(November 9th, 2018) Friday Sermon: Financial Sacrifice: Tehrike Jadid 2018
The verses that I have just recited are verses of Surah al-Baqarah in which the subject of financial sacrifices has been mentioned. God Almighty has almost continuously mentioned the subject of financial sacrifices in these verses. The translation of these verses are as follows: “The similitude of those who spend their wealth for the cause of Allah is like the similitude of a grain of corn which grows seven ears, in each ear a hundred grains. And Allah multiplies it further for whomsoever He pleases; and Allah is Bountiful, All-Knowing.”
In the next verse, God Almighty states: “Those who spend their wealth for the cause of Allah, then follow not up what they have spent with taunt or injury, for them is their reward with their Lord, and they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve.”
God Almighty then states: “And the case of those who spend their wealth to seek the pleasure of Allah and to strengthen their souls is like the case of a garden on elevated ground. Heavy rain falls on it so that it brings forth its fruit twofold. And if heavy rain does not fall on it, then light rain suffices. And Allah sees what you do.”
In the next verse, He says: “Satan threatens you with poverty and enjoins upon you what is foul, whereas Allah promises you forgiveness from Himself and bounty. And Allah is Bountiful, All- Knowing.”
Then, God Almighty states: “It is not thy responsibility to make them follow the right path; but Allah guides whomsoever He pleases. And whatever of wealth you spend, it is for yourselves, while you spend not but to seek the favour of Allah. And whatever of wealth you spend, it shall be paid back to you in full and you shall not be wronged.”
God Almighty then states: “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.”
The Promised Messiah (as), while mentioning financial sacrifices, said on one occasion, “It is by the injunction of God Almighty that I regularly emphasise spending in the way of God Almighty. Islam is falling prey to other opposing religions and they desire to completely annihilate Islam. When this is the current state of Islam, then should we not make an effort for its progress. It is for this reason that God Almighty has established this Community. Thus, to strive for its progress is in accordance with the injunction and the desire of God Almighty. These promises are from God Almighty, that if one spends in the way of God Almighty then in return He shall grant one many folds in blessings. God Almighty will reward such a person abundantly in this very world and after their demise they will also experience the reward in the Hereafter in terms of an abundance of comforts.”
God Almighty has granted the Promised Messiah (as) a Community of sincere people, who heard his call and obeyed it and also offered their sacrifices. Hence, regarding these sacrifices, the Promised Messiah (as) states,
“A large section of our Community consists of poor people. However, although this is a Community of the poor, thanks to God Almighty, I see that they have sincerity and sympathy. They understand the needs of Islam and do not shy away from spending for its cause according to their means.”
God Almighty did not only enable the members of the Jama’at during the time of the Promised Messiah (as) to excel in terms of their sacrifices, sincerity and loyalty, rather, according to His promise, God Almighty has continuously granted, and is granting even today to this Jama’at, which was established approximately one hundred and thirty years ago, such sincere individuals, who are rendering sacrifices for the sake of their religion according to their capacities and at times even beyond that. Furthermore, they are also fulfilling the standards and are partaking of the promises, which God Almighty has outlined in the Holy Qur’an. By the grace of God Almighty, these standards can only be observed among this Jama’at of God Almighty, which was established through the Promised Messiah (as).
Huzoor ( aba) narrated many faith inspiring incidences where people, who paid for Tehrik-e-Jadid despite facing immense hardship were granted good jobs miraculously, received large sums of money from unexpected sources, and had their stolen motor vehicle returned unexpectedly .
This is also an astonishing example of the trust and faith in God Almighty.
Shahab sahib, the inspector for Tehrik-e-Jadid in India writes that a lady named Sophia Begum from Chinta Gunta sent a message to us through her brother stating, “When I was very young, I attend gatherings and listened to different speeches delivered by scholars. A lot of women presented their jewelry when Hazrat Musleh-e-Mau’ud (ra) established Tehrik-e-Jadid and urged the members to offer financial sacrifice. Whenever I would listen to this faith inspiring incident I felt the strong desire that if only I had some jewelry I would offer it in the same manner towards Tehrik-e-Jadid but this was not possible as I was poor. However, after my mother’s demise I have inherited 24 grams of gold and I present this to you because I am uncertain if this jewelry will remain in my possession.” He says he and the locals both tried to convince her that since she was going to get married soon therefore this jewelry would be needed for that. However, she remained adamant and paid the full amount of 24 grams of gold towards Tehrik-e-Jadid.
There were many incidences where people, after paying their Tehrik-e-Jadid chanda, had their long-standing loan returned, had miraculous pay rise and saw their businesses grow beyond all expectations. Others experienced that their long-term sick relatives got better, and some were granted an opportunity t go to Hajj. of sacrifice and these are the people about whom the Promised Messiah (as) has stated: “It is astonishing to see their sincerity and loyalty.”
A missionary in Ivory Coast writes that he went to a place to collect Tahrik-e-Jadid, where there was a community of new converts. Only a year ago they took the Bai’at and became a part of the Jama’at. He says, “I delivered a speech to these people with regards to the importance of Tahrik-e-Jadid and its purpose. I further explained that Hazrat Khalifatul Masih said that all members should participate and partake of this blessing. The following day, after the morning-prayer some members of the community began donating according to their own means and the Imam of the mosque participated in this, also paying on behalf of his family towards Tehrik-e-Jadid. Later on, his 6 year-old son brought 100 CFA Francs from his father saying this was his contribution.” He further says, “We were delighted by the extent of this young child’s desire to make financial sacrifices.”
May Allah Almighty accept the sacrifices of these new converts and bestow upon them the good of this world and the next.
A missionary in the Ivory Coast writes: “There was a tifl in the city San-Pedro who was 14 years old. The boy’s father says that he asked him to perform an errand for the house on a Sunday, to which his son replied that he is finance secretary in the Atfal Amila and he collects Chanda from other people, however he has been unable to pay his own Chanda. Since he has to attend school on the other days, on that day he intended to go and work on a farm, and through this labour he would be able to earn some money and pay his Chanda. His father said that he would pay the money on his behalf, however the son replied that the Missionary had said that children should pay the Chanda from their pocket money. Since he was unable to give any Chanda from his pocket money, he was adamant that he would go and earn some money to pay for the Chanda. He completed his work and gave the money he earnt as part of Chanda.”
Thus is the thinking of children, living in distant places and of those who have recently joined the community – this is something only God Almighty can instil in a person.
Amir Sahib of Gambia writes, “A member from the Gira village regularly paid Chanda towards Tehrik-e-Jadid. Recently, there was an outbreak of a disease among the cattle of his village and the animals began dying. Nearly everyone’s animals had died. However, not a single animal from the cattle of Samya Sahib died. The fellow villagers enquired from him as to why not a single animal died from among his cattle. He told them that every year he sells one of his animals from among his cattle and pays that amount towards his Chanda for Tehrik-e-Jadid and due to its blessings, God Almighty has protected his animals from the epidemic. Upon this, 7 other villagers who were Ahmadi, also paid their Tehrik-e-Jadid Chanda and the health of their animals began to improve, even though the veterinary doctor had said that no animal would survive the epidemic. After a few days, when the veterinary doctor came again and examined the animals, he asked what method of cure they used to improve the health of their animals. An elderly lady brought a receipt of her Chanda donation and said that this was their method for the cure. Hearing this, the doctor was quite surprised and said that he would now research into Jama’at Ahmadiyya and so he was given quite a lot of literature of the Jama’at.”
One can witness how the faith and sincerity of the people living in far-off lands is progressing. It is this very sincerity and their complete trust in God Almighty and His promises that in turn leaves others with no other choice but to ponder over the truthfulness of Islam. May God Almighty continue to strengthen their faith and belief and grant them His love and affection.
After relating the accounts of the blessings of God Almighty, as it is customary to announce the new year of the Tehrik-e-Jadid in November, and with this I will also present some figures from the previous year.
This year, the 85th year of Tehrik-e-Jadid is starting, or rather has started from the 1st of November. The report of the blessings in the income from the 84th year are is as follows:
According to the income reports, God Almighty has enabled the sincere members of the Jama’at to contribute over 12.79 million pounds. By the grace of God Almighty, there is an increase of 212,000 pounds from the previous year – and God Almighty has enables this despite the difficult circumstance being experiences around the world and the fact that the currency of many countries in the world has devalued.
In terms of the total contributing, Pakistan is always at the top, but after them it is:
- Germany
- UK
- USA
- Canada
- India
- Australia
- A Jam’at from the Middle East
- Indonesia
- Ghana
- A Jama’at from Middle East
The outstanding Jama’ats from among Africa for their total contribution are:
- Ghana
- Nigeria
- The Gambia
- Tanzania
A lot of attention is being drawn towards increasing the number of people participating in Tehrik-e-Jadid, and by the grace of God Almighty this year 1,717,000 members participated, an increase of 117,000 and majority of the increase in members has come from the African countries in which Niger, The Gambia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo-Kinshasa, Liberia, Mauritius and Ivory Coast have made a notable effort. Among the large Jama’ats, in terms of increasing their total contributors are:
- Indonesia
- Germany
- India
- Pakistan
- Canada
- USA
- Norway
- Malaysia
By the grace of God Almighty, all of the accounts of those belonging to Daftar Awwal are still in operation which total to 5,927.
According to the reports of the districts in Pakistan, the financial sacrifices from the three large districts of Pakistan, it is:
- Lahore
- Rabwah
- Karachi
Although Rabwah is not a district but a city, however it is counted among the districts. The total contribution from among the districts of Pakistan is:
- Sialkot
- Sargodha
- Gujrat
- Gujranwala
- Umerkot
- Hyderabad
- Narowal
- Mirpur Khas
- Toba Tek Singh
- Mirpur Azad Kashmir
The outstanding Jama’at in terms of their total contribution are:
- Islamabad
- Amarat Defence Lahore
- Amarat township Lahore
- Amrast Azizabad Karachi
- Peshawar
- Amarat Gulshan Iqabal Karachi
- Amarat Karim Nagar Faisalabad
- Quetta
- Nawabshah
- Bahawlpur
- Okarra
The first ten Jama’ats in Germany are:
- Neuss
- Rödermark
- Pinneberg
- Mahdi Abad
- Kiel
- Flörsheim
- Koblenz
- Weingarten
- Cologne
- Colmberg
In terms of the regions of Germany, the first ten are as follows:
- Hamburg
- Frankfurt
- Morfelden
- Gross-Gerau
- Dietzenbach
- Wiesbaden
- Mannheim
- Riedstadt
- Offenbach
- Darmstadt
The first five regions of Great Britain, in terms of contribution, are:
- London B
- London A
- Midlands
- North East
- South
The first ten large Jama’ats of Great Britain are:
- Masjid Fazl
- Worcester Park
- Birmingham South
- New Malden
- Bradford North
- Islamabad
- Birmingham West
- Glasgow
- Gillingham
- Scunthorpe
In terms of contribution from the smaller Jama’ats in Great Britain, it is the following 5 Jama’ats:
- Spen Valley
- Swansea
- North Wales
- Southfields
- Edinburgh
The first five regions in terms of contribution are:
- South West
- Midlands
- Islamabad
- North East
- Scotland
In terms of total contribution among the USA Jama’ats is as follows:
- Oshkosh
- Silicon Valley
- Seattle
- Detroit
- Silver Spring
- York
- Central Virginia
- Georgia
- Atlanta
- Los Angeles East
- Central Virginia
- Florida
In terms of total contribution from among the regions in Canada:
- Brampton
- Vaughan
- Peace Village
- Calgary
- Vancouver
- Western
- Mississauga
The 5 most notable Jama’ats in Canada for their total contribution is:
- Edmonton West
- Durham
- Hamilton South
- Bradford
- Saskatoon North
The ten large Jama’at in India for their total contribution are:
- Qadian, Punjab
- Hyderabad, Telangana
- Patah Perium, Kerala
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu
- Calicut, Kerala
- Bangalore, Carnatic
- Calcutta, Bengal
- Pengari, Kerala
- Noor Town, Kerala
- Yad Gir, Carnatic
In terms of the provinces of India, the first is
- Kerala
- Carnatic
- Tamil Nadu
- Telangana
- Jammu Kashmir
- Odissa
- Punjab
- Bengal
- Dehli
- Maharashtra
The first ten Jama’ats in Australia for total contribution:
- Castle Hill
- Melbourne
- Berwick
- Canberra
- Perth
- Melbourne Long Warren
- Marsden Park
- Adelaide South
- Brisbane
- Logan
- Another Jama’at from Brisbane*
The following is the list of Jama’ats in terms of contribution per person:
- Tasmania
- Canberra
- Castle Hill,
- Darwin,
- Marsden Park,
- Melbourne,
- Berwick,
- Sydney City,
- Perth,
- Campbelltown,
- Parramatta
May God Almighty immensely bless all those who have offered financial sacrifices and also their wealth.
Also, generally people assume that I share the accounts from my tours, however inshAllah I will mention in the next sermon.
Post a Comment