After the advent of the Promised Messiah (as), the new era of propagation of Isl

am has commenced, hence the success of the progress of Jamaat Ahmadiyya has been
destined. Many obstacles have already appeared and will continue to appear in t
he way of this progress as they did in the way of other Godly nations. When such
fires are ignited in the path of Jamaat Ahmadiyya by the enemies, God Almighty
comes to the rescue and extinguishes those fires, and as a result of passing thr
ough these troubled circumstance, a Momin increases in faith. The Holy Quran its
elf testifies to the face that believers are put through trials and tests, as Go
d Almighty states: “Do men think that they will be left alone because they say, ‘We
believe,’ and that they will not be tested? And We did test those who were before
them. So Allah will surely distinguish those who are truthful and He will surely
distinguish the liars from the truthful.” [29:3-4] It has been a practice that be
lieving people were tried and the same is happening today. It is Divine Law whic
h distinguishes between those who are true to their faith and those who are not.
There are different types of trials put forward, but they should all result in
the strengthening of the faith of the believing people, whereas those who are al
ready weak in their faith and always looking for opportunities to criticize furt
her increase in their doubts and loss of faith, to the extent that they start qu
estioning the truthfulness of the Jamaat in certain cases. Persecution is one su
ch form of trial which may lead to the weakening of the faith of those who are a
lready fragile. God Almighty brings trials so that the believer becomes closer t
o God, and thus opens up ways of progress for the Jamaat. The Promised Messiah (
as) said that ways of progress are opened for those who succeed in these exams.
He also said that the Holy Prophet (saw) eventually met with success because he
was put through trials and difficulties in the early part of his mission. Theref
ore all prophets and their peoples are subjected to persecution, but the key is
to remain steadfast in face of adversity. Only then can victory be guaranteed. G
od is Omnipotent and possesses all attributes in their perfection. We should alw
ays keep in mind that God Almighty sent the Promised Messiah (as) in this age an
d his Jamaat is destined to be victorious. Persecution is not an indication of f
ailure but of success and victory.
If we persist in establishing a close personal relationship with the Jamaat and
that of our children, then we will reap the favours of God Almighty Who has dest
ined these blessings in favour of the Jamaat, and InshaAllah, our next generatio
ns will witness this victory. Huzoor (aba) directed that although each and every
person should always keep in mind their level of Taqwa and how to improve it, h
e said that those of us who have attained the age of maturity should be concerne
d about the religious and moral training of the younger ones. This is part of ta
qwa and also part of the fulfilment of our pledges. It should also be remembered
that the progress of the Jamaat is not associated with whether we keep our chil
dren linked to the Jamaat or not; indeed it is the benefit of the children to re
main associated with Jamaat. It is God Almighty’s promise that He shall grant the
Jamaat victory, so success lies in remaining associated with it. If we are defic
ient in the moral upbringing of our children such that they move away from the J
amaat, the progress of the Jamaat will not falter. When the weak ones move away,
God Almighty brings more passionate and dedicated people into the Jamaat. There
fore, we must always bear this very important point in mind and remain concerned
for the moral training of our children.
In this regard, our own practical model is most important. Huzoor (aba) addresse
d the Ansarullah, saying that those who have reached the age of 40 and beyond ha
ve reached a very mature age, and they should start preparing for their end. In
fact, whosoever wishes to progress in their level of Taqwa should keep his end i
n mind. Ahmadis in general pledge to always make progress in their level of Taqw
a, therefore, at this age specifically, one must develop this deep concern. The
synopsis of the conditions of bai’at is to firmly believe in the Oneness of Allah,
to remain distant from falsehood, to control one’s passions, to remain steadfast
in daily prayers and offer Tahajjud, to remain occupied in repentance and glorif
y Allah, to practice devotion and loyalty to God, to remain humble, to follow th
e Quranic injunctions, to refrain from arrogance, to serve humanity, to be compl
etely obedient to the Promised Messiah (as), etc. All these practices lead to in
creasing one’s level of Taqwa, and this is the minimum standard expected of Ahmadi
s by the Promised Messiah (as). In this day and age, this was the objective of t
he advent of the Promised Messiah (as) i.e. to increase the level of Taqwa among
men. The Promised Messiah (as) said that God has appointed him to establish taq
wa among people and to establish faith in God such that they refrain from commit
ting sin. Such a taqwa should reflect the condition of one’s heart and result in g
aining nearness of Allah, and should not be developed for fear of punishment. Th
e level of faith of believers is described in the Quranic verse: “And there are so
me among men who take for themselves objects of worship other than Allah, loving
them as they should love Allah. But those who believe are stronger in their lov
e for Allah and if those who transgress could now see the time when they shall s
ee the punishment, they would realize that all power belongs to Allah and that A
llah is severe in punishing.” (2:166)
When a person develops love for God, he progresses in faith, and this results in
progress in taqwa. It is the responsibility of the Ansarullah and Lajna Imailla
h to progress in taqwa so that they become models for the future generations, wh
ich is directly linked to their spiritual progress. Men and women have been assi
gned duties, which are important to fulfil and have been outlined in the conditi
ons of bai’at by the Promised Messiah (as).
Huzoor (aba) then shed light on the slogan of “Nahno Ansarullah” i.e. We are the hel
pers of Allah, and he elaborated upon the two Quranic verses where this slogan a
ppears. The first is the following verse: “And when Jesus perceived their disbelie
f, he said, ‘Who will be my helpers in the cause of Allah?’ The disciples answered, ‘W
e are the helpers of Allah. We have believed in Allah. And bear thou witness tha
t we are obedient.” (3:53) When the disciples accepted the message, they also reci
ted a prayer which is preserved in the following Quranic verse: “‘Our Lord, we belie
ve in that which Thou hast sent down and we follow this Messenger. So write us d
own among those who bear witness.’” (3:54) Huzoor (aba) said that the obedience to a
Prophet means that one must fulfil the pledge taken at his hand, to practice up
on his teachings and to have firm faith in the truthfulness of his teachings.
The second verse where the slogan appears is in the following Quranic verse: “O ye
who believe! be helpers of Allah, as said Jesus, son of Mary, to his disciples,
‘Who are my helpers in the cause of Allah.’ The disciples said, ‘We are helpers of Al
lah.’ So a party of the children of Israel believed, while a party disbelieved. Th
en We gave power to those who believed against their enemy, and they became vict
orious.” (61:15) Huzoor (aba) said that it is apparent from this verse, victory is
always granted to those who believe. This is destiny. Muslims are given the exa
mple of the disciples of Jesus Christ (as) and invited to become helpers of Alla
h. Similarly, the Messiah of the Ummah of the Holy Prophet (saw) gave the same i
nstructions to his followers, that they should become the helpers of Allah and d
o not be among those who reject the message. Huzoor (aba) said that it is indeed
a blessing of Allah that we are among those who have accepted the message, ther
efore it is incumbent upon us to obey the true and loyal devotee of the Holy Pro
phet (saw) so that we can propagate his religion, the religion of Islam in the w
orld. If we progress in our faith and as a result, our children progress in thei
r faith, then we can expect that we will continue to get good Ansar. We must kee
p our pledge always in our minds so that we can become the best of Ansar. The di
sciples of Jesus Christ diminished in their faiths over a few generations and th
eir belief in Oneness of God decreased to the point where it vanished all togeth
er and this humble prophet of God was converted into God Himself. The Promised M
essiah (as) however came to re-establish the Oneness of God and he said that man
should bring about that spiritual revolution in him in order to revive the true
purpose of creation, which is to worship God. God revealed His message to the H
oly Prophet (saw) which was revived by the Promised Messiah (as) in the latter d
ays, and now, we must carry this message to the corners of the globe and inculca
te the same passion in our children, such that the helpers of Allah keep increas
ing till Islam prevails with splendour.
Huzoor (aba) drew the attention towards the first condition of bai’at which says t
hat we must abstain from Shirk (to associate partners with God). The first Messi
ah (as) was not able to establish this Unity of God and only a few generations t
hat passed after him were led to committing Shirk (i.e. they started to move awa
y from the concept of Unity of God). This is because they could not implement th
e teachings of the Messiah in their lives, their faith weakened, their relations
hip with God decreased and they turned their eye to worldly gains. The followers
of the Messiah of the latter days however must not let their personal relations
hip with God weaken, nor should they let the relationship of their children with
God weaken, otherwise, just like the followers of the first Messiah, their futu
re generations will also be lost to associating partners with Allah. Non-Ahmadi
Muslims are already trapped in this vicious activity of visiting the tombs and g
raves of saints and holy men. The Promised Messiah (as) revived the pristine tea
chings of Islam and directed the Muslims to fulfil their obligations to their fe
llow human beings and to make progress in righteous and virtuous morals.
Huzoor(aba) then drew the attention towards the offering of five daily prayers,
which is also part of the conditions of bai’at. He said that God has taught us the
prayer: “Thee alone do we worship” (1:5) indicating the importance of worship, but
at the same time, God has also taught the other part of the prayer: “and Thee alon
e do we implore for help.” (1:5) This was done so that man bows before God and hum
bly asks for His Divine assistance in carrying out this important obligation of
worshiping Him. The Quran also advises the Muslims to guard their prayer as in t
he following verse: “Watch over Prayers, and the middle Prayer, and stand before A
llah submissively.” (2:239) Therefore it is the duty of a believer to give special
attention to this injunction, so that their personal progress in faith continue
s to occur and that of their children as well. In order to make children regular
in prayers, this habit should be inculcated right from their childhood, not whe
n they become adolescents because then it is already too late. Huzoor (aba) also
added that in some cases, the man of the house is regular in offering prayers,
but his attitude towards his wife and children is so aggressive, that the family
members are put off from prayers. Salat should be such that it increases man in
virtues. Huzoor (aba) also said that there are certain cases among men as old a
s 40 years (and above) who do not offer salat. If this is the case, then how can
they expect their children to be regular in offering salat or even to remain as
sociated with the Jamaat. If we look at the lives of the martyrs, the most promi
nent aspect of their lives is that they were deeply occupied in worship and reme
mbrance of God, and they were deeply concerned about the standards of worship of
their children and their association with Jamaat.
Huzoor (aba) then mentioned the importance of offering nawafil (supererogatory p
rayers) and tahajjud prayers. Ansarullah should be offering tahajjud prayers in
larger number. Huzoor (aba) said that we must make an attempt to make such sacri
fices in the way of God and make every effort to propagate the religion of Islam
. The Promised Messiah (as) has said that supplication (dua) is the vessel to pr
opagate Islam, therefore, special attention should be diverted to supplicate wit
h great zeal, and attention should also be diverted in making continuous and ste
adfast supplications versus sporadic and random efforts.
Huzoor (aba) said that the Promised Messiah (as) has also drawn the attention of
his followers to learn the Quran, therefore we must develop an association with
this Holy Book and not only recite it daily but also try to learn its meaning a
nd understand it. If we make the effort to improve our own knowledge of the Qura
n, our children will also develop a passion to do the same.
Huzoor (aba) said that the conditions of bai’at set a minimum standard for all the
followers of the Jamaat in the eyes of the Promised Messiah (as). Ansarullah sh
ould try to achieve a higher standard. Lajna Imaillah are equally responsible if
not more; the moral training of the children lies in their hands ever since the
birth of the child. If the mothers are religiously educated, the chances are th
at they will raise children with spiritual inclination. Every woman should aspir
e to attain a high standard in spirituality and henceforth, the next generations
will develop a deep connection with God. Huzoor (aba) said that the Word of God
makes no distinction between men and women; whosoever will follow the teachings
will gain nearness to God. Huzoor (aba) also instructed that we should not only
pray for ourselves, but we should also pray for each other and pray for the nex
t generations. May Allah enable us to fulfil our pledges and become obedient and
loyal devotees of the Promised Messiah (as). Huzoor (aba) read out an extract f
rom the writings of the Promised Messiah (as) which stresses the importance of s
upplication, which is a weapon against sin and all evils.