Stokes,
Herbert R. Wilson,“Molecular Structure of
Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids”, Nature 171
(1953): 739.
16. Rosalind E. Franklin, Raymond G. Gosling,
“R. G. Molecular Configuration in Sodium
Thymonucleate”, Nature 171 (1953): 742.
2002).
2002).
2002).
23. Aaron Klug,“Historical perspective; The
Discovery of the DNA Double Helix”, J Mol
Biol 335 (2004): 3–26.
the race to conquer
the secret of life
The world is passing through turbulent times.The global economic crisis
continues to manifest new and grave dangers at every juncture.The
similarities of the current circumstances to the build-up of the Second World
War are stark. Events appear to be moving us rapidly towards aThird World
War.The consequences of a nuclear war are beyond our imagination. In
this book, the historic addresses of Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaba
, Fifth
Khalifah of the Promised Messiah and Supreme Head of the worldwide
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, to prominent dignitaries at Capitol Hill, the
House of Commons, the European Parliament and other notable locations
around the world have been collated.The book also includes the momentous
letters sent by His Holiness to the numerous world leaders. Over and over
again, His Holiness has reminded all that the only means of averting a global
catastrophe is for nations to establish justice as an absolute requirement of
their dealings with others. Even if mutual enmity exists, impartiality must
be observed at all times, because history has taught us that this alone is
the way to eliminate all traces of hatreds and to build everlasting peace.
Read online at: www.alislam.org
Purchase the book here:
http://store.alislam.org/
22 The Review of Religions | june 2015

S
oon Muslims throughout the world
will begin their month of observing
fasts, known as Ramadan. A per-
tinent question always arises in regards
to what is the purpose of fasting? What
are the spiritual benefits that one gains
from this month-long ordeal? First and
foremost,we must understand the mean-
ing of the word ‘Ramadan.’Ramadan,the
ninth month of the Islamic Calendar, is
an Arabic word which is derived from
the verb
..
..
[2]
..
..
[4]
Fasting
َ‫ض‬ِ‫م‬َ‫ر‬
َ‫ض‬ِ‫م‬َ‫ر‬ )‫(النهار‬ ُ‫ار‬َ‫َّه‬‫الن‬
ُ‫ل‬ُ‫ج‬َّ‫الر‬
ِ‫م‬َ‫ر‬ُ‫م‬ِ‫ائ‬َّ‫الص‬ َ‫ض‬




Khutba Transl
24.04.
ُّ‫خ‬ُ‫م‬ِ‫ة‬َ‫اد‬َ‫ب‬ِ‫ع‬ْ‫ل‬‫ا‬
ِ‫ة‬َ‫اد‬َ‫ب‬ِ‫ع‬ْ‫ل‬‫ا‬ ُّ‫خ‬ُ‫م‬
َ‫ك‬َ‫ل‬َ‫ع‬ْ‫ی‬َ‫ك‬َ‫ح‬‫ق‬
َ‫ك‬َ‫ل‬َ‫ع‬ْ‫ی‬َ‫ك‬‫ق‬َ‫ح‬
َ‫ل‬َ‫ع‬ْ‫ی‬َ‫ك‬‫ق‬َ‫ح‬
‫ا‬َ‫ی‬ْ‫ُّن‬‫الد‬ ِ‫اة‬َ‫ی‬َْ‫اْل‬ ِ‫ِف‬ ْ‫م‬ُ‫ه‬ُ‫ی‬ْ‫ع‬
(ra’me’dha). Some Arabic
expressions help us to understand the
meaning of Ramadan;
..
..
[2]
..
..
[4]
Fasting



..
..
[2]
..
..
[4]
Fasting
(ra’me’dhan nahaar) means that the day
became intensely hot.
..
..
[4]
Fasting

K
‫ا‬َ‫ی‬
..
[2]
..
..
[4]
Fasting


(ra’me’dhar rijal) means that the man had
his feet burnt by the earth which had
become intensely hot.Then
..
..
[4]
Fasting

(ra’me’dhas saaimu) means that the inside
of the fasting man became very hot with
thirst owing to heat.Thus from this per-
spective, Ramadan is so named because:
• Fasting in this month causes heat and
burning due to thirst.
• Worship and devotion in this month
burns away the traces of sins in man.
• Worship and devotion in this month
produce in the heart of man the neces-
sary warmth of love for his Creator and
his fellow beings. [1],[2]
In addition to this brief introduction to
the lexical meaning of Ramadan, I will
present some references from the Holy
Qur’an, sayings of the Holy Prophetsa
and extracts from the writings of Hazrat
Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas
, the Promised
Messiah and Founder of the Ahmadiyya
Muslim Community,relating to the spir-
itual benefits of Ramadan.
God Almighty states in the Holy Qur’an,
“O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed for
you, as it was prescribed for those before you,
so that you may become righteous.”[3]
In the last part of this Qur’anic verse,
God Almighty has told the believers that
the practise of fasting is prescribed as a
means of attaining righteousness.So what
is righteousness? Righteousness is the
root to every virtue and good deed. The
Arabic word for righteousness is
Life & Character:
َ‫ك‬ْ‫ل‬ِ‫ت‬ِ‫ب‬ ِ‫ه‬ِ‫ذ‬َ‫ه‬
The Economic System of Islam:
....
[1



[3]
‫إ‬‫ت‬‫اء‬َ‫ق‬
‫اتس‬‫ری‬ ‫ب‬ ‫م‬‫اپی‬ ‫تلصخ‬ ‫ن‬‫فت‬‫خ‬
‫مک‬ ‫وخردن‬ ‫مک‬ ‫نتفگ‬ ‫مک‬
[Itt-e-qaa]. This word bears testimony
The Spiritual Benefits
of Fasting
by Rabeeb Mirza, Dublin, Ireland
“O ye who believe! Fasting
is prescribed for you, as it
was prescribed for those
before you, so that you
may become righteous.”
© Digital Saint | shutterstock.com

a means for the greater acceptance of
prayers. However, the sole purpose of
such a rigorous practice is to win the
pleasure of Allah.
Fasting also has a symbolic aspect. By
observing the fast the worshipper dem-
onstrates that if in the course of carrying
out his duty of complete submission to
the will of Allah he should ever be called
upon to put his life in jeopardy or to
sacrifice the interests of his progeny, he
would not hesitate to do so. Such a dis-
cipline practised for a month every year
should ensure that the participant would,
during the remaining eleven months of
the year, progressively achieve greater
adherence to moral and spiritual values.[6]
Apart from this,the more affluent sector
of society is made to experience periods
of hunger and thirst by observing fasts.
Thus it is narrated that during the month
of Ramadan, the Holy Prophet’ssa
con-
cern and care for the poor,the needy,the
sick and the orphan,was intensified man-
ifold and that his already ample sense of
charity became limitless.
Merely abstaining from food or drink is
not beneficial if we do not eschew any
form of falsehood or dishonest speech
whilst fasting.The Holy Prophetsa
said,
“He who abstains from food and drink
during the period of the fast but does not
restrain himself from uttering falsehood
starves himself to no purpose.”[7]
The word used for falsehood in Arabic
is
Life & Character:
َ‫ك‬ْ‫ل‬ِ‫ت‬ِ‫ب‬ ِ‫ه‬ِ‫ذ‬َ‫ه‬
The Economic System of Islam:
....
[1

...
..
..
[2]



[3]
‫ر‬ْ‫و‬ُّ‫الز‬



[8]
(Az-Zur) and also includes the
meanings: wrong deeds, illegal means,
bribery, adulteration, make-believe or
vain diversion.
It is evident that the act of fasting
becomes a spiritual exercise, whereby
man relinquishes the things he loves
purely to gain closeness to his Maker.
to the fact that a person who strives to
adopt every type of virtue is subsequently
safeguarded from every type of wrongful
act.Therefore,when man treads upon the
paths of virtue he eventually gains near-
ness to Allah the Almighty,which is the
ultimate purpose and objective of fast-
ing.In fact,fasting has been endorsed in
all religious disciplines, which are based
on Divine revelation as the verse above
has mentioned. A famous Persian prov-
erb states:
To speak little, to eat little and to sleep little
are the characteristics of the prophets.
Therefore, one who fasts is simultane-
ously treading along the pathway of the
prophets and is endeavouring to attain
righteousness.
The Holy Prophetsa
said,
“There are appropriate spiritual rewards for
all worship and righteous action; the ulti-
mate reward of the person who observes the
fast solely for winning the pleasure of Allah
is Allah Himself.”[4]
That is why during the month of
Ramadan, a special effort is made and
Muslims try their utmost not only to
become regular in congregational prayers,
but also to dedicate most of their time to
recitation of the Holy Qur’an and vol-
untary prayers.
On another occasion,the Holy Prophetsa
of Islam said,
“Fasting is a shield. Thus a person should
refrain from vulgar and ignorant talk and
if someone quarrels with him then he must
answer him saying simply that, ‘I am fast-
ing’. I swear to that Being whose hand my
life is in, the stench of the mouth of one who
is fasting is more preferred to God Almighty
than the smell of musk. God Almighty says
that he has abstained his food, drink, desires
and conjugal relations for My sake. Fasting
is for My sake and I shall bestow the reward
for this, and the reward for righteousness is
tenfold.”[5]
The observation of the fast, whether
obligatory or voluntary, is subject to the
same regulations. Therefore, the month
of Ramadan under these circumstances
is a period of intensive training in benefi-
cent values. Abstention from lawful and
permissible food and drink which sus-
tain life and conjugal relations, which
promote the continuance of the species
for a certain number of hours each day
through a month is a valuable exercise in
endurance and steadfastness.It becomes
Merely abstaining from food
or drink is not beneficial if
we do not eschew any form
of falsehood or dishonest
speech whilst fasting.
the spiritual benefits of fasting
© highviews | shutterstock.com

gates to Heaven are opened and the doors
to Hell are closed, and the satanic forces are
bound in shackles.”[10]
At another time the Holy Prophetsa
said,
“Whomsoever faithfully fasts in the month
of Ramadan with the ardent desire to gain
the pleasure of Allah the Almighty, then his
previous sins shall be forgiven and that per-
son who faithfully remains awake during
the night to witness Lailatul Qadar (i.e.
the night of decree where one witnesses the
acceptance of his prayers) seeking the pleas-
ure of Allah the Almighty, then his previous
sins will be forgiven.”[11]
What we learn from these sayings of
the Prophet Muhammadsa
is that the
month of Ramadan is also a month of
God’s mercy, His forgiveness, redemp-
tion and protection from satanic forces.
Therefore, when Allah the Almighty’s
mercy descends and man is enabled to
exert his strength by performing good
deeds and those good deeds subsequently
gain the position of acceptance,then the
gates to heaven are opened. It also fur-
ther creates an infinite circle of spiritual
and moral development and progression.
Remember,that one who does not follow
the prescribed ‘curriculum’for the month
of Ramadan can never truly partake of its
blessings and thus loses out as the Holy
Prophetsa
himself stated,
“Woe to that person, who witnessed
Ramadan and before he could be delivered
from his sins, the month passed by.”[12]
With regards to the month of Ramadan,
the Holy Qur’an says,
“The month of Ramadhan is that in which
the Qur’an was sent down as a guidance
for mankind with clear proofs of guidance
and discrimination”[8]
i.e.a discrimination
between truth and falsehood.
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas
eluci-
dates the following verse and continues,



[8]

[9]
Khutba Translation
24.04.2015
ُ‫اء‬َ‫ُّع‬‫الد‬ُّ‫خ‬ُ‫م‬ِ‫ة‬َ‫اد‬َ‫ب‬ِ‫ع‬ْ‫ل‬‫ا‬
ِ‫ة‬َ‫اد‬َ‫ب‬ِ‫ع‬ْ‫ل‬‫ا‬ ُّ‫خ‬ُ‫م‬ ُ‫اء‬َ‫ُّع‬‫الد‬
َ‫ك‬ِ‫س‬ْ‫ف‬َ‫ن‬ِ‫ل‬َ‫و‬َ‫ل‬َ‫ع‬ْ‫ی‬َ‫ك‬َ‫ح‬‫ق‬
َ‫و‬َ‫ك‬ ِ‫ج‬ْ‫و‬َ‫ز‬ِ‫ل‬َ‫ل‬َ‫ع‬ْ‫ی‬َ‫ك‬‫ق‬َ‫ح‬
َ‫ك‬ِ‫ر‬‫ا‬َ‫ج‬ِ‫ل‬َ‫و‬َ‫ل‬َ‫ع‬ْ‫ی‬َ‫ك‬‫ق‬َ‫ح‬
“That indicates the grandeur of the month
of Ramadan. The Sufis have written that
this month is great for the enlightenment
of the heart. Blessed visions are frequently
experienced in this month. Prayer purifies
the self and fasting enlightens the heart.The
purification of self means that one gets away
from the lust of the Nafs-e-Ammarah (the
self that incites).” It distances us from it.
“The enlightenment of the heart means that
[the] door of blessed visions opens up for us
to see God.”[9]
When we study Islamic traditions we
see that the inception of the revela-
tion of the Holy Qur’an began in the
month of Ramadan. Subsequently, each
year during this month, the Archangel
Gabrielas
would revise the parts of the
Holy Qur’an with the Holy Prophetsa
that had been revealed up to that point.
This process continued throughout the
Holy Prophet’ssa
lifetime. During the
final Ramadan of the Holy Prophet’ssa
life,Gabrielas
twice repeated the complete
recitation of the Holy Qur’an with the
Holy Prophetsa
.
So in keeping with this practice,Muslims
around the world dedicate time to the
recitation of the Holy Qur’an during
Ramadan and particularly try to com-
plete its full recitation during this blessed
month. Another means for completing
its full recitation is through a voluntary
prayer during Ramadan,which is offered
after Ishaa (night) prayer and is known
as Taraweeh. In this prayer, one part of
the 30 parts of the Holy Qur’an can be
recited. In this manner, one complete
recitation of the Holy Qur’an can be
achieved during Ramadan.
Again, if one studies the month of
Ramadan one sees that all religious
activities are enhanced so that a Muslim
is able to augment and advance in his
spirituality.
The Holy Prophetsa
of Islam said,
“When the month of Ramadan arrives, the
The English Rendering of the
5 Volume Commentary of the
Holy Qur’an
One of the most comprehensive commentaries of the
Holy Qur’an ever written.
Commentary by
Hadhrat Mirza Bashir-Ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad(ra)
Read it online at: http://www.alislam.org/quran/
Or Purchase the print version at: http://store.alislam.org/
©AMAGallery
So in keeping with this
practice, Muslims around
the world dedicate time to
the recitation of the Holy
Qur’an during Ramadan
and particularly try to
complete its full recitation
during this blessed month.

endnotes
1. Malik Ghulam Farid M.A, Dictionary of the
Holy Qur’an (2006), 343.
2. Holy Qur’an w/Five Volume Commentary
(1988), 239-240.
3. Holy Qur’an, Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 184.
4. Hazrat Muhammad Zafrullah Khanra
,
“Fasting: Fourth Pillar of Islam,”The Review of
Religions Mar. 1994.
5. Bukhari, Kitab-us-Saum,
Bab-u-Fadhl-is-Saum.
6. Hazrat Muhammad Zafrullah Khanra
,
“Fasting: Fourth Pillar of Islam,”The Review of
Religions Mar. 1994.
7. Bukhari, Kitab-us-Saum, Bab-u-Malam
Yadu Qaul-az Zure wal-Amala bihi fi-saum.
8. Holy Qur’an, Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 186.
9. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadra
, Al-Badr,
Vol. 7, p.52.
10. Bukhari, Kitab-us Saum, Babu bal yuqaala
Ramadana aw shahra Ramadan.
11. Bukhari, Kitabu-Fadle Lailatil-Qadr, Babu
Fadle Lailatil-Qadr.
12. Jami’Tirmidhi, Kitabu-Da’waat ‘An Rasul-
ul-Allah Salallahu ‘Alayhi Wasallam, Babu
Qauli Rasulillahi Salallahu ‘Alayhi Wasallam
“Raghima Anfu Rajulin”.
13. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas
, Malfoozat
Vol.2, p.564.
14. Speeches to Jalsa Salana (1906), 20.
For those who are ill or physically unable
to endure fasting or are travelling, they
are exempt from fasting and should give
fidya (a monetary contribution by way
of expiation, which is solely spent on
the needy and destitute) so that they
may also partake of the blessings of this
month. Such persons who can make up
the fasts they miss at a later date should
do so accordingly.
said,
“A religion which does not have any striv-
ing is nothing.”
He further stated,
“A person whose heart is gladdened at the
arrival of Ramadan but who cannot go on
to fast due to illness is deemed as fasting in
the heavens.”[13]
To conclude,an extract from the writings
of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the
Promised Messiahas
is presented, which
beautifully summarises the true concept
of fasting,
“It should be remembered that the fast
does not mean merely that a person should
abstain from food and drink over a cer-
tain period. During the fast one should be
occupied greatly with the remembrance of
God. The Holy Prophetsa
occupied himself
greatly with worship during the month of
Ramadan. During that month one should
discard one’s preoccupation with eating
and drinking; and cutting asunder from
these needs should address oneself wholly
towards God. Unfortunate is the person
who is bestowed material bread and pays no
attention to spiritual bread. Material bread
strengthens the body, and spiritual bread
sustains the soul and sharpens the spiritual
faculties. Seek the Grace of God, as all doors
are opened by His Grace.”[14]
About the Author: Rabeeb Mirza is currently
serving the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
in Ireland, as the Imam of the Dublin
Mission/Chapter. He has completed a seven-
year missionary training course from Jamia
Ahmadiyya UK, the missionary training college
of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the
UK.Thereafter as part of training he served
the community in Liberia and Spain for short
periods. Presently, he is engaging with the Irish
public through peace symposiums, stalls and
a leaflet campaign of peace in dispelling and
demystifying the misconceptions held about
Islam.
“A religion which does not
have any striving is nothing.”
Your feedback is
important to us
Write to us with comments,
feedback and suggestions at
info@ReviewofReligions.org

Navigating Life in the
21st
Century:
Spirituality, Morality &
Material Progress
© sergign | shutterstock.com
by Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaba

in their minds, in search of answers or
solutions, the mother or the father do
not have time to answer them due to
work and societal engagements or they
do not have the knowledge.And for this
reason, instead of answering their ques-
tions they sometimes try to suppress the
children.The youth are led to think that
whilst religion, regardless whether it is
Islam, claims that it is the truth and it
has solutions to all issues,it does not give
practical solutions for the current times.
Or young people think that that there
is simply no answer to their questions.
At times children observe a disparity
between the actions of adults and the
teaching given to children. They absorb
the teachings and remain quiet for a
period of time,but once they attain free-
dom, they stray away from religion and
fall under the grasp of those who turn
people away from religion altogether. It
is for this reason that regardless of the
beautiful teachings of Islam and the fact
that it is a living religion, we now see
Muslims who reject religion and God.
Hence, in such circumstances, there is
a need for every one of us to focus our
attention towards how we can make our-
selves [true] followers of religion and
take care of our progeny.
The Essential Link in Life
There is no doubt that Islam is a perfect
and complete religion and has given us
solutions to a plethora of problems.The
Holy Qur’an is a complete and perfect
book and the Holy Prophetsa
presents
the perfect illustration of this for us.This
exemplary model brought about a revo-
lutionary change in the Companionsra
of the Holy Prophetsa
. They properly
understood religion as well as morality.
Indeed, they also attained material suc-
cess. However they had the perception
of the appropriate position and status
of each of these aspects. They under-
stood the position of religion and how
it should be juxtaposed with morals and
material progression. Hence the youth,
children who are entering young adult-
hood, and in particular adults who are
responsible for caring for the future gen-
erations should remember that we need
to understand the relationship between
O
pponents of religion are raising
a [certain] question with greater
intensity than ever before. A
lack of guidance has made them averse
to religion and God,they try to influence
the minds of the youth in particular,and
the wider society in general. The ques-
tion posed by them is that if one already
displays good morals,and if worldly edu-
cation can lead a person to virtues, then
why accept any religion? They say reli-
gion claims it will impart good morals
but we already have good morals without
religion.They even go on to say that the
majority of worldly people have better
morals than believers in religion. Islam
is particularly targeted in this reference.
Who Follows Religion Any More?
We observe that the majority of followers
of other religions have lost virtually all
connection with their religion. Islam is
the only religion in which the majority of
its adherents openly express their beliefs.
Even most of those who do not prac-
tise Islam still openly label themselves as
Muslim and clearly associate themselves
with the religion.Thus the real target of
this question is towards Islam. By using
various methods and different viewpoints
they try to turn others away from religion
and poison the minds of our children and
youth. In the Western system of educa-
tion greater emphasis is given to critical
scrutiny and research. Indeed this is
excellent and to be supported; however
the right approach needs to be adopted.
Questions, Questions
We find that when the youth or children
entering young adulthood approach their
parents or elders with questions that arise
We observe that the
majority of followers of
other religions have lost
virtually all connection with
their religion. Islam is the
only religion in which the
majority of its adherents
openly express their beliefs.
navigating life in the 21st century:
spirituality, morality & material progress
© aluxum | Shutterstock.com© Mark Skalny | Shutterstock.com
Translated from Urdu by Dr. Maaz Rahman,
Tariq Haroon Malik and Professor Amtul Razzaq Carmichael.

progress and religion. Additionally, he
shed light on how the Holy Prophetsa
taught us Islam’s essence and reality
through his actions and practical model.
Today I will present this subject before
you while availing of Hazrat Musleh-e-
Mau’ud’sra
sermon.
The Balance in Life
We say to the world, and it is certainly
true, that Islam is a religion which God
the Almighty prescribed and revealed
according to the exact requirements
of human nature. Acknowledging that
Islam is the religion compatible with
man’s nature,Hazrat Musleh-e-Mau’udra
says:
“Religion, morality, and man’s physical
and material requirements are so closely
intertwined that it is difficult to distin-
guish between them. One who believes in
religion cannot separate morality from
religion. Neither can he say that through
religion he is self-sufficient and independent
from the world and devoid of any necessi-
ties. If a person harbours the notion that,
‘I do not need anything anymore from
the world’, then the wheel of material pro-
gress will come to a halt. So all these aspects
are closely linked to one another—religion,
morality and material progress. However,
despite this commonality there are also dif-
ferences between them. Non-believers in
religion try to liberate themselves by saying
that good morals and material progress are
needed by man. But a true Muslim will say
that religion is also necessary, since it shows
one the path to reach God.
moral reformation,material progress and
religion.We should then shape our lives
according to this understanding.If adults
fully comprehend this relationship they
will be equipped to properly look after
future generations. If the youth under-
stand these inter-connections, then the
paths of religious and worldly success will
be laid open to them.They will learn how
beautiful the teachings of Islam are and
that those who speak against those teach-
ings are liars.
The aforementioned question being
raised with greater intensity in the cur-
rent times by opponents of religion is
nothing new.Throughout history,similar
questions have often been raised.Critics
of religion have always done so to try
to justify and validate their objections
against religion. In truth, critics have
never attempted to understand the true
essence of religion. Moreover, so-called
religious scholars, who misunderstand
religion, have forged false doctrines and
incorrect solutions, and in this way fur-
ther confused even the educated class.
In this age, Allah the Almighty has
favoured us by sending the Promised
Messiahas
[Hazrat Mirza Ghulam
Ahmadas
of Qadian] to dispel the confu-
sion and clarify intricacies that arise from
these issues. The Promised Messiahas
developed the insight in us to compre-
hend these concepts,making it easy for us
to understand them and find a solution.
Hazrat Musleh-e-Mau’udra
[Hazrat
Mirza Bashir-Ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad,
the Second Worldwide Head of the
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community] once
delivered a sermon briefly elucidating
this subject where he discoursed on the
Islamic viewpoint on the relationship
between moral reformation, material
© thomas koch | Shutterstock.com
Every sect has their own
Fatwas (edicts) and this is
the reason that in order to
penetrate society with their
version of Islam, terrorist
groups have created their self-
constituted moral practices
or laws, and they are killing
each other and causing
widespread devastation. In
Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and
Pakistan, their self-formed
laws are causing bloodshed
in the name of religion.

Islam,he mentioned to members of ISIS
who he met that what they were doing
was contrary to the Qur’an and the say-
ings of the Holy Prophetsa
of Islam.The
ISIS officials replied that we do not know
whether this is in the Qur’an or the say-
ings of the Holy Prophetsa
of Islam.This
is our [own ISIS] law and we are acting
in accordance to it. This is an example
of how they have distorted the Islamic
teachings.
What is happening in Yemen is also due
to the same reason. Air raids are being
carried out on innocent civilians because
of self-serving Fatwas (edicts). It is true
that both rival factions are in the wrong,
but the solution is not the needless and
indiscriminate killing of innocent people.
As a matter of fact,if we look carefully,we
find this [behaviour] in Islamic history
- and it still continues today. Different
scholars developed their own schools
of thought as a religion. All scholars or
‘maulanas,’ have created their own reli-
gions.There is no truth left in the Islam
they are following (compared to the true
Islamic teaching).As a result,the major-
ity of Muslims who follow these scholars
and issuers of religious edicts have been
led astray. Who knows what goes on in
the name of religion and spirituality?
The Western Approach
At the other extreme, those who do not
believe in religion—the Western civi-
lised and advanced world—endeavour
to explain away spirituality and morality
in material terms. Even if they consider
divine revelation a theoretical possibility,
they say that it is a part of human actions.
Morality,according to them,is for man’s
material gain only (that morality is for
material gain); and religion is a means
for the uneducated or the less educated to
save themselves from crime.They believe
that the only benefit from religion is a
degree of moral improvement, but only
to the extent that [the uneducated] start
fearing [the punishments prescribed in]
religion and even then,only if the correct
religion is followed. Their contention is,
what need is there for religion for those
who already possess morality?
Distinguishing between Materialism,
Religion and Morality
A deeper analysis, however, reveals that
materialism, morality and religion are
so closely intertwined that a lay person
does not even realise where one finishes
and the other begins. In order to under-
stand this distinction, we [should] look
at the pure life of the Holy Prophetsa
.
Hence, there are differences in how one per-
ceives these three aspects and how we link
them with one another.Whilst all other reli-
gions are dying, Islam is the only religion
that proves the inter-connection between
these facets.Yet the majority of Muslims fail
to understood the reality and true nature
of religion and have erroneously connected
certain moral characteristics with materi-
alism—and they have greatly transgressed
in doing so. Rather than presenting reli-
gion in a beautiful manner and attracting
others towards it, they have turned people
away from religion. Leaving aside prayers
and fasting, when it comes to morals and
worldly needs,while establishing an institu-
tion or organising a gathering for example,
Muslim clerics generally say that this is all
part of Islam in our view and the one who
does not partake in it is a disbeliever and
an apostate.”[1]
The Islamic World Today and ISIS
This is exactly what we observe in the
Islamic world. When this incorrect
thinking expands it engulfs everything.
It goes beyond just labeling someone
a disbeliever or an apostate, and wars
and battles are started. Every sect has
their own Fatwas (edicts) and this is the
reason that in order to penetrate soci-
ety with their version of Islam, terrorist
groups have created their self-constituted
moral practices or laws,and they are kill-
ing each other and causing widespread
devastation. In Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan,
and Pakistan, their self-formed laws
are causing bloodshed in the name of
religion. As I have mentioned before, a
French journalist stayed with members of
the so-called Islamic State that has been
established in Iraq and Syria.He noticed
certain things in their actions and laws.
According to the knowledge he had of
Islam and from studying the Holy Qur’an
or the sayings of the Holy Prophetsa
of
They believe that the only
benefit from religion is a
degree of moral improvement,
but only to the extent that [the
uneducated] start fearing [the
punishments prescribed in]
religion and even then, only if
the correct religion is followed.
Their contention is, what need
is there for religion for those
who already possess morality?

aspect is morality. We find such subtle
and intricate demonstrations of morality
in every aspect of the Holy Prophet’ssa
life,that are impossible to appreciate even
for the keenest of observers.These subtle-
ties can only be appreciated if he guides
us towards them himself.
Take the relationship with wives and the
expression of one’s love as an example,
which are very essential for a harmonious
family life. It is one of the basic mor-
als. With regards to his wives, the Holy
Prophetsa
was so careful about the sub-
tleties of behaviour, that he would drink
water putting his lips exactly where the
lips of his wife had touched the vessel.
This is seemingly a very small gesture,
but in fact it is a subtle point of human
nature.The depth of human love becomes
evident not only through grand gestures,
but through such small ones too.Looking
He is the world’s material reformer,
moral reformer, as well as its spiritual
reformer.His pure life is all-encompass-
ing and inclusive of all these things. On
the one hand, he says
[8]

[9]
Khutba Translation
24.04.2015
‫ا‬َ‫ی‬ْ‫ُّن‬‫الد‬ ِ‫اة‬َ‫ی‬َْ‫اْل‬ ِ‫ِف‬ ْ‫م‬ُ‫ه‬ُ‫ی‬ْ‫ع‬َ‫س‬ َّ‫ل‬َ‫ض‬
that “Prayer is at the heart of worship”,and
on the other he emphasises spirituality.
In other words simply offering regular
[ritual] prayer is not enough nor will it
resolve all problems.One has to improve
the quality of one’s prayer and enhance
his spirituality by progressing through its
various stages. Man’s relationship with
God through supplications has been lik-
ened to that between a mother and her
child.Dua [prayer] literally means ‘to call
out.’ One calls out only if one is confi-
dent that there will be someone who will
come to his aid. One does not call one’s
enemy for help. What should we take
into account when we pray (or call out)
or want to pray?
According to Hazrat Musleh Mau’udra
we require three things to make our
prayers successful:
• One should have full confidence that
the prayer will be answered.
• One should have complete faith that
whoever is being called upon has com-
plete powers to extend help.
• One should have a natural inclination
that takes him/herself away from all
other associations and instead leads one
towards Allah alone, or whoever the
loved one is,being called upon for help.
The first two points are logical. It would
be completely nonsensical to pray to such
an entity if one does not believe that his
prayer will be answered or if the entity
being called out is incapable of helping.
In that case, it is futile to pray.The third
point is the natural inclination that turns
one away from everything else,and takes
the person solely towards the beloved.
The example of a mother and child has
been used before. The natural inclina-
tion of the child towards his mother
makes him call out to her regardless of
her ability to help or not. If a child is
about to drown, even when he knows
that his mother cannot swim, he will
still call out to her and her alone, if she
is close by. The child will not call out to
anyone else.This is an emotional connec-
tion,about which the Holy Prophetsa
has
said


[3]



[8]

[9]
Khutba Translation
24.04.2015
ِ ِ
that “Dua (prayer)
is at the heart of worship”; that is, faith
is incomplete without prayers.Thus, the
Holy Prophetsa
has likened this relation-
ship (of faith and prayers) to that between
a mother and a child,such that man runs
blindfolded towards God. The second
Man’s relationship with God
through supplications has
been likened to that between
a mother and her child. Dua
[prayer] literally means ‘to
call out.’ One calls out only
if one is confident that there
will be someone who will
come to his aid. One does
not call one’s enemy for help.
What should we take into
account when we pray (or
call out) or want to pray?
© Evgeny Atamanenko | Shutterstock.com

some farmers were planting date palms,
and were pollinating male and female
seeds manually (male and female seeds
are different for date palms). The Holy
Prophetsa
happened to pass by and made
the observation whether it was necessary
to mix the two,and would they not natu-
rally pollinate by wind? As a result, the
farmers stopped mixing the two. That
year, or the following year, date produc-
tion fell far below that of the previous
years. When the Holy Prophetsa
asked
for the reason,the farmers said [that they
had stopped manually pollinating the
male and female seeds], “O Messenger of
Allah, we did so on your saying so.”He said
that he had [only given a suggestion] and
not an order, as the farmers understood
these material things better than himself.
According to Hazrat Musleh Maudra
,this
example indicates that the Holy Prophetsa
separated the religious affairs from the
material. The Prophetsa
who had asked
the farmers why they were manually fer-
tilising the plants was the same Prophetsa
who brought Allah’s Commandments,
yet even though the words came out of
Allah’s Prophet’ssa
mouth, he himself
declared this to be a worldly affair. He
said that the farmers knew more than he
did on the subject.Today’s Muslim clergy
however,start judging people’s Islam and
apostasy as well as their inclusion and
exclusion from Islam based on their own
pronouncements, however impractical.
How the Concept of God Formed
According to Western Understanding
On the other hand,there is the Western,
civilised or so-called developed countries.
According to them, faith is unimpor-
tant, religious teachings have no value
and morality has no reverence. Instead,
everything is material; to the extent that,
according to Hazrat Musleh Mau’udra
the question for today’s philosophers
is not how God created man, but how
man created God (God forbid!). For
them the existence of God is a result
of human evolution. And even if God
exists, it is nothing but the final link in
the chain of the human mind’s evolution.
According to them, man needed a role
model; and when he could not find an
exemplary one from among humans, he
created an imaginary role model outside
the realms of human existence.The initial
attempt at creating this role model was
unsuccessful. But upon further ponder-
ing and evolution of thought, he created
a perfect image and called it God. This
is the concept of God according to the
philosophers of the time, and for some
even today.
at his life sketch,one also comes across so
many major virtues which he displayed
peerlessly. It seems that he spent all his
life studying and teaching only morality.
His example and teaching about things
such as human relations, inter-family
relationships and details of one’s per-
sonal character such as refraining from
falsehood,dishonesty and ill assumption
are all so complete that no else can dem-
onstrate such exemplary behaviour even
in twenty lifetimes.
Thirdly, the teachings of the Holy
Prophetsa
provide guidance in material
and worldly affairs as well. For example
when new cities or developments are
planned and populated, aspects of civic
life such as keeping the roads wide and
the provision of clean water are carefully
considered by major civil engineers and
other top experts. The Holy Prophetsa
also guided us towards such matters. He
guided us to keep the streets clean. He
guided us to make the houses spacious
and well-ventilated. He has provided
guidance for all material and worldly
aspects of life,be it the affairs of the state,
cultural aspects of life or civilisation or
matters of trade,commerce and industry.
A study of his life gives details of all of
these aspects from his example. Despite
this, unlike today’s religious leaders, he
did not declare all of these aspects of life
as part of religion.
An Illustration of this Link from the
Life of the Founder of Islam
Here is an incident, reported from his
life, highlighting this distinction. Once
First is prayer, bowing before
the Lord, worshipping Him.
Second is controlling one’s
desires and self, keeping
one’s emotions and passions
in check and analysing
human psychology.Third, is
seeking scientific knowledge
and honestly performing
one’s professional and
worldly responsibilities,
which are all essential.
© Naeblys | Shutterstock.com

situation by improving our knowledge,
morality and spirituality.Similarly,giving
the family and children their rights can
be achieved through prayers,controlling
one’s emotions and fulfilling their mate-
rial needs.Similarly,there are neighbours.
Allah says that neighbours have rights
over us.Paying society its rights is possi-
ble by praying for them,discharging their
dues, understanding their psychology
and accordingly conveying the message
of Deen (Islam). It is their right that we
convey this message to them. Also it is
within the realms of giving neighbours
and society their rights that we improve
our knowledge and work hard in order
to contribute to the progress of the entire
country.When every member of society
works with this ethos, it will become an
exemplary society in terms of spiritual,
moral, material and every other type of
progress.
Why are Muslims in Disarray?
Muslims are presently in disarray because
they have stopped giving priority to Allah
and His religion and forgot about the
aforementioned values I have described.
Instead, they have started calling their
According to Hazrat Musleh Mau’udra
,
these people have thus declared God to
be a part of the material world.[2]
During this time, when philosophers
had created for themselves an image of
God, many of them actually believed in
this God which was the result of their
own imaginations. But as a result of this
materialism and the belief that God is
a material existence, the modern and
advanced philosophers have moved so
far away from religion, that they have
become atheists. In fact, the majority of
people in Western countries have started
denying the existence of God altogether
in the name of education and modernity.
To them material progress and [secular]
morality is the be-all and end-all.Today’s
Muslim clergy has added fuel to these
atheistic views by declaring their personal
views as religion,which is such ignorance.
Deeper analysis shows that not only are
today’s religious scholars mistaken, but
so are those who deny religion by calling
it material.
Islamic Understanding of these Inter-
Connections – Moderation in Life is
Most Important
We Ahmadis are fortunate that the
Promised Messiahas
has saved us from
[such ignorance] and guided us towards
the Holy Prophetsa
in order to obtain the
truth. The Holy Prophetsa
guided us to
the fact that moderation is essential in
everything.That is true religion. He says
undoubtedly worship is essential, that it
is quintessential—it is the purpose for
the creation of man, but:
..

[4]
efits of
Fasting
ُ‫ار‬َ‫َّه‬‫الن‬
ِ‫م‬َ‫ر‬‫الص‬ َ‫ض‬

[9]
Khutba Translation
24.04.2015
[9]
Khutba Translation
24.04.2015
[4]
efits of
Fasting
ُ‫ار‬َ‫َّه‬‫الن‬
ِ‫م‬َ‫ر‬‫الص‬ َ‫ض‬
Khutba Translation
24.04.2015
“Your body has a right over you, your wife
has a right over you and your neighbour has
a right over you.” There are three ways to
achieve these [standards].First is prayer,
bowing before the Lord, worshipping
Him. Second is controlling one’s desires
and self, keeping one’s emotions and
passions in check and analysing human
psychology. Third, is seeking scientific
knowledge and honestly performing
one’s professional and worldly responsi-
bilities, which are all essential.[3]
If we think about it carefully, in order to
give the body what rightfully belongs to
it,one needs to pray and build a relation-
ship with Allah.To keep one’s emotions
in check is necessary.It is the unchecked
emotions that sometimes deny the
body its rights, or even makes it com-
mit excesses. By being honest we can
improve our moral,spiritual and financial
Similarly, there are
neighbours. Allah says that
neighbours have rights
over us. Paying society its
rights is possible by praying
for them, discharging
their dues, understanding
their psychology and
accordingly conveying the
message of Deen (Islam).
© Zurijeta | Shutterstock.com

whose efforts are aimed at worldly pur-
suits only
..
..
[4]
Fasting

[9]
Khutba Translation
24.04.2015
‫ا‬َ‫ی‬ْ‫ُّن‬‫الد‬ ِ‫اة‬َ‫ی‬َْ‫اْل‬ ِ‫ِف‬ ْ‫م‬ُ‫ه‬ُ‫ی‬ْ‫ع‬َ‫س‬ َّ‫ل‬َ‫ض‬ [4]
“All their hard work will disappear with
this world.” Hazrat Musleh Mau’udra
explained this with an example that peo-
ple who pursue spirituality are like those
at a higher level who have stairs to access
the lower levels.However,those at lower
levels do not have access to the stairs to
ascend to the higher level.
How do we Attain Success in all Three
Aspects?
We learn from this that although any
one of these objectives can be attained
personal whims and desires part of reli-
gion.The cause of the decline of Muslims
is that they followed their personal and
egotistical desires and labelled this reli-
gion. They did not make the religion of
God their first and foremost priority. If
they had given priority to their religion
then they would have cared about the
other matters as well. Today, Muslims
are following their selfish desires in the
name of religion. As a result, Muslims
are in no position to tell others about
the good qualities of Islam. By adopting
this self-made religion based on selfish-
ness, Muslims are killing one another.
They have attained neither worldly nor
religious success. They beg world lead-
ers to solve their problems. This indeed
is the state of affairs of the majority of
Muslims we see in the world today. It
would seem that the Western nations
have made their religion subservient to
their worldly systems. For them reli-
gion is unimportant and worldly things
are the be-all and end-all. Nonetheless,
they have at least achieved success in this
world. Indeed, they are misguided but
they have accomplished what they regard
as their objective in life, even if it may
be a wrong approach.However Muslims,
they have nothing; neither the world,nor
the blessings of the religion!
Explains the
Correct Juxtaposition
was commis-
sioned by Allah the Almighty in this era
to reform both groups of people.Indeed,
God sends His chosen ones in these situ-
ations so that they can provide correct
guidance on how to find the right juxta-
position between religion, morality and
material progress.Their teachings appear
to be only spiritual,but their message has
a deep connection with all three [spir-
ituality, morality and material progress].
With spiritual progress and excellence,
an improvement in morals is inevitable;
and high moral practices are the key to
material progress. On the other hand,
worldly success does not always lead
to high morals. Similarly, it does not
necessarily go hand in hand that those
who possess good morals also have true
faith. There is a reason for this. The
main objective of God is that the peo-
ple should strive towards their God.This
is the purpose of the creation of man.
Hence God Almighty has made moral
reformation and material progress sub-
servient to religion. This is so that one
who pays heed to God,will automatically
have all his other needs fulfilled. Allah
the Exalted says that a perfect believer
attains all sorts of successes, while those
Muslims achieved the position
of being rulers by following
their religion; therefore they
conducted the business of the
government based on religious
teachings.That is why their
government was so good that,
despite religious differences,
the public wanted the Muslim
kingdom to rule them.
© zhangyang13576997233 | Shutterstock.com

acquire high morals and find material
success. May Muslim rulers of today
understand this point and lead their gov-
ernment on these principles.
The Story of the Judge and the Bag of
Money
Hazrat Musleh Mau’udra
said that the
Promised Messiahas
used to narrate the
story of a trader to explain the concept
of developing a bond with God. Once a
trader gave a large sum of money to the
Qazi (judge) of his town for safekeep-
ing. The trader went on a business trip.
On his return journey,he asked the Qazi
for his money bag but the Qazi refused
point blank.The Qazi said that he did not
take anything from anyone for safekeep-
ing and that he did not involve himself
in such matters. He had no money bag!
The trader tried to remind the Qazi by
mentioning many marks of the bag but
the Qazi remained adamant that he never
got involved in the safekeeping of any-
thing! This naturally worried the trader.
Someone told the trader that the King
held an open Court on a certain day and
everyone had access to the King on that
day; maybe the trader should try and
take his matter to the King. The trader
did so,but he had no evidence.The King
said that we cannot apprehend the Qazi
without any evidence.However,the King
came up with a plan. He told the trader
that the King’s procession will come to
his town on such and such a date and
time.The King asked the trader to stand
next to the Qazi with the dignitaries
who have come to welcome the King’s
procession. The King said to the trader
that during the procession, “I will speak
to you in a friendly, informal manner.”The
King instructed the trader to act as if they
were familiar friends and not to fear talk-
ing to the King in a familiar way. The
King said,“I will say to you that I have not
seen you for a long while, and you should
respond by saying that I have been on a
business trip for some time. I have returned
now and am trying to get my money back
from someone, to whom I gave the money for
safekeeping—and I am stuck in this quarrel
with him.”The King said, “At this point,
I will say to you in front of the Qazi that
you should have come to me to get this mat-
ter sorted. At this you should say,‘Alright, if
this matter is not resolved soon, then I will
come to you for help.’”So when the King’s
procession came on the appointed day,
the trader followed the plan. The Qazi,
who was there to welcome the King,
saw everything. When the procession
passed on, the Qazi came to the trader
and said that the other day you were talk-
ing about some money for safekeeping;
through independent means, there is
a common way to achieve all three of
these objectives.That way is to establish
a perfect bond with God. If one strives
for morality, one can attain that. If one
makes an effort for material progress,that
is achievable.But the progress as a result
of these efforts will be limited within the
respective spheres. Such efforts do not
have the capacity to deliver a wider cir-
cle of success. But those who strive for
spiritual progress, will be able to attain
everything,i.e.,moral progress and mate-
rial success. When the Companionsra
of the Holy Prophetsa
took Bai’at (the
oath of allegiance), they did not pledge
that they would make the thoroughfare
wide, focus on cleanliness or pay atten-
tion to other material things. Instead,
they pledged that “There is no God but
Allah and Muhammadsa
is His Servant and
His Messenger”. This pledge led to their
moral reformation, which certainly led
to improvements in their other worldly
matters. The level of truthfulness of
Muslims at the time was so high that
it set the benchmark for the world to
follow. Muslims had such a reputation
for being fair in their business dealings
that worldly people were very read-
ily willing for Muslims to oversee their
business affairs. Muslim rulers were so
just with their people that they wished
Muslims to be their rulers. During the
reign of Hazrat Umarra
, Muslims had
to hand over the government of Syria
to the Romans, as it would have been
difficult to fight an extremely large
Roman Army. At that, the Syrian peo-
ple cried and pleaded with the Muslims
not to leave their land. The Syrian peo-
ple offered to help the Muslims defend
the land, despite the fact that both the
Romans and Syrians were Christians.
Even then the good morals and excellent
government by Muslims compelled the
Syrian Christians to prefer Muslims over
a Christian power. And so while to rule
and govern is a worldly affair, Muslims
did not regard this as a worldly matter.
Muslims achieved the position of being
rulers by following their religion; there-
fore they conducted the business of the
government based on religious teach-
ings. That is why their government was
so good that,despite religious differences,
the public wanted the Muslim kingdom
to rule them. Muslims achieved “king-
dom” by virtue of the Kalima “There is
no God but Allah and Muhammadsa
is His
Servant and Messenger.” However, this
declaration of faith was not just a verbal
expression but also a practical one for
Muslims. Those who only make verbal
claims of faith end up losing this world
as well. But those who attain true faith

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