Eighty years of Ahsania Mission

Ahsania Mission was founded by Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah (1873-1965), an eminent educationist, reformer and Sufi, on March 15, 1935 in his own village Nalta under the district of Satkhira. One of the oldest and pioneering socio-spiritual and service-oriented    non-government development organisations of the country, Ahsania Mission was established  with the twin objectives of enlightenment of the soul and social service for the masses. Its founding motto is: 'Divine and humanitarian service'. It is embedded with its core values of Humanity, Spirituality, Humility, Equality and equity, Caring the nature, Honesty and Morality. Ahsania Mission visualises a society that fosters humanity, spirituality, humility, equality and caring the nature.
Ahsania Mission is the outward manifestation of Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah's faith and ideals. He set the aims and objectives of the Mission: Praying for the grace of the Creator and serving those created by Him. Selfless service was one of the most distinctive features of his life. He wrote in his autobiography on this: "I have set my life's goal to serve people living far away from the cities. The pleasure that offering of service gives, cannot be found in personal aggrandisement. Boundless love will not come unless the element of 'self' is negated. If there is no love for the creation, there cannot be any love for the Creator. The only aims of my life are to extend brotherhood. Fraternity and spread the message of peace".
Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah was an educationist and social reformer with a difference. He was an extremely pious man. In his spiritual quest, he received a good measure of attainment. In 1909, he received his spiritual 'bayat' in the hands of the famous Hazrat Shah Gafur of Patna and became a member of the Quaderia-Waresia Selsela. Today, he is revered by all as a very successful 'pir' or saint. However, for the novelty of his perceptions, thoughts and religious beliefs, he could not be put in the same league with the other pirs of the time. Rather than communication with his followers from the elevated position of a saint, he always emerged before them as a friend.
He gave his admirers, followers and well-wishers the status of friends. His natural humility and spiritual radiance gave many people a new direction for leading a worthy and beautiful life. The following remark of Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah bears testimony to the clarity, wisdom and humbleness of his character:
"The responsibility of the pir or the saint is to flourish and nurture the spiritual power of his followers. No saint can create spiritual power. He can only bring to surface, the power already bestowed on one by the Almighty. As friction on any iron substances could create fire, the Almighty has given in all human beings, a secret source of His own power. That power has to be attained through love and prayers. And, for this reason, there is the need for good teachers".
Founding aims  of the Ahsania Mission were to  (1) develop the social and spiritual life of the entire human community, (2) remove the distinction between man and man, (3) cultivate unity and brotherhood and inspire divine love, (4) teach one one's insignificance and shun one's pride, (5) enable one to recognise and realise the relation between the Creator and the creation, (6) enable one to realise the duty of man to his Creator and to his fellow beings and (7) render all possible help to the suffering humanity at large.
Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah founded an independent Dhaka Ahsania Mission on February 09, 1958. It has already acquired the position of one of the leading non-government development organisation in the country. Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM) has been working to improve the quality of life of the disadvantaged groups of people, who are deprived of their rights to Education, Health, Livelihood and Justice.
The objectives of Dhaka Ahsania Mission are:
Eradication of illiteracy and alleviation of poverty through appropriate programmes.
Promotion of Human Resources Development (HRD) through both formal and     non-formal basic and higher education.    
Uplifting the dignity of women through spiritual and socio-economic development     programmes.
Preservation of natural environment and ecology.
Preventing abuse of narcotic drugs, treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts.
Providing health services and building healthcare infrastructures.
* Development and dissemination of books and other teaching-learning materials
* Rendering support to and dissemination of UN activities and principles   
* Enhancing capacity of the people of the community to analyse their situation, understand their needs and claim quality services and to work on building opportunities for having the services in fulfillment of their needs
* Facilitation of building institutional capacity to ensure that the local government and sectoral service providers deliver quality services
* Conducting pro-poor policy advocacy for increasing access of the disadvantaged to the services that they are entitled to
* Providing specialised sector-wide need-based services in the areas, where there are gaps or the disadvantaged groups do not have access.
Dr Muhammad Abdul Mazid is a former Secretary and Chairman, National Board of Revenue.
Mazid.muhammad @gmail.com