Wings of Duty

Wings of Duty — Page 2

Syed Muhammad Ahmad 2 would all go on to serve as pilots. On the left stands Sahibzada Mirza Tahir Ahmad rh who was 14 years old when the picture was taken, in the centre, dressed in his Air Force uniform is Deputy Muhammad Latif aged 23 and I am on the right aged 17. I have chosen to describe Sahibzada Mirza Tahir Ahmad rh (who later became the Fourth Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community) as a pilot because one of the meanings of this word is to ably and successfully command and control an organisation or movement. And as the 21-year-period of his khilafat testifies, he led and guided the organisational, social, educational, moral and spiritual needs of the community with unparalleled patience, strength, courage, steadfastness and zeal. The other two individuals in the photograph, Deputy Muhammad Latif and myself, merely became pilots of airplanes. However, due to the infinite grace of Allah, in 1947 both of us had the honour of serving the community by flying a small fleet of aircraft that the community owned. The two of us saw many divine signs during this period and for that too we were extremely grateful to Allah the Exalted. I will mention these signs in greater detail later on. Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih II ra , the Second Khalifa of