Published on Sep 30 2008 

Al Mu’min

Annual Report

October 2007 - October 2008

Dear Brother,

I pray that you and your families are enjoying the blessings of Allah, Ameen.

Welcome to this year’s souvenir edition of Al Mu’min charting the key events, news, developments and accomplishments of Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya Midlands from October 2007 to October 2008.

By the grace of Allah this has been another memorable year in the Midlands during which I was again given exceptional support by members of the Regional Amila. Masha’Allah the region continued to reach new heights in a number of areas, however greater efforts and improvements are still required in every sphere to enable Midlands to realise its true potential.

As you know this year in particular witnessed the Jama’at reach a historic milestone – the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Khilafat in Ahmadiyyat. I would like to remind all members to pray especially for the preservation, protection and perpetuation of this blessed institution and that we may succeed in advancing the message of Islam and Ahmadiyyat under the guidance of our beloved Imam, Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih , Ameen.

I request special prayers for the improved spirituality of all members of MKA Midlands.

I would like to thank Asif Abdul Sahib for producing this report.

Waqar Ahmad Ahmedi
Regional Qaid (Midlands), Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK

Regional Amila 2007 - 2008

Regional Qaid:                               Waqar Ahmad Ahmedi
Naib Regional Qaid:                         Maqbool Ahmad Bhatti
Regional Motamid:                          Syed Junaid Anwar
Nazim Atfal:                                  Dr Nadeem Ahmed
Nazim Isha’at:                               Asif Abdul
Nazim Maal:                                  Mirza Irfan Akram
Nazim Sehat-e-Jismani:                   Dr Zia Noor
Nazim Tabligh:                               Dr Nadeem Ahmed
Nazim Ta’lim/Tarbiyyat:                   Maqbool Ahmad Bhatti
Nazim Ziafat:                                Imran Aamir

Qaid MKA Birmingham Central:          Manoga Jameel Mwanje
Qaid MKA Birmingham East:              Sagheer Ahmad
Qaid MKA Birmingham West:             Malik Irfan Akram
Qaid MKA Coventry:                       Naveed Malik
Qaid MKA Leamington Spa:              Zafar Bhatti
Qaid MKA Leicester:                       Nasir Ahmad Tahir
Qaid MKA Nottingham:                    Atif Mehmood
Qaid MKA Peterborough:                 Raja Ata-ul-Mannan
Qaid MKA Walsall:                          Abdul Kavi Rehan

Aitmaad

Regional Amila Meetings were held every month. The August 2008 meeting was attended by Dr Aziz Ahmad Hafiz Sahib, Naib Sadr MKA UK, and Mubashar Ahmad Sahib, Mohtamim Maal.

Eight of the region’s nine Qiadats were represented at the National Qaideen Forum on 15 December 2008 at Baitul Futuh. Visits were made to six Qiadats for the local Amila training.

Amoor-e-Tuluba

Two Khuddam, Mikal Chawdry (Birmingham West) and Abdul Naseer (Birmingham East), were privileged to receive outstanding academic achievement awards from Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih V at the UK Jalsa Salana 2008.

Atfal

There were three main events this year organised in the Midlands. The first was a Tarbiyyati Class for the Northern Regions on 22-23 December 2007 at Darul Barakaat, Birmingham. More than 85 boys attended one of the days. Khalid Nepal Sahib represented the Atfal Department. For the first time comprehensive workbooks were given to each Tifl.
 
A Regional Atfal Ijtema was also held on 24 February 2008 at Baitul Ikram, Leicester. Najm Khan Sahib, Mohtamim Atfal, presided over the morning session and emphasised the need for good behaviour and also the importance of financial sacrifice. The event was attended by 50 Atfal. Credit must go to the President and Qaid of Leicester who did a great job on the day.
 
As part of the Khilafat Centenary celebrations, Midlands also hosted a ‘Pupils for Peace’ event held for primary and secondary teachers on 10 July 2008 at Darul Barakaat. Ten teachers attended. The highlight of the event was the excellent participation of the Atfal and Nasirat.
 
Twenty five Atfal from the region also took part at the annual National Atfal Rally on 15-16 March 2008 at Baitul Futuh.

Isha’at

The regional newsletter Al Mu’min which carried the Midlands Annual Report for October 2006 to October 2007 was posted on the Khuddam website.

The region’s email database was also updated throughout the year with regular circulars being sent to more than 100 Khuddam on matters including Jama’at/MKA news and events and encouraging Khuddam to follow the Khilafat Centenary programme of prayers.

Midlands had the honour of organising the UK’s first ever Sultan Al Qalam Conference at Darul Barakaat on 23 August 2008. The event was presided over by Ali Khan, Additional Mohtamim Isha’at. The aims of the conference were to raise greater awareness of the initiative, share good practice and offer Khuddam practical training on how to respond to attacks on Islam in the media. Approximately 30 Khuddam attended the event, 20 of them from Midlands.

The regional Sultan Al Qalam team has also been active in monitoring and writing to the national and especially local press on a range of issues including Shari’ah, extremism, treatment of women, mission of the Promised Messiah(as), halal meat, Walsall mosque project, Islam and science, Khilafat, Geo TV and persecution of Ahmadis. Several articles were printed in newspapers such as The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Birmingham Post, Coventry Observer, Nottingham Evening Post, Leicester Mercury, Walsall Chronicle and Express & Star.

Khidmat-e-Khalq

Midlands provided a number of marshals as requested by Leukaemia Research at the North Worcestershire Bikeathon on 9 September 2007 and again at the Soluhill Bikeathon on 13 July 2008, where 50 Khuddam from across the region turned up to offer support. This left a very positive impression on the organisers who generously donated £250 towards the Charity Walk.

On 14 September 2008 Nottingham Qiadat raised £210 by managing a drinks station at the Robin Hood Marathon. All the money raised went towards the Al Mahdi Mosque project.

Walsall khuddam also attended a blood donation event this year.

Sehat-e-Jismani

Midlands held its third consecutive Regional Indoor Football Tournament on 12 January 2008 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. This year’s event was bigger than ever before. Not only were more Qiadats represented but also other regions were invited with Baitul Futuh, Bait-un-Noor, North East, Islamabad, Middlesex and Muqami all sending teams.

In a tense final Baitul Futuh defeated Islamabad in a penalty shoot-out. The total number of people attending was over 110.

The Midlands regional squad made quite an impression at the National Football Tournament on 14 June 2008 in Roehampton. Whilst they narrowly missed out on a place in the last four, Ahmed Obeng (Walsall) was awarded the Golden Boot. Both he and Mikal Chawdry (Birmingham West) were selected to represent the UK team at the Germany Khilafat Centenary sports tournament in August.

Tabligh

On the occasion of Eidul Fitr and Eidul Adhia in 2007 a number of Khuddam gave gifts to friends, neighbours and work colleagues.

The Regional Qaid and Naveed Malik, Qaid of Coventry, represented MKA at the West Midlands Faith Forum on 30 April in Birmingham. Naveed Sahib was also given a weekly slot on BBC Radio Coventry/Warwickshire during Ramadhan to share his experiences of fasting. On 26 October he also appeared on a breakfast show to talk about the importance of holy books.

As part of the Khilafat Centenary celebrations the region organised a very successful interfaith conference entitled ‘Faith in Youth’ on the theme Why Religion? This took place at Darul Barakaat on 12 October 2008. Representatives of other religious youth groups were invited with the purpose of promoting better understanding of eachother’s faiths. The event, chaired by Sadr Sahib, featured talks by Ahmadi Muslim, Hindu, Christian and Sikh speakers as well as workshops exploring areas related to extremism, freedom of speech and citizenship. Excluding a good turnout of Khuddam and Lajna there were around 25 external guests.

The region printed 500 copies of its own ‘Love for All, Hatred for None’ cards carrying local contact details. Five Qiadats were given responsibility for distributing the cards at town and city centres.

Nottingham Qiadat set up library exhibitions in February and July to promote Islam as a religion of peace. On the latter occasion a copy of the Holy Qur’an was presented to the local mayor.

Leamington Spa Qiadat was involved in a Scouting Adventure 101 day on 22 June 2008. Four Khuddam went with exhibition equipment to set up a stall which featured as one of several activities. The scouts were introduced to a prayer mat and had to use a compass to work out which direction Muslims prayed in. They were then required to learn what Islam means – i.e. peace – and had the opportunity to ask questions. After successful completion of these tasks the scouts were given chocolates and the adults accompanying them were given a leaflet.

 

Zafar Bhatti, Qaid of Leamington Spa, was interviewed in front of 3000 people, of whom about 20% were adults. Very positive feedback was received throughout the day with one person offering to donate £50 to the Leamington Spa Mosque on a private basis. Around 30 leaflets were distributed and seven contacts made.

Tarbiyyat

Twelve Khuddam attended the National Tarbiyyati Class on 30 December 2008 at Baitul Hamd, Bradford.

A major push on Wasiyyat was made this year. The Regional Qaid visited five Qiadats to show a PowerPoint presentation to Khuddam to raise greater awareness about the scheme and share the benefits of becoming a Moosi.

The Salat audit was conducted in line with instructions from the Centre.

Waqar-e-Amal

The region put in place a weekend rota system for cleaning Darul Barakaat that involved the four local Qiadats: Birmingham Central, Birmingham East, Birmingham West and Walsall. Khuddam also performed car park and security duties during Ramadhan, Eidul Fitr and Eidul Adhia.

Regional Ijtema

The Regional Khuddam Ijtema was held on 30 March 2008 at Darul Barakaat. With this year’s theme being Khilafat an exhibition was prepared showing the contributions and achievements of the Khulafa-e-Ahmadiyyat and promoting Wasiyyat. A PowerPoint slideshow was also running for most of the Ijtema in the main hall. Manoga Jameel Mwanje, Qaid of Birmingham Central, and Zafar Bhatti, Qaid of Leamington Spa, gave very eloquent talks on Khilafat and Wasiyyat respectively.

Sadr Sahib attended the final session and awarded prizes to all the winners. This year Leicester collected the Best Attendance accolade, Birmingham West was named Most Improved Qiadat, and Walsall received the Best Qiadat award. Syed Raheel Zakria, Mansoor Malik and Sayyed Irfan Salim all received honoury awards for their services to Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya as they entered Majlis Ansarullah.

Sadr Sahib gave the concluding address in which he emphasised the need for a close attachment to the Jama’at and also called on Khuddam to maximise contributions to the Al Mahdi Mosque project. The Ijtema was attended by 118 Khuddam.

Tree Planting

As part of the Khilafat Centenary celebrations Nottingham Qiadat planted 100 trees at Bestwood Country Park (part of The Famous Sherwood Forest) on 13 April 2008. Six Khuddam along with four Ansar and four Atfal took part planting 100 small oak (2ft long) trees whilst the Ansar took responsibility for planting the large oak tree (9ft long).

Atif Mehmood, Qaid of Nottingham, presented the Rangers with a small gift as a gesture of good will. The event concluded by a silent prayer lead by Mumtaz Malik Sahib, President of Nottingham. The Nottingham Evening Post covered the story under the headline ‘100 trees will mark century of peace work’.

Khilafat Day

More than 30 Khuddam from the region offered security duty during the historic Khilafat Centenary celebrations at the ExCel Centre in London on 27 May 2008.

Charity Walk

About 30 Khuddam from region attended the Charity Walk on 29 June 2008. Approximately £3,000 was raised in sponsorship.

UK Jalsa Salana

More than 40 Khuddam were involved in Jalsa duties on 25-27 July, including car park, flag duty, hygiene and press.

National Ijtema

A total of 89 Khuddam and 22 Atfal from the region attended a memorable National Ijtema at Islamabad on 3-5 October 2008. Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih V  graced the event with his presence. Midlands was given responsibility for organising an exhibition on the Khilafat of Hadhrat ‘Umar(ra). Amir Sahib, Sadr Sahib and other senior Jama’at members visited the regional site to sample the Saturday night BBQ and look at the exhibition material.

General

A regional Khuddam picnic was held at Darul Barakaat on 31 August 2008. The day, attended by approximately 50 Khuddam, included a BBQ, sports activities and discussion on challenges of being an Ahmadi in the West.

The Khuddam Room at Darul Barakaat was refurbished with new sofas, exhibition material, meeting table and pool facilities for the benefit of Khuddam.