Khilafat Centenary Souvenir 1908-2008 — Page 200
Khilafat Centenary made following observations. Even if you examine the area of adult act ive Ahmadi s, you will find that they are quite deficient in th e ir understanding of what they re cite during th e Namaa z, Surah Fatiha, and other things. Little do th ey kno w th e significance of what they 're chanting and th e aw ar ene ss during the namaaz that we must ha ve a c ontact with God and a feeling of thrill within th e ir he arts when ever th ey succeed in establishing that contact. Th ese ar e th e a re as which ar e essential for bringing life to namaa z. Namaaz gives life to you but after you gi ve life to namaa z. To make people reali ze that namaaz is som ething w hich is productive, it is the very ess e nc e of re ligion w ith w hi ch you can relate to God, you can be in communion w ith God. And onc e you have establish ed that communion, th en you know that y ou are in safe hands. This is th e ultimate awareness which has to be cr e at e d. As far as thos e who are y our targ e ts, J OU must approach them on a human level, on a l eve l oj e mot i onal exc it eme nt , on the level of personal understandin g. For that, th e Secretary Tarbiyyat should think of so many possibl e gam es to excite them and their hearts to a vibrant state, w her e by they begin to have the taste of prayer. Without that taste of prayer , no formal instruction can ever suc cee d. And th ey can be excited at every level differently. Namaaz comes to life when during th e namaa z, y ou ar e emotionally chargeJ either with sorro w or happiness and gratitude, not otherwise. The concept of w orship is born upon the knowledgeable after a lifetime of studies and experience cannot be shared by th e beginn e rs at all. It's just a theory if you think it can be shar e d. I tell children that whenever they're sad, when they lose something, when they are worried, then try to address God , if not in Arabic, because it's difficult for them to relate to God in the formal chanting of the namaa z, but I ha ve been telling them that you speak in your own languag e and addres s God simply, man - to - man. Not man-to-man but like man-to-man. And start talking to Him, and say 'Allah. ' This is my need and I must hav e it and what can I do about it?' And then wait for the response. And sometimes the response comes so fantastically, unbelievably. Even I am amazed because I thought Allah would be kind to these innocent children, but not the way they sometim es relate their response. So once the y taste prayer and the acceptance of prayer, forever they are sold to God. In our family, the elders of the family, right from the time of Hadhrat Masih-e-Mau'ood as, it was in fact started by Masih-e-Mau ' ood as himself He used to ask children to pray and to help him with their prayers. So also , Hadhrat Musleh Mau'ood ra did the same to his children. So also Hadhrat Mi an Bashir Ahmad Sahib ra used to do to his children. So on ce y ou ha ve th e bit e in pray e r, then the proc e ss b ec om es so ov erwhelming. You can 't abandon it, it won't abandon y ou. So it is that attitude in tarbiyyat at early c hildhood which has to be adopted. 7. Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih ra made the following remarks with regards to 'truthfulness '. Th en, th e most important thin g of tarb iyy at is th e habit of telling truth. No w thos e should start simultane ously. I c an 't sa y prefer this or that, gi ve pref ere nce to this o ve r that, be caus e both ar e hig hly e ss ential. They go hand in hand. If th e Se cr etary Tarbiy y at pe rforms only this task of making aw ar ene ss among th e ] ama ' at that the y must be tru e and nothing but tru e, at eve ry level of their daily act iv it y, th eir talk at hom e, th e ir stateme nts outsid e. If th ey make a jihad, a holy w ar , ag ainst lies, and by lies I don 't me an a lie of, which relates to, cons c ious stat eme nts. I'm talking of l ie s under th e l eve l of c onscious stateme nts, wh ic h is mor e difficult to det ec t and mor e re sponsible for th e li es of stateme nts when it c om es to making stat eme nts. Oth erwi se, if th e re is a simple fact that you inquire about which has no re lationship with the person from whom y ou inqu ire, he will alw ays tell th e truth. He will tell li es s om etimes, although he is not re lat e d. But only when he w ants to sho w off that he kno ws and when he fe e ls asham ed that if I told th e truth , he w ould think that I don 't know things. So som etimes pe opl e, th e childr en partic ularly, get addicted to this. Th ey must know , must ans we r eve rything , and th ey kno w eve rything, while the y don ' t. But for e very li e, th ere is a false idol, re member this. So if y ou do not root out li es at this level of which I'm talking, then you cannot root out shirk, 8. Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih IV 1 a underscored the need of simultaneous work in all departments to bring about a revolutionary progress of Jama' at that is the need of the time. If y ou do it night after night, th en Insha'Allah, th e re will be no n ee d for any further instructions and the ]ama'at will grow. If it grows in all areas of your various works simultaneously, you cannot imagine th e bi[J transformation that w ould be taking place , in th e area oj knowledge , in the ar ea of tarbiyyat, in the area of Dawat-e-Ilallah, in th e area of chandas, and so on and so forth. Wh en th ey be gin to gro w simultane ously , th en you can s ee th e re volution in th e offing. It will ce rtainly take place and America ne e ds such a re v olution.