A glimpse into the rich history of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat
6 February 1938: On this day, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maudra spoke to a gathering organised by the Ahmadiyya Intercollegiate Association in the hostel of Jamia Ahmadiyya Qadian. Huzoor’sra blessed and important speech continued for three hours. This association, based in Lahore, had arranged a three-day trip to Qadian with its 56 members, along with some non-Ahmadi fellow students. (Al Fazl, Qadian, 8 February 1938, p. 2)
7 February 2016: On this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa inaugurated the ‘Voice of Islam’ radio station. Huzooraa also delivered a historic on-air message to launch the radio station and said, “The purpose of the Voice of Islam is to inform people of the true teachings of Islam and to make it abundantly clear that Islam’s teachings perfectly conform and relate to the needs of every era and every person. God-willing, the listeners of this radio station will come to recognise that Islam’s teachings are of peace, love and compassion for all of mankind.”
On the same day, Huzooraa also inaugurated and launched the new Makhzan-e-Tasaweer website (www.makhzan.org) and the exhibition, located at the Tahir House complex in South West London. Makhzan-e-Tasaweer, in its current form, has been working since 2006 to collect and archive historical images of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. (‘‘Head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community launches ‘Voice of Islam’ radio to spread the peaceful teachings of Islam’’ and ‘‘World Head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community inaugurates new Makhzan-e-Tasaweer website.” www.pressahmadiyya.com)
8 February 1914: On this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Ira announced he received glad tidings from Allah regarding the spread of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat’s message in Africa. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 3, p. 502)
8 February 1974: To commemorate 100 years since the founding of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in 1889, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIIrh started a jubilee fund on this day and said it would be a spiritual plan to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Jamaat. Huzoorrh said in his Friday sermon:
“This plan is to win the hearts of humanity, through which it will establish an unbreakable relationship with God. This is a plan to inculcate the love of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa in every human’s heart.” (Khutbat-e-Nasir, Vol. 5, p. 413)
9 February 2018: During his Friday sermon on this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa mentioned Sahibzada Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib, son of Hazrat Sahibzada Mirza Aziz Ahmadra, who had recently passed away. He was the great-grandson of the Promised Messiahas and brother-in-law of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa.
He completed his MA in political science from Government College, Lahore and then passed the exam for the Public Service Commission (CSS). He devoted his life to the service of Jamaat in 1962.
He had the opportunity to serve the Jamaat in various capacities, such as managing editor of The Review of Religions, Nazir Talim (director of education), additional Nazir Islah-o-Irshad Muqami, Nazir Diwan and Sadr Majlis Karpardaz (president of the committee for the Bahishti Maqbarah) and Nazir-e-Aala.
For more details, see: www.ahmadipedia.org
10 February 1900: Amidst the ongoing war in South Africa, British forces faced great difficulties against the local Boer commandos. In response to the situation, the Promised Messiahas issued an appeal for funds to support orphans, widows and the wounded. 500 rupees were immediately collected and on this day, sent to the chief secretary of the Punjab Government. Later, the lieutenant governor expressed gratitude to the Promised Messiahas on behalf of the government for this donation. (Life of Ahmad by AR Dardra, 2008, pp. 720-721)
11 February 2014: On this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa delivered the keynote address at the ‘Conference of World Religions’, which was organised by Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya UK, as part of its centenary celebrations, at the famous Guildhall in the City of London. The theme of the much-anticipated event was ‘God in the 21st Century’. Around 500 delegates attended the conference, including faith leaders from various countries, politicians, government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, academics and representatives of various NGOs. The conference also received messages of support from the late Queen Elizabeth II, the Dalai Lama, David Cameron, the then-prime minister of the UK and several other dignitaries.
Huzooraa said:
“The urgent and critical need of the world today is to establish peace and faith in God. If the world understood this reality, then all countries, large or small, would not, in the name of defence spending, allocate millions and billions of dollars to expand their military capabilities. Rather, they would spend that wealth to feed the hungry, provide universal education and improve the living standards of the developing world.” (Historic Conference of World Religions Held at Guildhall, London, www.pressahmadiyya.com)
12 February 1946: On this day, the Arya Samaj’s Delhi chapter convened an interfaith conference where Hazrat Maulana Abul Ata Jalandhari also delivered a speech. The Tej newspaper published a summary of his speech. The title for this conference was “My religion is not an obstacle to the development of the country.” (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 9, p. 619)
12 February 1988: On this day, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IVrh delivered a Friday sermon at Saltpond, Ghana, during his visit to Africa. In his sermon, Huzoorrh highlighted the history of Ghana, advised the people of Ghana on economic self-reliance and assured them of the Jamaat’s support and cooperation. (Khutbat-e-Tahir, Vol. 7, pp. 83-90)