Khilafat Centenary Souvenir 1908-2008 — Page 156
Khilafat Centenary Munir Hamid: An Insp i ring Leader of Ahmadiyy at -------------------------- Belal Khalid For the Centenary Celebrations of Khilafat-e- my Bai'at (oath of allegiance to Ahmadiyyat) in 1957, Ahmadiyya, Belal Khalid and Munib Zirvi interviewed at Leroy Place in Washington, D. C. I was introduced Munir Hamid Na'ib Amir US --------------~-- to him at the age of 15, but Jama'at on Friday, September I had to wait until 18 years 7t\ 2007 at the Nasir Mosque in of age to sign my Bai'at, the heart of Philadelphia. Belal because the missionary said called Munir Hamid a week that according to the legality earlier to request an interview, of the issue, my parents would which he graciously agreed to. have to sign for me ifl was We were to interview him at the younger than 18. They could Nasir Mosque Philadelphia right say to the law that they did after the Friday prayers. not want their son to belong We got there ahead of time and attended the Friday prayers. We enjoyed the warm welcome and greetings of the multi-cultural community of the Nasir Mosque. The warmth which was obvious from the eyes and smiles on the faces of the members is the hallmark of this special historical community which is always immersed in the love of the Promised Messiah as and his Khilafat. The multi-cultural atmosphere of the Nasir Mosque always reminds us of how Khilafat, the rope of Allah, has gathered people of all walks of life and cultural diversity back to the original exquisite teachings of Islam in the footsteps of the Promised Messiah a'. Meeting Munir Hamid always strengthens one's faith. He greets everyone cheerfully with a big hug. After Friday prayers, we enjoyed a light healthy lunch which was open to everyone in the adjoining building to the mosque. We got seated in the upstairs room which had a table and a few chairs. Munir Hamid told us right from the start that he does not like to talk about himself, rather about the Khilafat. We assured him that our intention was to talk about the Khilafat also. Belal: Who was the first Khali fatu l Masih whom you knew personally? The first Khalifa that I came in contact with was Hadhrat Khalifatul-Masih rr ra That's because I signed to the so-and-so religion. But the first contact that I had with Khalifatul Masih rr ra was through reading his book, The Life of Muhammad saw. I read that book, and it took me almost two days. At the end of the second day, when I had finished, I was standing on the 3r d flo or of Leroy Place, and I had this incredible vision-like dream. I was looking out of this window and it looked li ke a big television screen where everything that I had read in the book began to flash on that television screen u. s if it almost came to life. When I woke up, I told the missionary about my dream. I told him how fantastic this book was by the second Khalifa, Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad ra. He said "Here Munir, here are some other books of his. " And so I began to read them and I began to write letters to the Khalifa and had corres pondence going on with him for several years. So when I was elected as Khuddam President in the USA, I would receive letters from him regularly, and I still have those letters as part of my collection of treasures related to the Ahmadiyya Movement. I never met him face-to-face, but I would meet people who had met him who would come to Washington, D. C. , and I would ask them to describe him to me and I saw many different photographs of him. I saw the photographs of him when he was young, and I saw the photographs when he was of middle-age, and photographs of him when he was older, and I was