Dear and Beloved Huzur,

 

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu!

 

It is an honour and privilege for us to be blessed with the eminent presence of Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih (atba) at this 38th Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK National Ijtema here in Islamabad. This holy land upon which Huzur Aqdas (atba) has graced us with his august presence is, as the name suggests, truly the abode of Islam. It is here, before our Beloved Khalifa that we, Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya United Kingdom, once more pledge our allegiance to Allah and our obedience to Khilafat. Obedience is the theme of this year’s Ijtema; obedience remains the aspirational domain of every Khadim and Tifl in the UK.  May Allah bring that aspiration to fruition.

 

Beloved Huzur, as we near the final prayer of this year’s Ijtema we, once more, proclaim the glory of Allah, we celebrate His praise, affirm His Unity and invoke His blessings both upon the Noble Prophet who brought us Islam and upon the Messiah and Mahdi who now revives it at a time it is most needed. Our weaknesses, our shortcomings, our defaults and our frailties remain with us, yet despite these, purely as a manifestation of Allah’s Grace, He has brought us to what we pray will be a successful final session. 

 

Huzur, the weather is always a concern at an event of such a scale. Alhamdulillah, despite the additional demands that the weather has placed upon us, with Allah’s blessing, our contingency arrangements and the co-operation of Khuddam and Atfal have meant that the enjoyment and the spiritual success that is the epicentre of this occasion have remained unaffected.

 

In this brief report, I shall, Insha’Allah, provide Huzur Aqdas with details of our attendance, events and exhibitions and the Charity Challenge Cheque Presentation, concluding with a humble request for prayers for those who have worked to the limit of their human endeavour in preparation for this Ijtema, and for the future of Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK in general. 

 

At the head of Huzur’s address at last year’s Ijtema, Huzur instructed that the attendance at this year’s Ijtema should exceed the previous year’s and that, if we undertook our endeavours with effort and prayers, Insha’Allah, Allah will bless them.

 

Beloved Huzur, I am pleased to report that with the blessing and mercy of Allah, we have increased attendance on last year’s figures. Against a target of 2027 Khuddam, 785 Atfal and combined attendance of 2812 last year, the final attendance figures* for this year’s Ijtema stand at 2350 Khuddam and 1091 Atfal which represents a total of 3441 and an increase of 323 Khuddam, 306 Atfal, making a total increase of 629 participants, Alhamdulillah. The increase in attendance last year on the previous year was 349, the increase this year is 629. We have not only increased attendance, we have increased the rate of increase of attendance. Last year for the first time we exceeded 2000 Khuddam, this year for the first time we have exceed 1000 Atfal, Alhamdulillah. With a guest attendance of 475 and 120 pre-Atfal the total attendance at this Ijtema is 4036.

 

This Ijtema was graciously inaugurated by Huzur Aqdas (atba) in his Friday Sermon during which Huzur Aqdas (atba) provided specific and detailed guidance to the attendees at this Ijtema. It was a truly inspiring occasion and we are profusely grateful to Huzur Aqdas (atba) for honouring us this way. We have prepared a summary of Huzur’s Sermon and printed and distributed 2500 copies to every Khadim at this Ijtema. We will, Insha’Allah, be further circulating this via email and publishing it on our Khuddam website. We request Huzur’s prayers that we are able to act upon all of Huzur’s admonitions.

 

Following Huzur’s inauguration, the First Session on Friday afternoon was presided over and addressed by Respected Amir Sahib UK following which we commenced sports and academic events. Alhamdulillah, all of the competitions, both academic and sporting, were concluded successfully and there are no major injuries to report. This year we introduced a 7-a-side tape-ball cricket tournament played with team spirit and brotherhood. It is our prayer that events such as this serve to bring Khuddam closer together. 

 

A Question and Answer Session with Respected Imam Sahib held on Friday evening proved very insightful for all participants. Imam Sahib was gracious enough to conduct a separate Question and Answer Session with Majlis Atfalul Ahmadiyya UK. 

 

Following Huzur’s Friday sermon a lot of emphasis was placed on congregational prayers, especially making sure that the workers offered their prayers if they missed the congregational prayers. Congregational Tahajjud prayers which were held on both Saturday and Sunday morning were led by Maulana Hafiz Ijaz Tahir Sahib and Maulana Hani Tahir Sahib respectively. 

 

A significant portion of Huzur’s address at last year’s Ijtema was devoted to the subject of ‘obedience’. It is for this reason that we made obedience the dominant theme throughout our activities this year including Local and Regional Ijtema’at and this National Ijtema, where we sought to bring this theme to the attention of all participants through speech competition topics on obedience, an obedience themed stage backdrop and an exhibition on the topic of obedience.

 

Similar to last year’s successful central exhibition, this year we also encouraged regions to contribute to a centrally run exhibition. Like last year, we also had exhibitions covering Humanity First and our own Majlis Ansar Sultanul Qalam. As a new addition, a CV clinic was held to provide jobseekers with guidance on preparing their CVs, interview techniques and other careers advice.

 

In particular, in our exhibition this year we paid tribute to three distinguished Ahmadi Muslims who have contributed to shaping our world as we know it and served our faith with distinction. Sir Muhammad Zafarulla Khan Sahib who was, among other things, President of the UN General Assembly, Professor Abdus Salam Sahib who won the Nobel Prize for Physics and M.M. Ahmad Sahib arguably the most influential civil servant ever of Pakistan.

 

An exhibition was also organised to provide information about the persecution that Ahmadi Muslims suffer and the martyrs who have given their lives for the sake of their belief in the Promised Messiah (as). Huzur, among the martyrs who returned their lives to Allah in Lahore were also our Khuddam brothers. We are humbled by the practical implementation of their devotion and their pledge. We once more pass on our condolences to Beloved Huzur and the families of all the martyrs and recognise that there subsists within this trial Allah’s manifest wisdom which will Insha’Allah bring even greater successes to the Jama’at from these sacrifices. With that in mind, Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK will, Insha’Allah, continue to stand ready to assume any responsibility for the progress of Islam and Ahmadiyyat.

 

Beloved Huzur, in the same way as last year’s successful pilot, to ensure that the organisers maintained visibility and stewardship over Atfal and were able to give appropriate time and attention to their Tarbiyyat and the purpose of their presence at the Ijtema, a separate Atfal site was established adjacent to the Khuddam site. On Saturday, I addressed the Atfal separately in their Ijtema Gah where I sought to highlight, among other things, the importance of maintaining a relationship with Allah through prayers and obedience to parents, Nizam-e-Jama’at and Khilafat.

 

Prior to this, in my Keynote Address to the entire Majlis I reminded all Khuddam and Atfal of the responsibilities that now lay on our shoulders following events in Lahore earlier this year and the reformation that is required of us, in the face of many challenges, in order to inspire an integrated community, a cohesive society, a prosperous nation and, above all, a righteous people.

 

This year’s traditional barbeque was a tremendous success. By the grace of Allah, we were able to host and entertain at the central barbeque 425 senior Jama’at guests from the UK, Qadian and Respected Amir Sahib Germany. The elation of those whose regional barbeques were visited by Huzur Aqdas was immeasurable and without doubt became the highlight of their Ijtema. 

 

As with previous years we invited a number of external bodies and were fortunate to have received attendances from six external organisations. These included the armed forces, the navy, the police, the fire service, the ambulance service and the National Blood Service who engaged the Khuddam and Atfal throughout their stay with us.

 

A unique tug of war match between Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK and a combined team of our guests from the British Army and Royal Navy saw Khuddam victorious, perhaps indicating that with Allah’s blessing we can overcome any challenge before us. 

 

Beloved Huzur, following this year’s Charity Challenge, we held the Cheque Presentation Ceremony on Saturday evening where we distributed the £170,000 raised to the various charities we supported. Huzur, this compares with £112,800 last year, representing an increase of 50% or £57,200. We also used the platform of the Cheque Presentation Ceremony to present two further cheques to Humanity First for the two disaster appeal fundraising campaigns earlier this year. These amounted to over £65000 for the Haiti Earthquake appeal and £48,000 for the Pakistan Flood appeal. Beloved Huzur, with genuine humility and deep gratitude to Allah, I report therefore that by way of charitable funds this year we, as a Majlis, have raised over £284,000. A humble but fitting way to commemorate what is the 25th anniversary of the Charity Challenge and our new charity registration status! We request Huzur for prayers that Allah blesses our humble endeavours and enables us to increase in our service to humanity.

 

Beloved Huzur, in line with the Islamic injunction to be grateful, I take this opportunity to acknowledge the support received from the UK Jama’at and its senior members up to and including Respected Amir Sahib UK.

 

As we prepare to wind down our Ijtema, Majlis Ansarullah and Lajna Imaillah begin final preparations for theirs on the same Ijtema village established here. We are profoundly grateful to both auxiliary associations for their co-operation and indulgence and pray that Allah blesses their Ijtema’at with even greater success.

 

Beloved Huzur, I now avail myself of this opportunity to express sincere and profound gratitude and appreciation to all the members of the organising team and everyone else who has been instrumental in making this Ijtema a success. At all ends of the organisational structure, great efforts were made to deliver this Ijtema. Hundreds of volunteers across many Nizamats assumed significant responsibility and worked, to the best of their human endeavour, with enterprise and industry to make this event possible. I humbly solicit Huzur’s blessed prayers for all these devoted servants of Allah and their families. 

 

Huzur, I would like to make a special mention of and request for prayers for Mirza Nasir Inam Ahmad Sahib under whose leadership as Nazim-e-Ala every aspect of this Ijtema was organised and delivered. 

 

Beloved Huzur, despite our meagre but well intentioned efforts to partake in the reformation of our youth, no progress can be achieved without the manifest blessing of Allah.  Despite our tremendous weaknesses, we genuinely seek to improve and to remain true to the Khuddam pledge.  

 

We are, however, duly cognizant of the enormous challenges before us and we realise that the ‘Servants of Ahmadiyyat’ have much work to do under the guidance of Khilafat.

 

Therefore, our dear and beloved Huzur, Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya United Kingdom humbly yet earnestly solicits the continued prayers and perpetual guidance of Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih (atba), the Divine leader under whose celestial wing this Majlis continues to flourish.  

 

May Allah situate before Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK and each and every Khadim and Tifl within it, the courage, spirit and devotion to put the service of Allah and that of His Khalifa beyond all else. May the unpolished diamonds among us become sanctified with such gleaming righteousness that the blessings of Allah upon Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK illuminates, in its own sparkling way, the unmistakable truth for all those who seek it.

 

May Allah grant us the spiritual elevation reserved for His most prized subjects and may He bless our beloved Huzur with His infinite grace and boundless mercy.

 

Ameen, Wassalamu Alaikum.

 

 

 

* These figures now include those attendees who arrived and registered just before and during the Final Session and hence differ from the figures reported during the Final Session.