The Khalifatul Masih V and Supreme World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba) has delivered a faith-inspiring address in which his holiness reported the annual progress and achievements of the Community on August 7th, the second day of the ongoing Jalsa Salana (Annual Convention) UK 2021.
At around 5pm, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih V (aa) arrived at the main Jalsa Gah (Convention ground) mounted the podium and conveyed his salaam to everyone. He then delivered his historic address where he highlighted the milestones of the global achievements recorded by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
Addressing the thousands of members of the Community at the convention, his holiness said, ‘in this session, I usually recount some of the blessings of Allah the Exalted upon the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, that we see and experience throughout the year. Despite only summaries being prepared of these blessings, I will only be able to present a portion of some of the facts and figures.
Establishment of new Chapters [Jamaats]:
By the grace of Allah the Exalted, this year, apart from Pakistan, 403 new chapters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community were established. In addition to these new Jamaats, the seed of Ahmadiyyat was planted in 829 locations for the first time, which means that a few or a couple of Ahmadis have entered the Jamaat in those locations. Nigeria is on top of the list of those countries where new Jamaats have been established. There, 89 new Jamaats have been established over the past years. Then, there are other countries of Africa and Europe.
With relation to incidents of the establishment of new Jamaats, the missionary-in-charge of São Tomé reports that only three Islands of the country of São Tomé are inhabited. Jamaats have been established in the Islands of São Tomé and Príncipe and mosques have also been constructed there. By the Grace of Allah, this year, the Jamaat was also established on the third Island by the grace of Allah. Our missionaries went there. They preached and as a result of their preaching, ten Christians converted to Islam Ahmadiyyat. It is a small island with a population of less than a hundred.
The missionary in Tanzania writes that some of our missionaries went to one of the villages of the country and they preached and propagated the faith. The people in the locality listened to the message of the Community very attentively and 60 people entered the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Upon this, the local imam phoned them and said that your people are coming here and creating disorder and people from amongst my community are entering the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The imam started arguing with the local Ahmadi missionary and he said, what are you doing, trying to convert people from my locality? Because of course, the Muslim clerics are always concerned about losing their people as they earn their bread through those people. So, our Ahmadi missionary started preaching to that imam. As a result of the debate with the local imam, the people gathered there and started listening to the debate and thirty further people entered into the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. That Sunni imam is sitting in his mosque idle because only a handful of people come to his mosque, whereas hundred or close to hundred people have formed a new chapter of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community on that area and the nizam of the Community is established.
In Guinea Conakry, the clerics of the Islamic League had threatened the local people of a village with regard to Ahmadis, saying that Ahmadis were disbelievers, God forbid. They said that Ahmadis did not have any relation with Islam and so people should not listen to them. However, when the message of the Promised Messiah (as) was preached to them and they were told of the prophecies related to the Latter-Day Messiah and Imam Mahdi, the entire village along with the local imam accepted Ahmadiyyat. The system of the Jamaat has now been established there. However the clerics of the Islamic organisation kept threatening the local villagers, they said that they had found new pleasure in their prayers, which they were unaware of before accepting Ahmadiyyat and that they would remain steadfast on this path.
Establishment of new Mosques:
In terms of the establishment of new mosques, which includes mosques that the Jamaat constructed as well as those that came into the possession of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community during the year, their number is 211. Ghana is on top of the list with most mosques being constructed there. Then, there are also other countries.
In Belize, the first Ahmadiyya mosque has been constructed, which spans over an area of two acres and has a capacity of 220 worshippers. Its foundation was laid in December 2019. It is a very beautiful mosque. It has a mission house, the missionary’s office, a library as well as a guest room. There are two highways that go out from Belize City, one going towards Mexico and the other one towards Guatemala. This Noor Mosque is located on the highway that goes towards Guatemala. It is located at a distance of two miles from the city’s centre. After the mosque in Guatemala, this is the second purpose-built mosque of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Central America. For the construction of this mosque, three brothers from Canada went there to volunteer. They also participated considerably in the construction of another mosque in Canada. These are Mansoor Sahib, Manzoor Sahib, Fareed Sahib and Mudassir Sahib. In any case, they went to Belize and worked towards the construction of the mosque. At first, the construction was estimated to cost 2.5 million US dollars. In the end, it only cost 125,000 US dollars as a result of these voluteers’ efforts. The local people also offered significant sacrifices for this project.
In Zion, in the United States of America, there was a plan to construct a monument. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Zion wanted to make a monument with relation to the prophecy of the Promised Messiah (as). Ten acres of land was purchased about two years ago and there is a plan to construct a mosque, an exhibition hall and so on. It was estimated that it would cost $4 million and with the grace of Allah, this amount was collected. The women of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the United States of America contributed about $1.7 million. And they said that they would give this amount. It is quite a large mosque. The land is about 6,000 square feet. There are different floors for men and women and different halls. This will be the first mosque in the City of Zion. Then an exhibition hall will also be built. The prophecy of the Promised Messiah (as) will also be shown on screens in this exhibition hall. There is also a minaret being made in the same fashion as the Minarat-ul-Masih in Qadian. This is quite a large project being done by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, USA. May Allah the Exalted enable them to rapidly complete it.
Establishment of Mission Houses and Centres of Tabligh:
By the Grace of Allah the Exalted, there has been an increase of 123 new mission houses and preaching centres. Ghana is on top of the list of those countries where most of the mission houses have been established. Then, there are also other countries of Africa, Europe and also parts of Russia.
In a Macedonian city, the first Ahmadiyya mission house, Baitul Ahad, has been constructed. It is now complete. For the foundation stone ceremony, a brick from Qadian was brought over and I sent it to them after praying over it. This is a three-story centre. There is a kitchen. There is a prayer room, a place for ablution, a store and there are many other facilities. There is also a place for a caretaker to stay. On the second story, there is a mosque area. Men and women have separate places to pray and there is also a separate place for women for ablution. Then, on the third story, there is a missionary’s residence and office. This is also a very beautiful building that has been constructed.
Raqeem Press:
Then there is the Raqeem Press. Printing work is also bring undertaken in certain African countries. By the grace of Allah, they are doing good work. More than 350.000 books have been printed through the press that is in Farnham. Leaflets and pamphlets are in addition to this number.
Wakalat-e-Tasnif:
According to Wakalat-e-Tasneef, the Italian translation of the Holy Quran has been revised. The Italian Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has done a lot of work in this regard. Moreover, there are different translations of the Holy Quran. Various books of the Promised Messiah (as) have also been published by them such as The Holy War, Hallmarks of the Saints and Testimony of the Holy Quran etc. Some books are also being revised by them. There are books of the Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I (ra) that are being translated and will be published this year. Likewise, there is Chinese literature. The late Usman Chou Sahib also prepared a book during his lifetime which is being published.
Ruhani Khazain, the books of the Promised Messiah (as) are being published in beautiful print. The printing of these 23 volumes is excellent. They are well-made, yet inexpensive. You can contact the bookstore here or the department of publications and obtain these books.
There are also incidents of conversion upon reading the books of the Promised Messiah (as). For example, the missionary from Australia writes that a young Australian had been learning about Ahmadiyyat for a year. We gave him The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam, about which, after just a few days of reading, he said that this had astonished him and left him completely amazed. He said that the different natural and moral states, as explained by the Promised Messiah (as), is something that he could never have imagined. He said that he could have finished this book in one day but the themes and topics were so profound that sometimes he had to read a page repeatedly and that the book helped him become a better human being.
Wakalat-e-Ishaat:
According to reports from 92 countries, 384 different books and pamphlets in 39 languages were published to the number of 3.68 million copies. This includes Arabic, Bangla, German, Indonesian, Swahili and so many other languages.
Wakalat-e-Ishaat Tarseel:
This is the department of distribution in publications, for they are responsible for the dissemination of the publications. According to their report, books were sent to different countries and they number over 75,000. Then, there is other literature that is also sent. In 90 countries of the world, more than 591 libraries and regional libraries were established. Books are sent from London and Qadian. A lot of literature is also published from Qadian.
Exhibitions, Bookstalls & Book fairs:
According to the reports, some 200,000 people attended around 1,970 exhibitions and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community participated in 2,743 book fairs last year or bookstalls were held.
At a prominent book fair in India, a Nepalese individual came and he said that previously he had considered Islam a distasteful religion but when he came to learn about Islam from the Ahmadiyya Muslim community at the book fair, it completely changed his mind and he said that Islam actually gives peaceful teachings and this is a message that needs to be conveyed to other people too so that they come to know the reality of Islam. Only the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is truly conveying the peaceful message of Islam.
Distribution of Leaflets:
6.9 million leaflets were distributed in 103 countries and through them, the message of Islam Ahmadiyyat reached more than 10 million people. Germany is on top of the list of the countries, which distributed most of the leaflets. Then comes the UK and other countries.
A missionary from Tanzania writes that there was a lot of opposition in a village and it is very difficult to preach, but we went there and we distributed the new leaflets and the next day an individual called us. He invited us to come to their village and tell them more about Ahmadiyyat. So, we went there and preached and five people converted and accepted Islam Ahmadiyyat. In this way, by the Grace of Almighty Allah, where we thought it was difficult to preach, through the means of leaflets, Allah gave us five bai’ats.
Central Desks:
Huzoor (aa) then briefly mentioned some of the efforts made by the various central Desks of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, which include the Arabic Desk, Russian Desk, French Desk, Bangla Desk, Chinese Desk, Indonesian Desk, Turkish Desk, Swahili Desk and Spanish Desk that are propagating the message of Islam to the speakers of their respective languages by translating and publishing various kinds of literature, in addition to fulfiling other tasks assigned to them by the Jamaat such as the translation of the correspondence with Huzoor (aa).
Press & Media:
Then there is the Press and Media Office. By the grace of God Almighty, they too are carrying out very good work. They had 102 news and articles published in various newspapers. According to a conservative estimate, the message of Islam reached 20 million people through their efforts. They also had many programmes on television, and also met with many journalists during the year.
Alislam.org:
OpenQuran.com, the new search engine of the Holy Quran has been created by them, the second version of which is being inaugurated at this year’s Jalsa Salana. Then there is also the ReadQuran.app which has been created. There are numerous books available on the website; 316 in English, 1,000 in Urdu, 71 on other platforms such as Apple etc. They have also prepared 10 new audiobooks. Then there is other content published by them and they are doing a lot of work.
MTA International:
Then there is MTA International. By the grace of God, they have eight channels running 24/7. They have permanent staff and also many volunteers. They are doing simultaneous translations into 17 different languages.
There is also an MTA Ghana that has been established. On 15 January the digital channel, MTA Ghana was established. A lot of work is being done through MTA Ghana. It is also being viewed via antennas. Various TV channels take MTA programmes and show them on their TV channel.
Then, there is MTA Africa, which has increased in its scope quite considerably. There are two channels in various African languages, which are being broadcast. There are now 11 branches of MTA Africa. The Wahhab Adam studio was upgraded this year and the Gambia studio is also doing a lot of excellent work.
After watching programmes on MTA, by the grace of Allah, many people also convert to Islam Ahmadiyyat:
The missionary-in-charge Cameroon writes that 40 km from the capital there’s a small town where a person converted to Islam Ahmadiyyat. He informed us that for some time, he had been watching MTA through YouTube and he had learnt a lot about the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He eventually became satisfied, that this Community is truthful and Hazrat Mirza Ghulam is the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi. One of his relatives who live in Ivory Coast, who is familiar with Ahmadis, informed me of the phone number of the Ahmadiyya missionary. Now, this person has converted along with his family and he regularly listens to the Friday sermon.
Ahmadiyya Radio Stations:
Right now, the radio stations of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community number 27. This includes 17 in Mali, four in Burkina Faso and three in Sierra Leone. Then, there are other countries that have one or two. There is a lot of work happening for tabligh or propagation through these stations. There is an Internet radio station in Turkish which has also been established, and they are doing good work.
This year, through 5,068 TV programmes we had one at 1,877 hours of airtime on other channels. Then, through the various Ahmadiyya radio stations in different countries, we had over 47,800 hours of programmes and over 10,000 programmes were broadcast. According to a conservative estimate, we conveyed the message of Islam Ahmadiyyat to 300 million people.
There are also faith-inspiring incidents of conversion as a result of these.
The missionary from Mali says that, whenever we speak with non-Ahmadis about Africa, they believe that as a result of a lack of knowledge people enter into the Ahmadiyya Community. This is an utter misconception. For example, in one of our regions, a short while ago, there was a teacher by the name of Zakaria who was able to accept Islam Ahmadiyyat. He is proficient in English and French. At the time of his conversion, he said that he had been listening to the Ahmadiyya radio for the last seven years and after studying Ahmadiyyat from every angle, it was only then that he decided to convert. He said, “Today the biggest reality is the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.”
Waqf-e-Nau:
Then, there is the Tehrik-e-Waqf-e-Nau department. By the grace of Allah, the number of waqifeen-e-nau is 75,522 worldwide. 41,697 of them are boys, while 33,825 are girls. The new waqifeen, who joined this year were 2,856. Over fifteen-year-olds are 34,622. 22,000 of the boys and 12,000 of the girls are over this age. Pakistan has the most waqifeen-e-nau, followed by Germany, UK, India and Canada.
Makhzan-e-Tasaweer:
This is the Central Photography Department. They preserve photographs and are doing good work.
The Review of Religions:
The Review of Religions magazine has been running for 119 years. The Promised Messiah (as) established it. This is being published monthly in English, every other month in German and French, quarterly in Spanish. In four different languages, every year, it prints almost 197,000 copies. During the year, over 250,000 people viewed the Review Religions’ website. Through Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, it reached 5,000,000 people. Through its YouTube channel, they have 87,000 subscribers and this year more than two million people viewed the videos.
By the Grace of Almighty Allah, they are doing a lot of work.
They are also publishing various booklets of Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud, the second worldwide Head of the Worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. They also organised the God Summit. They have a lot of positive outcomes and people were really impressed by it. The people who watched it gave a lot of excellent feedback. They said that now we have come to believe in the existence of God.
Al-Fazl International:
There is Al-Fazl International. From 27 May 2019, it has been printing twice a week. They publish my Friday Sermon and other content. By the grace of Allah, they are also progressing quite well. They are also reaching people through social media.
Bai’ats:
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic this year, although we were not able to preach in the open, Allah the Almighty has granted us 125,221 bai’ats, which is an increase of more than 13,000 from the last year. There are countries from across the globe, where conversions were achieved.
