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Building of Mosques and Tabligh

Summary of Friday Sermon

delivered by the Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

June 16th, 2006

NOTE: Alislam Team takes full responsibility for any errors or miscommunication in this Synopsis of the Friday Sermon

Huzuraba delivered his Friday Sermon in Germany addressing the two-fold subject of building of mosques and Tabligh. With reference to verse 18 of Surah Al Taubah (9:18) Huzuraba’s discourse was in part specifically for the German Jama’at who had been given the task of building 100 mosques by Hadhrat Khalifa tul Masih IV ra. Giving a brief history of this scheme, its implementation and the somewhat delayed progress made to date Huzuraba spoke of the erroneous thought of some that as a consequence Huzuraba is displeased with the German Jama’at. Huzuraba said the target that was given to them (recent target: five mosques a year) and which they accepted should be met at any rate. He said the suggestion by some to utilise the funds collected for the mosques towards other schemes that might benefit the Community more is totally flawed. Huzuraba said indeed the Promised Messiah as had said that if we wanted to develop the Community in a given place we should build a mosque there. Our prayer should be that may Allah accept our endeavour and our sacrifice in building mosques because the pronouncement of the Promised Messiah as was not simply to provoke thought, it was with an angst to spread Islam; the mosques built by others who have rejected the Imam of the age are built simply to compete with the architectural dimensions of each other and for ostentatious purposes. Our mosques are neither built for these pretensions nor should they be, rather these should be and are indeed built with a sense of sacrifice redolent of the Quranic verse recited in the beginning.

In a supplicatory tone Huzuraba said that may in the Hereafter we receive the glad tiding that the building of our mosques was for Allah and that it was our aim to take His faith to the rest of the world. It is for this alone that we have been building mosques and establishing Salat and will continue to do so. All our financial sacrifices are for Your sake so that the banner of Your beloved Holy Prophet saw would be raised and Your taqwa would be inculcated in our hearts and in the hearts of our next generation. You enabled us to accept the Imam of the age who was sent to revive faith; do not deprive us of guidance due to our weaknesses and guide us on the right path out of Your grace. You know the state of our heart, do accept our supplication and grant us recompense for our good intention to build mosques. You know what we know not, grant us Your nearness and enable us to build more mosques and fulfil the saying of the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessing of Allah be on him) for us that Allah prepares a mosque in Paradise for one who builds a mosque in this world.

Huzuraba said the majority of the Ahmadis today carry out their good intentions in this manner but there are a few who are weak and although they might make the financial sacrifice for the building of a mosque they lag behind in ‘populating’ the mosque. Huzuraba mentioned that some make excuses that the mosques are at long distance and said that in this day and age when everyone has the facility of transport these are mere excuses. Someone wrote Huzuraba specifically about mosques being built away from residential areas in Germany and asked were they intended for the local community?

Huzuraba explained that our prayer should be that may these mosques be a source of enhancing our worship of God as well as a source of Tabligh and for this may Allah grant us worshippers from the vicinity of the mosques from among the local people.
To those who say that mosques are being built in unpopulated areas, Huzuraba drew attention to Fazl Mosque of London the site for which was also once considered ‘distant’ but Hadhrat Khalifa tul Masih II ra had insisted that the mosque be built there; today the same area is among the upmarket residential areas. Similarly the area of the site of the Australian mosque was once the haunt of anti-social elements and thus frequented by the police but now that has changed and it has started to be populated.

To the assertion by someone that only those people regularly visit mosque who are new drivers and therefore keen to drive Huzuraba said it was negative conjecture and thinking ill of those who are regular in going to the mosques and again was a mere excuse.
Huzuraba explained that building mosques in populated areas posed many problems, like expensive land, lack of space for car parking, difficulty in obtaining initial planning permission for a mosque, the opposition of the locals, the Council etc.

It was the wish of Hadhrat Khalifa tul Masih II ra that the Community builds 2,500 mosques in Europe; we are a very long way from this. Hadhrat Khalifa tul Masih IV ra had also given the German Jama’at the target for building mosques after great consideration.

Huzuraba mentioned the difficulties faced in building a mosque in Berlin and explained the long-drawn and extensive problems. He asked Ahmadis all over the world to pray for the successful building of this mosque which would be the first mosque in eastern Germany. Huzuraba also said that Germany would be the first country where 100 places will be illumined with our mosques, may Allah enable the completion of this. Huzuraba reiterated that it is a wrong impression among some that he was displeased with the German Ameer Sahib or the German Jama’at, however, Huzuraba added, that God forbid, if they rejected the possibility of the completion of the given task then Huzuraba’s displeasure would be justified.

In this instance Huzuraba also explained that deductions and inferences should not be made without any reason and said that they can be detrimental.

Next Huzuraba gave details of the pledges and the payments of the German auxiliary organisations towards the mosque fund, he also mentioned pledges made by people on individual basis outside Germany and hoped that they are all met.

Huzuraba explained that Hadhrat Khalifa tul Masih IV ra had pledged on behalf of Hadhrat Syedda Mehr Apa (wife of Hadhrat Khalifa tul Masih II) who had left her entire estate to the Community, to make an annual payment of € 10,000 towards this fund; may Allah bless her estate.

Huzuraba said that from the funds initially collected for this purpose some ‘centres’ were purchased and there are some who say that mosque building should have taken precedent. Huzuraba said that these purchases were made with the permission of Hadhrat Khalifa tul Masih IV ra and that too much of a viewpoint should not be expressed about a task that is accomplished with the permission of the Khalifa of the day.

To those ‘majalis’ who maintain that they have met their target payment for the building of a mosque but the funds have been used elsewhere, Huzuraba advised to start looking for plot of land to build mosque. Once they found the land, they will be provided the funds. If their collection has been used elsewhere they are not to be concerned and they should keep Huzuraba informed. However, Huzuraba said if they have the financial capability to give more then they should continue to do so and in light of the hadith that relates a house in Paradise for those who build mosques, Huzuraba said one couldn’t have enough houses in Paradise; they facilitate one’s pardon and forgiveness.

The other significant matter Huzuraba expounded was Tabligh. Having reformed oneself, having further developed one’s standards of worship of God, having spread an air of love and affection and indeed Unity of God in one’s mosques the message of Ahmadiyyat that is, true Islam should be taken to every person in the land.

Citing verse 34 of Surah Ha Mim Al Sajdah (41:34) Huzuraba said this comes to pass when sincere good deeds are carried out and when such people summon others to Allah they listen to them because of their truthfulness and obstacles are removed for them and the very same people who harbour nothing but hatred for Muslims and cannot tolerate them to gather for worship in their local areas become friendly.

Huzuraba read some extracts from the noble writings of the Promised Messiah as elucidating the subject.

Huzuraba stressed the importance of Tabligh and said that today we observe the model of the pious Ahmadis through whom many have taken the pledge of allegiance (Bai’at) and who are in turn taking the message further a field but those newcomers who kept the company of the weaker Ahmadis have stumbled. Huzuraba urged to engage in Istaghfar so that Allah may remove our weaknesses – he prayed that may Allah enable all to do this.