Iffat Mirza, Raynes Park
Each individual has a handful of experiences which turn out to be imperative towards their understanding of the world.
One such moment, for me, was at the age of 16 or 17 when I attended an event organised at the mosque by the Ahmadiyya Women’s Student’s Association where women of various academic backgrounds presented their research to an audience of around two to three hundred fellow young women. His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad (may Allah be his Helper), the fifth and current Khalifa, spiritually leading the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, graciously attended and delivered an address inspiring the few hundred students before him to pursue academic excellence so that we may be able to serve humanity and create a more harmonious world around us. At the end of the address, he asked, in a manner which may have seemed to the untrained eye as a side comment, if any of us were having issues regarding our faith. Though no one present raised her hand, he smilingly told us that if we did we should contact him.
Immediately, I knew that I, as an individual, and my faith, mattered to him. He had no worldly reason to care for me, or any of the other person in the room, but his spiritual status, as a successor to the the Promised Messiah (peace be on him) , makes it so that he takes it upon himself, as a personal responsibility, to ensure that each member of his Community has all doubts and misconceptions removed in their head so that their path to faith is an easy one.
Certainly, the trials of life teach that having faith is not always easy and indeed in certain situations hope can feel futile and even trivial. But it makes one feel so much more confident and self-assured to know that the same man who is sending correspondence to world leaders advocating for world peace, also takes the time to respond to your letters which are about very trivial matters in comparison.
Such examples are countless, and I am sure that any Ahmadi Muslim may be able to recount a similar example that they have experienced. Moment like this are hard to come by outside of the Ahmadiyya Community. Whilst leadership is everywhere, whether it is a Prime Minister, a President, or a Monarch. Such leaders as ‘heads of government’ or ‘heads of state’ imply that they take care of us on an individual basis however, I am yet to see a worldly leader make themselves so accessible to the common person. Someone who sees each individual as a personal responsibility.
No. This is only possible in such a spiritual leader as His Holiness, and can only be found in a God-appointed Khalifa/Caliph. His Holiness Mirza Nasir Ahmad (May Allah have mercy on his soul), the third Khalifa/Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community once said:
“I often pray during the sajda [prostration], ‘O God, in respect of those who have written to me, please relieve them of their anxiety, sickness or worries about their examinations. In respect of those who wanted to write to me but could not, please shower Thy Mercy on them as well. And please show Mercy on those who become averse or lazy.’ I say this prayer because I have a relationship with everyone and deep in my heart lies love and affection for all.”[1]
Here we can see that it is the Khalifa who makes countless efforts to care for and love his Community, whether we make an effort or not. Whilst he invites us to contact him, share with him our ‘anxiety, sickness, or worries,’ he also prays for those who do not always have it in their means to do so. Nonetheless, he knows the human condition is one which is prone to worrying and fretting. Even in his most private of moments – that is in prayer – he puts each and every other individual at the top of his priorities. Indeed, such love cannot be found anywhere else.
[1] A Glimpse into the Life of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih III(rh), by BA Rafiq, p. 10, accessed via https://www.alislam.org/articles/binding-of-hearts-love-between-ahmadis-khalifa/
Voice of British Muslim Women 
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