Ata-ul-Haye Nasir, Al Hakam
At the beginning of 1924, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud, Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmadra delivered a series of Friday Sermons wherein he called the attention of Ahmadis towards preaching the message of Islam Ahmadiyyat far and wide and also made them aware of the increasing need for financial sacrifices.
For instance, during his Friday Sermon on 18 January 1924, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra drew the attention of members of the Jamaat toward excelling in the field of writing and discourse, and utilising these skills for the propagation of Islam.
Huzoorra said that it is the heartfelt desire of each and every Ahmadi to witness the spread of Islam across the world; however, along with such a desire, one is required to utilise the required methods to achieve this goal. It is a very huge task to spread Islam the world over; in fact, it is a spiritual contest with the whole world. There is a need to make full efforts to fulfil this desire and objective.
For more details, see “Master writing and speaking for the spread of Islam: Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud’s advice to Ahmadis”, www.alhakam.org.
A time to serve the Faith
This continuous guidance and advice included a heartfelt article as well, authored on 15 February 1924, titled “Ta‘ieed-e-Deen ka Waqt hay” — It is a time for serving the Faith.
In this article, Huzoorra shed light on the services for Islam being rendered by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, the sacrifices of Ahmadis, and the need for greater sacrifices in the future. Moreover, Huzoorra hinted that such sacrifices would give rise to great victories for Islam.
Huzoorra stated:
“All the sincere members of the Jamaat are aware of the fact that a great effort is being made for almost a year for the betterment of the Malkana community [amidst the Shuddhi Movement] and to bring it back towards Islam, and by the grace of God Almighty, we have achieved greater success as compared to all other [non-Ahmadi Muslim] communities, and will continue to do so. Hundreds of members of our Jamaat have served in these areas for three months each, and hundreds are ready to go. Apart from these quarterly groups, a permanent staff has to be kept in that area who can keep the work going in a uniform manner, keep the newcomers familiar with the work and knowledge of the previous ones, and supervise their work as well. Hence, this supervising staff and other expenses of education, etc., require a huge amount of money to be spent. Up to this time, more than 30,000 rupees have been collected through the sacrifices of members who have given a hundred rupees each for this purpose, and most of it has already been spent. Very little amount is remaining now,” and there is a danger that “the ongoing work could be affected.” (Ta‘ieed-e-Deen ka Waqt hay, Anwar-ul-Ulum, Vol. 8, p. 3)
The details of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat’s services for the Indian Muslims in response to the Shuddhi Movement can be read in our article, titled “Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud’s response to the Shuddhi movement and the Jamaat’s relentless services for Islam”, published on 17 December 2021.
Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra continued his article by stating:
“Members would have known at the Jalsa Salana that we are not preaching only in the Malkana community, but rather, in a similar way, we are emphatically preaching to some Hindu communities as well, which is also achieving success. In different parts of the country, some Hindu communities are eager to convert to Islam and some have already begun to join the fold of Islam. The members are acquainted with the situation of some of those [communities] and the information about some others is not yet being revealed due to the requirements of wisdom. In short, this preaching effort also requires a huge expenditure.
“By now, I had fixed a condition for the members who participated in these preaching efforts that they should give at least 100 rupees and then they can join this fund, and until now, only such people have been contributing to it who could have afforded to pay 100 rupees. However, since people of such [capacity] are often very few, the income of this fund is becoming very limited and there is a need to expand the criterion [of this fund] now.
“Looking at the sincerity that Allah the Almighty has filled in the hearts of the members of our Jamaat, it is not difficult to estimate that due to this condition of 100 rupees, the hearts of thousands of sincere people were wounded and their passion [for financial sacrifice] would erupt and then calm down within their hearts alone. This is because, although they had huge [passion in their] hearts, they had no money in their pockets, so they could not fulfil this condition. I am aware that if there was no condition of 100 rupees or they had the money, there are thousands of sincere people in our Jamaat who would have stood in the first row of donors and would never have liked to be behind others. But Allah the Almighty is aware of their difficulties and every individual who felt anguish in their hearts due to their circumstances and could not partake in this scheme — though their hearts did not want to stay behind — holds a status similar to the ones who were among those who offered 100 rupees due to their capacity. There is no shortage of rewards and ranks in the treasure of Allah the Almighty. He will give full reward to those sincere people who have borne more than their capacity and served the Faith, and a similar reward to those as well whose hearts wanted but were unable to afford it due to insufficient means. Moreover, I believe that the members of our Jamaat who gave 100 rupees will not be irritated at this free reward of their brothers, but rather, they will be pleased and I say from my side — regardless of the number of such people — that their thought fills my heart with joy.
“However, Allah the Almighty does not only want to grant them the share from this reward, but He also desires to remove the longing of their hearts and to create happiness in its place, and this is probably the reason why the Malkana Movement has extended so much that now the need is being felt that all the Jamaat should be given the opportunity to participate in this service and all the members should be included in this service. And if I am not mistaken in reading the thoughts of Ahmadis, then I believe that I am giving them very good news through this announcement, for which they have been waiting for a long time.
“Apart from the Malkana Movement and the scheme for the tabligh to Hindus, the German mission, the Bukhara mission, and preaching to the ‘untouchable’ communities and their education, have such expenses that cannot be met by normal chandas and they also require special donations. In the same way, this year it is also essential to build the Jalsa Gah and to expand the guest house, and granting an amount of 3,000 rupees to the Jamaat in Africa, which has reached a number of 20,000 now, is also essential to enable them to establish a school and a lecture hall. […]
“For all these needs, about 40,000 rupees are required in addition to monthly chandas and I know that the sincere members of our Jamaat can easily meet this amount. I am aware that our Jamaat is financially weak, but the ease in spending money is not due to the excess of wealth; it is due to the courage of the heart, and this courage has been granted to our Jamaat by the grace of God Almighty.
“Since my heart desires that all the members ought to participate equally in this scheme, I have thus made a proposal for the collection of this money and I believe that by following this scheme, the members of our Jamaat will raise this amount very soon. That is, during this year, all Ahmadis should give a lump sum of one-third of their monthly income, in addition to the monthly donations, to meet these needs. […]
“Those who have already given 100 rupees, I do not exclude them from this scheme, because firstly, it also includes other schemes in addition to the Malkana Fund, and secondly, those who have been granted the capacity by God are required to not miss any opportunity [of sacrifice]. […]
“O my beloved ones! Let not any of you say, ‘Why are we always being asked to pay chanda time and time again. How long should we continue to donate?’ The fact is that I am not asking you for this donation for my own sake, but rather, I am asking for this donation for yourselves so that this money accumulate for you in the treasury of God, continue to multiply and help you in the life that is eternal, where only the deeds and financial sacrifices of this world prove to be helpful.
“The opponents object that ‘the Promised Messiahas has initiated this [Jamaat] to collect wealth from the people’ and that ‘he has left a property for his own children’, but you all know that the Promised Messiahas was neither in need of anyone’s wealth, nor did the wealth of the Jamaat become the property of his Khulafa or his progeny. They are collected for the sake of God and spent for His sake alone. Who is there who can say that I have ever asked them for even a single penny for me or that I ever claimed even one gift from the Jamaat’s wealth and spent it on myself?
“I am so careful that if some people ask me, ‘We want to send you a gift, what should we send?’ I either do not answer them or write that I have been avoiding demanding anything since my birth and am still not ready to make any demands, by God’s grace. I know that the sincere people of the Jamaat will be more shocked and saddened to read my statement because, though I do not ask anything from them and spend their wealth for their [spiritual] benefit alone, they — due to their sincerity and remembering their pledge of allegiance — deem everything of theirs as mine. But in every community, there is also a section of weak people who are ready to accept satanic impulses. So it is my duty to remove the whispers of these people’s hearts as well, and I have written these things keeping them in mind.
“O my beloved ones! The time of victory has come, success is at the door, happy hours are approaching towards us and are longing to bow down at your feet. The days are near when people will accept Islam and Ahmadiyyat in huge numbers. Thus, you ought to increase your sacrifices according to the needs of this age, as people spend more on the occasion of festivals than on a normal day. Till now, your sacrifices were such as one bears daily expenses. But now the day of ‘Eid’ is coming; I can see its fine crescent. I wish we continue to tread on the right path on the day of ‘Eid’, surpassing the fortitude shown in ‘Ramadan’. We are Muslims and our days are based on the moon. So, even if it is the day of ‘Eid’, it must be preceded by the night. I have said that Eid’s moon is visible. But dear! Before the day dawns, the night of ‘Eid’ must end. So pray that we are blessed to witness the day after this night and that this night proves to be blessed for us. These early hours of victory will be the hours of extreme sacrifices, but this night will give rise to a day of pure joy and this darkness will produce a bright sun and everyone who sleeps in this night thinking about the greatness of Islam will stand up in the day with the flag of victory of Islam. Blessed are those who persevere to the end and witness the success. And may all Ahmadis prove to be like this. And the conclusion of our prayer shall be, all praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.” (Ta‘ieed-e-Deen ka Waqt hay, Anwar-ul-Ulum, Vol. 8, pp. 3-7)
Bai‘ats at the hands of Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra
In accordance with the guidance from Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra, the tabligh efforts of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya were attaining significant success. For instance, The Civil and Military Gazette wrote on 17 February 1924, under the heading “Ahmadiyya Movement: Mazhabi Sikhs Converted to Islam”:
“A large dewan of Mazhabi Sikhs was held at Quadian on February 10 and 11. The dewan was convened by the missionary department of the Ahmadiyya community of Quadian. Ahmadi preachers delivered speeches with the result that most of the Sikh visitors became converts to Islam at the hands of His Holiness the head of the Ahmadiyya community. On February 12, about 50 jathedars and other new converts dined with His Holiness and other leading members of the Ahmadiyya community. So far the number of converts from the Mazhabi Sikhs is about 2,000.” (The Civil and Military Gazette, 17 February 1924, p. 11)
‘This is the Age of tabligh’
Then, during his Friday Sermon on 29 February 1924, Huzoorra said, the world was eagerly in quest of truth and many centuries have passed since the true essence of religion had faded away from the world; even the true teachings of Islam had been veiled under the wrong interpretations and actions of contemporary Muslims.
Huzoorra said that at such a time, Allah the Almighty sent the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas of Qadian, who claimed that he had been sent in this Age as the spiritual water to quench the spiritual thirst of the world.
Huzoorra said that the message of Ahmadiyyat would surely spread in the world, as it had been the practice of Allah that He grants help and succour to His Communities, but in this process, Ahmadis would have to offer many sacrifices as well, particularly the financial sacrifices:
“Therefore, if the previous people were able to make sacrifices, and many from our Jamaat have already done so, there is no reason why our other brethren cannot make similar sacrifices. These sacrifices not only bring rewards but also ensure a shining name in history. Worldly honours, as well as spiritual dignities, are attained through sacrifices. Thus, I urge our members to ready themselves promptly so that we may send them to those regions where the need is greatest and the yearning [for the truth] the deepest. May Allah the Almighty enable us to swiftly deliver the truth to all people and spread Islam throughout the world. [Amin].” (Khutbat-e-Mahmud, Vol. 8, pp. 312-316)
Then, during his Friday Sermon on 7 March 1924, Huzoorra said:
“During my last few sermons, I have called the attention of members of the Jamaat to the point that this is the Age of tabligh. Thus, all of our members ought to fervently occupy themselves in propagating that Islam which was restored for us by the Promised Messiahas. We should not cease our efforts until that truth is spread to all corners of the world.” (Ibid., p. 317)