By the grace of Allah, we have come to the conclusion of this year’s National Tilawat, Speech and Quiz Competition so let me take this opportunity to congratulate Mohtamim Ta'leem and the members of his department for the delivery of yet another Taleem event. They have worked tirelessly over the course of the last few weeks and have kept me apprised at each stage of the progress being made culminating in this successful conclusion.

 

I also thank all attendees at this event especially those who have come from farther regions and all those who have worked towards the setup and organisation of this event. The Ziafat team, as always, deserves our credit for preparing lunch for the large number of attendees. May Allah be pleased to grant gracious acceptance to all your hard work and sacrifices for the sake of this event.

 

I would also like to express our gratitude to all our judges and honoured guests for sparing their time to be with us here today and to the UK Sami Basri department for once again placing at our disposal the audio and video facilities. Without all your help we could not have successfully held this event.

 

I take this opportunity to congratulate all the prize winners. Winning any national event is a great accomplishment and I recall that when I won the National Speech Competition 10 years ago in 1999, it was one of my proudest moments in Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya.

 

This National Tilawat, Speech and Quiz Competition is the flagship academic event for Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK. Therefore, although I am pleased to note an increased attendance at this year’s event, it is my desire to see a far greater participation and representation from all regions. This is because this event provides for us an avenue to gain knowledge and our Beloved Prophet (saw) has placed great emphasis on learning. His specific instruction to his followers was that we should, “Seek knowledge from cradle to grave.”

 

Acting upon this teaching, the early Muslims embarked upon the pursuit of knowledge and learning the blessings emanating from which was to inspire a great civilisation in which Muslims and non-Muslims alike lived creative and useful lives and which, by its achievements, enriched the whole world. Islam developed from among an unlettered people far removed from the crossroads of civilisation and human thought to become the standard-bearer of enlightenment in the then known world. This is a fact which unfortunately today either is not widely known or is conveniently overlooked. Today, Islam is regarded as backward in the West and Muslims carry a quasi-inferiority complex.

 

History bears witness, however, that Islam, far more than Christendom, was the intermediate stage between the ancient East and the modern West. During the centuries that in European history are called medieval, the most advanced civilisation in the world was undoubtedly that of Islam. Under the blessed Khulafa-ar-Rashideen, and again under the Persian and Turkish dynasties, the empire of Islam was the richest, most powerful, most creative, most enlightened region in the world. 

 

In that golden era of Islam, great libraries were built and universities were established. Great works of the Greeks, Indians, Persians, Egyptians and numerous religious texts were translated and preserved.  Scholars from various religions and cultures were drawn to this enlightened empire while all the time Europe was in the midst of the ‘Dark Ages’.

 

However, the history of religious degradation repeated itself. When the ruling Sultans began to confuse religion with culture, when politics overtook philosophy and when power became a struggle between brothers and clans, gradually Islam was forgotten and the Muslim Empire lost its unity and influence. 

 

The story of the rise, decline and eventual renaissance of Islam at the hands of the Promised Messiah (as), the Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, is a vital part of our history. The Promised Messiah (as) was raised to dispel darkness from the world and to restore Islam to its former glory. He was crowned the Sultan-ul-Qalam, i.e., the King of the Pen, by Allah Almighty and through his writings such as the epoch-making Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya he invigorated the Muslims with a new sense of belief and conviction and he energised them with the true understanding of Islam. Islam was once more resurrected as a living religion that offered hope and salvation not just for Muslims but for all who wished to benefit from it.

 

As his followers, it is our duty to further the mission that the Promised Messiah (as) had started. Unfortunately, due to media propaganda, much talk nowadays wrongly links Islam to extremism and ignorance. Equally, however, religious dialogue is on the increase. Our Community, more than any other Muslim group, has to actively champion the cause of education, learning and debate.  We must wage a ‘Jihad’ of the pen to defend and to unearth truth in religious matters, and to banish ignorance.

 

Our Beloved Huzur (atba) has repeatedly drawn our attention to research, education and higher learning as this will not only dispossess the Western mind of the false notion that Muslims are backward and ignorant but will also be a means of proving and propagating the beautiful teachings of Islam.

 

At our National Ijtema last year, Huzur (atba) remarked in the course of his address:

 

“I once again want to remind students that our progress now depends on advancement in education. It is even more so in the West.”

 

He went on to say:

 

“Let the luminosity of Qur’ânic teachings enlighten your mental faculties. This will guide you to serve humanity and will lead you to prove to the world the superiority of Islamic teachings. Consequently, this will be the means to introduce true Islamic teachings and assist in its preaching. Therefore every one of you who is either working in any field or is a student should try and discover fresh methods of preaching Islam in your respective circle.”

 

I pray that we, as a Majlis, are able to live up to Huzur’s expectations so that we are always included among the helpers of the Promised Messiah (as) and are instrumental in ushering in a new era of Islamic civilisation even as our forebears led the world to a new age of enlightenment in their time. 

 

Mohtamim Ta'leem, Dear brothers! Thanks for having me. Wassalamu Alaikum.