Saadat Ahmed, Naib Sadr MKA Germany
This year’s Ijtema of Majlis Khuddamul-Ahmadiyya Germany was held in Frankfurt from 23 to 25 August. The Ijtema took place under the theme of Salat, which was given by Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa.
Another theme was the motto “Fit for Salat” to make Khuddam physically fit and show them different aspects of fitness, so they can offer their prayers with concentration.
The preparations for the Ijtema had already begun months before. An organising committee had been formed, chaired by the Nazim-e-Ala, Attaul Haleem Ahmad Sahib. This organising committee had been eagerly working to organise the upcoming 40th annual Ijtema to make it a memorable experience for the Khuddam and Atfal brothers, with the highlight of Salat. Therefore, a total of six meetings with the Ijtema Board had taken place, as well as many meetings with the individual Nazimeen. The meeting of the entire organising committee took place in Mörfelden in the Subhan Mosque, which was also attended by Sadr Sahib Majlis Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya Germany.
This year, special efforts were made to ensure maximum attendance of Khuddam and Atfal at the Ijtema. For this purpose, meetings were organised in local chapters with the theme and motto of the Ijtema. An extensive advertising campaign was also carried out on social media about the importance of Salat. This campaign also showed how Khuddam offer prayers at work. In terms of content, the Ijtema was expanded with various elements to fulfill the diverse interests of Khuddam. Among the highlights were the following:
– A charity walk of 2.5 kilometres, which was held on Saturday at 11am, in which more than 175 Khuddam participated
– An aerial photo campaign in which over 3,000 Khuddam shaped the flag of Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya and the flag of Germany
– The “Fit for Salat” challenges, which were held at the venue and attracted many Khuddam
This year, there was a “Fit for Salat” area where Khuddam could test their physical fitness to learn how to make their body and their soul fit. Different challenges related to Namaz were brought to Khuddam with the help of missionaries, for example, 40 days of continuous Tahajud prayer, accompanied by a missionary.
A presentation after congregational prayer on “Namaz and science” was shown to all Khuddam, showing how Namaz is beneficial for our spiritual and physical health.
This year’s feature programme dealt with the topic of how Ahmadi youth can protect themselves from harmful aspects of society and how they can develop a connection with Allah.
Another new programme this year was “Zikr-e-Ilahi” (remembrance of Allah). Half an hour before each Namaz, everything was brought to a close and Khuddam were accompanied by tarbiyat teams and missionaries to Wuzu (ablution). After, everyone would go to the main tent and approximately 15 minutes before each Namaz, they performed Zikr-e-Ilahi together, with the help of a missionary.
Furthermore, the Khuddam had the opportunity to visit an exhibition on Salat, an escape room with puzzles for prayer, a Kahoot! quiz, a poetry corner, survival coaching, Khuddam Café, Majlis Ansar Sultan-ul-Qalam stall and much more.
All programmes at this year’s Ijtema have dealt with the theme of Salat from a variety of perspectives. The highlights offered to Atfal included an educational corner with lectures about Salat and experiments, an exhibition about Salat made by Atfal, father-son competitions, an Atfal corner to mention a few.
The on-site waqar-e-amal, on the fairground in Frankfurt and at the stadium, had begun on 17 August. Many Khuddam sacrificed their time and participated in the preparations with great eagerness and zeal, Alhamdolillah! After an intensive preparatory phase on the new grounds, the inspection was held on Thursday, 22 August by Sadr Sahib Majlis Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya Germany, where the preparations could be reviewed, improvements could be made and advice could be sought.
On the same day, a meeting of the Ijtema Board had taken place in which final preparations could be discussed. The first day commenced with congregational Fajr prayer and breakfast, while the other days started with Tahajud prayer in congregation.
After the Jumuah prayer and the Friday Sermon of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa, the opening ceremony led by Amir Jamaat Germany was initiated with the flag hoisting.
For the Atfal, a separate opening ceremony was conducted under the direction of mohtamim Atfal in the Atfal Ijtema Gah.
Afterwards, Khuddam and Atfal headed to academic competitions, sports competitions and to other numerous attractions of the 40th MKA Ijtema.
At this year’s Ijtema, among other competitions, the following sports competitions for Khuddam took place: cricket, football, volleyball, tug-of-war, the strongman competition and other various athletics competitions.
As a special highlight, the quarter-finals of football took place in a stadium. Everyone had a chance to witness this special event. Apart from this, a friendly football match in the stadium and a tug of war between the national amila of Khuddamul-Ahmadiyya and regional qaideen was organised.
The academic competitions formed another important part of the annual Ijtema. Competitions included recitation of the Quran, speech in Urdu and German, nazm, Azan, extempore speech in Urdu and German, Hifz-e-Quran [memorisation of the Quran], a test of religious knowledge, a test of translation of the Quran, observation test, Ruhani Khazain quiz, Bait Bazi and Chinese whispers.
Both the academic and sports competitions took place on all three days of the Ijtema. In addition to the previously mentioned programme, other events were organised for Khuddam.
For example, keynote speeches on “namaz and science”, a talk on “Prayer”, and “Khilafat: Our Mash‘al-e Rah [guiding light]”, a sitting with new Khuddam from Pakistan, a Real Talk sitting on the topic of Purdah of Ahmadi Muslim boys and about how the body and soul can be made fit for Namaz.
All these events were followed and attended by the Khuddam with great interest. It is worth mentioning that not only the Khuddam present at the Ijtema could benefit from these programmes and from the spiritual atmosphere, but also many hundreds and even thousands of people had the opportunity to follow this Ijtema through social media.
The Ijtema saw a total of 8,767 visitors. Alhamdolillah, Allah the Almighty gave us the opportunity to organise a Khuddam Ijtema successfully once again.
There were hundreds of muawins, naib nazims and the entire organising committee as well as many visitors who had participated in the Ijtema by the grace of Allah.
A special thanks is due to Afsar Jalsa Salana and the Jalsa organisation, who cooperated in many areas in the preparation phase.
May Allah enable us to benefit adequately from this Ijtema, to serve Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya in the future in the best possible way and to intensify our prayers. May Allah enable us to fulfill the expectations of our beloved Imam. Amin.