This is my 22 (nd) Jalsa in the UK and I have been coming here every year since 1991. I was born an Ahmadi Muslim. However as I had not seen the Khalifa, I thought “I’ll go to Jalsa UK to see him!”. When I met him I decided there simply isn’t anyone as amazing as this man.
Hazur picked me and called me from among 20 boys and I was amazed. Then Hazur gave me a kiss and treated me with such love that I felt he was like my father, my mother, my ‘everything’.
Almost every year I think “Maybe I cannot go this year because my budget won’t allow it or my work responsibilities require attention” but when Jalsa gets close I just cannot hold back. I feel I need to go. Jalsa is for me.
This year before Jalsa I had some debts and I did not have the money to pay them off. However as Jalsa approached, God blessed me and somehow the money came. Jalsa blessings are what I take away for the whole year.
In the run-up to Jalsa my family wonders, ‘what speeches we will hear this year? Who will we meet?”
My early years were spent in Palestine and after marriage I moved to Germany. Every year at Jalsa I see more and more Arabs joining Ahmadiyyat and I get to hear their stories. There just aren’t the words to describe them! What’s astonishing is that my own class fellows from 20 years ago are joining, my extended family is joining Ahmadiyyat and this is happening day by day, year by year. So attending Jalsa also gives me a chance to catch up with all of them.
As I’m writing this, those feelings and reasons why Jalsa is so important to me are returning. I can feel my arm’s hair standing up due to excitement.
There are so many blessings from attending Jalsa, listening to speeches, making new friends and actually benefitting from Jalsa. One cannot comprehend how much we are blessed. It is that one event that is unequalled!
I have friends and family who are living in America and in different parts of Europe, instead of meeting on a holiday, we meet every year at Jalsa UK. Sharing experiences is priceless.
Our new Ahmadi friends tell us how they craved for the speeches of the Khalifa. It gives peace on a grand scale to their souls. No amount of money can buy the Jalsa experience. I’m grateful to God that every year he blesses me the opportunity to come here.
