An Appeal for your Support from Hazrat Ameer Prof. Dr. Abdul Karim Saeed to all Jamaats in the World
Building Infrastructure in India, Australia and Germany
The Light (UK), September 2005 Issue (pp. 1–3)
Dear members of the Jamaat [Movement],
Assalaamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatu-hu.
I pray and hope that you and your families are all in good health and high spirits by the grace of Merciful Allah.
During the last three years I had the opportunity to visit most of our Jamaat all around the world. I am heartened to see our Jamaat making good progress everywhere, Al-hamdu lillah, despite the immense problems we continue to face. I am particularly pleased with the endeavours made by some of our Jamaat to develop on-ground infrastructure by acquiring properties and undertaking major improvements to their existing premises.
In the past some projects have been handled at National or Regional level. However, to ensure that the projects are coordinated properly and information shared by our global community, the Central Anjuman has decided to play a more proactive role in the future. The projects currently in the pipeline are ambitious and require considerable funds. Active and enthusiastic participation by everyone over the next few years will ensure the fruition of these projects so vital for the Worldwide Lahore Ahmadiyya Community. The three major projects in the pipeline currently are as follows:
1. INDIA: Mosque and Centre in Delhi:
Just a few years ago we hardly had any members left in India except for our branches in Jammu and Kashmir. It was the lone efforts of our late brother Abdul Razaq that was keeping the name of the Lahore Jamaat alive by printing and distributing our publications from Mumbai (Bombay). May Allah grant his soul eternal peace and abode in Jannat ul Firdaus. Aameen.
The Jamaat in India was revived by the dedicated efforts of our visionary brother Shaukat Ali who set up its headquarters in New Delhi in 1994. From a modest beginning in a single rented room, it has made tremendous progress. It has published and distributed scores of books and started a quarterly journal, Chaudween Sadi, in Urdu about three years ago. They have also trained a group of Mobuligheen (preachers) who travel to different parts of India and as a result the number of our members and sympathisers continues to increase.
The India branch of the Jamaat was officially registered with the government under the Societies Registration Act on 29 April 1999. The Jamaat has acquired two modest properties in Delhi and also commenced operation of a primary school about three years ago. They currently have about two hundred students. However, because of the increase in their activities, they are facing space constraints. At this stage the Jamaat needs to establish a permanent home for it to cater for the needs of the future and to enhance its image and profile. They have, therefore, proposed to setup a Jamaat Centre to include a mosque, offices, a school, and a library and book depot in New Delhi. They plan to acquire a piece of land for this purpose. The acquisition of land alone will cost about ten million Indian Rupees (US $215,000) and an equal amount will be needed for construction of the first phase. The Central Anjuman has endorsed this long overdue project to spread the true teachings of the Promised Messiah [Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian] in India, the birthplace of the Imam of the age.
2. AUSTRALIA: Mosque and Library in Sydney:
Our Sydney Australia Jamaat has come a long way since its establishment just a few years ago. Under the wise guidance of Dr. Abdul Habib Sahukhan, they remained focused and pursued their mission single-mindedly. They had already acquired a piece of land for a cemetery when I visited them last year. They have now purchased a property worth $300,000 which they, Insha Allah, plan to develop into a hub for the Jamaat’s activities, complete with a prayer room, library, etc. The project will cost approximately $500,000. The few but spirited members of Australia have already collected about $180,000 in just one night of fundraising, Mashallah. Australia, with its strategic location, will become the centre of activity for the South Pacific Region and this will offer immense opportunities to the Jamaat to spread the word of Allah.
3. GERMANY: The Historic Berlin Mosque:
You are all aware of the history of the Berlin Mosque and the unprecedented gesture of sacrifice when on Maulana Muhammad Ali’s appeal, a handful of Ahmadi ladies donated all their jewellery to meet the cost of completing the minarets of the mosque. Today we need more funds for the renovation and repair of this historical monument and an invaluable asset of the Jamaat. We need $30,000 immediately to pay back to the directors of Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam Lahore Inc. USA who had very generously paid this amount at short notice on our behalf. JazaakAllah.
The Holy Quran says:
مَثَلُ الَّذِیۡنَ یُنۡفِقُوۡنَ اَمۡوَالَہُمۡ فِیۡ سَبِیۡلِ اللّٰہِ کَمَثَلِ حَبَّۃٍ اَنۡۢبَتَتۡ سَبۡعَ سَنَابِلَ فِیۡ کُلِّ سُنۡۢبُلَۃٍ مِّائَۃُ حَبَّۃٍ ؕ وَ اللّٰہُ یُضٰعِفُ لِمَنۡ یَّشَآءُ ؕ وَ اللّٰہُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِیۡمٌ ﴿۲۶۱﴾
“The parable of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is as the parable of a grain growing seven ears, in every ear a hundred grains. And Allah multiplies (further) for whom He pleases. And Allah is Ample-giving, Knowing.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:261).
وَ مَاۤ اٰتَیۡتُمۡ مِّنۡ رِّبًا لِّیَرۡبُوَا۠ فِیۡۤ اَمۡوَالِ النَّاسِ فَلَا یَرۡبُوۡا عِنۡدَ اللّٰہِ ۚ وَ مَاۤ اٰتَیۡتُمۡ مِّنۡ زَکٰوۃٍ تُرِیۡدُوۡنَ وَجۡہَ اللّٰہِ فَاُولٰٓئِکَ ہُمُ الۡمُضۡعِفُوۡنَ ﴿۳۹﴾
“And whatever you lay out at usury, so that it may increase in the property of men, it increases not with Allah; and whatever you give in charity, desiring Allah’s pleasure — these will get manifold.” (Surah Ar-Rum, 30:39)
On behalf of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Jamaat, I appeal to all our members throughout the world to support these worthy projects by making generous contributions. In the verses of the Holy Quran which I have quoted above, Allah the Most High has promised manifold reward for those who spend for His Pleasure. The Holy Prophet, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him, said that whoever builds a mosque, desiring thereby Allah’s pleasure, Allah builds for him the like of it in paradise (Bukhari, 8:65). Our Jamaat has a great tradition of making sacrifices whenever the call came, and I am sure that our members will not lag behind this time. I, therefore, request you to come forward, as always, and make generous contributions for these excellent and noble causes. May Allah the Most High, the Ample-giving, All-Knowing, reward you abundantly.
Our target for the rest of the year till 31 December 2005 is US $150,000, and all contributions should be channeled to the Central Anjuman, which will decide on the shares for each of the projects in different countries.
I announce with great satisfaction that in Pakistan the fundraising campaign was launched with generous donations from our 98 years old saintly member Malik Saeed Ahmad sahib and our respected senior lady member Begum Hamida Rahman Sahiba. Jazaak-Allah.
We look forward to your understanding, continuing support and cooperation.
Wassalaam,
Dr. Abdul Karim Saeed,
Ameer-i-Jamaat, International Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement.
U.K. Jamaat Response:
We endorse Hazrat Ameer’s appeal and strongly urge our members to contribute towards it. The U.K. Jamaat will collect all the donations from the U.K. and forward them together to the Central Anjuman in Lahore. Our members will recall Hazrat Ameer’s visit to U.K. during April and May [2005] and the time and effort he devoted to addressing our functions and meeting individual members. So we too should respond to his appeal as he showed so much care and concern for us. Let us also remember that we are part of an international movement, and any progress made by any branch anywhere, especially by our Centre, is our own progress because it is the advancement of our Movement.
Ramadan also begins just a month after this appeal reaches you, which is a time for giving in Allah’s way.
Also let us remind ourselves that shortly, in December [2005] and January [2006], it will be one hundred years since the Founder of our Movement, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, created an Anjuman to run the work of the Movement after him. He wrote at the end of his book The Will:
“… there should be an Anjuman entrusted to spend, as it determines fit, the funds thus collected from time to time, on proclaiming the teachings of Islam and spreading the message of the oneness of God.”
Addressing members of the Movement about making donations, he wrote in The Will:
“I do not want to take any possessions from you and make them my own. Rather, you will give your property to an Anjuman for the propagation of the religion, and thus attain heavenly life.”