We are a Jamat with more than 100 years of history, spread over many towns in Spain - small in size, but with great eagerness to create, support and undertake new initiatives and collaborate with the rest of the Jamats in other countries. The Portuguese Soulful Time program, broadcasted on June 19th 2020 on Ismaili TV, was dedicated to the Spanish Jamat and has given us the opportunity to make ourselves known globally.
This first edition of the newsletter of the Jamat of Spain, is launched on Imamat Day, a special day for us. We celebrate that sixty-three years ago, on July 11, 1957, Mawlana Hazar Imam succeeded his grandfather, Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah, as 49th heriditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims.
Imamat Day provides us an opportunity to reaffirm our loyalty and gratitude to Mawlana Hazar Imam and to renew our commitment to the ethics of our faith. On this happy day, we send our heartfelt congratulations to all Jamati members and offer prayers: may Mawlana Hazar Imam bless the Global Jamat with Baraka, protection, health, unity and happiness.
Many are undergoing difficult life situations. Our prayers and thoughts are with them. But despite the self-isolation due to the confinement, through the leadership and guidance of Mawlana Hazar Imam, the Jamat has been able to respond effectively to the many challenges and has emerged as a resilient community, making significant contributions to the societies in which it lives. As Ismailis, we have been more connected than ever to the Global Jamat. We are participating, through The.Ismaili website, in a wide variety of seminars, interviews and content relevant to these unusual times.
There are also the initiatives of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), which has set up a global pandemic relief fund. To learn more about the work being done and to collaborate, you can go to the following webpage:
https://www.focus-europe.org/en/covid-19-global-pandemic-relief-fund/
As Mawlana Hazar Imam has so emphatically pointed out in his last messages, let us not forget to always maintain hope:
“It is my wish that my Jamat should look to the future with hope and courage, in keeping with its age-old tradition of unity, generosity and mutual support which has at all times enabled it to move forward to a position of enhanced strength and resilience, from generation to generation. My spiritual children should always remain mindful that it is the principles of our faith that will bring peace and solace in these times of uncertainty.”
Excerpt from message for the Global Jamat, 23rd May 2020
We inform the Jamat that this newsletter has the double objective of communicating content from Ismaili Institutions, as well as creating connectivity and cohesion between Ismailis in Spain; therefore, we plan to include content of local and global interest. We encourage the members of the Jamat of Spain to actively participate with articles and suggestions in the next newsletters, and we look forward to your participation!
We thank all the members of the Jamat who have collaborated in the production of the first of many numbers of this Newsletter.
Finally, we thank all the members of the Jamat who have collaborated with such dedication and commitment to the production and success of this first number, because without that dedicated help it wouldn't have been possible.
Thank you and Mubarak
