“Nations Cannot be Reformed Without the Reformation of the Youth.” Hazrat Musleh Mau'ud, Founder of Majlis Atfalul Ahmadiyya
The purpose of Majlis Atfalul Ahmadiyya is to prepare Ahmadi children in a proper manner so that they may be molded in such a way that they are able to utilize their God gifted abilities towards the progress of the Jama'at.
While God has emphasized upon the believers to keep themselves away from the fire of His displeasure, He has also made them responsible for their families. Thus, along with self-reformation they must also reform their families and thus fulfill the responsibility of reforming their future generations.
In the world we see that in order for a nation to progress, it is necessary to establish a proper system for training of future generations, so that after they receive adequate training, they can shoulder the system established by their predecessors and become capable of furthering its progress. We have also seen that the best time for the training of a generation is in its childhood. In this age, the state of heart and mind is clean. Whatever imprints are placed in the heart of a child, they will not be easy to be removed in a later period.
Divine Guidance & Foundations
Our Master the Holy Prophet (sa) has said:
“A child is born in the right nature; later his parents make him a Jew or a Christian or a Zoroastrians.”
Bukhari Kitabul Jnaiz
The reason for this is that a child has the nature of understanding and imitating. He will accept anything that the parents or guardian will teach him. Thus, it is the childhood training, in which the foundation of a person's thoughts and character is built. That is why he remembers things learned in childhood more so than those learned later on.
Our Master the Holy Prophet (sa) has said:
“A matter learned in childhood is like a carving on a rock.”
The imprint of this learning remains for a long time and is not easily erased.
Discussing this same topic, the Promised Messiah (as) says:
“Age of childhood is very appropriate for the acquirement of religious knowledge … The memory in childhood is very sharp. A person never has this kind of strong memory in any other period of life. The knowledge of early age is deeply imprinted and deep rooted because growth of faculties in this age. … In brief regarding the method of education, it must be kept in mind that religious education should begin from the start and this was my desire from the start and it still is. May Allah fulfill it.”
Malfoozat Vol. 1
Fulfilling the desire of the Promised Messiah (as), Hadrat Musleh Mau'ud (ra) has given an organized form for the moral and spiritual training of Ahmadi children. Alongside other auxiliary organizations, he has given two independent auxiliary organizations for Ahmadi children.
Our Auxiliary Organizations
Nasiratul Ahmadiyya
For Ahmadi girls, “Nasiratul Ahmadiyya” whose supervision is under the Ahmadi Ladies Organization, “Lajna Ima'illah.”
Majlis Atfalul Ahmadiyya
For Ahmadi boys, “Majlis Atfalul Ahmadiyya” whose supervision is under the Ahmadi Youth Organization, “Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya.”
Establishment
The initial order
In his Friday Sermon at Masjid Aqsa, Qadian, Hadrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) gave the initial order to establish this new auxiliary organization.
Resolution #17
The organization was formally opened under Resolution #17 in the Markaz of Khuddamul Ahmadiyya.
Atfalul Ahmadiyya is named
Huzoor announced: “Within one month, Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya should establish an organization for youth between the ages of 7–15 and should name the organization Atfalul Ahmadiyya.”
From then on, the educational and moral training of Ahmadi youth took on an organized form and, to this day, by the Grace of Allah, this organization continues to run exceptionally.
In the beginning, Atfalul Ahmadiyya was established in various Halqas of the Jama'at Markaz in Qadian. Soon, and very rapidly, its branches spread in foreign areas. At the very outset, the program and guidelines of this organization were very brief. However, slowly, the program expanded and started to grow in parallel to the progress of Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya.
By the Grace of Allah, today thousands and thousands of young Ahmadi children are receiving beneficial training in Majlis Atfalul Ahmadiyya. Without a doubt, the establishment of Atfalul Ahmadiyya was among the huge achievements of Hadrat Musleh Mau'ud (ra). This was a tremendous effort towards the Tarbiyat of the future generations of Jama'at-e-Ahmadiyya.
Huzoor (ra) advised and gave principle guidelines that members of Jama'at and the office bearers of Majlis Atfalul Ahmadiyya should focus on, for the moral training and welfare of Ahmadi youth. In every step, Huzoor (ra) advised the office bearers and the parents on these matters, which became a great source of guidance and inspiration for us.
The programs of the Majlis have always been organized in light of those principle guidelines. Similarly, the guidelines given by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih (aba) and traditions set by Hadrat Musleh Mau'ud (ra) are used to make the new programs.
It is our prayer that Allah Almighty may enable us all to act according to those guidelines and bless all of our efforts, as well as produce excellent results of our humble efforts in training the future generations.
Structure
Muhtamim Atfal has at his disposal a comprehensive executive body to maintain the activities and progress of Majlis Atfalul Ahmadiyya, which include Assistants to Muhtamim (Naib Muhtamimeen) and a body of Regional Nazimin. Various departments work under the Muhtamim Atfal, including Talim, Tarbiyat, Mal and Isha'at, to name a few.
The local representative of each chapter of Atfalul Ahmadiyya is known as the Nazim Atfal. This position is assigned to a local member of MKA (Khadim) by the specific MKA Chapter head (Qaid).
In order to also train the youth in the art of leadership, officers are also being appointed among the members of Atfalul Ahmadiyya and they are always encouraged to hold their separate meetings, but under the direction and supervision of MKA. Each local Atfalul Ahmadiyya chapter makes a Majlis-e-Amila (consultative body) by appointing suitable Atfal.
Atfal are also mentored by appointed members of Majlis Ansarullah (auxiliary of the Jama'at for men over the age of 40) known as Murabbiyaan Atfal. A Murabbi Atfal serves as an elder guide for the local Atfalul Ahmadiyya chapter, assisting the local Nazim Atfal with overall training of the local members of Atfalul Ahmadiyya.