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Ahmadiyyat Will Live On

Inaugural address of the Jalsa Salana, 26 December 1939.

After the recitation of tashahhud, ta’awudh and Surah Fatihah, Huzoor said:

As I began to recite the first verse of Surah Fatihah, I caught a glimpse of the Talimul-Islam High School. The sight evoked memories of the discord which occurred 25 years ago, when those Ahmadis who saw themselves as the leaders [of the community] and controlled the administration of the jama‘at, severed ties with us. Their anger expressed the following: either their will was accepted or they would no longer manage the affairs of the community and leave them to the remaining members. At the time of the split, Dr Mirza Yaqub Baig, who has since departed this life, pointed to [the school] and said that as he and others break away, the rest of us will come to see that in ten years Ahmadiyyat would disappear and surrender authority [of its places] to the Christians. And so ten years passed, and then another ten and then six more, and yet whereas before, several hundred Ahmadis used to gather here, today thousands have come together to praise and glorify the one God and exalt His name. Their number far exceeds our registered total.

He who said that Christians would one day hold authority [in Qadian] has expired, as have his companions. They have met with God. But Ahmadiyyat has endured, lives on today and will ever remain. No earthly power can or will eradicate it. What power does Christianity have to prevail here; both Christianity and the nations who follow it are our prey. If Allah so wills, Christianity will surely succumb to us and we will be victorious.

Gone are the days when the Son of Mary was revered as God. For 1900 years, the physical Son of Mary was held up in opposition to God’s oneness and many a person forsook divine unity. But today, he who God has raised as the spiritual Son of Mary will establish the Kingdom of God in this world as it is in heaven.

We are gathered here to express our sincerity and devotion to our Lord and to show the world Ahmadiyyat is united in its efforts to glorify God Almighty’s name. We are ready to render any sacrifice for His religion. Ahmadis have congregated again, for it would be difficult for them to visit each other in their homes. If, for example, two Ahmadis were to meet in a chance encounter in a marketplace of Lahore after a gap of two years, each of them would be in doubt as to whether the other was still with the community or whether they had recanted. Likewise, two Ahmadis could happen on one another in a bazaar in Amritsar after several years apart and be unsure whether either of them still had a connection with Ahmadiyyat. But the wisdom of Allah the Exalted wanted them to gather in the headquarters every year in ever greater number. In this way, they would demonstrate to their enemies that God brings the greatest success to the community. There are those who say they will be victors over Qadian and that they will wipe it out, but they ought to come and see how their efforts at destruction are causing Ahmadiyyat to grow. [I am reminded here] of a children’s story which I knew to be nothing more than a fanciful tale even when I was young. However, ensconced within it is a lesson that is applicable to the spiritual world. The story is about a monster who, whenever slain, generates more monsters from each droplet of its blood. It appears that the same is true of prophetic communities. No matter how far they are trampled on or oppressed they always grow and the more they are persecuted the more they prosper.

Allah the Exalted has, through His blessings and grace, prepared the ground for Ahmadiyyat to succeed in every country, region and part of the world. It flourishes by the day and new branches of the community are being established in different places. Only recently I received news from Sierra Leone in West Africa. I will elaborate on the details more fully in my next address, but for now it is sufficient to say an Ahmadi missionary has been there for almost a year. At first he met with opposition from both the government and non-Ahmadis. But just the day before yesterday, word arrived that two chiefs have accepted Ahmadiyyat along with 500 members of their tribe. In this way, God Almighty, through His infinite grace and bounty, has blessed us to see the day when people enter the religion of Allah in troops.2 Much more is still to come.

In Punjabi, the term wangi refers to a product sample shopkeepers give to consumers so they can check the quality of an item. Thus our success so far is like a wangi God has given the jama‘at. Otherwise we are destined for far greater victories which will surely come to pass. So come forth and promise to serve the religion with sincerity. Then will you see the abundance of the treasure of God’s blessings placed before you.

I am here to open the Jalsa Salana. Though I was ready on time the stage had not been prepared hence the delay. The relevant organisers ought to be mindful of this in the future. Nevertheless, I inaugurate the jalsa with the prayer that Allah increases the mercy and blessings which He has bestowed on us so that our humble efforts become ever more prolific; may we become more worthy of His bounties; may He bless our endeavours and through them spread Islam and Ahmadiyyat to the corners of the earth and let it attain victory and honour. I pray when we are granted power and dominance we do not become unjust, slothful or given to material luxuries; rather we become ever more submissive and compassionate and spend our lives ever more fervently in the service of God Almighty. Jesus (as) once said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. But this is not the case. According to the teachings of Islam, one ought to aspire to honour, dignity, power and ascendency and happily receive the material rewards which God Almighty bestows. However, these means must be used in the best interest and welfare of God’s creation. I cannot ask God Almighty to deny us the same rewards He has always conferred on the communities of the prophets; this would be most ungrateful. Always pray that whenever Allah grants us success and favour, Ahmadis cherish these bounties and spend them in the way of Allah the Exalted for the propagation of His faith and the well-being of His creation.

Pray too Allah the Exalted protects us from dissension and if any conflict should arise He enables us to thwart it and renders futile the efforts of our enemies. Moreover, pray He mends our ways and blesses our deeds. One cannot succeed until they reform their actions through good intentions. Pray also for those missionaries who wished to be here today, so as to witness this divine sign which God Almighty has manifested in favour of Ahmadiyyat, but could not come because of their labours [in the field] for the sake of their Lord. Though they are not physically present among us, we remember them in our hearts. There are those sitting near us whose hearts are distant. While others who dwell in far flung places are close to our hearts and minds. We love them and pray for them.

Pray for your children! May Allah enable them to serve the religion and may their future generations be devoted servants of the faith. May God be pleased with them, and may they be content with Him by becoming recipients of His everlasting bounties. Ameen

(Alfazl, 3 January 1940)