Address at Jalsa Salana Canada 2026, 12 July 2026
After Tashahhad, Ta`awwuz, and Fatiha, Respected Amir Sahib recited the following:
(Al-Nahl, ch.16:v.42)
(Az-Zumar, ch.39:v.50)
Respected brothers and sisters:
Assalamo alaikum wa Rahmatullah!
May peace and blessings of Allah be upon you!
I have recited two verses of the Holy Qur’an, the first one from Surah Al-Nahl, Chapter 16, Verse 42, in which Allah promises a goodly abode for those who immigrate for His sake.
Translation:
“And as to those who have left their homes, for the sake of Allah, after they had been wronged, We will surely give them a goodly abode in this world: and truly the reward of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew.” [Al-Nahl, ch.16:v.42]
The second one is from Surah Az-Zumar, Chapter 39, Verse 50, in which Allah, the Almighty, describes the tendency of humans: that once they are delivered from hardship and given comfort, they forget their purpose and think they themselves are responsible for their success. It says:
“And when trouble touches man, he cries unto Us. But when We bestow on him a favour from Us, he says, ‘This has been given to me on account of my own knowledge.’ Nay, it is only a trial; but most of them know not.” [Az-Zumar, ch.39:v.50]
The Story that Sets the Stage:
As most of us here are immigrants or the children of immigrants, I want to begin with the story of a group of immigrants, for every great story is rooted in a truth. And this story is older than all of us, yet more relevant than ever.
These were people who had known nothing but oppression. For generations, they had lived under a power that did not see them as human beings worthy of dignity. Their children were born into fear. Their future seemed bleak. And then, Allah intervened.
He parted the sea before them. He sealed it behind their oppressors. He fed them with Manna and Salwa from heaven when they had nothing. He gave them water from solid rock when there was none. Day after day, miracle after miracle, the message was the same: I am here. I am watching. And I have a plan for you.
But Allah had not rescued them merely so they could be comfortable. He had rescued them for a purpose. There was a land ahead, a land of mission, a land of responsibility, a land of legacy. And so Moses, peace be upon him, stood before them and delivered the divine call:
“O my people, enter the Holy Land which Allah has ordained for you.” [Al-Ma’idah, ch.5:v.21]
But something had quietly shifted. In the years of wandering, in the years of blessings arriving daily, somewhere along the way, their willingness to sacrifice for the mission had weakened. The people who had once depended entirely upon Allah, had become increasingly preoccupied with immediate comforts.
And so, when the call came to move forward — to do the hard work, to pay the price that great objectives require — they said:
“Go you and your Lord and fight — and here we sit.” [Al-Ma’idah, ch.5:v.25]
Four words. “And here we sit.”
The consequence was forty years in the wilderness. But the deeper tragedy — the one that should stop your heart — is this: the generation that was rescued from Egypt, the generation that personally witnessed every miracle, never entered the Promised Land. Their children did.
Brothers and sisters, this is not ancient history. This is a mirror.
Because we, too, are people who left our homes. We, too, are a people who crossed a sea of uncertainty. We, too, are a people whom Allah brought to the shores of safety. And we were not just scattered across the world. We were planted.
We are the seeds of Islam-Ahmadiyyat, sown by Allah, the Almighty, across different parts of the world. We came here to create a legacy of devotion to the cause of Allah. We came here with a mission.
What is our mission? What is our legacy? A legacy is not merely what you leave behind when you die. A legacy is what continues to live after you are gone. It is what your children inherit. It is what people remember. It is what survives when your name is no longer spoken. This afternoon, I want to speak about that legacy.
You Are Here by Divine Design
Many of us, or our parents, came to Canada with very little. Some arrived with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, and a family to protect. They left behind their careers. They said goodbye to their aging parents. They arrived in a country whose language they did not speak, whose systems they did not understand, and whose winters they were wholly unprepared for.
Allah fulfilled His promise. He gave them goodly abode in this land, precisely as He had promised. He opened for them, the doors of opportunity, the doors of education, and the doors of prosperity. Al-Hamdulillah! All Praise belongs to Allah!
But I want to ask you a question that I hope will stay with you, long after this Jalsa ends: Why did Allah open those doors?
Many of our young people have grown up hearing, that their families came here for a better economic future. And that narrative, quietly steals something essential: the sense of divine purpose.
What is that divine purpose? My brothers and sisters, we are part of a Glorious Plan that has been unfolding since the time of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Three times in the Holy Qur’an, Allah declares His ultimate decree:
“He it is Who has sent His Messenger, with the guidance and the Religion of Truth, that He may make it prevail over all other religions. And sufficient is Allah as a Witness.” [Al-Fath, ch.48:v.29]
This is the Grand Plan of the Almighty, the Plan of a Global Spiritual Revolution, the like of which, the world has never seen. And the fulfilment of this magnificent promise, the global victory of Islam, was destined for the era of the Promised Messiah, peace be upon him. This is not ordinary history; this is the majestic hand of God, moving across the earth.
In his book Tadhkiratush-Shahadatayn, the Promised Messiah (as) prophesied this Global Dominence of Islam. He declared that this massive spiritual revolution would occur within three centuries, writing under divine guidance: And, I quote:
“And the third century, from this day, will not be completed when those who wait for Jesus (as), both Muslims and Christians, will become deeply despaired and disillusioned, and will abandon this false belief. And there will be only one religion in the world, and only one Leader. I have come only to sow a seed, so that seed has been sown by my hand. And now it will grow and flourish, and none can stop it.” (Tadhkiratush-Shahadatain, Roohani Khazain V20, pg 67)
Three hundred years! We are already passing through the second century of that divine timeline.
To fulfill this breathtaking prophecy, God made His divine arrangements. The conditions in Pakistan and some other parts of the world, that drove Ahmadis out, and the hearts of Western nations, that were opened to receive us, the extraordinary welcome, the protections, the freedoms, none of this was a geopolitical accident alone. It was all part of a Divine Plan, already set in motion. It was the mechanism, by which God is fulfilling the grand revelation given to the Promised Messiah, peace be upon him:
“I shall cause thy message to reach the corners of the earth.”
We were not just scattered around the globe; we were planted for this promise, to bear fruit. As the Promised Messiah (as) said, “I have come only to sow a seed.” We are the seed of His Hand. Not refugees. Neither economic migrants. A seed, planted with conviction, watered with sacrifice, and destined to become something the world has not yet fully seen. And with that planting comes a responsibility. The same God, Who opened these doors, will one day ask us: “What did you do with the open doors? What did you plant in the fertile soil, that I gave you?”
And that raises the most important question of all: When our children look back at the generation that came to Canada, what will they remember? Will they remember a generation that escaped persecution and built comfortable lives? Or will they remember a generation that recognized why Allah had brought them here and devoted themselves to the mission, that He had entrusted to them?
A Question We Need to Ask Ourselves!
As I mentioned, we are already passing through the second century of this divine timeline. The seed has been sown. For us, the carriers of the Promised Messiah’s message, the question is, whether it will grow through us.
It will only grow if we understand, who we are.
Let me tell you the story of an orphan lion cub, raised by a sheep. The cub would eat grass and live like a lamb. Sometimes he would see a pack of lions attack the sheep and grab one of them. He would run, in terror, with the sheep, to escape the attack. He would live, act, and behave as a lamb. He did not know who he really was.
On a clear day, the lion cub was drinking water from a lake, when he saw his clear image in the lake water. He looked like a lion. He realized he was not a lamb; he was a lion. He dashed out of the flock to join a group of lions.
Lesson of the story: You do not realize the full potential of your abilities if you are not conscious of who you are, what your identity is.
You may be a lion, but you may be living as a sheep, because you don’t know who you are.
So, who are We?
I will say it loud and clear:
Every Ahmadi in this country is a representative of Islam, whether he signed up for that role or not. Hence, all of our actions should reflect this identity of ours. Every aspect, of how we live, should reflect that, we are Ambassadors of Islam.
The Holy Prophet ﷺ defined a Muslim not by belief alone, but by conduct:
“The Muslim is the one, from whose tongue and hand, others are safe.” [Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 10]
Safe from your tongue. Safe from your hand.
Your neighbour, your colleague, the cashier at the grocery store, they are all reading Islam through the pages of your character.
Show them your beauties. Not your degrees. Not your income. But show them your honesty, your reliability, your dignity under pressure.
I will speak plainly. Financial dishonesty, benefits claimed without entitlement, income undeclared, forms completed to satisfy the letter while violating the spirit, is often excused as a private matter. It is not. Every such act is a stain on the image of Islam that we present to this country. Every act of integrity is silent Tabligh.
Before he was known as a Prophet, Muhammad ﷺ was known as Al-Amin, the Trustworthy. The people of Makkah encountered his character, before they encountered his message.
What title will Canada be giving us?
What does this calling require of Us?
If Allah has planted us here for a purpose, then that purpose must shape how we spend our days. It is not an abstract idea. It is a daily practice. Let me speak about what that looks like in a life.
The first thing it requires, is that we stay here attached, attached to the Jama’at, attached to Khilafat, the spiritual lifeline that brought us here.
I think of a young Khadim, someone I will not name, because his story is not unique. Back home, he was devoted. He attended programmes, he was known, and he was present. Then he arrived in Canada. The opportunities were real and immediate. The demands of building a new life were constant. And gradually, without a single dramatic moment of decision, he drifted, first from the meetings, then from the Jama’at entirely. For years, no one knew where he was.
Brothers and sisters, this new life does not steal our faith suddenly. It simply keeps us busy. It offers comfort in exchange for commitment. And we accept the trade so slowly, so naturally, that we barely notice it happening.
I do not know the full ending of that young man’s story. But I know this: the generation of Bani Israel that drifted in the wilderness, also did not lose their faith in one moment. They lost it in the accumulation of small surrenders, one comfort chosen over one obligation, again and again, until forty years had passed and the Promised Land felt like a rumour.
Stay connected. Please stay connected. MTA is the voice of our Beloved Imam in our homes. The Friday sermon is guidance for us, on how to navigate this world, while remaining faithful to why we are in Canada.
The second thing this calling requires is that we give, not only money, but also sacrifice our desires, our aspirations, and our time. Tabligh in this country does not require a loudspeaker. It requires character. The colleague who wonders why you always deal fairly. The neighbour who notices that your home is a place of peace. The stranger who wonders which faith produces people like this. These are the fields, Allah has placed us in. Every one of us, in our own field, can be a gardener.
The third thing is gratitude — not the gratitude with words alone, but the gratitude through action. Canada gave us safety when we had none. It gave us freedom that our brothers and sisters in Pakistan and other parts of the world can only dream of. That is a debt that words cannot repay. We repay it by being the best citizens, the most honest neighbours, the most reliable colleagues, the people of whom this country one day says: they came here with nothing, and they made us better.
We do owe something to the soil that gave us refuge.
Everything Becomes Worship!
Living as ambassadors of Islam, does not mean that we abandon the world. It demands how nicely we live in it. Everything we do, in obedience to God, becomes an act of worship.
When you strive for excellence in your career, not merely to buy a bigger house, but to earn rizqe halal, i.e., lawful income, so you can spend in the way of Allah and advance the mission of Islam-Ahmadiyyat, your daily routine becomes worship.
When you take care of your family, when you sacrifice your sleep for your children, not just so that they become successful professionals, but so that they grow into dedicated servants of this divine purpose, your parenting becomes worship.
Everything we have, our wealth, our families, our very breath, is a tool given to us to fulfill this mission. The Promised Messiah, peace be upon him, explained the ultimate price of this divine assignment. He wrote in Fatah-e-Islam:
“The revival of Islam demands a ransom from us. What is that [ransom]? It is to die on this very path! This is the very death upon which the life of Islam, the life of the Muslims, and the glorious manifestation of the Living God depend; and this is the very phenomenon whose name is otherwise expressed as Islam. God Almighty now desires the revival of this very Islam, and in preparation for the undertaking of that momentous mission, it was necessary that He establish, on His own behalf, a grand operation, that would prove effective in every way. So, that Wise and Omnipotent One, did precisely that, by sending this humble one, for the reformation of mankind.”
— (Fathe-Islam, Ruhani Khazain Vol. 3, pp. 10-12)
A ransom is demanded of us. The seed must lose itself in the soil to become a tree.
The Choice at the Red Sea
Brothers and sisters, let me take you back again, one final time, to the shores of the Red Sea.
The generation of Bani Israel, rescued from Egypt, had been given everything. They had witnessed miracles. They had the direct companionship of a prophet. They had the daily provision of Allah. And yet, when the time came to strive for the ultimate purpose, they said: “And here we sit.”
They gained their comfort, but they lost their legacy, their purpose!
Today, we stand on our own shores. Allah has rescued us. Allah has blessed us beyond measure. He has planted us in this fertile land to be part of the fulfilment of the grand prophecy of the Promised Messiah (as).
We have a choice.
We can choose to make material prosperity our objective. We can drift comfortably into the background, until one day our children look back and find that the generation that was rescued never built what they were sent here to build.
Or, we can choose to pay the ransom. We can choose to make our conduct our Tabligh, our wealth our sacrifice, and our homes the training grounds for the next generation of Islam’s defenders.
Allah did not bring us here merely to build an economically better life. He brought us here to build a legacy. He brought us here for a purpose!
Now, let me recap what I have said before you:
- Allah has decreed that He will make Islam dominate over all other religions.
- It will happen through the Reformer of the Age, the Promised Messiah (as).
- This will happen within the next 180 years.
- We are the fortunate ones, through whom and through whose children, this is going to happen.
- This confers on us a noble role, as Ambassadors of Islam.
- This huge responsibility demands that we:
- Live our lives as true Ahmadi Muslims
- We make every possible effort to convey the Message of Islam-Ahmadiyyat to all around
- To help us do that, Allah has provided us with the Blessing of Khilafat.
- We just have to listen our Beoved Imam and obey him.
- May Allah enable us to do that!
May Allah accept our efforts, protect our children, and bind their hearts to Khilafat. May He make us worthy of the trust that He has placed in us, and enable us to grow into the majestic tree the Promised Messiah (as) envisioned. Ameen.
