By Mubarak Adekunle Adeleke
From time immemorial, human beings have found themselves in a dilemma, between the forces of good and evil. These two forces are the tools for their psychological thoughts formation and societal formation of norms and values, which in turn decide the condition of society; mini, minor or larger communities. Human peace has been truncated, due to these two forces.
The act of worshipping God is the main reason human beings are created (Quran 51 vs 57), and it is the only means of attaining peaceful and harmonious coexistence on earth (Quran 13 vs 29). Often times, God raises thousands of saints to cleanse human hearts at every interval because man has always engaged in selfish activities that truncate the world’s peace.
After countless prophets, saints and sincere devotees of Allah raised to draw man to his creator from the brink of the fire, the majority of them did prophesy about a noble man that is yet to come but will appear in the world majestically and the earth has never experienced is nature before his birth and will never see his level of spirituality in any man after his demise. The fulfilment of this was the prophet of Islam, Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa (saw). He came, saw and conquered the world with the best teachings of peace, through the Holy Quran and excellent teachings of Islam. He cleansed the filthy hearts of the people of Arabia, transformed countless evil minds into gentle and Godly minds, and resuscitated many dead souls and established the principles of everlasting peace (Quran 62 vs 3).
The Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) said that Allah will continue to bestow His favour of prophethood on his community after his demise, stating that men of great spiritual essence will be raised amongst his followers in every century for maintenance and preservation of his noble teachings. He was particular about the thirteen-century saint that will appear after his demise, and this prophecy was fulfilled with the appearance of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the year 1835. He announced to the world that God had revealed to him that he was the fulfilment of the Holy Prophet’s prophecy and since then he defended and championed the propagation of the true teachings of Islam (Quran 62 vs 4).
One of his spiritual correctional tools is JALSA SALANA. In his announcement, the Promised Messiah(as) highlighted the essence of Jalsa, its objective and the benefits that his Community can derive by attending this gathering.
“All sincere individuals who have entered the fold of Bai‘at with me should remember that the purpose of Bai‘at is to neutralise the love for worldliness and to allow the love for the Exalted Lord and the beloved Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, to dominate the heart; to create such a condition of indifference [to this life] so that the journey to the Hereafter is not detested. However, to achieve this objective, it is important to stay in my company and to spend part of one’s life in this endeavour, so that, if God wills, by witnessing an incontrovertible argument, frailty, weakness and laziness be removed, and after experiencing perfect certainty, fervour, eagerness and keen love be imbued. So, for this matter, continuous mindfulness should exist that God enables this to happen, and until such a situation does not arise, an individual should occasionally meet me. If, after entering the fold of Bai‘at, an individual does not care to meet me, such a Bai‘at shall be without blessings and a mere ritual. And since it is difficult for everyone to spend time in my company or endure hardships in this way a few times a year due to weakness of nature, lack of means or lengthy distances; since most do not yet contain such enthusiasm to accept difficulty and hardship for the sake of meeting me, hence, it seems appropriate to appoint three days a year for this Jalsa, in which all sincere individuals – if God wills and if health, resources, and lack of any major hindrance permits – can visit on the allocated dates. So This means that after today – 30 December 1891 – if 27 December comes again in our lifetime, then our friends should visit on this date solely for the sake of Allah, to listen to heavenly discourses and to participate in prayer to their utmost ability. The voicing of such truths and verities will be the occupation of this Jalsa which is important for the progress of belief, certainty and enlightenment. Special prayers and attention will be directed towards such friends and [we will endeavour and hope] that the most Merciful Lord, God Almighty draws them to Himself, accepts them and grants them a pure chance.
One immediate benefit of this Jalsa shall be that the many friends that join this Jama’at in each new year shall, by attending on the appointed dates, get to meet their brethren, and after gaining familiarity [with them], such a relationship and acquaintance will progress. Also, for anybody who passes away during the year from this temporary abode, a prayer for their forgiveness shall be made at this Jalsa, and it shall endeavour to spiritually unite all brethren and to remove disassociation, unfamiliarity and hypocrisy from among them if the Most Merciful Lord wishes.
In this spiritual undertaking, there shall be many more spiritual benefits which shall, if the Omnipotent God wills, be made apparent now and then. It shall be better for those with fewer means to be mindful beforehand that they need to attend this Jalsa. If they, through planning and saving, put aside some money or wealth each day or every month, then means for their journeys shall be easily available. [It shall be] as if their journey was free. And it shall be better that whoever out of [my] close ones accepts this suggestion, they inform me through writing so that a new list of names of all those be recorded, who, exerting their best efforts and power, pledge for the duration of their lives to attend on the fixed dates and wholeheartedly and with determination visit me unless such hindrances arise in which travelling no longer remains in one’s power. May Allah grant those who attended the recent Jalsa held on 27 December 1891 after undertaking the difficulties of the journey for religious counsel a good reward and grant them a reward for their every step. Amin, Amin. view, such a date should be fixed as 27 December to 29 December.” (Majmua-Ishteharat, Volume 1, Page 302-304)
Dear brethren in Islam, according to the Promised Messiah this gathering is for spiritual purposes and to fully benefit from the purposes of Jalsa we must stay clear of all forms of self-indulgently carefree; unconcerned about or lacking any serious spiritual purpose. It is important to note that for every means to attain spirituality, there is always an opposing force of diversion towards satan. We should avoid engaging in vain talks and engage in more resourceful discourse and all forms of worldliness and frivolousness, either tangible or intangible, must be avoided by all possible means during Jalsa.
I pray that may Almighty Allah grant us the willpower to act in accordance with the objectives of Jalsa as stated by the Promised Messiah (as), grant us the full blessings of Jalsa and accept our covert and overt prayers.
