Khilafat Centenary Souvenir 1908-2008 — Page 91
Service to Humanity Under Ahmadi Khulafa ---------------------------Falahud Din Shams "And for the love of Him, they feed the poor, the orphan and the prisoner. . . " The ninth condition of bai'at laid down by the Promised Messiah, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as , states: "That sjhe (the initiate) shall keep themselves occupied in the service of God's creatures, for His sake only; and shall endeavor to benefit mankind to the best of hisjher God-given abilities and powers. " The Promised Messiah as established this condition in accordance with the teachings of the Holy Qur 'an and the Tradition-comprised of the Sunnah and Hadith- of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa' v, who was himself a mercy for all of mankind. His service to orphans, widows, the sick, the elderl y, the needy and the helpless is unmatched in history and began we ll before he even claimed to be a prophet. The Holy Qur 'an commands Muslims to help the needy only for the sake of God. It says: ''And for the love of Him, the y feed the poor, the orphan and the prisoner, saying, 'We feed y ou for Allah's pl e asu re only. We desire no re w ard or thanks from y ou '. " (76:9 - 10) Khulafa of the Promised Messiah as fulfilled this Qur'anic commandment by following the example of the Holy Prophet Muhammad saw and the instructions of the Promised Messiah as. In their own capacities, and as prevailing conditions allowed, they served all sections of humanity, without regard to race, religion or creed. One institution that the Promised Messiah started was the Langar Khana (food kitchen open to all). All Khulafa have kept that tradition of establishing the Langar Khana, not only at the central location, but also in countries throughout the world. It is a unique establishment where anyone can go and have food and shelter. The following are but a few examples of services the Khulafa have rendered to humanity. By no means is it an exhaustive list. Everything presented here has been taken from well-known and widely published material, such as the History of Ahmadiyy at. Under the instruction I 9t of the Holy Qur 'an, 1 only Allah can know how much service they truly rendered to humanity, without announcement and publicity. Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih 1ra (1908-1914) Med i ca l Service - Qadian, being a remote village in the Punjab, did not have a hospital. Moreover, its residents were generally poor and unable to afford private medical services. Khalifatul Masih I, Hadhrat Hakeem Nooruddin ra , who was a ph ysician by profession, was employed in the service of humanity well before he even moved to Qadian. Throughout his life he relentlessly tended to the health of the poor and needy. He established a practice in Qadian, which was like a clinic or a mini-hospital, and was open to everyone. He himself diagnosed patients and provided them medicine, along with his special prayers. He was the only person providing for the medical needs of a large number of people in Qadian. Education - At the time, there was no formal system of education for the general public in Qadian and a large segment of its population was illiterate. Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih I'a was very concerned with providing basic education to the community in general, and Ahmadis in particular. While the Talim ul Islam High School had been established in 1898, during his Khilafat, it was relocated to better facilities and expanded. This move marked the beginning of Qadian's formal education system, which now benefitted the general public. Individual cases of the poor and needy would continuously come to the attention of Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih I'a. Despite the small size of the Jama 'at then, and its meager resources, he always responded by awarding education grants and providin cost-of-living allowances. The Qur'an states, "If you give alms openly, it · we!! and good; but if you hide them and give them to the poor. · is better for you, and He will remit from you many of your - dee ds. And Allah is Aware of what you do" (2:272).