Voice of British Muslim Women

وَاعْتَصِمُوْا بِحَبْلِ اللّٰہِ جَمِيْعًا وَّلاَ تَفَرَّقُوْا ۚ وَاذْكُرُوْا نِعْمَتَ اللّٰهِ عَلَيْكُمْ اِذْ كُنْتُمْ اَعْدَآءً فَاَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوْبِكُمْ فَاَصْبَحْتُمْ بِنِعْمَتِهٖ اِخْوَانًا وَكُنْتُمْ عَلىٰ شَفا حُفْرَةٍ مِّنَ النَّارِ فَاَنْقَذَكُمْ مِّنْها كَذٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللّٰهُ لَكُمْ اٰيٰتِهٖ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُوْنَ

“And hold fast, all together, by the rope of Allah and be not divided; and remember the favour of Allah which He bestowed upon you when you were enemies and He united your hearts in love, so that by His grace you became as brothers; and you were on the brink of a pit of fire and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah explain to you His commandments that you may be guided”.  Holy Qur’an 3:104

Qudsia Ward, Cornwall

One of the strongest threads in nature is the thread of a spider.  Yet despite being strong it is also frail.

“a given weight of spider silk is five times as strong as the same weight of steel” Wiki.

“…and surely the frailest of all houses is the house of the spider, if they but knew!..” Holy Qur’an 29:42

What can this teach us?  Strong yet frail!

Rope is not one thread.  Rope is made of many threads twisted together.  The more threads used, the stronger the rope becomes.  Sometimes thin ropes are twisted together to make thicker, stronger ropes but all begin with a single thread.   

Each one of us alone can be amazingly strong, but like the spider’s web we are also quite frail.  By being together we are stronger. If we work alongside others, each like one thread combined into a rope, we create something stronger.  We can achieve more.  The more we are together the stronger we become.

Now what are ropes used for?  Ropes were essential on sailing ships that travelled the world. People discovered new lands, explored new places and ideas, found different resources and carried their own resources to others.  Rope was used to make cargo nets to carry items of trade to exchange around the nations of the world.

Rope can be used light-heartedly, in play as a skipping rope, a net for ball games.

Rope can be used to rescue, to save lives.  Thrown from a boat it can save a drowning person.  On a mountain or a cliff, it can save someone from falling. 

To be rescued it is essential that you hold on tight to the rope.  Your life depends on it.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community¹ is like a rope, a cargo net made of rope, a rope giving security, a rope that can rescue. It is many individuals creating a community, bound together, matching all the examples rope was used for, making each of its members strong, serving nations, helping others.

But the ‘rope of Allah’.  What can that be?

To me it is the threads of the guidance given by God in the Holy Qur’an, practiced by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) who was the best of men, a mercy for mankind, a role model for the oppressed and downtrodden, for leaders and kings, under oppression or in authority. 

This ‘rope’ provided by Allah, can save us from drowning in a sea of distractions, a river of pressures, a lake of society that does not know God. This rope of Allah can save us from danger, from failing.  It can raise us up to safety, but you must hold on tight.  It can bind us, make us secure but you must work with others.

The Promised Messiah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (peace be on him) ²identified more than 700 commandments in the Holy Qur’an, each one a thread on its own but together an extraordinarily strong rope which can save us from many dangers of life but also give us access to the many blessings Allah has designed for us. His teaching based on the Holy Qur’an and blessed example of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) are like a rope which binds the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community together.  This rope has carried the Community around the world, has been like a net bringing others into its fold, rescuing those who felt as if they were drowning, raising those fallen and in danger.  Each member of the Community is like the spider’s thread.  Strong and frail.

 May All Powerful Allah keep us bound together to serve His people as rope has serve mankind.

1. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community  –  https://www.alislam.org
2. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ^{(peace be on him)} –  https://www.alislam.org/messiah/