Published on Jul 22 2010 

As is customary with the Friday Sermon preceding Jalsa, Hudhur drew attention of the duty-holding men, women and children to their obligations and responsibilities. Hudhur said with the grace of God now the men and women are quite well-trained for Jalsa duty with workers of each department having a good knowledge of their specific work. However, in order to further improve the work and to enhance the sense of responsibility reminding is important as it is also a Quranic commandment: ‘And keep on exhorting; for verily, exhortation benefits those who would believe.’ (51:56). Hudhur said it is also important to impart the significance of Jalsa duty to children as well as youth who are perhaps doing duty for the first time or who do not fully realise its significance. Hudhur said Jalsa duty is not an ordinary duty. The old and the young present themselves for the service of the Jalsa guests who come to the Jalsa in compliance of the Promised Messiah’s (on whom be peace) call for their spiritual nourishment. There may a few who simply come to pass time but this should not deflect us from our duties.Hudhur said there are many kinds of guests at Jalsa. There are those who are from the UK and stay over at the Jalsa site either in their private tents or in accommodation provided by the Jama’at. They have dealings with almost all departments of Jalsa during their three-day stay. Workers of each department should present a model of extreme courtesy to them. Any existing resentment with a guest should be forgotten and should not come in the way of serving them; if it is so, it would be a betrayal of one’s duty. If a worker feels that he/she cannot honour the dues of hospitality towards a certain guest then they should ask their co-worker to do it on their behalf. The other kind of guests is of those who are also from the UK and daily travel to the site. They eat once or twice at the Jalsa site under the auspices of the Ziafat department. It is the responsibility of this department to look after them. In the last few years complaints were received that not only food was not served, the attitude of the workers was also not good. On investigation it was found that this was not due to workers’ fault, perhaps food was not to be served at the particular spot where the demand was made. However, even if food is not to be served at an area, guests should be explained to most politely. Car parking, traffic control and security workers should also display courtesy and civility when speaking with the guests. Hudhur explained that complaints are not the norm, rather only the odd complaint is received, but it can upset the entire administration. Generally speaking the workers tolerate excesses of the guests. The third kind of guests is of those who come from Europe, some are accommodated by the Jama’at while others stay privately. However, due to being outside of the UK, their expectations are somewhat high. A few among them make undue demands but workers should try their very best not to give anyone a chance to complain. Another type of guests is of those who come from Pakistan, India and Africa. African and American guests are looked after by the Tabsheer department to a large extent. However, they also have to deal with the general departments, so their needs must also be looked after. In spite of their disadvantaged position, guests from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh come to quench their thirst for Khilafat. In particular the state of the Ahmadis of Pakistan has reached a critical point in victimhood. Extreme courtesy and politeness is needed with such guests. Some have language problems, whatever their need may be, men and women workers should be ever ready to serve them. If a guest makes a request which is not the duty of the department of the person asked, rather than give them a blunt response, the person should guide them to the right place. Generally the guests from Pakistan are helped by their relatives, but those without any relatives [living in the UK] can at times get anxious. Hudhur said for the past two to three years the accommodation and hospitality of the guests who stay longer than three days has been good, but as he mentioned earlier, reminding is important. Hudhur said those who have visiting relatives from Pakistan should realise that it is not just the task of the Jalsa management to look after the guests. Rather, they too should offer their hospitality to their relatives. Another kind of guests is of those who are non-Muslims and are invited by the Jama’at. However, they often take note of how the Jalsa workers operate. Usually, each year, they are very impressed by the courtesy of the men and women workers.

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