When an Ahmadiyya Muslim family from London asked the jamaat (sect) secretary Muhammad Hameed Kausar in Qadian about any shop in the town to purchase shawl, Kausar answered why don’t you buy it from London. “Their answer that the shawl they would get from Qadian would be ‘rabb di barqat’ (a gift of Almighty) sums up the collective reverence for Qadian in the hearts of Ahmadiyyas all across the globe,” 70-year-old Kausar said during Muslim sect’s ‘Jalsa Salana’ (annual congregation) on Saturday.
The three-day congregation, which brings to life the otherwise quaint Qadian town in Gurdaspur district of Punjab, ended Sunday with participants belonging to the community from over 40 countries thronging the town, which also stands as a perfect instance of communal bonhomie. Qadian has the history of different communities, including Ahmadiyyas, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians living together in harmony.
Qadian holds immense religious importance for Ahmadiyya community as its founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was not just born but also laid to rest here — after his death in Lahore — in the graveyard, came to be known as Bahishti Maqbara (The heavenly graveyard). It is the community’s eternal headquarter. The incumbent head of the community Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad is based in London, making the UK capital another sort of sect’s headquarter.
On Sunday, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, who took over as the 5th chief of the sect in 2003, addressed the gathering through video conferencing from London with participants in a sprawling lawn set up, listening in attendance amid bone chilling cold, with arrangements including provision to translate the speech in different languages, including Russian, Arabic, English and French, Malayalam, Bangla, Telugu and Kannada. Ahmadiyya community’s motto is ‘Love for all, hatred for none’ and the annual congregation revolves around the theme to promote mutual love, brotherhood and communal harmony.
A huge welcoming gate with the above motto greets the visitors, even as the message is displayed across the part of the town where the community resides. The lane where gate is located bustles, during the Jalsa, with activity as shopkeepers sell the religious literatures, photos of the community’s torchbearers apart from the eateries, including Sydney Sofra – The Taste of Australia ‘Franchise’.
Kausar says that “Minarat-ul- Misah or the “White Minaret” which stands like a pole star in the middle of Qadian town is of utmost importance for the community as it is gives three important messages. “The four clocks on the minaret signify that only a person who values time gets success in life. Secondly, the message is to believe in Allah and thirdly, the white color of the minaret stands for peace and interfaith harmony. Love for all and hatred for none is the nutshell,” he said.
The minaret was established in March 1903 by the sect founder — originally a brick structure — but now shines bright in white marble. The langar hall in the sect headquarters at Qadian is open for all on all days throughout the year and has never stopped since more than a century, he told.
This year however, only nine members of the community arrived from Pakistan, as per official records, and those who arrived from Arab countries were also much lesser compared to previous years. “The Israel-Palestine conflict is one of the reasons why less people came from Arab countries as they were little scared of travelling abroad. The government of India had given permissions for those who wanted to come from Pakistan but majority of them also did not come, probably due to internal issues in their own country,” said Kausar.
As per the figures compiled by the sect, this year, 14930 devotees attended the conclave from India and from abroad. While nine came from Pakistan, 121 came from Bangladesh, 87 from Indonesia, 86 from Germany, 40 from Mauritius, 71 from Nepal, 37 from UK, 20 from Saudi Arabia, 29 from the US, 17 from Australia among others. Two guests have also come from war-torn Israel. However, even as Isreal-Palestine conflict and Pakistan’s internal issues have affected the attendance, still it was recorded more than last year’s 14,531, said the organisers.
Ata-ul-Munim who came with wife and two kids from Srinagar said, “I have been coming for the Jalsa regularly. Over the past few years, there has been lot of expansion in terms of establishing guest houses.” Amtul Hafiz, a home-maker from Kashmir who came with her husband and two children, said, “We miss the presence of our brethren and sisters from Pakistan.”
In the main Qadian market, Malik Ram di Hatti owner Subhash Chander says, “We miss Pakistani visitors. They used to shop till late night. Now, shops close around 8 pm.” Subhash, who deals in clothing business, was born in 1948, but says that his family has roots in Pakistan.
Bin-Sadik, a first-time visitor to the congregation from Ghana, is thrilled. Apart from praising co-existence, hospitality and security arrangements in Qadian, Sadik accompanied by around two dozen others from Ghana said, “I will come again. This time I came to find out if motorbikes of a particular brand operating here could be exported to Ghana. The topography is almost same and the bikes would be very useful in Ghana,” he said, referring to narrow lanes of Qadian, drawing a similarity with Ghana localities and pointing out “Currently the bikes we are getting are from China and are costly.”