Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Addresses the Concluding Session of the National Ijtema of Majlis Ansarullah UK
“Bring the entire world under the flag of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) through peaceful means” – Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad
On 8 October 2023, the World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the Fifth Khalifa (Caliph), His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad delivered a faith inspiring address to conclude the National Ijtema (Annual Gathering) of Majlis Ansarullah UK, the auxiliary organisation of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community for men aged 40 and above.
The 3-day event which was held at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in London was attended by more than 3,400 men and served to inspire the attendees towards practicing their faith with devotion.
Members of Majlis Ansarullah in France and USA were also able to join in the concluding session through a virtual satellite link as they also held their National Ijtemas in their respective countries over the weekend.
During his address, His Holiness took a most significant pledge reminding the Ansar of their fundamental responsibilities in ensuring that the world is informed of the true peaceful teachings of Islam and so that the future generations may remain attached to the blessed institution of Khilafat.
The same pledge was taken by the members of Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya UK at their National Ijtema a week earlier.
As His Holiness began his address, he referred to the philosophy behind the name ‘Ansarullah’, which means The Helpers of Allah.
Speaking in reference to Hazrat Musleh Maud (ra), the second Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community who founded and named Majlis Ansarullah, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:
“The name Ansarullah has been given to you after much thought and reflection. The age of a person from 15 to 40 is one of youth and hope and so the organisation for that age group is named ‘Khuddamul Ahmadiyya’ (Servants of Ahmadiyyat) so that the may spend as much time as possible in the service of humanity. The organisation for those aged 40 and above has been titled ‘Ansarullah’. At this age, a person has the benefit of experience, is well established in his works and attains a level of seniority at his work and reaches a stage where he is able to spend his wealth in the service of Allah more than before.”
Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad continued and said:
“You have been named Ansarullah so that you may pay as much attention as possible towards the service of the faith. This service can be in the form of financial sacrifice and also in the form of religious service; it is your obligation to spend as much time as possible in the worship of Allah. You must promote your faith as much as possible by firstly setting your moral example and by also preaching about your faith so that by seeing your example your progeny may also develop righteousness. Every member of Ansarullah must remember that he must increase the standards of his worship and safeguard his daily prayers and must focus especially on offering congregational prayers.”
Speaking about the way prayers should be observed, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:
“Pray to Allah with much zeal and passion. This way you will be able to develop a state in which you will not be distracted during your prayers. If we develop this state within us then through our practice we will be replying to those who say that people commit sins and injustices despite worshipping Allah. Those people who do this, they worship Allah only as a tick-box exercise. Those who worship Allah without having any true fear of Him and those who pray without fulfilling all the conditions of the prayer and those who are engrossed in evils and those who fail to fulfil the rights of others are such who have been declared by God Almighty Himself as those people whose worship is a means of their destruction and their prayers will be thrown back at them. Thus, our worship should not be observed with the purpose of filling any report forms or for the sake of showing off to others and should not be offered by way of mere custom. Rather, they should be observed for the sake of attaining the love of Allah. Such are the prayers that shall bear fruit.”
His Holiness reminded the attendees of the vast task that lay ahead of them.
Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:
“We should develop a real concern as we have been assigned an immense task by Allah the Almighty. The task is that we must not only reform ourselves and our children and we must not merely establish ourselves and our children upon the Unity of God and follow the example of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), rather we must bring the entire world under the flag of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) through peaceful means and thus we must establish the Unity of God in the entire world.”
His Holiness said none of this can be achieved without adopting piety and righteousness.
Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:
“If you wish to have the honour of serving Islam – and that is not an insignificant honour, rather it is an honour of great esteem; if you wish to have the great privilege of waving the flag of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in the world, if you wish to be honoured enough to establish the Unity of God in the world – which is again a great feat to strive for, then the condition is that you must first adopt righteousness. When you develop righteousness then indeed in the sight of Allah you will be considered honourable enough to be counted amongst the ‘Ansarullah’ who spread the Unity of Allah and who propagate His faith and thus are blessed to receive His bounties.”
His Holiness said that the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) and his mission will most certainly achieve success and victory through the blessings of Allah, but if anyone wishes ot be a part of that glorious triumph then they ought to “tread upon righteousness and not have any contradiction between their words and actions.”
Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:
“Today, every member of Ansarullah ought to make the pledge that he shall raise his standards of righteousness in order to establish the unity of Allah and to manifest the might of Allah. Make the pledge to show kindness to the world and whilst doing so, take those people of the world out of filth who are enveloped in the materialistic dirt of this world. At a time when we are making the pledge that we shall endeavour with all our efforts to fulfil the mission of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) and to establish the Unity of God, and take the message of Islam to every individual in the world, we must truly consider how much of an effort we must make to firstly reform ourselves and develop righteousness within us.”
His Holiness said that the responsibility of raising the flag of the Holy Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings be upon him) was even greater upon those who were mature of age and for those who must live up to their title of being ‘Ansarullah’.
Thereafter, as the address concluded, in a most emotional atmosphere, His Holiness took the solemn pledge from the members of Majlis Ansarullah who pledged that they shall “give every possible sacrifice, no matter how heavy its burden, in order for the blessed flag of Islam to be raised aloft in every nation until the end of time.”