Intro
Recently we had a discussion on Waqf e Nau, here: https://www.reddit.com/r/islam_ahmadiyya/comments/byjtz0/opinion_on_waqfenau_scheme/

Many valid points were shared by ones who were supporting and opposing such a scheme.

Here, I’d like to share some points shared on an Ahmadiyya website (Based on Khalifa V’s teachings) on the Waqf e Nau scheme which I thought were very important and deserved a thread on its own.
Often Ahmadis, in favor of this scheme, defend it by saying a child is free to cancel his membership when he’s an adult. I am surprised that they don’t consider the influence indoctrination can have on a child.

Let’s just look at certain points on the website: https://whyahmadi.org/expectations-of-being-an-ahmadi/important-advice-for-waqfe-nau-children.html

To present one’s child to Allah is an extremely important event and is no ordinary thing. Sacrifices are a form of gifts and it is necessary to adore them.

This is the opening sentence of the article. “Sacrificing Children to please God” – I find it extremely cringy and feels like it is nothing but a superstitious concept. Why would God need you to give Him your children?

But what’s more concerning is the “tips” the website provides to the parents of Waqf e Nau and how damaging it is to the kids. Here are some:

The children should be taught from the first day that they are Waqf and that their life is no longer their own*.*

Children are waqfed before their birth, so it means from the birth, throughout childhood children should be taught that their life does not belong to them but to the Jama’at.

The children should be informed that they are Waqf for the sake of their faith and that their personal wishes no longer matter, but that they should do as the Jama’at requests.

What if the child wants to become an artist? An athlete? A performer? Do you really think an Ahmadi girl whose a waqf living around parents who are trying to raise her based on these teachings, could ever pursue her dreams in sports and become a national level football/soccer player?

Is it fair to sell their souls to the Jama’at even before they realize what the Jama’at is? Don’t Ahmadis realize that Children has certain rights and their parents have no right to “sacrifice” them to an institution?

Is it fair that after crushing a kid’s dreams by telling him/her that their wishes no longer matter and justifying that based on an opt-out form given to them at the age of 15? After raised within this scheme from birth do you think it is an easy choice for a kid to opt-out, without hurting the sentiments of his/her parents?

I have seen many telling the problem is family pressure and not with the scheme of the Jama’at. Isn’t it clear from these points that Jama’at want the parents to “force” their kids into this scheme?

I could only wish that no Ahmadi kid’s dreams were crushed with this scheme because their parents told them “Your wishes no longer matter. You are sacrificed to the Jama’at“

Note: If the link doesn’t work. Try the archived link here: https://web.archive.org/web/20190611100012/https://whyahmadi.org/expectations-of-being-an-ahmadi/important-advice-for-waqfe-nau-children.html

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