The Devotion of Life — Page 353
353 Sincerity of the Jama’at As a result of this blessed drive by Huzur ra , many zealous young men who wanted to serve the faith offered their lives for this scheme of devotion. At the initial stage, Huzur ra instructed that the educational and training work should start with the help of ten devotees. For its implementation, a training class for teachers and instructors was held, and soon a group of these ‘ dervish’ was ready for action. On the first of February, 1958, with prayers, the first convoy of teachers and instructors started its journey towards its place of destination. With the Grace of God, until now hundreds of teachers and instructors are engaged across Pakistan in education, training and preaching work. Need for Ten Thousand Devotees In 1959, Hadrat Musleh Maud ra made an appeal for ten thousand devotees. He said: “Now I would like to say something about ‘Tehrik- e-Jadid’ and ‘Waqf-e-Jadid’. ‘Tehrik-e-Jadid’ is now established for forty-five years, but ‘Waqf-e-Jadid’ is only one year old. Applications to join ‘Waqf-e- Jadid’ are continuously coming in, but still the numbers are very small. The number of those joining the ‘Waqf-e-Jadid’ should at least be one thousand. If it is ten thousand, it would be far better. If our farmers increase their monthly incomes, their contributions towards ‘Waqf-e-Jadid’ will also be increased, and we will be able to have more people. ” (Al Fazl, April 3, 1959)