Khalifa of Islam addressed over 24,000 participants in Qadian and London

By A. Abdul Aziz, Press Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at – Sri Lanka.

According to our Press Department U.K., the World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the Fifth Khalifa (Caliph), His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, concluded the three day 124th Annual Convention (Jalsa Salana) of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Qadian, India, on 28 December 2015 with a faith-inspiring address.

His Holiness addressed the final session via satellite link from the Baitul Futuh Mosque in London. Over 19,000 people, from 44 countries, attended the Convention in Qadian, while more than 5,000 gathered in London for the concluding session.

During his address, His Holiness spoke of how the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community had always been supported by God Almighty and so despite the sustained persecution it faced in certain parts of the world it had continued to grow and flourish.

The Khalifa began by stating that modern technology allowed him and those gathered in London to participate in Qadian’s convention and that this was a great blessing of God Almighty. Moreover, he said technology was proving to be a means of spreading the true message of Islam to all parts of the world.

Whilst the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was utilising modern technology to spread Islamic values of peace, tolerance and respect, His Holiness said there were others who were using modern technology to spread evil and disorder.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

Where there is goodness, there is also evil and immorality and cruelties of the highest order are being perpetrated in today’s world. Modern technology is being abused by many in order to spread satanic influences and injustice and as a result mankind is moving away from God and true faith. Today, it is only the satellite channel of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, MTA International that is broadcasting peace, righteousness and virtue 24 hours a day in accordance with the true teachings of God Almighty and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).”

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad continued:

We Ahmadi Muslims must never allow new technology to deviate us from the path of righteousness, rather we must use it to enhance our spiritual and moral standards and to increase our love for God and the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) and to increase our relationship of love towards the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him).”

The Khalifa said that despite the limited resources of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, MTA had become a means to further develop the unique bond between the institution of Khilafat (Caliphate) and Ahmadi Muslims around the world.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

Other groups or individuals have so much wealth and unlimited resources and yet which country or which other religious leader has a direct link with his followers across the globe on such a large scale. This favour has only been granted to the Community established by the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him).”

Further elaborating on the unifying force of Khilafat (Caliphate) in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

With the Grace of Allah, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has spread throughout the world. It has spread in the West and in the East. It has spread in the North and in the South. It has spread to Africa, to Asia, to Europe, to the Americas, to Australia and across the globe to all Islands. All Ahmadi Muslims, wherever they be, are united together under one banner. Today, the voice of the Khalifa of the Time echoes in all directions as a living sign of the Oneness of God and is spreading the message of true Islam to all parts of the world.”

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad continued:

Truly fortunate are those people who are sitting in Qadian, the home of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad – Founder of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him), partaking in the unique spiritual atmosphere of the Annual Convention and listening to the words of this humble servant, the Khalifa of the Promised Messiah. Further, Ahmadi Muslims in all parts of the world are also watching these proceedings live. Regardless of whether it is day or night or morning or evening, Ahmadi Muslims in all parts of the world are united watching the scenes from Qadian and partaking in its spirituality.”

His Holiness said that despite extreme opposition, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was spreading rapidly. Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad noted how this progress was in accordance with the prophecies of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him), who received revelations from God Almighty informing him that people from all parts of the world would join his community in very large numbers.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

There was a time when no one knew of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) nor of Qadian, but today, people from dozens of countries have come to attend the Convention (Jalsa) in Qadian. Certainly, every single person sitting in Qadian is a sign of the truth of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him).”

His Holiness said that whilst in early Islam it was the Arab people who had first spread the teachings of Islam with great wisdom, regrettably they had now forgotten the true teachings of the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him) when it came to Ahmadiyyat.

He said that rather than acting with wisdom, they were insistent that the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) was, God forbid, a false prophet. They supported their claims by stating that this was also the view of so-called clerics in Pakistan and India. His Holiness said that despite such opposition, each year hundreds of thousands of righteous people, including many Arabs, were being divinely guided towards the truth of Ahmadiyyat.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

It is now the task of the Arab people to re-establish within themselves that same knowledge and wisdom which their ancestors bore and to spread the truth of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) throughout the Arab world.”

The session concluded with silent prayers followed by various poems recited by attendees in Qadian over satellite link.

Qadian is the birth-place of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam.