Introduction Overview Rishta Nata Department Lajna Mentoring Conference

Introduction & Overview: Rishta Nata Department Lajna Mentoring Conference 2015

The Holy Qur’an Says: Chapter 4 Surah Al-Nisa, Verse 2

Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (saw) (saw Marriage is my precept and my practice. Those who do not follow my practice are not of me. (Sahih Bukhari) A woman may be married for four reasons. She is either married for her riches and wealth or for her family’s higher rank or she is married for her beauty and charm or for her piety and righteousness. A true believer must choose the one who is pious and righteous otherwise he will always be in trouble. (Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim)

Establishment of the Rishta Nata Department

Guidelines from Hazrat Masih Mau’ood (as The Promised Messiah (as) said: “O! Members of my Jama’at, listen with attention that for all the righteous people it is imperative to strictly adhere to these conditions. Therefore, I have made arrangements that in future a book must stay with me with complete secrecy and total confidentiality, wherein, the names of girls and boys of the Jama'at are entered. And if the parents of the girl are unable to find a boy in their family who is from the Jama'at, bears good moral character, and is at the level of their satisfaction; or in case of a boy, they are similarly unable to find a girl; in such cases it is imperative upon them to allow us to find someone from the Jama'at. ”

Guidelines from Hazrat Masih Mau’ood (as And every one must feel confident that we shall with true sincerity and sympathy for the parents, try to find a suitable match for their boys or girls. […] High priority will be given to their good conduct, character and potential for progression towards goodness. This book will be kept secret and at times as the situation calls for, the information will be passed on. […] Therefore, it is incumbent upon those who show their allegiance to us that they submit a list of their children with names, ages and nationality, so that it can be recorded in the book. ” Extract from the Friday Sermon of Hazrat Khalifat-ul-Masih V (aba) on December 24, 2004. Quotation from “Ishtaharat” Vol. III, pp 50 -51 by Hazrat Masih-e-Mau’ood (alaihis salam)– Procedure for Rishta Nata

Directives of Hazrat Masih Mau’ood (alaihis salam) Regarding Rishta Nata Department

Guidelines from Hazrat Masih Mau’ood (as 1) All of us who are blessed with the opportunity to serve the Jama'at in this important department will work with true sincerity and sympathy for our members. 2) The book (bio data/profiles) and all the personal information about the candidate/families is kept secret (this principle will have to be applied to all our programs including those at Jalsa Salana) 3) We should not engage in facilitating Rishta unless and until the character and conduct has been

Directives of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aba) Regarding Rishta Nata Department

Guidelines from Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V (aba) 1) The department of Rishta Nata is a very important department and members of the department should pay complete attention to their work. 2) The people who work in the department should have a soft demeanor so as not to turn off those who are being dealt with. 3) Whatever personal information one can collect about the girl should be obtained, however, this information should be strictly confidential. The information should be shared before showing the photos.

Objectives of the Rishta Nata Department

Objectives of Rishta Nata Department To facilitate contact between families of the potential candidates. Help families find matches according to their requirements. Arrange a match that is suitable according to the needs of the candidates.

The Rishta Nata Process

Rishta Nata: The Steps Registration Verification Confidentiality Matching The Process Reason for Refusal Sharing of Pictures Progress of the Proposal Preferences RN Team Members’ Children & Relatives Non-US Candidates

Registration Candidates or their parents/guardians can register and submit their profiles on the Rishta Nata website: http: //www. rishtanata. us

Rishta Nata Registration Form

Verification Each profile is reviewed by National Secretary, and if found appropriate, assigned to a member of the team. The coordinator is expected to verify the moral character and other credentials like marital status of the candidate.

Verification The coordinator is expected to contact the family/candidate in order to know them. Once the candidates’ credentials are verified, and there are no concerns, the candidate should be verified in the database; only after this verification does the candidate become active and available for search in the database.

Confidentiality is crucial. Password should not be shared and one needs to be careful in conversation. The member of the team who is assigned the profile should be regarded as the primary contact for the candidate unless that member of the team gives you the go ahead to contact the candidate/family directly.

Matching Steps involved in the Process Pray for the candidate. Presenting one proposal at a time. Allowing time for prayers and thoroughly considering one Rishta before presenting a second one. Reason for Refusal Reasons for declining a Rishta No proposals should be sent out of the system.

Matching Sharing of Pictures Very critical step Should be dealt with extreme confidentiality Progress of the Proposal Mandatory step for coordinator

Preference is given to: Database candidates Candidates who are older Candidates have registered earlier

RN Team Members’ Children & Relatives No preferential treatment towards the children and relatives of RN team members Children and close relatives of RN team members should be assigned to someone else

Non-US Candidates Rishta Nata Department cannot match non -US girls to the US boys unless there are extraordinary reasons Matching a non-US candidate with a boy from US should be done only under exceptional circumstances and only after discussion with the National Secretary.

Additional Guidelines for Rishta Nata Department

Additional Guidelines All candidates should be encourage, but not mandated, to register and submit their profiles in the Rishta Nata Database If candidate/families are unwilling to submit their profiles, obtain as much information as possible and put their names/details in the NON-Database document The same process as described earlier should apply to such candidates (including verification of the credentials).

Additional Guidelines Use of Rishta Nata e-mail address should be used for ALL and ONLY Rishta Nata-related matters. If any of the candidates need to be deleted for any reason, please inform Shahma Malik Sahiba at Shahma. Malik@Rishtanata. us.

Rishta Nata Conference Calls Weekly conference calls Profiles of the potential candidates are discussed and matches are suggested. Updates are given on the progress of rishtas Suggestions are made as well

Rishta Nata Team Members National Secretary: • Dr. Farooq Ahmad Padder secretary@rishtanata. us Additional Secretaries: • Dr. Mansoor Qureshi mansoor. qureshi@rishtanata. us • Naser Noor naser. noor@rishtanata. us Liaison Lajna Ima’illah USA: • Dr. Aziza Rahman aziza. rahman@rishtanata. us Liaison Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya USA: • Haris Raja ghulameahmad@yahoo. com

Rishta Nata Team Members Data and Outcome: • Atif Zeeshan Atif. zeeshan@rishtanata. us Regional Coordinator: East Region Jama’at Served: Hartford • Eamon Chaudhry Eamon. chaudhry@rishtanata. us Jama’at Served: Boston, Fitchburg • Sadka Ahmad Sadka. ahmad@rishtanata. us Jama’at Served: Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse • Dr. Abdul Hakeem Nasar Abdulhakeem. nasar@rishtanata. us • Amtul Baseer Nasar Amtulbaseer. nasar@rishtanata. us

Rishta Nata Team Members Jama’at Served: Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island • Farkhanda Ahmad Farkhanda. ahmad@rishtanata. us • Fehmida Shah Fehmida. shah@rishtanata. us Jama’at Served: North New Jersey, Central New Jersey, Willingboro, Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia, Harrisburgh, Pittsburgh • Homaira Khandakar Homaira. khandakar@rishtanata. us • Tahira Chaudhary Tahira. chaudhary@rishtanata. us

Rishta Nata Team Members Jama’at Served: Baltimore, Laurel, Silver Spring, Potomac, DC • Farida Malik Farida. malik@rishtanata. us • Tazeen Ahmad Tazeen. ahmad@rishtanata. us • Shahma Malik Shahma. malik@rishtanata. us Jama’at Served: North Virginia, Central Virginia, Southern Virginia, and Richmond: • Farida Sheikh Farida. sheikh@rishtanata. us

Rishta Nata Team Members Jama’at Served: Georgia/South Carolina, Charlotte, Research Triangle, Orlando, Miami, and Alabama/Tennessee: • Bushra Salam Bajwa Bushra. salambajwa@rishtanata. us • Mahmooda Rehman Mahmooda. rehman@rishtanata. us Regional Coordinators: Mid/Central Region: Jama’at Served: Detroit, Athens, Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton • Dr. B. K. Ahmad Bk. Ahmad@rishtanata. us • Amtul Jamil Khan Amtuljamil. khan@rishtanata. us • Fauzia Qureshi Fauzia. qureshi@rishtanata. us

Rishta Nata Team Members Jama’at Served: Chicago East, Chicago SW, Chicago NW, Zion, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Oshkosh, Bloomington, St. Louis, Indiana, and Kentucky: • Mubashir Babar Ahmed Mubashir. ahmed@rishtanata. us • Samina Ijaz Samina. ijaz@rishtanata. us • Amatul Naseer Khan Amatulnaseer. khan@rishtanata. us • Durre Sameen Ahmad Durresameen. ahmad@rishtanata. us

Rishta Nata Team Members Jama’at Served: Austin, Houston Cypress, Houston North, Houston South, Dallas, New Orleans, Kansas City, and Tulsa: • Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad. ahmad@rishtanata. us • Namoode Saher Namoode. saher@rishtanata. us • Tayiba Bashir Tayiba. bashir@rishtanata. us Regional Coordinators: West Region Jama’at Served: Seattle and Portland: • Uzma Waqar Uzma. waqar@rishtanata. us

Rishta Nata Team Members Jama’at Served: Silicon Valley, Bay Point, Merced, Oakland, and Sacramento: • Samar Munir Samar. munir@rishtanata. us Jama’at Served: LA West, LA East, LA Inland Empire, San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Tucson: • Naser Noor naser. noor@rishtanata. us • Bushra Bajwa Bushra. bajwa@rishtanata. us • Rizwana Haq Rizwana. haq@rishtanata. us • Sadia Mariam Rahman Mariam. rahman@rishtanata. us

Rishta Nata Team Members Newly Added Team Members: • • Imam Salman Sheikh Sahib-West Coast Majaalis Imam Salman Tariq Sahib-Central Region Majaalis Imam Rizwan Hameed Khan Sahib-East Coast Majaalis Imam Talha Ali Sahib-East Coast Majaalis

Concluding Prayer Chapter 25 Surah Al-Furqan, Verse 75