Living as a Muslim woman in modern-day society

Address by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih at Lajna Imaillah UK Ijtema 2019:

Lajna Imaillah’ is the women’s auxiliary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community consisting of all female members above the age of 15. This organisation empowers Ahmadi Muslim women with their own space to organise events, functions and meetings with the aim to build their confidence, develop new talents and forge stronger relationships. Most of all, it creates an environment to strengthen spirituality, education and service for religion. Each year Lajna Imaillah holds national events throughout the world. In the UK, the 41st National Ijtema (or gathering) was held on 15th September 2019 at Country Market in Kingsley in Hampshire. The event was attended by 5800 and at the concluding session, the Worldwide Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad(aba), 5th successor to the Promised Messiah(as), delivered a faith-inspiring address.

After reciting Tashahud, Ta‘awuz and Surah al-Fatihah, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V(aba) said:

‘Today, with the grace of Allah, you are reaching the conclusion of this year’s Ijtema.

Alhamdulillah, alongside the continued progress of the Jama’at [Ahmadiyya Muslim Community], Lajna Imaillah UK has taken many steps forward during the past few years. Both in terms of members and in terms of the scope of its activities, Lajna has progressed and Masha’Allah, many beneficial schemes and events have been established in recent years.

However, as we move towards success and prosperity, it is essential that we intensify our efforts to protect and preserve our true Islamic values and our core identity as Muslims. The only way to achieve this is for us to strive, more than ever before, to act upon the teachings of Islam.

More than ever before, we must endeavour to fulfil the desires and expectations of the Promised Messiah(as). He was the one sent by Allah the Almighty to restore the glorious and noble teachings of Islam. He was the one sent to rectify the weaknesses that had gradually corrupted the practical manifestation of the Islamic faith amongst Muslims over the preceding centuries.

In addition to restoring the lost Islamic values within Muslims, he was also sent to convey the message of Islam to the corners of the earth and to enlighten the people of all faiths and beliefs to the incomparable and universal teachings of the Holy Quran. It is for this reason that the Promised Messiah(as) stated that his era was the era of the propagation of the true teachings of Islam.

We proudly claim to be his followers and so it is our solemn duty to inform others that the adoption of Islam’s pure teachings is the means of salvation and true prosperity for the world at large. It is our obligation and our lifelong mission to illustrate through our own lives that Islam’s teachings are the means of attaining true peace of mind and contentment within our hearts.

Some people will argue that Islam has already spread globally and query what was or has been the benefit to the world. After all, there are said to be around 1.8 billion Muslims in the world and amongst them are thousands of Islamic scholars who claim to be spreading its teachings. Yet, this has not led to true peace and prosperity within the Muslim Ummah [Muslim community at large], or in the wider world.

The simple and clear reason for this is that, save for those blessed people who have accepted the Promised Messiah(as), Muslims across the world are riven within division, dissent and interpret the teachings of Islam in ways that are devoid of sense and often impossible to practice.

The reality is that Allah the Almighty sent the Promised Messiah(as) to propagate and re-establish the perfect Sharia that had been revealed to the Holy Prophet(sa). We are the fortunate ones who have heard and accepted the call of the Imam of the Age(as) and we have been charged with practicing and preaching all that he taught.

In order to fulfil this great objective, Allah the Almighty has not left us bereft or ill-equipped; rather, He has created the means for the spread of Islam in this era. In today’s world, television, radio, the internet, the print media and social media are just a few ways through which communications have advanced to the point where global communication has become instantaneous.

These are all technologies that we as a Jama’at are utilising to spread the teachings of Islam. However, it is not enough to merely convey the message of Islam to others; rather, our objective can never be fulfilled until each and every one of us become living and practical examples of the benevolent and noble teachings of Islam. This is why the Promised Messiah(as) repeatedly spoke of the need for the members of his Jama’at to live their lives in accordance with Islamic values and to live and breathe its teachings.

I should also add that we cannot claim to be unique in utilising these modern technologies; rather, worldly people have spared no effort in using the latest means of communication to broadcast programmes and content. Most regrettably and worryingly, much of the content being broadcast or streamed in the world today serves only to weaken the moral and spiritual fabric of society and to take people away from what is good and decent. They justify such immoral content in the name of freedom, amusement and pleasure.

Thus, where these new technologies have been created as a means for us to serve and spread the holy teachings of Islam, they are also being used by others to immerse the world in depravity and shameful immorality. They are being exploited to lure mankind towards worthless, time-wasting pursuits that are often obscene. It has reached the stage where people in deprived and remote parts of the world can easily view videos produced in the developed world via social media that promote an unchaste and hedonistic lifestyle.

When those people, who are mired in poverty, or held back by the circumstances of their nation, see how people in rich countries are living, it incites frustrations within them. They crave the same levels of opulence and to partake in these artificial and shallow pursuits. As I said, on the one hand, we believe that modern technology has evolved according to the will of Allah to help us in the spread of Islam, yet on the other hand, it is also being used to promulgate vile content utterly devoid of morality and spirituality.

For example, pornography or indecent films are widely available on the internet or broadcast on television. The private relations between men and women have been exposed before the entire world and normalised. This is the reality of the modern world and so, to reverse this moral decline and to promote righteousness and virtue is the great challenge of our time.

You, as members of Lajna Imaillah, must rise to this challenge.