My Maryam Magazine EXPERIENCE

Hina Ahmedi

2022 marked the 10th anniversary of Maryam Magazine’s first publication. In January 2012 Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih Vaba graciously launched Maryam Magazine; the first ever central magazine for Waqfe Nau girls. By the Grace of Allah, I have had the immense honour of being a member of the editorial board since the inception of the magazine.

Maryam Magazine readers were blessed with a personally addressed letter by Hazur-e-Aqdasaba which highlighted the importance of being a Waqfe Nau girl, with Hazuraba drawing attention to Hazrat Maryamas - the first child to be dedicated by her parents for the service of God.

My educational background is in science; I studied BSc Biomedical Science at Kings College London. Towards the end of my degree, it was clear to me that my passion lay in proofreading, editing and publishing. With beloved Hazur’saba continual guidance and prayers, I was able to gain some work experience towards the end of my degree in a science media company which focused on checking the accuracy of scientific news which was being reported. After my degree, I was blessed to be able to serve as a member of the Review of Religions team and become involved with writing scripts as a member of the Lajna MTA team. As a Waqfe Nau, the main purpose of my life is to serve the Jama’at in any and every capacity that I can and so I am immensely grateful to have had the opportunity to be a member of these teams. I believe that it was the blessings and experience I gained from both of these teams that also helped me to get a job in a scientific journal publishing company. This job enabled me to gain further experience in proofreading and editing articles and to learn a little bit about the background of publishing. These skills have helped me immensely in my role within the Maryam Magazine team.

Our first Maryam Magazine meeting was held at the Jama’at offices in Deer Park, London, and I still remember the feeling of excitement and anticipation as we discussed ideas for topics and designs for the magazine and were delegated assignments. I have primarily worked as a proofreader for Maryam Magazine, but have also had the opportunity to serve in various other capacities, such as designing simple files and writing articles.

(The team has very graciously been allocated an office for Maryam Magazine in Deer Park)

Maryam Magazine has a large board team who work together to source, research, write, proofread and edit articles for the quarterly publication. The prepared articles are then sent to our team of designers who give the magazine a professional and creative look, MashAllah. Our Editor in Chief, Zanubia Ahmad Sahiba has trained and guided the team over the years, advising us on which themes and topics are appropriate. She also keeps the team motivated to strive to improve our efforts for the service of the Jama’at. The Maryam Magazine team has been extremely blessed to have Hazur-e-Aqdas’saba prayers and guidance at every step, through letters and Mulaqats with our Editor in Chief. It is extremely heart-warming and humbling to experience Hazur’saba love and attention to detail; despite his extremely busy schedule beloved Hazuraba takes precious time to choose from the cover designs sent by each of our designers and approves which of the covers should be used for each issue.

In 2015 Hazur-e-adqasaba graciously approved my name as the English Editor for the magazine and I have been serving in this capacity ever since. This role involves the organisation of each issue; our team has a meeting at the start of each issue to discuss a potential theme and decide on the topics for our regular files which include the Holy Qur’an file, Hadith, Writings of the Promised Messiahas, the Life and Character of the Seal of the Prophetssaw, Tarbiyyat page and Kids’ Spread. Titles and topics for other articles are then decided and we discuss potential writers for the articles and set a plan for contacting the relevant Waaqifaat-e-Nau to prepare and write the files within a deadline. Once articles are received and prepared, each article is read carefully and proofread by the editors and members of the larger editorial board. After the relevant edits are made, the files are sent for design. Our design team has grown and evolved through the years and is made up of very talented and dedicated Waaqifaat-e-Nau. A colour palette is chosen at the start of each issue and the designers use this for each article of the issue and include appropriate images and designs relevant to the article. Designed articles are then proofread again and once all of our articles are ready, our editorial board has another meeting to discuss the best order for the articles so that the contents page can be prepared. Finally, all the articles are sent to our lead designer to be compiled and then this is sent to the Central Waqfe Nau department for checking and printing.

Once printed, Maryam Magazine is distributed within the UK and internationally, additionally every issue is uploaded online for maximum readership. The Maryam Magazine team also distribute the magazine at Lajna and Waqfe Nau Ijtemas at the Maryam Magazine stall. The magazine is also available to read online at: waqfenauintl.org/resources/maryam/.

The Maryam Magazine team is made primarily of Waaqifaat-e-Nau; some of the team members are students, some are working professionally, some are married with children and many a combination of all of these. By the Grace of Allah, I have been blessed with three children; balancing my time between my family while also carrying out Maryam Magazine work has only been possible through the sheer Grace of Allah, with the support of our dedicated team members and due to the support of my husband and family. As it is the case that the majority of the team members have young children, our meeting times and working-hours are typically scheduled based on nap times, school pick-ups or in the late evening once the children are asleep and households settled! Managing my time between raising small giving little denying basic obligations due to

UK2019 Hazrat his hand), morals. People them. By doing brothers and

CHIEF EDITOR

Zanubia Ahmad

ASSISTANT CHIEF EDITORS

Dure Jamal Mala

Nayla Muzamil

ENGLISH EDITOR

Hina Ahmedi

ENGLISH SUB-EDITOR

Hamooda Arif

EDITORIAL BOARD

Sabah Un Noor Tahir

Hibba-Tul Mussawir

Maleeha Mansur

Meliha Hayat

Salma Manahil Malik

Tahmeena Shamim Tahir

Mashel Chaudhry

Samina Yasmeen Arif

Amatul Wakeel Maha

Ahmedi beings; if has financial them…When one and sisters, kind to all of the circle of articles including ofPrayer over Exhibition’,‘ATribute to woman, Majesty a great irrespective hope to make a express Charles III, the

EDITOR your chiefeditor@maryammagazine.org

Sameera Mirza

Kashifa Qamar

Safina Nabeel Maham

PAGE DESIGN & SETTING

Soumbal Qureshi

Naeema Amjad

Atiyya Wasee

Naila Fowad

Hina Farooqi

Zara Tahir Ahmad

PRINTED UNDER THE CENTRAL OFFICE WAQF-E-NAU

MANAGER

Luqman Ahmad Kishwar

PRINTERS

Raqeem Press, Tilford UK children and maintaining a high standard of work for the Jama’at is something that has taken time to learn and is a continuous process. Much pre-planning is needed before I can sit down at my laptop to check emails and start proofreading files; first I ensure my children have activities to occupy them that they can do independently, as well as making sure they have their snacks! As is the case with most children, my youngest, who is still very small, is of course, most curious about actual technology rather than his plastic toys and so often wants to sit on my lap and enthusiastically bash his chubby hands on my keyboard! Thankfully a decoy old remote control with no batteries in often distracts him, at least momentarily! There are times when I realise, I have been working for a stretch of time and my children are waiting for my attention, and although I definitely feel the mandatory guilt that all mothers feel, I know in my heart that I am a Waqifa-e-Nau and by the Grace of Allah my children are Waqfe Nau, so making this small sacrifice for the service of the Jama’at is my duty.I was fortunate enough to have grown up in an environment where I have seen both of my parents dedicated to serving the Jama’at. Therefore, for me,one of the greatest blessings of having the privilege to serve in the Maryam Magazine team is that I am able to explain to my children that I am busy with my Maryam Magazine work which I am doing because I am a Waqifa-eNau and am a helper of beloved Hazuraba and the Jama’at, just like they are and will grow up to be Insha’Allah.

I have experienced throughout my life that when you spend your time for the service of the Jama’at, you are showered with blessings in every aspect of your life. One ofthe many blessings of working within the Maryam Magazine team has been that I have been able to gain knowledge whilst reading articles. In Hazur-e-Aqdas’saba letter on the inception of Maryam Magazine,Hazuraba stated: “…you as the Waqfe Nau girls, are expected to keep the flag of knowledge and its application flying higher than any other standard.” Striving to fulfil the words of our beloved Hazuraba, we aim to include a wide variety of topics in Maryam Magazine including aspects of the Waqfe Nau syllabus,Taleem and Tarbiyyati topics,science,current affairs,arts and crafts to teach practical skills,additionally,we include stories and jokes –this ensures that there are articles for all of our Waqfe Nau readers of varying age groups.

Throughout my time serving in the Maryam Magazine team, I have written to Hazur-e-Aqdasaba requesting prayers for the magazine and that Allah the Almighty enables me to carry out my duties to the best of my abilities, as it is only with Allah the Almighty’s blessings and Hazur’saba prayers that I have had the honour of working as a member of the Maryam Magazine team.May Allah the Almighty enable me serve the Jama’at and May Allah enable the whole Maryam Magazine team to work with dedication to produce a Magazine that is a beneficial source of knowledge to all Waqfe Nau. May Allah accept our humble efforts and hide our faults. Ameen.