Atif Ahmed Zahid, Missionary, Australia
Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Adelaide South was privileged to hold a pre-scheduled meeting with the mayor of the town of Millicent. Millicent is situated approximately 450 kilometres southeast of Adelaide. The population of this town is around 4,700, although the larger area of Millicent is made up of 13 communities with a population of around 12,500.
Members of Jamaat Australia had the opportunity to visit the town of Kingston along the way and donated to the library a copy of the Holy Quran. Additionally, a copy of the book, The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam, written by the Promised Messiahas was gifted.
Later, members of the Jamaat arrived in the town of Millicent and attended a meeting with the honourable Mayor Des Noll.
Atif Ahmed Zahid Sahib, a missionary, explained to the mayor that the goal of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat was simply to remove misconceptions about Islam and to promote peace.
The message was incredibly well received by the mayor who explained that the majority of the residents there had never even seen a copy of the Holy Quran with their own eyes.
It was a very productive and constructive meeting and during the meeting, strategies were discussed on how the public might be educated about Islam. One such idea was that members of the Jamaat return at a later date and set up an exhibition in the library where the public could come and ask any questions they had about the religion of Islam.
At the end of the meeting, Atif Ahmed Zahid Sahib presented a copy of the Holy Quran and World Crisis and the Pathway to Peace to the honourable mayor as a gift.
After the meeting, Jamaat members also visited the Millicent council library and donated a copy of the Holy Quran along with other Jamaat books to the library. It was a wonderful addition to the library collection as they did not display any Islamic literature previously.
At the end, a street campaign was also organised in the main market area of the town. Peace leaflets titled Muslims for Peace and Muslims for Loyalty were handed out to people on the street. The message of peace was well received by the local public and many appreciated the efforts of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya in promoting harmony.
By the grace of Allah, the tabligh trip was very successful and the peaceful message of Islam was conveyed to many people throughout the whole trip, especially those who had no idea about true Islamic teachings.