Look and you shall see! The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam is being persecuted on every front. Ahmadis are martyred or tortured daily. Our mosques raided. Our businesses destroyed. Our homes violated. Our women widowed. Our children martyred. Our men imprisoned. When we, the people of Waltham Forest (London) take this to our MPs and Councillors so that a protest is lodged through them, they do not know who we are or what we stand for.
We the Ahmadi women of Waltham Forest, on behalf of the wife left widowed with no family in the heart of Bangladesh, on behalf of the student left with no school to learn from in Jakarta, on behalf of the mother left with no children to love in Lahore, decided to address this.
These atrocities continue and seem to have no end. The perpetrators are clearly devoid of even a shred of humanity. However the history of Ahmadiyyat is one of triumph amidst tragedy, accomplishment amidst adversity, progress amidst pain. Thus we cannot be shaken, we will stand strong, we will stand united with the eternal decree of God against anyone who dares stand in our way.
The Leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam proclaimed to the world:
‘I say that do as you may please, try as hard as you can. I swear by God that we shall not be moved, we shall not be moved from the paths of Hadhrat Muhammad Mustafa (saw), and those of his slaves. And this caravan of Ahmadiyyat will forever continue to go forward.’ (His Holiness Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad)
The political discussions of banning the burqah in the UK are not yet being responded to by us in Waltham Forest. If we the Muslim women, cannot speak up now, tell me who will represent the women of Islam as an open attempt is being made today by the combined forces of governments to disgrace the ordinary God-fearing woman?
We need to move our women to believe in a common purpose, a higher purpose, a purpose that stretches to each corner of the Earth with no discrimination or prejudice.
So let’s first pray to God for strength. Then we will go and knock on their doors, then knock on their hearts, and let them know that they matter to us and we the Ahmadi women of London care for them and their families, care for them, their safety and security, care for them, their life and their children.
And I am here today in front of you because of what Martin Luther King called ‘the fierce urgency of NOW!’, And we cannot wait till it’s too late, this is Our time this is Our moment, O you Ahmadi Women, our time is now!
Speech delivered by Salma Ahmed Hayat to the ladies of Lajna Imaillah: Waltham Forest
Salma's grand-uncle was among the 86 Ahmadi Muslims brutally gunned down whilst praying in the mosque in Lahore on 28/05/2010 by local extremist Muslims.