On 8 January 2022, members of Majlis Atfal-ul-Ahmadiyya Nigeria were given the opportunity to meet Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih Vaa, Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, in a virtual mulaqat.
The mulaqat commenced with a recitation from the Holy Quran by Atiba Sideeq and the translation presented by Abdul Samad.
Then, Irfan Oshinowo recited a qasidah composed by the Promised Messiahas in praise of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa. After hearing the qasidah, Huzooraa said, “Jazakallah! Very well done, masha-Allah.” Bello Abdul Basit then read out the translation of the qasidah.
After this, Abimbola Khalil Rahman Sahib had the opportunity to present a hadith of the Holy Prophet, Muhammadsa followed by its English translation.
Saliu Abdul Muiz then read out a quote of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiahas, in which he stated that it did not behove a righteous person to fall into disputes over castes. Hazrat Ahmadas said that Allah the Almighty had decreed that castes were no means of preference in His estimation and that true honour and greatness derived from righteousness alone.
After this, Mohtamim Atfal, Azeez Alaran Sahib presented a brief report. Thereafter, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa asked him what the programme was. Azeez Alaran Sahib replied that there were some atfal who had questions they wished to ask Huzooraa and seek guidance on.
The first question was asked by Atiba Sideeq who asked what one should do when being bullied at school and was threatened not to report it to his parents to save him from being bullied more.
In reply, Huzooraa said:
“You should not be afraid of anybody. You should tell this to your parents and to the teacher as well, and you can also tell them that ‘the person has threatened me that if I report this matter to anybody, he will bully me more and will even beat me.’ So, an Ahmadi should not be afraid of anybody. If you want to reform the atmosphere of your school, then you have to be courageous.”
Atiba Sideeq then asked his second question. He said that he was having difficulty balancing his schoolwork and hifz (memorisation of the Holy Quran). He said that he did not want to leave one for the other. He asked Huzooraa what he should do.
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa asked him how many days he spent in hifz class; to which he said that he spent the weekends in hifz class and also sometimes in the holidays.
Huzooraa said:
“On the weekends, you [should] give your full time to your hifz class and on the weekdays, you should give time to your schoolwork. Even in school, if you don’t have much homework, whenever you get time, during the weekdays even, you should try to memorise the part of the Holy Quran which you have been taught during the weekend.”
Salaudeen Umar said that there was a vile allegation raised by opponents of the Jamaat about Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’sas death. He asked how one could respond to this allegation.
Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa said:
“They are just making up some story. They themselves have fabricated this story. The Promised Messiahas, when he fell sick, had some stomach problem but when he died, it was because of weakness. He was having other ailments as well and sickness. He died on the bed. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIra was sitting beside his bed, Hazrat Khalifa Ira was there, his wife was there. They were all there before he died”.
Huzooraa added, “So, whatever they [opponents of the Jamaat] are saying is all concocted. They [the stories] are all fabricated. He died on the bed as the normal man dies, and there were so many witnesses there. It was even endorsed by the doctor as well that his death was not because of cholera.”
Abdus Salam informed Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa that he was hoping to study medicine but also wanted to become a missionary. He asked Huzooraa for his advice.
Huzooraa said:
“You should try to study medicine and become a doctor, and at the same time, alongside your education, you can read the Holy Quran and learn the meaning and commentary of the Holy Quran that you can read from the available literature of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya. And, at the same time, you can read the books of the Promised Messiahas and Ahmadi literature. Then you will have enough knowledge to preach to other people about Ahmadiyyat and Islam. But when you study medicine, then you will be more useful for the people of your country.”
Abdul Lateef Sahib asked what the Promised Messiahas did as a profession before he got married.
Huzooraa explained:
“When he completed his basic education – his father actually appointed three teachers for him who gave him education – and when he completed that traditional education, then his father arranged for his job in the government department in the court and he lived there in Sialkot […] This was his source of income. But even then, at that time when he was doing some job there in Sialkot, he would always debate with Christian priests and there were quite a number of Christian priests with whom he talked and had debates”.
Upon being asked when he would visit Nigeria, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa smiled and said:
“Allah knows better. When Allah wishes, I will visit, insha-Allah. Nowadays, we are passing through a very difficult time of Covid. So, travel is very difficult during these days. Whenever the conditions become normal, then we shall see when to visit Nigeria, insha-Allah.”
Next, a tifl asked how Huzooraa how he could become righteous. Responding to the questioner, Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa said:
“You should obey the commandments of Allah. What Allah the Almighty has said, you should try to follow it, and there are so many commandments given to us in the Holy Quran, and there are some basic things. Allah the Almighty says if you do them, you will become righteous. Pray five daily prayers, and if possible, in congregation; and offer them fervently without deviating your concentration here or there, or anywhere else. Concentrate solely on whatever you are saying. Then, read the Holy Quran daily and also try to know what the commandments given in that portion are, which you have read during that time or on that day. And try to behave well, morally good. Try to tell good things to other people. Concentrate on your studies because studies are also your obligation and a righteous person should always try to fulfil his obligations so that after having completed your studies, you can be a good asset for the Jamaat and the nation. So, all these things make you righteous.”
A tifl asked Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa what a person should do if they are praying at home and an elderly person needed their urgent assistance and attention.
Huzooraa said:
“If you are praying at home and an elderly person, or a child, or any person who needs your help, is in urgent need of your help, then you can break your prayer and help the person first and then after helping, you can again start your prayer and complete your prayer. Allah the Almighty says that sometimes, obligations or duties towards human beings are more important than your prayers.”
Next, upon being asked how one could get used to offering Tahajud prayer, Huzooraa said that it all depended on one’s willpower. Huzooraa asked the tifl if he woke up for the Fajr prayer; to which he replied in the affirmative. Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa said that he should try to wake up 30 minutes before he usually woke up for the Fajr prayer.
“When you become used to that time, and offer two nawafil or two rak‘aat of Tahajud, then, in this way, you can adjust your time so that you can give more time to Tahajud prayer. But this is all [dependent on] your willpower.”
Upon being asked how a member of Majlis Atfal-ul-Ahmadiyya could save himself from worldly problems and what prayers could be said to prevent worldly issues, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa said:
“[…] if you are a good tifl, you are a good Muslim. So, for that, as I have already said, we should offer our five daily prayers and during that, while you are praying, pray to Allah the Almighty that Allah saves you from all these worldly things and makes you a good, morally good, and spiritually good Muslim. So, Allah Almighty will accept your prayer and He will save you from these things. And at the same time, as I have already said, there are quite a number of commandments in the Holy Quran; [there are] some obligations we have to perform and there are some other duties – moral duties – we have to do. So, if we abide by all these things, follow all these things, then they will also be helpful to save us from these bad things. And then, you should also pray to Allah the Almighty, during the day:
أَعُوْذُ بِاللّٰهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيْمِ
“and:
أَسْتَغْفِرُاللّٰهَ رَبِّيْ مِنْ كُلِّ ذَنْب وَّأَتُوْبُ اِلَيْهِ
“Istighfar will also save you from these bad things […]”
Abdul Samad Sahib asked Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa what the strongest arguments were to convince one’s friends about the truthfulness of the Promised Messiahas.
Answering, Huzooraa said:
“There are quite a number of arguments. All those non-Ahmadi Muslims believe that a Messiah and Mahdi will come. And they are thinking the same Messiah – Jesus Christas – will come from Heaven. But Allah the Almighty, in the Quran, says nobody can live forever or for a long period, and whenever a person lives his life, he has to pass his life here on this Earth. Nobody can go to Heaven [with their physical body].
“We believe that the Holy Prophetsa is the last of the [law-bearing] prophets and he is the person most loved by Allah the Almighty in every respect, more than any other prophet. So, Allah the Almighty loved him more than any other prophet. So, if it was possible to take any person to Heaven [physically] it would have been the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, whom Allah the Almighty could take to heaven, not Jesus Christ, right? [That is argument] number one. Number two: the Holy Prophetsa himself, while explaining the verse of the Holy Quran:
وَّ اٰخَرِيۡنَ مِنۡهُمۡ لَمَّا يَلۡحَقُوۡا بِهِمۡ
“that ‘Among the people of the Latter Days, the person will appear’ […] when a companion of the Holy Prophetsa asked, ‘Who are those people?’ and ‘Who is that person who will appear in this world in the Latter Days?’, the Holy Prophetsa,when the people asked three times, put his hand on the shoulder of Hazrat Salman Farsira and said (this is a well-reputed narration, hadith) ‘A person from among [the people of] Salman Farsira will appear in the Latter Days.’ That means he would not be an Arab. The Mahdi and Messiah would appear from among these people.
“Apart from that, the Holy Prophetsa said that when the Promised Messiah would claim that he was the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, there would be a heavenly sign. And that heavenly sign was the eclipse of the sun and the moon on particular dates and days in the month of Ramadan. And he said that this sign had never happened before. So, according to prophecy, the lunar and solar eclipse occurred during those days in 1894, when the claim of the Promised Messiahas was already there, in the Eastern Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere. And it is well-documented in newspapers that it happened. So, these are the signs”.
Abdul Malik asked Huzooraa why Ahmadi men should marry Ahmadi women only.
Responding, Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa said:
“To save your progeny and your children from going to the other religions. So, if an Ahmadi boy and an Ahmadi girl marry each other, then you are quite sure – at least 80% sure – that your progeny will grow up as Ahmadi. And if any of the parents is not an Ahmadi, then there is a chance – quite a big chance – that your progeny, your children, your offspring, will follow those religions other than Islam which one of the parents is following”.
Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa then asked him how old he was, to which he said he was 15. Huzooraa smiled and said, “You are only 15 years old; there is still some time for you left to get married. So, when you are 25 years old, then you should try to get married and try to find a good, pious Ahmadi lady so that your children, your offspring, your progeny, is brought up in a good atmosphere.”
Adefaray asked Huzooraa that if somebody committed shirk [associated partners with Allah] in their life, but later built a mosque, what their position would be in the sight of Allah.
Huzooraa said:
“If someone committed shirk and then, later on, repented, and sought Allah’s forgiveness, and then he died, and to prove that he had repented, he made a mosque for people to worship the One God, then Allah the Almighty would forgive Him.”
Abolaji asked Huzooraa a question about Gog and Magog.
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa said:
“These are the people who are trying to destroy the peace of the world. This is why Allah the Almighty says that you should seek Allah’s help in the Latter Days when you see Gog and Magog so that you are safe from the effect of their bad deeds, bad actions, and their brutality. […] There are some Western powers, big powers, who are playing the roles of Gog and Magog.”
Huzooraa said that these powers were driving people away from religion. Huzooraa added, “Muslims should always be very much vigilant and careful and pray to Allah the Almighty that Allah saves them from the bad effect of these people and these powers. And if Muslims were following the true teachings of Islam, and obeying what Allah the Almighty had said, then they would be saved from the bad effects of Gog and Magog and their actions against Islam. You should also pray. These are the big powers who are trying to make you go astray and leave the religion and become an atheist or at least leave the true religion and follow them and become a mushrik or commit shirk. So, you have to try to save yourself from them. This is why the Holy Prophetsa said that a true Muslim should recite the first 10 verses and the last 10 verses of Surah al-Kahf so that you are saved from the bad effects of these people.”
Next, a tifl stated that there were a lot of youth who were engaging in cybercrimes which was affecting young people. He asked Huzooraa for his advice on this matter.
Huzooraa said:
“This is why I have been saying all the time that you should not involve yourselves in playing so many games which can make you go astray or deviate from the right path. This is why I say that you should not involve in […] games which are even illegal and they also make you addicted to playing those games […] Ahmadi Muslims should try to avoid these things because ultimately, they will involve you in doing cybercrimes”.
Hazrat Khalifatul Masihaa then conveyed his salaam to all the atfal and the meeting came to a close.
(Report prepared by Al Hakam)