The Choice Is Clear but Time Is Short!

Imran Hayee, Na'ib Sadr Saff Dom

Twelve years ago, our beloved Imam, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih V (may Allah be his helper), expressed a wish for 50% of Chanda-paying members to enter the system of Wasiyyat. Today, we still fall short of fulfilling this noble wish of our Imam whom we proclaim to love and pledge allegiance to. Our inability to fulfill the twelve years-old wish of our beloved Imam does not support our claims of love for him and offer any sacrifice to guard the institution of Khilafat. This is a harsh reality, which respected Ameer Jama’at USA pointed to in his concluding address during the last year’s Ansar national Ijtima. He looked into our eyes and reminded us that we were neither at par with our claims to love our Imam, nor did we justify our status of being the role models for our families, as we, as Ansar, are behind Khuddam and Lajna in our Wasiyyat goal.

This is indeed the harsh reality of our lives. The good news, however, is that most of us despise this in our hearts. Therefore, Majlis Ansarullah, USA has taken the corrective measures to change the course by pledging that we will fulfill the twelve years-old wish of our beloved Imam before this year's national Ijtima in September, Insha’allah.

While many Ansar are taking the plunge to join the system of Wasiyyat as a gesture of showing obedience to our beloved Imam, it is important to understand the real purpose behind the system of Wasiyyat which Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih III (may Allah’s blessing be on him) beautifully explained, in his Friday Sermon of April 30, 1982. He said:

"The purpose of Wasiyyat is that among the members of the Ahmadiyya movement, there should be a group of people which should fulfill its obligations in view of the teachings of Islam with such diligence and sacrifice that it should become clearly distinguishable from the others. Wasiyyat does not mean merely to sacrifice one tenth of one’s property. Rather it is a system which lifts man from the depths of the earth and elevates him to the heights of heaven."

After contemplating the real purpose of Wasiyyat and reading the book Al-Wasiyyat (The Will) repeatedly, many Ansar show a concern that they do not consider themselves to be spiritually fit to join the system of Wasiyyat. In their hearts, they want to follow through the call of their Imam but think that their standard of piety is not high enough to join the system of Wasiyyat.

However, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih V has addressed their concern in these words:

“This is such a revolutionary system that if a person joins it with true intentions and later makes sincere efforts for self-improvement in accordance with the sayings of the Promised Messiah (may peace be on him), then with the blessings of this system the long spiritual journey that would have taken years to finish will be covered in days, and that of days will be covered in hours.” (Al Fazl International, Vol. 11, Issue No. 50, 2004)

No other auxiliary today needs this reminder more than Majlis Ansarullah. When we were Atfal (children), we thought that our whole lives were ahead of us. We soon graduated from Majlis Atfalul-Ahmadiyya to become Khuddam. We still thought we were too young. We then graduated from Majlis Khuddamul-Ahmadiyya to become Ansar. After our final graduation from Majlis Ansarullah though, we have only one place to go, where we all wish to have an Anjam Bakhair (goodly ending). This is such a convincing reason to join the system of Wasiyyat, leaving us no choice whatsoever. Twelve years ago, expressing his wish of 50% Ansar entering the system of Wasiyyat Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih V said, “The Promised Messiah mentioned that people who are concerned about achieving an Anjam Bakhair (goodly ending) and offer their prayers, should participate in this scheme.”

The time to join the system of Wasiyyat was twelve years ago or even before that. If we are lucky enough to be alive today to hear the call of our beloved Imam again, we ought to hurry. The risk of any further delay is chillingly high, as the Holy Qur’an depicts, “And spend out of that with which We have provided you before death comes upon one of you and he says, ‘My Lord! if only Thou wouldst grant me respite for a little while, then I would give alms and be among the righteous.” [63:11]

Alhamdulillah, many Ansar throughout the nation are paying heed to the call of their beloved Imam by joining the system of Wasiyyat and Zu’ama are working diligently to communicate the message to each and every Nasir in their respective Majalis.

The work is far from over, though.

My dear brothers, let's continue to pray and strive hard that may Almighty Allah enable us all to fulfill the twelve years-old wish of our beloved Imam before our national Ijtima in September.

Now, it's up to us to make a choice about which half of the Ansar we want to be part of. The choice is clear but time is short.