Voice of British Muslim Women

Bareera Ghaffar, Nottingham

^{*Huzoor is the term Ahmadi Muslims use to refer to His Holiness, the fifth Caliph/Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. It is generally followed by the prayer “May Allah be his Helper”.}

I feel as though the world has plummeted into a black hole, one in which we see destruction, injustice, pain and suffering at all corners of the Earth. Every one of us at some point lately has felt the suffocation that comes with being engulfed by the anxiety of not knowing the direction in which the world is going, and how, at any second, circumstances could change.

But one thing is for certain; every Friday at 1pm BST the Khalifah of the time will stand for an hour and speak to us. With the current state of the world, Huzoor (may Allah be his Helper) will end his Friday sermon with a prayer for peace and a prayer for justice – prayers rooted ultimately in love.

By definition, Khilafat means successorship but more than that, successorship to a Prophet of Allah. It means being the custodian of the message sent from God. When I think of Huzoor, I think of how he is consistently at the forefront of peace, and is such a beacon of light and hope for us all, I think of how he is selfless in his approach, and how his sense of duty and love for each of us goes beyond what we can ever fully comprehend.

A man of peace, a man of grace, and a man of integrity.

When I think of how Huzoor tirelessly speaks of peace, and the lengths he goes to in reminding us that peace within ourselves and peace for the world is what we should all be striving for, I know he is not from among the likes of us. In January 2022 I wrote a piece for this very blog entitled “Khilafat – My strength, My anchor”. Since that point, Huzoor has continued to be my strength and the strength of the Community. I had the opportunity to be in Ghana for the final session of their Jalsa earlier this year, and though Huzoor was not there in person, his love was so very felt, it was electric. The love for Huzoor was also transcendent – the sun was scorching, yet it was pin drop silence as all listened to beloved Huzoor’s every word.

Allah has put such a deep love and concern for Huzoor in all our hearts – a feeling I can’t quite put into words.

On May 3^rd, as he always does, Huzoor delivered his Friday Sermon; at the end, Huzoor asked that we pray for peace and pray for justice…but he also asked for prayers for himself and gave some context for this.

The Khalifah of the time, ‘my strength, my anchor’ was asking for prayers for himself.

For as long as I have ever known, I cannot pinpoint a second where I have seen discomfort, pain, or anything as such from Huzoor. He attends all the functions, leads all the Prayers, and hosts mulaqaats (audiences) in which members of the community share worries and concerns. In these moments, he patiently listens, he gives guidance, and prayers, wishes us well and off we go. How special and peaceful we all feel at the sight of Huzoor.

Our strength and our anchor, oh how selfless you are. A man of God.

Since that point, what I thought my pain was, what I believed my worries were, became so small. When we look at Huzoor, we do always think he is doing fine. But I know that what allows me to move with such ease – what allows us all to move with such ease – is the knowledge that our Huzoor is fine, our Huzoor is well.

Huzoor does all he does with such ease and with such love. Allah the Almighty is his strength and his anchor. It is this very conviction, selflessness, and sense of responsibility that Huzoor enlightens us with every Friday, before guiding us in the prayers that we should make with regards to the state of the world. It is only the Khalifah of the time, the successor of the Promised Messiah (peace be on him)at whose hand we took Ba’ait (pledge of allegiance) during Jalsa, who consistently prays for our peace.

Now we too  must fervently and selflessly pray for our beloved Huzoor, we must try to root ourselves in Taqwa (righteousness) and be firm in the need for peace and justice in this world as he has consistently prayed for. We too need to be consistent for him.

I end the way I ended my previous blog “My strength, my spiritual strength; what keeps me going is my beloved Khalifa. When you find that anchor, that love, that rope, that pillar, that strength, your whole being submits as it is written in the Holy Quran ‘…We hear, and we obey…’ (2:286).”