After reciting Tashahud, Ta‘awwuz, and Surah al-Fatihah, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V^(aa) recited verse 275 from chapter 2 of the Holy Quran, after which he commenced with his sermon.

اَلَّذِیْنَ یُنْفِقُوْنَ أَمْوَالَہُمْ بِاللَّیْلِ وَالنَّہَارِ سِرًّا وَّعَلَانِیَۃً فَلَہُمْ أَجْرُہُمْ عِنْدَ رَبِّہِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَیْہِمْ وَلَا ہُمْ یَحْزَنُوْنَ

“Those who spend their wealth by night and day, secretly and openly, have their reward with their Lord; on them shall come no fear, nor shall they grieve.” (Surah al-Baqarah, Ch.2: V.275)

There are many instances in the Holy Quran where Allah the Almighty draws the attention of believers towards offering financial sacrifices. In this verse as well, we find that one of the key traits of the believers has been mentioned, which is that they spend in the way of Allah the Almighty night and day and they do so in secret and openly as well.

Spending [in the way of Allah] secretly and openly are both granted acceptance by Allah the Almighty, for it is mentioned in another instance [in the Holy Quran], when believers spend in the way of Allah the Almighty, their sole intention is to attain the pleasure of Allah the Almighty, as He states:

وَمَا تُنْفِقُونَ إِلَّا ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْہِ اللّٰہِ

“You spend not but to seek the favour of Allah” (Surah al-Baqarah, Ch.2: V.273)

This means that their only purpose is to seek the pleasure of Allah the Almighty.

Thus, the signs of a true believer are that they do good deeds, spend in the way of Allah the Almighty out of their pure wealth and they remain eager to carry out virtuous deeds by day and night. Sometimes they do good deeds openly and other times, they do them in secret; sometimes they sacrifice their wealth openly and other times do so secretly. Such sacrifices are granted acceptance by Allah the Almighty, on the condition that the sole intent of these sacrifices is to attain the pleasure of Allah the Almighty.

If these sacrifices are merely for show, then such sacrifices are not accepted by Allah the Almighty. The sacrifice of those who present them merely for show are rejected and thrown back in their faces. Thus, this is the spirit with which a believer should offer sacrifices, and by the grace of Allah the Almighty, this is the very spirit with which members of the Jamaat offer financial sacrifices.

If this spirit is not present, then our sacrifices serve no purpose and will go in vain. If sacrifices are made with the thought that “I must offer more than such and such person”, or they are worried that another chapter of the Jamaat may overtake them in this regard and so what will people say, then such sacrifices are useless.

Of course the spirit of vying with one another is a good thing; however, it should be not be due to the fear of what other people will say. Instead, we should be concerned about whether our sacrifices will be regarded as more than others in the sight of Allah the Almighty – this is the true spirit of vying with one another.

If people offer financial contributions so that they may boastfully tell others the amount which they have given or so that in the event of a dispute, they may tell the administrators the amount which they have contributed and thus feel entitled to having a decision made in their favour or being granted leniencies, or if one thinks that by sacrificing a certain amount of wealth they will be recognised and appreciated by the Khalifa of the time or by office-bearers, then all of these thoughts are wrong, useless and vain and completely contradict the true spirit of sacrifice. In fact, such thoughts become the means of one’s downfall.

Allah the Almighty states that these are all wrong intentions, rather He commands that if one wishes to truly spend in His way, then it can be for one purpose alone, which is to attain His pleasure. Of course, those who attain the pleasure of Allah the Almighty are also granted honour by Him, but this honour should increase them in humility and meekness.

In fact, such people should shy away from being complimented by others.  If they wish to be recognised by the Khalifa of the time, it is only for the sake of obtaining his prayers and establishing a firm connection with him.

It is natural for one to seek the prayers of a person to whom they have pledged their allegiance. If one has firm belief in the true Khilafat, then there is no harm in having this desire. However, the intention should not be pretentiousness, rather owing to this sacrifice, one’s sole intention should be to attain the pleasure of God Almighty and for the Khalifa to pray for one’s increased nearness to Him and to attain His pleasure.

Indeed, the prayers of believers for one another become the means of spiritual progress. Hence, to adopt this kind of thinking is in accordance with the teachings of Allah the Almighty.

Allah the Almighty promises that if one is sincere in their desire for His attention and His pleasure and spends their wealth to attain His pleasure, then He will remove their fears and their sorrows; He will establish means to put their heart at ease; He will comfort them and grant them His nearness.

By the grace of Allah the Almighty, this is the very mind-set of those who have accepted the Imam of the age, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi^(as), who is the true servant of the Holy Prophet^(sa). They present sacrifices for the sake of God Almighty’s religion, and in turn, Allah the Almighty does not leave such sacrifice unrewarded. They spend in the way of Allah the Almighty only for the sake of attaining His pleasure, and at times, Allah the Almighty rewards them in return right away; whether in the form of wealth or other blessings.

We find examples of this in our Community on a daily basis. There are not only 10, 20 or hundreds of examples, rather there are thousands. In fact, I would say that those who have attained the pleasure of Allah and experience such things, as a result of which, their faith strengthens and increases, number in hundreds of thousands.

Those who offer financial sacrifices must also remember that they also have responsibilities which they owe to their families and it is obligatory for believers to fulfil these responsibilities. It is a sin to neglect the rights and needs of the wives and children. At the same time, it must also be kept in mind that whilst adopting the quality of being content within one’s resources and means and instilling its importance amongst one’s family, due attention must be given towards offering financial sacrifices.

It is by the grace of Allah that the progenies of these people reap such bounties from Allah the Almighty, which leaves one astounded. At this time, I will present some accounts of those who offered financial sacrifices and the blessings which they received as a result; or those who were inspired by Allah the Almighty to spend in His way and then the manner in which Allah the Almighty rewarded them. It is beneficial to present such accounts from time to time because they inspire others as well.

Some people write to me, saying that these incidents had an impact on them and inspired them to offer financial sacrifices, as a result of which they also witnessed the blessings of Allah the Almighty. The Promised Messiah^(as) states in one instance:

“… The Quran admonishes against concealing all your actions from others. Instead, when wisdom dictates, perform certain actions secretly when you deem it better for your soul, and display certain actions when you believe they will benefit others in general. Thus, you will have two rewards, and as a result of your actions, those who are weaker among you might be inspired to follow your example.”

The Promised Messiah^(as) further states:

“This means that not only should one counsel others verbally but encourage by example as well. Mere words are not always adequate in every situation; one’s practical example often has a greater impact on others.” (Noah’s Ark, p. 51, 2018, [English Edition])

As for the accounts which I usually present or those which I will present today, people do not write to me asking that I present them; rather, I choose to present them myself, so that these examples may have a positive impact on others. In fact, some people write to me, requesting not to mention their names if I am going to present their example.

Now, I will present some examples; may Allah the Almighty make these accounts a source of doubling the reward for those who experienced them – one source of reward is that they made sacrifices in the way of Allah the Almighty, and the other is that their examples and accounts can become an inspiration for others to offer financial sacrifices and gain a true understanding of financial sacrifices as well.

With regard to the zeal of a new convert to spend wealth in order to attain the pleasure of Allah the Almighty, a missionary from Albania, Samad Sahib, writes that an Albanian member, Jafar Koochi Sahib, had heard the concluding address, which I delivered at the Jalsa Salana of 2020 on the blessings of Allah the Almighty. In this address, I related the story of his acceptance of Ahmadiyyat.

This missionary writes that up until August, Jafar Koochi Sahib did not have any means of income. Having learnt of the financial sacrifices that others members would make, he one day asked after the Friday prayer to know more about financial contributions. Thus, he was re-introduced to the system of financial contributions, as it had been explained to him before as well.

Afterwards, he said in that same month, his flat was rented out and he had started receiving payments for the rent. He took out a portion from the first payment he received which was well above the prescribed rate [for financial contributions] and said that once the rate prescribed by the Promised Messiah^(as) had been paid, the remaining amount should be donated towards Tahrik-e-Jadid and Waqf-e-Jadid.

The missionary says that he informed him of Allah the Almighty’s promise in the Holy Quran, that He increases the wealth of those who present financial sacrifices. He replied by saying that he had not offered financial contributions with this in mind; rather, he did so only with the intention of attaining the pleasure of Allah the Almighty. Furthermore, he did so with the intention of fulfilling the instructions of the Promised Messiah^(as) that financial sacrifices should be made for the sake of the faith and it is a commandment of Islam to do so.

Now, he regularly offers financial contributions every month. This is how a transformation suddenly comes about in the mind-set of those who were once worldly people.

A missionary from Argentina, Sarwar Sahib, writes that due the coronavirus and general inflation in Argentina, people are facing extreme economic hardships. Despite this, however, some new converts were informed that one of the pillars of Islam is spending in the way of Allah. In order to fulfil this divine commandment, there is a branch of the Ahmadiyya Community known as the Tahrik-e-Jadid scheme. The new converts came forward with great enthusiasm and offered sacrifices according to their means.

Among them was Fatima Veronica Sahiba, who was able to present extraordinary sacrifices. She is a widow and has a meagre means of income. When all of the new converts were informed that there were only a few days left before the end of the [Tahrik-e-Jadid] year, she sent a message to the missionary saying that at that moment, she did not have the means to contribute, but nevertheless, she would try to come up with some amount in the coming days.

Hence, just a few days later, she made a contribution of five thousand Argentine pesos. The missionary writes that according to her circumstances, in fact, considering the general economic state of Argentina, this was an extraordinary amount. The missionary says that seeing her passion, he told her that he was extremely grateful to her. Upon this, she replied, “There is no need to express gratitude. I have accepted Islam from my heart and I have done so after having understood it. One of its commandments is to make sacrifices for the sake of the religion. In fact, I am ashamed that due to the engagement in my work, I am not able to sacrifice my time for the religion as an Ahmadi Muslim should. This is the transformation created by Allah the Almighty within those who join the Jamaat of the Promised Messiah^(as) with utmost devotion. They develop an understanding of how to acquire the pleasure of Allah the Almighty, the efforts they need to make for this and how to advance the mission of the Promised Messiah^(as).

The amir of Indonesia, which is on the other side of the world and consists of Islands, writes that a lady by the name Marceila, living in the city of Tangerang, said that her husband lost his job due to the coronavirus. He started a new business, which wasn’t profitable. Following this, he started working for an online motorcycle taxi. The same difficulties were being faced there as well, so much so that they started wondering whether or not they would have anything to eat the following day.

She says that they wanted to fulfil their promise for Tahrik-e-Jadid during the month of Ramadan. Her husband would only tell her to pray that they be able to fulfil their promise. During the month of Ramadan, she saw in a dream that a person was asking her whether she had made any promise, to which she replied in the affirmative. Upon this, the person told her to fulfil that promise.

When she woke up, it was time for the Tahajud prayer [pre-dawn voluntary prayer]. Following the Tahajud prayer, she mentioned this dream to her husband during sehri [pre-dawn meal, before observing the fast]. When her husband returned home a few days later, he joyfully gave her a large amount of money and told her to fulfil the promise for Tahrik-e-Jadid as soon as possible.

She says that when her husband went to the bank in order to collect the profit from the online motorcycle taxi business, which was 50 thousand Indonesian rupees, he saw that an amount twentyfold as much was in his account. She says that they do not know where this money came from. However, her husband was certain that this was nothing but the help of God the Almighty, which He blessed them with, having seen their intentions. This is the manner in which Allah the Almighty alleviates their worries and concern.

Amir Sahib Indonesia says that there is an Ahmadi lady, Nur Sahiba, living in a village in Lampong. Every day, she and her husband visit a shop in an elementary school and sell items. She says that even though this is not extremely profitable, it is sufficient for daily necessities and for paying their financial contributions [chanda]. She passionately gives chanda every month. She said that due to the coronavirus, schools had been closed for two months and there was no income. She became very concerned as to how they would pay their chanda.

The thought came to her mind that she and her son had a money box and they had started collecting money in it. She thought to break it and contribute the money inside it towards Tahrik-e-Jadid and Waqf-e-Jadid, as they had been collecting and saving money in it. They explained the importance of making financial sacrifices to their children and contributed this amount from their children towards Chanda.

She says that before start of Ramadan, they only had one cup of rice left, which was not sufficient even for two children. She says that she made breakfast for the children and they had rice and water for breakfast. The children asked the parents why they were not eating the rice with them. (The rice was insufficient and the parents made a sacrifice.) And so, they did not have any answer but simply smiled.

In the afternoon, the children were hungry again. A little bit of rice was left, sufficient for only one child which he ate and the other child became hungry and started to cry. She says that at the time, they could do nothing else but pray. They offered their prayers and supplicated profusely.

Only a short while later, they saw the help of Allah the Exalted. A person came, who needed a worker on his corn field. Hence, her husband was given the job and their needs were fulfilled.

Hafiz Ata-ul-Haleem Sahib is a missionary in Mali and he writes that a 70-year-old Ahmadi, Yatara Targore Sahib, regularly pays chanda every month. He is also part of Nizam-e-Wasiyyat. He travels seven kilometres by bike, over an unpaved road, in order to pay his chanda. A short while ago, the chief of the neighbouring village seized his land, as a result of which he was greatly distressed. He also wrote to me here requesting for prayers and started making additional contributions towards chanda.

Allah the Exalted blessed him and the very same judge, who had issued a verdict against him earlier, later passed a verdict in his favour and the piece of land was restored to him, which was completely unexpected. The reason for this was that the chief of the village was a powerful man and had a lot of influence and no one could even imagine that the judge would issue a verdict against the chief. He did not only relate this account of Allah’s help to the people of his own village, but the following Friday he came to the regional mosque and narrated it before all the people, as a result of which other people were also extremely inspired. Through this incident we see how Allah the Almighty transforms a state of fear into peace.

Amir Sahib France writes that one of the members told him that in comparison to last year, he had doubled his promise for Tahrik-e-Jadid this year to one thousand euros. However, it so happened that due to the lockdown, his income decreased substantially and he felt that he would not be able not fulfil his promise. He had taken a loan, which needed to be paid off as well and he also needed to fulfil the promise of one thousand euros, and all of this seemed very difficult. Prayer was the only option he had. In his heart, he made a firm resolve that regardless of how much his income was and whether or not he had anything to eat, he was indeed going to fulfil his promise.

He says that by the sheer grace and favour of Allah the Exalted, the very same week, he received a bonus of one thousand Euros from his employer for working during the lockdown, which was exactly in accordance with his promise. He says that this was given to him by Allah the Almighty because of the promise that he had made with Him, otherwise he did not even have the slightest hope that his employer would give him such a large bonus during such difficult times.

The lockdown was mentioned in the previous account and I would like to add that as of today, the lockdown has started here [in the UK] for a period of four weeks. As such, there are no worshippers presently sitting before me in the mosque during the sermon. This is because I am allowed to deliver the sermon but no one else should be present except for the muazzin [one who calls the Azan].

A Syrian Ahmadi from Canada wrote to me and stated that if his account was to be mentioned, then he requested not to mention his name. He says, “Upon the establishment of the new headquarters in Islamabad, I made a promise of contributing 5,000 Canadian dollars towards Tahrik-e-Jadid as a way of expressing my happiness.”

He further says, “I made the promise the previous year. At that time, my income was 4,000 Canadian dollars per month and I was passing through a period of prosperity. I bought a new car within a few months and changed jobs, which resulted in an increase in my income. Yet despite the good circumstances, I was still finding it difficult to raise 5,000 dollars, because I was sending a portion of my income to my family in Syria and I was praying daily to God Almighty to grant me the means to pay my chanda. In January 2020, I had an accident and was unable to work for a month. Consequently, I had to take out loans to cover the monthly costs. My financial situation became even more difficult due to the coronavirus and the lockdown, to the extent where in February/March, me and my wife had no choice but to suffice on the cheapest food. It would have taken an immense effort to fulfil the promise before the end of the year and I was praying so that I could fulfil my promise in Ramadan instead of at the end of the year. However, this seemed impossible to achieve. I then left the taxi business and started working in food delivery. By the grace of Allah, my situation started to get better, so we committed once again to fulfil the promise before the end of the month of Ramadan so that we may also become the recipients of the prayers of the Khalifa. I then increased my hours of work to 11 or 12 hours. Thereafter, we started receiving income from places we were not aware of and my income had increased to nearly 9,000 dollars per month. And in this manner, by the grace of Allah, we were able to fulfil the promise ten days prior to Ramadan.”

He also wrote that if the promise had been three times more than the amount, he had firm belief that they would have surely fulfilled it before the end of the year and still continue to aid his poor family in Syria.

The amir of Sierra Leone writes that Usman Sahib, an imam in a Jamaat of Freetown, states:

“We participate in Tahrik-e-Jadid ever year, but this year, I thought that the amount we normally donated was inadequate. I did not have any regular employment, except for a small shop which my wife and I run, which did not generate much income and was only enough to just about cover the cost of the home. We would regularly hear announcements about donating towards Tahrik-e-Jadid, so my wife said to make a cash box in which we would place some money every day. Then, in October, we would donate towards Tahrik-e-Jadid whatever we had saved up. We had never donated more than 20,000 leones in previous years, but by the grace of Allah, this year, in this manner, we were able to donate over 200,000 leones. Two of my brothers also adopted this method and were able to donate 130,000 leones. My wife in particular was very pleased that we did this whereby Allah Almighty enabled us this year to make a good financial sacrifice and in this way our level of sacrifice had significantly increased. Furthermore, by the grace of Allah, our income also increased and we will continue to use this method which God Almighty taught us.”

Marshall Islands is a far off place, even further from the US. Sajid Iqbal Sahib, the missionary there writes:

“In the Marshall Islands there is a Nasir called Kioshi Rakin Sahib. When the Jamaat was being encouraged throughout the year to participate in Tahrik-e-Jadid, Kioshi Sahib said that he neither had a job, nor a place to stay. He also depended on the langar of the Jamaat for food and drink. Thereafter, we allowed him for some time to remain in the mosque and we told him that he should make a promise, even if it be for a small amount and that he should pray that God Almighty helped him. Upon this, he made a promise of two American dollars.

“A few months later, he came to the mission house and gave $50 towards Tahrik-e-Jadid. He said that God Almighty had answered his prayers, whereby he found a job and an apartment to live in. Now he is able to provide food and drink for himself.”

To strengthen one’s faith, just observe how God Almighty grants His support, in a manner which at times even leaves our missionaries speechless.

The amir of Gambia writes that a Tahrik-e-Jadid programme was organised in Basse where we encouraged members to fulfil their promises. Musa Sahib was among the participants in this programme, who had nothing to give in chanda. He became restless, so he would wake up for the Tahajud [pre-dawn] prayers and prostrate to God, seeking His grace, so that he may be able to be among those who spend in the way of Allah. God Almighty then accepted his heartfelt desire.

After a few days, the company for which he did contractual work told him that they were going to have a two-day programme in Basse, in which they wanted him to participate. In return, he would be given 4,000 dalasis. He became so jubilant that after attending the two-day event, he increased his promise and donated 2,000 dalasis. God Almighty granted further means for his income in order for him to give chanda. And now, he also encourages other brothers with regard to the importance of Tahrik-e-Jadid and financial sacrifice.

Talha Ali Sahib, the sadr of the Philippines Jamaat and missionary says:

“One of the early jamaats in Philippines is the Simunil Jamaat where the majority of people work in the teaching profession. After receiving more than the target, the Sadr of the Jamaat messaged me to pray especially for three teachers because they had not received any income since March, yet all three fully participated in donating towards Tahrik-e-Jadid.”

Observe how people even in far-off places are making sacrifices to attain the pleasure of Allah Almighty and also the manner in which they are doing so.

Shams-ud-Din Sahib, missionary of Kababir writes that al-Khalil is a new Jamaat in Palestine where the majority of the members of the Jamaat are facing a lot of financial hardship. But by the grace of Allah, each and every one of them participated in Tahrik-e-Jadid. Ibrahim Sahib is a new Ahmadi in al-Khalil, and after taking the oath of allegiance, he has been making great financial sacrifices.

On this occasion, he donated a large amount towards Tahrik-e-Jadid. He says:

“A friend of mine was in debt to me but was unable to pay it off for certain reasons. I waited a long time, but as I now had to donate towards Tahrik-e-Jadid and due to financial strains, I had little hope of receiving the amount. When I met Amir Sahib, I made some arrangements and donated towards Tahrik-e-Jadid. After learning about my situation, Amir Sahib said that now that I had participated in Tahrik-e-Jadid in the way of Allah, God Almighty would most certainly shower His blessings. Thus, only a few hours after Amir Sahib left, the person returned my money and my financial worries were removed.”

A member from Wiesbaden, Germany went to the Tahrik-e-Jadid office and told them that his asylum case was with a judge who would not pass his case. And so, he had heard some faith-inspiring incidents with regard to Tahrik-e-Jadid. He says, “Having heard these incidents, I decided to donate 1,000 euros towards Tahrik-e-Jadid. God Almighty so willed that my case was passed on to another judge and by the grace of Allah, my case was accepted. And now I have come to fulfil the promise I made with God Almighty.” Hence, he gave the amount he had promised.

The UK Tahrik-e-Jadid secretary says, “A member of the Burton Jamaat was jobless, but the day after donating towards Tahrik-e-Jadid, he found a job.”

Another member of the Burton Jamaat was facing financial difficulties, but still donated towards Tahrik-e-Jadid. Sometime later, he received a letter from HMRC Tax Department stating that he had paid too much in the previous year. And this amount was much larger than the sum he donated in chanda.

Another member, who is a professional and was concerned in regards to his job because someone had made a baseless complaint against him. However, after having  donated towards Tahrik-e-Jadid, it so happened that the one who made the complaint was dismissed from the job.

The car of one of the members fell into a ditch. He thought to himself that if it were to be taken out undamaged, he would make a further donation towards Tahrik-e-Jadid. Thus, the car was taken out with no damage and he donated a week’s worth of his income towards Tahrik-e-Jadid.

A tifl donated his six months’ worth of savings towards Tahrik-e-Jadid. Thus, children are also striving to increase in their financial sacrifices.

One khadim had saved some money for going on holidays and instead, he donated it all towards Tahrik-e-Jadid.

The sadr of the Barking & Dagenham Jamaat says that he really wanted to reach the target this time for Tahrik-e-Jadid, even if he had to give extra from his own pocket. Hence, he gave whatever remained of the target. Thereafter, he was notified by his work that this year, he would receive a 70% increase in his bonus as compared to last year. This bonus was a much larger sum than the extra amount he donated in chanda.

Linar Abdur Rahman Auf from Kazakhstan says:

“I regularly participate in Chanda Aam, Jalsa Salana, Tahrik-e-Jadid and Waqf-e-Jadid.” All these accounts are people from different parts of the world belonging to different nations.  He says, “The blessing in these chandas is such that my wife was able to complete medical college and received a job from a government programme. On top of that, the government provided a loan for the accommodation of the children, who are in nursery. Now our financial situation is much better than before. I now have two cars and wish to build my own house. This was all due to the grace of Allah and as a result of giving chanda. We were previously living in a rented flat and we had financial troubles, but still we gave chanda and as a result, God Almighty showered endless blessings upon us.”

When I made the announcement regarding Tahrik-e-Jadid last year, in relation to that, Muhammad Ahsan Sahib, the missionary of Guinea Bissau writes:

“A member, Muhammad Ibrahim Sahib, wrote down his promise that very day. Having listened to the sermon, he decided that he would now make a contribution every month. Hence, he continued to do so but owing to the coronavirus, he was no longer receiving any income. He became worried and when the financial year for Tahrik-e-Jadid was coming to an end, he became even more anxious. So he began praying even more. He says, ‘One morning I received a phone call from someone who asked if I could make construction blocks. I immediately agreed and in this way, I managed to find work whilst still at home. Through this, Allah the Almighty enabled me to fulfil my promise and also removed my financial difficulty owing to the lockdown.’”

Ibrahim Sahib states that all this was owing to the blessings of responding to the call of the Khalifa of the time.

Amir Sahib of Tanzania states that the missionary serving in Zanzibar writes:

“Haminah Bibi Sahiba, an elderly Ahmad lady, is always at the forefront to pay all her chanda despite having a low income. This year, in the blessed month of Ramadan, when we advised members towards offering financial sacrifice, she tried her level best to pay all her chanda in the same month; however, owing to some financial constraints, she did not have the money to do so. She told us that one night, she was so perturbed by not being able to pay the money that she woke up in the middle of the night and wept profusely before God Almighty stating that it was the time to respond to the call of the Khliafa, but she was not able to do so. Subsequently, the next morning, a relative of hers, who she was unable to establish contact with for a long time, called her. Her relative sent her some money as a gift through which she managed to pay her promise. She states that owing to paying her chanda, God Almighty always manifests His love for her and never abandoned her.”

Wakil-ul-Mal Sahib of Qadian writes:

“One member of the Kerali Jamaat of Kerala made a promise of 500,000 [Indian] rupees. He had set aside some money to purchase furniture for his [furniture] business and if he did not pay that money [for the furniture] on time he would have had to temporarily stop his business. However, the time to pay the Tahrik-e-Jadid also drew close.

“Understanding the importance of paying chanda he gave the amount towards Tahrik-e-Jadid, instead of purchasing furniture. This pure intention on his part was blessed by Allah the Almighty in such a way that only a short while later, whereby a sum which was significantly more that the amount he gave in chanda was deposited into his account. Subsequently, he was able to purchase the furniture he needed for his firm. He was then offered a project worth millions [of rupees]. As a result, he offered a large amount in Tahrik-e-Jadid, which was in addition to his original promise and amounted to approximately 1.2 million rupees.”

Abdul Basit Sahib, who collects the chanda for Tahrik-e-Jadid from India writes:

“The Cocheen Jamaat in Kerala had the opportunity to hold a jalsa for Tahrik-e-Jadid, in which the members were informed about the reasons and objectives of the Tahrik-e-Jadid scheme. Members of the Jamaat were encouraged to fully partake in the Tahrik-e-Jadid scheme. When the jalsa finished, we went to the house of local president [Sadr Jamaat]. His eight-year-old daughter came with her moneybox and said, ‘Maulvi Sahib, please put whatever money is in here towards Tahrik-e-Jadid.’ At the time, the money box had 864 rupees, which she presented for Tahrik-e-Jadid. Her father told me that his daughter had been saving the amount for some time with the intention of donating it to the Tahrik-e-Jadid scheme. Her father said that whenever he would return home from his shop, she would take any coins from him and save them in her money box. In this way, the girl managed to save money over a few months and give it as chanda.”

This is the spirit of offering financial sacrifices that Allah the Almighty has instilled within Ahmadi children.

In relation to how people show great eagerness for offering sacrifice after performing the Bai‘at, Samad Sahib from Albania writes:

“Dalip Gjergji Sahib is an Albanian Ahmadi and resides in a local village. He is a pensioner and despite his limited income, he regularly offers his chanda. He does not own a car and instead, comes to offer Friday prayers using public transport. Owing to the current pandemic, he attended the Friday prayers after a long time. After the Friday prayers, he said, ‘I felt it a great burden upon me that I had not paid chanda for many months.’ He brought eight months’ worth of chanda. Aside from Chanda Aam, he also brought money for Tahrik-e-Jadid and Waqf-e-Jadid.”

There are countless more similar examples.

For example, Hussain Sahib, who is a muallim in Tanzania writes:

“Saleh Motunga Sahib is a devout Ahmadi who always offers financial sacrifices. A short while ago, he fell ill and did not have enough money for his treatment. At the end of the month, when he received his pension, the first thing he did was to pay his Tahrik-e-Jadid promise.”

Hussain Sahib says:

“I tried to explain to him that he could get treatment using that money first and then he can pay his promise later. However, he said that God Almighty was the One Who grants cure; therefore he would first fulfil the promise he made in the way of God, then would go for his treatment another time.”

These are extraordinary levels of sacrifice which leaves one amazed. There are people living in distant areas and taking part for the first time, but through pledging allegiance to the Promised Messiah^(as), God Almighty enables them to bring about a great transformation within themselves and also grants them the understanding of the importance of financial sacrifices.

The amir of The Gambia writes:

“An event was held regarding the objectives of the Tahrik-e-Jadid scheme, in which members were reminded about sacrificing their lives for the sake of Islam, adopting a simple life and to never feel ashamed of doing even minor and trivial jobs. After the event, one of the attendees, Ibrahim Sahib stated that he would give 1,000 dalasis as part of Tahrik-e-Jadid. He further stated that he would devote his only son to become a missionary of the Jamaat. At present, his son is in Secondary School, but his [father’s] desire is for him to become a missionary of the Jamaat, insha-Allah.”

Adam Sahib from Ghana, who is the general secretary of the Accra Zone, writes:

“The sadr of my zone gave me 50 cedis for my travel. I gave this amount for Tahrik-e-Jadid. The next morning, I left with my superior for some work. On the way back, he asked how I intended to get home. I replied that I would go by taxi. Upon this, my superior asked for my phone and then said to check it.”

He further says, “When I checked my phone, he had sent me 1,000 cedis through his phone. Thus, I donated 50 cedis and received 1,000 cedis in return.”

These are just some of the incidents that I have presented, but there are countless others like these.

May Allah the Almighty greatly bless the wealth and progeny of all those who offered sacrifices. I will now briefly mention details of the total amount that was given, as is usually mentioned with the announcement of the new Tahrik-e-Jadid year.

By the grace of Allah, the 86^th year of Tahrik-e-Jadid came to an end on 31 October and the 87^th year has started.

By the grace of Allah, the entire Ahmadiyya Jamaat contributed £14.5 million, which is an increase of £882,000 from the previous year. Out of all the jamaats around the world, this year, Germany stood first.

The economic and political situation of Pakistan is becoming more and more dire. Although compared to the rest of the jamaats around the world, it may not be as significant of an increase, but on the whole, in terms of their local currency and under current circumstances, the jamaats of Pakistan have progressed significantly and offered a large amount.

May Allah grant peace and relief to those countries that are suffering from economic and political turmoil and ease their situation, so that they too are able to offer more sacrifices.

Nevertheless, overall Germany took first position, followed by the UK, then USA; Pakistan’s position also falls in between these countries. The USA is third, Canada follows, then a country in the Middle East, India, Australia, Indonesia, Ghana, then another country of the Middle East. As opposed to only competing with other African countries, Ghana is now competing with the other countries around the world, such as the USA, Europe etc.

In terms of contribution per person, Switzerland is first, followed by the USA, Singapore. These are the first three jamaats, the rest of the details will follow.

In terms of overall contribution, the details of outstanding jamaats from Africa are as follows: Ghana is first, then Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, The Gambia, Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone Jamaat is very big and has been established for a long time. If Amir Sahib and also the relevant office-bearers guide the members of the Jamaat in the right manner and encourage them to offer financial sacrifices, they will find that the members of the Jamaat are always willing to offer sacrifices. They ought to pay attention towards this.

After this, it is Benin – by the grace of Allah, Benin has also made great efforts. In terms of contribution per capita, Niger and Benin made significant progress; Benin increased the amount six-fold in terms of their local currency and there was an eight-fold increase in Niger. Despite the fact that owing to the current situation, their total number of participants decreased, their overall collection was more than previous years or perhaps remained the same.

The total number of overall participants was 1,600,800. The prominent jamaats of Africa who have increased the participants from last year are as follows: Ghana stood first, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, Congo Kinshasa, Tanzania, Liberia, Kenya, Central African Republic, Sao Tome, Congo Brazzaville and Zimbabwe.

The other large jamaats where there was a significant increase in the number of participants are Bangladesh, Germany, Canada, India, Australia and UK.

By the grace of Allah, the accounts belonging to Daftar Awwal are a total of 5,927, 33 of whom are still alive and pay the chanda themselves; 3,129 accounts are continued by their heirs and 2,775 are continued by sincere members of the Jamaat.

Since Germany stood first in all the jamaats around the world, their details will be mentioned first.

The first ten jamaats of Germany are as follows: Mahdi-Abad was first, followed by Rödermark, Neuss, Nieda, Koln, Pinneberg, Osnarbruck, Flörsheim, Kiel and Freinsheim.

The local amarats in Germany are as follows: Hamburg, Dietzenbach, Frankfurt, Gross-Gerau, Wiesbaden, Mörfelden, Mannheim, Riedstadt, Russelheim and Darmstadt.

UK is in second position. The position of the regions in UK is as follows:

Baitul Futuh, Fazl Mosque, Islamabad, Midlands and Baitul Ehsan.

The top ten positions of the larger jamaats of the UK, in terms of total collection, is as follows:

Aldershot, Islamabad, Fazl Mosque, Worcester Park, Birmingham South, Gillingham, Putney, South Cheam, Birmingham West and Cheam.

The top five position of the smaller jamaats in the UK is as follows:

Spen Valley, Keighley, Swansea, North Wales and Northampton.

The next details are of the USA, but before this, I will read out the details for Pakistan. The positions of jamaats in Pakistan are as follows:

Lahore, Rabwah and then Karachi.

The ten districts with the most contribution are: Islamabad, Sialkot, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Hyderabad, Mirpur Khas, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh, Umerkot, Chakwal Kotli.

I do not know why they have written Chakwal and Kotli together, they should have been written separately, unless they both had the same position.

The position of the local jamaats in regard to highest contribution is as follows:

Amarat Defence Lahore, Amarat City of Rawalpindi, Amarat Drigh Road Karachi, Amarat Mughalpura Lahore, Amarat Township Lahore, Amarat Azizabad Karachi, Amarat Gulshan Abad Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Amarat Dehli Gate Lahore.

The position of the jamaats in the USA is as follows:

Maryland, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Central Virginia, Seattle, Oshkosh, Detroit, Chicago, South Virginia, Houston, Atlanta, Boston.

In terms of total contribution, the position of the local amarats in Canada is as follows:

Vaughan, Peace Village, Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto West, Mississauga, Brampton, Brampton East, Saskatoon and Toronto.

The position of the smaller jamaats in Canada is as follows:

Bradford, Hamilton Mountain, Edmonton West, Regina and Hamilton East.

The top ten jamaats in India for their total contribution are: Coimbatore, Karulai, Qadian, Pathapiriyam, Hyderabad, Kinanoor Town, Calcutta, Calicut, Bangalore and Mathatum.

The top ten districts are as follows:

Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Carnatic, Jammu Kashmir, Telangana, Punjab, Odissa, Bengal, Delhi, Maharashtra.

The top ten jamaats of Australia are as follows:

Melbourne, Long Warren, Castle Hill, Melbourne Berwick, Marsden Park, Adelaide South, Penrith, ACT, Canberra, Adelaide West, Mount Druitt, Parramatta.

These were the respective positions of the jamaats. May Allah the Almighty grant countless blessings to them and their wealth and accept their sacrifices.

With this I would also like to announce the start of the 87^th year of Tahrik-e-Jadid, which started officially from 1 November, insha-Allah.

I wish to emphasise that there is a vital need to focus our attention towards prayers nowadays. Of course, we pray for ourselves and for our community, but we must also generally pray for all Muslims.

Certain leaders of the non-Muslim world are currently harbouring great animosity and malice towards Muslims. Evidently, in this world of democracy, leaders consider the people to be their god and form their statements and policies merely according to their whims. At other times, these leaders themselves are the proponents of attempting to misguide people into denying God and instead, making them believe that people alone are the be-all and end-all. Even if some leaders do not expressly state their opinions, they harbour enmity and reservations against Islam within their hearts.

Due to being unaware of Islam’s true teachings, these leaders and a large part of the general public oppose Muslims. Regardless, it is through our prayers and efforts that we must inform the world of the true teachings of Islam.

In recent days, there have been public remarks made against Islam by a Western leader. Though such comments are often made by some in one form or another through vague political statements, a very unambiguous statement was recently made by the president of France. He has labelled Islam as a religion in “crisis”. The reality is that it is in fact their own religion which is facing crisis; that is of course if they even follow a religion.

Firstly, they do not truly adhere to any religion; they have abandoned religion altogether, including Christianity. Thus, they themselves are in crisis. On the other hand, by the grace of Allah the Almighty, Islam is a living religion meant to prosper and flourish, which is exactly the case today. Allah the Almighty Himself has undertaken the responsibility of protecting Islam for all times. In this era, it is through the Promised Messiah^(as) that Islam is spreading to all parts of the world.

In reality, the only reason that anti-Islamic forces and individuals commit such actions and make such statements is because they know that Muslims are not united amongst themselves.

I must commend the Canadian prime minister who made an excellent statement in response to the comments of the president of France. He said that this [approach by the French president] is completely wrong and must be rectified and that due regard must be given to the religious sentiments and religious leaders of others.

If only the rest of the world’s leaders would reflect and act upon the approach and statement of the prime minister of Canada in order to establish harmony and peace in the world. Thus, the Canadian prime minister is deserving of praise in this regard and we should pray for him that Allah the Almighty may further enlighten him.

In any case, it is clear that there is a lack of unity amongst Muslims and this is the very reason why all of this is occurring. Muslim countries are at odds with one another and increasing divisions display to the world that there is discord amongst Muslims. If the world knew that Muslims are united, that they believe in the same One God and His Messenger^(sa) and are ever-ready to present sacrifices for their sake, then the non-Muslim world would never act in this way and never would a newspaper be emboldened to publish caricatures of the Holy Prophet^(sa).

A few years ago, when caricatures were published in both Denmark and France, there was a momentary outcry and it was announced that their products would be boycotted [by Muslims], but then this reaction withered and disappeared and did nothing and they became silent in a matter of months.

At that time, it was the Ahmadiyya Muslims Community who responded in the appropriate manner and brought to light the beautiful character of the Holy Prophet^(sa). This was greatly appreciated and praised by other intellectuals and leaders as well as the general public.

We continue this same work even today, as we declare that the actions of a few deviants cannot be ascribed to Islam. It is not the place of any country’s leader to declare that the teachings of Islam and Muslims themselves are in crisis, based on the wrongful actions of certain individuals, only to incite their nation into thinking that they are at war with us and that they must persist with this fight. In reality, they are the ones who incite such individuals to commit these atrocities.

I have stated before that publishing caricatures or any sort of affront against the Holy Prophet^(sa) is unbearable for any self-respecting Muslim. Such actions bear the potential of stirring the emotions of some Muslims and indeed they do. If, then, someone commits an unlawful act in retaliation or takes the law into their own hands, the blame lies with such non-Muslim people, these governments or the so-called-freedom, known as freedom of expression. Thus, it is the non-Muslim world which provokes the passions of these people.

When this matter first arose, I delivered a series of sermons in which I elaborated what the correct response should be and the true image which should be projected. As I mentioned earlier, this left a positive impact on others and we continue to adopt this method to this day.

When once a Dutch politician made some statements, I responded in an address that I delivered in Holland, warning him of the wrath of Allah the Almighty. In response, the Dutch politician tried to petition the government that I had given him a death threat and asked to ban my entry into the country. In fact, he wanted to lodge a case against me.

Regardless, we have and will continue to respond to every attack against the honour of Islam and the Holy Prophet^(sa) to the extent which the law permits us. Doing so leaves a positive impact and this is the solution which we present that we should take every measure we can within the confines of the law.

Above all, we must invoke durood [salutations and blessings] upon the Holy Prophet^(sa), a matter which I have emphasised in many of my previous sermons. No matter the harsh words which non-Ahmadi clerics use against us, we will always defend Islam in light of its true teachings and this is exactly what we are doing, insha-Allah!

The killing of one, two, or four people is nothing but a means of exerting momentary passion and does not present any real solution. If the Muslim Ummah [nation] desires a permanent solution, then the entire Muslim world must become united. Even now, the president of Turkey responded to the French president and a few other [Muslim] countries responded as well. However, these responses do not bear the same impact as compared to the potential impact of a united response from all Muslims.

It is said that as a result of the response from the president of Turkey and other nations, the French president changed and softened his statement and tried to justify what he really meant. Yet, at the same time, he firmly maintained his stance of being correct in their approach. However, if 54 or 55 Muslim countries were to speak out unanimously, then the French president would not simply make justifications for his statement; instead, he would have been compelled to plead for forgiveness.

In short, all I wish to say is that we must pray for the Muslim nations to at least be able to raise a single and united voice against others; only then will we see true results. We have remained persistent in our mission and will continue to do so, insha-Allah! It is the duty of those who have accepted the Messiah of Muhammad^(sa) to spread the true teachings of Islam throughout the world; to introduce the world to the beauty of the Holy Prophet^(sa) and to not rest until the entire world gathers under the banner of the Holy Prophet^(sa). Tell the world that their salvation lies in recognising the One True God and in bringing all forms of injustice to an end.

A few months ago, during this coronavirus pandemic, I wrote letters to certain heads of state once again, including the president of France. In the letter, I warned him in the words of the Promised Messiah^(as), saying that these trials and calamities are sent by God as a consequence of injustices. Thus, he must pay heed; end all injustices and establish peace and say only that which is based in truth. We have fulfilled our obligations and will continue to do so. Now it is up to others to decide whether or not they will take heed.

In any case, we cannot forget the Muslim Ummah [nation] in our prayers. May Allah the Almighty enable them to recognise the true servant of the Holy Prophet^(sa). The world must consider the fact that if they continue to move away from God, it will result in nothing but their ruin and destruction. We must strive to unite the entire world under the unity of God and under the banner of the Holy Prophet^(sa). This is also the fundamental purpose of Tahrik-e-Jadid. May Allah Almighty enable us to do this.

Aside from this, pray for the general condition of the world. It is rapidly advancing towards [its own destruction]. Let it not be the case that whilst the world alleviates itself and exits from this pandemic, the world is thrust into another calamity in the form of a world war.

May Allah Almighty grant the world sense and understanding and may everyone recognise the One True God and fulfil their responsibilities due to Him.

Original Urdu published in Al Fazl International on 27 November 2020, pp. 5-11. Translated by The Review of Religions.