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Fatiha Nadeem, Bradford Each year, International Youth Day reminds us of the potential young people hold, with this year’s theme serving as a reminder to the youth to play their role in applying the Sustainable Development Goals set out by the United Nations (UN) in 2015. These goals include No Poverty, Gender Equality, Climate Action
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Meher Shazia Chaudhry, Aged 10, Bexley and Greenwich Being an Ahmadi Muslim is a true blessing from Allah, and attending the annual Jalsa Salana is an integral part of this spiritual journey. This year’s Jalsa held a special place in my heart as I had the opportunity to serve on water duty for the first
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Ayela Noor (aged 15), Fleet As soon as I enter, I am immediately greeted with smiles. Jalsa has a very positive, friendly environment that makes me feel welcome. I start the day walking around the site, and I see people of all different backgrounds, united by one thing. Islam. It’s beautiful and so inspirational to
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Bareera Ghaffar, Nottingham Jalsa Salana UK, is an eagerly anticipated three days for Ahmadis across the world. In Hadeeqatul Mahdi, The Garden of the Mahdi, men, women and children gather in their numbers across the country and across the world, to feel the spiritual brotherhood that envelopes all, and to hear, listen and reflect on
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Danila Jonnud, Hampshire I could never, by any stretch of the imagination, be a Vulcan. That is to say, I could never fit the criteria required to be part of the fictional logic-driven emotion-rejecting alien race from Star Trek. To be honest, I’m more like the opposite but sometimes I see something so incomprehensible in
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Saira Iffat Bhatti, Slough The air shifts. Something stirs. A thousand steps quicken without a word, As though the earth itself knows that something sacred is near. They’ve come from motorways and meadows, Pushing buggies, carrying toddlers, Draped in cultures and colours. Hearts alight with one shared hope: to catch a glimpse. To hear the
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Saira Iffat Bhatti, Slough There’s something electric in the air this morning at Hadeeqatul Mahdi, and it’s not just the buzz of golf carts whizzing past or the volunteers rushing around with walkie-talkies crackling. It’s the sense of possibility. A feeling that every person stepping through the gates has left the ordinary world behind and
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Yusra Dahri, Tilford Over the past decade or so, the hijab has remained a contested issue. Even now, only 26% of Britons believe that wearing a hijab is a woman’s personal choice, whereas 49% believe Muslim women wear the hijab due to family or community pressure. As a woman who wears the hijab of her
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On the first day of Jalsa, Ayesha Naseem Mirza and Iffat Mirza Rashid discuss the core purpose of Jalsa Salana, an opportunity to be in the presence of His Holiness Khalifatul Masih V (may Allah be his Helper), and to surround ourselves with discourses regarding high moral values. For many Jalsa Salana, and the international
