The HOPE Bulletin
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Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful .......... The HOPE Bulletin ……….. Health, Ongoing Projects, Education (Vol. 6:11) May 2012 AAIIL Worldwide Edition Editor: Akbar Ibn Abdullah CALIFORNIA JAMA‘AT PROJECT: APPROVED BY THE CENTRAL ANJUMAN, LAHORE Professor Dr. Abdul Karim Saeed Fifth Ameer of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement About the Cover: Portrait of Hazrat Ameer Professor Dr. Abdul Karim Saeed, the current Ameer and President of the worldwide Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, seen without his traditional headgear. Photograph courtesy aaiil.org. INTRODUCTION On the cover page you will see a photograph, without the traditional headgear, of Hazrat Ameer-i-Qaum, Professor Dr. Abdul Karim Saeed Pasha Sahib, the fifth Ameer and President of the worldwide Lahore Ahmadiyya Jama‘at . We notice an interesting mark on the center of Hazrat Ameer-i-Qaum’s forehead. This mark is a gift of Allah which Hazrat Ameer earned by his piety and countless hours of sincere meditation. May Allah ( swt ), with His bountiful mercy and graceful blessings, grant Hazrat Ameer strength, stamina and a long healthy life so he can continue to serve the worldwide Jama‘at with his sacrifice and dedication for a long time to come. Aameen . The present Ameer-i-Qaum was preceded by Dr. Asghar Hameed Sahib (the fourth Ameer ), Khan Bahadur Dr. Saeed Ahmad Khan, S.K. (the third Ameer ), Maulana Sadruddin Sahib (the second Ameer ) and Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ali Sahib (of the blessed memory, the first Ameer and the founding father of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-i-Islam, Lahore). May Allah be pleased with all of them. Aameen . During the tenure of Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ali Sahib and Maulana Sadruddin Sahib, missionaries were sent from Lahore to the then worldwide missions and Jama‘ats , so essentially it was not necessary for the Ameers themselves to travel abroad to energise the foreign Jama‘ats . This scenario changed after the World War II. Due to foreign exchange restrictions in Pakistan, the Central Anjuman could not sustain the cost of maintaining missionaries abroad, which in turn prompted the foreign Jama‘ats to make their own local arrangements for Imams to meet their spiritual needs. The new situation warranted the Ameer-i-Qaum at Lahore to travel to various Jama‘ats abroad to energise them. In this respect, Khan Bahadur Dr. Saeed Ahmad Khan, S.K. (may Allah be pleased with him) was a pioneer. He not only visited the existing Jama‘ats but helped form new ones. JazakAllah! Dr. Asghar Hameed Sahib, the fourth Ameer , in his short tenure as Ameer-i-Qaum , could not visit any foreign Jama‘at due to his illness. In his place, Mian Fazl-i-Ahmad Sahib, the Chairman of the Foreign Missions at the time, made several visits abroad. Thanks be to Allah that our fifth Ameer-i-Qaum has the stamina and determination to make frequent visits to the foreign Jama‘ats in all parts of the sphere. He has been a boon to the host of members in our overseas Jama‘ats who have not visited Lahore and perhaps may not do so in their lifetime. Wherever Hazrat Ameer-i-Qaum visited, whether to participate in overseas conventions or otherwise, he energised the Jama‘ats JazakAllah! For the benefit of their members, we respectfully urge the officials of all the foreign Jama‘ats to encourage and welcome Hazrat Ameer-i-Qaum to visit them periodically. 2 May Allah ( swt ) bless you all and keep you under His protection and care at all times. Aameen . JAMA‘AT NEWS Hazrat Ameer delivers Friday’s khutba at the Central Mosque On Friday, May 18, 2012 Hazrat Ameer delivered the Khutba-i-Jumuah at the Central Mosque, Darus Salaam, Lahore. The khutba was broadcast live from Lahore for the benefit of the worldwide Jama‘ats on U-Tube around 1:30 PM Pakistan standard time. The presentation and photography were remarkable. However, we concur with Brother Shahid Aziz, General Secretary of the UK Jama‘at , that the acoustics within the confines of the Mosque needed some improvement. JazakAllah! The live broadcast of Khutba-i-Jumuah is a regular feature. You may view the weekly proceedings from Jamiah Darus Salaam, Lahore online at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/atc2009 Dr. Zahid Aziz of United Kingdom creates a new website A new website dedicated to the life and work of Maulana Abdul Haq Vidyarthi Sahib has been created by Dr. Zahid Aziz of the United Kingdom. JazakAllah! In order to access this website, kindly go to the link www.abdulhaq.info While describing this new website Dr. Zahid Aziz wrote: “This website has been created to provide a record, as complete as possible, of the life, work and writings of Maulana Abdul Haq Vidyarthi. It is at an early stage of construction as yet. In one of its sections, Urdu articles written by the Maulana, mostly published in the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement paper Paigham Sulh, are being provided in the form of images of the relevant pages from the original publications. Much of this vast material, spanning more than fifty years from the early 1920s to the 1970s, has not been publicly available since the first publication of the original magazines. Books written by the Maulana have already been available online at the central website of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement www.aaiil.org .” Masih Mau’ood Day meeting planned at the Oakland Mosque, U.S.A. On May 26, 2012 many of our worldwide Jama‘ats plan to commemorate the 104 th death anniversary of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib, Mujaddid of the 14 th century, Imam Mahdi, and the Promised Messiah. 3 We received an announcement from Sister Jannifar Khanoum, Personal Assistant to Maulvi Mohammad Mustafa, Imam of the Oakland Mosque, that the Jama‘at members of the San Francisco Bay Area will assemble at the community mosque in Oakland on Saturday, May 26, 2012 for Hazrat Sahib’s anniversary memorial. Inshaa Allah , we will publish activities of the day in our next issue of The HOPE Bulletin . To mark the occasion of the death anniversary of Hazrat Mirza Sabih, we have taken from the Central Anjuman’s website an extract on the circumstances of his death and the transport of his body to Qadian for burial, as is given below: “At the age of seventy-three, he was still wielding his pen in the cause of Islam with the energy of a man of thirty. He had just finished the last lines of his Message of Peace, outlining the possible basis of an everlasting peace between the Hindus and the Muslims, when suddenly he fell ill at 10 p.m. on the evening of the 25th May, with an attack of diarrhea, to which he succumbed at 10 a.m. on the morning of 26th May, 1908. The Civil Surgeon of Lahore certified that death was not due to an infectious disease, and it was on the production of this certificate that the authorities permitted the carrying of his body to Qadian, where it was consigned to its last resting-place, on the 27th May.” Appreciation of Br. Shaukat A. Ali’s propagation work JazakAllah! Brother Shaukat A. Ali, Coordinator, Asia–Pacific Region, is a dedicated worker. He maintains contact with various Jama‘ats in his vast region via internet and satellite phone. Besides frequent visits to the Jama‘ats in the sphere of his region, he also issues periodical newsletters and spiritual articles for the information and benefit of members. Recently he circulated three letters which we forwarded to the readers. We are pleased to publish some of the feedback we received on our mailings. *** Captain Abdus Salam Khan, Cucamonga, CA, U.S.A. Thank you for circulating these three letters, and thank you Brother Shaukat Ali for hitting the nail on the head. I am reminded of an incident in the life of Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ali Sahib that happened during the Jalsa Salana in the early forties. As Hazrat was delivering his inaugural address in the Jalsa , in walks Maulvi Sana’ullah Amritsari accompanied by a band of his followers and sends a chit to Hazrat. Hazrat puts the chit on the table and continues his address. Sann’ullah again sends a chit and again Hazrat disregards it and puts on the table. Finally, when the third chit came, Hazrat Maulana exclaimed: “I am continuously being challenged by the Reverend for a debate on the truth of Mirza Sahib. I am against such debates, for each party would later claim that they won the debate. Let me suggest to the Reverend that let both of us jointly select a field of missionary activity in India and let each party go to the area and do proselytizing work for a year. After a year, let both parties present their report to an impartial panel. The party that comes out on top would be the winner!” Hearing this, Maulana Sana’ullah quietly left the gathering, making it clear that he had no 4 stomach for positive work. More power to your elbow Brother Shaukat Ali. Capt. Abdus Salam Khan *** Ahmed Saadat Sahib, Lahore, Pakistan Assalam- o- Alakum: How are you Brother Shaukat and thank you so much for all these wonderful articles. May Allah help us all the time... Ameen Sum Ameen . Kind regards, Ahmed Saadat 98 th anniversary of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-i-Islam, Lahore Brother Jalal Ud Dean of Suva, Fiji reminds us that the first one hundred years anniversary of the founding of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-i-Islam, Lahore is fast approaching. This will give cause to all our worldwide Jama‘ats to stage another celebration.