Perseverance — Page 181
PART III – My Return to the United States 181 THE FIRST NATIONAL PRESIDENT IN THE JAMA‘AH STRUCTURE I operated in St. Louis as a missionary. At that time the Missionary in Charge was leaving for Pakistan and the local branch presidents (who were called local ameeers at that time) elected me as the National President (Ameer). In this position I was responsible to coordinate all of the Jam ā ‘ah activities for the United States. This included planning Jalsa Sal ā na and meeting dignitaries. When Maul a n a Sheikh Mub a rak Ahmad came to the United States, he instituted the current system of organization which the American Jam ā ‘ah operates within today.