Mosques around the World — Page 124
124. E. First International Bai'at (1993). Excerpts from the address by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IVaba ver since the creation of the heavens and the earth, no eye has beheld this spectacle at one and the same time. In many countries of all the continents, many nations are performing the bai'at at one hand repeating the words of initiation in many different languages. And that man at whose hands such a bai'at is being taken is a servant of the Servant of His Holiness, Hazrat Muhammad Mustafasa. . This is the first time that such a thing is happening in the history of the world and this shall continue now forever. All of you who are participating here in this bai'at are fortunate, as are those who are joining us by means of radio or television and are hearing and watching us and thus are being blessed with participation in this grand event. I want to let you know that when Allah, the Exalted, put this scheme in my heart, the numbers of those who were to perform the bai'at were only ten or twenty thousand or a few more than that, and only a small portion of the year was left. I became concerned because I had expected the. Jama'at to at least get 100,000 bai'ats in a year and now only a small amount of time remained; how would this target be reached. . Then Allah, the Exalted, caused to descend upon my heart a scheme. A full plan of this scheme came before me, that it should be said to the Jama'ats of the whole world that not only should they prepare to participate in the worldwide Bai'at, but that they should each be given a target also; that such and such a Jama'at has so many bai'ats as its target. These targets had to be fixed at very high numbers and I was afraid 100,000 or 150,000. . . let us beg for 200,000. So the targets were increased even more and prayers were started for 200,000 bai'ats this year. . Now the situation is such that, from all over the world today, two hundred and four thousand, three hundred and eight persons are performing bai'at at the hand of this humble one. . These more than 200,000 people are those who are entering the fold of Islam for the first time or are entering this. Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at for the first time. Apart from them there are hundreds of thousands who are already members of this Jama'at and are being blessed with the opportunity to renew their oath of allegiance. Thus, join in this Bai'at with. Taqwa. May God cause it to be that later these occasions. become scenes of great worldwide bai'ats and every year this situation continues to grow and spread so much so that the whole world comes within the peaceful abode of Islam. As of now, peoples from 84 countries and 115 nationalities are participating in this ". . . it was destined that in this century Islam would spread rapidly. And these fruits have come before our very eyes, and we have them in our own hands, and we shall taste them and derive great spiritual joys and pleasures from them. that the targets we had established were completely unrealistic. In some places where in the last ten years not even 100 bai'ats had taken place, the target had been fixed at 5,000. The worry was how would this target be reached?. But Allah strengthened my heart and supported me by saying it is He Who has started this scheme, and it is He who is responsible for its success. Be patient and wait. . During this period it happened that a writing of the Promised. Messiahas came to my attention in which he had written that until now, 400,000 individuals had performed the bai'at at his hands. And just a few days earlier, Khadeeja Nazeer Sahiba who keeps track of the worldwide bai'at records, had told me, "Since your migration from Pakistan, I have been keeping track of the number of bai'aats, and until now, 250,000 bai'ats have taken place. I wish to congratulate you on these quarter million bai'ats. " I said that if 150,000 more bai'ats occur, then. I would gain the honor of similarity with the Promised. Messiahas, that until now 400,000 bai'ats have taken place since my migration from Pakistan (1984). So the targets were increased a little more. Then it occurred to me that since we are begging from our Beloved Allah, why be content with. International Bai'at. 104 years have passed since the establishment of Ahmadiyyat. This means that, as a consequence of the efforts of only a few months, at least one nation per year has entered Ahmadiyyat. These are the graces of Allah, the Exalted, a brief account of which I have just presented. . . . The century into which we have entered has been destined from the very beginning, for it was destined that in this century Islam would spread rapidly. And these fruits have come before our very eyes, and we have them in our own hands, and we shall taste them and derive great spiritual joys and pleasures from them. . Thus you should all pray during this prayer, and continue praying after this concluding prayer that may Allah, the. Exalted, cause this situation to grow and spread and encompass the entire world of Islam. It is my desire that those members who have participated in this effort, they should, with the Grace of God and in a prayerful attitude, pledge in the coming year to gain twice the fruit they were blessed with this year. They should pledge this and those whose bai'ats have been taken today they should display in themselves such signs of spiritual growth that if not more than this, then at least they themselves should each become two in the coming year. This would be in excess of the efforts of those who participated this year. (International Al-Fazal January 14, 1994 Pages 7 & 8. ). Ahmadiyya Muslim Association USA: 1994 Souveni