Khilafat Centenary Souvenir 1908-2008 — Page 183
Khilafat Centenary effective way to train those holding offices regarding the directives of the Khalifa, and how to best implement them at their local majalis (chapters). The concept has proven to be so successful, that Jama' at USA and other auxiliaries have created similar programs modeled after the @C. The Majlis has come a long way from its humble beginnings as an organization focused on training its youth. Realizing the desires of Khalifatul Masih IV rta in ensuring directly that our youth receive proper career guidance and training, the Majlis- a-Amila sent a proposal and received approval from Huzurrta in 1995 to initiate the Department of Amoor-e-Tulba (Student Affairs). In 2007, there were 10 active Ahmadiyya Muslim Student Association branches (AMSA). The Department of Sanat-o-Tijarat (trade and industry) sponsored 9 Regional Career Building workshops to support both the students and professionals who could take benefit of this resource. MKA USA places serving the community and mankind at the forefront of its activities. With this idea in mind, the Majlis expanded into participating in Adopt -a-Highway programs, blood donation drives, flu shot drives, walk-a-thons, meals-on -w heels, and feeding the needy. For the Fiscal Year 2007, MKA, USA fed 10,422 people; adopted 10 new highways and performed 56 clean-ups; and donated 3,639 articles of clothing. Khuddam performed 12 , 816 man- hours for Waqar-e-Amal (social work). Supporting Jama'at USA and the Worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih u ra clearly defined the role of Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya as the "backbone of thejama'at. " Members of MKA, USA are visible at all functions performing various duties, whether it is administrative or labor-intense; from supervising an entire J alsa Salana (annual convention) to discarding the last bag of trash at the end of the day. In 1997 , there were 85 Khuddam serving in some major role of the USAJalsa Salana; 10 years later atjalsa Salana 2007, there were over 200 Khuddam volunteering just within the Office of Khidmat-e-Khalq (service to humanity/fellow man) alone; a great majority of volunteers which make up the Muslim Television Ahmadiyya (MTA) USA Team are also Khuddam. Throughout the years, Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadi yya USA exclusively served as Hifazat-e-Khas, (special security) offering their lives to protect the Khalifa of the time while he visited and toured the United Stat ~ s. Although Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih IVrt a created "Humanity First" in UK, 't truly was not established as a charitable organization in USA until 2003. Abdul Shukoor Ahmad, Sadr Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadi yya from 1999 -2 002 spearheaded the effort to register the organization in the US with the IRS as a 501 (c)(3) non -profit charitable organization, and also purchased the domain site, humanity/mt. org. This brilliant vision of Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih IV rta was further shaped under the leadership of Naseem Ahmad Waseem , Sadr Majlis from 2002-06. Khuddam have played an active role in providing disaster relief after earthquakes in Japan, Turkey, India, and Pakistan; floods in Guyana and Bangladesh; the Asian tsunami; Hurricanes Katrina & Rita; and most recently the California wildfires, just to mention a few. In addition, long-term projects have been implemented, which take aim at providing poverty-stricken areas with the tools, skills, and knowledge to become self-sufficient and grow as a community. Such projects have been created in several African and South American nations. Another area of support provided by MKA, USA includes the virtual realm of the 21 ' 1 century. In the mid 1990s, when the Internet was in its infancy and long before alislam. org, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Student Association at the University of Texas at Austin, maintained an active and heavily populated Internet presence, providing information and material online about the Jama' at to the entire world. Today, the official website of the Worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, www. Alislam. org is managed and maintained solely by Jama'at USA, in which Khuddam volunteers play an active role. Over the last 3 years, Khuddam have also been cataloguing the many Majlis-e-Irfan (Question/Answer) sessions of Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih 1Vr 1 a, and placing these on askislam. com. Our team of Dallas Khuddam is leading the effort of recording and cataloguing 24 h our programming by MTA International.