“Our responsibility is to propagate the message of Islam and to reach every single person” – Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad

On 6 March 2021, the National Majlis-e-Amila (Executive) of Majlis Ansarullah Australia (Ahmadiyya Muslim Elders Association) and regional leaders were granted a virtual official meeting and audience with the World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the Fifth Khalifa (Caliph), His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad.

His Holiness presided the meeting from his office in Islamabad, Tilford, whilst the Amila members joined from the Khilafat Hall at the Baitul Huda Mosque complex (national headquarters) at Marsden Park, a suburb in the Greater Sydney region.

During the 65-minute meeting, all present had the opportunity to speak to His Holiness and the National Amila members were able to present a report about their respective departments and to receive the guidance and instructions of His Holiness on a range of issues.

During the meeting His Holiness emphasised the need for Majlis Ansarullah members to focus on the five daily prayers.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

“The Ansar should be worried about the Hereafter and so 100% of them should be doing their five daily prayers…Their age is increasing and so they should be concerned even more than others. A poet once said, ‘As the bird of time flies higher, the shadow of one’s age fades along.’ So, if you think about this, it should create a sense of deep anxiety and anguish. Therefore, say to the members of Ansarullah that, at the very least, they should offer the five daily prayers and those who are able to, should offer it in congregation. If their prayer centre or Mosque is too distant, they should arrange for the prayers to be offered in congregation in their homes. In this way, their next generation will automatically develop within themselves an understanding of the great importance and significance of the five daily prayers.”

His Holiness further outlined the responsibilities of Majlis Ansarullah members in improving the moral training of their family members.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

“The Ansarullah members should be encouraged to adopt a habit of reciting the Holy Quran. They should analyse their own family to see if their children are reciting the Holy Quran and offering the daily prayers. This is also part of the responsibility of the members of Majlis Ansarullah. Similarly, there should be some arrangements made for regularly reading excerpts from the writings of Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) or other religious teachings in the home (dars).”

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad continued:

“As we move further away from the time of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him), the responsibility to train one’s children lays even heavier upon the shoulders of the members of Ansarullah in order for them to appropriately take care of their future generations. If Majlis Ansarullah does not fulfil its duties in this regard it will lead to grave problems, as our members would become engrossed in worldliness in the years ahead.”      

As the meeting progressed, His Holiness instructed the Waqar-e-Amal Secretary (Dignity of Labour) to start a nationwide drive to plant trees in vast numbers. His Holiness said it was particularly important to plant trees given the fact that bushfires have ravaged many forests in Australia in recent times.

His Holiness also advised for Ansar members to be encouraged to take up bike-riding to improve their health and also to help the environment.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

“Encourage the members of Ansarullah to use bicycles. At least on short distances they should use bicycles instead of using cars and motorbikes or something else. So, Majlis Ansarullah should also play its role to clean the environment by using bicycles.”

One of the attendees asked His Holiness what the members of Majlis Ansarullah could do to lower divorce rates amongst Ahmadi Muslims.

In response, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

“The cause of many divorces is the fact that materialism and worldliness have taken root, whilst patience and forbearance are being discarded. Mistakes and faults are made by both the men and the women. Though they pledge to give precedence to their faith over the world, they do not heed the saying of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) that when finding suitable matrimonial matches, they should always give precedence to faith over materialism, physical beauty and wealth. If they were to keep this in mind there would be less problems.”

One person asked why the world was not turning towards the message of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) in the way that it should be, despite the fact that punishments are descending upon the world.

In response, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said that in bygone eras people also failed to heed the message of the prophets and so they were punished by God Almighty.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

“The Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) has written that if people do not heed the message, the punishments of God Almighty will continue to afflict mankind and it would lead to their destruction. The Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) has also stated that it is not absolutely necessary even that people must accept Islam and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community for divine punishment to be averted. Rather, if people fulfil the obligations of Allah the Almighty and His people, and if they desist from indulging in indecency and sins, even then God Almighty’s mercy will manifest itself and people will be saved.”

 Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad continued:

“In the recent past, I have written letters to world leaders in which I informed them with reference to the writings of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him) that if the people do not pay heed to fulfilling the rights of God and His Creation, then the punishments of Allah the Almighty will descend. Even now you can see that when Covid-19 came, or when any natural disaster occurs like a tsunami, storm or earthquake, some people do turn fleetingly towards religion and call out for the name of God in whichever way they know. They try to reform themselves so that they may fulfil the rights of one another and of Allah. However, when the punishment subsides, they go back to their old materialistic ways.”

Continuing, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

“Such a state of affairs has been mentioned in the Holy Quran that when a punishment is inflicted upon a people, they pray and call out for Allah that if He removes the affliction, they will reform themselves. However, when the punishment is averted, they again become indulged in materialism. This is the current state of the worldly people. Eventually, if they do not pay heed and do not understand, they will be destroyed. Nations before too have been ruined and now again they are being devastated and gradually they will disappear, whilst pious people will continue to reform themselves.”

His Holiness emphasised that Ahmadi Muslims must continue to peacefully deliver the message of Islam.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

“Our job is to warn people and to deliver the message of Islam. Our responsibility is to propagate the message of Islam and to reach every single person. After that, it is up to Allah the Almighty to guide people. We should continue our work with diligence and by doing so we would fulfil our obligations. We should also pray that Allah the Almighty may guide the people and that nations may be saved from destruction… If we fulfil our obligations with diligence and devotion then we will not be held responsible for others.”