After reciting Tashhahud, Ta’awwuz and Surah Al-Fatihah, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V^(aba) said:

With the Grace of Allah the Almighty, today you have once more been enabled to participate in a Waqf-e-Nau Ijtema. Te purpose of holding these Ijtemas is to make you realise that you are a Waqfe-Nau, and thus to give you an opportunity to exceed other Ahmadi youth by acquiring greater knowledge regarding the teachings of the Jama’at, and then by implementing those teachings to a greater degree than others. Therefore attending the Ijtema is not something you should take for granted, but rather you should realise it has a deep importance and significance.

Before you were born your parents made a pledge on your behalf to dedicate you for the services of the Jama’at, and a large proportion of you have now reached an age where you have confirmed and reiterated that pledge. And so I hope and expect that all of you who are seated before me today will make every effort to fulfill this pledge throughout your lives until your last breath.

Today I would like to speak to you on a few matters. First of all, a very important issue is that what did the Promised Messiah^(as) expect from us? Every Ahmadi, and a Waqf-e-Nau in particular, makes a pledge at the time of the Bai’at that they will give precedence to their faith over all worldly matters. Giving precedence to one’s faith over worldly matters means that a person should always give priority to the commands and teachings of God over all worldly affairs. Therefore, the first objective of a Waqf-e-Nau is to use and sacrifice all of his abilities, skills and talents for the sake of serving His religion. One can give time and attention to worldly matters that have been permitted by Allah, but only after he has first given preference to his religious duties.

It is quite possible that many of you among the Waqifeen-e-Nau will not be taken into regular service by the Jama’at, as the Jama’at will say that for the time being they do not require your services. There will be a small proportion among the Waqifeen-e-Nau whom the Jama’at will select to carry out regular service. However, those of you who are permitted to carry out worldly jobs should always keep in view, that whenever you are called to serve the religion, whether as a volunteer or as a full-time worker, then you should immediately, without offering any excuse, present yourself for service.

Then another huge responsibility upon you is that you should safeguard and protect your prayers, because Allah the Almighty has assigned the purpose of the Creation of man as the worship of God. And so naturally those who have pledged to sacrifice their entire lives for the sake God must especially establish the very highest standard of safeguarding their prayers. According to the teachings of Islam, for males, ‘safeguarding’ one’s prayers means to pray the five daily prayers on time and to make the greatest possible effort to pray it in congregation, as has been commanded by Allah the Almighty for believers.

Then to read the Holy Qur’an daily is also very important for a true Muslim, but I have observed that even some Waqifeen-e-Nau do not give attention to regularly reading the Holy Qur’an. Hence you need to give constant heed to reciting the Holy Qur’an on a regular basis. However, you should not just read the Arabic text, but rather you should also study and learn the translation so that you become familiar with the commands of Allah Ta’ala and then can strive to lead your lives in accordance with them. And when you lead your lives according to the commands of Allah Ta’ala, many of the apparent vices and ills in you will be eradicated. Living here in the West, you will at times be drawn towards bad and immoral habits and tempted towards the evils of the society.

And so you must always focus on constantly saying Istighfaar in accordance with the guidelines and instructions given by Allah Ta’ala. You should also strive to keep your minds and thoughts pure and un-adulterated. And instead of succumbing to the influence of the society around you, you should try to influence the society you live in. Without any inferiority complex, you should explain to others the beautiful teachings of Islam. If you carry this out you will be doing a huge service as Waqif-e-Nau. There are now thousands of Waqifeen-e-Nau and therefore if just each Waqif-e-Nau within his own circle and environment discharges the responsibility of spreading the teachings of Islam, we can introduce the beautiful teachings of Islam, through the Ahmadiyya Jama’at, to a wide section of the society.

In today’s word Islam is being defamed as a result of the actions of individuals who become radicalised and join extremist groups and organisations, which both preach extremism and carry out extremist acts. There are hundreds of youth who have left Britain and travelled to Iraq and Syria where they have joined the so-called Islamic organisation, ISIS or IS. These deluded youth passionately believe they are going there to serve Islam, whereas in truth their actions have no connection whatsoever with the teachings of Islam. The blame perhaps does not fall on the youth as much considering they were given a wrong picture of Islam and taught about it in a certain way. As a result these youth, after falling into the influence of these mistaken beliefs, then tried to act upon them.

However, the youth in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, and the Waqifeen-e-Nau youth in particular, right from childhood are expected to learn the true teachings of Islam and are also taught its correct teachings. The true teachings of Islam can be ascertained from the Holy Qur’an alone. Thus we have been bestowed with a great favour and blessing in this era as we have been enabled to accept the Imam of the time, the Promised Messiah^(as), who has enlightened us with the correct teachings of Islam and the Holy Qur’an. Hence when in these countries there are youth who, as a result of mistaken beliefs about Islamic teachings, commit barbaric and cruel atrocities, the Ahmadi youth, and in particular the Waqifeen-e-Nau, should make great efforts to acquire religious knowledge. Thus, wherever you may be, whether at school, college, university, or at work in a company, you should enlighten the world using this knowledge by conveying the true teachings of Islam. Waqifeen-e-Nau must strengthen their faith and this will only be possible when you learn the true teachings of the religion. So while you should read the translation of the Holy Qur’an, you should also read the books of the Promised Messiah^(as). Certainly, you should at least make every effort to read the books of the Promised Messiah^(as) that have been translated into English if you cannot read Urdu, because you will attain the true understanding and knowledge of the religion through them.

Always remember the statement of the Promised Messiah^(as) when he said: The members of our Jama’at should demonstrate their good examples. Anyone who is a part of our Jama’at and yet displays a bad example and shows weakness in his actions or belief, is extremely unjust and cruel.

Although this was the general expectation the Promised Messiah^(as) had of each and every member of the Jama’at, a Waqif-e-Nau has pledged to dedicate his entire life for the sake of serving his religion. And so a Waqif-e-Nau should take special care not to show any weakness in his belief or actions, through which other Ahmadis or even non-Ahmadis may falter, stumble or be misled.

You should have a strong and unwavering belief that the Holy Prophet^(sa) is the Khatamun Nabiyyin – The Seal of all the Prophets. You should have complete belief that the Holy Qur’an is the Final, Law-Bearing Book. And you should have firm faith and complete conviction that the Promised Messiah^(as) was indeed sent by Allah the Almighty in accordance with the prophecy of the Holy Prophet^(sa), and that he is the Messiah and Mahdi who was foretold to appear in this era. And his rank and status, according to the prophecy of the Holy Prophet^(sa), is of a Prophet. However he is an Ummati Nabi and a Non-Law Bearing Prophet as he brought no new law with him, but rather he came only to spread the Law and message of the Holy Prophet^(sa) all over the world. You should also have complete belief in the fact that Allah the Almighty has provided the means and resources in this era – the era of the Promised Messiah^(as), to complete the propagation of Islam. At the time of the Holy Prophet^(sa) the Law had reached its perfection and thus he was the Khatamun Nabiyyin – The Seal of all the Prophets. However, the means to spread the message to all parts of the world had not yet appeared, such as the media and other forms of spreading the message.

At the time of the Promised Messiah^(as), in accordance with the promises of Allah the Almighty, the means and resources became available such as the media, television, press and so on, which provided the platform for the message of Islam to reach from one corner of the world to the other. With the Grace of Allah the Almighty, today the Ahmadiyya Jama’at also has been given these means by Allah Ta’ala to spread Islam’s teachings to the world. Thus, it is the duty of every member of the Jama’at, whichever part of the world they live in, to make full and proper use of these modern means and resources. They should strive to propagate the message of Islam in all directions and in all parts of the world, and thus share in the blessings which Allah the Almighty has conferred upon us in this era.

Further, you should also have absolute belief and conviction that after the demise of the Promised Messiah^(as), in accordance with his prophecies and the prophecies of the Holy Prophet^(sa), the real and true system of Khilafat has been established, which you must obey and follow fully. A very important means of fulfilling obedience to Khilafat and implementing the guidance of the Khalifa is in the shape of the great favour and blessing Allah the Almighty has established for us through MTA. Therefore, through MTA you should make every possible effort to regularly listen to my Sermons wherever you may be, whether through the TV, Computer, Laptop or mobile phone. In this era no one can justifiably make the excuse that they were unable to receive the message or teachings, as through the media and other means everything is now easily and readily available to us at the click of a button. And so in terms of the Sermons they can also be accessed easily in many different ways.

You can watch the sermons on MTA through TV, or you can download it from the MTA website or watch it through the MTA On-Demand service. There are also other programmes on MTA which are important for you to watch as they will enhance your religious knowledge and will also be a source of strengthening your bond with Khilafat. Another means of increasing your religious knowledge is also through the Alislam website, where a wide range of material is available. And so as you have reached a mature age you should connect yourselves as much as possible to all these various resources and means. By doing so, while you should try to increase your knowledge, you should also use these means to strengthen your connection with Khilafat and discharge your responsibility of giving precedence to the faith over worldly affairs.

Nowadays there are countless programmes on TV and there are websites on the Internet or other things which draw a person’s interest and attract his attention. Using them never comes to an end and so to say we have to finish or complete our worldly activities and engagements first and then watch MTA on TV or through streaming, will mean that in reality you will never find time to watch MTA. In order to discharge your responsibilities by benefitting from those means and resources that will enhance your religious knowledge, you will have to give precedence to your religion and faith over worldly programmes and activities.

Also remember that Hazrat Musleh Maud^(ra) gave a motto for the youth of the Jama’at, which was: A Nation Cannot be Reformed without First Reforming its Youth. Although every Ahmadi Khadim should keep this motto in view at all times, a Waqif-e-Nau youth should give far greater attention to this than others, because you are those who, as I have said, have presented yourselves to serve the religion. So whether you are a regular and fulltime Jama’at worker or not, as a Waqif-e-Nau, you are responsible to elevate the level of your self-reformation to such a degree, that each of you feels that your standard of reformation and your every action is the means of the progress of the Jama’at and the progress of your nation. This reformation can only occur, as I have said, when you understand the true teachings of Islam, when you strengthen your faith and belief and when you strive to perform your every action and lead your lives according to the teachings of Islam. Always remember that the non-Ahmadi Muslim youngsters who mistakenly believe that to reform the world they have to establish an Islamic Government and give up their lives joining Jihadi groups, can in this way neither benefit the world, nor reform themselves. And also they will fail in trying to establish the honour and good reputation of Islam.

To establish Islam’s good name and reputation, the only principle that will succeed and avail is that which Allah Ta’ala guided the Imam of the Time regarding, which in light of the teachings of the Holy Qur’an, was to always keep in view the two rights that man must discharge. The first right is to discharge the right of Allah with all the pre-requisites. And the second is to strive to discharge the right of God’s creation using all of your strength and abilities. Therefore, today I will say to the Waqifeen-e-Nau, that you need to fully understand both these rights, and to understand them, as I said before, you have to study and understand the Qur’an, the teachings of the Promised Messiah^(as), and you must go on strengthening your relationship with Khilafat. If you do all of this, you will then be worthy of being called an excellent Waqife-Nau. Then wherever in the world you are, whichever company or job you may be working in, you will be known as a true Waqif-e-Nau and will be demonstrating Islam’s true image to others. And in this way you will be discharging the right of your religion, community and people and thus in this way you will also be discharging the right of your Waqf.

Te Waqifeen-e-Nau who are studying at school in lower years should also always remember this in this age of childhood from the age of 10 upwards, in which Allah has made prayers obligatory, whatever you will learn at this age will benefit you for the rest of your lives. Do not consider the age of 10 to be a childish age, as Allah has said that prayers are obligatory at this age, and prayers are compulsory only when you are in an age of full consciousness and sense. Thus, this is not only an age of playing, but it is an age where you can establish a relationship with Allah, strengthen your connection with the Jama’at, and enhance your bond of loyalty with Khilafat. Hence, give attention to these things from childhood. If you do all of this then you will Insha-Allah also progress and succeed in your education also because when you will follow the commands of Allah, you will receive His rewards and blessings as well. Similarly, you should also act upon the good and pious advice given to you by your parents, which will help connect you with your religion to the greatest degree possible and will also help to improve your life.

Waqifeen-e-Nau should also remember that by just being a member of the Waqf-e-Nau scheme alone does not give you any exceptional honour. A Waqif-e-Nau should show utmost humility and never look down upon his younger brothers and sisters or other members of the Jama’at; rather you should be respectful towards everyone and be grateful to God that you are part of Waqf-e-Nau. You should give heed more than others to serving your parents and your brothers and sisters. In the same way always remember that you must try to regulate your lives. When you return from school you should avoid immediately sitting in front of the TV, rather you should set aside some time for playing, for sports, for school homework and also for studying. If you regularly act upon all of these things then, as you grow older, your lives will continue to improve and all of this will prove to be a source of benefit. May Allah enable all of you to act upon all of this. Ameen.