The Devotion of Life — Page 214
214 “Some time ago I encouraged the youth to devote their lives for the service of this faith. Many young men complied with this from among whom some were educated in Arabic and some in English. The need of the time was met by these, however, now more people are needed for certain tasks. It is natural as far as the local situation is concerned that the maintenance allowances given to workers of a small community should be limited. That is why the allowances of the workers here are modest. Still, the difference between those who devote their lives and others should be at the very least at par with those who subscribe to the system of ‘Wasiyyat’ and those who do not. For this reason I have deemed that one who devotes his life should be paid twenty five per cent less allowances than paid to a non-devotee. However, a devotee will not have to pay his 'Chanda' (monetary contribution). In this way, the difference between the allowances of a devotee and a non-devotee will be around eighteen to nineteen percent. This is a greater sacrifice made by the devotees than by any other employees. The Jama’at also has to take into consideration the promotion and subsequent rise in allowances of other workers. The workers of a nation that itself becomes abase are also considered abase. Observe that no one cares about the muslim-clergy these days, but the Christian priests are held in esteem everywhere. The reason for this is that the nation of the priests is considered respectable whereas the nation of the muslim-clergy is considered abase. It is possible that these workers of ours who are not given any recognition today would attain a position, due to the