Sheikh Ahmad Kaire Batte
Uganda Correspondent
On Sunday, 27 January 2019, we attended Wakisi mosque inauguration ceremony in connection with Jalsa Sirat-un-Nabi which took place in Wakisi local Jamaat region.
After the arrival of Amir Sahib and missionary in-charge, the ceremony commenced with the opening of the mosque by Amir Sahib which was followed by Zuhr prayer.
Next on the programme was lunch, followed by an inspection of the mosque by Amir Sahib.
The Sirat-un-Nabi programme started with recitation of the Holy Quran, followed by an Arabic poem.
Sheikh Adam Hamid Ssembanjwe gave the first speech on The Blessed Life of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa.
In his speech, he said that one of the most remarkable miracles of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa was that he managed to make Arabs, who were more or less beasts at the time, into godly human beings with his simplicity, love, kindness, tolerance, mercifulness, forgiveness, trustworthiness and truthfulness.
Following that, the local president, Haji Abdul Kiwanuka – who in fact donated the land upon which Wakisi mosque now stands and who initiated the constructions – in his comments thanked Allah the Almighty Who had enabled him to construct a mosque.
Haji Abdul Kiwanuka said, “Don’t think that I had a lot of money; in fact, when I donated this land and construction work began, I was financially unstable. But I believed that donating land and funding the construction could not lead me to bankruptcy. You know me well; I am not rich.
“Wealth is not always the issue. The issue is faith and determination. I want to urge all those who have this idea in their minds, but are waiting to get rich that they should set off now with whatever capacity Allah has given them.”
Next was a comment from Mukono regional president Alhaji Muhammad Kato. His short speech was full of gratitude to Allah the Almighty. He also thanked Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa and the amir who supported the construction at times when the work was almost at a halt.
The amir and missionary in-charge then gave the concluding remarks. Commenting about the aims of the construction of mosques, he said, “Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya is growing day by day. Work and responsibilities are also increasing as well. We still face a challenge of deficiency in secular and religious knowledge among our people. As for children and their tarbiyat, we should know that the progress of the Jamaat lies upon it. Therefore, we should remember that mosques are constructed for worship (Salat), remembrance of Allah and recitation of the Holy Quran. This means that we as Ahmadis still have a challenge of constructing as many mosques as possible for properly training and teaching the world about their Creator.”
Amir Sahib asked all those who attended the ceremony to join him in a silent prayer which marked the end of the ceremony. A total of 427 people attended the function.