Quote of the Day: You, Yourself Are Your Own...

'You, yourself are your own obstacle, rise above yourself!' - Younus AlGohar

Quote of the Day: You Cannot Overrule...

'You cannot overrule God.' - Younus AlGohar

Does God Love Everybody?

I want to tell you everything in detail, with reason, rationality and understanding of the truth. It is a very sensitive matter. What I am going to tell you is going to make you worry in a sense that you might have thought of things differently, and when you come to know the background reality, it will surprise you.

The knowledge that comes from God is true knowledge, but when knowledge about God is coming through a religion, it is censored and it doesn’t tell you everything about God.

For example, what Jews know about God and how they believe in God is different from the Christian perspective, and what Muslims think about God is entirely different to what Christians and Jews think about God. We the Quran, Bible and Torah come from the same God, so then the question is why do they have different perspectives about God? For example, Christians think God is all love, while Muslims are very scared of God.

Although the Bible talks about paradise and hellfire, it is very rare that a Christian talks about hell. This means their divine perspective is painted with the colour of love. They don’t talk about paradise or hellfire, they talk about hope. They say, ‘If you believe in Lord Jesus, all your sins are gone.’ They also say, ‘Jesus Christ has given his life and as a result of this, all our sins are washed away.’ The Bible says, ‘For the wages of sins is death.’ Their belief is that Jesus died on the cross and he is the saviour.

Muslims are scared of God in a sense that if God is upset with them, he will send them to hellfire and they will stay there forever. If they worship God, go to the mosque and follow their religion dedicatedly, then they have greed of going into paradise. A Muslim doesn’t talk about God’s love. Either they talk about the torment in the grave, burning in hell or the virgins of paradise.

The knowledge about God was given to every religion. People have different perspectives of God because the knowledge of God which was given through religion was censored; they didn’t have the complete knowledge. For example, if there is a snake behind me and I am not aware of it, I’ll be okay, but the moment I find out that there is a snake, I won’t be able to sit there anymore. Similarly, when you are unaware of the truth, you are not scared; but when you come to know the truth, then you go through a shock.

True knowledge about God will come from somebody who has seen God. God speaks to him and he speaks to God - they can see each other. Then in that friendship, God will reveal the ultimate truth upon him.

In Islam, they say that God loves his creation more than 70 mothers can love a child. What I heard is, ‘God must love us, this is why he created us.’ However, then, I saw people dying. People were born on the streets and they lived all their life on the streets. Some of them do not have legs, some don’t have eyes, some others don’t have arms and their lives are a complete misery.

Many million people in Africa do not have access to clean water. In the United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada and other modern countries of the world, we waste water and food; but there are millions of human beings on this world who have no clean water to drink. We drink water but we do not say, ‘God, thank you, you gave me clean water to drink.’ If you go to Africa, and you give them a glass of clean water, they will say, ‘Thank you God!’ a thousand times. People are dying of starvation.

The question is: if God loves all his creation, then why are some human beings living a life of luxury and why are others suffering? Nobody has the answer.

When you are actually in front of God and you know how his behaviour is, what his ethical understanding is, what type of love he has for his creation, how he is pleased and how he gets angry, then you shall say, ‘I will never get to know about God if I trust this knowledge [about God that comes through religions].’

What people know about God is that he is a creator and that he has strength and power. They do not know anything else about God.

For example, if a loved one dies at a young age, we are so sad and it is not easy for us to bear the pain of the unexpected departure. Do you not want to know how God feels when somebody dies? When young babies are dying because they don’t have food or milk, how does God feel and where is his power?

The Bible and Quran say that if God wants something, he just says it and it is there. So why doesn’t he just feed all the dying children in the world?

When I see people suffering, I feel badly; then, I feel badly when people use the name of the religion and kill innocent people. I don’t know how God feels. However, I don’t think God loves everybody.

If God loves everybody, then everybody would be good. They wouldn’t be killing each other.

There would be no bloodshed or hatred. If I love you as a human being, my love can be fake; but God’s love is not fake. How can this be possible that God loves somebody and he is not a good man?

If I have God’s love, I cannot be bad; I cannot hate, kill anybody or harm anybody.

If you hate people; you kill them, shed their blood and don’t let them survive, how can we believe God loves you? If God loves you and it doesn’t change you, then I think that kind of  love of God is useless!

Being loved by someone is a luxury. When you come to know, ‘Somebody loves me,’ you feel special. If God loves you, why have you never had this feeling? When a woman loves you, you are a different man. If God loves you, why don’t you feel any different about God? The answer is: you just believe that God loves you [but he does not].

When God loves somebody, that somebody is a special person. Their feelings are different, their behaviour changes. The way they look at the world is different, the way they behave with people is different. They don’t harm or hurt anybody; they help everybody. Even if they have to sell every single drop of their blood, they will sell it but they want to see people happy because this is the creation of God who loves them.

God’s love will fill their heart with love for the creation.

This is not what I have gathered from my own understanding, rather, this is what I have come to know by dealing with God; it is the result of experience.

God does not love everybody, he loves some people. Some people were not meant to be loved by God because God decides what you will do.

God created some souls for his love and some other souls who do bad things. If you are bad, it is not because you are bad; it’s because God wanted you to be bad. You cannot overcome God or overrule the purpose of God. If God wanted you to be good then the only chance you could be bad is when you would be stronger than God. God is stronger than you, so you must be good if God wants you to be good.

Christians have a sense of freedom; they think, ‘Jesus will take care of everything, let’s do whatever we want to do because all their sins are washed away.’ Muslims either have fear of hellfire or greed of paradise.

What you see today as terrorism is the result of the greed of paradise. They think, ‘It’s very easy to get into paradise, all we have to do is just kill some people. We will become martyrs and go into paradise, God will not ask us any questions.’

This terrorism is based on greed and lust, it is an unholy war. God cannot allow for one to kill another person in his name! This is the problem.

On the other hand, Jews are still waiting for their land and that is on top of their agenda because God promised the Jews, ‘I will give you the land that belongs to you.’ They are still thinking about that, their prayers are for their land.

There was a Sufi woman called Rabia Basri. One day, somebody saw her holding fire in one hand and water in the other, and she was running. They asked her, ‘Where are you going? Why do you have fire in one hand and water in the other?’ She said, ‘I am going to put out the fire of hellfire with this water, and with this fire I will burn the paradise.’ He asked her, ‘Why do you want to do this?’ She said, ‘I get really upset when I see people worshipping God out of fear for hellfire. Or, they don’t worship God for God; they worship him for the greed of paradise. When hell and paradise both are gone, then people will love God with sincerity.’

Some people developed such attitudes because they became pure. They loved God without a reason, not because of fear or greed. God said that those who become friends with God and who love God, God removes all types of fear from them. They become fearless.

When spirituality was the core of every religion, it would take care of all the issues that develop in religions. Since spirituality became absent from these religions, they became a problem.

Today if you have spirituality, you don’t need a religion. All you need is to love God. If you have God’s love, you are better than those who have a religion but still don’t love God.

How do we know if God wants to love us?

For example, if you want to court woman, you have to approach her and talk to her. You sit together and talk. If you see someone and you want her but the woman doesn’t know you or want to love you, it will never happen. Similarly, you need to approach God and send the message to God, ‘I want to love you, what should I do?’

You don’t know God’s address, you don’t know where God is. In spirituality, this is the way God sends spiritual masters with authority, power, light and positive energy.

When we initiate the hearts of people, we ask them to close their eyes and repeat the name of God three times. Then, Lord Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi takes that person’s image to God. God asks, ‘Why have you brought him here?’ The master says to God, ‘Because he wants to love you.’ If God doesn’t want to love him, very straightforwardly he says, ‘No I don’t like him.’ That is the end of the story. That person cannot become a spiritual man.

However, if God says, ‘Okay, if I grant him my love, who is going to train him?’ The master says, ‘I will train him.’ God says, ‘Okay, let my name enter the heart.’ Then, God’s name enters the [aspirant’s] heart and starts to produce divine energy. This is the initiation of spirituality. This is the point from where you begin to generate divine energy in your heart.

If God’s name has entered your heart, this is God’s permission that he wants to love you and he wants you to love him.

This is the common practice, but in some rare cases, God enters his light in your heart and you don’t even know it.

In this moment in time, God is not bothered about any religion, God just wants to love those who want to love him. We have to take this message to humanity, and this is how the process of unification will start. This is how the entire world will enter into a universal brotherhood.

Mohabbat Ki Haqiqat Aur Iqsam

Younus AlGohar explains the different types of love and their reality.

Main points:

- There are three types of love: romantic love, love related to the Nafs (Self) and true divine love (Ishq-e-Haqiqi).

- Romantic love is platonic love between souls. In the realm of souls, there would be neighbourhoods. The souls who were of the same rank would be in the same neighbourhood. Because the Nafs (Self) was not involved in their love, their love is pure. If two people that lived together in the realms of souls came to the world at the same time, they would fall in love for each other. Such was the case of Laila and Majnu. In such love there is ego.

- Love related to the Nafs (Self) is common in this world. Such love could be love for beauty, money, fame or it could be lust. It is a sin. When adolescents go through puberty, sentiments are newly introduced and they experience an outburst of emotion; this is also related to the Nafs.

- Lastly, there is true divine love: Ishq-e-Haqiqi. It can’t be obtained without purification of the Nafs and heart. It is when one becomes a true lover of God.

You can watch the live recordings of these videos every day at 22:00 GMT on http://younusalgohar.com.

Can’t access this video? Watch it on Daily Motion.

Listen to this speech on the go with SoundCloud.

Quote of the Day: The Primary Objective...

 'The primary objective with which you follow a religion is to connect to God.' - Younus AlGohar

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Ki Gumrahi Aur Uqda-e-Khatm-e-Nabuwwat

Younus AlGohar reveals the truth about Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiyani’s claim of being a prophet.

Main points:

- Messenger-hood is related to the subtleties of the breast; there are 5 subtleties, therefore there were five messengers. In actuality, what ended with Prophet Mohammad was messenger-hood. However, the Quran and Prophet Mohammad did not mention this fact; what was mentioned was that prophethood ended.

- Every messenger had their own Kalima (Declaration of Faith). In Israel, prophets would be sent after a messenger. Prophets are a system of divine repair. They would not bring their own religion; they would simply reform whatever adulterations were made in the religion over time. Prophets would recite the Kalima of the messenger before them. If God continued to send prophets after Prophet Mohammad to ensure modifications to the religion were repaired, this would actually be good for the religion. It would not have affected the finality of Prophet Mohammad.

- However, God said, ‘Now if someone is to come from me, it will be Mehdi.’ After messenger-hood is Mehdi-hood. God did not set up a divine repair system of Islam because Imam Mehdi was to come. Imam Mehdi would bring along with him God’s rapturous love. Therefore, God ended prophethood and messenger-hood.

- Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiyani was a dedicated worshipper. After years of worship he thought he had reached some kind of rank. He was told by the devil that messenger-hood ended, however prophethood continued. He was led to believe that he was a prophet and that he was benefiting Prophet Mohammad’s religion. However, Quran and Prophet Mohammad both specifically said that prophethood ended.

You can watch the live recordings of these videos every day at 22:00 GMT on http://younusalgohar.com.

Can’t access this video? Watch it on Daily Motion.

Listen to this speech on the go with SoundCloud.

Quote of the Day: God's Love...

'God's love is superior to all religions.' - Lord Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi

Purpose of Religion: A Message To Young Generation

The following is an excerpt of Younus AlGohar’s talk aimed at young people living in the West whose parents are religious.

You should not do anything blindfoldedly. Don’t just do everything that your parents have done. You should know what you are doing and the consequences of what you are doing. Before you do it, you should satisfy yourself that what you are going to do is good; it is not going to harm or hurt anybody and your hard work is not going to go into a waste. It should mean something.

If I am going to a mosque, I better make sure that by doing so, I please the Lord. If I am doing things incorrectly and imperfectly, and this action is not going to please God, then it is a total waste. Some people go to the mosque just for the sake of going there. They think, ‘If I don’t go there, maybe my friends will say, “He is a Muslim and he doesn’t even go to the mosque!”’ Or they worry about what their fathers will say. However, you want to go there if you think, by going there you will be pleasing the Lord.

The goal of practising a religion is to please the Lord, so then when he is pleased with you, he grants you with his love and you become a holy man.

Inquisitiveness of the Young Generation

When I went to the mosque for the first time, I didn’t want to go there. My father forced me. I didn’t even know why we should go to the mosque. When I grew up and I studied, I started to understand what means what. As a child, if your father is a Hindu, he will take you to a temple. If your father is a Christian, he will take you to a church. If your father is a Jew, he will take you to a synagogue. If your father is an alcoholic, he will take you to a bar.

What I am trying to tell people is: if you practise a religion, you must know why you practise a religion.

Sometimes, our mind doesn’t tell us what to do. The necessity tells us what to do. For example, if I am thirsty, my thirst will prompt me to drink water. If you ask somebody, ‘Why do you drink water?’ They will tell you, ‘Because we are thirsty’. If somebody says, ‘I don’t know, I’m just drinking,’ it doesn’t make any sense. We go to a restaurant to eat food, but if you don’t know why you are going to a restaurant, you’ll go there, watch people eating and drinking, and come back.

This is the case today. People ritualistically follow a religion, but they do not know why they should follow a religion.

As a child, I was obsessed with cricket. I played cricket all day. My teachers didn’t like it. They used to tell me, ‘You only play cricket when there is a free period. Everybody else is in the class; you are alone playing cricket.’ One day, he asked me, ‘Why do you come to school?’ I really didn’t know why.I had thought, ‘We go to school so that we put our books in the class and then go back into the ground and play cricket.’ Then after a few years, I found out that we come to school to study and cricket is just a game.

The educational system of the young generation in the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada and America, is different from the one we have in Pakistan. In Pakistan, where I grew up, people know everything, but they don’t know anything. For example, they memorise the words of the Quran and if you ask them, ‘What does it mean?’ They say, ‘Why should I know? I just know it.’

The educational system in these countries will stimulate your brain. In Pakistan, the teacher will hold the book and read and you listen. In the West, they ask you to do it. They guide you, but they don’t do it; they make you do things. This is when you learn.

In the West, the teacher will tell you, ‘I want to know what a mango is. So go into the library and collect as much information on mangoes as possible.’ Then you go there, do some research, make notes and bring it back to the teacher. This is how you learn. Back home in Pakistan, the teacher will explain everything and he thinks you have learned everything. In the countries where the educational system is good, they stimulate your brain.

This new generation wants to know, ‘Why should I go to a synagogue, why not a church or mosque?’

We are living in western society; it is not a Christian or Jewish society. It is based on secular values made by human beings; it is not Christian or Jewish values.

For example, you’re a student in school or college, and you have a girlfriend. If you both agree to sleep together, there is no harm in this according to secular values - whereas in Christianity, Islam and Judaism, this is not allowed. There is a system. If you want to have sex with a woman, you must marry them legally first.

So when this generation goes to school, they have this system where they can do anything; when they come back home, their Christian or Muslim mother and father say, ‘This is wrong.’ So they are confused about what to do now.

They have been brought up in an educational environment where they are only taught to have protected sex with anybody. Whereas in Islam, you can’t do that. Parents from Pakistan do not educate their children, but expect it from them to know everything. Sex is a taboo subject; they don’t want to talk about it. This is where they go wrong.

Parents need to discuss everything with their children. This is where they will train and educate their children.

In a similar way, we do not teach children the necessity of practising a religion because we do not know it ourselves. It is very unfortunate: we were born in a Muslim country, in a Muslim home, so we think that we own Islam, we have all the rights and we don’t need any knowledge. We think, ‘We have knowledge in our blood! This is why we are having problems.

I want to address the young generation: before you do anything, you must know what you are doing; whether it is good for you or bad for you. Whether you are making a genuine effort. Whether you’re doing it for the sake of God or you’re just doing it to please your father. If you worship God to please your father, God will be really disappointed.

Paradise and Hell

Paradise is material. This solar system has many planets. In addition to this solar system, there is another solar system: it is called the Angelic Solar System. Each paradise is a like planet, like Earth, Jupiter, the Sun or the Moon. Paradise is not a building or a garden. There are seven planets [for each paradise].

There are seven hells [which are each different planets] in another galaxy.

When you die, your body is buried or cremated here, and comes to an end. The angels will take your soul and you will be assembled before God for accountability. God will decide who he will send to paradise or hell. When it is decided by God that, ‘This person will go into paradise,’ his soul will be placed in a new physical body. That body will have no diseases or illness; it will never die.

This concept of life in paradise is a little different as it has been told. People go there, live there forever, and whenever they wish for something, it will be there. If I were in their shoes, I would get bored. It would be the same thing over and over.

Without love and companionship of God, this idea of luxurious life in paradise seems to me a bit dull.

It doesn’t suit me or fascinate me. I want to be with God, rather than being in paradise. I want to be in the Lord’s company day and night for eternity.

The way religions are being promoted and projected these days, more and more emphasis is being laid on rewards, not love of God. They say to serve and worship God for paradise. Even while you’re worshipping, you’re thinking about paradise. God is not even a secondary object.

The Primordial Times and Choice of Souls

God created souls with a specific purpose in his mind.

He created a group of souls and the purpose was that these souls should love him. Now, when they are born into this world, they don’t need to go to any college; the natural instinct in their soul will be to look for God.

Nobody will tell them, ‘Go love God.’ They will feel the thirst of God’s love. They are special people.

Then, God created some other souls with a purpose: to guide others. So they have this natural instinct in them to guide other. They were regarded as prophets, messengers and master.

So there are many different types of souls and then God created some ordinary souls. He created them all.

They were all assembled before him and then he showed them luxuries of the paradise and luxuries of the world. Then, God said it unto them, ‘Choose what you want.’ So a multitude of souls chose the luxuries of the world. Some other souls chose luxuries of paradise.

Then, for those who chose luxuries of paradise, God said to them, ‘In order to get this, you need to follow a religion.’ For those who chose luxuries of the world, there was no condition.

All these souls came into this world and then religions were established. Now, many souls who did not choose the luxuries of the paradise, they also became Muslims, Christians and Jews. They will never get to paradise because they never chose it. As a result, they never follow the religion perfectly. They create problems.

MFI’s Activities in Cusco, Peru

On June 25, 2016, a team from Messiah Foundation International participated in Pride 2016 in Cusco, Peru. There, they gave the message of divine love to people from all walks of life and showed them the divine signs of the Awaited Ones, Lord Ra Riaz and Lord Jesus Christ. They also distributed leaflets in Spanish regarding the Absence of Spiritual Knowledge. The response was fantastic and we’re excited to continue our activities in Cusco soon.

View the full Flickr album here.

Quote of the Day: God Will Hear...

'God will hear your voice if your soul is able to speak.' - Younus AlGohar, The Primary Objective of Religion: To Connect with God

Quote of the Day: The First Step...

‘The first step towards spirituality is purification of the Self.’ - Younus AlGohar, The War Against Yourself

Quote of the Day: Your Job...

'Your job is to eliminate the evil presence from within you.' - Younus AlGohar, The War Against Yourself

Reader Responses to Recent Articles

In reply to Younus AlGohar’s article regarding the distortion of the concept of Jihad and the truth about Ibn Taymiyyah, a reader, Chris, had this to say:

Very interesting article. I had a Muslim friend share this with me. I was not aware that the lesser jihad was supposed to be over. This is the first time I’ve ever heard that.
In light of terrorists attacks that have occurred here in the United States, I'm guessing that those terrorists still subscribe to the lesser jihad? Would they know that it has been declared invalid?
Thanks

Mr Allen, in reply to Freedom of Choice: God’s Decision for Humanity, said:

I really like this article. This is very strong and straight comments on this sensitive issue. “God doesn’t force people to believe in him, how can a man force others to follow a religion”.
In short I can say it’s a beautiful article in social and religious context.

In reply to The Power of a Willing Heart, Ms Anne said:

I have just found you Younus. I have just watched your video on how to awaken your heart in order to speak and receive from God and Jesus. Do I need a spiritual master ? And if so, how do I go about it? Many thanks for your wise words. You cannot know how much I needed to hear what you had to say.

In reply to the same article, Mr Brian said:

I love your story, and I hope you can share it with as many people as possible.

Ms Angela responded to Younus AlGohar's article, God and Water by saying:

What you said is very well, I agree with your point. I also think that we can’t circumscribe God according to the name.

Quote of the Day: In Order to Reach...

'In order to reach God and recognise God, learn spirituality no matter what religion you practise.' - Lord Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi 

Freedom of Choice: God’s Decision for Humanity

We have been discussing homosexuality in the light of religions and also in the light of people making their own choice.

As far as my knowledge is concerned, and given my research and study, I assert that God does not force anything on people for various reasons.

Firstly, if God were to force anything on you, then your accountability would be useless. You could not be held responsible for anything wrong and right you would do in this world. There would be no concept of accountability on the Day of Judgement.

God said, ‘There is no compulsion in the religion.’ With regards to the religion, the Quran itself asserts, advises and makes it clear upon all Muslims that you cannot compel people to believe in certain things. Contrary to this, in Saudi Arabia there is a religious police that make you go to a mosque and worship by force.

The ordinary translation of what Quran says is, ‘There is no compulsion in the religion.’ The word used in the Quran is ‘Akrah’ which comes from the family of the word ‘Karahiya.’ In other words, If you are worshipping because you have to, but you do not like it and you’re doing it without your heart in it, then God doesn’t like it. Therefore, he declared if anything makes you feel bad doing it, then don’t do it because this is not part of the region.

In religion, you only do things once your heart is convinced to do it.

This is why a prerequisite in Islam is declaration by the tongue and verification by the heart. If it does not come from the heart, it does not reach divine acceptance.

Those who force others to worship can make them worship, however that worship will be futile because it will never reach the divine acceptance. The reason being that God does not like anything done for him without your heart in it.

If you are in the business of pleasing the Lord, then it is very important that while you’re doing it, you yourself are pleased with it. If you are aiming to please God and are unhappy doing it, that won’t make any sense to any sound mind.

There are loads of things Muslims are doing today which are not endorsed by the Quran. For example, forcing people to observe fasting in the month of Ramadan. You cannot force anybody! You cannot force people to go to a mosque. You cannot force your wife to have sex with you, but we hear from so-called Islamic scholars that you can force her, and if she refuses, then angels curse her all night. These are stories; a woman is a human being too and you cannot do that. But this is what Muslims are doing today.

It is very unfortunate that the western world is unable to differentiate between actions and deeds of Muslims and the decree of God in the Quran.

Muslims are not doing anything that formulates the original Islam. Islam has been greatly misunderstood and misinterpreted.

I remember very vividly when I was talking to Lord Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi. Lord Ra Riaz was in New Jersey, USA. There was a discussion between me and the Lord. I suggested out of my own folly to the Lord, ‘I think you have to be a little strict on people. You are too kind.’

So in reply to my suggestion, Lord Ra Riaz said, ‘My message is the message of love. It has to come from the choice of your heart. It cannot be forced on you.’ 

A message of love will be given to people with love; It will be offered to them following their own choice.

The message of Lord Ra Riaz is the best message that has ever come to this world. However, this message, like any other message, cannot be forced upon on anyone. It is very nice, but it will only work for you when you accept it with your own choice. You cannot force it.

Looking at the face of the Lord was the best action or deed I could ever imagine doing. When we would be in the presence of the Lord, no matter how perplexed or worried we were, the moment we’d see the face of the Lord, we would forget all our problems. It was so relieving and relaxing to look at the Lord’s face. It was food to the eyes. You’d just look at the Lord’s face and your heart and soul would get drunk; your heartbeats would rise out of sheer happiness and excitement.

I could never believe that I was in the company of Lord Ra Riaz. I would be sitting there with certainty, but with so much uncertainty; I would think, ‘How is it possible that I am sitting here with the Lord?’

Looking at the face of the Lord live was the best possible indulgence available in the world; it was something out of this world. You would instantly feel your soul uplifted.

When we would sit in the presence of the Lord, we would feel the heart filled with divine energy. A sense of accomplishment would be felt inside the secret chambers of the heart. We would feel satisfaction, spiritual tranquility and serenity. That serenity and spiritual tranquility made us forget all worship. The eyes were in constant worship.

Having sat in the company of the Lord and having been able to be in face-to-face meetings with the Lord, so much so was the influx of the divine energy with an unmeasurable intensity of love that would emanate from the pores of the Lord’s body.

When you have been exposed to naked divinity, why would you want to worship? The souls were so saturated with the spiritual tranquility, serenity and satisfaction that there was left no desire to engage in worship.

One day, I complained to the Lord. I said, ‘What should I do? My heart does not find any spiritual solace in the practice of worship.’ The Lord smiled and asked, ‘Where will you find it then?’ Now it was my turn to be a little timid and shy, but I had to say it. So I said, ‘I find the ultimate solace of my soul when I am in your company.’ It was then said, ‘Then do not enter into worship with a disinterested heart. Whenever you worship, worship with an interested heart.’

So nothing is forced. If I force you to become good, how can you become good? Goodness cannot be practised; it has to come from the heart. You can play a game with sweet words, but then your actions will reveal that was a fake exposition of goodness; it wasn’t meant to be good.

The point I want to make here is that actions of those who force others to worship or become Good are not supported by God. It cannot be part of the religion because there is no compulsion in the religion. If somebody wants to be a homosexual, you cannot force them to be a heterosexual, because God doesn’t like it.

When God created all the souls, he then assembled them in front of him. He showed them the luxuries of the world and the luxuries paradise; he did not say, ‘You will be good and you will be bad.’ He did not say, ‘You should have luxuries of the world and you should have luxuries of the paradise.’ He gave them a choice. He showed them luxuries of the paradise and he showed them luxuries of the world. Then, it was said unto them to make a choice. Whatever choice they made in the Primordial Times was written in the book of their fate. There was a group of souls: what they did was neither did they even look at the luxuries of the world nor did they look at the luxuries of the paradise. They fixed their eyes on the splendour of God. This was their choice. God accepted it. They are those who became saints.

So when God is not forcing upon his creation anything from him, who do you think you are forcing anything on people?

As a human being, you have the right to be whoever you want to be. Now, whether God likes it or dislikes it, he will decide it later on.

For example, you don’t feel well and you see a doctor. You are diagnosed with something and then medicine is given to you. Now it is your choice whether you take the medicine or not. Have you seen any doctor beating you up, trying to convince you to take the medicine? The choice has to be yours. Now, the choice you are making: if it is a good choice, you will be rewarded. If you take the medicine, you will get rid of the disease and get well again. If you don’t take the medicine, your health will deteriorate and you will suffer. Regardless of the consequences, it is entirely left onto you to make a choice. You should be wise enough to make a good choice. If you are not wise enough and you are making a bad choice, nobody should be able to stop you. You can only be advised, ‘This is bad and this is good,’ but the choice has to be made by you.

You are completely free to make a choice, but it comes with responsibility. You are responsible for it.

In the light of the Quran and after how God conducted himself (he did not force his ideas on creation), it has become vividly clear that you cannot force any ideology or worship upon people. You can tell them what is right and wrong, and leave it to them to make a choice.

Forcing others to do good or bad things is not allowed in any religion. Extremism in religions today is completely against the conduct of God. It is completely against the spirit of the religion.

By the same token, if somebody wants to be a heterosexual, you cannot force them not to be a homosexual. Everybody is free to make a choice. I am not saying it considering this notion as a secular point of view; rather I am telling you that this is the wavelength upon which God thinks. God himself does not force anything upon anybody so how can you?

If somebody wants to be a heterosexual or a homosexual, let them make a choice. It is none of your business. This is our official statement. You cannot force your ideology on anybody. God doesn't force people to believe in him, how can a man force others to follow a religion?

Jashan-e-Shahi Activities in Pakistan

Happy Jashan-e-Shahi 2016 to all! Leading up to the celebrations, members of Mehdi Foundation Pakistan posted a message regarding Jashan-e-Shahi in cities all over Pakistan. They posted messages in Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Jhang, Karachi and Lahore.

The writing reads '15th Ramadan: the Day of Mehdi. Imam Mehdi is Syedna Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi. - Mehdi Foundation International'.

View the full Flickr album here.

Quote of the Day: If You Do the Same...

'If people do something wrong to you and in reply, you do the same - what is special about you? If you do the same, you are the same. - Younus AlGohar, The War Against Yourself

Quote of the Day: In the Absence...

‘In the absence of spirituality, religion will not help you.’ - Younus AlGohar

Messiah Foundation USA in Times Square

On June 19, 2016, a team from Messiah Foundation USA visited the famous Times Square in New York City to give the message of divine love and raise awareness of the divine signs. People from all over the world were present at Times Square and many of them were intrigued by our message. Our team was very happy with the response and will continue their activities in Times Square very soon!

View the full Flickr album here.

Quote of the Day: If I Praise You...

If I praise you for false, it is like poison to your character.’ - Younus AlGohar

Islam Mein Fitnay Par Qoum-e-Muslim Ka Inkaar

Younus AlGohar discusses how Islam has been made subject to mischief, and how pointing out this fact is not blasphemy of Islam.

Main points:

- Muslims’ attitude towards Islam is they can’t accept that it has been subject to mischief because they’ve been brainwashed to think it is so sublime. People don’t know why they need a religion. They need a religion to reach God, but because they don’t know this, they don’t realise that Islam doesn’t serve that purpose anymore. Muslims no longer have spiritual knowledge; they think they are meant to practise the religion to obtain paradise and save themselves from hell.

- Muslims think that to say Islam has been subject to mischief is blasphemy. They consider people who say this to be enemies of Islam. We are not against Islam. We know that out of every religion made by prophets, no other religion had as much spiritual knowledge as was given to Muslims through Prophet Mohammad. Prophet Mohammad was able to witness God’s splendour. Lord Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi taught us that God’s saints can be from any religion; when we respect all religions, how can we blaspheme Islam?

- Prophet Mohammad said, ‘In the end times there will be 73 sects in Islam. Only those will be guided who follow my footsteps.’ This is spiritual terminology. Today’s Muslim wants to adopt all of Prophet Mohammad’s customs; the ones that he can’t adopt are removed from the books. One of the fundamental customs of Prophet Mohammad is presence of the heart. The Quran says Salat (prayer) is destruction for those who do not know its reality, who do not have presence of the heart.

- Most Muslims find it difficult to accept that we are living in the era of Imam Mehdi. However, God has sent his signs. God said, ‘Only those accept my signs who are Momin (true believers).

You can watch the live recordings of these videos every day at 22:00 GMT on http://younusalgohar.com.

Can’t access this video? Watch it on Daily Motion.

Listen to this speech on the go with SoundCloud.

Quote of the Day: The Real You...

'The real you is not your body. The real you is your soul.' - Lord Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi

Why Have Religions Been Intolerant of Homosexuality?

In 1996, when I lived in Manchester, United Kingdom, I used to drive a taxi. In the middle of the city centre, there was a village called Gay Village. I was the only driver from a Muslim background who was happy with them. They would often ask for me to pick them up. I found that these gay people to be very mellow and soft-spoken. They were not violent at all. That was my experience.

I have spoken at length on how the Islamic law was formulated and the harsh punishment which we see in Islamic law was prescribed for a specific reason. The problem is: the world is not aware of the background information. When you don’t know the background information and only rely on what you see in front of your eyes, the chances are, you will be greatly mistaken. Sometimes, even what your eyes can see can be deceptive.

Before I continue on this subject, I would like to tell everybody: do not ever think that I am either in favour of homosexuality or against homosexuality. I am discussing the background information: how homosexuality has been abhorred in religious text of Christianity and Islam. What was the reason such a harsh punishment was prescribed by God for a crime which involves two individuals pleasing their bodies?

Human beings today are more aware of their rights in comparison to times in history. 1400 years ago, the human population was scattered and people lived remotely. They were not in contact with each other. There was no concept of cosmopolitan cities. Today, we are more busy with gadgets. We are spending more time at our job, and then we come back home and watch television or use our iPhones, laptops, etc. It is quite safe to say that we are now living in a virtual world. We have distanced ourselves from practical life as science advances. Interaction with people is being done more online rather than in face-to-face meetings. The entire world has become one global village.

Some years back, it was so hard to keep in contact with my family in Pakistan. Every time I  would think of calling them, I would visualise spending £2.50 per minute; I would think, ‘That’s a lot. Forget about it.’ Then, in 1996, a friend told me to open an email account. I opened an email account with Hotmail.com and was able to email a friend in Pakistan. I was so happy; he got it and replied. I was all free from Pakistan.

It was so difficult to be in contact with people who lived in other countries. Even in Pakistan, if you were calling from Karachi to Lahore, it was a lot of money. About 15 years in the United States of America, if you were calling from one state to another, it was a long-distance call. So [in the past] you were in contact with people who live nearby you. We’re living in times today where even in one home, with our family members, we do not communicate really well. Forget about people living in your neighbourhood.

1500 years ago, towns and villages were like a home. Everybody knew everybody. You couldn’t disappear. If you became a homosexual, then the problem was that this would spread like fire. The chances were that everybody would be afflicted with this type of lifestyle. The Bible is 2000 years old whereas the Quran is 530 years younger than the Bible. There is a lot of time between the Bible and the Quran. The Quran is the latest of God’s word. In the Bible, God talks about homosexuality in a disapproving manner.

When it comes to Islam, there are many things you do and you have to die, not just homosexuality. If you talk bad about the religion of Islam, Muslims say that you must die. If you do not respect the Prophet, Muslims say that you must die. Then if you want to leave Islam, they say you must die. In Islam, things are really on the edge. Being a Muslim is like you are walking on a tightrope. Islam is the most difficult religion. I am not saying it is bad.

If somebody wants to become a Muslim, tell him, ‘Bear in mind, if you having become Muslim decide to become homosexual, then you will be beheaded. If you speak ill of the Prophet or talk bad about Islam, you will be beheaded. For 90% of the wrong-doings you want to do, the punishment will be a death penalty.’

It will be like a medicine that you want to take as a cure for a disease. You want to read the information provided with the medicine. There are hundreds of side effects mentioned there [such as blood pressure and heart attacks]. By the time you finish the leaflet, you will say, ‘I don’t want this medicine.’

Homosexuality Among Muslims

People in the west who think Islam has said, ‘Homosexuals should be killed,’ are not fully aware of what Islam is and what Muslims do. I can bet my life on it: there are more homosexuals among Muslims than in any other nation.

I heard that the King of Oman is gay. He is gay for a funny reason. Somebody told him, ‘If you marry and have a son, your son will kill you and become king.’ So he never touched a woman; he decided to have sex with men because men will not produce a son.

I do not know how many Muslim priests are not homosexual. In Pakistan, over 90% of Muslim priests - who lead prayers in the mosque five times a day and who teach kids how to recite the Quran - are homosexual. There is a very thin blue line. Being homosexual is different, but there is one more aspect. Among Muslims, Muslim priests want to rape children and men. They do not want [anything done to them physically in return].

Many Saudi princes are homosexual. Sometimes, the Quran appears to be slightly funnier; there is a verse in the Quran in relation to having sex with your wife. God says, ‘You can enter into your wife from wherever you want to.’ This verse has been misinterpreted at a very high level. People thought they could have anal sex with their wife.

Among Muslims, there is a very common problem: people want to do everything, but they don’t want to talk about it.

If somebody is a homosexual in Pakistan, he doesn’t want to admit it in public because he feels ashamed, but not because he feels guilty. He thinks, ‘What will people say?’ Whereas, in the western world, they want to do it and they don’t want to hide it.

In the olden days, there were few people living together. The problem was that [they feared], ‘If one man is afflicted, others will do the same. Then what will happen?’ If there are only 50 men living in a village and all become homosexual, what will the women do and how will they have kids?

Today, the human population is in billions but there was a time in history when people would live remotely and they were not aware of others’ existence or presence. If there were 50-100 men in one village, that was the entire world for them.

The Quran was revealed for people of the Arabian peninsula, whose temperament is very hot. If you do not swear at them or beat them, they don’t listen to you. They do not understand the language of love. They have been warriors. Killing among Arabs is a pastime. They used to kill each other over tiny issues like water. They would start enmity over it and the killing would continue through generations.

Now, through evolution of intellect, civilisation, and people’s own prescribed values for their life, humanity has come to a point where they want to make a choice for themselves.

They want to lead a happy life for themselves. Sometimes you make a folly decision and only after you have come to some kind of harm, you learn a lesson and then you revert. However, we are living in a different time. It should be allowed for people to let them choose what they want for their life.

Some people do not want to see or love God. I think it is useless teaching them or even forcing them to believe in God. Let them be the way they want to be. Nothing should be done by force; nothing should be imposed. It should come from acceptance of the heart. If your heart accepts something, then you do it, believe it and act upon it.

If you force some ideology on others, and under fear, even if they do it, they won’t enjoy it.

So Islam, Christianity and Judaism do not allow homosexuality in their religions, but these religions have failed. So now, there is no point. You are doing every other thing wrong, but when it comes to homosexuality you want to follow the Bible. You’re deceiving others, depriving them of their belongings and your lifestyle is based on a lie. You’re not an honest man, you do not honour people and you do not respect humanity.

You don’t do anything that your religion teaches you to do, but only when it comes to homosexuality, you want to be a Muslim and a Christian. Then you say, ‘This is bad. I cannot see this.’

My point of view is, even according to Islam, God has been recorded to say that he will forgive all your sins for except one: if you find a partner with him (known as Shirk in Islam). God is very intolerant to this.

Messiah Foundation International’s Views on the LGBT Community

The spiritual values we represent have no problems. This message of love and peace is for everybody, whether you are homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual or asexual. These things belong to your body.

The message of the Messenger of Love, Lord Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi is for the entire humanity, for all communities including the LGBT community. The LGBT community has a rainbow on their flag, seven colours. I want them to add another seven colours of the soul on their flag, so that the seven souls inside the body are also enlightened.

The message and teachings of Lord Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi are so profound and broad. Lord Ra Riaz says, ‘Even if you do not follow a religion, come and obtain divine love. You will be better than those who follow a region but they do not love God.’

If somebody does not practise any religion, do you think he will understand that homosexuality is bad? If he is a homosexual but he wants to learn to love God, will you tell him to go away? No. The message of Lord Ra Riaz is for everybody: love for everybody.. Whether you are a gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual or transgender, we have nothing to do with your gender; our message is for the soul.

So Messiah Foundation International does not have a problem with LGBT community. We consider them as our brothers and sisters. We have love for them like we have love for anybody else, without discrimination.

If you want to become a homosexual or not, it is entirely up to you. It has nothing to do with your soul.

Featured image sourced from Wikimedia commons.