Siraj-ul-Absar (English) - Khalifatullah Mehdi (AHS)

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people of this group [the Mahdavis] are ordinary and ignorant. The reality, however,
is not as he says. Rather, some of the Mahdavi ulama are like the prophets of the Bani
Israel [Children of Israel]. They have themselves rejected and given up the world
and they invite the ordinary people to reject and give up the world. They trust in
Allah Most High in all conditions and in all frightening situations, they assign all
their work to Allah Most High. Their manifest knowledge is profound and they excel
in the immanent knowledge and receive kashf [divine unveiling]. Many among them
are unlettered and common people too, as the companions of Prophets AS have been
in every era. Hence, it has come in verses of the Holy Quran:
“He it is Who hath sent among the unlettered ones a messenger of their own to recite
unto them His revelations and to make them grow, and to teach them the Scripture
and Wisdom, though heretofore they were indeed in error manifest.” 22
“But the Chiefs of the Unbelievers among his People said: ‘We see (in) thee nothing
but a man like ourselves: nor do we see that any follow thee but the meanest among
us, in judgment immature: nor do we see in you (all) any merit above us: in fact we
think you are liars.” 23
“They said: ‘Shall we believe in thee when it is the meanest that follow thee?’” 24
The saying of Heraclius when he was answering Abu Sufyan supports this. He says,
‘I asked you whether the nobles amongst the people had followed Prophet SLM or the
weakest among them; you said that the weakest among them had followed Hazrat
Muhammad SLM . In fact such people are the only ones who follow the prophets.’
Further, the saying of Ibn Mas’ood RZ also supports this contention. He said,
‘In our day, the people who recite Quran are few and people who understand
Quran [or people who act in accordance with Quran] are many. The letters of
Quran are neglected [that is, they do not properly pronounce the letters from
their makharij [proper outlets of sounds], but its limits are protected.They
protect the limits of Quran and they neglect the letters of Quran. The beggars
are few and the people who give [charity] are many. They perform long ritual
prayers and shorten the khutbah [sermon]. People begin their deeds before
their desires. However, a time will come when the people who recite the
Quran will be more, and those who understand it [and act accordingly] will
be few. The letters of the Quran will be protected and its limits will be broken.
Beggars will be more and those who give [charity] will be few. They will give
long sermons and hurry in saying their ritual prayers. They will act according
to the desires of their baser self before their deeds.
This is how it is stated in Sharah-us-Sunnah in the chapter “Transformation of the
people and departure of the pious”.
22 Quran, S. 62:2 MMP.
23 Quran, S. 11:27 AYA.
24 Quran, S. 26:111 AYA.