Fazl-e-Umar — Page 257
Fazle Umar 257 sunrise on this extraordinary city brings with it a new dawn of advancement. Like the glorious Kaaba, Rabwah stands as a blessed monument, a beacon of Islam radiating its beauty throughout the world. Rabwah is located midway on the road between Faisalabad and Sargodha on the base of the river Chenab. The population of Rabwah is home to about forty thousand people and around two hundred and fifty thousand men and women from far and near were accommodated at Rabwah on the occasion of the Annual Conference of the Movement in the last week of December 1983. It would not be inappropriate to call Rabwah the city of mosques for it has more than sixty mosques the largest and most stunning of which is Rabwah’s central mosque, Masjid Aqsa. In addition to these central mosques every neighbourhood has its own mosque where people gather five times a day to remember their Lord. Rabwah is the inter- national headquarters of the Movement and for this reason all the central offices are located here. The offices of Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya, the offices of Tehrike Jadeed and Waqfe Jadeed are to be found here as well as the offices of Auxiliary organisations of Pakistan such as the offices of Majlis Ansarullah Pakistan, Lajna Imaillah Pakistan and Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya Pakistan. Experts once said that Rabwah could not sustain any vegetation that plant life and trees would never be seen here. Now the work of those at the Gulshane Ahmad nursery has confounded that cynicism. The nursery is now home to trees and plants from around the world. It is administered by a Committee in Rabwah which is con- tinuously endeavouring to keep the neighbourhood of Rabwah green. This important organisation of the Movement is proof that vibrant nations can turn deserts into gardens through hard work and the blessings of Allah. The city is a glorious example of the kind of hard work and determination which causes revolutions. It was that determination which turned a desert into a lush garden