Voice of British Muslim Women

Ayesha Naseem, Blackburn

In 2005, I attended the Jalsa Salana, (Annual Convention) of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Qadian, India – the town where the Ahmadiyya Community was founded by the Promised Messiah, His Holiness Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (on whom be peace). It was the same year when the current worldwide head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad (may Allah be his Helper) was also attending the convention. I was just a child back then who did not really understand what Islam Ahmadiyyat was or who the Khalifa (Caliph) was. Yet I still somehow had this love and connection instilled in my heart for him. Perhaps, it was this same love that even without fully understanding its meaning and its depth, the five-year-old me had the confidence to run to him and hold his hand as he was going up the stairs of Mubarak Mosque to lead congregational Prayers.

Even after all these years, I very clearly remember that His Holiness (may Allah be his Helper) had already climbed one step by that point. Upon seeing me there, instead of not registering my presence, His Holiness very affectionately took a step down from the stairs and placed his hand on my head and then made his way back to the mosque. It was such a brief moment, so brief that it definitely took me longer to describe it here than the time it took at that point. Yet two years later in 2007 when I accompanied my parents for a private family meeting with His Holiness (may Allah be his Helper) in London, to the complete astonishment of my parents and myself, he commented how I was the same child who held his hand in Qadian.

Two years may not be a very long time. For some people at least. But for the Khalifa who is leading a growing worldwide religious Community and whose work involves meeting hundreds of members of the Community on a daily basis and who also receives letters from hundreds of thousands of Ahmadi Muslims from all around the world, remembered this one child. This one incident is just the tip of the iceberg, however.

As I grew up, the instances where I personally witnessed the love and care of His Holiness kept increasing. From writing letters to him about my own struggles, to telling him about my education or to consult him with matters of health and well-being, at every step His Holiness (may Allah be his Helper) has guided and protected me. Even to this day, whenever I am unsure about anything or there is something bothering me, my first move is to write to him. This confidence to approach him so easily is also something he has always encouraged the Community to do. During a group student meeting in 2018, His Holiness (may Allah be his Helper) urged us all to write to him about any concerns or questions we have and that he would always respond to them. And I am sure I am not speaking for myself alone here. He has been the same guiding and loving father-figure for all members of the Community.

Allah the Almighty promised believers that He would establish Khalifat for the guidance and unity of Muslims. There are so many who are deprived of this blessing.  And how blessed and fortunate we are as the followers of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace), to have a spiritual guide, who is his successor, his Khalifa. The one whose compassion transcends every boundary. The one who thinks for us before his own self. The one whose prayers reach heavens and are also answered. The one blessed man of God in this age who is there for us like an iron shield.

This fragile life can only be stable and purposeful if we hold this rope of Allah that has been offered to us in the form of Khilafat. How fortunate are those who hold it and never let go of it. Ultimately, without this, we are nothing. 

I conclude with the blessed words of His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad (may Allah be his Helper): ‘There is no country in the world that I do not go to in my imagination before falling asleep and for whom I do not pray while sleeping and while waking. I am not saying this to count favours, no, this is my duty and may Allah the Exalted make me perform my duty more than ever.’ [1]

References

[1] ‘Obedience to Khilafat’, Friday Sermon Archives, 6 June 2014, https://www.alislam.org/friday-sermon/2014-06-06.html