Leaflet from early Ahmadiyya Mission in Spain
Ahmadis all around the world listened to Huzoor’saa recent Friday Sermon from Valencia, Spain on MTA International.
We have become so used to watching Huzooraa on MTA that rarely do we stop to think about what it has taken to get to this blessed point.
Let’s go half a century back in history and relive this faith-inspiring journey. These two columns cannot tell the whole story, so let’s go to Spain.
Going through the archives of Jamaat Spain, I came across a small flyer that was printed and circulated to spread the message of Islam Ahmadiyyat.
The arrangement of funds and the correspondence between Karam Ilahi Zafar sahib and the Centre in Rabwah is a story in its own right. Funds would have to be arranged, sent over to Spain and then had to be spent very carefully; every penny mattered. Then there is the letter from Karam Ilahi Zafar sahib asking Rabwah for three copies of The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam to be sent over to the Spain mission. Then there were issues of packaging, parcelling, posting and what not. Letters were exchanged to query if tabligh [preaching] material had been sent, or that it was sent and whether it had been received or not; every letter took up to a couple of weeks to reach either end.
Enter MTA, and along comes a revolution where the delay between Hazrat Khalifatul Masih’s words and it reaching the corners of the earth is merely a second – maybe two in some instances.
MTA’s mobile uplink facility
When Huzooraa is in London, the studios and control rooms are all well established and they operate as a matter of routine. But when broadcasting from abroad, a huge cost would go into hiring satellite facilities to uplink the signal for it to get to the satellites.
But now, under the auspices of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa, MTA has been able to acquire a portable satellite dish that travels to any place that Huzooraa travels to. It has been to Germany and even to Canada and, as you read these lines, it is in Spain. The previous Friday Sermon and the Sermon Huzoor delivered today were both broadcast live from Spain through this facility.
Astonishing it is to think how Allah has blessed His Jamaat. From printing palm-sized leaflets with great difficulty to sending satellite signals without any difficulty is something that historians of Islam in Spain will, one day, take pride in writing.
(AB)
