Voice of British Muslim Women

*Huzoor is the term Ahmadi Muslims use to refer to His Holiness, the fifth Caliph/Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community*

Yusra Dahri, Tilford

“Surely there is ease after hardship.” – The Holy Qur’an 94:6

My name is Yusra.

Out of all the things I am most grateful to Allah for, my name is one of them.

I was one year old when the fourth Khalifa, His Holiness Mirza Tahir Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) passed away, so I sadly have no personal memories of him. But in some ways I feel like the name he gave me is worth more than a memory. In some ways, I feel that a name is a future. God willing, it shapes a person’s destiny.

But how? What does ‘ease’ or ‘comfort’ mean in practical terms? Does it mean that ease is something I possess, or something I bring, or something I wait for? Isn’t too much comfort a bad thing? Who am I? Who do I choose to be?

As you can probably tell, I am prone to overthinking. But it was a question that played on my mind: What does my name mean?

Out of all the things I am most grateful to Allah for, one of them is that our current Khalifa, His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad (may Allah be his Helper), answered this question. A question I never thought to ask out loud.

Around six or seven years ago, I remember sitting at the dining table at lunchtime with our current Khalifa, Huzoor and my grandmother. My brother was also there, and he was struggling to pass back a dish that was a bit tricky to hold, so I helped him. He thanked me (quite earnestly, for an older sibling!), so I teased him saying, “My name is Yusra – it’s my purpose to make life easier for other people!”

I was half-joking, but Huzoor smiled at me like I had just understood something important. He looked at me and said, “Yes, to serve others, to help others.”

If I’m honest, I was a little taken aback at the time. I hadn’t really been thinking about my purpose in the context of other people. I was obsessed with the word ‘I’. But it took me long years of experience and contemplation to realise that His Holiness was right all along.

I hadn’t felt happy or fulfilled when I was focusing just on myself, though that’s what I had been conditioned by society to believe that was what I needed. When I had been doing duty, or helping others, or serving humanity – that’s when I felt the most whole.

And somehow, though I probably wasn’t even a teenager yet (or a very young one), Huzoor had understood that about me.

But of course. It struck me on reflection – who can understand that better than a Khalifa? Who else – someone who spends so much of his life dedicated to helping others – could truly understand what it means to serve humanity? Who else could understand how that changes your soul?

Truth be told, I am selfish. There is a limit to which I can help people, before I feel drained. There is a limit to which I can listen to people’s problems, without feeling tired. I can pray for others, but I end up worrying about myself the most.

I try to fulfil the rights I owe to humanity, and the rights I owe to Allah, but I am weak.

Then I think of the Khulafa, who owe these same rights, but fulfil them in a much greater capacity. From my own observation, I sometimes wonder how a person can live so selflessly. From the books you read, to the little time you get to sleep, everything is done for others. It is a constant service, for life.

Sometimes, Huzoor looks at me and recites the Arabic of, “Surely there is ease after hardship. Aye, surely there is ease after hardship.”

Now when I hear those verses, I no longer think of what my purpose is – I think of what my duties are. I think of the commentary by the second Khalifa, His Holiness Mirza Bashir-ud-Deen Mahmud Ahmad (may Allah be pleased with him):

The, “Repetition of the words, “Surely, there is ease after hardship,” signifies that Islam will have to pass through very hard times but on two occasions it will have to face a challenge to its very existence, first at its birth and then in the latter days,––and on both these occasions it will emerge from the ordeal with renewed strength.

These verses also indicate that the hardships with which the Holy Prophet and Muslims are faced are temporary, but his successes would be permanent and ever-expanding.”

Khilafat is the rope to Allah. I wonder how strong you have to be, so that you won’t break when people hold onto you. I wonder how much you must hope – that people realise they need to use their own strength to climb too.

Hardships are exhausting. So is climbing up a rope.

But I would rather be exhausted, than let go.

“Aye, surely, there is ease after hardship.” The Holy Qur’an 94:7