Contents Page Editorial Note 2 Mrs Akhtar Aziz – An Embodiment of Prayers for All 3 Hazrat Ameer Dr A.K. Saeed Invitation to the Centenary Celebration of the Arrival of Hazrat Khwaja-ud-Din in 4 England The Holy Prophet Muhammad 5 Kristiane Backer In Celebration of the Holy Prophet’s Birthday 7 Hassan Nisar The late Brother Akbar Abdullah laid to rest 9 Nasir Ahmad Hazrat Ameer in Trinidad 16 Hazrat Ameer in Guyana 17 Brief life profile of Fazal Ali 19 Jama‘at News 20 Ontario, Canada; Java, Indonesia My visit to the Berlin Mosque 22 Raza Saadat What Our Readers Say 23 Hazrat Ameer; Zarina Mohammed Death Announcements 24 1 Condolences 25 Editorial Note... “Blessed is He in Whose hand is the Kingdom, and He is Possessor of power over all things; Who created death and life that He might try you – which of you is best in deeds. He is the Mighty, the Forgiving” (The Qur’an, 67: 1, 2). “The world is the house of passing towards the abode of permanence.” – Hazrat Ali ( ra ) The phenomenon of death occurs every moment in this worldly life. But when it is someone who is dear and near, one of ours, then suddenly the pang, the pinch, brings in realisation of life’s transience. After the demise of the person, nothing remains of him with us except the good things he did to us and the world around him. The last sentence of the funeral prayer draws our attention to a very and pertinent aspect of what remains behind: “O Allah! Do not deprive us of his reward and do not make us fall into a trial after him.” In other words, someone’s death teaches us two lessons: the good works done in this world’s life yield good rewards for the deceased in the next life but also to those who are left behind; and, secondly, that person’s good works may also become a source of trial for those who survive him or his bad deeds might bring bad days and become a trial for others. In short, life and death are a trial for a person whether he does good deeds or bad deeds which may affect his next life as well as that of those who survive him. This special issue of The HOPE Bulletin is a humble effort to enumerate some of the good works and charitable acts the late Br Jalal-ud-Din Akbar Abdullah was able to accomplish during his days on this earth. His dedication and selfless hard work collecting information and conveying such messages of joy and sorrow to others with amazing zeal have earned commendations from members of the global Jama‘at. Today our hearts pour out in supplication for the peace and forgiveness of the departed soul – our beloved Br Jalal-ud-Din Akbar Abdullah. May Allah bless him and reward him for all that he did to bring members living in distant countries closer and to share in one another’s joys and sorrows. The photographs used are through the courtesy of Dr Zahid Aziz and Dr Mujahid Saeed of the UK, Br Ahmad Nawaz of the USA, and Br Arshad Alvi of Lahore, Pakistan. In compiling this brief life history of the late Br J. A. Abdullah, we are grateful to Brothers Masud Akhter, Ahmad Nawaz, and Zafar Abdullah of California, USA. On the 12th of the holy month of Rabi’ al-Awwal, the ‘Most Trustworthy Person’ ( al-Ameen’ ), the Holy Prophet Muhammad ( sas ), had come to this world to convey the Final Divine message to mankind. On this blessed occasion, we are reproducing extracts (pp. 406-409) from a unique biography, From MTV to Mecca , by Kristiane Backer . Presenting her overview of the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), Ms Backer has rightly remarked: “His mission was to restore the original monotheistic faith of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus” (p. 406). An English translation by Siddiqa Sadiq of Montreal, Canada of a beautiful na’at composed by a well-known journalist of Pakistan, Mr Hassan Nisar, in praise of the Holy Prophet Muhammad ( sas ), has also been included in this issue. We promised to publish details about Hazrat Ameer Dr A. K. Saeed’s visit to Trinidad, Guyana, Suriname and the UK. We regret we could only collect details about his visit to Trinidad and Guyana, which are being published in this issue. In this regard, we thank Brothers Ashraf Ali, Enayat Mohammed and Yamin Ali-Baksh, and Sisters Nafiesa Ali, Zarina Mohammed and Narda Ali-Joshi of Trinidad, and Br Mansoor Baksh of Guyana for their input. God willing, we will try to cover the remaining tour in the next issue. 2 We have also received an audio recording of an interview with Hazrat Ameer on Heritage Radio in Trinidad. We are trying to get it transcribed. The UK branch of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement is celebrating the centenary of the arrival of Khwaja Kamal- ud-Din in England, and the founding of the Woking Muslim Mission which was based at the Shah Jehan Mosque, Woking, and which gradually became a pioneer in the spread of Islam in Europe. It will be from 3 to 5 May, 2013. A special session of this celebration will be held at Woking on 4th May, 2013. Research scholars on the spread of Islam in Europe will deliver talks. A detailed invitation will be reproduced in the next issue. Friday and Sunday sessions will be held at the UK Mission House at Wembley. The Friday sermon will be delivered by Hazrat Ameer, Dr. A. K. Saeed, present Head of the Lahorde Ahmadiyya Movement. In this issue we are also publishing activities of the Indonesia Jama‘at. The report with photographs contains details of the Annual Gathering sessions held at various cities of Indonesia in December 2012. We will be able to provide our readers with such reports from Indonesia regularly in future through the efforts of our dedicated young men, Brothers Erwan Hamdani and Cecep Fuad. Br Cecep Fuad is the son of our late brother Suyud Ahmad Syurayudha. In the next issue we will give a brief life profile with photos of Br Syurayudha. We have also received a link of the videos on the sessions of the Annual Gathering held in various cities of Indonesia: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiUI-mdYdWx1p81Ui_Xt0jg?feature=mhee. Please go to the link and enjoy listening to the proceedings in the Indonesian language. We regret that we could not include Hazrat Ameer’s condolence message for the memorial issue dedicated to the late Mrs. Aziz Ahmad. It is included in this issue. ***** Mrs Akhtar Aziz – An Embodiment of Prayers for All Reminiscences about Akhtar Apa by Hazrat Ameer Dr A. K. Saeed Arrival in England I arrived in England from New Zealand in April 1976 and amongst my first hosts were the Aziz family. For someone new to any country a welcoming family is a blessing that Allah grants as a special favour to those who feel lost on arrival in a new place. I, of course, was not feeling lost in the real sense of the term ‘lost’. I had a big family in England, the members of our Jama‘at , who have an inbuilt love for other members. I had an immediate shower of love by so many families but mostly Faiz Khan and his family, and Aziz Sahib and his family. The later of course was already known to me as the children and grandchildren of much-revered members of the Ahmadiyya Movement – Maulana Abdul Haq Vidyarthi Sahib and Dr Allah Bakhsh Sahib. I did not remember meeting any of the members of this family in Pakistan but at the very first meeting in England the person who had the most impact on my mind was Akhtar Apa. She had a perpetual smile that reflected the sincere inner self and love she had for my wife, my son Mujahid, and me. The reason for her respect and smile was not our ‘pretty faces’ but the immense respect and reverence she had for my father, who was her doctor at some stage of her life when she was ill. She loved my wife because of the respect she had for my wife’s mother, Razia Madad Ali. She would always talk fondly of our parents. We soon developed a bond with her as our Apa , the elder who treated us like her brothers and sisters, and we reciprocated the same for her. So, for us Apa was not used by us in the sense of a term used in Pakistan for all female persons older than oneself; she treated me like her younger brother and my wife as a sister; or perhaps a daughter. She kept this bond of love for me and my family. 3 Last meeting I consider myself lucky that I was able to visit Akhtar Apa during my last visit to the UK. She was ill and physically confined to bed. Even in her illness she spared no effort to express her affection and happiness that I was there to see her. Of course she called me ‘Janji’ most of the time. This was the name people called my father, the late Dr Saeed Ahmad. I could have perhaps rushed to the conclusion that she was confused, but she had called me by this name even when she was well. It was also a demonstration of the reverence in which she held my father.