“We should pray for the spread of Ahmadiyyat in China” – Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa
Towards the end of his Friday Sermon on 24 May 2019, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa mentioned the foundation stone laying of the Mubarak Mosque, Islamabad. Huzooraa said that he had mentioned some facts and figures in his Friday Sermon (17 May 2019) that inaugurated the Mubarak Mosque but he wanted to add another point to the facts relating to the mosque.
Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa said that when the foundation stone of the Mubarak Mosque was to be laid, he was on his tour of Canada (October 2016). As he could not lay the foundation stone himself, he appointed Usman Chou Sahib to do so instead. The brick was presented to Huzoor and Huzoor prayed for the foundation stone laying before departing for the journey. Usman Chou Sahib then laid the foundation stone on 10 October 2016 with which began the construction work of the Islamabad project.
Huzooraa said, “The foundation stone of this mosque was laid by Usman Chini Sahib, and thus, in one respect, we can say that by the grace of Allah the Almighty, the people of China have also contributed towards this [project] through his representation. Therefore, we should pray that Allah the Almighty enables us to spread the message of Islam in China very soon.”
“Usman Chini Sahib had a fervent desire to spread the message of Islam in China. While we should pray for his soul to be granted an elevated station, we should also especially pray for the spread of Ahmadiyyat, the true Islam, in China and other parts of the world. May Allah enable us to do so.”
China, with its socialist outlook, is not currently an ideal ground for the propagation of Islam, or any other religion for that matter. Religion has, for quite some decades, been unsuitable for China, but the first attempts of taking Islam to the people of China in modern history were made by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat. Let’s go seven decades back in history.
Lord Linlithgow, Viceroy of India, appointed Hazrat Sir Zafrulla Khanra as Agent-General of British India in China. This appointment was made in February 1942 and Hazrat Chaudhry Sahibra was to stay in China for a period of six months to establish direct diplomatic relations between China and the Indian subcontinent and pave way for a diplomatic mission to continue thereon.
During this brief stay, Hazrat Chaudhry Zafrulla Khanra came into contact with Muslim leaders of China. In his autobiography, Tehdis-e-Nemat, Hazrat Chaudhry Sahibra has mentioned that he was pleased to meet the Muslim representatives who had come from the north-western states of China where the Muslim population was in millions. Hazrat Sir Zafrulla Khanra urged the Muslim leaders to send their youth to study Islam in the subcontinent. This offer was happily taken on board, although faced by very many challenges in materialisation.
Among the Chinese Muslim youth inspired by Hazrat Chaudhry Zafrulla Khan’sra invitation to travel to Pakistan and enhance their understanding of Islam was a young man called Usman Chou, who we would later affectionately know as “Chini Sahib”. He, along with another three friends, travelled to Pakistan and had the blessed fortune to accept Ahmadiyyat at the hand of Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IIra. He joined Jamia Ahmadiyya in Rabwah and trained as a scholar who was later to run the Chinese Desk in Islamabad, Tilford for the last three decades of his life. He worked tirelessly to produce literature in the local language of China to acquaint the Chinese population of the world to the message of Islam Ahmadiyyat.
Now that Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa has expressed his desire for the spread of Islam Ahmadiyyat in China, prayed for this purpose and asked us to follow suit, we know that China’s doors will open to Islam through the Ahmadiyya Jamaat.
May Allah grant many more Chinese Ahmadis to the Jamaat. We know that Allah hears the prayers of his appointed Khalifa with great love and affection; we know that this prayer will be blessed in the same manner. May Allah fulfil this desire, and every desire, of our beloved Imam, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa. Amin