How do children learn whom not to like? A child does not come into this world knowing that one person is acceptable and another is not. They learn these things from us – through what we say, what we teach and sometimes through what we do not say at all. For an Ahmadi Muslim who experienced bullying and exclusion because of their faith in Pakistan, even a simple greeting of peace could be met with silence because of who they were. Prejudice makes a person decide something about another before taking the time to know them. Hatred can have much quieter beginnings: a joke that nobody challenges, a textbook that describes one community through stereotypes, a teacher who casually repeats something they themselves were taught, a parent who tells a child to stay away from “those people”, or a classroom where one child’s identity is treated as something shameful. A textbook is not just a book. To a child, it is an authority. What a child absorbs about another human being can stay with them for years. Yet children are not naturally hateful. They are remarkably curious. We can teach them that difference is frightening, or that difference is something to understand. We can teach them to inherit our suspicions, or teach them to question them. Education should not merely tell children what to think. It should teach them how to think: how to question a stereotype, distinguish between faith and prejudice, disagree without humiliating another person, and hold firmly to their own beliefs without believing that someone else’s dignity has to be taken away. Perhaps the greatest responsibility we have toward children is not to pass everything we inherited on to them. Some things deserve to be preserved, some questioned, and some – especially hatred – should end with us.

A lady asked Huzoor (aa) whether it was true that Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) possessed the ability to know what was in people’s hearts or to exert a spiritual influence upon others. “Allah the Exalted alone is the Knower of the unseen and He alone knows what is in people’s hearts. Thus, Allah the Exalted states in the Holy Quran, ‘He is Allah and there is no God beside Him, the Knower of the unseen and the seen.’ (59 : 23) He also states, ‘And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them but He.’ (6 : 60) “No human being can ever be the Knower of the unseen. Accordingly, at various places in the Holy Quran, Allah the Exalted instructed the Holy Prophet (sa) to declare that he did not claim to possess knowledge of the unseen. (6 : 51; 11 : 32) “Nevertheless, it is also true that God Almighty’s chosen servants know matters of the unseen to the extent that Allah the Exalted informs them of them. As Allah the Exalted states in the Holy Quran, ‘[He is the] Knower of the unseen; and He reveals not His secrets to any one, except to him whom He chooses, namely a Messenger [of His].’ (72 : 27-28) “Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) was also a human being. As a human being, therefore, he certainly did not possess knowledge of what was in people’s hearts. However, as explained above, Allah the Exalted grants His beloved servants as much knowledge of the unseen as He pleases. Thus, if Allah the Exalted granted him some knowledge concerning someone and he conveyed it in accordance with that divinely bestowed knowledge, there is nothing objectionable in this. “Furthermore, the Holy Prophet (sa) said, ‘Beware of the believer’s discernment, for he sees with the light of Allah.’ (Tirmidhi) In this respect too, Allah the Exalted had blessed Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) with extraordinary discernment. By virtue of this divine gift, he could gauge people’s inner states from their faces with extraordinary discernment. Explaining this saying of the Holy Prophet (sa), the Promised Messiah (as) states: “‘A speaker’s words possess a certain grandeur and awe in proportion to his stature. Observe how, even when approaching worldly officials, one feels some unease and apprehension, conscious that they hold the pen of authority in their hands. Likewise, those who recognise that God is with a believer abandon their opposition to him. If they do not understand, they sit alone and reflect upon the matter, drawing comparisons. “‘It is essential that others follow the one who knows the way and possesses light. This is the intent and meaning of the hadith اِتَّقُوا فِرَاسَةَ الْمُؤْمِنِ, “Beware of the believer’s discernment.” That is, when a believer speaks, one should fear God Almighty, for whatever he says is from God Almighty. “‘The point is that when a believer loves God, divine light encompasses him. Although that light enfolds him within itself and consumes his human nature to a certain degree, just as iron becomes like fire when placed in it, his servitude to God and his humanity do not cease to exist. This is the secret embedded in قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِثْلُكُمْ, “Say, ‘I am only a man like yourselves.’” (18 : 111) “‘His humanity remains, but it is concealed beneath the divine hue. All his faculties and limbs, devoted to God’s cause, become so imbued with God Almighty’s purposes that they reflect His wishes. This is the distinction that makes him responsible for the spiritual nurturing of tens of millions of people and makes him a manifestation of perfect divine providence. Were this not so, a Prophet could never guide and lead so vast a multitude.’”