Published on Dec 11 2011 by Baitun Noor Ishaat Department

Alhamdulillah by the sheer Grace of Allah the Almighty, Baitun Noor Region held its 3^rd Regional Office Bearers Forum on Sunday 11^th December 2011 at the Noor Hall in Baitul Futuh.  Planning for this event began a month in advance when the date of the event was first proposed and approved.  Initially it started with a one to one basis with meetings between the Regional Qaid and the Regional Aitmaad department.  Things then progressed to involve other senior Regional Amila members and planning went into full flow.  The local Motamids were responsible for the attendance of their local amilas and regular updates were obtained from them regarding this.

The event itself began with Zuhr and Asr prayers in the mosque at 1 pm.  At 1.30 pm registration took place in the Noor Hall.  The registration desk was manned by the local Motamids who then registered their respective amila members and handed them a Local Nazimeen Pack.  These folders were especially produced for the local nazimeen and each folder included the following….

Department Lae-Hae Aml, department Alme-inami criteria, instructions and annual plans from the national departments, Maal pack (s/o form, gift aid, how is my chanda spent?, how is chanda calculated), pledge, report form , MKA calendar, regional directory. All local and regional nazimeen had specific items related to their departments in these folders and the Qaideen had special packs made for them which encompassed most of these items for most departments.

The hall was set so that all Qiadats were seated with the local amila sitting behind their local Qaid. The opening session began promptly at 2 pm with Tilawat and pledge.  Regional Qaid Sahib then gave his opening speech.  He started off by welcoming all local and regional office bearers. He then went on to speak about the blessings bestowed upon office bearers from Allah, by enabling us and giving us the opportunity time and time again to serve Jama'at. One very poignant example given by Regional Qaid Sahib to prove this point was that of a sahabi of the Promised Messiah (as), who was appointed by the Promised Messiah (as) to do some small duties.  The sahabi on hearing this jumped for joy and continued to repeat ‘mein Masih ka chaprasi hoon, mein masih ka chaprassi hoon’.  Regional Qaid Sahib then went on to speak of the qualities we need to have as office bearers such as obedience, the spirit of sacrifice, and steadfastness in prayer.

The Regional Motamid then went through the days proposed agenda and the next item was the Question & Answer session with Imam Sahib of the London Mosque.  All office bearers proceeded to the Nasir Hall for the Q & A, which was held in conjunction with Tahir Region at 2.45 pm.  This was then followed by Maghrib prayer at 4pm.

The office bearers made their way back to the Noor Hall at 4.30 for tea and refreshments after which the different workshops were setup. Each regional nazimeen was assigned a table where he spoke to and presented to his local nazimeen in great detail about the respective departments and the roles and challenges for the nazimeen in the year ahead.  Some of the workshops were also attended by national Mohtimimeen, such as Muzaffar Bhatti Sahib from Ishaat, Kaleem Anwar Sahib from Maal and Zen Khan Sahib from Tabligh. The Qaideen were in a separate workshop with regional Qaid Sahib.  The workshops were held from 4.45 pm till 6pm and throughout this time the office bearers were provided with tea and refreshments.

The final Session was then held at 6.15pm and this was chaired by Regional Qaid Sahib and national Mohtamim Tabligh Zen Khan Sahib was the special guest from the National Majlis-e-Amila.  The final Session began with Tilawat and the Pledge.  The office bearers were then addressed by Zen Khan Sahib who spoke about the importance of the words we recite in our Khuddamul Ahmadiyya pledge and the importance of considering the holding of office as a blessing from Allah the Almighty.  The Regional Motamid then went through the day’s events in the event report after which Qaideen were presented with a framed copy of the pledge by Zen Khan Sahib.

In his closing speech Regional Qaid Sahib spoke again on the attributes of a good office bearer and the importance of our roles.  Why have we been chosen? As office bearers we have a huge responsibility, not only in our respective departments but also in our daily spiritual life.  He gave the example of Hadhrat Talha (ra) who protected the Holy Prophet (saw) from an array of arrows, using his bare hands, but his hand did not once fall. Years later he was asked if he felt any pain to which he replied ’God is my witness, had any one of those arrows harmed the Holy Prophet (saw) then I would have been in far worse pain’. Today in our role as office bearers, we not only carry out our duties, but through them and through prayers we must defend the name of Islam and the Holy Prophet (saw).

We ended the session with silent prayer and proceeded to the Nasir Hall for Dinner which was biryani.

On the whole, by the grace of Allah, the event was a success. 73 local office bearers (not including Qaideen were present from all 7 seven qiadats in our region, and 19 regional office bearers (including Qaideen) were present, giving a grand registered total of 92.  

May Allah enable us to fulfil our roles that Allah has blessed upon us.

Ameen