Khuddam from London, UK had the opportunity to meet Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa through a virtual meeting on Saturday, 4 September 2021.
The meeting started with a recitation from the Holy Quran by Abdur Rahman Salam. The English translation of the recited verses was read out by Rohaam Khan.
Khaleeq Ahmad Kusi then read out a hadith with its English translation. Taufique Ahmad read out an extract from the writings of the Promised Messiahas. A poem, written by Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra, was then recited by Mashood Khokhar; after he completed the poem, Huzooraa remarked, “Masha-Allah, you recited it well.” The English translation of the poem was read out by Oisin Jadran.
Mohtamim Tarbiyat, Attiqur Rahman then sought permission from Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa for the khuddam to ask questions. Huzooraa accepted.
The first question was by Arsalan Aftab, who asked, “How can khuddam brothers encourage each other to remain close to the Jamaat and obedient to Khilafat?”
Huzooraa said:
“You should first realise who you are. Being an Ahmadi Muslim, what are your duties? And whether you want to be in the fold of Ahmadiyyat or not. If you want to, then what was the purpose of the coming of the Promised Messiah, peace be on him? He came to revive the true teachings of Islam which had been forgotten for long, and it was also according to the prophecy of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him.
“So, whenever you are making any interactive programme or any discussion, you should discuss these things, that who we are and how we should be. And being an Ahmadi Muslim, what are our duties? Why did we accept the Promised Messiahas? Because the purpose of his advent was to revive the true teachings of Islam. So, we should try to find out what are the true teachings. […]
“In your five daily prayers, you should also try to read the Holy Quran and find out the commandments and injunctions given in the Holy Quran, and all those things given in the Holy Quran which have been forbidden.
“In this way, when you are discussing these things, you will know your duties and the purpose of your life. And this will encourage you to remain close to the Jamaat, to the purpose of your being and also you will be close to Khilafat as well because the Khalifa-e-Waqt [Khalifa of the time] has always been telling you about the true teachings of Islam and what the Promised Messiahas wanted from us.
“So, this is how you can be close to the Jamaat and be well-knitted to the Jamaat’s activities.”
Next, Mudabbar Ahmad Zafri stood up to ask a question. Seeing him, Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa, asked, “Are you Mubashar Ahmad Zafri’s brother?” After he replied in the affirmative, Huzooraa, with a smile, said, “How are you so slim?” Mudabbar Zafri smiled and enjoyed the comment.
Mudabbar then asked, “During the plague, Allah promised the Promised Messiahas that He would protect him and everyone in his household. Will this promise encompass the present and future calamities that will befall the world?”
Huzooraa responded by saying:
“That was a sign given to the Promised Messiahas and it was foretold by Allah the Almighty to the Promised Messiahas, ‘Now, the plague is about to start and you should ask your community members – those who are strong in faith and are very much staunch – that even if they don’t get the anti-plague jab, they will be saved.’ Even at that time, the Promised Messiahas did not say that nobody should take this vaccination. [He said] that if the government made it compulsory, then one could take it.
“Here, we didn’t have any such promise. You must remember this thing, that if we are strong and staunch, then, in most cases, Allah will save us from the bad effects of this disease.
“But, even then, during the time of the Holy Prophetsa, even during the time of the Khulafa-e-Rashideen, there was an outbreak of plague. And this is why the Holy Prophetsa said that the person who died because of the plague had the status of being martyred – shaheed.
“So we cannot say that this is a punishment, if it is not a sign. During the time of the Promised Messiahas, it was a sign; now, it is not a sign in that sense. So, if the government asks us to take the anti-Covid vaccine, then we should try to take it.
“And it is not necessary that no Ahmadi will have this Covid. Or, being an Ahmadi, if somebody suffers from Covid, he will be saved. If he dies, his status will be as a martyr in the eyes of Allah.
“We should take all the necessary measures against all calamities, or diseases or any outbreak. Until and unless Allah the Almighty tells the Khalifa of the time that ‘Now, this is a sign and all the Ahmadis will be saved from this’, then that is a different case.”
Another khadim, Rohaam Khan, asked, “How can one attain true and permanent love for the Holy Prophetsa?”
Hazrat Khalifatul Masihaa, said:
“How can you get the love of your loved ones? By remembering them, by keeping them in your mind, by doing good for them, by accepting their demands or whatever they say – this is how you attain love. In the same way, you can attain the love of the Holy Prophetsa.”
Huzooraa said that Allah the Almighty had said in the Holy Quran to the Holy Prophetsa that anyone who desired the love of Allah should follow the Prophet’s teachings; whatever was revealed to him and all the injunctions in the Holy Quran. They should invoke salutations (durood) on the Holy Prophetsa and then, in this way, “You will attain the love of the Holy Prophetsa” and Allah would always love such a person who sent prayers and salutations on the Prophetsa.
Summing up, Huzooraa said:
“You should try to say durood, offer the five daily prayers fervently and read the Holy Quran and […] see all the dos and don’ts given in the Holy Quran and follow them.”
Sheikh Musawir was next to ask his question. Huzooraa asked where his family was from, to which he said they were from Karachi, Pakistan.
Musawir’s question was, “I constantly pray for my spiritual advancement, but the next day I don’t feel any progress. Can you guide me on how I can improve myself?”
Huzooraa replied by saying:
“It is not necessary that you immediately get the result of it.
“There was a saint who used to pray for something and he was just fervently praying for that. He had such a close relationship with Allah the Almighty that every day, he would receive the answer of Allah the Almighty that, ‘No, your prayers are not accepted’.
“One day, one of his companions or followers was present. And in his presence, when the saint was praying, the same answer came from Allah the Almighty and that answer was also heard by the companion.
“The companion asked, ‘If Allah the Almighty said that I am not going to accept your prayer, why are you praying? Then leave it.’ The saint said, ‘I have been praying for the last 30 years and I have received this answer daily, yet still I am doing it and I will keep on doing it until Allah the Almighty accepts it […]
“Then, immediately, a voice came and it was heard by the companion as well: ‘All the prayers you offered during the last 30 years have been accepted because of this one sentence’.”
Huzooraa said, “So you should not try to make haste.”
He further said:
“If you are praying to Allah the Almighty for your spiritual advancement, then you [should] also check whether you are following the commandments of Allah.
“Allah the Almighty says in the Holy Quran that you have to be firm in your faith. When you are firm in your faith while you are praying, [Allah says] ‘I will accept your prayers and I will increase your spiritual status’.
“You will have to pray your five daily prayers and, if possible, in congregation. And pray fervently. Offer nawafil [voluntary prayers]. And then, follow the teachings of the Holy Quran, as I have already said. […]
“It should not be that you just, in a light mood, offer your prayer and then say, ‘O Allah the Almighty, increase my spiritual status’, and then expect Allah the Almighty to say, ‘Okay, now I am going to make you a saint’. No, you cannot be a saint in one night. Allah the Almighty says:
جَاهَدُوۡا فِيۡنَا
“[‘Those who strive in Our path.’ (Surah al-Ankabut, Ch.29: V.70)]
“Allah the Almighty says, ‘You have to strive hard, struggle hard in My way’, then, ‘I will give you the status’. So, you keep on doing it. One day, you will get the answer from Allah the Almighty that now He has increased your spiritual status.
“We don’t have any other way to go. Allah the Almighty is the only Being to Whom we can go for help, Whom we seek help from, right? So keep on doing it. One day, you will succeed; never give up, okay?”
Another khadim, Taufique Ahmad asked, “What would Huzoor’s advice be for young Ahmadis who are about to live out to study at university?”
Hazrat Khalifatul Masihaa advised:
“As I have already said, you must make it a point [to remember] that you are an Ahmadi boy and what are your duties being an Ahmadi, right?
“And even if you are in university, you should not just leave your five daily prayers or forget when you are going to offer your prayer. You should not take it casually, whether you study the Holy Quran, recite the Holy Quran or not. Make it a point that you have to do tilawat [recitation of the Holy Quran] daily.
“And in university, also try to befriend those boys who are good in nature and pious – although some of them are not religious minded, but they are good in nature and have good morals, so form a friendship with them […] And your company should always be good. Always show your own morals to your fellow students.[…]
“These are your duties. In this way, alongside your studies, you will also be doing tabligh and showing the good example of a good Muslim.”
Khaleeq Ahmad Kusi was next to ask a question. Addressing him, Huzooraa said ‘Originally from Ghana’, and then asked further details about where in Ghana he was from.
Khaleeq then asked, “If you were to give one unequivocal proof for the truthfulness of Ahmadiyyat, what would it be?”
Replying, Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa said:
“For different people, you have different arguments.” A person who was an atheist should first be told about the existence of Allah the Almighty and then other religious elements would follow after.
Huzooraa further said:
“A person who is a Muslim and has a Muslim background, you would have to give him a different proof, that ‘these are the prophecies of the Holy Prophetsa for this age, and they have been fulfilled’ […]
“For a Christian, you will have a different answer. You will make them realise that the person who was to come was not the same Messiah, Jesus Christ, who would descend from Heaven, but he would come from the Muslim ummah.
“So there are so many different proofs. But we can say that the Holy Prophetsa also prophesised one heavenly sign [for] the advent of the Promised Messiahas and that was the eclipse of the sun and moon. The Promised Messiahas himself has said that this was a sign foretold by the Holy Prophetsa.”
Huzooraa then described the prophecy of the Holy Prophetsa which had foretold that at the coming of the Imam Mahdi, during the month of Ramadan, the moon would be eclipsed on the first night of those nights in which the moon can be eclipsed. The sun would be eclipsed in Ramadan during the middle of those days in which the sun can be eclipsed. This sign took place during the life of the Promised Messiahas in 1894 in the Eastern hemisphere and in 1895, it occurred in the Western hemisphere – at this point, the Promised Messiahas had put forward his claim too.
Huzooraa said that this heavenly sign was fulfilled and if someone rejected this, then, “You cannot force anybody to believe.”
Mashood Ahmad Khan was next to ask his question. Mashood said that politics – domestic and foreign – were often played with injustice and double standards. He asked Huzooraa, “How would an Ahmadi politician deal with such issues? And what policies do you think should be prioritised to improve the safety of the world?”
Huzooraa replied by advising:
“I have spoken on this issue at length in my different addresses, discourses before the Jamaat and elsewhere outside the Jamaat, even in the peace symposia and peace conferences and some receptions. If you read any of my lectures or addresses, you will find the answer in that.
“But, for Ahmadis, the main thing is true justice – absolute justice. Until and unless we follow it, we cannot maintain the peace in the society or in the world. The true justice is that as the Holy Quran says, if you have to speak against your own relatives, you have to stand for witness against your own people, even then you stand and speak the truth. […]
“So, if we attain this standard, then we can spread peace in society, and this peace in society will spread all across the world and then we can say then there is a chance of peace and harmony and love in the world, otherwise there is not.
“Politicians have double standards. They have their own vested interests. Even a politician whom you see, he will talk to you, he will say, ‘Whatever you are saying is right, and I one hundred percent agree with you’. But, whenever he goes out, he will follow his party manifesto and whatever his party policy is – so he cannot deviate from his party policy. In this way, they say different things to you, but they practice different things.
“Being an Ahmadi, if you come into politics, then be an independent politician and raise this voice of creating peace, justice and love in society.”
Huzooraa said that if an Ahmadi joined a political party, but the party manifesto would not let them speak freely for truth and justice, “then leave the party and be an independent politician […] Then after some time, you can make your own party, or at least fight for this peace of society, as an independent politician.”
Yusuf Khan was next to ask his question. He asked, “Many people are worried about climate change recently. What is Islam’s take on climate change and is there any advice for people at home?”
Hazrat Khalifatul Masihaa, talking about climate change, said:
“Allah the Almighty says that excess of anything is bad.
“Climate change is a result of the Industrial Revolution, where too much smoke is being sent in the air – the air is being polluted – this is one of the causes of climate change. Secondly, trees are being cut and no new forestation is being done, especially in the developing countries. Although the population is increasing, if we have proper plans, we can accommodate the population in such a way that within the limited area of the land, we can accommodate as many people as possible. And infrastructure should be provided according to that.
“If we are not following what the law of nature requires from us, then the ultimate result will be that we are going to ruin our future, we are going to doom ourselves or our generation.”
Huzooraa said the world was focused on worldly comforts and the production of goods was taking place without any proper planning for the future. This has led to greed and world powers are competing with each other like China, India and the USA.
Huzooraa noted that now, China said that America had started its production and industrial revolution some 100 years ago and as a result, advanced (while also polluting the world), and so China said it would continue to produce and advance too for the next 100 years before they stopped.
“So every country has their own vested interest. They are not thinking about their future generations. So the best thing is that apart from making proper planning – that how much fuel emission should be [restricted], or how can we control it – […] we should encourage and even enforce the developing countries to plant more trees so the air pollution becomes less. In this way, it will help us to reduce climate change.”
Another khadim, Jazib Shah, asked, “How can we protect ourselves from the bad impacts of social media?” Huzooraa asked Shahzib his age, to which he told Huzooraa he was 16. On this, Hazrat Khalifatul Masihaa said:
“16? Now grown up, well-matured. Allah the Almighty has given you wisdom, Allah the Almighty has given you the sense to understand what is good and what is bad […] you can stop, you can block those things. This is the simple solution.
“You should not have the access to those things in social media that are polluting your mind or are spoiling your morals; so you can stop […] And there are quite a number of good things on social media; you can follow those things.
“So, you yourself have to decide. If you are determined to save yourself from the bad results, the bad effects of social media, then you can save yourself. […]
“You’re a sensible person; you decide for your own self.”
Tahir Ahmad Buwache, a khadim originally from Ghana, asked Huzooraa, “It’s mentioned in the Holy Quran that Allah has created seven heavens, so why has Allah created seven heavens?”
To this, Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa replied:
“There are seven degrees in Heaven, so if a person is even doing a small thing which is good, and Allah likes him, and if he has not even attained the level of that much piety and Allah wants to place him in Heaven, then Allah will keep him in the first stage. The person who has done better than him, [Allah will] place him in the other stage […]”
“Here, in this world, you can see there are different stages; according to your work done, you are rewarded. So there, in Heaven also, Allah the Almighty rewards according to one’s work done, according to their level of piety, according to their obedience or following the commandments of Allah, according to the good things they have done and according to their spiritual level. This is why Allah the Almighty has given different stages in Heaven.
“This is the mercy of Allah, that if you have done the least, you will be awarded the status in Heaven, no matter whether it is the first, the second or the third. Even the first level is beyond our thinking, you cannot conceive what the level of the first stage will be […]
“We can hope then, that at least if you are doing something good, Allah the Almighty will put us in the first level or the second level.
“You should be happy instead of being worried.”
Arman Anwar asked for career advice from Huzooraa. He was advised by Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa to follow his own interests in terms of his career. With regard to choosing careers and professions, Huzooraa said:
“I only believe that whatever a person likes, he should do. But it should be something within the limits of morals. Not that you like something bad and I say ‘Okay, you do it’.”
Arman said he was interested in studying business and banking. Regarding this inclination, Huzooraa said:
“If you like banking and business, do it. And being a banker, in the future, you can do your own research and introduce Islamic banking without interest even. So that will also be beneficial for the Muslim ummah and for the whole of the world and in this way, you will be following the commandment of Allah the Almighty to remove interest from society.”
Mirza Hashim Ahmad told Huzooraa he was about to start his studies in medicine and he desired to become a life-devotee for the Jamaat thereafter. He asked for Huzoor’s advice in this regard.
Hazrat Khalifatul Masihaa responded by saying:
“The first advice is that you should do some exercise.”
Huzooraa smiled at this and Mirza Hashim and the other khuddam present thoroughly enjoyed the comment. Mirza Hashim – with a smile on his face – said that he was trying to lose weight, but it was proving hard.
Still smiling, Huzooraa said:
“Being a doctor, you cannot ask the obese people to reduce their weight, until and unless you yourself are following it.”
On losing weight in a healthy manner, Huzooraa advised:
“If it is your body structure, then that is a different thing. But never do dieting, do some exercise. I am against dieting. You can control your food, but not dieting. And do exercise at the same time and then be a healthy doctor.”
With regard to being a life-devotee for the Jamaat as a doctor, Huzooraa advised:
“Doctors normally say that they should be ‘healthy and then wealthy’ as well, but there’s no need to be wealthy. If you are going to be a waqif-e-zindagi [life-devotee] doctor, then the main aim and objective should be to serve humanity.
“You should study medicine with the purpose and the main objective to […] serve humanity. If you are trying to achieve this goal, then it means you are successful.”
Shazaib Ahmad asked, “How can one balance their time given to the Jamaat and religion with the time given to studies?”
Huzooraa asked him what he was studying, to which he said he was studying electrical engineering at university. Huzooraa observed that he looked very young and he thought Shazaib was in GCSEs. Answering his question, Huzooraa advised:
“First concentrate on your studies and on the weekends, if you get spare time, then give some time to the Jamaat, to Khuddam. But never be relaxed in your studies at the cost of Jamaat work.
“Your first objective should be to complete your studies and then, after completing your studies, you can offer yourself for Jamaat work. But during the weekends, during the holidays, you can give some time to the Jamaat.”
Athar Mahmud asked, “How can we show khuddam the importance and benefits of giving chanda?” Huzooraa said:
“Allah the Almighty says in the Holy Quran that you should spend in the cause of Allah. If our chanda is being spent for the cause of Allah, then we should try to give it; if not, then we should not.
“So make khuddam realise that whatever we are going to spend, it is going to be spent in the cause of Allah the Almighty, for the betterment of our community, for printing literature, for the running of our day-to-day expenses with regard to our office work and other Jamaat programmes.
“Without money, nowadays, you cannot do anything. And even during the time of the Holy Prophetsa and even the previous prophets, they used to ask for chanda. This is why, in the Holy Quran, in the second Surah, at the beginning, Allah the Almighty has told us to spend in the cause of Allah.
“If we believe that what we are going to give, is going to be spent in the cause of Allah, then people will happily give their chanda.”
On the contrary, if people begin to believe that their chanda would be spent by their office-bearers to buy fast-food for themselves.
“So make them realise that whatever they are going to give, it will be spent for the purpose of spreading the message of Islam and for the betterment of our community.
“You cannot run the affairs of even a small club without money; you have to contribute something. So, here, this is why we have to contribute something to run our affairs.
“We prepare a budget and the proper detailed budget is prepared and the budget is discussed in the amila – the national amila, if it is the national budget – and then Shura also discusses it, and then they send it to me. Then, I also see that the way the budget has been prepared is [done so decently] and nothing is going to be spent without any purpose. Then, after a long discussion and deliberation, you approve the budget. You should pray for that.”
Faran Ahmad Khan said that some say that doing social activities – like going to the gym for exercise – after Isha prayers was not permitted, whereas others said they were. He asked for Huzoor’s instructions.
Hazrat Khalifatul Masihaa said:
“If you don’t have any other time to go to the gym, and you can’t find any slot in the gym other than after Isha, then you can go.
“But if you are a student, it’s better to be at home and do some reading. If you don’t have anything with regard to your studies, then some other general knowledge books can be read.
“And try to go to bed early so that you can wake up early in the morning for Fajr prayer or Tahajud prayer. That would be better.
“But if there’s no other way, then you can do it. There is not any hard and fast rule.
“But make it a point to not waste your time, whether it is after Isha or before Isha. An Ahmadi’s time should be spent in the best way, it should be productive and beneficial for yourself and for your society.”
Hazrat Khalifatul Masihaa then said that the hour assigned for this mulaqat had come to an end. Huzooraa conveyed his salaam and the meeting drew to a close.
(Report prepared by Al Hakam)
