In the Spotlight

IN THE SPOTLIGHT Abdul Fateh Ahmad is a Waqf-e-Zindagi (life devotee)

Abdul Fateh Ahmad is a Waqfe-Zindagi working on the Islamabad development project. He has been serving as a Waqfe-Zindagi for 6 years after completing his studies in Structural Engineering. He has been given the opportunity to serve on various tasks relating to Islamabad maintenance, Abdul Fateh Ahmad is a Waqfe-Zindagi working on the Islamabad development project. He has been serving as a Waqfe-Zindagi for 6 years after completing his studies in Structural Engineering. He has been given the opportunity to serve on various tasks relating to Islamabad maintenance, working on the Islamabad development project. He has been serving as a Waqf-e-Zindagi for 6 years after completing his studies in Structural Engineering. He has been given the opportunity to serve on various tasks relating to Islamabad maintenance, management and public affairs. management and public affmanagement and public affairs. airs.

How did you know you wanted to dedicate your life in service of your faith? Being part of the blessed Waqf-e-Nau scheme I knew from an early age that ultimately, I want to serve my faith. How I would be servicing my faith or when the right time to do so wasn’t clear at first but that’s where the Waqf-e-Nau scheme really helped guide me along my Journey. The most beneficial aspect of this was the classes with Huzoor-e-Aqdasaba. Huzoor’s guidance and training at every step nurtured my desire and affection towards serving my faith. I was in constant need of this guidance and would write to Huzoor at every stage of my studies about what to do next and it is only with this guidance that I knew when the right time was to dedicate my life.

What were the events leading up to your Waqf being approved by Hadhrat Khalifat-ul- Masih Vaba ?

Upon completing my studies in Civil Engineering, I presented myself to Huzoor-e-Aqdasaba to seek guidance on what to do next. On this occasion I re-affirmed my commitment to becoming Waqf, however Huzoor guided me to obtain some experience and get a job in the field of structural engineering. I asked for Huzoor’s special prayers in this regard as the job climate at the time wasn’t so good. Following my mulaqat a series of events took place in my life that were very faith inspiring for me and were only possible with Huzoor’s prayers and the help of Allah the Almighty. My track record for interviews was not good prior to this, in fact I struggled a lot with them. I was taught a prayer by my mother at an early age,

ﻲﻟﻮﻗاﻮﮭﻘﻔﯾﯽﻧﺎﺴﻟﻦﻣۃﺪﻘﻋﻞﻠﺣاويﺮﻣاﻲﻟﺮﺴﯾويرﺪﺻﯽﻟحﺮﺷابر This helped me a lot. By the grace of Allah, the first application I made, after meeting Huzoor, was successfully passed to the interview stage and then after the interview I was offered a job at a structural engineer design consultancy based in Brighton, Alhumdulillah. After receiving this news, I thanked God and remembered the words that Beloved Huzoor said to me when I expressed my concerns on the difficulties of getting a job, ‘don’t worry, you will get a job’. It was the blessed words of Beloved Huzoor that made me successful in my efforts. Over the following year, I wrote to Huzoor at every quarter with an update of what activities and experiences I have gained in practice . At every step I would reaffirm my desire to dedicate my life for the service of my faith. With Huzoor’s prayers and God’s Help, I was being given more and more responsibility at the company I was working in. After 14 months of working, upon my 5th report, Huzoor-e-Anwar graciously approved my Waqf.

When I received this approval, I straight away submitted my notice of resignation at the company I was working in. This was to the surprise of all the senior management in the company and the managing director even took me out of work one day to have a meeting over coffee with an aim of convincing me to stay. He asked me about the reasoning behind the move and weather it was money orientated. When I explained to him that I am now dedicating my life to the service of my faith and will be earning significantly less than I am now, he was surprised. After this rather than convincing me to stay he wished me well for the future. After my notice period, I reported to the Jamat to begin my service as Waqf-e-Zindagi.

Is there anyone who specifically inspired you? The first person in my family to do Waqfe was my Grandfather Ghulam Rasool sahib. The stories that I heard of his sacrifice inspired me. My father followed in his footsteps and is also waqf and this also inspired me to follow in the same footsteps.

What creates passion and motivation when you are carrying out your Waqf? The main source of motivation for me is Huzoor’s words.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to dedicate their life but is unsure about this life changing decision? First of all pray to Allah the All-Mighty to help you make the right decision. Get guidance from people around, but most importantly seek Huzoor’s guidance and advice. Bear in mind that doing full dedication to life devotion means working with passion and zeal under any adversity.

How important would you say are your earlier studies (Secondary School and University) in counting towards your ability to do Waqf? Early studies are very important in one’s development and therefore are very important in counting towards waqf. As Waqf-e-Nau we are encouraged to be best in what ever we do therefore it is important to excel in both secular knowledge and religious knowledge. What are three things you love about your Waqf? • Satisfaction that you are working purely for the sake of Allah the Almighty. • Being able to serve Khilafat in this capacity. • As Waqf-e-Zindagi you are expected to do what ever is asked of you, this presents a very interesting opportunity as you get the opportunity to do jobs you never expected to be doing.

How are you still keeping in touch with Hadhrat Khalifat-ul-Masih Vaba with regards to your Waqf? I keep a diary of activities that I am doing over the week and submit this in the presence of Huzoor-e-Aqdas. I routinely write letters to Huzoor for prayers and guidance. When I am fortunate to do so I meet Huzoor for a daftri mulaqat to seek guidance on particular matters relating to work I am doing.

Describe your daily routine? I wake up for Fajr prayers in the morning and try to offer Tahajud prayer before when I can. After Fajr I recite the Holy Quran with English translation.

Being based and posted in Islamabad, I sign into the office around 9am to start my days work. My routine has mixture of office and site activities including lining up routine maintenance activities, checking constriction work, designing, and preparing construction information. Most importantly preparing letters and reports that are presented to Huzoor so that our team can obtain constant guidance and advice from Huzoor (atba) on various matter. This guidance is the only key to success.

When there are events or visitors coming to Islamabad occasionally, I get the opportunity to be part of the arrangements team where I get to help set up and wind up for the events. I also have the honour of giving tours of Islamabad to distinguished guests.

My daily activities are scheduled around the prayer times and I offer my prayers in congregation behind Huzooraba . My work activities usually carry on up until Isha, after which I go home and spend what ever time I can with my family.

As an engineer you have been posted in Islamabad. But not everyone who is Waqf-eZindagi will be posted near or around Khalifatul-Masih or even in the same country. What advice do you have for such Waqfeen who will be posted far away from Markaz or their families? The essence of Waqfe is sacrifice, everyone will have their own experiences of what this sacrifice will be. This is why we are very fortunate as Ahmadi Muslims to have Khilafat to guide us and nurture us. Even though they will be far from Markaz they will always have the rope of Khilafat to hold on to that will guide them through their hardships or difficulties.

Please share a story or event you had with Hadhrat Khalifat-ul-Masih Vaba? One of the memorable moments I have had with Huzoor was when I had the opportunity to discuss the Masjid Mubarak Structural drawings with Huzoor. There were many occasions during the construction however the standout moment was almost a year and a half after the project. This incident took place in early 2021 quite some time after the project had been completed and the mosque was in use. One day, After Namaz Asr, outside the mosque Huzoor called me over to him, Huzoor quizzed me on a series of questions about the structure of the mosque. Huzoor then instructed me to bring the drawings and present them to him in his office. Later that day, I presented myself in Huzoor’s office with the drawings.

Huzoor examined the drawings and was teaching me the technical structural concepts that were adopted for the complex roof structure. Huzoor’s guidance was very important during the design and construction of the mosque and hence had great appreciation of these complex structural techniques. Even though I was involved with the project during construction, I felt that Huzoor was recapping these techniques with me as a revision exercise for me and my technical training.

The lesson I learnt from this was that, in particular with technical professions, one should always recap the work they have been involved with in the past to help improve their knowledge and understanding for the future.