By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
For West Michigan resident Ayesha Mangla it was heartbreaking to know that she would not be among the thousands to welcome His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the Khalifa of Islam and head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, to the United States.
Mangla was in the process of selling her home when Ahmad came to the states in mid-October to start his three-week trip through North and South America. The tour focused on him visiting and inaugurating a hospital in Guatemala built through the community’s charity arm, Humanity First.
But Mangla had a second chance to see the spiritual leader, who was scheduled to return to the United States with his last stop being in Virginia in the beginning of November.
So, once she had competed the sale of her home, Mangla and her daughter, Ismat (who lives in New York City), packed up and drove almost straight through to Virginia just to be in Ahmad’s presence.
“It was just so important because he is our spiritual leader for the community,” Mangla said during a phone interview. “Because I missed that first welcome, I wanted to make sure that I made it to the last leg of his trip.”
Founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a revival movement within Islam and the fastest-growing sect of Muslims in the 21st century. A khalifa, or spiritual leader, oversees the international movement, assisted by regional amirs who help place imams in local mosques. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is one of the oldest and largest Muslim communities in the United States, dating back to 1920 when Mufti Muhammad Sadiq came as the first Ahmadi Muslim missionary to the United States.
Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad is the fifth Khalifa (or successor) of the Promised Messiah. He tours extensively, visiting his followers and bringing his message of peace despite the fact that many of the Ahmadi Muslims are persecuted in some Muslim countries, including Pakistan, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. The 2018 tour is his fourth visit to the United States.
“We write letters to him, all of his followers do, and he takes the time to write back,” Mangla said. “At one time, I thought of all that he does and the thousands of letters he receives, that he does not have time to read my letters and so I simply stopped. When I saw him once, he asked me why I had stopped.”
Ahmad had a full schedule during his 2018 tour as well. Along with visiting the hospital in Guatemala, he inaugurated several new mosques of the community, met with local leaders and gave keynote speeches on Islam’s teachings of justice and peace as well as conducted marriage ceremonies and had private meetings with various followers.
Mangla knew before making the 12-hour trip to Virginia that she would not get the opportunity for a private meeting with Ahmad. “Those who have never met with him are usually the first to get that opportunity,” she said.
But not having a meeting did not deter her desire to see Ahmad and to celebrate his visit with other members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. In fact, it was a family affair as Mangla stayed with her daughter in Virginia and her son-in-law helped with organizing the visit to Virginia.
“It is just so exciting to be with him and to be with everybody else in his presence,” Mangla said. “The goodness and spirituality that he represents to us, well it is hard to put in words.”
Followers rolled out the red carpet and children and adults put on their best clothes for the special visit. In fact, the visit is so special that in a world where most people whip out their cameras and take zillion photos at such events, neither Mangla or her daughter Ismat ever thought of taking out a phone for a picture.
“When you are in his presence, you don’t think about getting a picture of yourself or trying to get a picture with him in the background,” Ismat Mangla said. “You want to just be there in the moment, to be in his presence.”
It was sad to see Ahmad leave, Mangla said, but it was delightful to see the warm and excited reception for his return to his home in London.
“It was like they hadn’t seen him in years, but it had only been a few weeks,” Mangla said. “It just shows the love that exudes from him and the love that exudes from the Ahmadi Muslims.”
