Khilafat Centenary Souvenir 1908-2008 — Page 213
Khilafat Centenary Messages from Khulafa to the American Jama'at ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr. Kh alil~·~. . . . . . . . . Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih 11r a In 1956, Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih n ra expressed his desire that the United States should become the third country after Pakistan and India to adopt the scheme of wasiyyat (a will) and thereby lay the foundation for the promotion of the welfare of humanity on an ever - expanding scale. In his outline for the disbursement of the proceeds, fifty percent was to be sent to the markaz (headquarters) for its international tabligh (propagation) efforts under Tahrik-ej adid and Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya. ( president of administrative affairs of Ahmadiyya Community) Of the remaining half, three - quarters would be devoted to the propagation of Islam in the United States and one quarter would be devoted to the promotion of the welfare of poorer sections of the community , particularl y for their education and vocational training. He stated that the scheme of wasiyyat, being purely voluntar y and a gift for the service of Islam and humanity, would carry moral and spiritual benefits unparalleled by any other system. In a message sent on August 23, 1957, Huzur ra advised the membership to maintain a direct link with the Khalifa (spiritual leader, successor to the Promised Messiah as ). He exhorted that every Ahmadi should write a letter to the. . . . . . . . . . . . ac. A. u= directly. He felt that those who fa iled to d o _o weak in their belief in Ahmadi yy at. H e aid a letter was like "half a meeting ," an d it worrie him that those who lived thousands of mile m ·a · did not wish to even hold "half a m eetin "ich the Khalifa. Hadhrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih I I Ira Hadhrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad ru was the first Khali fa of the Promised Messiah as to visit the United States on the occasion of its J alsa Salana (annual convention) in August 1976. On August 7, 1976, in his concluding address in the final session of the convention , Huzur ruannounced a plan called "Leap Forward" as part of the Ahmadiyya Jubilee Centennial plan he had outlined in 1973 to span the period up to 1989. "Leap Forward" was intend ed to save the new generati ons of Ahmadiyyat in the nited States from untoward effects of the society the y li ved in and save the American popul a · o at large from de str ucti o d e to its excesses. H e em h~. . _,". ,-'"" the need to educate the youth in I larnic precepts and inculcate in them the l of life. He realized the imprac ticali~ · o _ Ahmadi schools for this purp o e. H e pn 1,:x:s::. ::t to obtain open tracts of land abo • _ each, outside of big cities in the 5 ·