***Thread***
Sharing a story that is very close to my heart.
It was year 1988 & we were living in the city of Gujranwala because of my father commitment to work. He brought his family there for 6 to 8 months as it was hard for him to travel back & forth from Lahore everyday.
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My father was born into a traditional Sunni family & not as an Ahmadi but always condemned the persecution & was upset to see the amount of hatred community was facing in Pakistan. When we were living in Gujranwala, he was still reading & doing his own research on Ahmadiyyat.
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My father was also keeping a very close eye on recent incidents of the Ahmadiyya persecution in Pakistan & was well aware of the anti-Ahmadis laws by Gen Zia-ul-Haq, which could put peaceful Ahmadis in Jail for 3 years for identify as Muslim or using any Islamic terminology.
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It was an evening of August 17th, 1988, I still remember that day, my father took all of us out for lunch. When we returned, suddenly we heard a girl from neighbors shouting, "Zia murr geya, Zia murr geya", means Zia is dead, Zia is dead.
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My father rushed inside the house, turned the TV on and confirmed the news of Zia death. I was only 8 years old that time & was almost clueless about the whole thing & what was happening.
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Later, my father explained what he was going through that time,
"I was almost satisfied that Ahmadiyya Jamat is true but i decided to give another chance so i prayed that if this Jamat is true, we shall see Zia-ul-Haq being punished by God for oppressing Ahmadi Muslims.
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I had decided in my heart that if that happens, i will definitely join this Jamat & become an Ahmadi. I was also aware of the warning given to Zia by 4th Khalifa of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamat, Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmed that he must fear God or he will be punished by God.
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He further said,
"When i heard the news, i felt i found what i was missing. There was no doubt left in my mind that this Jamat is being helped by God".

He joined Jamat in 1989 & became a very devoted Ahmadi Muslim,even faced persecution by his family & was socially boycotted.
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My father, not only continued his struggle to become a better person & Muslim himself but also made sure his children get all the blessings of joining this Jamat & become better human beings.

His efforts brought 7 more people under the banner of Islam-Ahmadiyya in Pakistan.

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I am thankful to God for giving my father courage & wisdom to identify the truth. His sacrifices gave us a supreme platform to learn Islam through Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamat or else we were also lost in the darkness like many in Pakistan.

Please remember my father in your prayers