Jama’at – especially those who have become distant – and see how they were doing. Beloved Hazuraba knew that with this sort of social isolation, mental illness – depression, anxiety, etc. – would be on the rise and it was important for everyone, especially office bearers, to check up on our fellow brothers and sisters and help them in their time of need as we never know what others are going through. He reminded us all of the importance of compassion and maintaining ties with our fellow Jama’at members. Of course, these lovely virtual mulaqats highlighted another aspect for me – that while we all missed being in the presence of Hazuraba, he also missed us. Watching the highlights from the Waqf-e-Nau UK virtual mulaqat on This Week with Hazur, hearing beloved Hazuraba request one of the participants to take off their masks so he could see their face, ‘Shakal dekha do na mujhe apni thori si’ (This Week with Hazur, March 5, 2021) – that exchange was so sweet and loving, it had me tear up. As Hazuraba mentioned how much time had passed since he had seen this group of Waqf-e-Nau, commenting on how well they had grown, it made me appreciate the opportunities I had had in the past to see Hazuraba and the connection I had built through writing letters regularly. It also further endeared Hazur-e-Anwaraba to me, as I had never thought about what the pandemic must have been like for him. In all this time, seeing Hazuraba take
on so many tours of various countries, some back-toback, one would think that the lockdowns would have given Hazur-e-Anwaraba much needed time to rest. Yet, throughout the pandemic Hazur’saba schedule hasn’t let up, considering the number of virtual meetings, online programs, etc., that have taken place. Taking into consideration Hazur’saba workload before COVID and even now, it baffles me how he is able to manage so much. Hazur-e-Anwaraba creates and takes every available opportunity to meet with the Jama’at and allow as many people to personally meet him as possible. He makes each individual feel as if they are the only one in Hazur’saba presence. For instance, I remember during one of Hazur’saba early visits to Canada, there wasn’t enough time to have many individual/family mulaqats. So, Jama’ati mulaqats were arranged. Hazuraba met with each member for a few seconds as we passed him in the old mission house hallway, allowing us to say our Salam and asking if we were Waqf-e-Nau – giving us Twix bars and pens as we walked through. Funnily enough, I didn’t think Hazuraba had heard my mother say that both my sister and I were Waqf-e-Nau over the group chatter. So, I said my Salam and was prepared to mope as I walked through the hallway, yet Hazuraba stopped me and handed me the Twix Bar and pen before allowing me to proceed. That feeling of being seen during such a hectic occasion, showed me how
