By Lawal Ibraheem Olaniyi
The Jalsa Salana Nigeria, an annual Islamic conference of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, was first established in 1891 by Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi (as), with an attendance of just 75 participants. Similarly, the Jalsa Salana Nigeria began in 1949 with 75 attendees—50 men and 25 women. Seventy Jalsas later, the Platinum Jubilee Convention marks a momentous occasion, and the energy of the event is appreciable. People from across the country gather in large numbers to celebrate this historic occasion, while dedicated volunteers work tirelessly to host the guests of the Promised Messiah (as).
As part of the celebrations, Team Jalsa Connect embarked on a challenging mission— we took to the streets of Jalsa to understand how thousands of attendees are accurately counted by the Tajneed (registration) department. Curious to learn more, we set out to the registration booth at the fourth entrance of the Jalsa Gah.
After a long walk, we finally arrived at the booth. The first sight of the booth showed how hectic the tasks of the department can be. Volunteers scanned neck tags, checked vehicle manifests, and ran after vehicles entering through the gates. It was really hard to figure out what exactly was happening.
To quench the thirst of our curiosity, we decided to approach the Nazim (Head) of the registration department, Dr. Nuruddeen Adeyemi. Managing calls and various tasks, he was initially too occupied to engage with us. After patiently waiting for a few minutes, we finally got the chance to speak with him about the intricate processes behind ensuring precise attendance data at such a massive gathering.
Dr Adeyemi Sahib began by sharing insights about the demanding schedule of his team: “The work starts as early as Monday, with volunteers sacrificing their time to come early. They also resume duties immediately after Fajr and often work for nearly 24 hours, even through the midnight hours, to capture the tags of those travelling from faraway places.”
He further elaborated on the structure of the department, highlighting four key units: the onsite registration team, which registers unregistered attendees; the onsite check-in team, which scans and confirms the attendance of individuals; the manifest registration team, which scans vehicle manifests and checks in attendees travelling in those vehicles; and the enforcement and monitoring team, which ensures attendees check in their tags and monitors unauthorised gate entries.
Dr Adeyemi acknowledged some challenges they face during registration: “Some attendees arrive unregistered, and some Jama’at members mistakenly register as guests, which complicates our count. Despite these challenges, we strive to register every participant of the Jalsa.”
This year, the department achieved a remarkable feat, recording an attendance figure of over 36,000 attendees, including 5,000 guests—an increase of over 5,000 attendees compared to the previous year. This tremendous growth fulfils the prophecy of the Promised Messiah (as): “Remember that a time is coming when people will come to you in large numbers.” (Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya, Part 3, Page 212)
By ensuring accurate registration and tirelessly working behind the scenes, the Tajneed team played a significant role in the success of this year’s historic Jalsa Salana.
