Bay'ah (Ahmadiyya)

Bay'ah (Pledge of Allegiance)

Ba'iat or Bay'ah (Arabic: بَيْعَة) is an islamic practice which is literally translated with the meaning to sell. In a religious context it means oath of allegiance. With this oath the convert to a certain community declares himself/herself a part of that community. In islamic-religious sense, this oath is the standard procedure of pledging allegiance to an Imam or spiritual leader or to sell ones self in exchange of the spiritual guidance given by an Imam or spiritual leader. A large Bai'at ceremony of initiation for entering the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is held every year during the annual gathering of the community in UK. This ceremony is called the International Bay'ah. The ceremony is led by the head of the community, the Caliph, at whose hand the new converts take the oath of initiation.

History

The tradition of bay'ah can be traced back to the era of Muhammad. Anyone who wanted to join the growing Islamic community would be initiated at the hand of the Prophet. The wordings of the oath differ in different traditions but it contains the shahadah and prayers of repentance. The bay'ah of Rizwan, a collective initiation of thousands of Muslims at the hand of Muhammad, is mentioned in the Qur'an. This tradition was continued by the Caliphs.

In subsequent ages, bay'āt were associated with sufi orders; spiritual masters would initiate their followers. This practice still exists in sufi orders around the world.

In Morocco Bay'ah is one of the foundations of the Monarchy. In many Islamic traditions, the meaning of Bay'ah is to sell ones self to a spiritual master, pir or sheikh in exchange of spiritual knowledge which he gives.

Quranic account

Certainly Allah was well pleased with the believers when they swore allegiance to you (Muhammad) under the tree, and He knew what was in their hearts, so He sent down tranquility on them and rewarded them with a near victory.

— ^{[Quran 48:18]}

Bay'ah (Ahmadiyya)

The concept of bay'ah is considered very important to Ahmadiyya Muslims. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, after claiming to be divinely appointed as the promised messiah and Mahdi, took the first bay'ah in 1889 at Ludhiana. After this, many of his converts traveled long distances to Qadian to be initiated in the community. The tradition was carried on during the Ahmadiyya caliphate.

International Bay'ah

In 1993 Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the fourth Caliph, internationalised the Bay'ah through MTA by which people from all continents of the world are now able to partake in this pledge which is simultaneously translated into 12 different languages. He equated it with the Pentecost and said that if anything, the original Pentecost must have been a vision prophesying the Bay'ah. He stated that there is no evidence of it being an historical occurrence but that 'Nobody can deny its factual occurrence' in the Bay'ah where millions of people are initiated at the hand of one man simultaneously in every continent in diverse languages through the power of the Holy Ghost. This international oath of allegiance takes place every year at the annual gatherings of Ahmadis.

Distinctive Features

Since the first International Bay'ah, some acts have become part of the tradition during the ceremony. Foremost, the Caliph wears a green coat of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad at the ceremony. This coat was lent to the fourth caliph for this ceremony by his sister. However, the coat was given to the caliphate at the request of the fifth caliph.

Khalifatul Masih V at the International Bay'ah Ceremony 2007 wearing the green coat of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

The members of the community form five or seven lines in front of the caliph at the ceremony to represent the five/seven continents of the world. Officials of the community organisation and other people who have worked for the community or are otherwise selected for this ceremony are present in these lines. The lines proceed to some extent in an orderly manner after which other members are present. Members of the community all over the world join the ceremony live through TV coverage by the community's own satellite channel MTA the Muslim Television Ahmadiyya. The members and those who want to become members place their hands on the back of the person in their front, as is known from the tradition of the early Muslims at the time of Muhammad, and so form chains of physical contact with the caliph. This physical contact is seen necessary only for those present at the ceremony. The worldwide bay'ah ceremonies function without this physical contact.

International Bay'ah ceremony 2008.

The oath of alligence or Bay'ah is taken by the caliph in the following way: first he reads a sentence or a part of a sentence from the oath in English or in Urdu language. After him the memebrs of the community repeat those words. Then the same sentence or part of the sentence is repeated by the translators in many languages of the world simultaneously.

After havig gone through the whole text of the oath of alligence in this manner, the caliph leads the members in silent prayers.

After completing the oath and the silent prayers a prosteration in congregation is performed by all members all over the world. This prosteration is not directed in any particular direction but it is lead by the caliph. Therefore, all members do the prosteration in whichever direction they find suitable. The tradition of this prosteration goes back to Mirza Tahir Ahmad who started it as an act of gratitude to Allah.

Number of Converts

The year by year count of converts in accordance with the reports given to the Caliph and announced by him at the occasion of the International Bai'at and printed officially by the community are as follows:

Year	Number of Converts	Reference
2008	354,638	Daily Alfazl, Pakistan, 30. July 2008
2007	261,969	Daily Alfazl, Pakistan, 1. Aug. 2007
2006	293,881	Daily Alfazl, Pakistan, 2. Aug. 2006
2005	209,799	Daily Alfazl, Pakistan, 3. Aug. 2005
2004	304,910	same reference as 2005 for the years 1993-2004
2003	892,403
2002	20,654,000
2001	81,006,721
2000	41,308,975
1999	10,820,226
1998	5,004,591
1997	3,004,585
1996	1,602,721
1995	847,725
1994	421,753
1993	204,308
Total	167,193,205

See also

• With Love to the Ahmadis of the World A text written refuting the Ahmadi arguments about the continuation of prophets.
• Pledge of the Tree