Honoured Guests, Respected Elders, My Dear Brothers Khuddam and Atfal!

 

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu.

 

I start by extending my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to Nazim-e-A’la, Mirza Nasir Inam Ahmad Sahib under whose leadership every aspect of this National Ijtema has been organised and is being delivered.

 

I also take this opportunity to extend my gratitude to all Naib Nazimeen-e-A’la, Nazimeen, members of Majlis-e-Amila Khuddam and Atfal, Qaideen and all other members of the National Ijtema Organising Committee for their support and dutiful obedience.

 

At their instructions, and with Allah’s love imbued within them, hundreds of volunteers have arisen from their slumber to pray in the dark of the night and labour in the light of the day to make this Ijtema possible. They have serviced the cause of Allah faithfully and responsibly – my gratitude to all of them is manifested in my continued prayers for them, their families and their progenies.

 

Therefore, while I welcome and acknowledge the efforts of the very many Khuddam and Atfal who have travelled far and wide from across the UK to contribute to the success of this Ijtema by their attendance, it must never be forgotten that on this ground dedicated to the worship and service of Allah and at this event consecrated to His remembrance and glorification, each morsel you consume and every mattress you lay your head upon has been prepared for you by your faithful Khuddam brothers. The sports events you have undertaken, the academic programmes you have participated in, the facilities you enjoy, the security arrangements from which you benefit and the banners bearing our guiding principles all result from the labour and hustle of your Khuddam brothers. For the sacrifice of their sleep and the time off from their work and studies, they have received no financial recompense. Yet no worldly distraction has prevented them, as the Holy Qur’an enjoins, from competing with each other in good works that they may increase in their spirit of sacrifice out of love for Allah, love for Khilafat and love for you all. May Allah bless them all profoundly.

 

As some of you may know, my days in Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya are now very limited and as my Majlis Ansarullah days near, I am still in search of the wisdom and reason why Almighty Allah bestowed this enormous and undeserved honour upon me enabling me to serve Him in this capacity; to serve the Khilafat and the Jama’at I hold so dearly, to serve my nation and to serve you all. The love and deference that you have revealed towards me have been as captivating as have been humbling. I am profoundly grateful to Allah that He blessed me with the opportunity to serve and for overwhelmingly fond memories that shall, Insha’Allah, remain embedded in my heart until Allah calls me to Him.

 

Against this backdrop, it is once again a joy and a delight to stand here in front of the blessed, the distinguished, the tenacious, the remarkable, Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK, on this idyllic and harmonious occasion, not just because you have chosen to assemble here but for reasons altogether more profound.

 

Because from within all who seek to enhance themselves as servants of humanity and improve their union with Allah, emanates an alluring and compelling radiance to which many of the bewildered and confused are drawn. As members of a righteous class who sit quietly here today listening to me – one who has grown up from among you – I am captivated by your sparkling spirit. You have sought to banish unilateralism and inertia in favour of brotherhood and social responsibility. You have sought to uphold the moral and the spiritual above the material and the physical. There is no question in my mind that those [of you] who strive in the cause of Allah and for the good of mankind, who maintain good habits and who exude love and kindness are the future of our Jama’at, of successful nations and are the beneficiaries of a Divine prize. It is this that underpins my true joy and optimism today.

 

When Hadhrat Musleh Maud (ra) said on 1 April 1938 that “A nation cannot be reformed without first reforming its youth”, it was not meant as a disposable descriptive. Far from it, this wisdom now stands as an interminable motto and a tenet upon which the aspiration of Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya is built.

 

And our recent history has exposed tremendous opportunity. Together, as a Majlis, we have sought the reformation of our youth by disseminating and seeking to instil the spiritual understanding and application of our beliefs into every part of our everyday life. Together, as a Majlis, we have sought to defend the name and honour of Islam and Ahmadiyyat whenever and wherever brought into question. Together, as a Majlis, we have sought to inspire and touch the hearts of those we come into contact with, be it by raising unprecedented funds for charitable causes or by conveying, through our words and actions, the pristine message of Islam.

 

Whilst our efforts characterise our desire to serve Allah, there is no greater truism than the fact that whatever has been achieved by Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK arises out of Allah’s grace alone. Despite that, your human endeavour symbolises your determination and vigour to be among the righteous. It is this that personifies the essence of a Khadim and a Tifl.

 

But, my dear brothers, there have been great challenges too – challenges that remain real and present. Whilst we have sought to contribute to the welfare of our nation, others have preferred to promote the death of innocents and the destruction of their nation.

 

Outside of Jama’at Ahmadiyya, the daily news and media productions evidence the continued ebb of virtue and moral principle among youth. Lack of direction and cause, brotherhood has been replaced by enmity, love substituted for hatred and the blood shared by man spilt in gallons as though it were worthless. The scourge of abhorrence and the melanoma that is epitomized by mindless and widespread violence could not be more apparent than on 28 May 2010 in Lahore, when members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community were brutally martyred as they engaged in the worship of Allah.

 

On that day, as Ahmadi Muslims gathered for Friday prayers, five terrorists armed with suicide bomb vests, Kalashnikov AK47 automatic assault rifles and hand grenades simultaneously stormed Baitul Nur Mosque in Model Town and the Darul Zikr Mosque in Gharishaw, Lahore, Pakistan.

 

Their murderous plan besieged not an armed opponent, a military enemy or an occupier of their territory but Ahmadi Muslims who, in prayer, were glorifying the name of Allah and invoking His blessings upon the Holy Prophet (saw), within the sacred walls of a mosque. Hand grenades were lobbed and machine gun fire at the rate of 10 bullets per second peppered worshippers’ bodies. When that was done, they exploded their bombs and detonated their suicide vests.

 

Death for some was instantaneous; others lay injured before Allah finally called them to His side. Even as their bodies absorbed bullets and shrapnel, they did not cry out in pain, rather, they recited Durood Sharif, content to return their lives to the very Supreme Being that gave it to them in the first place. 86 were martyred and 150 of the wounded survived. The floor of both mosques were drenched red as, indiscriminately and brutally, the blood of young and old left saturated the very prayer mats upon which they prayed.

 

You will be pleased to know that, despite their ravaged condition, not one prayer was missed in those mosques. The dust from the burial of her martyred husband had not yet settled when one mother said to her son the following Friday, that you shall not only attend Jumu’ah at the very same mosque that was attacked, you shall stand at the same spot on which your father was martyred. And that Khadim did.

 

From that we see the distinction between our Khuddam and other youngsters who are misguided and ready to kill our Khuddam brothers who they never knew and who had caused them no harm. The patience and steadfastness of our Khuddam brothers in the face of extreme anguish and anger remains a marvel and inspiration to us all – Khuddam who would carry outside with their own hands the bodies of their dead relatives and wait not a moment to mourn their dead, but rather return inside those mosques to continue their Khuddam duties; Khuddam who throughout the night would dig scores of graves silently and obediently in preparation for scores of Janazah prayers the next day.

 

The Holy Prophet (saw) had foretold of the impoverished condition of the Islam from which these terrorists were persuaded to murder Ahmadi Muslims. He is reported to have said:

 

“There will come a time for my people when there will remain nothing of the Qur'an except its outward form and nothing of Islam except its name and they will call themselves by this name even though they are the people furthest from it. The mosques will be full of people but they will be empty of right guidance. The religious leaders of that day will be the most evil religious leaders under the heavens; sedition and dissension will go out from them and to them will it return.” (Ibn Babuya, Thawab ul-A'mal, also Mishkatul Masabih, Kitabul Ilm)

 

This is now the condition of the so-called Muslims who have sought to hold Islam hostage. This melancholy plight of Islam is precisely the reason why the Promised Messiah (as) was commanded to revive Islam and bring back its practice in pristine form.

 

Symbolic of a failed society, the stark contrast between youngsters who would murder our Khuddam brothers and many other innocents, and the inspirational conduct of our Khuddam brothers, depicts the challenges before Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya. The quest for us, here today in the UK, are no less than the reform of ill-advised youth and the protection of this nation from the scourge of intolerance, hatred and divisiveness.

 

We would be complacent to assume that prejudice and bigotry are the exclusive preserve of Pakistan and other parts of the so-called Muslim world. Instead, divisions in society are cultivated by those for whom righteousness and the cohesion of society is a hindrance rather than a goal.

 

In what many regard as the most advanced civilisation, the United States of America has produced some of the ugliest of fashions of seeking to create a schism between followers of different faiths. A pastor, callously and outrageously, threatened to set fire to the Holy Qur’an to propagate hate and in the hope that Muslims would be incited into committing acts that would depict them as philistines.

 

Hate is as old as history itself. When Hitler came to power in 1933 he approved the first of a series of infamous book burning episodes. Any book that did not complement the Nazi ideology was destined for destruction. Public book burnings were prearranged in which the catcalls of the indoctrinated masses provoked the manifest wisdom and knowledge penned in millions of pages of precious books to be burnt to a cinder.

 

A century earlier, Heinrich Hein, one of the 19th Century’s most significant German poets was to predict the consequences of such misdeeds. In his 1821 play ‘Almansor’ on the burning of the Holy Qur’an during the period of the Spanish Inquisition he said, “Where they burn books, so too will they in the end burn human beings.” Hein’s own books were to be burnt by the Nazis just before they attempted to exterminate the Jewish race. The barbaric murder of some six million Jews ensued leaving upon mankind one of the most indelible and disgraceful stains on its existence in modern history.

 

With this painful history fresh in our minds, book burnings were once again being called for, this time in America. By declaring September 11 ‘International Burn a Koran Day’, the Dove World Outreach Center nurtured yet more of the repulsive propaganda of hate reviled by all right thinking people.

 

In doing so they sought to create division and public disorder, wickedly commandeering a day in which we all remember the murder of the victims of 9/11 and recall those who were injured, to propagate his distasteful and abhorrent standpoint. It was an obnoxious and odious misuse of the very freedoms which Americans fought and died to establish and protect.

 

The First Amendment in America protects acts purportedly symbolising freedom of speech. Its purpose was to secure openness so that a new America could leave behind the legacy of tyranny and the control of information imposed by its previous rulers. It was so that knowledge and information could spread and create a united, not divided people. The intentions of the Dove World Outreach Center were an upsetting challenge to the very First Amendment under which they sought to legitimise their monstrous and divisive incitement to religious hatred.

 

Our Jama’at responded peacefully and intelligently. Thousands of Ahmadi Muslims wrote letters to senior ministers, MPs, senators, diplomats, newspapers, the Prime Minister and even the President of the United States of America. A most successful press conference was held by the UK Jama’at at Baitul Futuh mosque in which members of various faiths came together to denounce this intended transgression. It was attended by major news agencies and television news channels. Here saw the manifestation of Jihad as it should be. Peaceful yet intellectual; robust yet civil. Under the guidance of Huzur Aqdas (atba) our Jama’at campaigned as splendid exemplars of true Islam. With Allah’s blessing, the pastor soon crumbled, retracting from the execution of his most despicable and vile threat.

 

My dear brothers, these are the struggles that we face and it is through comprehension and astute perception that we must respond. Our arsenal must be knowledge, understanding, wisdom and elucidation and through these inexhaustible resources we must meet head on those who seek to bring destruction and division to our world.

 

We are experiencing a time of dramatic transformation as Allah grooms us for awe-inspiring progress and it is, without question, Atfal and Khuddam in the UK that are central to that evolutionary path of the reformation of youth and ultimately the Britain we adore.

 

The proliferation of such reform both within Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK and beyond it rests on our broad shoulders. Guiding youth to create within themselves such spirit that they obtain the real essence of Islam and Ahmadiyyat, Hadhrat Musleh Maud (ra) was decades ahead of his time as he addressed a fledgling Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya on 1 April 1938 elaborating on precisely what was meant by the glorious motto, ‘A nation cannot be reformed without first reforming its youth.’

 

Deep within this wisdom of Hadhrat Musleh Maud (ra) lies both the apparatus and circumstances to fabricate together our dream of a world bearing the emblem of a united mankind and the characteristic of a people amalgamated under the banner of one God.

 

In accordance with Hadhrat Musleh Maud(ra)’s guidance, reformation starts within us. We must encourage understanding and draw others towards us, hand in hand, through excellence of conduct and humility of character, offering instruction and guidance with kindness and love. For the best among you will be those who, rather than demand compliance, can inspire the hearts of others escorting them willingly towards a better way of life. Avoid laziness, employ good habits, seek neither title nor post. Instead, increase in your knowledge of our belief, remain dutiful in observing prayer and serve our faith at every opportunity. These must be the very hallmarks through which we are recognised and through which we can inspire the reformation of our youth and instigate an integrated community, a cohesive society, a prosperous nation and, above all, a righteous people.

 

You are introduced to reformation in every sphere of activity in this Jama’at. You must seize those opportunities. The more service you render to the Jama’at, the closer you will come to making meaningful contributions towards building the great nation that is the United Kingdom and, ultimately, to the cause of Allah.

 

We must lead the youth of our nation through the difficult times ahead, securing for them, to the best of our human endeavour, a future of prosperity under the standard of Allah, the Almighty.

 

And so, now is the time for you to be role models for all those around you. The events of this year must mark a turning point in which the leadership shown by each and every Khadim and Tifl is more remarkable than ever, demonstrating in practice the most pristine examples of goodness, compassion, peace and unity unmatched by any other community. Your peers must look to you to personify the most perfect examples of Islam and humanity and seek to emulate you.

 

That signals for all of us the most sacred of shared responsibilities. In the same way as the fabric of your clothing is weaved of many strands which together unite to form one covering, so too must we unite together to place a cover upon society’s social differences, to reinforce righteousness and to defend the dignity of humankind.

 

We stand before the world both optimistic and altruistic that we can accomplish more. We must never fail to assert our faith in our beliefs and to champion our conviction that Ahmadiyyat in Islam is the true and only source of unity which can enrich our world.

 

I call upon all Khuddam and Atfal in the UK, today, to commit to a revitalised awareness of our purpose and to stand together upright, resolute and determined to face the challenges of those who would prefer division over unity and turmoil over peace.

 

Today, at this Ijtema, which sits at the epicentre of youth development in Islam and the consequent contribution it makes to nation building, you must resolve to develop your every talent for that requirement to be righteous so that future generations can be shaped by your superior conduct.

 

You, today’s youth, are tomorrow’s leaders and you must now, seeking honest purpose, look to instil compassion and understanding both within you and amongst your peers.

 

My dear brothers Khuddam and Aftal, the future of Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya United Kingdom is in your hands. You must neither shirk nor evade this sacred responsibility; you must neither violate nor desecrate this sacred trust.

 

I pray that Allah grants Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK such dedication and devotion to His cause that, in the eyes of every Briton, you stand elevated head and shoulders above your peers. I pray that Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK provides outstanding leadership which shall prevail as an unchallengeable and alluring radiance for all those in the UK and indeed the world who seek peace, truth and enlightenment. May the frontiers of Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK overflow with the most righteous servants of Allah and may you ever advance on the paths of progress truthfully, earnestly, humbly, sincerely, solemnly, beseechingly inspired by the desire to serve the cause of Ahmadiyyat and to fly high the standard of Islam. Ameen.

 

Thanks for having me. Wassalamu Alaikum.