Khilafat Centenary Souvenir 1908-2008 — Page 73
he was appointed Sadr Majlis Ansarullah. At the time of the partition of Pakistan from India and migration of theJama'at's headquarters to Pakistan, he remained in Qadian until November 15, 19 47, in order to protect Qadian and its inhabitants from attacks by Hindus and Sikhs, From June 1948 to June 1950, he played an important role in the Furqan Force Battalion, an Ahmadi volunteer force for the cause of Muslim freedom-fighters of Kashmir, who offered its services to the government of Pakistan. In 195 3, during agitation against Ahmadis, Hadhrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad ra was arrested on an undeniably flimsy accusation. Thus, like Hadhrat Yusufas, he had to bear the hardships of prison where he was detained for nearly two months (from April 1 to May 28, 195 3). He bor e the hardships of the prison courageously. In Ma y 19 55, he was appointed Sadr of Anjuman Ahmadi yya (the main administrative bod y of the Jama 'at) by Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih n ra. He held this post until his election as Khalifatul Masih in 1965. He also served as Afsar J alsa Salana (Head Officer, Annual Convention) from 1959 to 196 5 until his election as Khalifatul Masih. Elected as Khalifatul Masih Upon the passing of Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih n ra, Hadhrat Mirza Nasir Ahmadr• was elected as the third Khalifa of the Promised Messiah as on November 8, 1965. He was highly educated and well-versed in religious knowledge when he became Khalifatul Masih Ill ra , fulfilling the glad tidings mentioned in earlier religious book s. It is written in Talmood, a book of traditions of Judai sm: "It is said that he (the Messiah) shall die and his kingdom descend to his son and grandson. " Talmood, Joseph Barkley , Chapter 5, Printed in London Various Schemes Launched During Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih lll'sra Khilafat During his Khilafat, Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih Ill ra launched many initiatives, some of which were: Feeding the Hungry: During the Friday Sermon of December 17, 196 5, he launched the "Feeding the Hungr y" project, announcing that no Ahmadi should go to bed with an em pty stomach. The responsibility for this lay up on each individual Ahmadi, and then upon the variousJama'at organizations. The Fazl -e- Umar Foundation: This proposal was launched in Dece mb er 1965, where Huzur r• asked for Rup ees 2,500,000 towards the Foundation. 3,750,000 rupees were collected. This Foundation funded the continuation of the projects began by H adhrat Musleh Mau'oodr •, which included literary writing competitions, construction of the Fazl-e-Umar Foundation Office, the Khilafat Library and a modern guest house. He performed the opening ceremony of the Khilafat Library in Rabwah on October 3, 1971. Talimul Q,ur'an: In 1966, in order to spr ead Talimul Qur 'an, Huzur ra estab li shed a new office of 'N azarat Islahu Irshad, Ta limul Qur'an' (Office of Education of the Holy Qur'an). H e paid special attention towards publication of the Holy Qur'an. Huzurr• once said that he had been told that during his Khilafa t, extraordinary Holy Qur'an publication work would take place which will be more than what has been done during the previous two periods of Khilafat. Accordingly, mor e than two times the number of the Holy Qur'an were published during his Khilafat. In order to print the H oly Qur'an in large numbers, on February 18, 19 70, he laid the foundation of a modern printing press in Rabwah which was named by him 'N usrat Printers and Publications '. During his Khilafat, copies of the Holy Qur 'an were placed in the rooms of various famous hotels of the world. He also initiated a plan fo r a large number of Ahmadis to become Hafz-e -Qur 'an (those who memorise the entire Qur'an). In this regard, he asked Khuddam to memorize initially, the first Chapter of the Holy Qur 'an. When this goa l was achieved, they were then instructed to start memorizing the second chapter, and so on. Waqf-e-Ardi: Waqf-e-Ardi means donation of an individual's time fo r a sh ort period. Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih IIIr• instituted this idea on March 18, 196 6 under which Ahmadi Muslims would spe nd at least two weeks of their time at a de signated place in the country and teach the local community the H oly Qur 'an an d explain to them the religion of Islam. In 1969, he established Majalis -e -Moosian