Dr Ahsan Mahmood Khan, Officer Jalsa Gah
The 34th West Coast Jalsa Salana USA took place on 20 to 22 December 2019 at Baitul Hameed Mosque in Chino, California. Over 1,800 participants attended the Jalsa.
The theme of this year’s Jalsa was the Promised Messiah’sas revelation, “I shall cause thy message to reach the corners of the Earth.” Ahmadi Muslims from 54 US chapters, and from 20 countries, including Africa, Asia and Europe, travelled to southern California in a testament to this blessed prophecy.
Dr Mirza Maghfoor Ahmad, Amir Jamaat USA, presided the opening and closing sessions of the Jalsa, during which he reminded guests of the importance of self-reformation and the need to heed the advice of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V, may Allah be his Helper, particularly in raising our standards of righteousness.
Jalsa speeches this year covered a variety of topics, such as Allah’s attribute of Al-Majeed, the Holy Prophet Muhammad’ssa blessed example of spreading the message of Islam to others, inspiring anecdotes of financial sacrifice, the importance of Salat in countering social ills, scientific miracles foretold in the Holy Quran, finding a righteous spouse, marital harmony and signs of the truthfulness of the Promised Messiahas.
On the second day of the Jalsa, over 140 special guests, including faith leaders, lawmakers and community neighbours, participated in a session titled “Compassion in a Time of Conflict” in which Huzoor’saa message of establishing peace was conveyed by Imam Azam Akram of Seattle, Washington, USA.
Guest speakers included mayors of neighbouring cities as well as Congresswoman Norma Torres of the US House of Representatives who, last year, visited Huzooraa in Guatemala during the inauguration of Nasir Hospital. She spoke about her appreciation for the community outreach efforts of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in southern California, under the leadership of Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaa.
This Jalsa has been an annual tradition in the western coast of the United States since 1985 and augments in size and scope every year by the grace of Allah. This year’s Jalsa featured new additions, including metal-detector security installations and a larger stand-alone exhibition featuring copies of the Holy Quran in different languages and models of mosques from around the world constructed by local Jamaat children.
As is customary in all Jalsas around the world, food was served to the guests in the Langar throughout the course of the event with a special marquee being put up for seniors. A tent was installed on the basketball court where dinner was served to guests. The Jalsa was live-streamed to nearly 2,000 online viewers. Various media outlets covered the event as well. This year’s Jalsa also made use of social media outreach and an online phone application (app) to improve the overall experience for guests.
The weather overall was excellent and the event was hailed a success, Alhamdolillah.