Another person to meet Huzoor for the first time was Jennifer Chaudhry, an American convert to Islam. She met Huzoor along with her husband Tarik Chaudhry and their young children.
I asked Jennifer sahiba, who had accepted Islam in 2005, about her life as an Ahmadi.
In reply, Jennifer sahiba said:
“Ahmadiyyat has given me a purpose and it has given me peace in my life. I was brought up as a Catholic but neither God nor religion were ever really a part of my life. Religion used to seem like a fairy tale. When I discovered the Quran, everything started to make sense. If I had any questions they were all answered to my heart’s contentment. Alhamdolillah, my life is so much better now that I have Islam.”
As we spoke, Jennifer sahiba began to cry, unable to control her emotions, especially as she told me about meeting Huzoor.
Jennifer sahiba said:
“I saw Huzoor on TV many times and so just the thought of meeting him in person was extremely emotional. Though I had never met him, I felt sincere love for my Khalifa and always tried to follow what he said. Now, I have met him, I am completely lost for words. As expected, Huzoor was very calm but I have to say I did not expect that Huzoor would have such a good sense of humour or that he would be so loving and informal with our children. Huzoor’s smile is so kind and warm and he is so easy to talk to that I felt I was meeting my friend.”
Jennifer sahiba’s husband, Tarik sahib told me how he had greatly appreciated the way Huzoor had shown love to his family. As he said this, Jennifer sahiba once again became very emotional.
As she wiped away her tears, Jennifer sahiba said:
“In today’s world it is very difficult to raise your children in a good way but I keep telling my children that they are very lucky to be Ahmadi Muslims and if they stay strong in their faith their lives will be of substance and they will not be like me when I was younger, as I wasted the early years of my life. My elder son is in middle school and I can see that some of his friends are starting to influence him and so I am very grateful he had the chance to meet Huzoor to reinforce the fact that our faith is the most important thing in our lives.”