Raising a Waqf-e-Nau

It was during the time of a righteous woman, the mother of Mary and the woman of Imran when she said ‘My Lord, I have vowed to Thee what is in my womb to be dedicated to Thy service. So do accept it of me; verily, Thou alone art All-Hearing, All-Knowing.’

On 3rd April 1987, Hazrat Khalifatul Massih IV (rh) proposed to the Community to follow the traditions of the Prophets and dedicate their most prized possession-, their yet to be born children in the way of Allah, to the cause of Islam, propagation of Ahmadiyyat and service to mankind. To present one’s child to Allah is an extremely important event and is no ordinary thing and it is a form of gift which one should present to Allah in a beautiful way. The beauty of a human is through his Taqwa – righteousness. So, before these children have grown to an age that they are to be ‘given’ to the Jama’at, their parents have a great responsibility.

In his Friday Sermon, Huzoor (rh) said: ” Allah turned my attention to this matter so that I should ask you to vow that the children born to you in the next two years, whether male or female, would be offered for Waqf as a gift to Allah. The expectant mothers who could not participate in this scheme before can take part in it now. They can also vow. But this vow has to be made by both parents. They should decide on this together, so that there is unity of purpose in the upbringing and education of these children. And they should start training them in the best possible way right from their childhood.”

Initially, the scheme was launched for two years, but this was later extended to four and after that the scheme was made permanent with the added clause that those parents who wish to devote the lives of their children must do it before their birth.

On 10th and 17th February 1989, Huzoor (rh) mentioned some of the responsibilities of parents towards Waqifeen-e-Nau of which I will list some below:

1. Parents should watch their children closely.
2. They should pay special attention to certain aspects of moral training.
3. If the parents think their child is not worthy for Waqf, then they should fear God and inform the Jama’at.
4. Parents should inculcate love and truthfulness in the heart of their children.
5. Parents will have to attend to their own training before training their children.
6. Parents will have to be more cautious and careful during conversation in their homes and avoid any kind of gossip.
7. They should be taught contentment and dislike to greed for wealth and material gain.
8. Parents should help their children to attain the highest standard of honesty and trust worthiness.
9. Parents should teach their children to be jovial and pleasant.
10. Good humor and forbearance are the two qualities that Waqifeen-e-Nau should be taught.
11. From the beginning, Waqifeen-e-Nau should be taught the Holy Qur’an.
12. Parents should inculcate in their child the habit to recite the Holy Qur’an daily and with comprehension.
13. Parents should ensure that their children have a vast religious and secular knowledge.
14. Parents should subscribe to magazines and newspapers for their children.
15. Parents should instill in them the habit of reading books that will increase their knowledge
16. When Waqifeen-e-Nau go to school, parents should choose such subjects for them that will introduce them to science. They should have some knowledge of all the diverse subjects.
17. Waqifeen-e-Nau should be taught patience and tolerance.
18. Waqifeen-e-Nau should be taught from childhood the habit of stating what is known to be a fact as a fact and what is a surmise as a surmise.
19. They should be taught typing.
20. They should be taught how to keep account. There should be great emphasis on honesty.
21. Huzoor (rh) said “Great nations are made in their homes”
22. From childhood, Waqifeen-e-Nau should be made strong and obedient to the Nizaam-e- Jama’at.
23. Parents should not say anything against the Nizaam-e-Jama’at in their homes.
24. Waqifeen-e-Nau should be trained to become great leaders.
25. Teach loyalty to your children.
26. Explain to your children that Waqf is a solemn matter; that it is a vow that you made with Allah.
27. Huzoor (rh) said “Once I had the chance of visiting Disneyland in America. There was a ride that had extremely dangerous turns and a very fast speed. It took sudden turns that could be dangerous for individuals with weak hearts. So they had posted warnings stating that you can go back at this point and in the end there was a warning in red that said; “This is the end. Now you cannot go back.” So, there will be a ‘gate’ when the children who have been dedicated for Waqf now, will be told, “This is the last door after this you cannot go back. If you have courage to bargain your life, if you can offer everything to Allah irrevocably, only then come forward otherwise go back immediately.” So make them ready to pass through this gate now.”
28. It is important and necessary to pay attention to their physical health from the childhood. They should be encouraged to partake in sports.
29. Keep them away from absurd literature.
30. Great emphasis should be laid on Arabic and Urdu. After that their local language. Chinese and Russian are also important.
31. Their good manners should win the hearts of the people.
32. Waqifat-e-Nau should be taught home management and household account.
33. Waqifat-e-Nau should be taught teaching, medicine, computer science, typing, languages.
34. Great emphasis should be laid on prayers so they have a close and personal relationship with Allah from childhood.

These were some of the points Hazrat Khalifatul Massih IV (rh) mentioned in his Friday Sermons. Parents should listen to the full Friday Sermons which are also available in the ‘Resource’ section.

Parents have a great responsibility as their Waqf-e-Nau children will be the leaders of the future nation. Tarbiyyat plays a great role, and the first example children see are that of their parents. For that parents are also requested to do the following:

1. A personal file should be created for each Waqf-e-Nau child. This file should contain the birth certificate, Waqf-e-Nau acceptance letter, vaccination record, etc. Your child’s progress should also be recorded in this file, e.g. the date when Yassarnal Quran was completed, the date when Salat was memorized, and the school reports from school. A copy of the file should be kept with the local Waqf-e-Nau secretary. When moving to another town, this file should be passed on to the new Waqf-e-Nau secretary. Copies of all documents should be sent to the National Headquarters so central records are up to date and complete.
2. Parents should adopt an attitude of moderation in their child’s training. The child should be treated neither with extreme strictness nor with excessive lenience.
3. A child’s training should be done by personal example. Parents should develop all those habits in themselves which they would like to see in their children.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Massih V (Aba) delivered many Friday Sermons and Addresses regarding the responsibilities of Waqifeen-e-Nau and their parents. Addressing parents, Huzoor (Aba) mentioned in his Address on 06th May 2012 at the Baitul Futuh Mosque “I would also like to advise the parents of the Waqf-e-Nau about training of their children. They should supervise and cater for the moral training of all of their children and not just for those who are part of the Waqf-e-Nau scheme…..You should always remember that if your eldest child is a Waqf-e-Nau, then if you carry out his moral training properly, he will become a positive role model for his younger siblings. In this way, they will learn from his good behaviour.”

Further, our beloved Huzoor (Aba) stated in his historical Friday Sermon on 28th October 2016 “The training of every Ahmadi child depends on parents and parents want good for their child. The parents who are inclined toward religion, want his secular education, training and religious education as well. But this should be remembered that every child, especially Waqf-e-Nau child is a trust of the Jama’at with them. His training and making him the best part of the Jama’at and the society, is the duty of the parents. But, the training of the Waqf-e-Nau children, their secular and religious education with special attention and handing them over to the Jama’at after preparing them, becomes a responsibility for another reason as well. That, before birth, the parents pledge that whatever will be born, boy or a girl, they will present it for Allah’s religion, for the completion of the mission of the true servant of the Holy Prophet (May peace be on him) which is the mission of the completion of the propagation of the guidance, which is the mission of spreading the Islamic education in the world, which is the mission of drawing the attention of the world toward fulfilling the right of God and which is the mission of spreading the Islamic education of fulfilling the mutual rights of every person in the world.”

Further Huzoor (Aba) said in the same Friday Sermon “So what the parents will instill in the minds of their children from the beginning that they are the Waqf-e-Nau children and they [parents] dedicated them [children] purely to serve the Faith. And this is the purpose of their [children’s] lives, and they will be praying along too, then the children will grow up with the mindset that they have to serve the faith. They will not grow up thinking to become a businessman or a player, or to go into a certain field. Instead, they will ask the question that they are Waqifeen-e-Nau and the Jama’at or the Khalifa tells them what field they should enter. They have nothing to do with the world.”

Huzoor (Aba) also mentioned in the same Friday Sermon that parents should be an example for their children and that their words and actions should go side by side. Huzoor (Aba) said “I want to tell the parents that no matter how much training they impart verbally, it will be ineffective until their words and actions do not conform to that. The parents will have to model their praying conditions. They will have to establish the patterns of reciting and teaching of the Holy Qur’an. They will have to become a role model of high morals. They themselves will have to turn to acquiring religious knowledge. High standards of hating falsehood will have to be founded. Despite harm done to some by some office bearer, they will have to refrain from talking in their homes, against the Jama’at system or the office bearers. On MTA, at least my sermons will have to be listened to regularly.”

I would like to end this section with a quote of our beloved Huzoor (Aba), in which he said “So, I want to convey to all such mothers and fathers that just the name of Waqf-e-Nau is not enough. Rather, Waqf-e-Nau is an important responsibility. It is the responsibility of the parents until Waqf-e-Nau becomes an adult and thereafter it becomes his own responsibility.”

May Allah enable us to fulfill this great responsibility in the best possible way. Ameen