First Grain of Sand — Page 22
6 FIRST GRAIN OF SAND lives for the service of their faith. As a result, multiple students of Madrasah Ahmadiyyah and the nearby high school stepped forward to heed this call and submitted their requests to dedi- cate their lives for this cause. When my request to dedicate my life to this service was graciously accepted, I wrote to my mother about my new decision. My mother-who had not yet become an Ahmadi Muslim despite having great love and respect in her heart for this community-perhaps fearing that her son would live a poor life as a cleric, replied demanding I retract my dedi- cation to service, otherwise she would never forgive me. I wrote back conveying my commitment that after gaining this education at such a pure school, there was absolutely no chance I would pur- sue some standard worldly profession. I said that if she only knew that the path she is calling me towards is like a fiery oven that no mother would knowingly put her child in, then she would never forbid me from pursuing this noble work. Reading this response, my mother reconciled herself with my decision and gave me her blessings.