Al Fazl, 3 & 7 February 1921
Hazrat Maulana Abdur Rahim Dardra (1894-1955), Nazir Talif-o-Ishaat, Qadian (1921)
O Ahmadi people! You are God’s chosen Jamaat. God has raised you to grab hold of falling people. Rise and perform your paramount responsibility more diligently than before.
Move forward and raise the banner of the true Islam in the world. Advance and march like the spring breeze. Spread like pleasant aroma in every corner. Emit fragrance and fill up every source of fragrance by exuding scent. Shine like the sun and illuminate every dark particle with your light.
God’s words from the Scriptures have been fulfilled. Prophet Muhammad’ssa prophecy came true. The most awaited Imam, the Promised Messiahas, appeared and O Ahmadi nation, he revived you. Thus go ahead and convey the good news to every human being on earth and breathe a new spirit into the body of this world. Tabligh is your duty as per God’s directions. The Holy Prophetsa laid emphasis on it. Prophet Ahmadas repeatedly instructed about it:
بكوشید اے جواناں تا بدیں قوت شود پیدا
بہار و رونق اندر روضۂ ملت شود پیدا
[O youth! Make every effort to strengthen the religion and to bring blossom and prosperity in the garden of the nation of Islam.]
Moreover, O Ahmadi people, your caravan leader, Imam and chief, Hazrat Fazl-e-Umar, the resolute Khalifatul Masih II[ra], always instructs you that every one of you should become a missionary. He has said many times over that believing in the truth is not your only responsibility, but it is also your duty to persuade others.
Thus, O friends, rid yourselves from the sluggishness of the past. Get up and be active and leap forward into the field of tabligh. Yes, never be negligent and do not let sloth come near you:
كام مشكل ہے بہت منزل مقصود ہے دور
اے مِرے اہل وفا سست كبھى گام نہ ہو
[The task is difficult and the destination is far; O my loyal ones! never slacken your pace.]
In the last Jalsa Salana, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] drew the attention of friends to the duty of tabligh in very strong words and said that tabligh in the new year should be done with such enthusiasm and excellence that the loss of the previous year should also be evened up.
Thus, O friends, all of you should fully engage in tabligh. On the one hand, you should increase in righteousness, purity and improving yourselves, so much so that you become the beloveds of God and like stars for the earth.
On the other hand, call on those who are far from the spiritual fountain of the Messiahas of Muhammadsa and draw all the souls yearning for the truth towards you. Satisfy those who are hungry and thirsty for the truth. Conquer every pure heart with the power of your humble prayers. This is your compulsory and mandatory responsibility.
All friends should engage in tabligh in their respective areas from today. In fact, [start tabligh] from this very moment and never hold back from putting in your best effort when the opportunity presents itself. Those friends who want to carry out tabligh to prominent people by holding jalsas etc. or through missionaries, should inform the department of Talif-o-Ishaat by 1 April [1921] so that proper arrangements can be made for all. All the secretaries and in fact, every member of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat is the direct addressee of these words of mine. Every person who reads or listens to this article should consider it their duty to act on it. May Allah be with you. Amin! …
… When a person enters the Ahmadiyya Jamaat, it is because he recognises that truth, which has been manifested upon the world by God Almighty through the Promised Messiahas.
Owing to this truth, the shackles of rites and rituals are broken down. A kind of death befalls the previous lowly life. A person feels that a new life has been breathed into him and realises that he is no longer what he used to be. Hence, he becomes happy that he has been granted a matchless precious ruby.
The world laughs at his decision and humiliates him in various ways, but looking at the helplessness and negligence of the world, he wonders why it does not try to take the light that has appeared in this world today. Thus, he strives for every person to become the possessor of that light.
This is what is called tabligh. Hence, tabligh is a work without which a momin [true believer] cannot spend a single moment owing to his passion and sincerity of faith.
However, our pace of tabligh has been very slow in the recent past. It is for this reason that in the last Friday Sermon and on the occasion of Jalsa Salana, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih[ra] said that this year, work should be done with so much enthusiasm that [Ahmadiyyat] becomes the talk of the town in India and Ahmad’sas name reaches the corners of India.
Our missionaries should reach every single town. Every person, whether he belongs to a low caste or a high caste, should be acquainted with this light that has manifested in our time.
Thus, all friends should hold jalsas and carry out tabligh at their own places. They should gather their friends and other people in their cities, villages and surrounding areas and conduct lectures and sermons for tabligh.
In order to put this proposal into practice, it is the responsibility of the secretaries of various jamaats to inform the department of Talif-o-Ishaat by 1 April 1921. They should let us know as to when they can arrange for a jalsa at their place. We will make a programme and send our missionaries to different places after we receive all information.
In this way, we will be able to fulfill, to some extent, the duty that is our responsibility. Hence, the jamaats in general and the secretaries and presidents in particular should immediately pay special attention towards it and inform the said department soon after deciding the dates.
I cannot help but say that friends should not be content with mere jalsas; every Ahmadi should be fully determined in their heart that the truth they have acquired must be passed on to others. The nation’s young and old should all be aware that this is no time for negligence.
Convey to others what you have been entrusted with and before the day comes when you depart from here, straighten up your affairs with God so that you can say before Him, “We have fulfilled our duty and we not only accepted that truth which You gave us but also passed it on to others.”
May Allah the Almighty be with you and help you to fulfill your responsibility.
Wassalam
Humbly yours,
Rahim Bakhsh [also known as Maulana Abdur Rahim Dardra], Nazir Talif-o-Ishaat, Qadian
(Translated by Al Hakam from the original Urdu in the 3 & 7 February 1921 issue of Al Fazl)
