On behalf of CPS USA, I embarked upon my third outreach journey to Brazil on June 23, 2021. As Maulana Wahiduddin Khan once highlighted that any such outreach effort will be aided by Allah’s angels, and I can confidently say that I experienced angels helping out every step of my journey.
In these Covid days, international passengers are supposed to present a negative Covid-19 PCR test result at the time of check-in. I had completed this requirement but I was unaware of the second requirement, i.e to fill out my health profile on the Brazilian government's health department website. At the check-in counter, the lady completed this formality for me. It took her 45 minutes to complete the process but patiently helped me register. Her help was from God.
The main goal of this trip was to arrange for the distribution of 50,000 copies of the Portuguese and Spanish translations of the Qurans. These had been shipped in March last year and were stored in a Mosque called “Mesquita Muçulmana” in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil. The mosque administration has been very kind to let us store these copies of Qurans in the mosque's storage. But my trip to Brazil last year was cancelled due to the pandemic.
The town of Foz do Iguacu borders two other countries of South America, i.e. Paraguay and Argentina. Brazil is the largest and only Portuguese speaking country in South America and the rest speak Spanish. There are some whose official languages are English and Dutch. I consider Foz do Iguacu town was chosen by Allah for our help for the distribution of both Portuguese and Spanish Qurans. This town has a large beautiful mosque. Daily 400 to 500 tourists used to visit this mosque during non-Covid times. Even now, during these Covid times, 50 to 100 tourists stop by daily. CPS USA has now arranged with the mosque administration that all tourists would be gifted with a Portuguese translation of the Quran supplied by us.
Besides this, I was also able to form a group of Brazilian and Paraguayan youth who would help us in the task of distribution of Qurans in Brazil and Paraguay by placing Qurans in Muslim business stores for their clients to pick up a copy for free. CPS USA will stay in constant contact with this group.
Then, I traveled to Sao Paulo, the largest and most populated city in Brazil. Here I met with the administration of masjid Abu Bakr, one of the largest mosques in the city. I presented to them the mission of CPS International in general and the activities of CPS USA in particular. They were very much receptive to the CPS mission. Most of the people knew Maulana Wahiduddin Khan because they had already read Maulana’s book Al-Islam Yatahadda, the Arabic version of God Arises.
They were so inclined to our peace mission that they are even prepared to translate all of Maulana’s literature into the Portuguese language and spread it throughout Brazil. May Allah make it happen and make the task easy for them. They will have our full support all the time.
I intended to stay longer there given their interest in our outreach project, but I had to leave as my stay lasted only two weeks. I am convinced that the CPS peace mission will be rooted there, by the will of Allah, and spread to all of South America and beyond. This mission is already very well rooted in North America, especially in the USA and Canada. If all of us sincerely devote our time and resources, our efforts will take shape into an intellectual revolution throughout the world by the will of Allah SWT.
I arrived back in the USA on July 8, 2021.
- Khaja Kaleemuddin