On Sunday, 1 January 2023, members of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Morocco’s national amila [executive committee] as well as members of the national amila of Lajna Imaillah Morocco were blessed with the opportunity of meeting Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih V, may Allah be his Helper, in a virtual mulaqat [audience].
After conveying salaam, Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa led everyone in du‘a (silent prayer), after which the amila members had the opportunity to introduce themselves and the work assigned to them.
First, Hazrat Khalifatul Masihaa addressed the national president of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Morocco and asked how his tour of Burkina Faso had been. He replied that it had been very successful by the grace of Allah and thanked Huzooraa for sending him there. Huzooraa asked if he had enjoyed it, to which he replied in the affirmative. He also added that he had visited the Masroor Eye Institute and found it to be “a wonderful place.”
“Then you should make one in Morocco”, Huzooraa said with a smile. Sadr Sahib replied, “Insha-Allah, Huzooraa, with your prayers!”
The second person to report was the sadr of Majlis Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya, who also serves as the national finance secretary. Huzooraa said to him, “A finance secretary should know the total number of the earning members in their jamaat who are liable to pay chanda and the total number of those who participate in financial contributions as well as of those who, on account of their poverty or low income, are unable to pay chanda at all.” Huzooraa added, “Chanda is not a tax, but it is essential for the purification of the nafs [heart]. That is why Islam has prescribed financial sacrifice.”
Huzooraa then spoke to him about his role as sadr of Majlis Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya and instructed him to activate all of the khuddam, including those living far away from the centre, by explaining to them the system of the Jamaat and utilising their services.
“You are in a small jamaat. Your majlis should be an ideal majlis”, Huzooraa said.
Next to report was the national general secretary, who also serves as the president of the North-West Jamaat. He reported that there were seven majalis in total with Casablanca being the largest one. A president had been assigned to each of them and they sent regular reports.
Sadr Majlis Ansarullah, who also serves as national secretary tarbiyat and general secretary of the East Jamaat, was next to report. He said he lived in a small town where only a few Ahmadis lived. With regard to tarbiyat, Huzooraa instructed, “However many Ahmadis live there, if their children are Ahmadis, it is the duty of the tarbiyat department to undertake their tarbiyat; rather, they should do the tarbiyat of the [Ahmadi] children of the entire country so that the next generation may grow up in an Ahmadi environment. If you did not do the tarbiyat of the children, you might stay Ahmadis, but the children would go wherever they desired. Hence, it is essential that you undertake their tarbiyat in order to keep them attached to the Jamaat. […]
“Tell the children what Ahmadiyyat entails, why we are Ahmadis, what the prophecies of the Holy Prophetsa were, what circumstances were going to arise in the Latter Days and which Messiah and Mahdi was to appear after the onset of those circumstances. They should be familiar with all these basics of Ahmadiyyat. Moreover, [they should know that] we are Ahmadi Muslims, we are true Muslims, we believe in the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa, we believe him to be Khatam an-Nabiyyin, the Seal of all the Prophets and that we firmly believe in all of his prophecies. Ansarullah as well as Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya should instruct the children in all these matters right from childhood so that when they grow older, they know what Ahmadiyyat entails and why they are Ahmadis.”
Next, speaking with a member, Huzooraa said, he should bring all the Ahmadis living in his areas closer to the Jamaat and make them active, and, “only then will they benefit from having pledged the bai‘at. Otherwise, there is no benefit in just increasing the numbers. Moreover, as I said to the secretary tarbiyat, especially bring the children and the youth closer and undertake their tarbiyat and the tarbiyat of the ladies. The national president should also be aware that they need to activate the system of Lajna Imaillah. Moreover, the Lajna should undertake the tarbiyat of its members. If their tarbiyat is not done, then the tarbiyat of the children cannot be done either. Likewise, if the men do not establish good examples with regard to their piety, religious education, conduct and spirituality, then the women and the children will also not take heed. Hence, reform yourselves and then attach your wives and children to yourselves. This is how the Jamaat can progress. This is also the benefit of their pledging the bai‘at and becoming Ahmadis. Otherwise, what would be the benefit of it, if they forgot after some time, what Ahmadiyyat was?”
Next to report was the president of the Central Jamaat, who gave a brief but accurate report with facts and figures.
“You had solid information and you have presented a good report. It seems that you came well-prepared with all the facts and figures. Masha-Allah, it seems that you are doing good work”, Huzooraa said to him. “As I said earlier, attach every member of the Jamaat to yourself, especially the children. Undertake the tarbiyat of the children and the women. If you treat them well in homes, it will lead to a good tarbiyat of them”, Huzooraa added. The president presented further details of the salat centre of the Jamaat and said that since Marrakech was a tourist town, sometimes people would come and stay at the centre without having sought prior permission from tabshir. He asked, what should be done about them.
Huzooraa said, “You should seek prior permission from tabshir through the national president. Request a report from tabshir and if they recommend it, then grant permission to them [the tourists]. Otherwise, they should not stay for a long period.” Huzooraa further said to the national president, “If they are firm and established Ahmadis, then you can give them permission temporarily, and in the meantime, you should also ask tabshir to verify it.”
The president of the Central Jamaat also asked if Huzooraa could send some Jamia students there for a period of three months so that they may learn Arabic.
Huzoor replied, “Yes, it is possible. If the national president recommends and sends an invitation, then we will assess how many people we may be able to send. We will then send how many ever we are able to send, so that they may live among you, improve their Arabic and you may come to know about the Jamaat’s traditions.”
Next to report was national secretary tabligh [preaching] and president of the Midwest Jamaat. Huzooraa asked him about this year’s bai‘at target and their tabligh plan, to which he said, “Our goal this year is to ask every Ahmadi to preach to the members of their family.” With regard to the bai‘at target, he said it was one thousand. Huzooraa was pleasantly surprised and said, “You have given me an even better target than what I had in mind. May Allah enable you to achieve it.”
Huzooraa then addressed the national president and smilingly remarked, “This is going to be a big challenge for you. Your secretary tabligh seems quite ambitious.”
Next to report was the national secretary for Tahrik-e-Jadid, who also serves as the president of the East Jamaat. Huzooraa asked if they had fulfilled their Tahrik-e-Jadid pledge of this year, to which the secretary replied that they fell 100 dirhams short of the target this year. Huzooraa instructed, “Increase the number of participants. Set a target of 250-300 participants for the upcoming year.”
National secretary wasaya, who also serves as the president of the West Jamaat, was next to report. Huzooraa instructed him to “try to increase the number of musis.” Huzooraa also added, “If you have the Al-Wasiyyat booklet, you should give it to the people to read, so that they may sign up for Al-Wasiyyat after having read the booklet. Do not have anyone fill out the Wasiyyat form until they have read the Al-Wasiyyat booklet. Also, ask the current musis about it. If they have read the book, then it is fine. Otherwise, give it to them and ask them to read it.”
The next person to report was the qaid umumi of Majlis Ansarullah Morocco, followed by the national secretary ziyafat, who also serves as the local secretary tarbiyat. Huzooraa asked the secretary ziyafat about what food they had prepared for the meeting, to which he responded that breakfast was provided to the amila members and lunch would be served later. With regards to the tarbiyat department, Huzooraa instructed him, “As the local secretary tarbiyat, you should be in contact with every Ahmadi in your halqa [locality]. Inform and teach them how an Ahmadi ought to conduct themselves, how much knowledge they should have about Ahmadiyyat and that they should be regular in their five daily prayers, recite the Holy Quran daily, ponder over its meanings and have excellent morals. This is what you have to teach every Ahmadi member in your area. There should be a clear distinction between Ahmadis and others, so that people may recognise that these people are Ahmadis. May Allah the Exalted enable you to do so.”
A qaid majlis was next to report. Huzooraa instructed him, “Do good tarbiyat of the khuddam, try to make them good Ahmadis and to achieve that, present your own good example: You should possess good religious knowledge as well as spirituality. You should be regular in prayers and exhibit excellent morals.”
The secretary tarbiyat of the East Jamaat was next to report. He said the wives of some of the Ahmadis of his Jamaat had not yet converted to Ahmadiyyat. Huzooraa said, “Your national secretary has set the target of one thousand bai‘ats. However, first the men, that is the ansar and the khuddam, should start tabligh in their own homes. First, they should convert their wives and their children to Ahmadiyyat. Then, they can look outward. […] If Ahmadiyyat is not in your [own] homes, what will you then preach to the others? The Holy Prophetsa was also instructed by Allah the Exalted to start the preaching from his own home.”
The za‘im of Majlis Ansarullah Mid-West was next to report, followed by another amila member who serves as the national secretary isha‘at as well as secretary sam‘i wa-basari. Huzooraa smiled and said, “You requested London or the central MTA team to come over and help you for today’s event. Do you not have cameras yourselves? Could you not have done this yourselves?” To this, the secretary replied that they did not possess the know-how and lacked experience. Huzooraa smiled and replied, “Then, you should send a couple of people over and gain experience from here. The secretary sam‘i wa-basari should come [to the UK] for Jalsa so that you may volunteer in MTA and gain some experience.” Huzooraa asked the secretary what he did professionally, to which he replied that he worked in the IT sector. Huzooraa said, “If you are able to get 15 days or three to four weeks off from your job, then you should come here during the Jalsa period, volunteer here and learn. Thus, you would gain experience. Then, you will be able to organise your work yourself.”
With regard to the isha‘at department, Huzooraa asked whether the Jamaat published any periodical or newsletter, to which the secretary replied that it was not doing so at the moment. Huzooraa said, “Prepare a small bulletin for your Jamaat and send it to the members of the Jamaat every month or every two months, either online or in print form. It can consist of two to three pages or sheets of paper.” The secretary asked, what contents should be included in the bulletin. Huzooraa said, it could have teachings of the Jamaat: “A verse of the Holy Quran along with its commentary, a hadith and some of its commentary if you can find it from Jamaat’s literature, an excerpt from the writings of the Promised Messiahas, summary of one of my sermons, or [a report of] some Jamaat activity or some news about it.”
The president of the East Jamaat was next to report. Huzooraa told him, “You too should implement in your Jamaat, whatever I have said.”
Next to report was the national secretary Waqf-e-Jadid. Huzooraa asked him whether the Waqf-e-Jadid promises for the year had been collected as the year had just come to an end, to which the secretary responded in the affirmative but said that there were some shortcomings. Huzooraa said, “Make efforts in future.”
The national secretary Waqf-e-Nau was next to report. Huzooraa instructed, “Obtain the Waqf-e-Nau syllabus from the Markaz, teach it to them and undertake their proper tarbiyat.”
Next to report was the imam-us-salat of the Jamaat’s local salat centre. He used to be an imam of a mosque, before accepting Ahmadiyyat. Huzooraa asked him about the attendance at salat and instructed him to try to improve it.
Seated in the adjacent room behind a screen were members of Lajna Imaillah Morocco. Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih V, may Allah be his Helper, then spoke with them.
The first to report was National Sadr Lajna Imaillah. Huzooraa instructed her to undertake proper tarbiyat of the members of Lajna so that “they may then do good tarbiyat of their own children and produce good Ahmadis.”
Next to report was the national secretary finance of Lajna Imaillah, who also serves as the president of Lajna Imaillah of the North Jamaat. Huzooraa told her, “Do proper tarbiyat of your Lajna members as their president and ask them to do proper tarbiyat of their children. If the mothers do this tarbiyat and the women reform themselves then, the children as well as the husbands would all become good. Hence, there is a great responsibility of tarbiyat in the hands of the women.”
Next to report was the national general secretary of Lajna Imaillah, who reported that there were five majalis in total. Huzooraa instructed her to get regular reports from them and to guide them.
Next to report was the national secretary tarbiyat of Lajna Imaillah. Huzooraa told her, “Do the tarbiyat of the members of Lajna in the same manner as I have said earlier: Visit them in their homes, establish contact with them and do their proper tarbiyat.”
National secretary ziyafat was next to report. With regards to the guests that come from outside or abroad, Huzooraa said to her, “You are well aware of Islamic morals in this regard. Exhibit them to the highest possible degree. Serve them with whatever is available. Show as much hospitality as possible. The Promised Messiahas used to honour his guests and that is what the Holy Quran teaches and that was the sunnah of the Holy Prophetsa. We too should honour our guests in the same manner and serve them with respect and dignity. That is all.”
Secretary tajnid was next to report. Huzooraa told her to update the tajnid records with the help of the previous secretary.
In the end, Huzooraa prayed that “Allah the Exalted bless you all and enable you to serve the Jamaat as much as possible. May He strengthen your faith and increase you in certainty.” Huzooraa then conveyed his salaam and the meeting came to a successful conclusion.
(Report prepared by Al Hakam)
