Tarbiyyat - Tarbiyyat

The response of the believers, when they are called to Allah and His Messenger in order that he may judge between them, is only that they say:

And it is they who will prosper. (Chapter 24 Verse 52)

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْم

Tarbiyyat Plan of Action

for Jama’ats in the United Kingdom

The following plan of action has been formulated, in accordance with the basic guidelines given by Huzoor-e-Anwar أيّده الله تعالىٰ بنصره العزيز, after consulting with missionaries, secretaries for Tarbiyyat and some local presidents. Once approved by Huzoor-e-Anwar, it will be effective immediately and will act as a permanent procedure.

“There is a need to make efforts regarding Tarbiyyat at every level. Once the task of Tarbiyyat has been adequately accomplished, issues pertaining to other departments will start resolving on their own. That will lead to an overall awakening in the Jama’at.” (Huzoor-e-Anwar)

The attendance at the Friday sermon should be properly assessed and a record of that should be retained. However, there is no need to check with each individual.
Keep a suitable break between observing Tarbiyyat Days, lest people become weary and lose interest.
Pay special attention to the Tarbiyyat of office bearers. If they become active, there will also be improvement in attendance at prayers and other Jama’at
If the missionary is not available during Jumua at some place, then the local president should admonish members, in his brief sermon, regarding attendance at Friday prayers.

The Role of Missionaries

The prime duty of missionaries is that of Tarbiyyat, Tabligh and Talim. Therefore, they will have a key role to play in these departments.
It will be their responsibility to comply with this plan and to oversee its implementation, while repeatedly reminding the members. The enormous task of Tarbiyyat is immensely important. All missionaries should exert their utmost efforts in this regard while working to the fullest of their abilities.
In addition to keeping in contact with the presidents of their respective region, missionaries will also be responsible for always maintaining regular and close contact with the local Tarbiyyat Missionaries should guide, help and encourage them and thereby initiate an awakening in every Jama’at of their region so as to improve their zeal and efficiency in terms of Tarbiyyat. They should constantly remind them about these matters and look for improvement.
Each missionary should have a complete list of Tajneed of all the Jama’ats of his region.
Missionaries should repeatedly visit every Jama’at of their respective region for the purpose of implementation of the Tarbiyyat plan of action. They should assess in which aspects a particular Jama’at is showing a shortcoming or slackness and constantly remind them about those matters.
In their weekly report, they should briefly mention about their efforts regarding the Tarbiyyat plan and submit a comprehensive report at the end of every month.

The Role of Local Secretaries for Tarbiyyat

Local Tarbiyyat secretary will have an important and prime role to play regarding the implementation of the Tarbiyyat plan of action. It will be his responsibility to comply fully with every aspect of the plan and to implement it with perseverance. With assistance from the local president, it will be the duty of every local secretary for Tarbiyyat…:

…to expand the scope of Tarbiyyat to every single member of the Jama’at.
…to activate and awaken the Jama’at members in terms of Tarbiyyat and to ensure the implementation of each aspect of this plan.
Secretary for Tarbiyyat should have one assistant and should form a local Tarbiyyat committee comprising of a few members, who continuously work together for the progress of the plan.
In order to highlight the importance of Tarbiyyat, speeches on Tarbiyyat topics should be organised to be delivered by members during local monthly meetings. Likewise, any new instructions received from the Markaz should be conveyed to members at such occasions.

**Observance of Salat, Building of Mosques & Establishing Salat Centres**

Observance of five daily prayers is a fundamental tenet of Islam. There still exists a grave slackness in this respect and there is a dire need of persistent utmost efforts.

Special attention should be given to increasing attendance at mosques and Salat-centres. The secretary for Tarbiyyat of every Jama’at is responsible for a) maintaining an attendance register of Salat and b) for persistently improving upon the current situation.
To begin with, a comprehensive assessment should be made to establish the current attendance. That will be considered the starting point; based on which, any further improvement will be measured.
Constant reminders should be given, which emphasise the importance of Salat. Each fifth or sixth local sermon should be on the topic of Salat. Although this sermon should be brief as usual, nevertheless, repeatedly highlighting the importance of Salat is vital.
Every Ahmadi man and woman is obliged to observe five daily prayers. It is particularly obligatory for men to offer Fajr and Ishaa’ prayers in congregation at the nearest mosque or Salat-centre. This should be done with special devotion. The attendance of both of these prayers should be recorded in a register. The secretary for Tarbiyyat of every Jama’at should undertake satisfactory arrangements to maintain this record and should continuously try to improve upon it.
In order to increase the attendance at Salat, the following method should be put in place:
Fifteen minutes prior to the Salat, a telephone reminder should be given to those members of the Jama’at, who usually do not come for Salat. A chain system can be introduced for telephoning. One person should be called and he should call the next person to remind and so on.
Those members, who, due to distance or lack of transportation, find it difficult to come to the mosque or Salat-centre, could be offered the following facility: Smaller areas could be formed within a Jama’at. Those regular mosque-goers with cars, who live in those areas, could then be appointed to collect such members from a designated roadside at a previously agreed time, bring them to the mosque and drop them off at the same place after Salat. If this is done with persistence, there can be a substantial improvement in the attendance.
Mosques have been established in several Jama’ats and the process of building new mosques in ongoing. In addition to this, following steps need to be taken:
Those Jama’ats, who do not have a mosque at present, must establish one or more Salat-centres after a survey to observe Fajr and Ishaa’ prayers congregationally. These Salat-centres will serve as a seed and will pave the way towards the construction of mosques.
The house of any Ahmadi could serve as a Salat-centre, where members could offer congregational prayers. The Salat-centre being at someone’s house will be a great source of blessings for the household. Ladies and children of that household will also get the opportunity to observe Salat If no such Ahmadi household is found, then an alternative place could be hired for that period, with the prior approval of Markaz. Secretary for Tarbiyyat should forward this request through the local president.
In such places, where there is a mosque available, but members live at a distance, one or more Salat-centres should be established after an assessment. There should be no Ahmadi who is not attached to any mosque or Salat-centre.

**A Strong Bond with Khilafat and Arrangements to listen to Friday Sermons**

It is highly important that all members of the Jama’at listen to Friday sermons of Huzoor-e-Anwar and form a strong attachment with Khilafat. Thus, each Jama’at should undertake the following assessments:
How many members listen to the Friday sermon at the mosque or Salat-centre?
How many of them listen to the full sermon attentively?
How many of them fully understand the sermon?
How many of them act upon the advice given in the sermon?
After having recorded this assessment, an evaluation should be done on a monthly basis, to see whether there has been any improvement or not.
Alongside Urdu, arrangements should also be made at all mosque and Salat-centres, for listening to the English translation of the Friday sermon.
Members should be repeatedly informed via different channels, as to when and through which means, they can listen to the Friday sermon.
On Friday evenings, members of each Ahmadi household should sit together to collectively watch and listen to the repeat telecast of the Friday sermon on MTA. Difficult words should be explained to children at this occasion.
A series of speeches and Duroos should be delivered on the topic of ‘the blessings and benefits of listening to the Friday sermon’ to inspire those who fail to do so.
A summary of the Friday sermon is uploaded onto org soon after its broadcast. Moreover, the Daily Alfazl Rabwah also publishes a summary after a couple of days. One could benefit from both of them.
The national Tarbiyyat secretary in the UK, also sends out some important points from the sermon in Urdu and English to all the Jama’ats on the same Friday evening. This summary could be read out to the worshipers after Ishaa’
In order to create a strong bond with Khilafat, every Ahmadi should write at least one letter each month to Huzoor-e-Anwar, requesting prayers and informing Huzoor about his spiritual progress.
In order to strengthen the personal contact with Huzoor-e-Anwar, group Mulaqats should be arranged, with prior permission, so that members of the Jama’at may benefit from Huzoor’s advice and blessed company.

he role of Majlis-e-Amila

Amila members at every level have an important role to play, in creating awareness in the members of Jama’at for their reformation.
Members of Majlis-e-Amila at every level (i.e. central Majlis-e-Amila, Majalis-e-Amila of Ansar, Khuddam and Lajna, as well as the local Majlis-e-Amila) should be fully aware of their obligations.
All members of Amila should observe Salat without any fail whatsoever [“Pakkay Namazi”]. If they are actively participating in Salat, the rest of the Jama’at will also become active.

In this regard:

Members of Amila at each level should be reminded through letters. This should be done by respected Amir Sb. UK, as well as Tarbiyyat secretary UK and the presidents of all three auxiliary organisations.
If any member of Amila, in spite of reminders, does not pay full attention to Salat, he should be adequately reprimanded and an appropriate step for his reformation should be undertaken; this could be, for instance, his removal from his particular office etc.

**Duties of Markaz regarding the Tarbiyyat Plan of Action**

Tarbiyyat department at Markaz should undertake the following steps:

A programme should be devised, of Tarbiyyat visits to be undertaken by central representatives (specially, members of Amila) to different Jama’ats.
One article, each in Urdu and in English, should be published on issues pertaining to Tarbiyyat in the Ahmadiyya Bulletin [Akhbar-e-Ahmadiyya] every month.
Regular circulars regarding Tarbiyyat should be sent out to Jama’ats.
A system should be in place to circulate immediately to all the Jama’ats, the instructions relating to matters of Tarbiyyat and reformation, which are issued by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V أيّده الله تعالىٰ from time to time. Jama’ats should be told to carefully retain these instructions, after having conveyed them to all members of the Jama’at, so that they can also benefit from them in the future

Different Means and Methods of Tarbiyyat

“Tarbiyyat Day” should be celebrated in every Jama’at on a weekly basis. On that day, members should get together at the mosque or some other place, offer prayers in congregation, listen to some Dars, eat together, discuss religious matters, get to know each other, listen to short talks or discussions on religious topics. Thus, they should spend the entire day in a religious atmosphere.
Tarbiyyat conferences should be held from time to time. In these meetings, guidance should be given on Tarbiyyat matters and a Q&A session should be held. Importance of Tarbiyyat department would also be sufficiently highlighted in this manner.
Respected missionaries and members of the local Tarbiyyat committee should visit all Ahmadi households on a regular basis. The purpose of such visits should be to get to know each other more closely and to strengthen their bond of brotherhood. Thus, members will understand the true concept of Jama’at. Groups, comprising of two people, should do these visits. They should converse with wisdom, love and affection about general matters. If appropriate, they should offer congregational Salat at that particular house. For their own memory, they should also write a brief personal note about this visit, once they come back. They should have a look at that note, before their next visit to that family. In this way, they should try to inculcate respect and love of Jama’at in their hearts, while explaining Tarbiyyat matters with wisdom.
Those who are weak in their attachment with the Jama’at should be advised in a way that they do not take it ill. They should rather be able to pay attention to the admonition, so that they are positively inspired.

For example:

Admonition should never be given, while others are present. It should be given in private at a suitable time.
Very mild and polite language should be used, while admonishing. Admonition should be given appropriately, with true sympathy, love and affection.
Parents should continuously be advised to do proper Tarbiyyat of their children. In this way, they will also feel the need to reform their own selves.
Local department of Tarbiyyat should ensure that, if any member of the Jama’at falls ill, he is visited at his home or at the hospital. If somebody passes away, a condolence visit should be paid at their house.

Reformation of those who are weak in their contact or have distanced themselves from the Jama’at

Those who have distanced themselves from the Jama’at or have weakened their attachment, utmost attention should be paid to them.

In this regard:

The local secretary for Tarbiyyat in every Jama’at should compile a confidential list himself (or with the help of the local president). This list must under no circumstances be made public in any way. There are two part of this list:
Names of those who left the Jama’at altogether
Names of those, who are weak in their attachment to the Jama’at and are gradually distancing themselves further away
For the reformation of members of both categories, there is a need to act with much care, thought and wisdom. Each member should be assessed individually. They should then be assigned to suitable members of the Jama’at, in order to draw them closer to the Jama’at and increase their involvement in it.

For instance, they could be assigned to…:

…their relatives, who are exemplary Ahmadis
…their friends and old companions who can have a positive influence on them.
…members of the same age group, who can guide them with wisdom.
These individuals, who will be in contact with the members for the purpose of their Tarbiyyat, should consult their regional missionary and undertake steps towards reformation, while keeping the overall situation in view.
The secretary for Tarbiyyat should keep a proper record of all such reform efforts and meetings, and this task should be advanced with wisdom.
For the Tarbiyyat of youth, Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya, and for ladies Lajna Imaillah, should undertake utmost efforts within their respective circles.
Seek guidance from Markaz as and when required.

**Inclusion of Moosian in the Tarbiyyat Plan of Action**

The enormous task of Tarbiyyat is immensely important. Moosian should also be included in this task, along with the local Jama’at. For this:

A complete list of all the Moosian should be compiled and new Moosian, whenever they do Wasiyyat, should be added to the list.
An initial meeting of of Moosian should called, wherein they should be informed of this Tarbiyyat plan of action and given specific duties for its accomplishment.

For example:

Moosian should be given specific duties to admonish and revive, with wisdom, the contact with those who have distanced themselves from the Jama’at or have weakened their bond.
They should be given specific duties regarding the improvement in attendance of congregational prayers at the mosque or Salat-centre.
They should be given specific duties regarding the attentive listening to Friday sermons.
They should accompany, one by one, the Tarbiyyat secretary (or the members of the Tarbiyyat committee), while they visit different households.
They could also be asked to help teach Qaidah Yassarnal Qur’an and the Holy Qur’an to children.
A comprehensive monthly meeting of Musiaan should be called, to assess their contribution towards this Tarbiyyat plan of action.

Assessment and Feedback

Central department of Tarbiyyat should keep a record of monthly reports, received by local Jama’ats and prepare a feedback report after evaluating these reports. Jama’ats shall be provided with further guidance in the light of this feedback.

Observations & Further Guidance

After a thorough study of the Tarbiyyat plan of action, Huzoor-e-Anwar has given the following instructions:

The attendance at the Friday sermon should be properly assessed and a record of that should be retained. However, there is no need to check with each individual.
Keep a suitable break between observing Tarbiyyat Days, lest people become weary and lose interest.
Pay special attention to the Tarbiyyat of office bearers. If they become active, there will also be improvement in attendance at prayers and other Jama’at
If the missionary is not available during Jumua at some place, then the local president should admonish members, in his brief sermon, regarding attendance at Friday prayers.