Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih inaugurated Bait ul Amaan, a new mosque in the city of Manchester, UK and gave a discourse on the

ideal spirit of building and populati ng mosques. He began by citing the following Quranic verses: And remember the time when Abraham and Ishmael raised the foundations of the Hous e, praying, Our Lord, accept this from us; for Thou art All-Hearing, All-Knowing. Our Lord, make us submissive to Thee and make of our offspring a people submissiv e to Thee. And show us our ways of worship, and turn to us with mercy; for Thou art Oft-Returning with compassion and Merciful. And, our Lord, raise up among them a Messenger from among themselves, who may rec ite to them Thy Signs and teach them the Book and Wisdom and may purify them; su rely, Thou art the Mighty, the Wise. (Surah Al Baqarah, verses 128 130) These verses mention a great model which illustrates high standards of humility, meekness, sacrifice, prayer for ones progeny to remain connected to God and pray er to become servant of God. The first verse depicts the great sacrifice of Hadh rat Ibrahim and Hadhrat Ishmael (peace be on them). Each stone with which that t hey constructed the House of God bore witness that the father and the son and th eir generation to follow was going to settle around it. They both had conviction of belief that one day the House would become the centre of faith but they had no idea when that would be. At the time, all they were aware of was to make thei r sacrifice. In spite of their great sacrifice they expressed the greatest of hu mility when they prayed to God and acknowledged that it was all due to His grace . There was no sense of importance in their expressions, they did not expect any reward, prompt or otherwise. Rather, they prayed to the All-Hearing, All-Knowin g God to accept their prayers that they had made sacrifice and pledged to do so in the future. They submitted to God that He was aware that what they said and w hat they did was to seek the pleasure of God. They prayed for the place to becom e House of God and for it to be populated by virtue of being House of God. They realised for it to be truly populated was dependant on Gods grace, so they prayed for the insight and vision which takes one to God. This is the spirit in which mosques of Muslims are built, indeed it is the spiri t in which they should be built, otherwise a beautiful building in itself is not hing. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessing of Allah be on him) said there should be no decoration or embellishment in mosques but monarchs and the wealthy have made ornate mosques, some of these mosques even have gold-plated embellishments. But the beauty of mosques is in how they are populated, that is populated purel y to seek the pleasure of God. Hadhrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) once related that on a visit to a Middle Eastern country he went to see a beautiful mosque where he observed that a handful of worshippers were offering Salat in a corner. The Imam of the mosque explained that because people did not come for Salat, he was embarrassed to lead from the Mihrab, so they offered Salat in a corner of the mosque so that no one would know that it was the main congregation. Then, there are mosques wh ich are populated but it is done with empty hearts and worldly matters are at th e forefront during the time spent there. We should be mindful that when we build mosques it should be to seek the pleasur e of God. Rather than feel pride we should be grateful to God for any sacrifice that we are enabled to make for this. Any sacrifice we make is not even a fracti on of the sacrifice made by Hadhrat Ishmael (on whom be peace). Our sacrifice is limited to financial sacrifice and that too is mostly within our means. Certain ly, in the materialistic world of today it is a big way of giving and building o f mosques is a commendable act and people who do this have their reward from God . With the grace of God our Jamaat is greatly drawn to building mosques in the We stern countries. This has changed the preferences of some people to the extent t

hat they put themselves in difficulties but contribute towards building of mosqu es. Yet, we should always remember not to display any sense of pride for this. The cost of building of Baitul Amaan was 1.2 million and 75% of the promises/pled ges have been paid. Members of the Jamaat have made tremendous sacrifices for thi s. Individual contributions of up to 84,000 and 78,000 have been made as well as c ontributions of 15,000 to 30,000. The pledges of around eleven people total more t han 300,000. These are huge sacrifices in this day and age, but they should incli ne us towards humility because the model God has put before us is that our sacri fice is naught and is truly beneficial when a mosque is populated. The place whe re once the House of God was built was desolate and deprived of inhabitants and from a spiritual perspective the West is also a barren land and we have to make it spiritually verdant. It is with this viewpoint that we build mosques in Europ e. Mosques should not be populated only on Fridays, rather we should pray Our Lor d, accept this from us; for Thou art All-Hearing, All-Knowing and supplicate for spiritual advancement. We should pray to be enabled to keep mosques populated an d pray that may people who advance in spirituality inhabit the area. May God acc ept our sacrifice and take us to the spiritual station of His nearness and make us the recipients of His Paradise. Hadith relates that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) sa id that on the Day of Judgement God will state that those gathered will know who the esteemed and the honoured will be. These will be people who held assemblies for remembrance of God in mosques. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of All ah be on him) also said that a person who goes to the mosque each morning and ni ght, God will prepare hospitality for him in Paradise. May those who will populate our mosque too be those whom God likes and those who seek His pleasure. Fortunate are those who build mosques with this intention an d indeed come to mosques with this intention. Not only do they attain paradise i n this world, they are also given Paradise in the Hereafter for they seek them b oth. Often on the inside of the domes of our mosques the Quranic verse and whose hearts find comfort in the remembrance of Allah (13:29) is inscribed. It is also i nscribed in the new mosque, Baitul Amaan. What greater paradise is there for tho se whose hearts are comforted? Those who remember God, endure difficulties for t he sake of God. They make these difficulties a source of seeking pleasure of God and in turn a source of inner peace. Meanwhile, due to failure to withstand gri ef, hundreds of people daily commit suicide in the world. Some suffer from fatal heart attack when faced with grief or shock. Recently due to extreme weather co nditions in Pakistan a farmers crop was completely destroyed. When he went to the see the damage, the shock of it proved fatal and he died of a heart attack. Peo ple of God do not let worldly grief influence them. Each episode of grief inspir es them towards love of God and they come in the lap of God where their hearts a re comforted. The Quran states: But for him who is awed by the lofty station of hi s Lord, there are two gardens. (55:47) The garden/paradise of this world is grant ed for being an Abd e Rahman (servant of the Gracious God) which goes on to also make one a recipient of the Paradise of the Hereafter. The second verse recited at the start of the sermon is a prayer by Hadhrat Ibrah im and Hadhrat Ishmael (peace be on them) that may we become good people of God. The humility expressed here is noteworthy in that in spite of the sacrifice the y made and in spite being sent by God they still prayed to be good. Although Had hrat Ibrahim (on whom be peace) left his wife and child in a desolate land, he s till prayed to God to be a submissive servant of His and the son too, in spite o f agreeing to the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of God, prayed to God to be co mpletely obedient to Him. This is the station that a believer should try to attain. One should never be pr oud or reliant on any good one does. One should always submit to God that withou t His grace ones deeds are naught and it is only with His blessing that one becom

es a servant of the Gracious God. Our supplication should be to stay firm on goo d and be sincere, not just for ourselves but also for our next generation, as st ated: and make of our offspring a people submissive to Thee. After building a hous e of God our concern to populate it should not be limited to our own lifetime, r ather, we should pray that the spiritual beneficence is passed on and such peopl e continue to born among our future generation. Only the elderly and those with time on hand should not be associated with the mosque. Those who are busy should also take time out of their engagements and the enthusiasm for worship of God s hould be passed on to our youngsters and children. While practical endeavour is required in this regard, prayer is a tremendous source to attain it. God is awar e of what is in our hearts and we should pray with the view that the seed of pie ty is passed on from generation to generation. If we are indolent about these ma tters, our next generation is also indolent. The prayer of Hadhrat Ibrahim and Hadhrat Ishmael And show us our ways of worship , and turn to us with mercy; draws attention to our own reformation as well as th at of our children, it signifies worship of God as well as all other commandment s that should be carried out. And once these obligations are fulfilled one shoul d not presume to have done something great, for the verse/prayer goes on to say: and turn to us with mercy, that is, accept our repentance and forgive us our mino r errors. The objective of building mosques is fulfilled when regular prayer is made in this vein. It also inspires to make effort to keep our children on this path. Such prayer will bring about that supreme beneficence which came to pass in acce ptance of the prayer of Hadhrat Ibrahim and Hadhrat Ishmael (on whom be peace). It brought about a great revolutionary change through which the [spiritually] de ad came to life and it established unprecedentedly high standards of worship of God. It brought about the advent of that great Prophet (peace and blessings of A llah be on him) who was superlative in every sense of the word. God then made th e Seal of all the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) declare: Say, M y Prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are all for Allah, the Lord o f the worlds. (6:163). Here, in Gods eyes lofty standards of worship, sacrifice an d every other deed were established which had never been seen or heard before. T his high station was granted to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing of Allah be on him) by God Who made him declare that Gods love could only be attained by fol lowing this noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). Many attaine d first hand, direct beneficence from his power of holiness and multitudes of si ncere worshippers of God were created who worshipped God through the night and d uring the day presented themselves to serve religion to the great Prophet who ha d come for till the end of time and for all people and all times. His beneficence and his model are luminous today as ever and his great teaching is still resplendent. In this age, his true and ardent devotee came and through him, once again Gods signs were recited and wisdom was imparted. Followers of his true and ardent devotee too tried to adapt themselves in these ways and the opp onents were forced to acknowledge that they presented a model of the Islamic way s. Today, this remains our greatest objective and this is the way to silence the wo rld. We have to convince the world with our practices. We have to worship God an d supplicate Him with utter tenderness and pathos so that we may absorb Gods grac e. We need to connect our children with the mosque, and then alone will we fulfi l the object of the building of the mosque and will be able to say that we have fulfilled the rightful due of the Baiat of the Imam of the age. In true obedience of the beloved of God, the Prophet, (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) wi ll we also attain Gods love and be the recipient of fulfilment in this world and the Hereafter. With the building of this mosque, those who are spiritually weak should modify/i

mprove their ways; ways that lead to love of God. Those who are drawn to worship of God should endeavour to attain higher levels. The new mosque should bring ab out a revolutionary transformation in the local Jamaat. It is reported that the mens Prayer hall of the new mosque accommodates 760 worsh ippers and the ladies Prayer hall accommodates 560 worshipers, although the capa city can be increased and if required 2000 worshippers can offer Salat in the mo sque. The phrase that 2000 worshippers can offer Salat here should be transformed into do offer Salat here as soon as possible. May God enable to do so. In the UK as well as in Europe, the Jamaat is drawn to building of mosques, but t he beauty of mosques is only with worshippers. Since 2003 when Baitul Futuh was inaugurated, the UK Jamaat is enabled to construct 14 purpose-built mosques, six of which have been built this year. There were 13 mosques in [mainland] Europe a nd in the last seven to eight years there has been an increase of 44 and the num ber now is 57 with one nearing completion. Most of these mosques are in Germany. Again, the beauty of mosques is not in simply building them but is with worship pers. Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih said that his message to Ahmadis of Europe was th at our pride is not in simply building these mosques. Our objective will be fulf illed when each of these mosques is so populated that it becomes constricted for the worshippers. May God enable us so. Next a few incidents of some companions of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peac e) were related. These incidents illustrated their complete devotion to and abso rption in Prayer. Hadhrat Jan Muhammad sahib (may Allah be pleased with him): He recounted how in spite of the apparent distraction of some musicians nearby he and others were to tally absorbed in their Salat. Hadhrat Hakim Ali sahib (may Allah be pleased with him): He recounted that he ha d a small mosque built next to his house and spent long hours there in worship o f God. His intensive worship was rewarded with prompt reply to prayers he made. Hadhrat Mir Mehdi Hussein sahib(may Allah be pleased with him): He recounted how once he missed his meal to offer Salat on time although the person serving food had told him if he did not eat then, he would not get any food later. Hakeem Fazlur Rahman recounted on behalf of his father, Hadhrat Hafiz Nabi Bakhs h sahib (may Allah be pleased with him) about his devoutness in fasting. He also wrote how his father was diligent in the Tarbiyyat of his children and would al ways make time to teach them about religious matters. This was a model to follow for parents today. In these [Western] countries peopl e are distancing from religion and some of our children are also influenced by t his trend. Therefore there is a greater need to not only maintain our levels but to enhance them. If grown-ups, people in their forties, stayed up watching TV o r on the internet till late in the night as it is also sometimes mentioned by wi ves who complain, how can they manage Tarbiyyat of children? This is a challenge of Ahmadis living in these countries in particular and all over the world in ge neral. Satan is exceeding all limits these days and we have to contend with this and this cannot be done without Gods help and Gods help can be sought through wor ship. Hadhrat Shaikh Nur ud din sahib (may Allah be pleased with him): He recounted a dream in which he saw that his body goes through burial rites and is eventually buried and the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) reminds him of his obligation s. He recounted that this dream had a great impact on him and he reformed his wo rship of God.

Following is an example for women. At times some women present excuses not to of fer Salat on time, while there are other women who excel men in offering Salat. Hadhrat Mai Kako sahiba (may Allah be pleased with her): She recounted that once she went to see the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) with a few other ladies and asked that some women said that at times due to work etc. they offered their Maghrib Salat with Isha. What were they to do? The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) replied that he did not think delay could be caused if all effort was ma de. However, he said if due to some reason this was the case, Isha should be off ered with Maghrib, because angels descend at Maghrib as they descend in the morn ing. Therefore it was better to combine them at the time of Maghrib. Next, a few extracts from the writings of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace ) were read. These illustrated that we can fulfil our great wishes by turning to God and supplicating. One who turns to God with true fervour and sincerity is n ever wasted. If a man undertakes something but sees no result, he should examine his practices and see what it is that is wrong. In terms of worship of God, the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said we should offer our worship as if we c an see God and He is watching us. We should repent profusely and purify ourselve s. May we be enabled to understand this message and may God enable us to worship Hi m in the true sense and make us those who seek His pleasure.