The Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Victoria was celebrated with great pomp and show in June 1897 throughout British India. Since the purpose of the advent of the Promised Messiah was to propagate the Unity of God and His message, he found a way to serve those objectives at that occasion. He published the booklet Tohfa-e-Qaisariyyah on May 25, 1897. In addition to felicitating Her Majesty, the Promised Messiah(as) made the following points with great subtlety and wisdom:
- Truthfulness of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) .
- Truthfulness of Islam and its teachings that can bring about international peace.
- A proposal for Her Majesty to organise a conference of great religions.
- A strong plea for Her Majesty to clear Jesus (may peace be upon him) of the accusation of having been accursed.
- An undertaking to show a sign of his own truthfulness, provided that Her Majesty would agree to accept his message in case of fulfilment – adding that he would accept death penalty if he is unable to show a convincing sign.
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In the UK, we are celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, to mark 70 years of service to this country, Alhamdulillah (All praise belongs to God). It is a great achievement and one which we should appreciate.
Through her reign, we have seen this country become a multi-cultural, multi-religious society, a country which gives us freedom to worship and many other freedoms. Something, which sadly, you may not find in some Islamic countries. We should always appreciate the good qualities, whenever we find them, and this is an Islamic teaching which is meant to be practiced and is being practiced and displayed in this country.
As Muslims we should show loyalty to the country that we are living in and be grateful.
The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 4, verse 60 relates:
O ye who believe! Obey Allah and His Messenger and those who are in authority among you
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi has guided us:
Believers are to obey those in authority, besides God and His Prophet. To say that ‘those in authority’ does not include a non-Muslim Government would be a manifest error.
For, a government or an authority whose ordinances are in accordance with the Shariah (Islamic Law) (that is, they are not in conflict with it) is ‘authority from among you.’ Those who are not against us are among us. The Qur’an, therefore, is very clear on the point. Obedience to government authority is vital.
So, it is clear from the Promised Messiah, may peace be with him, that we should obey the Country that we are residing in, providing it does not go against the Islamic teachings.
The Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has said:
He who obeys me, obeys God; he who disobeys me, disobeys God. He who obeys his authority, obeys me; he who disobeys his authority, disobeys me. (Muslim – book of the sayings of the Holy Prophet).
We see from this saying that obedience to Allah must always come first. He is our God, Creator and Master. Others have been given their authority from Him.
So as a Prophet represents God, then to obey the Prophet is to obey God. Similarly, one who has authority among men is responsible for discipline, for order among God’s creatures, a guardian of their lives, property and honour. Obedience to such a one is most pleasing to God. It is obedience to God.
Obedience, at whatever level, is one and the same: it is obedience to God. This is how we should look at it as Muslims.
For Muslims it is very clear that wherever we are living in the world, whichever type of Government is running the country, we should remain loyal to it. Providing it is allowing us to practice our religion then we should always obey.
If, as in the case of some Muslims countries, the Government is not allowing you to practice your faith, then you should move to a country that does allow you freedom of faith. But still, we should remain loyal to the country.
Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the fifth successor of the Promised Messiah, has said:
‘A true Muslim can never raise his voice in hatred against his fellow citizens, nor for that matter against the ruling authority or Government of the time. It is the responsibility of a true Muslim that he should remain loyal and fully abide by the laws of the land of which he is a subject.’
Alhamdulillah, the motto of our community is:
‘Love for All, Hatred for None’
We consider it a religious responsibility to make a positive contribution to the country. We are living in. Many have led the way & found this possible only through active community participation. Not only will this enable Muslims to fulfil their duties as citizens, but it should also help to promote a greater appreciation of Islam among the indigenous population.
It is important to integrate and be part of the society, therefore, we should be celebrating this special jubilee because Islam teaches loyalty to one’s country. We are grateful to God for the peace and freedom we enjoy under the Her Majesty’s reign. We should pray that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is blessed with a long and happy life of joy and success, and we congratulate her on her platinum jubilee.
The founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, may peace be upon him, whom we accept as the Promised Messiah, expressed his gratitude to Queen Victoria during her Diamond Jubilee in 1897, and wrote a special book entitled ‘A Gift for the Queen’
His prayer was:
Thanks to God who showed us this day of great joy that we witnessed the sixtieth jubilee of our honoured Queen, the Empress of India and England. Who can imagine the amount of joy this day has brought? Congratulations filled with joy and gratefulness from us to our benevolent and benignant Empress. May God keep her joyful forever! We pray to God—who has created this earth and raised the heavens, and has put the radiant sun and the moon in our service—that may He keep our honoured ruler, the Empress of India, safe for a long time.
This was his prayer at that time.
Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the fifth successor of the Promised Messiah and the present Worldwide Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, has also expressed his gratitude for the benevolent reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. He has prayed:
O Powerful and Noble God! Through your Grace and Blessings keep our honoured Queen forever joyful, in the same way that we are living joyfully under her benevolent and benign rule. Almighty God! Be kind and loving to her, in the same way that we are living in peace and prosperity under her generous and kind rule.
Further, it is my prayer that may God the Exalted, guide our honoured Queen in a manner that pleases Him. May God the Almighty also guide the progeny of Her Majesty to become established on the Truth and to guiding others towards it. May the attributes of justice and freedom continue to remain the guiding principles of the British Monarchy. I once again congratulate Her Majesty from my heart on this occasion of great joy. I present my heartfelt and sincere congratulations to our noble Queen
We are living in this Country – being British doesn’t mean that you have to go to the pub, support England and adopt the British way of life. But being British can mean that you are God-fearing, love your family, friends and community and the Country that you are living in.