Waqar Sheikh
I was born and raised in Pakistan after 1984 when Khilafat left the country due to an evil dictator. When I was about 12 or 13 and had begun to understand Ahmadiyyat and the true status of Khilafat, my sole desire and prayer to God was for Him to grant me the opportunity to someday meet Huzoor (aba).
When I was growing up, both the kids and the adults around me desired to go travel the world, see Disneyland or Switzerland but my prayer to God (like that of many young Ahmadis in Pakistan) was that when I leave my country Pakistan for the first time, it should be first and foremost to see Khilafat.
It just so happened that I got the chance to travel outside my country to visit Qadian in India on the occasion of Jalsa Salana 2010. Now I was standing in front of the grave of a Prophet of God which was a spiritual experience in itself. I had not expected to visit the grave of Hazrat Masih Maud (as). God had fulfilled my prayer in a way that even I did not imagine by allowing me to meet the founder of the community and to pray at this grave. Therefore, I became even firmer in my resolution to pray that I might someday be blessed to be in the presence of Khilafat.
Then I moved to Canada in 2013 and God eventually gave me the opportunity to fulfil my prayer when a group of Khuddam from Canada were going for Waqfe Arzi in 2015 for the first time to Jalsa Salana UK.
I intentionally booked my ticket a week before the Jalsa to have mulaqat with Huzoor (aba) and to stay in the presence of Khilafat as much as possible. I still remember that I took the flight on Thursday night and arrived by Friday morning at around 9am and then went straight to Baitul Futuh. I got all the registration stuff done and went straight for Friday prayers at around 11am. I got a spot in the 2nd row as close as possible to the centre of the mehrab. Then the wait time started from then till 1pm.
Now there were so many emotions of excitement, joy and uncertainty going through my mind since I was about to witness the Man of God on earth with my own eyes and yet at the same time I was thinking how I would react when I saw him.
My mother had said to me that when she saw Huzoor (aba) for the first time a few years ago she saw a lot of Nur (spiritual radiance) emanating from him and I, thinking of myself as a very logical person, thought that it was due to her love of Huzoor (aba) that she thought there was Nur coming from him and at the same time I was questioning myself as to whether I too might see anything special. I was constantly praying and thinking about all these aspects when the moment finally arrived and Huzoor’s (aba) Kaafla members and Security team started entering the Mosque.
I say it on oath that, by God, as soon as Huzoor (aba) entered the Baitul Futuh Mosque from the right side and I looked towards that side I saw a bright white light shining from him that was as powerful as the sun and as white as a tube light and my eyes automatically went down and I started to cry uncontrollably. Then I would try to look up again towards him and again that white light was too strong for me to even see his face and my eyes would bow down before this Man of God. This continued to happen for the first 15 minutes of Huzoor’s (aba) sermon and I continuously cried during the whole of this time, not knowing what had just happened to me.
Then I slowly started to convince myself that I had come all the way from Canada and had dreamed of this moment throughout my life and here I was sitting in front of Huzoor (aba) and cannot even look towards his blessed face. I finally started to have the courage to look towards him slowly and that light started to give me a glimpse of his face and then, Alhamdulillah, I was finally able to see the blessed beautiful face and grand stature of our beloved Imam.
This incident has nothing to do with me or my soul as I am a very weak person. However, God wanted me to be a witness like millions of Ahmadis to the Nur of his chosen one who is a true representative of God on this earth.
The next day I was able to have a mulaqat with Huzoor (aba) and I still remember to this day that this Man of God called out this humble servant by his full name and was standing to greet me with open arms. It is quite astonishing that this spiritual leader of millions of Ahmadis, for whose comfort we would want to lay down our lives, stands up to greet us at the start of every mulaqat and then stands up again for a photo with him and he meets countless families on a daily basis and God knows what pain he goes through each time on his arm and legs.
May God enable all of us to remain true and humble servants of Khilafat and may He continue to bestow His great blessings on all of us till the end of times. Ameen.
Excellent amazing great
MashAllah!