The Friday Sermon today officially starts the beautiful period of Jalsa Salana UK for this year.
While many have travelled a long way to be in the presence of their Imam, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa, many more Ahmadis will be tuning into the MTA broadcast, as well as keeping an active eye on social media for updates.
Insha-Allah, throughout the 3-day event, Al Hakam aims to cover Huzoor’saa engagements and speeches so that Ahmadis around the world are kept up to date and feel as though they are actively part of Jalsa UK.
A major event before Jalsa Salana UK is the inspection of arrangements and inauguration of duties by Hazrat Amirul Momineen, Khalifatul Masihaa. During the inspection, Huzooraa inspects the arrangements of Jalsa Salana, ensuring that the guests of the Promised Messiahas, who flock from all over the world, will be looked aft er well and that plans are set to run the grand operation smoothly.
This year, after delivering the Friday Sermon at Baitul Futuh on 26 July, Huzooraa inspected the arrangements at Baitul Futuh – one of the major sites of Jalsa UK operations.
After the sermon, many volunteers were seen assembling at their relevant departments to welcome their beloved Imamaa and to inform him of their respective arrangements.
Huzooraa started the inspection from the ladies’ food marquee, where food is served not only for the guests staying at Baitul Futuh but those staying at a number of other locations. Girls sang taraney (choral poems) as Huzooraa blessed their marquee with his footsteps.
From here, Huzooraa proceeded to the men’s food marquee, followed by men’s accommodation at the Baitul Futuh complex where residence is arranged for participants during the Jalsa hospitality period. A separate marquee has been allocated in the car park of Baitul Futuh to accommodate male guests, where Huzooraa inspected the bedding that all guests will use in the marquee.
All these guests, men and women, will be moved to the accommodation marquees in the Jalsa Gah at Hadeeqatul Mahdi on Thursday, the day before Jalsa starts.
Huzooraa proceeded to the Jalsa Salana reception where the administration will welcome guests, prepare for their accommodation and provide food.
Zaheer Ahmad Khan Sahib, Naib Afsar Jalsa Salana UK, told Al Hakam:
“Recently, a proposal was sent to Huzooraa that locals of Baitul Futuh, Fazl Mosque and Islamabad be offered a parchi [ticket] system, where if they have guests, they may be able to obtain food from the Jamaat’s Langar so that food does not go to waste and it benefits the local Ahmadis, much like the system that was in place during the Rabwah Jalsa Salanas. Thus, Huzooraa, during the inspection, enquired of me whether this was being implemented this year.
“Sadrs of local Jamaats or their representatives, according to Huzoor’saa instruction, will be available 24 hours a day to issue such tickets. During the inspection, Huzooraa said, ‘Even if the Sadrs are not available, no one should be denied food.’”
Huzooraa then enquired about various arrangements and graciously gave instructions to the people at work. One such department was the department of overseas registration, of which Khawaja Abid Rasheed Sahib is nazim, from whom Huzooraa enquired about the procedure of registering guests.
Inauguration of Jalsa duties
On Sunday, 28 July, Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa inspected various sites of Jalsa Salana UK and later officially inaugurated the Jalsa duties.
At around 4:40pm, Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa left his residence in Islamabad and proceeded towards various departments that are offering duties during these Jalsa days in Islamabad.
Huzooraa visited the reserve marquee where special guests are offered food throughout the day.
Thereafter, Huzooraa walked past the general car park in Islamabad, where many families had gathered to say Salam, and inspected the ladies’ and men’s food marquee. This department has been offering duties for over a week now, and will continue to do so for the rest of the week, and some for even another week.
After visiting these departments, Huzooraa left with his entourage for Jamia Ahmadiyya UK in Haslemere, approximately a 20-minute drive away. Jamia UK is currently housing many of the guests that have travelled for the convention from around the world.
Huzooraa arrived at Jamia at around 5:15pm and was welcomed by many Arabic-speaking guests who sang choral poems in Arabic. Huzooraa was then welcomed by volunteers, women and men, who have travelled from far and wide to serve the guests staying at Jamia.
Hafiz Ijaz Ahmad Tahir Sahib, Nazim Reserve 1 then informed Huzooraa about the total number of volunteers and showed Huzooraa the sleeping arrangements and showering facilities for guests, which Huzooraa carefully observed. Thereafter, Huzooraa proceeded towards the dining area where organisers had on display some of the food that is served there.
After heading to the ladies’ food area, where ladies sang poems in Arabic, Huzooraa departed from Jamia and headed towards Hadeeqatul Mahdi where the main Jalsa arrangements are.
Upon arrival in Hadeeqatul Mahdi, Huzooraa first went inside his residence, after which he came out to inspect the many departments situated at the main Jalsa site.
Huzooraa first visited the barn area, where the Langar Khana, roti plant and Jalsa stores are located. At the Langar, Huzooraa was shown various dishes like aloo gosht and tested the quality of the food, offering guidance and advice to the cooks.
Rafi Shah Sahib, Nazim Langar 1, told Al Hakam, “Huzooraa had instructed the Langar Khana this year to grind their own masala [spices and herbs]. Huzooraa instructed us not to use garam masala, which consists of spices and herbs like cinnamon, cloves and black cardamom. So this year, these were not used and we put together our own spices and avoided garam masala.”
At the roti plant, Huzooraa was shown a new piece of equipment by Agha Abdul Karim Abid Sahib, Nazim Roti Plant in Hadeeqatul Mahdi; this new machinery has been designed to cut the dough into 9-kilogram pieces, assisting the many volunteers at the roti plant, who previously would have to do this all manually. This was designed and built by an Ahmadi pilot, Fathey Ahmad Sahib. Alongside this, Huzooraa inspected the roti plant and tested the quality of the rotis being cooked.
Huzooraa then made his way to the accommodation store, where he checked the quality of the mattress through a demonstration by Hassan Sahib of the accommodation department.
Before proceeding to enquire about the car park arrangements from Maqbool Ahmad Sahib, Naib Afsar Jalsa Salana, Huzooraa was greeted by a line of volunteers working in the electrics department. Whilst observing the main car park, Huzooraa enquired about how many tracks would be used and where they would be placed.
Huzooraa visited the tents area and observed how the facility had been set up. As the Lajna side of the Jalsa Gah is adjacent to this part, Huzooraa visited the Lajna registration, security and scanning marquee at the main Lajna entrance.
The next stop on Huzoor’saa route was the Khidmat-e-Khalq operation and site-security command centre, after which was the crucially important first aid facility. Huzooraa walked into the marquee and enquired about the arrangements, giving important instructions about how the facility should be ready to respond to any given situation. In the Homeopathy Dispensary, Huzooraa issued instructions to Dr Hafeez Bhatti Sahib.
Abdul Quddus Arif Sahib, Sadr Majlis Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya UK and Afsar Khidmat-e-Khalq at Jalsa Salana UK told us:
“Huzooraa enquired about the response time in case of an emergency, to which Huzooraa was told that it was half a minute. Huzooraa particularly enquired about the number of CCTV cameras on site and their locations as there is an increase in number of cameras this year.”
IT plays a very important role by turning the farmland of Hadeeqatul Mahdi into a modern facility with best of the range communication services and connectivity arrangements – two facilities that have become a basic necessity for modern life. Maqbool Ahmad Sahib, Naib Afsar responsible for this section, briefed Huzooraa about this year’s arrangements.
We all know how Huzooraa is keen about the hospitality of his guests at Jalsa Salana. This keenness is evident from every instruction that Huzooraa gives to the administration during the inspection. However, the dining area is where Huzooraa ensures that everyone will have food that is clean, healthy and sufficient. Having examined the dining facilities, Huzooraa walked towards the main Jalsa Gah. The Review of Religions team stood in a line on the side of Huzoor’saa walkway and greeted Huzooraa. On his way, Huzooraa stopped in front of the Ahmadiyya Archive and Research Centre exhibition and the Al Hakam Hub. Huzooraa enquired about the glass wall whether it always used to be transparent or whether it was a new addition this time.
From there, Huzooraa went into the Jalsa Gah and addressed the Jalsa duty holders. This dignified event started with the recitation of the first five verses of Surah al-Mulk by Mahmood Vardi Sahib, followed by the translation in English by Nisar Orchard Sahib.
Next, Huzooraa delivered an address in which he commended the preparations of Jalsa Salana. Huzooraa said that by the grace of Allah, every year, we are witnessing progress in the organisation and preparations for Jalsa Salana. In fact, Huzooraa expressed that he believed that Jalsa Salana preparations are out of the best to date. Further, Huzooraa said that the organisation we have currently at Jalsa, only raises one concern; that the workers start to imagine that no more improvements can be made, and thus, due care and hard work is not made, or prayers are not made as they should be. Huzooraa stressed that this mindset should not be adopted.
Huzooraa told the volunteers to pray that Allah blesses our efforts in arrangements for Jalsa. Huzooraa also advised the volunteers to protect their prayers and even if Salat is inevitably missed in congregation, one should ensure they offer their prayers at another time. Huzooraa said to always keep in mind that human effort, without the blessings of Allah, cannot be successful.
After the inspection, Huzooraa enquired from the management about the backdrop measurements and other details to do with the stage.
Huzooraa then made his way to the Lajna Jalsa Gah where all Jalsa volunteers on the ladies’ side had convened.
After visiting the ladies’ side, Huzooraa inspected the MTA transmission truck and broadcast unit, giving detailed guidance for the many upcoming MTA broadcasts during Jalsa. Before proceeding to the main MTA offline compound, Huzooraa noticed MTA International Lajna team standing to one side and Huzooraa met them all and enquired about their roles during Jalsa.
In the main MTA compound – where MTA 3, MTA Africa, French stream, MTA Programming, IT, Production, MTA office, stores and various other departments are situated – Huzooraa inspected the site and took a glance at all the volunteers who had gathered at MTA.
After walking past the translation marquee, where many volunteers will simultaneously translate the Jalsa proceedings in the three-day event, Huzooraa proceeded towards the rear end of the men’s Jalsa Gah where Huzooraa graced a dinner with all Jalsa volunteers and workers.
Al Hakam will, Insha-Allah, be reporting throughout the 3 days of Jalsa Salana UK on Huzoor’saa engagements and speeches. Follow our Twitter handle:
@AlHakamWeekly
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