Khilafat Centenary Souvenir 1908-2008 — Page 191
Khilafat Centenary Kh i lafat and the Waqf-e-Nau Scheme --------------------------------------------------------l\1ohamrn ad Inception of the Waqf-e-Nau Scheme In his Friday sermon delivered on April 3, 1987 at the Fazal Mosque, London, Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih IVrta, under Divine guidance, announced the blessed scheme of Waqf-e-Nau. On this occasion, while explaining the aims and objectives of the scheme, he stated the following: While we are trying to increase our spiritual progeny before the next century through propagation, we should also of fer our yet to be born children as Waaqifeen (devotees) in the cause of Allah, right now and we should pray, 'O Allah. ' Give us a son but if You have decreed to give us a daughter then we of fer our daughter to You. ' Ma fe e batanee - whatever is in my womb. This should be the prayer of the mothers and the fathers should pray in the words of Hadhrat Ibraheem as : 'O Allah. ' Let our progeny be among Your elect servants so that they be entirely dedicated to You'. So that a magnificent army of Waaqifeen children, who are willing to relinquish this world, should enter the next century as the slaves of the God of Hadhrat Muhammad saw the Messenger of Allah. We should be offering young children as gifts to Allah. This Waqf is urgently needed. In the next hundred years Islam will spread widely and we will need millions of trained servants, who should be servants to the God of Hadhrat Muhammad saw'. We need a large number of Waaqifeen-e-zindagee from every class of the society and from every country. There will be an acute need of Waaqifeen-e-zindagee in the next century. We are going to offer a gift of millions of Waaqifeen-e-zindagee from all segments of the ]ama'at to Allah in the next century. It is the people of the next century who will benefit from our gift, so we are, in fact, offering this gift to (the people of) the next century. So, whoever can offer this gift should get prepared to do so. Allah Almighty has turned my attention to - - matter so that I should ask you to vow tha · - children born to you in the next two years. male or female, will be offered for Waqf as a _ - to Allah. If people would offer their chil dre praying in this manner, then I am sure th at before our eyes, we shall have a very beau · amiable generation read y to sacrifice itself in e cause of Allah. May Allah enable us to ac hie\ ·e Ameen. Initiall y, the scheme, which came to be known as the Waqf-e-Nau (new devotees) scheme, was to las for two years after the date of the announcem ent. but at the request of a large number of Ahmadi , the appeal was extended. There are currently man y tens of thousands of children enrolled in the Waqf- e-N au scheme around the world, including over 600 in the USA. Directions of Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih yaba to the US jama'at regarding Waqf-e-Nau. In his address to the US Jama ' at, broadcast live via satellite link from London on the occasion of J alsa Salana USA (annual convention) in September 2006, Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih yaba gave the following advice to the Waqf-e-Nau children of the USA: Taking advantage of this occasion, I will say a few words to the Waqifeen-e-Nau. just before coming here when I turned on the TV, I was delighted to see that this year there are 5 Waqifeen-e-Nau from America going to ]aami'a Ahmadiyya in Canada to be train ed as missionaries. May Allah keep on providing us more like them. According to the official records, there are 534 Waqifeen-e-Nau in America. 128 boys and girls out of these are older than 15. At the age of 15, a person is considered to be fully mature. Additionally, many of the Waqifeen-e-Nau are around 13 or 14. This also is an