Summary

The following points below are summary from this week's Friday Sermon:

• After reciting Tashahhud, Ta`awwuz and Surah al-Fatihah, His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba) said that by the grace of Allah, the month of Ramadan has started. This month of fasting has been granted to us by God in order to strengthen our connection with Him and for us to see to our spiritual reformation.
• His Holiness (aba) prayed that may Allah enable every Ahmadi to truly benefit from this month. However, everyone must bear in mind that one can only attain true benefit when they seek to uphold and excel in their standards of love for God and His worship even after the month of Ramadan.
• His Holiness (aba) said that in the previous sermons, he has been mentioning incidents of the Holy Prophet’s (sa) love for God, his devotion to God’s worship, and then the Promised Messiah’s (as) love for God and his standard of worship. His Holiness (aba) said that this series will continue and he would present more incidents from the life of the Promised Messiah (as). 
• His Holiness (aba) said that it is a blessing that this series of incidents about a master and his servant’s love for God have led into Ramadan, giving us an opportunity to analyse ourselves in light of them so that we may improve our conditions. Thus, we should bear all of these incidents in mind and analyse ourselves against them and seek to improve our own conditions and standards in light of them.
• His Holiness (aba) said that in 1907, Maulvi Muhammad Abdullah was given a scrap of paper to discard, however that piece of paper had been written on by the Promised Messiah (as) and his blessed wife, and so rather than throwing that scrap of paper away he kept it safe with him. Amatul Rahman recounted that one day, the Promised Messiah (as) and his wife tried an experiment: they wanted to see if they could close their eyes and write on a piece of paper.
• His Holiness (aba) said that even whilst in the relaxed environment of his home, when the Promised Messiah (as) wrote something without giving it much prior thought, it still pertained to imparting guidance. This is what sets those commissioned by God apart from others.
• His Holiness (aba) related another incident: the Promised Messiah (as) once intended to undertake a retreat of solitude outside of Qadian and also take the opportunity to see India. Hence, the Promised Messiah (as) decided to go to Sujanpur in Gurdaspur for this retreat of solitude.
• His Holiness (aba) said that once in Hoshiarpur, the Promised Messiah (as) announced his intention to spend forty days in solitude and that after the completion of the forty days, he would remain for another twenty to meet people and answer their questions. He had also instructed the three companions who were with him whom he had assigned various logistical duties that they should only interact with him to the extent that he interacted with them and nothing more.
• His Holiness (aba) said that once, Mian Abdullah Sinauri went to place food outside the Promised Messiah’s (as) door, and the Promised Messiah (as) himself initiated a conversation, saying that in those days, God had opened immense bounties for him, and at times God would converse with him for lengthy periods of time. He said that writing these incidents would take up many pages.
• His Holiness (aba) said that today, 20 February marks the day when this prophecy was announced.
• His Holiness (aba) said that an incident took place on the journey back from Hoshiarpur. Along the way, the Promised Messiah (as) stopped to rest for a while.
• His Holiness (aba) said that whilst offering prayers during his retreat of solitude, the Promised Messiah (as) was shown a vision in which he was told, ‘Blessed is he who is in it, and who is around it.’ The Promised Messiah (as) explained that ‘who is in it’ referred to himself and ‘who is around it’ referred to his companions who were with him. One of the people who was with the Promised Messiah (as) was Fateh Khan, who at the time was extremely devoted to the Promised Messiah (as), however he later faltered and became apostate.
• His Holiness (aba) said that during his retreat, the Promised Messiah (as) said that God spoke to him and said such things that many around him would not be able to understand and if he were to tell them then they would falter. 
• His Holiness (aba) said that the manner of the Promised Messiah’s (as) prayer has been described as follows: when standing the Promised Messiah (as) would tie his hands upon his navel, and the middle finger of his right hand would reach just before his left elbow.  When supplicating, his forehead would be on the ground between his hands, with his fingers facing the Ka`bah. When he got up from supplication, he would adjust his turban, as it would typically be loose. 
• His Holiness (aba) said that when the plague initially struck, the Promised Messiah (as) went to stay at an orchard along with his family, as it was best to be in an open area. The companions assigned to stand guard at night record that during their patrol, they would often see the Promised Messiah (as) offering prayers.
• His Holiness (aba) said that whilst offering the pre-dawn voluntary prayer (tahajjud), at times the Promised Messiah (as) could be heard constantly repeating, ‘Guide us to the right path’. Hence, we too should repeat this prayer so that we may remain on the right path.
• His Holiness (aba) said that it is recorded that the Promised Messiah (as) would always maintain his ablution. It was observed that whenever he would leave to answer the call of nature, he would always perform ablution thereafter.
• His Holiness (aba) said that the Promised Messiah (as) indeed abandoned many of the comforts of the world and even wealth which he could easily have kept in his possession, all for the sake of his faith. There is an incident that once in Qadian, a new Muslim who was a farmer expressed to the Promised Messiah (as) that there was a large harvest of crops which he had to distribute and requested permission to leave.
• His Holiness (aba) prayed that may Allah enable us to do justice to offering true worship during Ramadan, and may He enable us to increase in His love so that we may attain full benefit from Ramadan and so that these blessings may continue after Ramadan as well. May Allah enable us to become true reflections of what it means to be a true believer.
• His Holiness (aba) made an appeal for prayers especially during the days of Ramadan for those Ahmadis who are tied up in false cases lodged against them on account of their faith. His Holiness (aba) said to pray for the Muslim world and for the world at large to be saved from any sort of destruction.