From August 21 to September 6th, four Thalitha class students of Jamia Ahmadiyya Canada (Faaran Muhammad, Maaz Ahmed, Saqib Kahloon, Munassar Alam) had the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica to perform Waqf-e-Arzi for 15 days along with Maulana Abdus Sattar Khan Sahib, who serves as the missionary in Costa Rica as well as Colombia.
Students conveyed the message of Islam Ahmadiyyat to a number of towns in Costa Rica, such as Alajeula, Heredia, San Jose, Cartago, Atenas, and Orotina. Students spent most of their days in repeated visits to San Jose, the capital, where they were able to distribute flyers and establish meaningful relationships with several local residents and subsequently sit with them in coffee shops to further explain to them the message of Islam Ahmadiyyat. Additionally, students would hold a sign saying “Soy un musulman, hazme una pregunta” (I’m a Muslim, ask me a question) in busy areas to start discussions with locals.
Despite the presence of a language barrier, with Murabbi sahib’s guidance and support, the students were able to practice their Spanish prior to their arrival in Costa Rica as well as during their waqf-e-arzi so that they were able to hold conversations with locals in Spanish.
Costa Rica has a very small Jamaat consisting of between 10-20 Ahmadis, many of which are scattered across the country. Students were able to meet with 3 of these Ahmadis – Jairo (Haider) Sevilla of Heredia, the first Ahmadi Muslim of Costa Rica, his father Don Francisco Sevilla, and Evelynn of San Antonio. Don Francisco, despite being 85 years old, accompanied the students multiple times on their trips to San Jose and was very passionate about conveying the message of Islam to his fellow citizens.
The group also had the opportunity to visit the Foreign Ministry of Costa Rica to meet with Respected Ana Lorena Villalobos Brenes, Alternate Director of the Protocol Department at the Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, and discuss with her the work that they were doing in her country as well as to give her a small token of appreciation for her valuable friendship with the Jamaat.
Additionally, the group was invited to visit EARTH University in the city of Guapiles to take part in a small conference about the teachings of various cultures and religions regarding taking care of the planet. Murabbi Sahib was able to deliver a short lecture and the students were able to discuss with the participants after the formal proceedings and establish several tabligh contacts.
In total, the group was able to distribute over 7000 flyers and acquire over 25 tabligh contacts, out of which 2 converted to Islam Ahmadiyyat, Alhamdulillah.
In their first week in Costa Rica, the students were able to take part in the Bai’at of brother Diego, a resident of San Jose who was interested in Islam for over 7 years and met Murabbi Sahib while he was distributing flyers in San Jose 2 months prior to his Bai’at. In the second week, the students took part in the Bai’at of brother Leo, an immigrant from Nicaragua, whom they met on their third day in the country. One week after the students had left for their studies in Jamia Ahmadiyya Canada, they received the good news that brother Henry, another immigrant from Nicaragua, whom the students met and subsequently spent a lot of time with during their repeated visits to San Jose, took his Bai’at with Murabbi Sahib.
The students also had the chance to explore the beauty and nature of Costa Rica by visiting Arenal Volcano, the La Fortuna Waterfalls, Jaco Beach, and Manuel Antonio National Park.
May Allah the Almighty bless the humble efforts of this waqf-e-arzi and enable the message of Islam Ahmadiyyat to spread far and wide in the beautiful country of Costa Rica, Ameen!
From right to left: Faaran Muhammad, Brother Jairo [Haider] Sevilla (the first Ahmadi Muslim of Costa Rica), Maaz Labib, Munassar Alam, Murabbi Abdus Sattar Khan Sahib, Saqib Kahloon
From right to left: Brother Leo (who converted in the second week of our trip), Munassar Alam, Murabbi Abdus Sattar Khan Sahib, Faaran Muhammad, Maaz Labib, Brother Diego (who converted in the first week of our trip)
