Welcome to Aleem Academy! • State certified full time Islamic school serving students in Pre­ K through 5th grade. • In seventh year of operation. • Highly qualified professional teachers who care about your child's progress. • Full Islamic Studies curriculum and daily Sa/at • Strong, competitive academics; successful graduates. • Warm, nurturing Islamic environment. • Close parent/staff/student relationship. • Tuition below market; financial aid available. • Computers, library, art, music and physical education offered to all students. • Easy relocation to active Jama'at and convenient, diverse, and thriving Maryland communities. Doesn't your child deserve an Islamic education? www.aleemacademy.org Enrollment for 2008-2009 closes April 25, 2008. Don't wait to schedule a visit! Call 410-795-5375. November - December 2007 1 Ahmadiyya Gazette An educational and spiritual monthly publication OFFICIAL GAZETTE OF THE AHMADIYYA MOVEMENT IN ISLAM, USA 2-4 AI-Qur'an, AI-Hadidi and Sayings of the Promised Messiahas 5 A Brif Sumary of lhe Friday Sermon delivered by Hadhrat Khalifatul November - December 2007 Masih V"ba Delivered on August 31, 2007 in Germany 8 A Brief Rep on of 59th J alsa Salana USA: Habibullah S. Bajwa Patron Dr. Ahsanullah Zafar 18 Opening Address: Dr. Ahsanullah Zafar, Ameer USAJama'at Ameer Jama'at USA 21 The Message of AI-W asiyyat: Khilafat is the Inheritance of lhe Righteous: Maulana Shamshad A. Nasir Editor-in-Chief Dr. Naseer Ahmad 27 Laying lhe Foundation of Khilafat: The Life of Hadhrat Maulvi Hakim Nooruddin": Maulana Azhar Haneef Editor Dr. Karimullah Zirvi 33 Ahmadiyya Literature: Its Importance in Preserving and Enhancing Our Faith: Dr. Khalil Malik Editorial Advisor Muhammad Zafrullah 39 Coming of Age in America-The Benefits of Following lhe Hanjra Messenger.. ": Hamza Ilyas Cover: LatifAhmed Photos: Kalim Bhatti 44 The Straight Path to a Successful Marriage: Essential Teachings for Men: Dr. &fan Ahmad Alladin 50 Love for All, Hatred for None: Dr. Nasir Khan 52 Love in Action-Service of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Across the Globe: Munum A. Naeem, Na'ib Ameer Masjid Baitur Rehman 58 Love of One's Nation: The Undivided Loyalty of a Citizen: 15000 Good Hope Road, Silver Spring, MD 20905 Naser-ud-Din Shams Love of God's Creation, The Sanctity of life: Alhaj Dhul Waqar Yaqub Phone: 301-879-0110 Fax: 301-879-0115 62 66 The Holy Prophet'"", The Great Exempler of 'lta'i Dbil-Q,,ba': Editor: [email protected] Munir Hamid, Na'ib Ameer Tel. and Fax: 201-794-8122 70 ZiJu-e-Habib: The Promised Messiah's" Defense of Islam: www.ahmadiyya.us www.alislam.org Dr. Mina Maghfoor Ahmad 76 Concluding Address: Dr, Ahsanullah Zafar, Ameer Jama'at USA Acronyms for salutations used in this publication 79 Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih v•s•b• Address inJalsa Salana Germany saw: sallallahu alaihi wasallam 80 59th Jalsa USA: Lajna Imauillah USA Repon: Asma Siddiqui, Lajna (Peace and Blessing of Allah be upon him) Secretary lsha'at as: alaihissalam 82 Fiction to Fact: Revealing the Truth About Islam: lsmat Sarah Mangla, (Peace be upon him) NewYork ra: radhi allahu 'anhu 87 Truth Prevails, Falsehood Destroys: Life of the Holy Prophet"" as the (May Allah be pleased with him/her) Perfect Example of Truthfulness: Fanana Safiullah rh: rahimahullahu ta'ala (May Allah shower mercy on him/her) 91 Poem: Annual Jalsa: Sayyarah Hikmat Mukhtar aba: ayyada hullah ta'ala binasrihil aziz 92 How to Fulfill the Second Condition of Bai'at in Our Daily Lives: I (May Allah strengthen him with His mighty help) Nusrat J. Rashid, Esquire, Philadelphia Lajna I swt: subhana wa ta'ala 99 Signs of the Truthfulness of the Promised Messiah: (Holy and Exalted) Saadia Ahmed, Silicon Valley Lajna 103 Islam: A Pefect and Complete Religion for All Mankind: Dr. Shanaz Bun, Sadr Lajna Imaillah, USA The Ahmadiyya Gazette USA is published by the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, Inc., at the local address: 107 Staying True to Our Covenant-Sacrifices of Early Ahmadis in America: Saliha Hanif, Boston Lajna The World Processing Lab Accounts of Personal Experiences: Helai Ayoubi, Osh Kosh Lajna P.O. Box 226, Chauncey, OH 45719 111 114 Accounts of Personal Experiences: Qurra-tul-Ain, Research Triangle, Periodicals Postage Paid at Chauncey, Ohio Nonh Carolina Lajna Postmaster: Send address changes to 117 Accounts of Personal Experiences: Aisha Khan, Central Jersey Lajna The Ahmadiyya Gazette Jalsa UK 2007: A Spiritual Experience: Rafiq Ahmad P.O. Box 226, Chauncey, OH 45719-0226 120 123 Poem: Baitul Hameed: Dr. Ahsan M. Khan, Los Angeles 125 Fitchburgh Jam'at's First Eid: Masood Ashraf November - December 2007 2 Ahmadiyya Gazette USA Al-Qur'an And keep on exhorting; for, verily, exhortation benefits those who would believe. And I have not created the jinn and the men but that they may worship Me. I desire no sustenance from them, nor do I desire that they should feed Me. Surely, it is Allah Himself Who is the Great Sustainer, the Powerfull, the Strong (51 :56-59) Commentary: The primary signification of the word 'Ibadah is to subject oneself to a rigorous spiritual discipline, working with all one's inherent powers and capacities to their fullest Scope, in perfect harmony with and in obedience to Divine commandments, so as to receive God's impress and thus to be able to assimilate and manifest in oneself His attributes. This is, as stated in the verse, the great and noble aim and object of man's creation and this is exactly what worship of God means. The external and internal endowments of human nature give us clearly to understand that of God-given faculties the highest is the one which awakens in man the urge to search after God and incites in him the noble desire completely to submit himself to His Will. If the spiritual wayfarer pursues his course towards the noble object of his life steadfastly and with perseverance, he does no good to God, or to anybody else, but himself profits by it and attains the object of his quest. November - December 2007 3 Ahmadiyya Gautte USA Al-Hadith .. .. .. , , ,, , , , ~,;... ,.u, ~;Jj'.~ ~ Ji, ~.J 1;1~ ~t ~ u:~ u w Ju~~ ru... ~ . , • I , , , I • I ' ,, • .. '' '' • ' '41 ~ jJj ~,f.\j ~~ ''-1 ~ jJj "* ip~ ~j? llll J\J J\J ~j ~ .. , ~ I I uJ'J lll, ~, J·-)Al Hadhrat Hammam bin Munabbahn states that this is what Hadhrat Abu Hurairabn related to us from the Holy Prophet-, be said: "Allih the Almighty says: 'My servant denies Me whereas he should not do so. He abuses Me whereas he has no right to do so. It is denying Me when someone says I cannot recreate as I created in the first place. It is abusing Me when someone says I have taken unto myself a son. I am Self-Sufficient and besought of all. I beget not, nor I am begotten and there is none like unto Me. "' (Musnad AiJmad, p 31712) I 11 { ' Hadhrat Jarir bin 'Abdullahn relates: We wete sitting with the Holy Prophet" when be looked at the moon which was the 14th night's moon and said, 'You will surely behold your Lord as you are beholding this full moon without any perturbation. Therefore, if you can manage not to neglect the prayer before sunrise and the prayer before sunset, then do it.' II (Bukhari ldtibuttauhld warrad 'alal jahmiyyah bib qaulal/ih wajuh yaUJna 'idhin November - December 2007 4 Ahmadiyya Gazette USA SAYINGS OF THE PROMISED MESSIAHas Enduring Signs of the Truth of Islam The Islam whose qualities we have set out is not something for proof of which we have to refer only to the past and to have to point only to the ruins of tombs. Islam is not a dead faith so that it may be said that all its blessings have been left behind and that there is nothing ahead. The principal quality of Islam is that its blessings always accompany it and that it does not speak only of the past but offers present blessings as well. The world is al­ ways in need of blessings and heavenly signs. It is not as if it needed them in the past and does not need them now. A weak and helpless human being who is born like one who is blind is in need that he should know something of the heavenly kingdom and that he should see some signs of the existence and power of God in Whom he believes. The signs of a past age cannot suffice for a subsequent age, for hearing is not the same as seeing and by the passage of time past events become like stories. Every new century is like the beginning of a new world. There­ fore, the God of Islam, Who is the True God, manifests new signs for each new world. At the beginning of each century, especially at the beginning of a century which has strayed far away from faith and integrity and is enveloped in many darknesses, He raises a substitute Prophet in the mirror of whose nature is exhibited the form of a Prophet. Such a one demon­ strates to the world the excellences of the Prophet whose follower he is and convicts all op­ ponents through the truth and the display of reality and the frustration of falsehood. [Aeena Kamalat-e-lslam, Roohani Khaza'in Vol. 5, pp. 245-247] The sign of a true religion is that through its teaching such righteous ones should con­ tinue to arise who should arrive at the stage of a Muhaddas to whom God Almighty should speak face to face. The foremost sign of the truth of Islam is that at all times it produces such righteous ones with whom God Almighty talks: This alone is the test of a true, living and acceptable religion.