It is reported about the Holy Prophet saabbreviation for "Peace be upon him" that he used to eagerly look forward to the days of Hajj when different caravans all over the Arabian peninsula would come to Mecca. During this period, the Holy Prophet saabbreviation for "Peace be upon him" would make a special effort to visit their places of accommodation and to personally convey to them the message of Islam.
It is a beautiful lesson for us that we shouldn’t leave any stone unturned in our efforts to convey the message of Islam. Furthermore, we should always be attentive to exploring new avenues of outreach and propagation.
I remember back in January 2018, I had just arrived a few months ago as the first missionary of Argentina. One day whilst passing through the city, I saw the sign for the upcoming International Book Fair – the most significant cultural event in Buenos Aires and amongst the five largest book fairs worldwide. Immediately I realised the importance of this event, but I felt reluctant in my decision; I had recently graduated from Jamia Ahmadiyya UK – without almost any practical experience – and didn’t have any team or further members around me. In addition to this, my Spanish was yet so basic that I would encounter difficulties in simple everyday conversations. Despite these few valid question marks, there was something very present in my mind, that finally convinced me to participate in the Book Fair.
Just prior to my departure to Argentina, I was privileged to have a personal audience with His Holiness abaabbreviation for "May Allah be his helper" in which I expressed that I was extremely worried about how, as a pioneer, to preach the message of Islam Ahmadiyya to Argentinians. Upon this, His Holiness abaabbreviation for "May Allah be his helper" replied:
“When you want to teach someone to swim, you just throw him into the cold water. So, I have done the same to you, but Allah will teach you how to swim.”
I was convinced that the upcoming Book Fair was the first examination of my faith in the blessed words of His appointed Caliph. Hence, I decided to jump into the cold water with the firm conviction that God would teach me how to swim.
From the very beginning of the Book Fair, I could sense that there was an extraordinary interest to know more about our teachings, but somehow many were hesitant to enter our stand.
My missionary colleague, who had come from Uruguay to support me, suggested that maybe we could offer to write down their names in Arabic calligraphy for free as an attempt to attract them to our exhibition. I must confess that I agreed with him out of courtesy, but deep down I was very sceptical. I couldn’t see the bridge between calligraphy and the dialogue about the teachings of Islam. To my surprise, very soon I realised that I was totally mistaken! People started queueing up for their names to be written in Arabic and it turned out that they felt more comfortable speaking about Islam whilst waiting for their turn. One very common request was if we were open to offer any classes on the Arabic language and Islam. Initially – keeping in mind that we did not yet have any mission centre in Argentina – the answer was simply: “Sorry, not at the moment.” The frequent repetition of the same question made me change my answer and once more I decided to jump into cold water. Shortly afterwards, another sign was added to our stand with the words: “Register here for free Arabic and Islam classes.”
By the end of the Book Fair, we had more than a hundred people registered. Consequently, the next challenge now was to find a suitable place for these classes. Temporarily, we started the classes in a coffee shop and split up the participants in various smaller groups. The process of initiating the classes was a very demanding and burdening phase as my only helper was my pregnant wife. Many years later, there are certain fond memories and funny anecdotes about these initial classes: Entering the coffee shop with my Islamic hat and my wife with her veil, whilst carrying a whiteboard in one hand, some books and flyers in the other… it made many heads turn in our direction! By the time I would have set up the whiteboard, almost everyone in the coffee shop would be staring at us in curiosity. It was quite awkward how some people would stop their conversations and would observe me just to see what I was going to teach. Somehow, once the students arrived and I started the class with the words “Assalamo Alaikum” all the awkwardness would disappear. I used to feel comfortable explaining the grammatical rules of Arabic in Spanish, and even more relaxed and comfortable when I would talk about Islam. In the corner of my eye, I would see some of the waiters, chefs and clients also trying to catch up with my talk about Islam which was very encouraging to see. I can never forget the times when the chef would come out of the kitchen in his white apron and hat and stand in the doorway just to listen to the class.
However, after a few months, we finally inaugurated our first mission house in Argentina and shifted our classes there. Most of our current members found their way to Islam Ahmadiyya through these classes. Nonetheless, soon afterwards the next hurdle appeared with the unexpected Covid-19 pandemic. In the beginning, we had suspended all the classes, but as the whole world turned into a virtual global village, we also shifted our classes from the Mission House to the digital screen of Zoom. This turned out to be a very blessed change as it allowed us to spread our message all over the country, even in the most remote places.
As Ahmadi Muslims we believe that God has categorically established the freedom of belief and our duty is only to convey the Divine message of Islam. Similarly, the purpose of our classes is not to impose our religion, but to share our teachings and to create interfaith friendships. Remarkably, the non-Muslim students in our classes played a key role in this task. In different provinces, where we don’t have any members, they function many times as our representatives and help us to promote the true message of our community. In some cases, our students are the bridge to connect us with the authorities, the journalists and the various religious leaders in their areas.
In conclusion, these classes are a huge inspiration for me as I have witnessed myself that if one, with utmost sincerity, strives to serve God, then He Himself removes all obstacles. I have experienced over the last few years that whenever I jumped into cold water, He Himself taught me how to swim. I would like to clarify that what I have experienced is not due to my personal qualities nor do I consider myself a holy person, but it is according to the Divine promise given to the founder of our community:
“I shall cause thy message to reach the corners of the earth.”
