USA: Ahmadiyya Muslim leader visits, inspires

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His Holiness arrived in the area June 20 for the first time since 2008. At that time and again this year, the purpose of his visit is to attend the Ahmadiyya Muslim community's U.S. National Convention in Harrisburg, Pa., which began Friday and continues through Sunday.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Fredrick News-Post
By Katie Crowe | June 30, 2012

Community members describe experience as ‘surreal’

Shahina Bashir has had the opportunity to meet His Holiness, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the fifth Khalifa, or leader, of the entire Ahmadiyya Muslim community, twice before.

Yet when Bashir, media associate for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, had to opportunity to personally greet him in a meeting with her immediate family last week, she said it was "like a dream."

"We love him more than we love our parents -- not just this particular Khalifa, but each one that has been elected," Bashir said. "Without him, we'd be lost."

His Holiness, who lives in London, was elected into the position of Khalifa in 2003, after the death of the previous leader, Bashir said. As tradition stands, he will rule the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, a sect of Islam, until his death, she explained.

Members of the Ahmadiyya community are spread throughout 200 countries, Bashir said, and although each country has its own headquarters, the community's national headquarters in the U.S. is the Bait-ur-Rehman Mosque in Silver Spring.

His Holiness arrived in the area June 20 for the first time since 2008. At that time and again this year, the purpose of his visit is to attend the Ahmadiyya Muslim community's U.S. National Convention in Harrisburg, Pa., which began Friday and continues through Sunday.

The convention, called Jalsa Salana, takes place annually, and although having previously been held in places such as Silver Spring and Dulles, Va., has taken place at a larger venue in Harrisburg for several years due to increased community membership, Bashir said. About 12,000 people are expected to attend this year's convention, which mainly consists of spiritually motivated speeches delivered by various community members throughout the three days, Bashir said.

"The whole purpose is to get together to see family members and friends and feel that sense of community bonding ... and to have an atmosphere of really high spirituality," she said of the convention.

His Holiness arrived in the U.S. on June 16 in Chicago, Bashir said, and was greeted by about 2,000 community members at the Silver Spring mosque on the 20th.

"It was a very hot day, but people didn't care," Bashir said. "Even the children. ... We were amazed they were so patient."

Samina Malik, a Germantown resident and member of the Ahmadiyya community, said the moment the Khalifa arrived, all she could think about was the universal importance of making the world a better, more positive place.

"While everyone was around and standing there ... saying 'God is great,' I was thinking we are all striving, striving to be good," Malik said.

She added it was incredible to see and feel the emotion present at the scene, and to think about why people were there, "not only to please the Khalifa but also to please God."

Every day of the week, members of the Ahmadiyya community pray five times a day. On Fridays, a sermon is also read as part of the afternoon prayer, Bashir said.

Since his arrival, His Holiness had been leading the morning, afternoon and evening prayers at the mosque in Silver Spring, and he read the sermon on Friday, which focused mostly on the importance of prayer as a way and means to get close to God, Bashir said.

The sermons the Khalifa gives in the United Kingdom are streamed via satellite on TV, Bashir said, so community members always have the opportunity to hear his sermons.

Hearing him give it in person at their own mosque, however, was a much different -- and very exciting -- experience for community members, said Sadiq Asad, a 16-year-old Ahmadiyya community member and Frederick resident.

"He's the man who has the most insight into our religion. ... It's a really humbling experience to be able to hear what he says and see how he acts in person," Asad said.

Before attending this weekend's convention, His Holiness addressed U.S. lawmakers at a reception Wednesday on Capitol Hill, Bashir said.


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