Reem Shraiky, UK
I say with certainty that every Muslim on earth has wished that he had lived at the time of the Messenger of Allah (sa) and of his noble companions and Caliphs, and that he had lived under their patronage enjoying justice, peace, equality and freedom.
This was my case also, especially when I was standing praying at the graves of great companions of the Holy Prophet (sa) such as Hazrat Khaled bin Al-Walid and Hazrat Abdullah bin Omar (May Allah be pleased with them) in my city in Syria, or those of the beloved companion Hazrat Bilal (ra) and other companions in Damascus. Similarly, when I stood at the graves of various Companions and the Mothers of the Believers buried in Al-Baqi’ (gravesite in Madinah), or at the graves of the Holy Prophet (sa) and his Caliphs, I wished that I could turn back time to live in that era to enjoy the blessings of the rightly guided caliphate. I was not aware that the true Caliphate had already been re-established, spreading justice, peace and security to the corners of the earth.
Allah, the All-Hearing, heard my wish and guided me to the second manifestation of the rightly guided Caliphate, that of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community – the successorship to the Promised Messiah and Mahdi Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) – so I swore allegiance and held fast to it.
Moreover, after a few months, Allah the Most Merciful arranged for me, out of His Favor and Mercy, to move and live close to the the Khalifa (Caliph), the Fifth Successor, His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba) whose esteemed personage I have had the honour of serving directly.
Through my service to the Khalifa, I have had the opportunity to see things that have increased my faith and prove that this Khalifa is undoubtedly from God Almighty.
Despite the fact that a Prophet or Caliph is a human being who eats, drinks, sleeps and wakes up, Allah teaches him directly. He abundantly blesses their actions and statements in order to draw attention from far and wide to how ‘this man is from Me,’ ‘he is the man of God on earth’.
Occasionally, I have had the honour of attending the mulaqats (private audience with the Khalifa) of some Arab ladies who do not speak English in order to translate for them.
I will never forget one Arab lady who was a new Ahmadi. She visited London some years ago, but strangely the government of her country was definitively about to send her to another western country. However, she was praying day and night, “O Allah, if this caliphate is truly from You, let the government send me to London.”
The impossible became a reality; all routes to the other country were closed while the gate to London opened widely!
It is true that this lady had pledged allegiance, but until that moment she was still skeptical about this Caliphate, and how it could have been from God Almighty?!
Let me tell you about this matter and the things that she ‘confessed’ to me after her first mulaqat with His Holiness (aba):
I advised her before the mulaqat to write everything she wanted to say to His Holiness on piece of a paper as she would forget them all upon seeing him. She did, so as not to to reject my request, but thought in her heart, ‘Why would I forget everything in front of Huzoor (His Holiness) (aba), he is just a human being even if he is truly from Allah?’
In fact, this lady is an incredibly famous person in her country, so she has a very strong personality. I, to be honest, feared at that moment that she might speak to Huzoor (aba) in the way she does in her TV interviews!
In the mulaqat, I introduced her to His Holiness (aba), who welcomed her and asked her what she wanted to say, but she was completely stunned by his aura and light that she could not utter a word!
Huzoor (aba) began talking to her children so that, as I guessed, she would be able to gather her strength again! But this otherwise outgoing lady remained in a state of shock and confusion! I told her in Arabic: ‘Open the paper and read from it.’ She replied while her hands were shaking, ‘My hands are paralysed; I can’t even open the paper.’
Fortunately, she had already told me what she wanted to say to Huzoor (aba), thus I began to remind her of these points; she sought all the advice she wanted from Huzoor (aba) and went out of His Holiness’ (aba) office with great joy and satisfaction.
But the story did not end there, in fact, she had spent the previous night praying tahajjud (pre-dawn optional prayer) and supplicating to Allah the Almighty: ‘O Lord, if this caliphate is really from You, open my heart towards it tomorrow.’ She kept repeating this supplication hundreds of times.
Of course, I do not need to tell you how much Allah did open up her heart towards the truth of this Caliphate during the mulaqat, but it is interesting to note what happened next. As we were the last mulaqat, she rushed immediately to the mosque to attend the Maghrib prayer (the early evening prayer). After reciting Surah Al-Fatiha, His Holiness (aba) recited Surah Al-Inshirah which starts with “أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ”[Have We not opened for thee thy bosom? (94:1)]
At this point my friend burst into tears; there was no atom of doubt left in her that what had just happened that day was in response to her prayers.
There is also sister Sarah Abdul Sattar, who came from Iraq to study in Wales for a few months, during which she met His Holiness (aba) several times. In her farewell mulaqat, Huzoor (aba) told me ‘why have you not found for her a righteous husband yet?’ I said to Huzoor (aba), ‘we suggested to her many proposals but she kept refusing.’ Here she added: ‘Huzoor kindly pray for me to find a righteous person from Britain as I wish to live very close to the Caliph.’ His Holiness was silent for a few moments, then said: ‘Germany is close by as well; you will be able to come easily to visit us’
We went out of His Holiness’ (aba) office surprised! Why did he mention Germany? She wanted to marry in Britain, so no other country was in her mind!
She returned to Iraq and then lived in Turkey. A couple of years had passed during which we continued to suggest to her some matches from the UK, yet the refusals continued either from her or from the other party until a proposal came to her from Germany.
Now she is married and lives happily in Germany exactly as Huzoor (aba) indicated a few years ago!
In addition, some sisters send me their urgent letters to His Holiness (aba) to give to the Private Secretary’s office. Once, sister Iman Audeh from Kababir – who was pregnant with her first child – sent me an urgent letter to Huzoor (aba) stating that her blood test and nuchal translucency scan showed that the fetus had Down’s syndrome. Thus, she had to undergo another test next day and she sought the advice of Huzoor (aba) on this matter.
Huzoor (aba) wrote on her letter: ‘Do nothing, your unborn baby is healthy, suffering neither from Down’s syndrome nor anything else!’
Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest)! Days and months passed, and Mrs. Iman gave birth to the most gorgeous and healthy baby boy, MashaAllah!
Who told Huzoor (aba) about this? How could he have written this clear statement had it not been Allah who informed him and taught him what no one else in the world knew?!
These stories in fact, are just the tip of an iceberg of so many blessings I witnessed firsthand that I can write volumes about, so it is better to conclude by praying. May Allah especially guide the Muslim Ummah (nation), and the whole world in general, to the blessed institution of the Caliphate of Ahmadiyyat, and to benefit from its blessings. Ameen!
Thank you for sharing such inspiring true stories, i would narrate them to my little ones tonight as their Khilafat Day special stories!