Impressions from Jalsa USA 2008
By Safeer Bhatti
July 04, 2008 - Standing below right, my fingers stood apart from each other. Suddenly, a surge of spiritual strength came and my straight posture moved toward a bulb of powerful watts. This light was so bright, yet so humble in its appearance that the tips of my fingers walked closer to him. As space opened, my fingers gasped for breath, wept in perspiration, and cried in joy as they embraced the fingers of our King. Our King did nothing other but smiled in appreciation and allowed the lips of my voice kiss the held steadfast hand uttering the words: Is not Allah enough for his servant…

An experience that only happens once in a life time; I will never again experience the warmth of a Khalifa in America during a Khilafat Centenary Pre-Jalsa 2008 preparation. It began as a dream where my team VSH (Volunteer On-Site Hospitality) began their service to our volunteers, and it ended as truth that being part of Khilafat Team, I was able to be in the company of Hazoor: our Supreme Religious Leader of the Ahmadiyya Movement of Islam. As emotions prepared for his arrival on Monday, God showered us his blessings to welcome His most divine servant: Hazrat Khalifa tul Masih Al-Khamis. As the heat cooled and the terrain became wet with our tears, the beautiful fragrance of the arrival of Hazoor was getting stronger. Aristotle once stated that patience is a virtue and all virtues eventually lead to happiness. Our virtue of patience led to man’s insurmountable and unequivocal happiness as Hazoor walked up the red carpet hearing the slogans of God: Islam Ahmadiyyat-Zindabad. Our eight day all expense paid and all blessings covered vacation began with a smile from our Khalifa and closed with a smile, a wave and a utterance of: Assalamu Alakium from Hazoor. “Our stay here was worth every second as the smile of appreciation and the voice of peace to you came from our Hazoor,” uttered a fellow Khilafat Team member. 

Listening to a story of a Cobbler who sacrificed his savings to Hajj so that his neighbor could feed his starving children, we heard the tears spiral down our determined faces. Our mission became stamped: Brotherhood. As the tears of our heart cleansed our soul, brotherhood washed away all other emotions, but the emotion of love and spirituality. Throughout these eight days, Khilafat team members refreshed themselves every morning with Fajr behind our Khalifa, Zuhr & Asr behind our Imam, Maghrib and Isha behind our King. These eight days were seconds spent passing the test of brotherhood. Everyone knew what we had to do. There was no instruction, but simply one instruction from God: Love for all, Hatred for none. We spread this instruction to the sockets of every heart of whom we accustomed as brothers in Islam. It was during this week which we suspended the term day with the term duty. Duty overtook time. As time continued to progress, our obligation to serve stood still. The time of 4pm on our watches was the last time which our watches worked. Every thing after was Majlis Khuddam ul Ahmadiyya.

Many scholars attest that nothing can beat time, but my dear brothers, I can assure you that Majlis Khuddam ul Ahmadiyya with their obligations of service, dedication, commitment, and duty beat the clock because the clock can not wait for the everlasting moment of spirituality in brotherhood. Duty began 11am on some record of a Monday with Muhammad Ahmed Chaudhary, Naib Afsar Hifazat e Khas requesting for refreshments for his troops guarding Hazoor. Hamid Rahim Sheikh and his team guarded the entrance as Ahmad Antar guarded against any emotion of frustration as his smiling team worked hard to secure peace. Naser Noor and Usman Mangla, two people from different walks of life, came together on one track running towards Ahmadiyyat as they controlled the traffic. Abdur Rahim Latif, our beautiful Naib Sadr patrolled the Mosque ensuring safety and security for those who prayed; Abdul Hadi Ahmed took his eyes to a whole different level as he acquired enough perception to watch and secure Bait ur Rahman premises twenty four hours. Mahmood Qureshi and Haris Raja kept close tabs on the perimeter as Brother Munir, Tahir Chaudhary and Colonel Amjad ensured that we were properly fed and energized with their delicious food. The team of Khilafat were members of different Ahmadiyya chapters, but became ONE as the goal of Khilafat e Ahmadiyya enforced their motivation to stand sunny below the skies of Allah. As we prayed for the success of the hifazat of Hazoor, Mirza Anas Ahmad watched over us as our heads hit the ground facing Allah. As the troops carried on multiple tasks of brotherhood and security, Sadr Sahib Majlis Khuddam ul Ahmadiyya, Faheem Younus Qureshi, looked at our determination and planned for the remaining battles during our stay. His planning included a fierce dedication to protect Hazoor from harm by continuous prayers and always staying right next to Hazoor.

Our duties of Khilafat Team continued through Jalsa. The location was more difficult to manage; there were 9,500 Ahmadi Muslims and some over 700 non Ahmadi guests. Despite our appeared difficulties, it became easy since the strength of brotherhood was more powerful than the management of Jalsa Salana. It was this brotherhood that kept us unified under times of stress, frustration and sleep deprivation. It was this unity that resulted in a senior Jamaat member stating “I have never seen such security so beautifully enforced and the Khuddam worked very nicely with each other.” When the wagon of peace was needed, Hibbi Biye and his team provided that gateway to happiness. When Hifazaat was required, Hifazaat e Khas protected Hazoor 24 hours a day. When crisis management scenarios arose, Naem Biye and Harris Biye and our boys from Cali critically resolved all tension. When Naib Amir Sahib needed water standing next to our Sadr MKA, Sadr MKA replied “We have a system in place. The system will work itself.” In less than a minute, someone from Safeer Bhatt’s hospitality team came by and provided a water bottle to both our Khuddam on duty. When brotherhood flourished, Majlis Khuddam ul Ahmadiyya, USA stood tall and firm guarding Lawai e Ahmadiyya: Love for all, Hatred for none.