Huzoor, in your Friday Sermon at Pedra Abad, in Spain on 10th September 1982, you had very strongly explained the need and importance of the monetary sacrifices, that is Chanda. Would Huzoor kindly let us know about the response of the Jamaats and improvement of Chanda after that historical address in Spain? Yes, I have already been telling you about it during Jalsa Sarana speeches and Khutba sermons etc., that the response was immense, immense, absolutely beyond my hopes.
In some places, in European countries, the same year that income of Chanda was doubled and some places more than doubled, in some places it was many, many times more, despite the fact that at the same time I had said that whoever cannot pay the full ratio, according to the full ratio, the correct established ratio, he is already permitted by me. He should only write to me and let me know that he is incapable of doing it. So, whatever ratio he himself chooses, he can give Chanda according to that. So, despite that, people responded in a very different manner. Instead of writing about forgiveness of previous dues and asking me to reduce the ratio, the majority responded by correcting their ratio of payment and many among Ahmadis who were not paying any Chanda, they also joined hands.
And this process continued up to today and those missions which were dependent upon other missions, they did not only become independent, but they also started sending money to other countries in which the Ahmadiyyat was not yet fully introduced and which required help from outside. So, this is with the grace of Allah, the state of affairs everywhere. There is no exception, no country has fallen short of this expectation with the grace of Allah. Of course, there are individuals which, who are really hard pressed by various reasons and who are in such deep financial troubles that it’s hard for them to make the two ends meet.
So, they write to me sometimes and I do tell them, of course, why not? You can reduce the ratio, but I don’t permit them to stop Chanda altogether because it would work against them. So, I tell them that to seek Allah’s favour, do something at least for the sake of Jamaat, knowing that whatever you are paying back is for the sake of Allah, of course. So, don’t break off completely because that would hurt you very much. Spiritually, you may die out and also your finances will not improve by holding the entire Chanda with you.
So, many among them have written back to me later on that with the grace of Allah, they have come out of the financial difficulties after starting paying Chanda honestly. And some of them wrote for forgiveness, I mean for the reduction in ratio. And after a while they wrote back, no, no, it’s impossible, we can’t have, you know, our conscience is biting us so deeply and bothering us so much that it’s impossible to have any real rest. So, for God’s sake, take that permission, concession back and we want to pay full Chanda. And later on, they wrote that with the grace of Allah, their financial situation has completely transformed and they have come out of the difficult situation.
So, this is the response to the grace of Allah, Alhamdulillah. You know, after that, Jamaat had no problem whatsoever, which is called financial problem in the sense that we have got a task to perform, but no money and we are bothered. Everywhere, in every direction, the money is flowing ahead and we are never short of money to perform something for the sake of Allah. So, this is a very different system. The Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya financial system has no parallel in the world because Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya itself has no parallel. The people who contribute to the system, they have no parallel.
