Service to Humanity

During the 13th National Peace Symposium on March 19, 2016, His Holiness Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad ^{(may Allah be his helper)}, the fifth Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, cited Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ^{(may peace be upon him)}, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, to explain that religion aims to achieve two goals: to fulfill rights owed to God through proper worship and to fulfill rights owed to man by serving him as if he is a family member. Accordingly, contemporaries of Prophet Muhammad ^{(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)} describe him as “the most generous of all people” (Bukhari). Because of his love for Prophet Muhammad ^{(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)} and belief in the purpose of religion, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ^{(may peace be upon him)} also excelled in serving humanity. For example, he studied traditional native medicine and treated locals, irrespective of background. This, despite living in a remote 19th-century Indian village. Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ^{(may peace be upon him)}  himself declared, “To fail to help a brother in their time of need or difficulty is utterly immoral and wrong.” Thus, Islam teaches that spirituality demands serving humanity.

At other occassions, His Holiness cited various Qur’anic verses (2:84, 2:196, 3:111, 4:37, 47:39, 51:20, 90:15–17, 107:3-5) to contextualize the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s philanthropy to non-Muslims – e.g. providing running water, establishing schools and scholarships, creating model villages with solar energy, disaster relief, establishing orphanages, establishing hospitals and clinics, feeding the hungry, etc. His Holiness explained that such philanthropy allows future generations to escape the grip of poverty and help develop their nations. Moreover, His Holiness noted that instead of earmarking portions of our budget for our staff, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community spends “every cent” in delivering aid and “not a penny [is] sent abroad.” To fulfill these services, volunteers sometimes paying their own fares and life devotees of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community sometimes spend decades, or even their entire lives, serving the Third World.

His Holiness also cited the Holy Qur’an (2:139, 16:91) to explain that this attitude of serving others with anguish for their well-being must be exhibited even towards those who abuse you. As Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ^{(may peace be upon him)} stated, “Allah the Almighty has instructed Muslims to act with justice and to do good to all others. Hence, you must treat even those people with love who have done no good to you. In fact, you should go beyond this and favor them and care for them as a mother cares for her child.”

As Prophet Muhammad ^{(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)} once exclaimed that God had impressed the rights of neighbors upon him so much that Prophet Muhammad ^{(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)} thought God might class neighbors amongst a person’s rightful heirs (Bukhari), His Holiness further reminded the public that this attitude of service should be as expansive as possible.

Lest anyone feel these comments or actions were made for personal gain, His Holiness declared, “We seek no praise and no reward for such efforts because we are merely doing what our religion has taught us to do.” Highlighting these points also serves as a means to rebut allegations that Islam is a violent religion. If that were so, His Holiness asked, why does Islam instruct Muslims to be so service-oriented? Lastly, as the Holy Qur’an (14:32) instructs the doing of good “secretly and openly”, periodically highlighting acts of goodness can serve as a means to encourage others to follow this model or even strive to improve it. Let us all “vie with one another in goodness” (Holy Qur’an 2:149) and, as His Holiness said, serve humanity in a manner that does not indicate an “end of our services” but a perpetual indication of what is to come.