the review of religions (february 2014)

Revelation, Inspiration, Vision & Dream 12

Religious Trends in Australia 24

The Objectives of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community 38

The Quest for Peace Down Under 84

VOL. 109 - ISSUE TWOFEBRUARY 2014 WWW.REVIEWOFRELIGIONS.ORG

THE

QUEST forPEACEDOWNUNDER

The Holy Prophet Muhammadsa prophesied that the Promised Messiahas would be raised near a white minaret, east of Damascus. This prophecy was fulfilled with the advent of the Promised Messiahas

from Qadian, India, a city directly east of Damascus.

The Promised Messiahas

and imam mahdi

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi was born to a noble family in Qadian, India. From an early age he had a keen interest in religion and developed a love for the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa. He was also known for his honesty, friendliness and resolve. Over time his knowledge and understanding of religion and its application to society deepened. Being a Muslim it was his firm belief that all religions were true at their source but with the passage of time had drifted away from their original teachings; he upheld the dignity of religion and demonstrated its relevance to everyone.

His earnest defence of religion was ultimately blessed when he started to receive direct revelation from Allah

– a blessing that he continued for the rest of his life.

His mission was to revitalise the truth that all religions held within them and to revive the teachings of Islam. It was through this that he would bring mankind together and establish everlasting peace.

In 1889, under Divine Guidance, Hazrat Ahmadas founded the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community – a community that has since grown in its stature and strength and has remained active in conveying the message of Islam to the ends of the earth.

Hazrat Ahmadas had established himself as a respected writer and had written over 80 books. His writings have been translated into more than 60 languages and continue to inspire readers to this day. One of his greatest scholarly works was The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam, prepared as a paper and read out at the Conference of Great Religions in 1896.

He also wrote a fascinating treatise in 1899 entitled Jesus in India, a book that uncovered remarkable evidence of Jesus’sas journey to India. In 1902 the Promised Messiahas initiated The Review of Religions which has covered a vast array of topics on religion, philosophy and contemporary issues of the day. It is the longest running English magazine in defence of Islam and the values it teaches.

From 1889 until the time of his demise in 1908 tens of thousands of people accepted him. This blessing has continued and will continue through his Khulafa (successors).

Currently under the fifth successor, we are seeing that the tide of acceptance is worldwide and that the message of Prophet Ahmadas has really reached the ends of the earth.

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And worship Allah and associate naught with Him, and show kindness to parents, and to kindred, and orphans, and the needy, and to the neighbour who is a kinsman and the neighbour who is a stranger, and the companion by your side, and the wayfarer, and those whom your right hands possess. Surely Allah loves not the arrogant and the boastful.ISLAM, THE HOLY QUR’AN, CH.4:V.37.

On the day of judgement God Most High will say, “Son of Adam, I was sick and you did not visit Me.” He will reply, “My Lord, how could I visit Thee when Thou art the Lord of the Universe!” He will say, “Did you not know that My servant so-and-so was ill and yet you did not visit him? Did you not know that if you had visited him you soon would have found Me with him?”ISLAM, THE HOLY PROPHET MUHAMMADSA, HADITH OF MUSLIM.

The term Sadaqah (Charity) is derived from Sidq (Sincerity), and thus if the heart is devoid of sincerity and integrity, charity ceases to be charity and becomes ostentation. ISLAM, THE PROMISED MESSIAHAS, THE ESSENCE OF ISLAM: VOLUME III, P.27.

Blessed is he who considers the poor; the Lord delivers him in the day of trouble.JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY, PSALM 41:1.

“Ye shall walk after the Lord your God” [Deuteronomy 13:4]. But how can a man walk after God who is devouring fire? [Deuteronomy 4:24]. It means, walk after His attributes: clothe the naked, visit the sick, comfort the mourner, bury the dead. JUDAISM, TALMUD, SOTA 14A.

One should give even from a scanty store to him who asks.BUDDHISM, DHAMMAPADA, 224.

The husband and wife of the house should not turn away any who comes at eating time and asks for food. If food is not available, a place to rest, water for refreshing one’s self, a reed mat to lay one’s self on, and pleasing words entertaining the guest—these at least never fail in the houses of the good.HINDUISM, APASTAMBA DHARMA SUTRA, 8:2.

Charity & HospitalityWORLD FAITHS

founder of the review of religions

8 Notes & CommentsSARAH WASEEM, UK

12 Revelation, Inspiration, Vision and Dream

Is the door to revelation closed forever?HAZRAT MIRZA GHULAM AHMADAS, THE PROMISED

MESSIAH AND IMAM MAHDI

24 Religious Trends in AustraliaCan 300 ancestries explain the current rise in Secularism? MALEEHA AHMAD, RABWAH, PAKISTAN

32 The Aboriginal PeopleThe original inhabitants of Australia. FAZAL AHMAD, UK

38 The Objectives of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

Over 120 years ago a Community was established which claimed it would bring a spiritual revolution in the world by reviving the true teachings of Islam. HAZRAT MIRZA MASROOR AHMADABA, HEAD OF THE

WORLDWIDE AHMADIYYA MUSLIM COMMUNITY,

KHALIFATUL MASIH V

54 Mosque – An Abode of Peace & Compassion

An intriguing insight into the concept of compassion in Islam. HAZRAT MIRZA MASROOR AHMADABA, HEAD OF THE

WORLDWIDE AHMADIYYA MUSLIM COMMUNITY,

KHALIFATUL MASIH V

66 Bill Birtles Interviews His Holiness for ABC

72 Auskar Surbakti Interviews His Holiness for ABC Newsline

76 SBS Radio Interviews His Holiness

84 The Quest for Peace Down Under

The second leg of the epic seven-week tour of the Asia Pacific by the Khalifah of the Promised Messiahas. ADAPTED FROM AN URDU ARTICLE

BY ABDUL MAJID TAHIR

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CONTENTS

FEBRUARY 2014 VOL.109 ISSUE TWO

M A N A G E M E N T B O A R D

Chairman: Munir-Ud-Din Shams

Secretary: Syed Amer Safir

Board Members: Mubarak Ahmad Zaffar, Ataul Mujeeb

Rashed, Naseer Qamar, Abdul Baqi Arshad, Abid

Waheed Ahmad Khan, Aziz Ahmad Bilal

C H I E F E D I T O R & M A N A G E R

Syed Amer Safir

E D I T O R I A L B O A R D

Amtul Razzaq Carmichael, Bockarie Tommy Kallon, Fazal

Ahmad, Hassan Wahab, Hibba Turrauf, Jonathan Butterworth,

Mansoor Saqi, Munazza Khan, Murtaza Ahmad, Nakasha

Ahmad, Navida Syed, Sarah Waseem, Tariq H. Malik

W E B D E V E L O P E R & I T

Hibba Turrauf, Mubashra Ahmad

A S S O C I A T E E D I T O R S

Nakasha Ahmad, Tariq H. Malik (Sub-Editor: Mariam Rahman)

S U B - E D I T O R S

Head: Hibba Turrauf

Sub-Editors: Ayesha Malik, Nusrat Haq,

Maryam Malik, Amina Abbasi

H O U S E S T Y L E G U I D E

Head: Maleeha Ahmad Sub-Editors: Sadia Shah, Humaira Omer

P R O O F R E A D E R S

Head: Munawara Ghauri. Deputy: Farhana Dar. Proofreaders:

Abdul Ghany Jahangeer Khan, Hina Rahman, Amina Abbasi

S T A F F W R I T E R S & R E S E A R C H E R S

Arif Khan, Tazeen Ahmad

D I S T R I B U T I O N / S U B S C R I P T I O N

Head: Mohammad Hanif

Team: Sami Ullah

A R T E D I T O R

S. Taalay Ahmad

P R I N T E D I T I O N D E S I G N E R

Ahsan Khan

I N D E X I N G / T A G G I N G T E A M

Head: S. Taalay Ahmad. Deputy: Amtus Shakoor Tayyaba Ahmed.

Team: Humaira Omer, Humda Sohail, Mirza Krishan Ahmad,

Ruhana Hamood, Mubahil Shakir, Adila Bari, Hassan Raza Ahmad

T W I T T E R

Hibba Turrauf, Mala Khan, Nudrat Ahmad

NOTE ABOUT REFERENCES

Verse references to the Holy Qur’an count ‘Bismillah…’ (In the Name of Allah…) as the first verse of each Chapter. In some non-standard texts, this is not counted. Should the reader refer to such texts, the verse quoted in The Review of Religions will be found a verse earlier, i.e. at one verse less than the number quoted in this journal.For the ease of non-Muslim readers, ‘sa’ or ‘(saw)’ after the words, ‘Holy Prophet’, or the name ‘Muhammad’, are used normally in small letters. They stand for ‘Sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam’ meaning ‘peace and blessings of Allah be upon him’. Likewise, the letters ‘as’ or ‘(as)’ after the name of all other prophets is an abbreviation meaning ‘peace be upon him’ derived from ‘Alaihis salatu wassalam’ which are words that a Muslim utters out of respect whenever he or she comes across that name. The abbreviation ‘ra’ or ‘(ra)’

stands for ‘Raziallahu Ta’ala anhu and is used for Companions of a Prophet, meaning Allah be pleased with him or her (when followed by the relevant Arabic pronoun). Finally, ‘rh’ or ‘(rh)’ for Rahemahullahu Ta’ala means the Mercy of Allah the Exalted be upon him. In keeping with current universal practice, local transliterations of names of places are preferred to their anglicised versions, e.g. Makkah instead of Mecca, etc.

The English Rendering of the 5 Volume Commentary of the Holy Qur’an One of the most comprehensive commentaries of the Holy Qur’an ever written.

Commentary by Hadhrat Mirza Bashir-Ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad(ra)

Read it online at: http://www.alislam.org/quran/Or Purchase the print version at: http://store.alislam.org/

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Ghulam Ahmadas, the Promised Messiah that large numbers of people would travel, and from this small town that the revival of Islam would begin.

The objectives of the Jalsa Salana (Annaul Convention) were very ambitious from the beginning. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadsa said:

“The primary purpose of this Convention is to enable every sincere individual to personally experience religious benefits; they may enhance their knowledge and—due to their being blessed and enabled by Allah, The Exalted—their perception [of Allah] may progress. Among its second-ary benefits is that this congregational meeting together will promote mutual introduction among all brothers, and it will strengthen the fraternal ties within this Community.”2

A notice published on 7 December 1892, the second year of the conven-tion, by the Promised Messiahas reads: “ O n e o f t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s of this convention is to put forward sound propositions for the religious benefit of Europe and America. It is a proven fact that the fortunate people of Europe and America are getting ready to

accept Islam but are most alarmed by the religious divisions in Islam. Thus, recently I received a letter from an Englishman which stated: ‘You show mercy towards all living beings; but we are also human and deserve mercy because we have accepted Islam. But we are still una-ware of its true and correct teachings.’ Therefore brothers! Understand it well that this group is getting ready for us. God Almighty never leaves a sincere per-son without a community. With Allah’s command and wish, the blessings of truth will attract them all to this direction. God Almighty has decreed this in the heavens and there is none who can change it.”3

Readers of The Review of Religions may be interested to note that at the Annual Convention that year, the proceedings record that:

“On 28 December 1892, respected guests gave their suggestions for the religious benefit of Europe and America and it was decided that a magazine setting out the complete teachings of Islam and reflecting the beautiful features of Islamic beliefs should be compiled and printed. Many copies should be sent to Europe and America…. In future as well, the purpose of these yearly con-ventions should remain the same, i.e.

I was but poor, helpless, unknown and with-out talent!Not a soul had ever heard of Qadian! No one cared to give me a second glance;None was even aware that I existed! Look! How the world inclines to this direc-tion now!The very same Qadian is now the hub for the elite!1

This year marked the 122nd anniver-sary of Qadian, Dar-ul- Amaan (the Centre of Peace) Annual Convention. The three day gathering ran from the 27th to 29th of December 2013 and attracted over 17,000 guests not only from India but from around the world. For the last few years, the final session of this event, an address by Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaba, worldwide Head of

the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, has been broadcast live on MTA International (Muslim Television Ahmadiyya International). Five thousand members of the Community gathered at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in London to listen to the concluding session whilst Ahmadis the world over tuned in on MTA. It was a very different story 122 years ago, when only seventy five people attended the first Annual Convention of the Ahmadiyya Community. As Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, the Promised Messiah reminds us in the poem, Qadian was in those days a very small town in a remote location that few had heard of. The roads were very poor and Qadian itself had only a few shops. For even the most basic requirements, one had to travel to the nearest towns of Batala and Amritsar. And yet it was to this small town that God revealed to Hazrat Mirza

“Not a Soul Had Ever Heard of Qadian!”

Sarah Waseem, London, UK

notes & comments

8 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIONS | FEBRUARY 2014 FEBRUARY 2014 | THE REVIEW OF RELIGIONS 9

is continuously engaged in the peaceful propagation of the true message of Islam by publishing translations of the Holy Qur’an, and conveying the teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa and his true servant the Promised Messiahas. And now Annual Conventions are held all over the world wherever the Community is established. The Qadian convention will always retain a special place in the hearts of Ahmadi Muslims. This was the town where their beloved Messiahas lived and received Divine rev-elation. Visitors are able to pray where he prayed and walk in his where he once treaded. And even today, Qadian remains a simple, unpretentious place, imbued with an air of spirituality and Divine Grace. Those who are able to attend this Annual Convention and the many others that are now held each year worldwide, also become the recipients of the follow-ing prayer of the Promised Messiahas:

“I conclude with the prayer that eve-ryone who travels for [attending] this Convention that is for the sake of Allah: May Allah, the Exalted, be with him, reward him in abundant measure, have mercy on him, ease up for him his cir-cumstances of hardship and anxiety and eliminate his anguish and grief. May He grant him freedom from every single

hardship and lay open for him the ways of [achieving] his cherished goals, and raise him up, on the day of Judgment, among those of His servants who are the recipients of His blessings and Mercy. May He be their Guardian in their absence until after their journey comes to an end. O Allah! O Sublime One and Bestower of bounties, the Ever Merciful and One Who Resolves all problems, do grant all these prayers, and grant us Victory over our opponents with scintil-lating signs, because You alone have all the prowess and power. Ameen! Ameen!”6

endnotes

1. Durre Sameen Muhasin e Qur’an Kareem (English Translation by Shermeen Butt).2. Majmoo’ah Ishtiharaat, Vol. 1, Ishtihar 7 Dec. 1892, p. 340.3. Majmoo’ah Ishtiharaat, Vol. 1, pp. 340–341 (English Translation by Shermeen Butt).4. A’yeena Kamalaat Islam; p. 14; appendix.5. “122nd Jalsa Salana Qadian Concludes | Islam Ahmadiyya.” Accessed January 22, 2014. http://www.alislam.org/egazette/press-release/122nd-jalsa-salana-qadian-concludes/.6. Majmoo`ah Ishtiharat, Vol. 1, Ishtihar 7 Dec. 1892, p. 342.

that proposals should be put forth for the propagation of Islam and as an act of kindness for the new Muslims from America and Europe…”4

That magazine was to become The Review of Religions. Each year the Annual Convention in Qadian bears witness to the progress being made by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community spreading the message of the true Islam across the world. The three day conven-tions are filled with speeches by scholars of the Community extolling the teach-ings of Islam. The final address by Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaba is translated live into five languages thereby fulfill-ing the wish of the Promised Messiahas that the true teachings of Islam reach the West. These days, it is not only the case that the West are alarmed by religious divisions in Islam, but as Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaba noted in his address, many Muslims “are also in despair” at the state of the Muslim world, but were unable to express their anxieties due to a fear of their so-called religious schol-ars, who he said “were motivated only by their own selfish interests.” Addressing the immense persecution encountered by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the present times, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaba reminded Ahmadi Muslims

that they should always respond only with patience, prayers and displaying absolute steadfastness.

“Fourteen hundred years ago, Hazrat Bilal [Companion of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa], tolerated all of the pain inflicted upon him, and responded only by saying ‘Allah is One, Allah is One’. And today, that example is a lesson to us as we face opposition and persecu-tion. It calls us to our real purpose, that in spite of these cruelties, we will spread the Oneness of God to the corners of the world and for its establishment we will never let our efforts, which are due to the Promised Messiah, ever decrease in any way.”5

The Qadian Jalsa Salana (Annual Convention) is a testament to the truth of the Promised Messiahas’s advent. As the Promised Messiahas notes in his poem, he was an unknown person of no spe-cial social rank. He did not have access to funds nor did he have any political influence. But in just over 100 years the message of the true Islam has not only spread to Europe and America, but to all the continents of the world. Ahmadi Muslims now number in tens of millions across the world and the Community is established in over 200 countries, and

notes & comments


There is no safeguarding law through following which we can secure ourselves absolutely against mistakes. That is the reason why the philosophers who framed the rules of logic, and invented the meth-ods of discussion and built the arguments of philosophy, persistently fell into error. As the legacy of their ignorance, they left hundreds of false notions, mistaken philosophies and vain discourses. This shows that it is impossible to arrive at the truth of every matter and to deter-mine the correct doctrines as the result of one’s own research, without making a mistake. We have never known any indi-vidual, nor heard of one or read of one in any book of history, who was free from error in the whole field of his vision and reflection. It follows, therefore, that it is basically impossible to find people who, through the study of the laws of nature and squaring their conscience with the circumstances of the world, carried their research to the highest level of truth, without any possibility of mistake….

Obviously, if man cannot escape error through his own knowledge and if God (Who is Gracious and Merciful, and is free from every mistake and knows the truth of every matter) does not help His servants through His true revelation, how can we humble creatures emerge

out of the darknesses of ignorance and error, and how can we be delivered from the calamities of doubt and suspicion? I, therefore, affirm with full conviction that the wisdom and mercy and sustain-ing love of God Almighty demand that from time to time, when He deems it right, He should create men who should be recipients of revelation for the purpose of ascertaining true doctrines and estab-lishing correct morals, and Who should have bestowed upon them the capacity of impressing their teachings upon others so

Revelation, Inspiration, Vision & Dream

hazrat mirza ghulam ahmadas, the promised messiah and imam mahdi

We present extracts from the writings of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Imam

Mahdias, on revelation. These are republished from the second volume of Essence of Islam.

Obviously, if man cannot escape error through his own knowledge and if God (Who is Gracious and Merciful, and is free from every mistake and knows the truth of every matter) does not help His servants through His true revelation, how can we humble creatures emerge out of the darknesses of ignorance and error, and how can we be delivered from the calamities of doubt and suspicion?

I tell you truly that every door can be closed but the door of the descent of the Holy Spirit is never closed. Open the doors of your

hearts so that it might enter into them.

FEBRUARY 2014 | THE REVIEW OF RELIGIONS 13

believing in the absolute bounty of God Almighty, deem the door of inspiration ever open and do not confine it to any country or religion. It is true, however, that it is limited to the straight path. By treading along this path these blessings can be achieved, inasmuch as it is neces-sary for the achievement of everything to follow the rules and methods which are necessary for its achievement. Wise peo-ple do not deny the wonders of the world of visions. They have to admit that the Absolute Benefactor, Who has bestowed upon man faculties and powers for the discovery of every little matter in the first world, would not deprive man of the means of discovering the grand affairs of the third world, through which a true and perfect relationship with God Almighty can be established, and true and certain understanding having been achieved, the lights of heaven become manifest in this very world. This method is also open like the methods of discovering the other two worlds, and the truthful people adopt it with great conviction and follow it and obtain its fruits.

The wonders of this third world are countless. In comparison with the other two worlds, they are like the sun as com-pared to a grain of poppy seed. To insist that the mysteries of that world should

be wholly revealed through reason would be like shutting one’s eyes and insisting that visible things should become percep-tible through the sense of smell.

The wonders of the third world totally frustrate reason. No one need be sur-prised at the creation of souls, for in this very world such mysteries are revealed to those who have experience of visions. Reason wholly fails to penetrate their reality. At times, a person who has a capacity to see visions can see someone from a distance of hundreds of miles, despite numberless intervening obstruc-tions. In fact, on some occasions, in a state of complete wakefulness, he can hear his voice also, and it is even more wonderful that sometimes the other person can hear the voice of the first person. On occa-sion, he can meet the souls of those who have passed on, in a vision in a state of wakefulness. As a general rule, meeting with all dwellers of graves—blessed or benighted—is possible in this manner. I myself have had such experiences.

This entirely refutes the doctrine of the transmigration of souls current among Hindus. The greatest wonder is that sometimes one possessing the capacity for vision, through concentration, appears to another person with the permission of

that mankind, who has been created for true guidance, should not be deprived of this needed good fortune.

The Hidden World of RevelationGod Almighty has divided His wonder-ful Universe into three parts.

(1) The world which is manifest and can be felt through the eyes and the ears and other physical senses, and through ordi-nary instruments.

(2) The world which is hidden and which can be understood through reason and conjecture.

(3) The world which is hidden beyond hidden, which is so imperceptible that few are aware of it. That world is entirely unseen; reason has not been granted the ability to reach it, except through mere conjecture. It is disclosed only through

visions, revelation, inspiration, and not by any other means.

As is well established, it is the way of Allah that for the discovery of the first two worlds which we have mentioned, He has bestowed upon man different types of faculties and powers. In the same way, the Absolute Bounteous has appointed a means for man for the dis-covery of the third world; and that means is revelation, inspiration and visions. This means is not allowed to be completely suspended at any time; indeed, those who comply with the conditions for achiev-ing it, have throughout been its recipients and will continue to be such.

As man has been created for unlimited progress and God Almighty is free from deficiencies, miserliness and holding back, it would be an unworthy thought that He put into the heart of man the eagerness to learn the secrets of all the three worlds and yet has deprived him wholly of the knowledge of the means of acquiring knowledge of the third world. This impels wise people to believe in the permanent need of inspiration and visions. They do not limit revelation, like the Aryas, to the four Rishis beside whom it is impossible for a fifth person to arrive at that excellence. Instead, wise people,

revelation, inspiration, vision & dream

In the same way, the Absolute Bounteous has appointed a means for man for the discovery of the third world; and that means is revelation, inspiration and visions.


a ruler, dipped His pen in red ink and sprinkled it in my direction, and with the ink that remained at the point of the pen He signed the document. Thereupon the vision came to an end and when I opened my eyes I saw several drops of red ink fall on my clothes and two or three of them fell on the cap of one ‘Abdullah of Sannaur, who was sitting near me at the time. That red ink which was part of the vision materialized and became visible externally.

I have seen several other visions of this type, but it would be too time-consum-ing to write down, nevertheless my own experiences confirmed that sometimes a matter that is observed in a vision assumes external form by the command of Allah. These matters cannot be appre-ciated through reason alone. Indeed a person who is afflicted with the pride of his reason hears these things and affirms arrogantly that they are impossible and false, and that the person who claims to have had such experiences is either a liar or is mad or is self-deceived and due to a lack of proper research has not been able to penetrate reality. Such a one does not reflect that thousands of the righteous, from their personal experiences, testify these matters, and of which they demon-strate to those who keep company with

them. Can they be dismissed with mere verbal denials?

The truth of the matter is that, apart from the wonders of the world of vision, reason has not been able to fully comprehend even that which pertains to the world of reason and there are millions of Divine mysteries which are still hidden and beyond the reach of the wise.5

Man’s Ability to Receive RevelationAs God has invested man with the fac-ulty of reason for the understanding of elementary matters to some degree, in the same way, God has vested in him a hidden faculty of receiving rev-elation. When human reason arrives at the limit of its perception, then at that stage God Almighty, for the purpose of leading His true and faithful servants to the perfection of understanding and certainty, guides them through revela-tion and visions. Thus, the stages which reason could not reach are traversed by means of revelation and visions, and seekers after truth thereby arrive at full certainty. This is the way of Allah, for the guidance of which Prophets have appeared in the world. Without treading this path, no one has ever arrived at true and perfect understanding. But a poor, dry philosopher is in such a hurry that

God Almighty, at a distance of hundreds of miles in a state of complete wakeful-ness, without his body moving from its place. Reason holds that a person can-not be in two places at the same time, yet this impossibility becomes possible in the third world. In the same way, a person of understanding witnesses hun-dreds of wonders with his own eyes and is surprised at the denial of those who altogether reject the wonders of the third world. I have witnessed the wonders and rare visions of that world with my own eyes approximately five thousand times and have experience of them happening to myself.

It would take a large volume to record details of these experiences. One

wonderful aspect of these experiences is that some matters which have no exter-nal existence, come into being through Divine power. The author of Futuhat2 and Fusus3 and other great Sufis4, have recorded a number of their own experi-ences of this kind in their compilations. But as there is a great difference between hearing and seeing, I could not have obtained that certainty by merely read-ing these accounts, which I have acquired through my own experience.

I recall that in a vision I saw that with my own hand I had drawn up certain Divine decrees which related to the future, and then presented the paper to God Almighty, the Omnipotent, the Glorious, for His signature. (It should be borne in mind that it often happens in visions and true dreams that some Divine attributes of beauty or glory appear in human form to the person seeing the vision and he imagines the form to be God Almighty. This experience is well known to those who are favoured with visions and can-not be denied). In short, I presented that book to that personification of Beauty, which appeared as God Almighty, the Omnipotent, the Incomparable and the Unfathomable, in the state of my vision. On my presenting that document, God Almighty, Who appeared in the form of


When human reason arrives at the limit of its perception, then at that stage God Almighty, for the purpose of leading His true and faithful servants to the perfection of understanding and certainty, guides them through revelation and visions.



that he should entirely lose his own self, but yet he cannot be the recipient of revelation, like the mother of Mosesas? Can any reasonable person attribute such miserliness to God Almighty? My only response to such people is:

7

الكاذ ب يعلىالله لعنة

The truth is that when these people became the insects of the earth, and the only insignia of Islam left in them were their turbans, beards, circumcision, a few verbal affirmations, and mere for-malities of observing Prayer and fasting, God Almighty deadened their hearts. Thousands of dark veils covered their eyes and they lost all signs of spiritual life. They thus denied the possibility of converse with the Divine. This denial is, in truth, a denial of Islam; but since their hearts are dead, they do not realise their own true condition.8

O ye Muslims! Beware that such think-ing is sheer ignorance and stupidity. If Islam is such a dead religion, whom can you invite to it? Will you carry its corpse to Japan or will you present it to Europe? Who would be foolish enough to fall in love with a dead religion that is bereft of all the blessings and spirituality that appeared in the religions of the past? In

those religions even women received rev-elation, as was the case with the mother of Mosesas and the mother of Jesusas, but your men are not equal even to those women. O ye stupid and blind ones, our Holy Prophet, our lord and master (thou-sands of blessings be on him) excelled all Prophets in his spiritual grace. The grace of previous Prophets came to an end at a certain stage and now those peoples and their religions are dead. There is no life in them. But the grace of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) continues till the Day of Judgement. That is why it is not required that a Messiah should come from outside for his people. To be brought up under the shadow of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) can convert a humble person into a Messiah, as God has done in my case.9

Revelation: the Highest Stage of Divine UnderstandingOur claim is true and has been clearly established; that by treading along the straight path a true seeker can become the recipient of Divine revelation. My own experience testifies to it. Besides, every reasonable person can understand that there is no higher stage of the under-standing of the Divine in this world than that a person should converse with his

he desires everything to be disclosed at the stage of reason. He does not know that reason cannot carry a burden beyond its strength, nor can it step further than its capacity. He does not reflect that, to carry a person to his desired excellence, God Almighty has bestowed upon him not only the faculty of reason but also the faculty of experiencing visions and revelations. It is the height of misfor-tune to make use of only the elementary means out of those that God has, out of His Perfect Wisdom, bestowed upon man for the purpose of recognising God, and to remain ignorant of the rest. It is extremely unwise to let those faculties atrophy through lack of use and to derive no benefit from them. A person who does not use the faculty of receiving revela-tion and denies its existence cannot be a true philosopher. Whereas the existence of this faculty has been established by the testimony of thousands of the righteous and all men of true understanding have arrived at perfect understanding through this means.6

Non-Prophets Can also Receive RevelationSome ignorant clerics go so far in their denial that they assert that the door of revelation is altogether closed and that it is not open to a Muslim to enable him to

perfect his faith through this bounty, and then to act righteously under the urge of his faith.

The answer to those with this thinking, is that if Muslims are so unfortunate and blind and are the worst of people, why have they been named the best of peo-ple by God Almighty? The truth is that those who think like this are themselves foolish and stupid. As God Almighty has taught Muslims the prayer that is set out in Surah Fatihah, He has also designed to bestow upon them the bounty that was bestowed upon the Prophets; that is to say, the bounty of converse with the Divine, which is the fountainhead of all bounties. Has God Almighty merely cheated us with this prayer? What good can there be in a useless and fallen peo-ple who are even worse than the women of Israel?

Obviously, the mother of Mosesas and the mother of Jesusas were both women and as our opponents also believe, they were not Prophets. Yet they were favoured with Divine revelation. Is it to be imagined that if a Muslim were to have such a pure soul as that of Abrahamas and were to be so obedient to God Almighty as to cast aside his ego altogether, and were to be so absorbed in the love of God Almighty



of the grace of perfect understanding. Their recognition of the Divine should not be limited to the affirmation that there should be a Creator of this uni-verse. Rather, by being perfectly graced with the honour of Divine converse, they should be able to behold His counte-nance directly through having observed His great signs and should thus be able to see with complete certainty that that Creator truly exists. But as the nature of most people is not free from obstruc-tion, they are afflicted with the love and greed of the world, pride, arrogance, self-esteem, hypocrisy, self-worship, and other moral delinquencies, and are deliberately neglectful of the obligations due to Allah and to His creatures, and purposely turn away from sincerity and fidelity and love of God and devotion to Him, and cut asunder deliberately from God Almighty. On account of all types of obstructions, veils, desires and passions, they are not qualified that the grace of converse with the Divine should descend upon them, which should exhibit the lights of their being acceptable to God.

Yet the eternal bounty of God, which does not wish that human nature should go to waste, makes it possible for most human beings to see true dreams occa-sionally, or to receive true revelation, so

that they should realise that the way for their stepping forward is open. But their dreams and revelations do not indicate their being acceptable to God, and are not accompanied by signs of the love and grace of God, nor are such people purified from the impurities of their egos. They see these dreams so that they might be furnished with an argument for believing in God’s Prophets, for if they were to be deprived altogether of the understanding of true dreams and true revelations, and they should have no certain knowledge of them, they could plead before God Almighty that they were unable to understand the reality of Prophethood, for they had no knowledge of it. They had no sample of it before their eyes. Therefore, from the beginning it has been the way of God that irrespective of a person being good or bad or righteous or disobedient, or being the follower of a true faith or of a false one, he is shown true dreams or is vouchsafed true revelation, so that his conjecture which derives from hearing of such matters may be converted into certainty, and he may have an example in his hands which should help his spir-itual progress. The Wise Creator has so fashioned the human brain and has so invested it with the spiritual faculties, that it can see some true dreams and can

Gracious Lord—glory be to Him. This is the stage where souls are completely satisfied and all doubts and suspicions are removed. Having arrived at this stage of purification, a person achieves the under-standing for which he has been created. This stage is truly the key to salvation and to solving the problems of ephem-eral existence. It proves how close the True Creator is to His weak creation. We have learnt of this stage by the light which is the Qur’an. That light gives us the good news that the fountain of rev-elation never runs dry. Any dweller of the East or the West, when he searches for God Almighty and makes his peace with Him and removes the intervening veils in between, will surely find Him; and when he finds Him truly and perfectly, then God will speak to him.

The Vedas have denied man this stage and have confined it to the four Rishis, who, according to the Arya Samajists, are the authors of the Vedas. This is an error of the Vedas like the other great errors contained therein. It is obvious that all human beings are alike in their nature and what is possible for one man is possible for all, and the closeness to the Divine and His understanding, which is permissible in the case of one human being, is permissible in the case of all, for

they all have the same nature. It is true that there is diversity in respect of the degrees of excellence, but no one is shut out from the kind of excellence which is open to others. Should there be a person who should not have the slightest capac-ity to acquire human excellence then that person cannot be included within the category of human beings. In short, there can be a difference in capacities, but there cannot be a total absence of capacity.10

The Gracious and Merciful Lord, Who has invested human nature with the hunger and thirst of His own complete understanding, has endowed human nature with two types of faculties for the purpose of arriving at that understand-ing. One type is the intellectual faculties, the source of which is the brain, and the other type is spiritual faculties, the source of which is the heart. The purity of spir-itual faculties depends upon the purity of the heart. That which cannot be discov-ered through the intellectual faculties is reached through the spiritual faculties. Spiritual faculties can develop such purity that the graces of the Source of Grace can be mirrored in them, but the condi-tion is that they should be eager for the acquisition of grace and all intervening veils and obstructions should be removed, so that they might become the recipients



one matter and to find its fulfilment is quite another.... You can see that both food and water are available for your body, not that they were present in some earlier age but are no longer. But when mention is made of revelation, you refer to a past age upon which centuries upon centuries have lapsed and you are una-ble to refer to anything in the present. Then how is there an accord between the physical and spiritual laws of nature? Stop and reflect. You cannot deny that the provision for your physical needs is available to you all the time, but you have nothing with you in the way of provision for your spiritual needs except stories of the past. You know that the physical springs from which you take the water to quench your thirst are still running; nor have your fields become barren and unproductive, the produce of which satis-fies your hunger twice a day. But where are the spiritual springs, which used to quench your spiritual thirst by giving you the fresh water of Divine revelation? Nor have you the spiritual food available, by eating which you could keep your soul alive. Thus, you are in a desert, where there is neither food nor water.12

endnotes

1. Purani Tehrirain, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 2, pp. 20-21

(Eng. Translation in The Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 32)

2. Al-Futuhat al- Makkiyya (The Meccan Illuminations)

authored by Ibn Arabi

3. Fusus al-Hikam (The Bezels of Wisdom) authored by

Ibn Arabi

4. Practitioner of Tasawwuf (Sufism); a branch of Islam

defined by adherents as the inner, mystical dimension

of Islam.

5. Surmah Chashm Arya, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 2, pp.

175-181, footnote (Eng. Translation in The Essence of

Islam, Vol. 2, p. 37)


87-90 (Eng. Translation in The Essence of Islam, Vol. 2,

p. 38)

7. Curse of Allah be upon the liars.

8. Brahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Part V, Ruhani Khaza’in Vol. 21,

pp. 310-311(Eng. Translation in The Essence of Islam,

Vol. 2, p. 39)

9. Chashma-e-Masihi, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 20, p. 389



239-240 (Eng. Translation in The Essence of Islam, Vol.

2, p. 41)

11. Haqiqat-ul-Wahi, Ruhani Khaza’in Vol. 22, pp. 8-10


12. Chashma-e-Ma‘rifat, Ruhani Khaza’in, Vol. 23, pp.

63-66 (Eng. Translation in The Essence of Islam, Vol. 2,

p. 45)

receive some true revelations. But these dreams and revelations are not an indica-tion of any spiritual rank or greatness, but are only an indication of the way through which progress could be made.11

The Necessity of RevelationArguments are of two types, inductive and deductive. An inductive argument enables us to recognise that which is indicated. For instance, when we observe smoke we conclude that there is a fire. In the case of deduction, one moves from the conclusion to the cause. For instance, we find a person suffering from high fever and we believe that there is a cause for it. We proceed to set forth first the induc-tive reason for the need of revelation. There is no doubt that the physical and spiritual systems of man are governed by the same law of nature. We observe in the physical system that whatever needs the Gracious God has planted in the human body, He has also provided the means of their satisfaction. A human body feels hunger and needs food, so God has pro-vided various types of food for the human body. In the same way, man needed water to quench his thirst and God Almighty has provided wells, springs and streams for that purpose. Man needed the light of the sun or light from some other source to be able to see with his eyes and God

Almighty has provided light from heaven in the form of the sun and has provided light from other sources on earth. Man needed air for breathing and hearing the voices of others, and God provided air. In the same way, man needed a con-sort for the propagation of the species; so God created woman as man’s consort and man as woman’s consort. In short, whatever desires God has planted in the human body, He has also provided means for their satisfaction. Now, it is worth considering that when provision has been made for the fulfilment of the physical needs of the mortal body, how much more must have been provided for the fulfilment of the pure desires of the soul, which has been created for the eter-nal love and recognition and worship of God? That provision is Divine revelation and Divine signs, which carry a person of defective knowledge to complete cer-tainty. As God bestowed upon the body provision for the satisfaction of its needs, in the same way, He bestowed upon the soul provision for the satisfaction of its needs, so that the physical and the spir-itual systems should be in accord....

This inductive reasoning can be com-pleted only through deductive reasoning, that is to say, by a sample of revelation itself. To feel the need for something is


(25.9%), Australian (25.4%), Irish (7.5%), Scottish (6.4%), and Italian (3.3%).1

Christianity is by far the most pre-dominant religion in Australia, but the country’s religious landscape has changed dramatically over the past century with the percentage of Christians dropping from 96 percent of the population in 1911 to 61 percent in 2011 according to the most recent census2 report.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) social trends report found that the rising numbers of non-believers mir-rors a steady decline in people reporting Christian beliefs, while those profess-ing other beliefs, including, Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism were on the rise.3 Latest figures show that Buddhists (2.5%), Muslims (2.2%), Hindus (1.3%) and Judaism (0.5%) all trail to the reli-giously unaffiliated which make up 22 percent of the total population.

Australia’s Aboriginal people were the original inhabitants of the Australian continent, and are believed to have migrated from Asia at least 50,000 years ago. Australian Aboriginal mythol-ogy accounts for some of the earliest records of religious practice in humans. The Dreamtime refers to the sacred era

of Aboriginal mythology – an animist worldview entailing complex oral tradi-tions pertaining to Creation stories. It provided the indigenous Australians with guidance on governing laws, and rules for social behavior in their communities. The various stories had different meanings for different Aboriginal groups. Over time, history brought about multicultural

Australia is an island continent, lying between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is the world’s

sixth largest country by total area, measuring above seven million square kilometers. With a population of roughly

23 million, it inhabits a multicultural and multiracial nation. In the 2011 Census, Australians reported around 300 ances-tries. The most five most commonly nominated ancestries that respondents most closely identified with were English

Religious Trends in Australia

maleeha ahmad, rabwah, pakistan

Richard Johnson (circa 1756-1827) is considered to be the first Christian cleric in Australia and was the Church of England Chaplain to the First Fleet.

Aerial view of Sydney. © Taras Vyshnya | shutterstock.com


the Uniting Church in Australia. The late 18th century saw the arrival of free settlers but it was the gold rush of the 1850s led to a radical increase in immigration and each group of settlers arrived with their own religious traditions.

It was during this time that Buddhism is believed to have been first documented in Australia. Chinese miners arrived in Australia looking for job opportunities to work on the gold fields. This initial Buddhist introduction was short lived, as majority of the workers were tem-porary visitors, later returning to their villages in China a few years later, after having collected enough money for their family back at home. The Vietnam War

(1956-1975) saw a more permanent increase in immigrants from South East Asia, naturally increasing the number of Buddhists in Australian population.

Muslims visited long before European immigration began, and are in fact the first known contacts between the indig-enous people of Australia. They initially came as traders and fishermen from east Indonesian archipelago. Later, during the 19th Century, both Muslims and Hindus

immigration, thereby gradually diver-sifying religious trends in Australia. Aboriginal Australians only account for a mere 3% of Australia’s population of almost 23 million, and the numbers of those left still believing in the Dreamtime are furthermore far and few between.

Christianity was introduced with the arrival of the First Fleet of British con-victs in 1788, whereafter Australia has remained a predominantly Christian society. As immigration continued, churches other than the Church of England arrived. Currently, the larg-est number of members belong to the Roman Catholic Church of Australia, the Anglican Church of Australia, and

Located in the heart of the city of Sydney, St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Sydney.

© Sam D\’cruz | Dreamstime.com

Auburn Gallipoli Mosque in Auburn, Sydney is designed with Ottoman style domes, and is used primarily by Australians originally from Turkey.

© Stephen Denness Dreamstime.com

Christianity was introduced with the arrival of the First Fleet of British convicts in 1788, whereafter Australia has remained a predominantly Christian society.


religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion and no religious test shall be required as a quantification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.”

Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmadrh (1928-2003) Khalifatul Masih IV, the Fourth Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, stated the following on the reason for rising secularism:

“This, in short, is the tale of the origin, rise and fall of religions. But a new begin-ning is always made after every fall to rehabilitate the Unity of God yet again. It always originates in Heaven, and descends with revelation. It never erupts from the earth below, rising heavenwards like curly columns of smoke of human confusion ultimately resolving into a

belief in Unity. Instead the Unity of God only descends from on high to raise the fallen man yet again to the celestial heights of nearness to Him.”5

Perhaps, once this ‘smoke of human confusion’ begins to clear, spiritual

immigrated from British India during the non-mechanical era. They imported camels and worked on cotton and sugar plantations, and were called the ‘Afghan Cameleers’, providing a form of transpor-tation in the vast desert area of Australia. In modern day Australia, the numbers of Muslims are steadily increasing due to civil strife in Muslim countries, and the general onset of immigration from vari-ous parts of the Middle East.

Judaism first came to Australia at the same time as Christianity, aboard, when eight transported convicts trav-elling on the First Fleet were reported to have been identified as Jewish. These numbers increased over the next few decades, coinciding with the growing number of convicts sent to Australia. Numbers further increased during times of anti-Semitism, such as refugees and

Holocaust survivors who arrived during and after World War II. The Gold Rush also attracted a wave of Jewish immigra-tion, outnumbering the native-born Jews at the time.

Religion in Australia has been continu-ally evolving but the changes over the past century have been particularly strik-ing. Census comparisons over the years suggest that with the continued decline in people reporting Christian beliefs that ‘no religion’ will eventually be the major-ity. Increasing secularism is not limited to Australia, but is a general global trend.

‘“Rates of reporting no religion have been steadily rising and Australia is not alone in this – rates are also rising for coun-tries like New Zealand, England, Wales, Canada, the United States and Ireland,” said Fiona Dowsley, director of Social and Progress Reporting at ABS.’4

Australia does not have an official state religion. Whilst the Church of England originally had an advantage, the grow-ing trend in religious equality brought the church privilege to an end. Section 116 of the Australian Constitution states:

“The Commonwealth of Australia shall not make any law establishing any

Synagogue in Melbourne.

© Ross Kummer | shutterstock.com

The newly inaugurated Masroor Mosque in Brisbane.

© Makhzan-e-Tasaweer

“This, in short, is the tale of the origin, rise and fall of religions. But a new beginning is always made after every fall to rehabilitate the Unity of God yet again...”


religious trends in australia

enlightenment will be sought actively on an individualistic scale, whereby the chains of inherited religion or tradition will no longer interfere with the private search for truth.

endnotes

1. “2011 Census QuickStats: Australia.” Accessed January 22, 2014. http://www.cen-susdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/0.

2. “Main Features - Cultural Diversity in Australia.” Accessed January 22, 2014. http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Latestproducts/2071.0Main%20Features902012%E2%80%932013.

3. Mickelburough, Peter. “Almost Five Million Australians Says They Have No Religious Beliefs.” HeraldSun. Accessed January 22, 2014. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/almost-five-million-aus-tralians-says-they-have-no-religious-beliefs/story-fni0xqrb-1226791615704.

4. Mickelburough, Peter. “Almost Five Million Australians Says They Have No Religious Beliefs.” HeraldSun. Accessed January 22, 2014. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/almost-five-million-aus-

tralians-says-they-have-no-religious-beliefs/story-fni0xqrb-1226791615704.

5. Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth (Surrey: Islam International Publications Limited, 1998), 216.

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30 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIONS | FEBRUARY 2014

IntroductionThe Aborigines of Australia make up 3% of the population, largely in the northern territories. Recent studies suggest that these people migrated from Europe and Africa via South Asia into Australasia around 50,000 years ago.1

As such, they are one of the longest sur-viving races, and have by far the longest claim to the land of Australia. The British did not land on the shores of the coun-try until 1788, just over 200 years ago! Their ancient religious beliefs also span a huge era, probably well before many of the dominant religions in the world emerged. The arrival of European set-tlers almost led to the extinction of the Aborigines.2

The Aboriginal people are very spiritual, and have a close affinity with nature and the creations around them, just as the Native Americans did.

An image of a piece of abstract Australian aboriginal art, a swimming lizard or crocodile with patterned back, surrounded by water weeds, painted on wood. A beautiful and quaint sample of traditional native aborigine arts, from down under.

© Joanne Zh | Dreamstime.com

Aboriginal Faith fazal ahmad – london, uk


the original people to survive, hunt and how to live. In many ways, these ances-tral beings would be seen as Prophets in Abrahamic faiths, and many of them may well have been Prophets of God for the Aboriginal peoples.

Totemic Beings – the original form of an object, plant or animal from Dreamtime.

DreamtimeDreamtime represents the period of active creation of the universe. Aboriginals rec-ognise an eternal Creator God (‘High Gods’) who initiated creation, but then retreated to a ‘distant realm of heaven where human beings cannot reach him’.5 It is interesting that for so many unique Aboriginal tribes that had remained isolated from each other, to all hold the concept of a single eternal creator for many millennia provides strong proof for the existence of God rather than the concept of God as being a figment of human imagination.6

According to beliefs, the second creation which included life on earth was man-aged by a number of celestial creation beings who then severed the link between the sky and earth. These beings can travel between the earth and sky using a ladder or tree, and aboriginals feel their pres-ence in sacred caves, rocks or trees. At this time, mountain ranges and lakes were created, plant forms emerged. For aborigines, dreams are often interpreted as the memories from that period or a transformation back to that creation period, hence it is called Dreamtime.

The third creation was that of the crea-tion of the aboriginal culture through ancestral beings.

Their route to Australia may have taken them through India, Malaysia and Indonesia. Having arrived in Australia, the Aborigines dispersed into different regions, eventually forming 400 distinct groups with their own language and cul-ture who remained largely isolated from each other for long periods, and yet there are many common threads across them.3

Aboriginal FaithsThe Aboriginal people are very spiritual, and have a close affinity with nature and the creations around them, just as the Native Americans did. Aboriginal faith is preserved as oral traditions handed down through the generations and now considered as mythology. There is truth in the myths, but the modern interpreta-tion might make the stories seem absurd.

They revere many beings depicted as ani-mals, plants or other natural features. For them, their tribes and communities are aligned not just to the land they inhabit, but also groups of stars, specific plants and animals, and even specific rocks and geographical.4 Their revered beings tend to fall into three categories:

Creation Beings – involved in the crea-tion of people and the environment.

Ancestral Beings – ancestors of the aborigines from Dreamtime who taught

A panorama of Australia’s famous monolith, Uluru (Ayers Rock), showing the vivid change in color as the sun goes down. Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory, Australia.

© Stanislav Fosenbauer | Shutterstock.com

It is interesting that for so many unique Aboriginal tribes that had remained isolated from each other, to all hold the concept of a single eternal creator for many millennia provides strong proof for the existence of God rather than the concept of God as being a figment of human imagination


a belief in a single eternal Creator and life after death which can be understood by monotheists. They have a respect for elders, society and nature. For millennia, their society was stable based upon gen-erations of existence in the same lands and a stable culture, yet the last 200 years since colonisation have been ruinous for them. Although they have started to absorb more recent influences, it is their ancient traditional faith that underpins their psyche.

endnotes

1. “Hair Unlocks Aboriginal Origins,” BBC.com, sec. Science & Environment, September 23, 2011, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15020799.

2. Fernand Braudel, History of Civilizations, (London, UK: Penguin Books, 1993), 518.

3. Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge and Truth, (Tilford, UK: Islam International Publications, 1998), 217-219.

4. Nyoongah Mudroooroo, Aboriginal Mythology,(London, UK: Aquarian, 1994), 7.

5. Mircea Eliade, Hilary Wiesner, Loan Couliano, The Eliade Guide to World Religions,

(New York, USA: Harper Collins, 1991), 23.

6. Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge and Truth,(Tilford, UK: Islam International Publications, 1998), 220-221.

7. Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge and Truth,(Tilford, UK: Islam International Publications, 1998), 224.

8. Mircea Eliade, Hilary Wiesner, Loan Couliano, The Eliade Guide to World Religions, (New York, USA: Harper Collins, 1991), 24.

9. Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge and Truth,(Tilford, UK: Islam International Publications, 1998), 225.

10. Nyoongah Mudroooroo, Aboriginal Mythology,(London, UK: Aquarian, 1994), 40.

11. Nyoongah Mudroooroo, Aboriginal Mythology,(London, UK: Aquarian, 1994), 169-170.

Dialogue with Aboriginal elders sug-gests that they also view dreams as a true dialogue with their Creator, the true meaning of which is only known to a few elders in the community.7

Life and deathMany aboriginals such as the Tiwi people believe in two sky worlds, the earth and also an underworld called Ilara. Life is sacred for aboriginal people. Some believe that death is the result of magic, and after death, the person travels to heaven but without the use of their physical body.8 The term magic here might mean forces or actions that are not understood by man, or sins that take man away from a pure state.9 Most communities accept that after death, there is still a ghost or soul that persists, and the need to send this soul back to its ancestral Dreaming site, or to the Island of the Dead from which the soul ascends to the sky world.10 This is not too dissimilar to Abrahamic

concepts of the passage of the soul to heaven or hell. At the time of a death, aboriginal people paint themselves white as a sign of remorse for the loss and per-form rituals and prayers to help the soul reach its destination.

There is a story of the moon helping to revive the dead on their journey, a story shared with some Hindu customs. For the ancient people, watching the phases of the moon every month drew parallels with death and rebirth, so it is not sur-prising that they equated the moon to the revival of the soul after death.

Uluru (Ayer’s Rock)Uluru, more commonly known as Ayer’s Rock, is a large rocky outcrop in central Australia, and is the most sacred place for Aboriginal people to which they travel for pilgrimage. People go there to con-template in the many caves and pools. Just as with other pilgrimage sites, Uluru is preserved for future pilgrims by the custodians from the Pitjantjatjara and Yankuntjatjara peoples.11

ConclusionThe Aboriginal people of Australia have a rich and ancient culture, deeply engrained in spirituality and a recogni-tion of their position in nature. They have

aboriginal faith

They have a belief in a single eternal Creator and life after death which can be understood by monotheists.


On 18th October 2013, the Wor ldwide Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at and

Fifth Khalifah, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaba, officially opened the “Khilafat Centenary Hall,” built next to the Baitul Huda Mosque in Sydney, with the keynote address at an Inauguration Reception. The event was attended by more than 200 non-Ahmadi dignitaries and guests, including a range of Federal and State Parliamentarians. A number of the dignitaries briefly addressed the gathering including Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, representing Prime Minister Tony Abbott MP. Victor Dominello MP (Minister for Citizenship and Communities) read a message from NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell welcom-ing Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaba to the State.

In his message he said it was a great honour for New South Wales to host such a ‘venerable spiritual leader’. His Holiness then presented Mr Dominello with a cheque for $20,000 to help those affected by the bushfires.

Phillip Ruddock MP (Federal Member for Berowra) said:

“I want to assure His Holiness that his flock is very welcome here in Australia. The presence of so many MPs here tonight is a demonstration of the respect that Ahmadis are held in here in Australia. Your Holiness, we will happily welcome you back many, many times.”

Ed Husic MP(Federal Member for Chifley) said:

“Your Holiness it is an honour to spend time with you and to welcome you to Australia. When you leave Australia you can be rightly proud of your community here because the Ahmadis are exemplary citizens of this country. Your visit will be remembered and treasured for years to come.”

The Objectives of the Ahmadiyya Muslim

Community

Keynote Address by Head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community at Inauguration of “Khilafat Hall” in Sydney

hazrat mirza masroor ahmadaba

k h a l i f a t u l m a s i h v h e a d o f t h e w o r l d w i d e a h m a d i y y a m u s l i m c o m m u n i t y


Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Never will we tolerate even a single hair on the head of an Ahmadi being harmed. God bless the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.”

After reciting Tashahhud, Ta’awwuz and Bismillah, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaba said:

“All distinguished guests – A s sa lamo A l a i k u m Wa R a h m a t u l l a h e Wa Barakatohu – peace and blessings of Allah be upon you all.

First of all I would like to express my gratitude to all of the guests who have accepted our invitation and joined us here today. For you to accept the invita-tion of a religious organisation and to enter the mosque complex, despite not being associated to our religion, is a clear reflection of your open-heartedness and your very tolerant attitude. Your attend-ance is even more noteworthy given that in today’s world so much is writ-ten and spoken against Islam and a truly terrifying portrayal of certain so-called Muslims is being presented.

It is a cause of regret that to some extent this fear amongst non-Muslims is

justified, because some so-called Muslims have conducted the most horrific terrorist acts and killings, both in their countries and abroad. No doubt, they have created a state of fear, which is terrifying the non-Muslim world whilst at the same time defaming the pure name of Islam. In short, your attendance is proof of your enlightened minds and is a testimony to the fact that you wish to learn the real and true teachings of Islam.

I am sure that many of you will have heard about the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at from your friends or acquaint-ances and so will have some idea about what type of community we are. You

John Robertson MP (Leader of the Opposition & Shadow

Minister for Western Sydney) said:

“It is an absolute honour and privilege to share time with Your Holiness because he walks the world stage with a very power-ful message of faith and peace. You are so well respected across the entire globe for calling for peace and tolerance. It is lead-ers like you who will impact the future of the world. We need more leaders like you because only through voices like yours will stability develop in the world. You are the voice of peace, of hope and of courage.”

Kevin Conolly MP (State Member for Riverstone) who

received Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaba at the airport on 1st October

2013 said:

“It is memorable for New South Wales to be able to receive a leader of the stat-ure of His Holiness. Certainly, Ahmadi teachings emphasising ‘Love for All, Hatred for None’ are very welcome here in Australia.”

David Clarke MLC said:

“Ahmadi Muslims are good and Godly people and they are good because they are Godly. We praise and honour Your Holiness for conveying the message of peace across the world… In Australia there will always be full freedom for the

“It is an absolute honour and privilege to share time with Your Holiness because he walks the world stage with a very powerful message of faith and peace.”

the objectives of the ahmadiyya muslim community


the highest moral standards and estab-lishing peace. The fundamental reason is that the Founder of Islam, the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa prophesised that a time would come when the practice of Muslims would move far away from the original teachings of the religion. He said that this decline would continue for around one-thousand years at which time God Almighty would send a person as the Imam Mahdi (Guided One) and as the Promised Messiah. He would come to guide the Muslims towards the real and true teachings of Islam.

At a time when the world would, in the most part, have forgotten its Creator, the Promised Messiah would also provide the

people of other religions with guidance so that they too could develop a loving bond with God Almighty. In fulfilment of that grand prophecy, we Ahmadi Muslims believe that the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadianas, was the very person who was sent by God as the Imam Mahdi and as the Promised Messiah. Not only did the Promised Messiahas announce that he had been sent by God, but he also established a Community of his followers. The Promised Messiahas himself explained the key objectives of his advent. He said:

“The task with which God Almighty has appointed me is that I should remove the

would have just heard some of the speak-ers mentioning this as well. I am sure you will have heard that the Ahmadiyya Jama’at is a peace-loving community that acts entirely in accordance with the true teachings of Islam.

It is a community that not only promotes peace, but whose every act and activity is conducted in an entirely peaceful manner. It is for these reasons that even those who are not well-acquainted with our com-munity will have felt at ease joining us today. Nonetheless, there may remain some fears or misgivings in the hearts of a few of our guests. The truth is that it is almost impossible to entirely eradicate all doubts or fears from another person’s heart until a close relationship has been formed. I should at this point present a basic Islamic commandment which a Muslim must observe if he or she is to demonstrate high moral standards.

Islam teaches that a Muslim must show gratitude and appreciation wherever it is due. In this regard, the Founder of Islam, the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa taught that a Muslim who does not profess thanks for an act of goodness or kind-ness is not grateful to God Almighty. With this in mind, a person who claims that Allah is the focal point and centre of his life could never tolerate remaining ungrateful to Him. Thus, gratitude is not merely a moral obligation or courtesy; it is actually a religious duty for a Muslim, because the basic objective for any true Muslim is to please God Almighty. It may well be the case that most secu-lar people routinely express thanks to others, but they do so as a moral duty, because they are good people who live in a good society. It is not a religious duty for them. However, for a true Muslim offering thanks is a necessary element of Islam’s extremely intricate teachings that he must follow. Anyway, what I have said has formed quite a long introduc-tion; however it was actually not just an introduction, but an explanation of one part of Islamic teachings.

I shall now expand upon these teach-ings by explaining why the Ahmadiyya Community places so much emphasis on drawing mankind’s attention towards

It is a community that not only promotes peace, but whose every act and activity is conducted in an entirely peaceful manner.


42 THE REVIEW OF RELIGIONS | FEBRUARY 2014

degree that he should consider the trials and tribulations of others as his own and should pray for them.”

It is on the basis of these compassionate teachings that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community makes every effort to spread love, kindness, brotherhood and peace to every corner of the world. Ahmadi Muslims can literally be described in just two lines – as those people who ful-fil the rights owed to God and those who fulfil the rights owed to God’s Creation. Without acting upon these teachings a person cannot claim to be a true Ahmadi Muslim. If we reflect and consider, we will realise that these are the very virtues

that today’s world stands in urgent need of. These are the principles which can become the means of establishing world peace. I say this because a relationship of love and sincerity can only be formed with God when a person fulfils the rights owed to Him and God’s rights can only be fulfilled when His commands are followed.

One major command of Allah the Almighty is given in Chapter 5, Verse 9 of the Holy Quran. Allah the Almighty says:

“O ye who believe! Be steadfast in the cause of Allah, bearing witness in equity;

malaise that has formed between God and His Creation and restore the rela-tionship of love and sincerity between them.”

He further said:

“The second purpose is that for the sake of God’s people and out of compassion all persons should engage their strengths and capabilities in the service and well-wishing of God’s people.

And they must treat gratefully and ben-eficially all people – from Kings and Emperors down to an ordinary person – who has done them any favour.”

Indeed, people should not only restrict themselves to responding with gratitude and by benefiting others. In fact, the Promised Messiahas has further added:

“One should love mankind to such a

Ahmadi Muslims can literally be described in just two lines

– as those people who fulfil the rights owed to God and those who fulfil the rights owed to God’s Creation.



which I have just outlined. And so, under the guidance of the Institution of Khilafat, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has continued this work for more than one hundred years. This hall was constructed to commemorate the successful completion of 100 years of the Ahmadiyya Khilafat. It was built with the aim that Ahmadis remain con-stantly reminded of the objectives and responsibilities entrusted to them, which they continue to fulfil under the guid-ance and leadership of the Khalifah of the Time.

Upon learning how devoted and attached Ahmadi Muslims are to Khilafat, it is possible that a question may arise in the minds of some people. It may be that some people wonder, whether due to such devotion, the Khalifah could, God forbid, lead Ahmadis towards extremism or the use of force. To answer this, it should be clarified that the first part of the prophecy made by the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa was that after a long period of spiritual darkness lasting around one-thousand years, the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi would appear with teachings of peace, compassion and love. It is evident from the extracts of his teachings I have presented that the Promised Messiah came with exactly these objectives. And

so as we believe that the first part of the prophecy has been fulfilled, then we must also, according to our beliefs, accept the truth of the second part of the prophecy, which was that follow-ing the Promised Messiah, his Khilafat would be permanent and would remain until the end of time. And his Khilafat would continuously draw mankind’s attention to fulfilling the rights owed to God and to His Creation. Rather than cause any threat or danger, the Khilafat of the Promised Messiah would only be a source of peace. About the true system of Khilafat, the Holy Qur’an has clearly said that it will be a means of transform-ing a state of fear and panic into a state of peace and security, so long as the people continued to remember God’s commands and follow the guidance of the Khalifah.

Where on the one hand the Khilafat in Ahmadiyyat is a source of peace and tranquillity for all Ahmadi Muslims, it can also be a source of peace and secu-rity for non-Ahmadis if they pay heed to what the Khalifah says. The history of the Ahmadiyya Community testifies to the fact that the Promised Messiah himself and all of his Successors emphasised the need to avoid wars and towards fulfill-ing the rights due to one another. The Promised Messiah himself proclaimed

and let not a people’s enmity incite you to act otherwise than with justice. Be always just, that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Allah. Surely, Allah is aware of what you do.” (Holy Qur’an, Surah Al-Ma’idah, Verse 9)

This is the standard of justice that a person has the right to expect from oth-ers. Neither personal grievances, nor national enmities, should lead to injus-tice or unequal treatment. No matter the circumstances, fairness and impartiality must always prevail.

In the verse I have just quoted, Allah says “adopt righteousness.” This means that if a person fulfils the rights of others by acting with true justice, then that deed will itself be classed an act of worship, because the underlying intention was to gain the pleasure of Allah. Therefore, the very highest standards for Muslims were established by Allah more than

1400 years ago so that an atmosphere of peace, love and affection could be fos-tered. If any Muslim does not adhere to these teachings it would be entirely wrong to blame the teachings, rather the fault would lie with the individual.

I am sure the underlying reasons that motivate the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community to promote peace and brotherhood to such a great extent will have been made clear by what I have just explained. Similarly, there are countless other commandments given by the Holy Qur’an which underscore the importance of fulfilling the rights of mankind. For example, the name of the hall in which this reception is being held proclaims that whosoever enters it will attain noth-ing but peace and security. It also attests to the fact that those who have built it are they who spread peace and harmony in the world.

This hall has been named the “Khilafat Centenary Hall” and the word “Khilafat” means “Successor.” The task of any suc-cessor is to continue the mission and objective of the person whom he is following. The task of the Ahmadiyya Khilafat is to continue pursuing the peaceful objectives laid down by the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Community,

No matter the circumstances, fairness and impartiality must always prevail.



the major powers of the world or who can convey this message to those who have access to the corridors of power, should urgently fulfil their responsibilities. Do not consider the problems and conflicts of today’s world to be minor or insignifi-cant but instead strive your utmost and make every possible effort to establish peace. Perhaps some amongst you will not agree with my analysis. However, it is when a person believes that his own strengths, his intellect and those around him are all powerful that he walks on a path paved with danger. It is at that point where a person becomes blind to the existence of God and to His Power that Almighty God’s Decree sets into motion. Remember, man cannot escape the results of his actions and so will have to suffer the consequences of the cruelties and disorders he has perpetrated.

Thus, I ask all of you once again, to raise your voices with justice against all forms of cruelty, corruption and disorder so that the world can be saved from destruction.

According to Islam, the requirements of justice are fulfilled when a person acknowledges his mistakes and does not only value the interests of his friends or of his own policies, but instead gives preference to fulfilling the rights of all

people. May Allah enable the world to understand this reality and be saved from any type of major destruction or calam-ity, Ameen.

At the end I would also like to extend my sympathies through you, to the people affected by the outbreak of the bushfire in particular, and the people and govern-ment of this state and country in general. I pray that may Allah the Almighty save the people from any further loss and remove their hardships. Once again, I would like to thank all of you for taking the time and effort to join with us today. May Allah bless you all. Thank you very much. ”

that he had come to bring an end to all forms of religious warfare. Furthermore, I have already mentioned how strongly he emphasised the fulfilment of the rights of one another. A society where religious wars have come to an end and where mankind’s attention is drawn towards serving humanity and fulfilling each other’s rights can only become a haven of peace. Certainly, this is exactly the type of society that the world stands in great need of today. All of the Khalifahs who have led the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community have always advocated for peace, unity and a sense of mutual brotherhood. Let me give just a couple of examples.

After the First World War, the Second Khalifah of our Community informed the world that without true justice, peace would not develop and the League of Nations would fail.Then, in 1990 when the situation in Iraq deteriorated, our

Fourth Khalifah warned that not only would the Arab countries suffer but ultimately the peace of the entire world would be destroyed. Indeed, the world has since observed that both of these warnings proved entirely accurate and today conflict continues to plague the world. For the past four or five years I have been warning that the world stands in desperate need of peace. No one should assume that a war between any two countries will remain limited to just them or to a particular region; rather, ultimately it will culminate with a world war. Indeed, the state of the world today is clearly indicating that we are on the brink of an extremely dangerous global war. Such a war will include countries that possess nuclear weapons and whose leaders are trigger happy and do not care about the horrific consequences of their acts. As a result of their carefree attitudes, the world may come to witness a truly devastating destruction. Thus, I implore all relevant parties to come to their senses and act with wis-dom. They should rise above their selfish ways and their personal interests. They must realise that such a war will harm not only today’s world, but will have a horrific impact on our future generations. Those amongst you who have an influence on

All of the Khalifahs who have led the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community have always advocated for peace, unity and a sense of mutual brotherhood.

Thus, I implore all relevant parties to come to their senses and act with wisdom. They should rise above their selfish ways and their personal interests. They must realise that such a war will harm not only today’s world, but will have a horrific impact on our future generations.



South Wales where we have all faiths, all cultures and we all come together in this great big melting pot but generally why they are able to continue to work, whether it’s here all elsewhere, is if we have ongoing dialogue. With that dialogue is built on understanding. With essential platform is peace.” Victor Michael DominelloMinister for Citizenship, Communities and Aboriginal Affairs

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to hear from His Holiness I said it in my speech, a privilege I felt and I think a privilege we all were to be in the room to listen to a leader who walks the world stage talking about the importance of tolerance, of faith and peace. We need more leaders like that now on the world stage talking about those issues because far too often we see conflict emerge, we see extremism and we see that conflict turn to war. What we need are leaders who are prepared to make their voices voices for peace and His Holiness is somebody who does that so well. Events like these are absolutely critical to breakdown ignorance because its ignorance that bridges intolerance and intolerance leads to conflict. We need

to break those barriers down and the more we talk with each other, share a meal, the easier it is to break down the barriers of ignorance. I am always aesthetic to come to an event like this, share a meal, share a conversation and get to know each other as fellow human beings. When we break those barriers down we understand that we are all fellow humans; that ignorance disappears very quickly. John RobertsonMP Blacktown, NSW

“His Holiness, in this time of great political, and in some areas, religious upheaval, His Holiness is coming along with a message of tolerance and interfaith harmony which, I think, is the most important message of this age that we need to hear. I think it’s one of the most important things facing mankind at this time and he has come forward and he is going out there not just talking he is actually going around to try and achieve something. Going to speak in the various parliaments of the world is, I think, very important. The more the words of His Holiness can be heard, then the better it’s going to be for humanity and peace. I was really impressed with

“It’s absolutely magnificent to be able to hear the true message of Islam as distinct from, sometimes, the aberrations that are put out there. And the peaceful messages that are coming across and the genuine love of the people that is here for each other, for this country Australia and for life itself. The feeling of goodwill makes you always leave these meetings with a feeling that all is really good in the world and that there are people working hard to ensure that we will ultimately bring about peace for everyone and we will be brothers and sisters working together for the good of mankind. It may sound airy fairy, it may sound strong but the reality is that if anyone doubts it, I invite them to come to a meeting and listen to the genuine speech and feel the fellowship and the genuine love for each other that’s here and they will go away changed.” Dr. John BroadieCouncillor Holroyd City Council, NSW

“His Holiness’s words were very important particularly if we reflect on world events today. His message of peace is a very important one and it’s very good to see His Holiness here again in Australia on behalf of the Australian government. It was very good to be here this evening and to hear him speak and be here with the Ahmadiyya Community as they celebrate this very historic event.” Senator the Hon. Concetta Fierravanti-Wells Parlimentary Sec. to the Minister for Social Services

“His Holiness, his speech was inspirational. You know, we do live in a world where we live in an uneasy peace and as His Holiness said if we are not careful that peace can easily be disrupted and we do need leaders of his caliber to continuously preach the message of peace. We live in a great multicultural society here in New

Guest Comments & Reflections

on Address of His Holiness in Sydney


this whole community recognizes that when you have a strong and forthright, international religious leader you really do a great justice to the people who follow you. And I think that is replicated, indeed reflected, by the community that’s here in Western Sydney or beyond Western Sydney. I think it also demonstrates the realm that the Ahmadiyya Community has sort of become a part of the broader Australian community. I have seen the people who were in the audience here tonight at many functions here and it is indeed an event that was on everyone’s social calendar this evening. I think it also demonstrates the power of religion to bring people together rather than divide them and there are people from many different faiths here, many different political backgrounds and many different professions. And the fact that His Holiness can command such respect from such a diverse group is a real credit to him and to the faith.” Ms Michelle Rowland MP Greenway, NSW

His Holiness, with the message that he brings of tolerance and human rights. I think he is a man who speaks very sensibly and very responsibly and we are certainly very privileged to have him here in Australia.” The Hon. David John Clarke Parliamentary Secretary for Minister of Justice

“The message was loud and clear. It was all about peace and harmony and security. And his comments were not just about Australia but global. Peace is the message, peace is Islam and he is carrying the message of Islam to Australia in a way that no others have done. It was just a beautiful message to convey to the wider Australian society, members of Parliament that we have here, the other members of the community to listen to the message of peace from a Muslim leader. Unfortunately we hear and see, right around the globe, messages of war and terror and so forth. That is not reflective or representative of Islam. This is representative and reflective of Islam. So I was delighted to be here.” The. Hon. Shaoquett Moselmane Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council

“It’s nice to hear a speaker of his caliber and a leader of his significance. Apart from the sermon, again which I will take home, because it’s great advice for all of us actually to be thankful and to say so but to see the extra-ordinary achievements of this Community—in building a place for itself, to learn and keep the faith alive—is quite remarkable. When religions come to a new country, keeping the base strong so that people can grow in the faith in a new country where it is so much smaller than it is in countries of origin is incredibly important. It is important that we have leaders of great significance in our community and it’s extremely important that such leaders visit because faith is cumulative; it has developed over centuries. The knowledge is learned over centuries and when you move it to a new place, you need to bring that knowledge with you.” Ms Julie Owens MP Parramatta, NSW

“His comments about the true meaning of Islam and the true faith were particularly poignant for me. I also think that it is important for the world to recognise and indeed I think

guest comments and reflections on address of his holiness in sydney


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On 23rd October 2013, the world-wide Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at and Fifth

Khalifah, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaba delivered the keynote address at a special reception held to mark the opening of the Masroor Mosque in Brisbane, which was later formally inau-gurated with the Friday Sermon. Various non-Ahmadi dignitaries and guests, including Members of Parliament and Queensland’s Commissioner of Police, attended the event. Numerous dignitaries also addressed the audience.

Representing the Aboriginal Community, Aunty Robbie Williams

said:

“This mosque in Logan will allow us to come together and will allow us to learn about each other’s cultures and traditions.”

Deputy Mayor of Logan City Council, Russell Lutton said:

“The Ahmadiyya Community is one that regularly gives back to the city and com-munity. Your members have a clear and devoted love for Australia and this is the type of warmth and love that the world stands in need of.”

Federal MP, Hon Jim Chalmers said:

“It is not every day an area like this has the opportunity to welcome such an esteemed leader as Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad. Knowing the influence and status he has in the world means it is very special for us to have him here in our city.”

Mosque - An Abode of

Love & Compassion

Keynote Address by Head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community at Special Reception to Mark

Inauguration of Masroor Mosque in Brisbane

hazrat mirza masroor ahmadaba

k h a l i f a t u l m a s i h v h e a d o f t h e w o r l d w i d e a h m a d i y y a m u s l i m c o m m u n i t y


Barakatohu - peace and blessings of Allah be upon you all.

Today is a day of great joy and a cause of celebration for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Australia here in Brisbane, as it is inaugurating its first ever mosque in this area. A mosque holds huge sig-nificance and importance to any true Muslim. However, before I go on to speak about this, I would like to first of all express my heartfelt gratitude to all of our guests who have come to attend this inauguration, and so are sharing in the happiness of the Ahmadiyya Community. For all of you to attend the inaugura-tion of a place of worship belonging to a Muslim organisation, in spite of not being associated to Islam, or not being a member of the Community, is a sign of your open-minds, tolerance and high

moral standards. In light of this, however much I thank you is not enough.

In reality, the very concept of “gratitude” is actually a means of fulfilling the pur-pose for which this mosque was built and of fulfilling its rights. It is necessary for a true Muslim, who believes that his life’s purpose is to please God, to act in a way through which he can gain God’s pleas-ure. Certainly, to express appreciation and thanks is one of the ways to please God and to make a person a recipient of His rewards and blessings. God Almighty has very clearly stated in the Qur’an that if a person is grateful to Him, He will bestow further bounties upon that person. According to our beliefs, the Holy Qur’an, which was revealed to the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa, is the final law-bearing Book and it was he who understood God’s teachings best of all. Certainly, he had the greatest knowledge and insight of the Qur’an and it was he who clearly explained the importance of gratitude. He taught that a person who does not thank mankind, cannot be grateful to God Almighty. And so, whilst on one level this teaching of expressing thanks and being grateful guides a person towards high moral values, it also takes a true Muslim towards attaining near-ness to God.

State MP, Michael Latter said:

“Your Holiness, let me say that your peaceful message and commitment to serving humanity is alive and well and indeed is thriving here in Australia.”

Ian Stewart, Commissioner of Police, Queensland said:

“It is great to have a man of such stature as Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad here in Brisbane. To have a man of his class here is truly wonderful. Treating all peo-ple with equity and fairness is a symbol of your community.”

State MP, Michael Pucci said:

“What an honour to have His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad here in Logan. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a major part of our Community. Ahmadis are terrific ambas-sadors not just for their faith but also for our Community. I am proud to have this Mosque in my constituency.”

Prior to the reception, His Holiness met with a number of dignitaries privately, whilst upon the conclusion of the event, His Holiness met personally with non-Ahmadi guests many of whom expressed their appreciation at the keynote address and requested a photo with the spiritual leader.

After reciting Tashahhud, Ta’awwuz and Bismillah, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba said:

“All distinguished guests – A s sa lamo A l a i k u m Wa R a h m a t u l l a h e Wa

mosque - an abode of love & compassion


truth is that, in such a case, his worship and prayers are rendered entirely mean-ingless. Indeed, God Almighty greatly dislikes such worship and such worship-pers. Furthermore, Islam commands Muslims to treat their parents with love and consideration, and so if they fail to do so, then their prayers are again entirely without value. God Almighty has fur-ther ordered Muslims to fulfil the rights of mankind, to serve humanity and to always be just. If a person fails to uphold these necessary values in his daily life, yet comes to the mosque regularly, his worship will become void and a cause of despair. Indeed, God Almighty has said that the prayers of a person who does not follow His commands will prove to be a means of destruction for him.

I have quoted some examples - there are numerous examples in the Holy Qur’an or in the teachings of Islam. The truth is that if the prayers of a Muslim do not lead him towards fulfilling the rights of

mankind, his prayers cannot be classed as real worship. The Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has said:

“To show love and compassion and to be sympathetic to humanity is a huge form of worship and is an excellent means of gaining Allah’s pleasure.”

Thus, true worship requires fulfilling the rights of mankind in an entirely selfless manner. The rights of others should be discharged purely for the sake of attain-ing God’s pleasure. When a person acts in this way and with this spirit, he will find that God will consider not only his prayers to be worship, but will deem his every single good act to be a form of wor-ship. Therefore, it is clear for all to see just how beautiful these teachings really are. So many avenues of success and worship have been created for those people who abide by God’s commands.

In light of this, whilst the opening of this mosque inspires us to thank Allah for blessing us with a place of worship in this area after a long wait, at the same time it also inspires us to be grateful to all of you who have joined us to take part in our celebration and to share in our joy. Further, whilst availing this oppor-tunity, I would also like to thank all of the local people who have greatly helped and assisted us in the construction of this mosque. The people who live locally are particularly deserving of our thanks, because if our new neighbours had not given their consent, we would not have been able to build this mosque. And so I thank you all.

I would also like to thank members of the local Council and the Mayor for provid-ing us with a place to build our mosque so we can join together to worship the One God. Certainly, the worship of God

holds the utmost significance and impor-tance to a true Muslim. Whilst, according to God’s command, a very major objec-tive for any Muslim is to bow down in prayer before his Lord five times a day, this is only one aspect of worship. In fact, for any true Muslim, worshipping God is something that is truly vast in scope and comprises much more than the obliga-tory prayers. We, Ahmadi Muslims, believe the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas of Qadian, to be the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi - the Guided One of this age. We believe that he was sent in this era by God Almighty to propagate the true teach-ings of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa. And so the Promised Messiahas clearly explained the concept of worship to us and he elucidated upon its true sig-nificance and reality. Let me give a few examples that highlight the true nature of worship.

A Muslim has been commanded to treat his wife with kindness and love, and to not covet or cast his eyes upon her wealth or property. It may be the case that a man is very regular in going to the mosque to offer his prayers, yet in his home he does not treat his wife with love and tenderness as commanded by God. The

A Muslim has been commanded to treat his wife with kindness and love, and to not covet or cast his eyes upon her wealth or property.



and happiness. The Qur’an has said that only those people attain true success and salvation who call people towards goodness and who prevent or stop wrongdoing. In detailing what is right and what is wrong, Allah the Almighty has placed great emphasis on fulfilling the due rights of mankind and of caring for one another. In fact, God says that true contentment can only be achieved by those people who give preference to the needs of others over their own. Thus, from every possible perspective the wor-ship of God is intrinsically linked and interwoven with fulfilling the rights of mankind. This bond is so strong that if they are ever separated, man cannot fulfil the purpose for which God created him.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community endeavours to serve mankind throughout the world due to its love for human-ity. Thus, it is carrying out various

humanitarian and educational projects in an effort to help poor and deprived people irrespective of religion, creed or colour in various parts of the world. Our sole motivation and guiding light are the real teachings of the Qur’an that have been explained to us in this era by the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Community, - the Promised Messiahas . The schools, colleges and hospitals we have estab-lished and are running, have all been built as a means of fulfilling that overriding objective of having our worship accepted by God.

To give just one example, the Ahmadiyya Community is providing clean drinking water in some of the most remote parts of Africa and certain other poor coun-tries and we are doing so only as a means to seek the pleasure of God Almighty. It is due to the love and compassion we have in our hearts for all of mankind that

Whoever comes to the mosque to wor-ship God, in other words a true Muslim who enters the Mosque five times daily to bow down before His Lord, should constantly analyse himself. He should ask himself how many acts of good-ness and compassion he has performed in the period between each prayer, for the sake of fulfilling the rights owed to God’s Creation. If a person does not ful-fil the rights due to mankind, then, as I have already said, his worship is worth-less. Thus, this is the reality of a mosque and this is the reality of the worship of a true Muslim.

And so, those people who hold any res-ervations about the construction of this mosque, or who are concerned by the potential impact of having a Muslim place of worship in this area, should be reassured. Similarly, if there are any peo-ple who are concerned that those who live near the mosque will be disturbed in any way, or who think that this mosque is something for the local people to fear, they too should rest easy in the knowl-edge that this will not be the case. All such people should remember that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is an entirely peaceful organisation which strives to follow the true and compas-sionate teachings of Islam.

In our mosques when the call to prayer is raised calling Muslims towards the wor-ship of God, one of the key proclamations is that they are called towards prosperity; meaning they are invited towards success

If a person does not fulfil the rights due to mankind, then, as I have already said, his worship is worthless.


establish love and brotherhood within a society. All those who enter this mosque will be people who fulfil the rights of God and His Creation. Any person who enters this mosque with anything other than this teaching or intention, is not a true Muslim; rather, he would be defam-ing the name of Islam.

And so this mosque will not only be known as a “place of worship,” but will also become known as an outstand-ing symbol of love, brotherhood and compassion.

At the end, I would like to speak very briefly about the current state of the world. It is my hope and my prayer that the people of this nation, and indeed the wider world, work towards remov-ing all types of fears or anxieties that exist within their societies. I also pray that all governments fulfil the rights of justice and become those who establish peace in the world. Otherwise, there is little doubt that the world is rapidly heading towards disaster, as a devastating world war seems to draw ever closer. If we fail to stop it in its tracks, we will have to face the most horrific consequences of a global war in which nuclear weapons will more than likely be used, causing nothing but carnage and devastation for decades to

come. Our future generations will never forgive us if we allow such a catastrophe to occur. To save the world from such horrors, the people and government of Australia should also fulfil their respon-sibilities and play their respective roles. May Allah grant them the capability to do so.

At the end I would like to once again thank all of our guests, who have taken the time to join us as we celebrate the opening of our new mosque here in this area. May Allah bless you all. Thank you very much.”

the Ahmadiyya Community constantly draws the attention of world leaders towards establishing peace and justice at all levels. We make such efforts because we want to save mankind from destruc-tion and therefore we advocate justice, - because it is the only route to peace.

The Holy Qur’an has not only explained the need for justice, but has also explained the standards of justice that are required. It says that the enmity of any nation or people should not lead a person to act otherwise than with justice or fairness. It is absolutely against Islam’s teachings to discard justice for the sake of furthering personal or vested interests or as a means of revenge. History bears witness to the fact that the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa

fulfilled the requirements of justice by making a decision in favour of a Jewish person and against a Muslim. The Holy Prophetsa did so because his understand-ing of the Qur’an was unparalleled, as was the way in which he fulfilled the rights of worship.

Thus, I say once again, that the worship-pers who enter this mosque, will not only bow down before God, but will be they who fulfil the rights of God’s creation. All of the people who enter this mosque will be completely law-abiding.

All of the people who enter this mosque will have a genuine and absolute love for this country and will believe that this love for their nation is an essential part of their faith. All of the people who enter this mosque will be those who fulfil the rights of their neighbours, rather than cause them any harm or discomfort.

Indeed, Islam stresses the rights of neighbours to such a degree that the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa once said that God Almighty had emphasised the rights of one’s neighbours to him so emphatically that he thought that per-haps they would be included amongst a person’s inheritors. And so, what mag-nificent teachings we have been given to


The Holy Qur’an has not only explained the need for justice, but has also explained the standards of justice that are required. It says that the enmity of any nation or people should not lead a person to act otherwise than with justice or fairness.

And so this mosque will not only be known as a

“place of worship,” but will also become known as an outstanding symbol of love, brotherhood and compassion.


“Absolutely fantastic. I am so honored that His Holiness has paid a visit to Logan and that I have got to hear him and meet him. I think he is an inspiration.” Russel LuttonDeputy Mayor, Logan City Council

“I had come ready to be inspired. [He] just came across as a very gentle man. The whole evening, the whole aura of the place this evening was of peace and togetherness. I know that the politicians spoke about community and what these people have done for the community, I would have wanted to have gone one step beyond that to say that these are the people who make communities. The things that they did, they listed which are all wonderful things; helping with the floods, cleaning up Australia, and all of those things but that’s just the manifestation of the people that I have come to know through the students at my school. They just reflected the things that their homes taught them and the people that they were. Somebody just said to me before that a lot of these people left Pakistan and I said that’s good because it’s

Pakistan’s loss but our gain. And that was very very evident there tonight.” Kerry McLarenPrincipal St. Francis College

“Look, tonight’s event was a real eye opener for me on sort of many levels. Seeing the infrastructure on the ground here the mosque, it’s a beautiful mosque. That was a new experience for me. Listening to His Holiness, I must say, when you meet someone of his sort of caliber, you have some expectations that they are going to be a very good speaker. But what interested me, what impressed me is that faith aside, His Holiness I think, implied a practical notion to faith, the expectations of faith, and I guess what it means to be Ahmadiyya and I guess put it in such a matter so that the broader community, those who are not Islamic, get some degree of comfort or guess about what your community is about. That impressed me.” Michael LatterState Member Queensland Parliament

“Just magnificent. Just the calmness of his voice made it easy to listen to. It was just beautiful. Words can’t describe how it was. It was lovely. It was an honor to have him in our country and it is something that I will cherish.” Robyn WilliamsYugambeh Elder, Aboriginal elder of the Beaudesert Region

“It was amazing. The evening was amazing and the speech was amazing. And I was just quite humbled to sit next to a man so wise and to gain [from] his knowledge that he has. It’s just quite humbling and an honor for me to be here tonight to listen to His Holiness speak and to be amongst these honorable people this evening.” Michael Pucci State MP for Logan, LNP

“[A] tremendous privilege to listen to His Holiness and to meet him tonight. I was fortunate to sit next to him and be able to speak quite informally about a lot of the issues about the community—both the Ahmadiya Community but also the local community—and I will leave here with very fond memories. I have a tremendous feeling of community spirit and I could sense that people here want to make positive contributions like I do. I think already the mosque is making a tremendous contribution in some of the charity works and community work, setting examples for people right throughout our community. I am very proud to say that I represent a big part of the Ahmadiyya Community because they are such positive contributors, such community minded and community spirited contributors.” Dr. Jim ChalmersFederal MP Rankin, ALP

Guest Comments & Reflections

on Address of His Holiness in Brisbane


collected more than 12,000 bags of blood and one of these camps was held in Capitol Hill. So quite a number of people and politicians know us there. Even now, newspapers have started writ-ing that the Ahmadiyya Community is the only Muslim Community which is very peaceful and wants to create love and harmony in the society. So through you, now I give the message that people should know us as the peace-loving and law-abiding community. And we also believe in the saying of the Prophet of Islamsa that love of one’s country is part of your faith.

B: What is the main message you are bringing on this trip to Australia?

H: My main purpose of coming here is to see my people, the members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, and to hold meetings with officials, apart from the gathering we are holding nowa-days with common Ahmadis. This is the main purpose. Other than that if I am ever given the chance I would extend my message of love and peace to the soci-ety, to the people of the country and the world at large, that nowadays the prevail-ing conditions of the world are getting worse. If we do not take action now and if we do not take measures now, the way

the world is going you will see a great havoc is going to develop.

B: What is your assessment of the situa-tion in Syria in particular and also in the wider Middle East in regards to the Arab Spring protest? Now it has been a couple of years since they began. So what is your assessment of this situation?

H: When this so-called Arab Spring started I delivered a sermon at the time, more than two years ago. I have been advising off and on, wherever we can reach to the people and governments, that they should behave in a manner through which (the conflict) can be solved amicably between two parties.

B: Can I first of all ask you about the Ahmadiyya Community. In Australia I would say it is not particularly well-known. There is not a great deal known about the Ahmadiyya Community out-side of the Community. So you can introduce a little bit for an audience who doesn’t know a great deal, what are the most important aspects of your faith?

H: If the Ahmadiyya Community has not been known up until now then I admit it is our fault. It should have been known by now. Although the

Ahmadiyya Community is a very small Community, our activities for the crea-tion of peace and love in the society are more than any other community. So they (the Ahmadiyya Community Australia) should have been known by now. They should make some programme and I will guide them as to how to become known in the society here in Australia.

In other parts of the world we organ-ise charity walks and donate to so many local and national charities. In the United States we had a blood drive where we

Bill Birtles of ABC Interviews His Holiness,

Mirza Masroor Ahmadaba So through you now I give the message that people should know us as the peace-loving and law-abiding community. And we also believe in the saying of the Prophet of Islamsa that love of one’s country is part of your faith.


and because of also giving totally and completely false allegations against us that we are, God forbid, undermining the status of the Holy Prophet of Islamsa. Because of this, the situation has now become even worse than before. In 2010, in two of our mosques almost 90 peo-ple were killed and hundreds of them were injured. And every now and then after every one or two weeks, I receive the news of one or two Ahmadis being murdered or martyred.

B: So this is ongoing?

H: Yes it is an ongoing process. And it can never stop until that obnoxious law exists.

B: What about in other parts of the world, particularly in countries like Bangladesh and Indonesia. What is the situation there?

H: As far as Bangladesh is concerned, although the cleric and the Mullah are against us, the government until now is doing justice. We Ahmadis are con-sidered the citizens of the country and we have all rights, unlike in Pakistan. In Indonesia in certain areas where the administrations is against us, they are cre-ating problems and the Mullah there is

also very furious. Whenever they get the chance, they raise a hue and cry. Not only a hue and cry, but they also raise arms and they can go to any extent. This is why some time ago, three of our Ahmadis were beaten to death in the mosque.

B: I would like to ask you some ques-tions about the Muslim Community over here, particularly here in Western Sydney. As you are aware it is a very multi-cultural area with a fairly large Muslim Community. Do you think there are particular challenges for Muslim Communities living in Western socie-ties such as Australia.

H: If Muslims are practising true Islam, then there should not be any challenge of absorbing, adjusting or living in any soci-ety, whether it is Western or Eastern. In a short sentence, we have made a slogan of the teachings of Islam; that is Love for All Hatred for None. If that mes-sage is there and as I have already said, that the love of your country is part of your faith, so both these slogans or mes-sages are such that I do not feel we have any problem in adjusting ourselves in any society, whether Western or Eastern or whatever it is. We are law-abiding.

You see, we believe that Allah is not

Even just recently three or four weeks ago, I delivered a sermon. My sermon is translated into 7-8 or even more lan-guages of the world. It is heard widely by Ahmadis and through the Internet and other media and by other people also. Some other people who have interest in the Community do listen to the sermon – therein I explained clearly that both parties in the Syrian situation, the gov-ernment and the public, should behave in a way which is human; otherwise they have already ruined the peace of the country, they are just going to make their country doomed. Moreover this will spread to the region. And there is a fear and I am scared that it can spread even all across the world and it can be the cause of a third world war.

B: Tell us a little about the situation of Ahmadis abroad in countries like Pakistan. I understand there are huge lev-els of persecution. In recent times what has the situation been like for them?

H: In Pakistan during the Bhutto regime a law was enacted against Ahmadis in 1974. That law says that Ahmadis are “not Muslims” for the purposes of the law and constitution. Later on when the Bhutto regime was overthrown, Zia-ul-Haq, the Army Chief, came into power. He fur-ther reinforced the law by saying that if an Ahmadi says “Salaam” to anybody – which is the normal greeting of “Assalamo Alaikum…” that you must have heard – everyone is allowed to say this but if an Ahmadi says this he can be imprisoned for three years in rigorous imprisonment and plus a fine. If you say “Bismillah”, or if any of your actions are in accordance with practices of common Muslims, you will be held responsible and in the eyes of the law you will be punished.

Since then, the Mullah has been given a free-hand to do whatever he likes. Of course, the Mullah has no political power up until now in Pakistan, but he has such a pulpit which has ‘nuisance power’ on the street. And people and politicians fear the Mullah, because of that one reason,

bill birtles of abc interviews his holiness, mirza masroor ahmadaba

In 2010, in two of our mosques almost 90 people were killed and hundreds of them were injured. And every now and then after every one or two weeks, I receive the news of one or two Ahmadis being murdered or martyred.


B: Do you feel there is any fundamen-tal chasm at the moment between the Islamic and Western worlds. It is a few years on from the Iraq War. The Afghanistan war is also winding down. What sort of feeling do you think there is between the two worlds?

H: This fundamentalism is always there, but they are not in the majority. But the question is that none of these organisa-tions or Muslim countries has any arsenal or armament industry. Wherefrom are they getting it? Obviously, from the West. Either it is from Eastern Europe, or through other ways or underhand deal-ings – I do not know how. That is what I have been telling the politicians all of the time. So if you and the big powers want to, they can control these extrem-ists. They don’t have oil money and so somebody who has oil money or some of the wealthier nations are helping them.

B: Just a final question, in Australia in recent years the issue of asylum seekers has been particularly prominent. And both the current government and the government that was just ousted, both took very hard-line policies of people who turned up on boats. Many of them are from Iran and parts of the world like Afghanistan. What are thoughts on what

attitude Australians should have towards asylum seekers?

H: I gave a brief lecture in the European Parliament wherein I mentioned how the immigrants should be treated in the countries. So I think one thing is that you should read that, which we will pro-vide. Secondly, Australia is part of the United Nations. And the charter says that those refugees who are, of course, being deprived of their rights in their respective countries should be absorbed in other countries and their problems should be solved. Either you should solve their problems in their respective country or at least if they are right, and not only because of gaining some benefit by com-ing here, if they are denied their rights then they should be absorbed. From both sides, honesty should be shown.

B: Thank you so much. I very much appreciate it.

only for Muslims. Allah is for the whole Universe. And Allah especially loves His Creation. Wherever the rights of His cre-ation are being denied, Allah is not happy with that. So when you are discharging the rights towards your fellow beings, and you want to live peacefully in the society and you spread the message of love and harmony, I do not think there should be any problem of adjusting Muslims into a society.

B: There was for example last year when there were the global protests again the American film that was offensive to Islam, there were also protests in Sydney. Now a small number of people involved in that protest ended up being arrested and charged for violence. So at the time there was a lot of media coverage of this here in Australia. Do you feel there are any particular reasons why some of those protests, not just here but overseas, did

have a more angry element to them?

H: I don’t know what percentage of the Muslims was involved in that. I hope it was a very few percentage of the Muslims.

B: It probably was a relatively small proportion.

H. The Muslims living here were either indifferent or disliked it. During that time, I also delivered a sermon and I actually expressed my displeasure to this film; but I said that this is not the way; that we organise some protests or break the property of the country.

The right way is to answer the accusation in the same manner. And the best way is to preach the true teachings of Islam to the people and to tell the people of the world what the true picture of the Holy Prophet of Islamsa is and, his behaviour. He never asked (his followers) to act with such type of extremism, which is being practiced nowadays by the Muslims. So if we give the true picture and tell people how he lived, people would know. That is the true way of expression; to retaliate not by sword, not by power, not by protesting, not by breaking the law, but by present-ing the beautiful teachings and how the Prophetsa spent his life.

bill birtles of abc interviews his holiness, mirza masroor ahmadaba

You see we believe that Allah is not only for Muslims. Allah is for the whole Universe. And Allah especially loves His Creation.


We believe those signs have also been ful-filled and the person’s claim is there and Allah is helping him as well. His com-munity is growing by leaps and bounds. And so he is the right man. Had he not been the right person, he would not have had so much success. So they say, after the Holy Prophet of Islamsa no prophet can come. We say that we believe that no law-bearing Prophet can come after the Holy Prophet of Islamsa, but a subordi-nate Prophet, can. Even if, according to their belief Jesusas had to descend down from the heaven, he will with the title of a Prophet. So it does not break the seal of Prophethood and so this is the main difference.

A: Some governments including Pakistan’s have declared your faith non-Muslim because of those theological differences? Is the situation in Pakistan improving at all for your followers?

H: The first thing is that I should cor-rect you here. When the Pakistan Government declared us “non-Muslims” or “not Muslims”, it was written that Ahmadis are declared “non-Muslims” for the purposes of the law and constitution. So that means that they tried to declare us “non-Muslims”, or according to their wording, “not Muslims” for the purposes

of the law and constitution. I believe that no political power, no political party and no government has the right to decide about the faith of any person. It is the person who himself or herself decides which faith he or she is going to hold.

A: Ahmadi Muslims have faced violent attacks in Indonesia. There is a law there that threatens to imprison your followers if they spread their beliefs. Human rights groups have condemned this decree. What would you like the Indonesian Government to do?

H: If there is true justice and all the cit-izens are being given their due rights, then no government can interfere in the

A: This is your first trip to Australia since 2006. So what is the main purpose of your visit?

H: Normally when I visit any country where we have our Community, the main purpose is to see the Ahmadi followers there, to listen to their problems and if possible, to try to solve their problems and to try to enhance their spiritual level by delivering sermons, speeches and discourses.

A: How would you describe the current state of your faith both in Australia and around the world?

H: In Australia the Community is not that large. We have almost 4000, or more than 4000 Ahmadis here. They are growing and most of the Ahmadis here are from Pakistan, who had to migrate from Pakistan because of the conditions there in Pakistan for Ahmadis. A lot of atrocities are being committed against Ahmadis. They are being deprived of their rights and all their civil rights are being denied. So this is why they are

coming here. Quite a number of them are from Pakistan although there are some Ahmadis from among other nations as well.

A: How does Ahmadiyya Islam differ from other forms of Islam? In your view what are the main differences?

H: It was prophesied by the Prophet of Islamsa that in the latter days a Reformer will come who will be titled as Mahdi and Messiah. For Muslims he will be the person who will guide them on the right path. We also believe the Second Advent of the Messiah which was due, was also going to be fulfilled in this era. We believe that that person has come in the person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas of Qadian. Other Muslims believe that, he is not the person. We say that the proph-ecy of the Holy Prophet of Islamsa also gave some signs. For instance, he said the sign of the eclipse of the moon and the sun will occur during that time in the month of Ramadan on specific days – and that has happened. There are so many other signs written in the Qur’an as well.

Auskar Surbakti of ABC Newsline Interviews His Holiness,

Mirza Masroor AhmadabaThere the law has been enacted, as I have already said, that prevents us to practise, preach and behave in a manner which is Islamic. So as long as this obnoxious law is there and true justice is not done, I do not think we can freely practice our faith.


A: Do you think there will come a time when your followers in Pakistan and Indonesia will be able to practice their faith freely without fear of persecution.

H: As far as Indonesia is concerned there is no law which prevents us from practis-ing our faith. But there are some pockets here and there where the local adminis-tration is actually creating the problem. The situation in Pakistan is somehow dif-ferent. There the law has been enacted, as I have already said, that prevents us to practise, preach and behave in a man-ner which is Islamic. So as long as this obnoxious law is there and true justice is not done, I do not think we can freely practice our faith. But we believe that the time will come one day, and the situa-tion will change, and we shall InshaAllah (God willing) be in a position to practise freely everywhere in the world.

A: Your Holiness, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, thank you very much for your time.

H: Thank you very much.

matter of faith of any person, as I have said earlier. The Indonesian Government should not interfere in the matters of faith of any person. They do not have the right to deny their due rights as a citizen of the country. So this is the duty of the government that they should treat all the citizens in the same manner.

A: As the leader of the Ahmadiyya, you have promoted inter-faith dialogue with other streams of Islam. So far has your work in that area been successful?

H: We have been trying and as far as inter-faith dialogues are concerned, we are being widely accepted everywhere. And our motto, Love for All Hatred for None, is liked everywhere whether it is

a religious group, political group or any worldly organisation. So this is the true picture of Islam. Islam means peace, love, harmony and reconciliation and that is the true message. Whenever and wher-ever we take this message it is liked and it is working.

A: And your faith has repeatedly rejected violent Jihad and violent extremism which you say is taking hold of Syria at the moment. How do you feel that con-flict in Syria should be handled?

H: As I have said in my sermon that both parties, the government and the people, should try to settle their prob-lems in a way which is amicable, and peacefully solved. I do not think that if the due rights of the people are being given by the government, there will be any hue and cry from the people. And the same thing (on the other side) – if the people try to get their rights, they should also behave in an Islamic way and tell the government that these are our rights. Either you give us our rights, or the other solution is to take the help of the neighbouring Muslim countries so that they help them down in their own countries and all those rights which are being denied by the government should be given by them.

auskar surbakti of abc newsline interviews his holiness, mirza masroor ahmadaba

Islam means peace, love, harmony and reconciliation and that is the true message. Whenever and wherever we take this message it is liked and it is working.


[email protected]



H: To learn about the history of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community you would have to go back 1400 years. The Holy Prophetsa made a prophecy that there would be a time when Muslims would practically forget their teachings. The Qur’an would be present among them but they would not act upon it and it would be an era of darkness. So in short, in the 14th century (of the Islamic calendar) a person would come who would be among his followers and the Muslim Ummah. He would spread his teachings and the true teachings of the Holy Qur’an. He would be the Messiah and Mahdi.

We believe and have faith that the per-son destined has come with all the signs prophesied by the Holy Prophetsa. In 1889 he announced this and laid the founda-tion of the Jama’at and took the first Bai’at (initiation into the Community). Among the many signs prophesied by the Holy Prophetsa, one includes a heavenly sign. The Holy Prophetsa had proph-esied that in the month Ramadan on specific dates, a lunar and solar eclipse would occur. Within the specific dates, by the Grace of the Almighty Allah, the eclipses occurred in 1894 in the Eastern Hemisphere, and in 1895 in the Western Hemisphere. This was a Divine sign.

And this claim had been made before it even came to pass.

So we believe the Messiah and Mahdi who was prophesied to come by the Holy Prophetsa, is Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas of Qadian. His signs are con-tinuously being fulfilled. There are also numerous other signs, which have been mentioned in the Holy Qur’an. We wit-ness all of these signs fulfilled in this era. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas of Qadian said that he was that awaited Messiah and Mahdi about whom Allah the Almighty had given the glad tidings of through the Holy Prophetsa and all the corresponding signs are being ful-filled. He said that he was establishing a

Translated from the Urdu by Amer Safir

I: Dear audience. We are fortunate to have His Holiness, Mirza Masroor Sahib, with us, who is the spiritual and admin-istrative Head of the Ahmadiyya Jama’at (Community) and the Fifth Khalifah. First of all I would like to say “Assalamo Alaikum” (peace be upon you) to him and welcome him to SBS radio’s Urdu programme.

H: Wa Alaikum Salaam Wa Rahmatullahe Wa Barakatohu (and may the peace

and blessings of Allah be upon you). Jazakallah (may Allah reward you) and thank you.

I: Your Holiness, I would like to begin by speaking about the history of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community so that our listeners can acquire some under-standing of its background. For the benefit of our listeners, could you please inform us when and how the foundation of the Ahmadiyya Community was laid and how this Movement began?

Rehan Alavi of SBS Radio Australia Interviews His Holiness,

Mirza Masroor Ahmadaba So we believe the Messiah and Mahdi who was prophesied to come by the Holy Prophetsa, is Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas of Qadian. His signs are continuously being fulfilled.


The people at the time elected Hazrat Maulana Nur-Ud-Din Sahibra as the Khalifah who was a very well-estab-lished scholar and physician of the time. After he passed away in 1914, the Second Khalifah was elected. There was a rift that occurred in the Community at the time but the majority took the Bai’at (initia-tion) of Hazrat Mirza Bashir-Ud-Din Mahmud Ahmadra. Many of those who had defected later returned to the fold.

In any case the Jama’at continued to pro-gress. Upon the demise of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, there were 400,000 or more members of his Community. This continued to progress and advance where today the Community is now established in 204 countries of the world and there are tens of millions of members.

Gradually formal guidelines were formed for the election of the Khalifah. There is an Electoral College who elects the Khalifah. The Electoral College includes in addition to the central directors and office bearers, a number of missionar-ies from across the world. There are also many ‘Umara (National Presidents) of the Ahmadiyya Community in countries across the world who are part of this as well as other elders of the Community. They meet together at a suitable location

where they can easily convene, and elect the Khalifah.

When in 1982, Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmadra, the Third Khalifah passed away, our Fourth Khalifah was elected in Rabwah, Punjab (Pakistan). However after the laws of 1984 which were made more severe by Zia Ul Haq, we were not allowed to say “Assalamo Alaikum” (the standard Muslim greeting mean-ing “peace be upon you”). We were not permitted to offer the Muslim Prayer. We were forbidden to practice anything deemed to be Islamic. So as the Khalifah and Leader, the Fourth Khalifah had to migrate from Pakistan to London so that he could lead the Community prop-erly. He lived there from 1984 until his demise in 2003. Since the circumstances in Pakistan did not change, the Fifth Khalifah was elected in London in the Fazl Mosque, which is the oldest mosque in London. There I was elected as the Khalifah through the Khilafat Electoral College.

I: What date did this occur?

H: 22 April 2003.

I: MashaAllah, you are both the admin-istrative and spiritual Head of the

Community whose purpose is to make mankind recognise its Creator, because man has forgotten God. Secondly, he said that as people are not fulfilling each other’s rights he had come to make all peoples recognise and understand the due rights of every other person. And so a major purpose of his advent was to draw attention towards the establishment of the rights due to Allah and the rights due to His Creation. In order to fulfil these objectives he established the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at.

I: I think you have given an excellent brief overview for our listeners as to how the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was established. Now I would like to

ask the following. In 1889 Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad laid the foundation of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and announced himself as the Promised Messiah. Can you please explain what the system was after his demise? He claimed to be the Messiah and after him the sys-tem of Khilafat commenced. So what is the process for choosing a Khalifah?

H: Nothing in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is separate from the Holy Prophetsa or his teachings. There is a well-known Hadith [sayings] of the Holy Prophetsa that there would first be a period in which Khilafat [spiritual suc-cessorship after the Prophet Muhammad] would be established. Thereafter a form of monarchy would follow. Then there would emerge an even more tyrannical monarchy. A period of darkness would then ensue for one thousand years. Then when the Promised Messiah would come, he would be the Khatamul Khulafah. At that point would commence Khilafat Ala Minhaajin- Nubuwwat; that is, Khilafat on the precepts of Prophethood. We believe that just as the Khilafat-e-Rashideen [the four rightly guided successors] was established after the Holy Prophetsa, this continued through the Promised Messiahas. After his demise in 1908, the institution of Khilafat began.

Upon the demise of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, there were 400,000 or more members of his Community. This continued to progress and advance where today the Community is now established in 204 countries of the world and there are tens of millions of members.

sbs radio australia interviews his holiness, mirza masroor ahmadaba


that the Prophet had given him since he would be the Holy Prophet’ssa follower.

We believe that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas of Qadian came in accordance with this prophecy, made by the Holy Prophetsa and also the Holy Qur’an in Surah Al Jumu’ah, as I said. He brought no new law with him; in fact as I men-tioned previously, he came to explain clearly the true teachings and Law of the Holy Qur’an in an excellent man-ner. He came to re-establish the true and correct Sunnah (practice) of the Holy Prophetsa. Therefore, we say that a Nabi (Prophet) can come, but only if he is a non-law bearing Prophet. No new law can now be established, because the Holy Prophetsa is the Khatamun Nabiyyin (Seal of all the Prophets). No new law can be established because the Holy Qur’an is the last Law-bearing Book.

Therefore we believe the Holy Prophetsa to be the last Prophet. However a Prophet may come who is a follower and devotee of the Holy Prophetsa and who does not bring with him a new law. This is exactly what Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas said that whatever he has obtained is purely as a result of being a true follower and an ardent devo-tee of the Holy Prophetsa. He said that

one night he recited Darud (sending salutations and blessings upon the Holy Prophetsa) to such a degree and so pro-fusely that subsequently he saw a vision; that there was a commotion among the angels in the heavens who were convers-ing amongst each other and proclaimed that it is this person (Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas) who holds true love of the Holy Prophetsa. Thus he said that he attained his status solely by virtue of the love and devotion he had for Holy Prophetsa rather than due to any personal merit or quality.

I: So according to Ahmadiyya belief, did Mirza Ghulam Ahmad enjoy constant revelation and communication with God Almighty?

H: We believe all of God’s Attributes remain the same today as they were since the beginning of the Creation of man. None of God’s Attributes can be terminated. Nobody can say that God previously gave revelation and spoke to man and yet today He has ceased com-munication. He communicated in the past, and He continues to speak to his pious and righteous ones today. Some people experience true dreams, which is also a means of God apprising them about something. It is not Satan who

Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at. Could you now please clarify for our listeners the either right or wrong concept among the Muslims that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, may Allah be pleased with him, claimed to be a new Prophet. According to my knowledge this is a misconcep-tion. He did not bring a new Law but in fact came as a follower of the Law of the Holy Prophetsa. Could you please shed light upon this?

H: These prophecies were made by the Holy Prophetsa. As I said he (the Promised Messiahas) was the Khatamul Khulafah. It is the common belief and was at the time (of the Promised Messiahas) amongst Muslims, that Jesusas is currently alive in the heavens and will descend to the earth. There is a narration which is a common narration known by Muslims that the Mahdi would come. Mainstream Muslims believe that the Messiah and the Mahdi will be two separate indi-viduals. The Messiah would descend from the heavens and the Mahdi would rise from among the Muslim people, they would unite to reform mankind, spread Islam and would wield the sword. Misconceptions are rife that they would use the force of the sword, would liter-ally break crosses, kill swine and so on and so forth.

The question is that the mainstream Muslims say that Jesusas will descend from the heavens, but Allah sent Jesusas as a Prophet of the Children of Israel. If Jesusas returns then it will be with the same title. It is not conceivable that Allah could confer someone with a high status, yet later He should deprive him of it. The Holy Prophetsa said that the Messiah and Mahdi would appear from amongst his Ummah.

There is a famous Hadith in which the Holy Prophetsa was sitting amongst his Companions. When the verse of the Holy Qur’an (Surah Al Jumu‘ah: Ch.62:V.4) was revealed, the Companions asked which people were being referred to. The Holy Prophetsa remained silent, and then he stayed silent a second time; and finally a third time he placed his hands on the shoulder of Hazrat Salman the Persianra, who was sitting to his side, and said the he would be amongst these people.

Two points are established from this. Firstly that he would be a non-Arab and secondly, that he would be from the Muslim Ummah. And the Holy Prophetsa said that his coming would be as if the Holy Prophetsa himself had come. This meant he would follow the Prophet’ssa way. He would come with the authority



all and are being targeted try to move abroad and this is why Ahmadis came to Australia and other countries and were granted refuge. They now live freely. Many well-educated non-Ahmadi Muslims say that it is their misfortune that a denomination of highly intelli-gent people with fertile minds – because Ahmadis, with the Grace of Allah, have a very high literacy rate and are well-edu-cated including scientists, doctors and engineers –should have been utilised to help Pakistan progress and advance, is being drained out of Pakistan. So it is Pakistan that is losing out.

We Ahmadis played a role in the creation of Pakistan and it was a very prominent and important part. This is why we had excellent relations with Qaid-e-Azam (the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah) and he made an Ahmadi, Sir Chaudhry Zafrulla Khan, the first for-eign minister. How sad it is that today Sir Zafrullah’s name has wiped out of school text books in Pakistan to show that he was not the first foreign min-ister. Dr Abdus Salaam, who was the first Pakistani and Muslim Nobel Prize Winner in Science, also had his name removed. So what bigger misfortunate can there be than this. However, despite this, Ahmadis continue to live in Pakistan

and they will do so, because we had a hand in the creation of the country. Our blood is part of the fabric of Pakistan and its formation. And InshaAllah we will remain there until the end. We will continue to pray to Allah the Almighty that He may grant wisdom to the gov-ernment and the public, that they may desist from their cruelty and persecution so that they can receive the blessings of Allah the Almighty. In any case we will continue to live in Pakistan for all times to come InshaAllah.

I: Thank you very much and Jazakallah (may Allah reward you) your excellency, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, for having taken time out from your very busy schedule for our listeners. Thank you very much for addressing our audience.

H: JazakaAllah (may Allah reward you) and thank you.

endnotes

1. Literally means ‘God Willed it’. It is often used a an expression of appreciation, praise and gratitude for something mentioned.

informs such people of how events will unfold. Or if you pray for somebody to be cured and through the prayers that person is cured; all of this means that God listens to man.

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas of Qadian has said that God Almighty not only listens, but also speaks. Even now He communicates with whomsoever He pleases. We cannot limit any Attribute of God nor terminate it.

I: Thank you very much Your Holiness, Mirza Masroor Ahmad Sahib. Finally, you have come here on a tour of Australia. Here in Sydney a very large convention of the Ahmadiyya Jama’at was held, MashaAllah. What message would you like to give to those living in Australia?

H: I would like to say that the prevailing circumstances in the world are a cause of great concern. The major reason for this is that man has forgotten his Creator. So thus they should give heed to their Creator, recognise Him and end all forms of Shirk (associating partners with God). They should repent and seek forgiveness of the rejection and denial of God that is rife in the world today. The second main purpose of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, as I said earlier, is so that

man establishes a bond of love, affec-tion, compassion and sincerity with his fellow human beings so that the world can become a haven of peace, love and brotherhood.

I: You mentioned in the beginning that the Ahmadiyya Jama’at consists of hun-dreds of thousands of members around the world…

H: Tens of millions…

I: Yes tens of millions MashaAllah.1 However in Pakistan what do you see the future of Ahmadiyya is in the current plight of minorities including Ahmadis and others.

H: The point in fact is despite all the persecution, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community remains established in Pakistan. And in fact there is a very large Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan who bear all the cruelties and oppression. We do not take the law into our own hands. When we are persecuted, we do raise our issues and concerns with the law-makers. If they help us, then Alhamdulillah (All praise belongs to Allah) and if they do not, we remain silent and submit our-selves in earnest prayers before God Almighty. Those who have no future at



On the 21st of September 2013, Hazrat Mirza

Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih Vaba (5th Successor to the Promised Messiahas), Head of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, embarked on a seven week tour of Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. In his Friday sermon on 20th September, His Holiness directed the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community to pray for the success of this tour.

Adapted from Official Urdu Reports by Abdul Majid Tahir

The Quest for Peace Down Under

Khalifah of the Promised Messiah as Visits Australia

Translated by Professor Amtul Razzaq Carmichael

© Gordon Bell | shutterstock.com

AUSTRALIA

1st October 2013His Holiness arrived at Sydney International Airport on October 1st 2013 at 5:05am (local time). At the airport, His Holiness was welcomed by dignitar-ies, high ranking officials, local officials of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and Honorable Kevin Conolly, Member Parliament of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

At Baitul Huda (Headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Australia in Marsden Park, Sydney), Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba received a rapturous welcome by the Ahmadis residing in Australia. Along with the Ahmadi men, women and children of Sydney, many dedicated Ahmadis trav-elled from Melbourne (876 km from Sydney), Brisbane (924 km from Sydney), Adelaide (1375 km from Sydney), Perth (5 hours flight from Sydney) in order to become part of this blessed and momen-tous occasion. His Holiness affectionately returned these slogans and poems of dedication and commitment, with the greetings of peace.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba led the afternoon prayers (Zuhr and Asr) at 1:30pm. His Holiness granted a private audience to 155 members of 34 families

in a session starting at 6:30pm and led the evening prayers (Maghrib and Isha’) in Baitul Huda Mosque at 8:00pm. After this, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba retired to his residence.

2nd October 2013At 11:00am, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba was interviewed by journalists from The Daily Telegraph, The Standard and Blacktown Sun newspapers. Below is a brief summary of these interviews:

• A journalist asked His Holiness regarding the differences and dis-agreements between Ahmadi Muslims and other Muslims? Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba explained that the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa prophesised that that a time would come when Muslims would com-pletely forget the essence of the teachings of Islam; even their mosques would be devoid of guidance. At that time, God will send the Messiah and Mahdias who would bring about the reformation of Muslims and would clarify the true teachings of Islam. His Holiness stated that Ahmadis believe that this prophecy has come true and Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas of

The main purpose of such tours under-taken by His Holiness is to promote the true peaceful teachings of Islam and enhance the spiritual and moral train-ing of Ahmadis living in different parts of the world. After visiting Singapore, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba continued his journey to Australia. This was the sec-ond visit of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba to Australia, the first one being in 2006.

During this 27 day tour of Australia, the official day of His Holiness started at dawn (between 4:30am to 5:30am) with the leading of the dawn prayers (Fajr). Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba

would spend most of the morning attending to his wide-ranging and var-ied commitments as the supreme leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim

Community. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba would respond to the correspond-ence from Ahmadis asking for prayers, guidance and support in various mat-ters. His Holiness would also oversee the official reports about the activities of the 204 countries where Ahmadiyya Muslim missions are established. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba also found time in his busy schedule to provide opportuni-ties for private audiences to thousands of Ahmadis, listening to their problems, challenges and difficulties, providing them with moral and spiritual support and helping them through prayers and advice. His Holiness also conducted Ameen celebrations (first complete read-ing of the Holy Qur’an) and Nikah ceremonies (the Muslim declaration of marriage). These extensive activities of His Holiness were arranged around the prayers offered in congregation. In the evening His Holiness would conclude his official day with evening prayers (generally offered around 9:00pm) in congregation.

Below, we present highlights of the long and busy schedule of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba during his visit of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

the quest for peace down under

The main purpose of such tours undertaken by His Holiness is to promote the true peaceful teachings of Islam and enhance the spiritual and moral training of Ahmadis living in different parts of the world.


• Addressing the question of acceptance of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community by the Australian public, His Holiness said that amongst all the Muslims communities, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the most accepted in every society. He said that Ahmadis openly profess their loyalty and love towards the nation they reside in and this practice is part of their faith. His Holiness said that the Ahmadiyya mes-sage is one of peace, illustrated by the Community’s slogan: ‘Love for All, Hatred for None.’

• Commenting on the ever-increas-ing threats to world peace, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba said that the solution lies in the practice of abso-lute justice; the standard of absolute justice has been set in the Holy Qur’an. The sense of fairness is meant to be so strong that one should be prepared to testify against one’s own family if the demand of justice requires it. This is the true Islam and through this, peace and justice can prevail in a society.

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba replied to a question regarding the establishment of peace in Syria by saying that peace will be established in Syria when both parties, the government and the rebels,

treat each other with mutual respect and fairness. Referring to his recent Friday sermon, His Holiness said that the government and the opposition group must understand their responsi-bilities and should act justly, otherwise the entire country will be consumed by turmoil. In fact, he said, the entire region will be affected and its peace will be destroyed.

• Explaining the procedure of appoint-ing the Khalifatul Masih, His Holiness explained that the Khalifah is chosen by the Electoral College comprising of key officials, missionaries and scholars. Individuals are nominated during the meeting of the Electoral College and the Khalifatul Masih is elected by the majority vote.

• About his background, His Holiness said that after graduating from Pakistan, he devoted his life to the services of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and served in Ghana for eight years. Then he served the Jama’at in various capac-ities in Rabwah, the headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan. In 2003, he was elected to lead the Community as the Khalifatul Masih.

Qadian has been appointed by God as the Messiah and the Mahdias. On the contrary, other Muslims are still waiting for a Messiah and the second advent of Hazrat ‘Isaas (Prophet Jesusas) and they believe that he will descend from the heavens. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba said that Ahmadis believe the second coming of Prophet Jesusas is a metaphorical concept entailing that the Messiah of the latter days would be similar to Prophet Jesusas in many respects. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba con-firmed that Ahmadis believe that the Holy Prophetsa is the last law-bearing prophet. Explaining the concept of “Seal of the Prophets”, His Holiness said that the teachings brought by the Holy Prophetsa had such a pow-erful spiritual impact that the status of a non-law bearing prophet may be

granted by God to one who faithfully adhered to these teachings. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba stated that we believe that the status of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas was that of a non-law bearing prophet.

• Explaining the purpose of his visit, His Holiness espoused that the main purpose of his visit is to meet the members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and oversee their moral and spiritual training. His Holiness said that he aims to inculcate the val-ues of loyalty to their country in his followers in accordance with the com-mandments of the Holy Prophetsa and to reiterate that Ahmadis should be law-abiding citizens of Australia. Another purpose of the visit is to listen to the problems and challenges faced by local Ahmadis and provide them with support, guidance and prayers. His Holiness explained that he uses his Friday sermons and speeches to high-light issues and problems and guides his Community to reform themselves in light of the teachings of Islam. His Holiness said that he aims to promote teachings of harmony, love, affection, brotherhood, and a sense of sympathy and fairness amongst Ahmadis.

He said that Ahmadis openly profess their loyalty and love towards the nation they reside in and this practice is part of their faith.



(Annual Convention) Australia and addressed those who had volunteered for the event, highlighting the blessings and the importance of the Divine institution of Jalsa Salana. After a further session of private audience with 218 Ahmadis from 48 families, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba

led the evening prayers (Maghrib and Isha’) at 8:35pm in congregation before retiring to his residence.

4th October 2013After his usual morning routine, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba inaugurated the 29th Jalsa Salana Australia. The Friday sermon of His Holiness was relayed live across the globe by MTA (Muslim Television Ahmadiyya, the satellite channel of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community) and led afternoon (Asr) prayers in congregation. In the evening, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba was interviewed by journalists from ABC radio and television. ABC radio and television is relayed in 24 countries. The salient points of the interview are presented below.

• A renowned journalist Bill Birtles said that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is not that well-known in Australia. His Holiness replied that we are a small community and we will

endeavor to raise awareness by arrang-ing humanitarian activities such as charity walks to raise funds for local charities as we do in the UK and the “Muslims for Life” campaign in the USA.

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba said that the main purpose of his visit was firstly, to meet the members of the Community and guide them. His Holiness said that secondly, if he gets the opportunity, he would like to con-vey the message of peace to the society and nation. His Holiness said that he would like to discuss with the lead-ership of this nation how peace can be achieved and what steps should be taken to avoid further chaos and destruction.

• His Holiness answered questions about the Syrian crisis, world peace and the impending threat of a third world war.

• Highlighting the plight and perse-cution of Ahmadis in Pakistan, His Holiness explained that in 1974, the Pakistan National Assembly declared Ahmadis as non-Muslims for the purpose of the law and the constitu-tion. In 1984, General Zia-ul-Haq stripped Ahmadis of their very basic

• A journalist asked His Holiness, “What is your advice to Muslims and non-Muslims?” His Holiness said that we are all human beings and creation of Allah the Almighty. Allah loves His creation and we should also strive to live with love and brotherhood and ful-fil each other’s rights.

• Highlighting the charitable services of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, His Holiness described that youth in the UK have raised £35,000 through charity events. Eighty percent of that amount was shared with non-Mus-lim charities. In the USA, Ahmadi youths collected more than 10,000 pints of blood for government hos-pitals through the ‘Muslims for Life’ campaign.

• His Holiness said that the beauty of the Community is that it functions accord-ing to the instructions and guidelines of the Khalifah. Other Muslim com-munities do not have such leadership. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is spread across 204 countries and has one leader; in all these countries, our teachings, our slogan, our character, and our administration is the same. We live peacefully and we propagate the teachings of peace. Wherever we reside, we are loyal to that nation and abide by its laws.

• This interview concluded at 11:30am. For the rest of the day, His Holiness held two sessions of private audi-ence with 410 Ahmadis in total; led afternoon and evening prayers in con-gregation at the appointed times; and busied himself in office work.

3rd October 2013His Holiness spent most of his day attending to his official commitments and led prayers in congregation at Baitul Huda Mosque; dawn (Fajr) at 4:30am and afternoon (Zuhr and Asr) at 1:30pm. At 5:10pm, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba carried out an inspection of the arrangements for the Jalsa Salana

His Holiness said that we are all human beings and creation of Allah the Almighty. Allah loves His creation and we should also strive to live with love and brotherhood and fulfil each other’s rights.



Muslim to live in his society with peace, love and brotherhood. If the Muslims living in these western nations were to practice these teachings, they would not to face any difficulty or challenges.

Following the ABC radio and television interview, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba

granted private audience to 182 Ahmadis of 41 families and led the evening prayers (Maghrib and Isha’) at 8:30pm in Baitul Huda mosque. Subsequently, His Holiness visited the Ameer (National President) of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Australia before retiring to his residence.

5th October 2013On the second day of Jalsa Salana Australia, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba

delivered an address to the ladies. This address was transmitted live all across the globe via MTA. After this session, His Holiness left for the men’s area and led the afternoon prayers (Zuhr and Asr). At 6:00pm His Holiness granted a pri-vate audience to a total of 50 families consisting of 156 individuals. At 9:00pm His Holiness led the evening prayers (Maghrib and Isha’) before retiring to his residence.

6th October 2013Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba gave a concluding address to more than 4,000 participants of Jalsa Salana Australia. This Jalsa was attended by 181 International guests and 64 non-Ahmadi guests. After leading the afternoon prayers (Zuhr and Asr) in congregation, a most digni-fied ceremony of International Bai’at took place. In this ceremony 10 men and 4 women accepted Ahmadiyyat and took an oath of allegiance to the Unity of God, vowed to believe the Holy Prophetsa as the ‘Seal of Prophets’ and promised to abide by the ten conditions of Bai’at. The beauty and spiritual energy of this ceremony can be appreciated fully, if witnessed. To express a bond of commit-ment, the men placed their hands upon the hands of their beloved Khalifah’s hand while following the words of His Holiness, while the ladies, in the Islamic tradition of Purdah (Islamic way of outer covering) and modesty, repeated the words after their beloved Khalifah. This opportunity was taken by the entire Jalsa gathering to refresh their oath of allegiance to Khilafat. The International Bai’at ceremony was tel-ecast live throughout the world via MTA.

Despite his extremely busy schedule dur-ing the Jalsa Salana, His Holiness found

human rights. His Holiness explained that Ahmadis are fined and imprisoned for up to three years for merely say-ing Asalamo ‘Alaykum (Islamic greeting meaning, ‘Peace be on you’). Ahmadis, by law, are prohibited from using Qur’anic prayers, or even perform-ing everyday activities like ordinary Muslims. His Holiness said that the Muslim clerics in Pakistan use their power and influence to carry out vicious crimes and atrocities against Ahmadis. His Holiness mentioned incidents in Lahore in 2010 when two Ahmadi Mosques were attacked and nearly ninety members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community were martyred and hundreds were injured. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba said that every week he receives news regarding per-secution and martyrdom of Ahmadis in Pakistan.

• His Holiness spoke about the

persecution of Ahmadis in Bangladesh. He said that Muslim clerics are against the Jama’at but the government is not. Regarding the persecution of Ahmadis in Indonesia, His Holiness stated that in some areas, the local administration is against the Jama’at. Whenever the Muslim extremists get the opportu-nity, they attack Ahmadis, stone their mosques and damage their properties.

• A journalist asked a question regarding the violent response of some Muslims about an anti-Islamic film made in the US. His Holiness said that he had con-demned both the film and the violence, which is against the teachings of Islam. His Holiness mentioned in a Friday sermon that the best response to such provocation is to share the life history of the Holy Prophetsa with the world and shed light on his true and noble character.

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba stressed that Muslims practising the true and peaceful teachings of Islam have no problem fitting in with the western culture and society. It is our faith that Allah the Almighty is for the entire world and the entire human race is Allah’s creation. Allah loves His crea-tion. Hence, it is incumbent upon a true

Whenever the Muslim extremists get the opportunity, they attack Ahmadis, stone their mosques and damage their properties.



her from embarrassment, you can shake her hand as this is an intricate situation.

• A student asked His Holiness whether the Jama’at will allow students to work and pay off their student loans before working for the Jama’at. His Holiness said that it all depends on the need. If the Jama’at needs the student’s service urgently, it will take the responsibility of paying off student loans, otherwise students may continue to work and pay off their loans.

• His Holiness explained that there is no Islamic teaching or precedence that dictates men to keep their trou-sers above the level of their ankles. The Islamic philosophy of attire is that it should not become a means of boast-fulness and conceit.

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba explained that it is inappropriate to accept Bai’at from a minor; people should reach the age of maturity, develop their under-standing and should fully comprehend what Bai’at means before their Bai’at is accepted.

This class ended at 11:45am and was fol-lowed by a Waqfe Nau class with ladies (those who have dedicated their lives for

the service of Islam Ahmadiyyat). His Holiness expounded on the true meaning of being Waqfe Nau by saying that Waqfe Nau children are those who devote their lives for the sake of God the Almighty. Their parents vow to devote them before birth. When these children grow up, they confirm this commitment. A highly dis-tinct feature of the Waqfe Nau youth is that they work harder to obey the com-mandments of Allah the Almighty and strengthen their bond with Allah the Almighty by offering Salat. Hence, the five daily prayers should be offered in the best possible manner and Nafal (voluntary prayers) should be offered sometimes. Older children should offer Nafal more often than younger ones. This brief comment was followed by a question and answer session: the salient points are presented below.

• His Holiness advised that to improve their proselytisation skills, Waqfe Nau should read the book Introduction to the Study of Holy Qur’an by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II, Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmadra. This book highlights the need for Islam and the life and character of the Holy Prophetsa. The book also briefly mentions the need for the advent of the Promised Messiahas. Another

time in the evening to grant a private audience to 161 members of 46 families including 6 Ahmadis from Indonesia. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba led even-ing prayers (Maghrib and Isha’) in Baitul Huda Mosque at 8:15pm and retired to his residence.

7th October 2013At 11:00am His Holiness presided over a Waqfe Nau class attended by male youths who have dedicated their lives to the ser-vice of Islam Ahmadiyyat. The theme of the class was that those who make a bond of commitment and dedication to God encounter success and happiness and those who chase this world at the expense of their faith eventually lose everything. Afterwards, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba

held a question and answer session. The key points are summarised below.

• A question was asked that if the use of alcohol and drugs is prohibited by the teachings of Islam, then why are ciga-rettes are not forbidden? His Holiness explained that the philosophy behind these prohibitions is that the potential harm of these activities is far greater than any potential benefit. Cigarettes are harmful and can cause lung can-cer. The Promised Messiahas did not approve of smoking and called it a repulsive habit. The Promised Messiahas also said that if smoking was available at the time of the Holy Prophetsa, he would have forbidden this unpleasant practice.

• A boy asked that whilst Muslim men do not usually shake hands with women, if a lady puts forth her hand unexpectedly, what is the best way to deal with the situation? His Holiness explained his practice of always invit-ing those people to meetings who have a certain level of familiarity with the practices and teachings of Islam; these guests are politely briefed in advance that His Holiness does not shake hands with women as a sign of respect for ladies. His Holiness went on to say that if you find yourself in a position where a lady puts her hand forward for a handshake unknowingly, then to save

The Promised Messiahas also said that if smoking was available at the time of the Holy Prophetsa, he would have forbidden this unpleasant practice.



• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba explained that a Khalifah is elected by the mem-bers of the Electoral College consisting of various key officials of the commu-nity from all over the world; during the election a number of people are nomi-nated and voting by a show of hand takes place to elect the next Khalifah with a majority vote.

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba explained that the way we translate the Holy Qur’an is same as non-Ahmadi Muslims, the only difference is in the verses about the death of Prophet Jesusas. The Ahmadiyya translation of these verses is supported by the key historic Islamic scholars. On this note, His Holiness expressed the need to translate literature into English to help young Waqfe Nau become conver-sant in the evidence about the death of Prophet Jesusas.

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba said that the key factor in the upbringing of children is to be personal role mod-els; parents need to be regular in Salat (formal prayer in Islam), recitation of the Holy Qur’an and should have high moral values. Thus, parents should lead by example.

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba clari-fied the misconception that Islam is a culture or social platform. The Holy Qur’an has many commandments; in the Holy Qur’an, the word Taqwa (righteousness) is mentioned more than 100 times. By following the teachings of Islam, we will achieve the purpose of our creation. Our aim and goal is to attain the love of God, not cultural benefits. The purpose of reli-gion is to bring people closer to God and to promote love and unity amongst people.

• His Holiness encouraged Waqfe Nau ladies to undertake careers in medical research, history and other fields and aspire to win the Nobel Prize.

• Advising a young Waqfe Nau who is married to a missionary, His Holiness stated that she has the dual responsi-bility of being a role model for others by her skills and expertise in running her household, regularity in worship, morality, actions, words and modesty, as well as being a wife of missionary. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba said that the wife of a missionary should be the beacon of modesty and humility.

book recommended for this purpose is Da’watul Ameer. These books very eloquently elaborate on prophecies and current matters.

• His Holiness explained that Waqfe Nau ladies should serve the Community by increasing their religious knowledge and skills and bringing up their chil-dren well.

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba agreed with the sad fact that nearly all the terrorist groups today associate them-selves with Islam. Therefore, people think that Islam and terrorism go hand in hand. As Ahmadi Muslims, we must clear this misconception. His Holiness said that Islam is a religion of peace and that he had stressed this point in his concluding speech at Jalsa Salana (Annual Convention) UK 2013.

His Holiness mentioned that his book World Crisis and Pathway to Peace is helpful to clarify these refined concepts.

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba clarified the process regarding Waqfe Nau youth taking up employment untill their ser-vices are needed by the Community. However, His Holiness said that this should be done following proper pro-tocols and procedures.

• When asked which country he would like to visit the most, His Holiness replied, ‘Any country where Ahmadis live. I like to meet with them and this is the main purpose of my visits.’

• A 12 year old girl asked whether the persecution of Ahmadis in Pakistan is similar to the persecution of Sahibzada Abdul Latif in Afghanistan, at whose martyrdom Allah the Exalted revealed to the Promised Messiahas that the land of Afghanistan was being rejected by God. His Holiness replied that the state of Pakistan is dire; the economy, law and order and governance all are virtually non-existent. The country is known as a terrorist state in the world; this is the Divine rebuke for the coun-try for mistreating the message of the Promised Messiahas.

Hence, the five daily prayers should be offered in the best possible manner and Nafal (voluntary prayers) should be offered sometimes. Older children should offer Nafal more often than younger ones.



informative paper on Eco-hydrology, which is a new branch of science that focuses on making the best use of water resources in the face of a growing world population. At the end of the session at 8:00pm, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba led an Ameen ceremony before leading the evening prayers (Maghrib and Isha’) in congregation. Afterwards, His Holiness retired to his residence.

8th October 2013Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba attended to his office duties for most of the day and led prayers in congregation at the appointed times. His Holiness graciously granted a private audience of 210 mem-bers of 49 families in the morning and 200 Ahmadis from 49 families in the evening sessions.

9th October 2013After leading the dawn prayers (Fajr) in congregation, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba and his staff left for the airport to fly to Melbourne. This was the first visit of a Khalifatul Masih to Melbourne. A warm and enthusiastic welcome awaited Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba in Melbourne, where scores of dedicated men, women and children turned out to welcome their

holy leader. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba

led the afternoon (Zuhr and Asr) prayers in congregation.

Ahmadiyya Centre Melbourne is a large two storey building acquired by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in 2006. It is a beautiful example of archi-tecture in which 4,000 people can offer prayers at one time. The are 250 car parking spaces. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community paid $800,000 Australian dollars for this building which is now estimated to be nearly $6 million.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba granted a private audience to 228 members of 40 families from Victoria Melbourne. Many of these Ahmadis had the privi-lege of seeing Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba for the first time in their lives. These families have faced intense persecution in Pakistan, with some family members having served jail sentences and others had been martyred for adhering to their beliefs.

At 9:00pm, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba

led the evening prayers in congregation before retiring to his residence.

The class ended at 12:40pm, follow-ing which Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba granted the honour of private audience to 66 people from 20 families and the mis-sionary incharge of the Solomon Islands. At 1:45pm Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba

led the afternoon (Zuhr and Asr) prayers in congregation. This was followed by a Nikah ceremony.

Addressing the importance of right-eousness in Islamic marriage in the Nikah ceremony, His Holiness reiter-ated the concept of Taqwa; His Holiness explained that absolute truth and com-mitment to God make the foundation for a long, happy and successful marriage. It is the responsibility of both families to make concerted efforts to nurture this new relationship built on love, affection and truthfulness. In order to strive for a

pious and decent next generation, actions and deeds should follow the command-ments of Allah.

At 6:00pm, His Holiness held a meeting with male students at college or univer-sity. A research article was presented on the topic of schizophrenia and its causes. This mental illness, is uncommon (1% of the world’s population suffers from it); the cause of the disease is unknown and there is no curative treatment. Newer research into the causes and poten-tial treatment was presented. Another researcher presented data on the effec-tiveness of face masks in preventing chest infection. His Holiness commented that the homeopathic treatment, aconite 1000 can be an effective treatment for the com-mon cold. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba

encouraged that research data should also be collected from Fazl-e-Omar Hospital, Rabwah, Pakistan.

At 7:00pm His Holiness granted an audience to female students at college or university. One researcher, studying for her PhD, presented findings that success in mathematics at school level is largely due to parental input, competi-tiveness amongst students, professional teachers and the practical way of teach-ing. Another PhD student presented an

Another PhD student presented an informative paper on Eco-hydrology, which is a new branch of science that focuses on making the best use of water resources in the face of a growing world population.



faith and this world. Those who forsake their faith to run after worldly pleasures and delight end up with neither their faith nor worldly pleasures. This was fol-lowed by a question and answer session, the salient points of which are summa-rised below.

• One youth asked His Holiness about how he prepares for his Friday sermon. His Holiness replied “I prepare them and find the references myself. If there is a reference that needs to be typed or printed out, then I share that reference, page number and name of the book, with my office so that they can either type or print it out for me.”

• His Holiness reiterated the target of taking the message of Islam to 10% of the population of every country.

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba explained that we have very good resources for preaching, including a Facebook page. Therefore there is no need to make personal Facebook pages for this pur-pose. However, as an organisation, a Facebook page can be developed by putting proper procedures and prac-tices in place.

• Discussing his technique of preaching,

His Holiness explained that the first step is to make people appreciate the existence of God and then progress to the understanding of religion.

• His Holiness explained that to make people understand the existence of God is a fine philosophical concept; God can be understood as the high-est level of Creator is God. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba recommended

10th October 2013Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba led the morning prayers in congregation at 5:30am in the morning. After tending to his official commitments His Holiness led the afternoon prayers in congregation at 1:30pm. At 6:00pm, 170 members of 49 families had the honour to attend a private audience with His Holiness, after which evening prayers were offered in congregation before His Holiness retired to his residence.

11th October 2013Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba delivered the Friday sermon in Melbourne and it was a sheer blessing of God that the peaceful message of Islam Ahmadiyyat was relayed live across the globe from Melbourne for the first time ever.

In the evening, His Holiness attended a function at the Princess Reception Centre, which was attended by 220 guests including local dignitaries and high ranking officials, politicians, doc-tors and lawyers. In his keynote address, His Holiness stressed the importance of mutual unity and love to tackle the unrest in the world. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba explained that crises like the Arab Spring, the unrest in Syria and

Libya are all results of a practice where the rights of one section of the commu-nity are usurped by others. His Holiness proposed that the solution of the cur-rent world problems lies in the practice of absolute justice. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba expressed his disappointment that the United Nations is not an effective agency in ending world crises.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba led the evening prayers in congregation at 10:00pm and retired to his residence.

12th October 2013Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba visited the Royal Botanical gardens in the morning and spent some time absorbing the pic-turesque beauty of Mount Dandenong. The afternoon prayers (Zuhr and Asr) were offered at the appointed time in congregation in a restaurant.

In the afternoon, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba held a class of the local Waqfe Nau male youths. Addressing the youths, His Holiness explained that all pleasures, happiness and contentment is inextri-cably linked in belief in God. A bond of commitment and dedication to God leads one to God; those who find God ultimately get the blessings of both their

His Holiness at the Royal Botanical gardens.



interest of an individual is the main factor to define their career choices. The Holy Prophetsa has said that the best knowledge to acquire is the knowl-edge of faith and the knowledge of the body. The professions that Waqfe Nau ladies might find helpful are medicine, teaching, research, archaeology, and languages in order to help with trans-lation projects of the Community.

• His Holiness encouraged the youth to watch the Waqfe Nau classes on MTA and keep themselves abreast with the directives of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba by listening to his addresses and Friday sermons.

• When asked to tell the youth about any faith inspiring incidents from his younger years, His Holiness related an incident when he needed something within the next 15 minutes. He was shy and hesitant to ask his father, therefore he prayed to God saying, ‘I do believe in You and my faith will be consoli-dated and enhanced if You with Your grace grant me my wish.’ His Holiness recalled that he waited 12 then 13 min-utes and then 14 minutes passed and nothing happened. At the 15th min-ute, his father called him and gave him whatever his wish was!

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba said that he liked Melbourne; he said that all places are nice but his main focus was for Ahmadis of each place to become nice and pious people.

• In response to a question why we can-not see God, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba said that God is evident in all His creation. All flowers, vegetables and fruit trees are living examples of the existence of God. God is all-powerful, His Holiness gave the example that chlorophyll is needed for plants to grow however, he recently saw a plant which does not have any leaves but instead a beautiful flower grows on just a stem. These are all displays of the immense capabilities and creative powers of our God.

• In response to a question about what age girls should start to wear a head-scarf, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba

responded by saying that this is a pro-gressive process. At a very young age girls should start covering their legs with leggings when wearing dresses. By the age of 10 years, girls start wearing a scarf and build this up promptly at the age of 12.

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba explained

the books Our God, The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam as well as the 5th and 6th chapter of the book Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge and Truth to hone these concepts.

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba explained that the signs of acceptance of prayer is a powerful argument for the existence of God. His Holiness explained that we cannot convince others of the existence of God unless we can present our own experience as evidence.

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba rec-ommended that a divis ion of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Student Association should be established in Australia; this is a seasoned organisa-tion that is well established in many parts of the world.

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba reiter-ated the importance of being regular in offering five daily prayers, the recitation of the Holy Qur’an and the devotion and commitment to enhance one’s reli-gious knowledge.

The class finished at 8:20pm and was immediately followed by a class with Waqfe Nau ladies. The highlight of the class was a question and answer ses-sion with Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba. A brief summary of this session is pre-sented below:

• A young lady asked Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba that if he had a daugh-ter who was Waqfe Nau, what career would he choose for her? His Holiness explained that with the grace of God, he does have a daughter but she was born before the Waqfe Nau scheme was launched; His Holiness explained that he would have brought his daughter up well so that she would make the right choice for herself in how she wished to serve the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

• Advising about career choices of Waqfe Nau ladies, His Holiness explained that there is no hard and rigid struc-ture in this regard. The aptitude and

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba said that God is evident in all His creation. All flowers, vegetables and fruit trees are living examples of the existence of God.



advised that even when not fasting, we should get up for Sehri (an Islamic term referring to the meal consumed early in the morning by Muslims before fasting), offer Nafal Salat and do the recitation of the Holy Qur’an.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba led the evening (Maghrib and Isha’) prayers in congregation before retiring to his residence.

13 October 2013Along with commitments of leading prayers and official and administrative duties, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba

inspected the Ahmadiyya Centre Melbourne including MTA offices and the library. His Holiness also attended a dinner with local officials of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

14 October 2013Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba left Melbourne today for Sydney. A heartfelt and emotional farewell was extended by the Melbourne Ahamdis, His Holiness left for the airport after leading in silent prayers. Ahmadis if Sydney offered an emotional and affectionate welcome back to their holy leader when Hazrat

Khalifatul Masih Vaba arrived in Sydney at 2:45pm. His Holiness led prayers in congregation at their appointed times, granted a private audience to 164 Ahmadis and retired to his residence are 9:00pm.

15 October 2013Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba remained busy carrying out his official com-mitments and found time in a busy schedule to grant a private audience to 194 Ahmadis.

16 October 2013Today was the Muslim festival of Eidul Adha, when Muslims commemorate the ultimate sacrifice of the Prophet Abrahamas. The Eid sermon delivered by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba was relayed live across the world via MTA. His Holiness urged Ahmadis to develop true comprehension of God since only true love and fear of God enables one to gain to gain salvation from sin. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba led all prayers in congregation from dawn to late evening including Eid prayers. In the evening, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba laid the foundation stone of the guest house in the grounds of Baitul Huda.

that the best way is to start wearing a headscarf early so that girls get used to it. Some girls say that they would start wearing headscarf at the age of 12, then the delay until 13, then again they delay it to 14 years of age; once this trend sets in, then they are hesitant to wear the headscarf. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba explained that it is really impor-tant to understand that girls should not worry that other girls will laugh at them because of their headscarf and make fun of them; one way to tackle this is to start wearing a headscarf early in order to overcome any hesitation. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba explained that young ladies in their late teens and early 20s must appreciate that the pur-pose of Purdah is Haya (modesty and virtue). Haya is an integral part of a woman’s dignity and most Western nations practiced this until recently. His Holiness said that he finds it

strange that men are regarded well-dressed when they have worn a shirt, tie and suit while women are consid-ered well-dressed when they expose the flesh. His Holiness counselled Ahmadi girls that Haya acts as a barrier for oth-ers’ inappropriate looks and advances.

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba advised pregnant women to pray that God grants them a pious and virtuous child who adheres to their faith and does not bring the family’s name into disrepute. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba reminded the young ladies of the prayer of the mother of Hazrat Maryamas when she was pregnant. She prayed that her progeny would adhere to the com-mandment of God and be pious and virtuous and serve the faith.

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba again reminded the young ladies to focus on their faith; by adhering to faith worldly successes become inevitable, but if one forgets faith due to their desire for this world then one loses everything.

• Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba explained that practice fasts should be observed from the age of 13 and 14 and we should aim to become regular in fasting from the age of 17 to 18. His Holiness

His Holiness urged Ahmadis to develop true comprehension of God since only true love and fear of God enables one to gain to gain salvation from sin.



and bring the entire world to the peace-ful message of Islam. His Holiness said that we believe in Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas of Qadian as the Promised Messiah of our age; after his demise, his successors, entitled Khalifatul Masih, continue with his mission of peace. In his address His Holiness also mentioned current threats to world peace and pos-sible solutions to avert a third world war.

19 October 2013Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba was inter-viewed by journalists from the SBS radio station. After a brief introduction to Ahmadiyyat, His Holiness openly answered questions about the prophecy of the Holy Prophetsa that in latter days Muslims would give up Islamic teachings and that at that time, the advent of the Promised Messiahas would take place to reform the people of latter days. The signs of truthfulness of the Promised Messiahas include the fulfillment of the prophecy of an eclipse of the moon and the sun. His Holiness explained the concept of Khilafat and the fact that after the unfair and unjust ordinance passed in Pakistan in 1984, the Head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community cannot function in his role as Khalifatul Masih whilst living there. From dawn to late evening, His Holiness

led all prayers in congregation at appointed times and granted a private audience to 190 Ahmadis of 47 families in the morning session.

In the evening, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba held a meeting with the Executive Council of Lajna Imaillah (an auxiliary for women above the age of 15). His Holiness reminded them that it is the responsibility of the President of Lajna to go through all the reports from the country and then forward them to vari-ous departments with her comments.

His Holiness directed the Executive Council to set themselves the target that every member should listen to the Friday sermon. This is essential for the religious training of Lajna and only then will they be able to train their children. His Holiness also suggested that the salient points of the Friday sermon should be circulated by email. His Holiness stressed that it is the responsibility of Lajna to make sure that their family offers the five daily prayers on time.

His Holiness espoused that it is good practice to give auxiliary organisa-tions targets for monetary schemes such as Tehrike Jadid and Waqfe Jadid. This practice improves the overall

17 October 2013His Holiness was interviewed by a journalist from ABC Newsline. In his interview, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba

explained that the purpose of his visit to Australia in order to meet Ahmadis, listen to their problems and advise and guide them. His Holiness said that he

also aimed to raise the morality and spir-ituality of his followers. There are almost 4,000 Ahmadis resident in Australia and most of them are immigrants who have sought asylum in Australia to escape bitter persecution in Pakistan and other countries.

In addition, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba led all congregational prayers at their appointed times and granted a private audience of 158 members of 39 families.

18 October 2013Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba delivered a Friday sermon at Baitul Huda Mosque in Sydney, which was telecast across the globe via MTA. His Holiness later inau-gurated the Khilafat Centenary Jubilee Hall. The inauguration ceremony was attended by local dignitaries, officials and office holders. In his keynote address, His Holiness thanked the broad-mindedness of the audience and in light of Islamic teachings jettisoned misunderstand-ings that have led to the violent image of Islam. His Holiness explained that the it was been foretold centuries ago that Muslims will lose touch with their teachings and adopt unislamic ways and that in the latter days, a reformer will be appointed by God to reform Muslims

His Holiness interviewed by a journalist from ABC.

His Holiness said that he also aimed to raise the morality and spirituality of his followers. There are almost 4,000 Ahmadis resident in Australia and most of them are immigrants who have sought asylum in Australia to escape bitter persecution in Pakistan and other countries.



system of the Community as soon as possible and practical.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba said that it would be wise to develop a website for Nasirat and that the model of the UK Lajna site may be an appropriate one to follow.

After the meeting Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba visited the Hasan Musa Library and directed that this library facility should be publicised and made accessible to all who wish to use it.

His Holiness then granted a private audi-ence to 160 members of 40 families and presided over an Ameen ceremony before leading evening prayers in congregation.

20 October 2013Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba granted private audience to 179 members of 49 families as well as the missionary incharge of Australia.

His Holiness held a meeting with the Executive Council of Khuddamul Ahmadiyya (an auxiliary for youth 15-40 years of age). Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba instructed that the president should read each and every report from

his country and comment on this before passing it to the relevant secretaries. By reading the reports, the president of an organisation can become aware and develop an understanding of what is going on in his membership and what needs to be done. His Holiness instructed that a concerted effort should be made to involve the youth of the country in the system of financial sacrifice as well as undertaking activities to help others. Young people can integrate into society by organising events like charity walks and enhance their standing in society.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba explained that it is the job of the Executive Committee to enhance the skill and desire amongst young people to under-stand the books of the Promised Messiahas.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba expressed disappointment that people seek asylum on the basis that they are unable to prac-tice religion and are persecuted in their own countries; thus they seek asylum in the name of God but when they are established in Western countries some of them tend to forget God!

His Holiness instructed that the efforts for proselytisation of Islam Ahmadiyyat

standard of financial sacrifice for the whole Jama’at. His Holiness advised that Lajna must understand the philosophy behind making financial sacrifice. Those ladies who are behind in financial sac-rifice should be reminded politely but should not be harassed or hassled. It is good humanitarian action for ladies to visit old people’s homes, schools and hospitals. The profile of the lead-ers of the Ahmadiyya Community can be raised by doing fundraising for various charities. For this purpose, all ladies who have got sewing and knit-ting skills can make material that can be sold at an annual fairs to raise funds. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba stressed that the standard of Purdah of the Secretary Nasirat (an auxillary for girls 7-14 years of age) should be high, as

she acts as a model for the youth of the Community. His Holiness also stated it is important to hold an annual quiz for Nasirat. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba said that in order to enhance the reli-gious training of Nasirat, they should be given one or two pages of a book of the Promised Messiahas to read and that it would be a good idea to encourage essay writing amongst Nasirat. His Holiness suggested there are many important top-ics for Ijtema speeches for example, ‘Our God’, ‘Khilafat-e Ahmadiyya’, ‘Blessings of Khilafat’ and ‘Service of Others’. His Holiness explained that girls over the age of 10 learn better by group discussion and he instructed that it is imperative to allow Nasirat opportunities to express themselves and their opinions. He stated that it is absolutely vital that we know what Nasirat’s problems are so that we can help to solve them.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba instructed the President of Lajna Imaillah to make a committee consisting of well educated women who should in turn prepare topics for discussion such as marriage, husbands, children, respect of relatives and Purdah with Nasirat.

His Holiness stated that it is vital that new converts are integrated into the

His Holiness instructed that a concerted effort should be made to involve the youth of the country in the system of financial sacrifice as well as undertaking activities to help others.



problems and to work out solutions. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba stressed that education sessions with young peo-ple should be very interactive; all their questions should be listened to seriously and answers should be such that young people can understand. His Holiness said that it is wise to interact with the youth of the Community with love and affection.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba instructed that officeholders should improve their communication skills and attitude; that officeholders should overcome any per-sonal grudges, respect other’s dignity; and if they see any weaknesses they should seek to reform them with affection, love and prayer.

To the suggestion that a Jamia could be established in Australia, His Holiness instructed that a comprehensive feasibil-ity report should be prepared to explore this possibility.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba gave clear instructions that women can sit in a hall with men during Tabligh meetings but that women should have separate dining facilities.

21 October 2013His Holiness spent most of the day attending to his official duties before vis-iting a beach in the suburbs of Sydney. In the afternoon Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba watched a football match between the two teams in the grounds of the mosque. In the evening His Holiness visited the Community’s catering department.

From dawn to late evening, His Holiness led all prayers in congregation at the appointed times.

22 October 2013His Holiness led silent prayer before leaving Sydney to fly to Brisbane at 10:45am. The flight was delayed and Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba arrived in Brisbane in the late afternoon. Upon his arrival, His Holiness inspected the mosque complex and led the afternoon prayers in congregation. In the evening, His Holiness led the evening prayers in congregation before retiring to his residence.

23 October 2013In the morning, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba granted private audience to 210 members of 36 families. In the evening,

should be enhanced and that those who have accepted Ahmadiyyat should be integrated into the mainstream system of the Community as soon as possible and practical. There may be a need to arrange crash courses to enhance the skillset and knowledge of newcomers.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba instructed that the system of religious training for children at the weekend to enhance their religious knowledge should be very struc-tured and organised. His Holiness also said that for students attending uni-versity, an Ahmadiyya Muslim Student Organisation should be developed.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba stressed that communication regarding sensitive matters and the Jama’at should be carried out with extreme care and judiciously; people’s privacy should be protected and their self-respect should be safeguarded.In response to a question, His Holiness responded that Muslims are allowed to donate organs to save lives and that this is a good philanthropic act.

At the end of the meeting, at 7:00pm, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba held a meeting with the Executive Council of Ansarullah (an auxillary for men over 40 years of age). His Holiness reinforced the

importance of getting involved in char-ity fundraising and raising the positive profile of Islam. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba instructed that ideally prayers should be offered punctually, the recitation of the Holy Qur’an should be performed daily and we should make every effort to engender a bond of commitment between our children and the mosque.

This meeting was followed by a meet-ing with the National Executive Council of Australia. His Holiness reminded attendees that Chanda (finanacial con-tributions) is not a tax; the system of financial sacrifice in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is intedend to assist the spiritual development of members. His Holiness directed that 50% of the members of any Jama’at should be associ-ated with the blessed system of Wassiyat. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba reminded the Executive Council of Ansarullah about the good practice of circulating the salient points of the Friday sermon to all members of the Community for their education and training.

To address the rising issue of marital problems, His Holiness instructed that the Reformation Committee should intervene early and meet monthly to have a good understanding of potential



run after this world at the expense of the faith are left with with restlessness, anxi-ety and stress.

In the evening, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba attended a dinner for the volunteers who have carried out various duties dur-ing the visit of His Holiness to Australia.

27 October 2013Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba left Brisbane for Sydney after offering the dawn prayers (Fajr) in congregation and having meetings with some high ranking officials of the community. In Sydney His Holiness carried out his routine commit-ments. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba led all the daily prayers in congregation at their appointed times.

28 October 2013After a heartfelt farewell and emotional send-off, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba left Australia for Aukland, New Zealand. His Holiness led silent prayer before set-ting off on the third leg of his blessed journey.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba attended a reception to celebrate the inauguration of the Masroor mosque. Before the recep-tion, His Holiness held a meeting with local officials and dignitaries. In his key-note address to the guests, His Holiness thanked the guests and explained show-ing gratitude is the part of our religion. He said that the purpose of the creation of man is to serve humanity and to raise the standard of worship. His Holiness again stressed that the practice of abso-lute justice is absolutely vital to attain world peace and avoid a third world war. His Holiness led the dawn, afternoon and evening prayers in congregation at the respective times.

24 October 2013Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba spent most of his day attending to his wide and var-ied official commitments. His Holiness granted a private audience to 234 mem-bers of 56 families in the evening and presided over an Ameen ceremony before the evening prayer in congregation.

25 October 2013Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba deliv-ered a Friday sermon from the Masroor

Mosque in Brisbane which was relayed live via MTA. The building work at the mosque started in December 2012 and the cost of building the mosque was AU $4.5 million. To attend this blessed cer-emony people had travelled from as far as Ottawa. In the evening His Holiness granted a private audience of 269 mem-bers of 57 families and found time in his busy schedule to preside over an Ameen ceremony.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba also led all five daily prayers in congregation at their appointed times.

26 October 2013Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba visited the Duranbab Tropical Fruit and Research Park. In the evening, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba most graciously led a Nikah ceremony. During the Nikah sermon His Holiness stressed that the founda-tion of a couple’s life together should be on truthfulness and absolute fear of God. The Qur’anic verses which are recited during the Nikah invite one to ponder and focus on the life in the Hereafter. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaba explained that those who make it a purpose of their life to seek Allah, end up getting the ben-efits of both worlds; while those who



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the review of religions (february 2014)

Documents

teachings of islam

defence of islam

message of islam

hazrat ahmadas

message of prophet ahmadas

dignity of religion

ahmadiyya muslim community

earnest defence of religion