“Being a Muslim, you should recite the Holy Quran daily” – Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad

On 26 February 2023, the World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the Fifth Khalifa (Caliph), His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad held a virtual meeting with student members of Lajna Imaillah (Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Association) from Bangladesh.

His Holiness presided the meeting from MTA Studios in Islamabad, Tilford, whilst the Lajna members joined the meeting virtually from the Darut Taligh Mosque in Dhaka.

Following a formal session, members of Lajna Imaillah had the opportunity to ask His Holiness a range of questions regarding their faith and contemporary issues.

An attendee mentioned that she is studying Zoology and asked His Holiness how the study of one’s faith as a Muslim can compliment their secular studies.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

“Being a Muslim, you should recite the Holy Quran daily. You should also read the translation of it. Then you will know what you are reading from the Holy Quran and you will know the meaning of it. You are studying Zoology, so try to find out the verses from the Holy Quran which are related to science and existence of human beings and life on the earth. Then you can study and relate those verses with your subject and this is how you can get more enlightened about your subject from the Holy Quran. So, you will have to give some time to this. Read some commentaries [of the Holy Quran].”

Another Lajna member asked His Holiness what she should do if she writes a letter to His Holiness asking for advice in a decision but does not receive a reply in the stipulated time where she must make the decision.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad advised her and said:

“In that case, you should just do whatever you feel better or appropriate for you. If the matter is about getting admission in some particular subject and you are asking that, ‘Should I get admission in this subject or not, or should I take these subjects in my Bachelors courses or Masters courses?’ and you do not get a letter response on time, then you should decide yourself and apply for admission instead of waiting for my letter or my advice to come to you. If you receive a reply from me later on and my opinion or my advice is different from what you you have done, then do not worry, just write to me that since my letter reached late to you and the time was short, this is why you already selected the subject, and inform of what you are now doing. There is no need to worry.”

An attendee asked His Holiness about what to do in a situation where one chooses to study a subject which may lead to a successful career but may not be of service to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. She mentioned that she wishes to become a teacher after studying physics.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

“It is quite beneficial for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community if you are a teacher. If you are portraying the true picture of a Muslim woman, then your staff members and your students would know that she is the true portrayal of Islamic teachings and at the same time, she is quite a good teacher; she has good morals, she has some religious knowledge and she offers her prayers on time. This will also open the doors of showing the true message of Islam to people and will introduce Islam and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. So, every subject is beneficial for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Don’t think that physics is a subject which is not beneficial for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. It is the person who makes the subject beneficial or not.”      

Another attendee mentioned that her pregnant sister lost her child due to the delay in formalities caused by the doctors. She asked His Holiness whether a person practicing in the field of medicine should give priority to morality or formalities in the medical profession.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

“Formalities can be done later on. The first preference should be to save the life of the person – this is the ethics and this is the doctor’s duty and this is the true action taken by a doctor that he should show good morals. Morality is the first preference and professional ethics is the first preference – both require that the patient should be given priority for the treatment instead of taking time on completing the formalities of admission and that is wrong. So, those doctors who are after formalities and do not take care of their patients immediately and do not show sympathy to their patients, they are not doctors, rather they are like butchers. The first preference of a doctor should be the value of a human life, not the formality of the administration.”