Khilafat Centenary Souvenir 1908-2008 — Page 161
My Personal Experiences with the Khulafa ---------------------------Salma Ghani I first met Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih rn ra at the Jalsa Salana in New Jersey on his first visit to America. I watched him as he walked into the womens' area to say Assalmo Alaikum to us. I was close enough to see his full face and was surprised by a spiritual light that radiated from his smile. Looking upon his face, I was thunder struck with humility and the love of Allah. The tears began to fall and I could not control them. Finally, I went back to my room but the tears continued to fall. Never in my life had I ever cried so much. There was no sound with my crying, just a steady flow of water that I could not stop. Sisters who were with me became concerned and wanted to know why I was crying. I had no answer for them. National Lajna Sadr, was very calm and told the other sisters not to worry because my tears were "cleansing" tears that would bring me closer to Allah and make me more humble. She also stated that other people also cry when seeing a Khalifa for the first time. It was the beautiful light that I saw on his face that bought tears to my ey es. On his second visit to America, I was blessed with an audience with him along with several other single sisters. He greeted us with warm loving smiles and made a few comments about the importance of modesty. He looked at me and said: "I am pleased to see that y ou are wearing a burqa and veil. " Then he told me to inform all of the Ahmadi ladies in America to wear a burqa. I was shocked that he would give me this assignment because I was not the national lajna sadr nor did I hold a national office in lajna. I looked at him and pointed a finger at my chest and said," Me, are y ou asking me to do this?" He replied "yes, yes. You will do it, tell them I said so. " As I was leaving the missionary Imam lbraheem, who witnessed this conversation reminded me that I must follow that Khalifa's directive. I said. " I am not the lajna sadr, it is not my place to give his message to others. " He said: it is your place to do so because the Khalifa has instructed you to do it I wrote to the national Lajna sadr and informed her of what the Khalifa has said and humbly requested her to send me the name and address of all local lajna presidents, which she did immediately. I wrote to all the presidents and informed them of my audience with Huzura and his directive. Then I wrote to Khalifatul Masih rn ra and told him I had completed the task. Th e following year I was elected as national sadr of lajna and served in this capacity for a total of 15 years. While attending one of the J alsa Salanas (annual convention) in Rabwah, women attendees from outside of Pakistan had an audience with Huzur"'. After greeting all of us, he asked: " Who is Salma Ghani?" I raised my hand to identify myself. Then he said: " Hadhrat Ch o tti Appa (family namejtitle of Maryam Siddiqa, wife of Hadhrat Musleh Mau' ood ra and the international sadr of Lajna lmaillah of that time) has told me of the excellent work y ou are doing in America. The lajna there has made outstanding progress under your leadership. This is good, very good. I was surprised because I did not fe el as if I had done enough to earn such a compliment from Huzur •, yet I was grateful to Allah for his kind words. In any office of the Jama' at there are challenges. When I was the national sadr, I received a strong unkind letter from an Ahmadi sister who was displeased with a decision I had made related to the outer garment and she had forwarded a copy of her letter to Huzura. I felt hurt, misunderstood and disrespected by her harsh words and sent her a reply that was also harsh and mailed a copy to Huzura. Huzur"' wrote me a very kind response saying my words to her were too harsh that I should always set the proper example for others to follow wh en disagreeing with an issue. I immediately understood that my actions were incorrect and Huzura was guiding me in how to handle such problems in the future, Several months later, I received another harsh letter from a young Ahmadi girl who also sent H uzur"' a copy of her letter. My reply to her was filled with compassion, love and understanding. I reminded h er that I had known her since she was a small child and her be havior at a lajna meeting was not acceptable according to the teachings of Islam and included a copy to Huzur"'. Huzur's ra response to me was filled with compliments, (Continued on page 164)