In the Friday sermon regarding hospitality that was delivered on 23rd August 2013, Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih V (aba) said:
“One day the Promised Messiah (as) was not feeling well and he was resting. A guest arrived and he was informed of this and so he came outside and said ‘I thought that the guest has a right to hospitality since he has come after putting himself into great difficulty. So I have come here outside to discharge this duty for the guest’.
So today also, this same level of hospitality has to be shown for the guests of the Promised Messiah(as) because the opportunity that we are today being given is that of hosting those who are not only the guests of the Promised Messiah (as) but these are guests who have come for a purely religious purpose. They are coming because they wish to hear the talks about Allah and His Messenger the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw). They are coming because they want to improve their own spiritual and moral conditions. They are here because they want to establish and strengthen the mutual bonds of love and friendship and brotherhood”.
Every year, thousands of us eagerly present ourselves to carry out duties during the annual Jalsa Salana gathering, undertaking various duties which challenge us in different ways and help us attain new skills and inner strength. At times, we find ourselves faced by challenging circumstances and tasked with difficult tasks. Yet, through all this we learn from the Friday sermon and blessed example of the Promised Messiah (as), that we must pay particular attention to avoid offending, or causing any unnecessary hardship on, the any guests. For they are no ordinary guests, but the blessed guests of the Promised Messiah (as). As such, it is our responsibility to follow the blessed etiquette of hospitality taught to us by the Promised Messiah (as).
We should put ourselves in the shoes of the guests and think about the difficulties many of them endure to attend Jalsa. The long journeys and the sleepless nights that people, young and old, go through just so they can gain the blessings of this spiritual convention. At this year’s Jalsa Salana, let’s heed the call of our beloved Huzur (aba) and make every effort to show love to everyone we meet and welcome them as if we would a guest entering our own homes.
