Friday Sermon 1st December 2006

After reading the Tashahhud, the Ta’uz , the first chapter of the Holy Quran Hazrat Amirul Mo’menine Zafrullah Domun said :

Tomorrow, incha Allah, Jamaat Ahmadiyya Al Mouslemeen will be organizing its third annual gathering (Jalsa Salana) in Mauritius. Therefore, I have decided to speak today about the early history of this important gathering. My main aim in doing this is to remind all our members in Mauritius about the objectives of this gathering. I hope that when our members are well aware of the objectives before hand they will do their best to try to achieve these objectives when they will be present in the gathering.

First of all we should keep in mind that the foundation of Jamaat Ahmadiyya was laid on 23rd March 1889 at Ludhiana, a city near Qadian, in India. On that particular day forty sincere followers of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) took the oath of allegiance (bait) with him. Many bigoted Mullahs objected to the creation of the Jama’at and especially to the claims of its founder. Therefore Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) had to work day and night to refute their accusations. But he was also well aware that he should also find ways and means to educate those who were coming to join his Jamaat.

Consequently, he sent an invitation to his friends to come to Qadian for the purpose of devising ways and means to carry his mission forward. About seventy members were present. They came from various places in India including Kapurthala, Lahore, Amritsar etc. Then on 30th December 1991 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) proclaimed that as from then on the community will organize an annual gathering(jalsa salana) from 27-29 December each year. Accordingly this meeting has been going on since then with one or two interruptions. And by the Grace of Almighty Allah when the Jamaat migrated to Pakistan after the partition in 1947, this annual gathering has been held there in Rabwah yearly with one or two exceptions. At the last one held in 1983 in the presence of a caliph, the members present were about 280,000.

To revert back to the early days, it is worthy of note that in the second annual gathering held in 1892 there were between 327 and 500 participants. Allah knows best the exact figure. To accommodate the guests a small building was built. Molvi Nooruddin and Hakeem Fazl Deen contributed Rs700 and Rs400 respectively towards the costs of this building.

The mullahs were not at all happy that so many persons from all over India were converging on Qadian. So the mullah in charge of the Cheeniyan Mosque in Lahore issued a fatwa in which he condemned the holding of such a meeting declaring it to be a sin and an innovation. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) published a leaflet in December 1892 in which he refuted all the unfounded accusations of the mullah.

On 27th December Hazrat Molvi Nuruddin (may Allah have mercy on him) delivered a speech on the natural death of Jesus Christas and that he will never return back to earth. After him Sayyad Hamid Shah of Sialkot recited a Qaseeda in honour of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) . In the afternoon Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) delivered a speech about ‘who is a true Muslim’. He also explained his mission and taught his followers about the path of peace, righteousness and virtue. The next morning a lawyer from Amritsar related the story of his conversion to the Jamaat. The rest of the day was spent in considering various proposals about how to uplift the spiritual life of the Europeans and Americans. At the end of the meeting the members took the decision that a beautiful booklet should be published in English. The mission of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad should be explained in detail and it should be sent to Europe and America in order to inform them about the coming of the Messiah and also about the beauties of Islam. In the evening Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) addressed the gathering again. He spoke about his visions and revelations. Some of those present even bore witness to the fulfillment of some of his prophecies. Moreover on that occasion it was decided that a fund should be opened for the establishment of a press at Qadian. Ninety two persons contributed in this fund on the spot. Furthermore a decision was taken to launch a Journal from Qadian in support of Islam and Molvi Sayad Mohammad Ahsan of Amroha was appointed to make a tour of the country as a preacher. The meeting ended with prayers. It is good to remind ourselves that many of the participants came to Qadian on foot and they slept on the ground. That was the spirit of sacrifice of the earlier Ahmadis. About 50 persons joined the Jamaat on that occasion.

Another interesting happening of that second annual gathering was the conversion of the father in law of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as), Mir Nasir Nawab. Several times before Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) had written to him and asked him to come for the annual gathering. Mir Nasir Nawab was living in Delhi at that time and he was very much against Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) and he did not want to come to Qadian at all. But he was moved by the gentleness of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as). When he came in the morning on the 27th December, he mixed with the people and he was completely transformed and he joined the Jamaat before leaving.

In 1893 no annual gathering was held. The reasons were twofold: there was not enough space to accommodate the ever increasing number of participants and secondly Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) was busy with some very important publications. But since then the Jalsa Salana became a prominent feature of Jamaat Ahmadiyya International and also at the various places where the Jamaat has been established.

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) published a pamphlet on 30th December 1891 in which he spelled out the main objectives of this important annual gathering. We give for your guidance a brief summary of what he said:

“All those sincere members who have entered into an oath of allegiance with me should note that the aim of making this oath is threefold. First the love of the world should become very cool in you. Secondly the love of Allah and His Prophet should fill your heart and thirdly you should develop such detachment with the world that death is not something that you should dislike.
In order to achieve these aims one should spend a part of one’s life for this cause. Consequently if Allah wishes one may witness a sign that reinforces one’s certainty and washes away one’s weaknesses and sloth and one may be led to perfect certainty in belief. Then one would get a taste, an enthusiasm and love for Islam. There is a need for members to constantly think about this so that Allah may give you the opportunity to become such a person. But until this happens it is important that we should meet regularly. Because if you have accepted to make “bait” but you do not care to meet, your oath of allegiance is of no avail. It is just a formality. But since this is difficult because some persons are of a weak disposition and others have limited means or they live in far off places, I have thought it wise to choose three days during the year for this purpose. And I have chosen 27th to 29th December as the days of the Annual gathering. Therefore all those who may meet these days again in their life should strive to gather in Qadian for the purpose of participating in the special prayers that would be done on these days.

All friends should make it a point to reach (Qadian) on this date (December 27th) for the sake of Allah to listen to His Words and to participate in Prayers. Such truths and words of wisdom shall be heard during this meeting as are essential for the increase of Faith, conviction and knowledge. Such friends will also be entitled to special prayers and special attention. Efforts will be made before the most Merciful Lord that He may draw them towards Himself and accept them and grant them a change for the better. An additional advantage of such gatherings will be that every year when they come to Qadian on the appointed dates, they will see and meet newcomers into the fold and this personal acquaintance will continually develop into closer friendship and love. Prayers will also be offered for the forgiveness of such brothers in faith who passed away during the year. And efforts will be made through prayers to create a bond of spiritual union between all and remove every barrier of estrangement, aloofness and indifference. And there will be some other spiritual benefits that will manifest themselves from time to time. And for those who do not have adequate means, they should make the intention to attend the Jalsa well before and they should start saving for this purpose. They should give us their names and we will put them on a special list provided they are determined to attend unless there is a “force majeure’ that may prevent them to attend. All those who have taken the trouble to be present here for this first Jalsa, may Allah give them the best reward for each of the steps that they took to come here.”

At another place Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) said:
“Allah rewards the true and sincere believers for each step enormously and they do not suffer any pain in vain in His cause. I wish to repeat to you that you should not consider the Jalsa Salana as an ordinary gathering. This Jalsa Salana is being organized under divine instructions. I pray for all those who have traveled to attend this Jalsa Salana, that Allah may be with them, that He grants them a great reward, that He has mercy upon them, that Allah solves all their problems and difficulties, that Allah may open for them means that will help them to achieve their objectives, that Allah raises them on the day of Resurrection among His servants on whom He has sent His Grace and Mercy.

O Thou Allah, The Glorious, The Bestower, O Thou The Merciful, The Remover of difficulties, accept all these prayers from us and grant us victory on our enemies through powerful signs because All power and Might is with You.”

It is a tradition within the Jamaat to hold the gathering for three days.It starts after Jummah on Friday and ends on Sunday. However shorter programs also may be held depending on means and local customs. The time should be convenient for those who would attend. A special Fund known as Jalsa Salana Fund is reserved for this purpose. This is an annual Fund. Members should strive to contribute about one tenth of their monthly income in this Fund yearly. This may be paid in monthly installments during the whole year.

We pray that Allah makes our Jalsa Salana full of blessings (Mobarack). May this Jalsa bring plenty of spiritual blessings to all of us incha Allah.

Ameen.