Believing in the divine and humanitarian service, Ahsania Mission is one of the oldest humanitarian organisations working in the field of human welfare in Bangladesh. Ahsania Mission entered its 87th year of service today. The Mission was established on March 15, 1935. The founder of the mission, Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah, was the assistant director of the education department of undivided Bengal. In the history of the Muslim awakening in the Indian subcontinent, Ahsanullah's name is pronounced in many ways—he is a Sufi-philosopher, a pious writer, a social reformer, an educationist, education reformer and co-founder of Dhaka University.

In the early decades of the last century, when Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah was engaged in a lonely struggle in the public education department to advance Muslims in education, initiation, knowledge and wisdom in undivided Bengal in British India, Bengali Muslims did not consider education as a pre-condition of their social development. Only a couple of decades ago, they started dreaming of a political organisation. No political, social or cultural organisation of Bengali Muslims has ever been able to concentrate on asserting its rights. In such a chaotic and unorganised time, the idea of establishing a service-oriented organisation by subordinating the service of creation in the hope of gaining the blessings of the Creator required a firm foresight. In 1929, Ahsanullah retired as the Assistant Director of the Department of Education in undivided Bengal and left the aristocratic life of Calcutta and returned to his village, Nalta.

For 36 long years after retiring from government service, he devoted himself to organisational activities for spiritual pursuits, social service and spiritual development of the people. He set up Ahsania Mission with many well-thought-out plans. Ahsania Mission is the shining mirror of Ahsanullah's philanthropic philosophy. It is naturally different from other organisations of its time. It is common to see that the scope of work of a state or social organisation extends from the centre to the peripheral level, but the ideals and scope of the Ahsania mission have continued to expand from the marginal to the centre of the geo-cultural and social system. Ahsania Mission has been cherished in Calcutta and Dhaka in the two eras of its establishment. Over the next few decades, Ahsania Mission had appeared in different countries of the world with the message of divine love. This was made possible by Ahsanullah's unique secular consciousness, unwavering faith in the Creator and unconditional love for the entire creation.

Ahsania Mission was established to promote the spiritual development of people all over the world and to strengthen the bond of love between people. Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah described the purpose of the mission as follows: "The main purpose of this mission is worship of the Creator and service to the creation. Its purpose is very broad. This Mission has been born with the great responsibility of developing the whole human society and shaping the spiritual life. It is not limited to any particular community, any particular race, and any particular caste. It is imperative to differentiate between human beings. The love of the Creator for every creation is equally present, so to discriminate against the creation is to look contemptuously at the Creator. The service of creation is really the service of God."

Until the partition of India in 1947, at least 30 branches of Ahsania Missions were established in the Khulna region and Calcutta with the same ideology and purpose. As a result, within a decade of the establishment of the Mission, Ahsanullah declared Nalta Ahsania Mission as the central Mission of all Missions. Within a decade after the partition of India, the activities of the Ahsania Mission spread to various divisional levels in East Pakistan. Dhaka Ahsania Mission, Chittagong Ahsania Mission, etc. were established during this period. At present, 178 Missions working in Bangladesh, 9 Missions in India, and 4 Missions in USA, Canada, England and Australia. There is no fatigue anywhere in the ongoing programme of Ahsania Mission; the ideological movement of the mission has never stopped.

The philosophy of Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah, the founder of the mission, is based on the three foundations of "Truthfulness, Purity and Love." The ideals of the Ahsania Mission emanate from these three basic foundations. Ahsanullah clarified the aims and objectives of the mission with seven sacred vows. The mission aims "to develop social and spiritual life of the entire human community, to annihilate the distinction between man and man, to cultivate unity and brotherhood and inspire divine love, to teach one one's insignificance and shun one's pride, to recognise and realise the relation between the Creator and creation, to enable man to perform their duties towards the Creator and to his fellow beings and; to render all possible help to the sufferings of humanity at large."

Ahsania Mission has been working for the last nine decades to implement these goals and objectives. Nalta Central Ahsania Mission organises the largest month-long Iftar gathering in the country during the month of Ramadan. Numerous projects of the Mission are underway in the service of the society, expansion of education, funeral of the deceased, medical services, and assistance to the needy.

Ahsania Mission Residential College, Ahsania Eye and General Hospital, Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah Institute are being run under the supervision of the Central Mission. At least a dozen orphanages are operating in the country and abroad under the management of Ahsania Mission. Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Ahsania Mission University of Science and Technology Rajshahi, Khulna Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah University, Ahsania Mission Teachers Training College, Ahsania Mission Cancer and General Hospital, Ahsania Mission Children City are run by Dhaka Ahsania Mission. Dhaka Ahsania Mission is now a consultative body with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and UNESCO. In 2002, Dhaka Ahsania Mission was also awarded the country's highest independence award.

Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah was a socially-connected spiritual devotee. At the same time, he had immense organisational skills. Using that skill, he focused on building a society of peace with everyone. He wrote, "We will search for the truthful with everyone, young and old, through the path of divine love. The truth will help us." Ahsanullah was a believer in ethnic harmony.

Through the Ahsania Mission, he took the initiative to establish peace in the society, state and the world. In his address to the annual session of the Ahsania Mission in 1948, immediately after the partition, he said, "The Muslim community in West Bengal is being expelled from the motherland and taking refuge in East Bengal, while the Hindu community in East Bengal is busy taking refuge in West Bengal. If the panic is not removed from the minds of the people, a long war will start in the future." To establish ethnic harmony and the free and normal practice of religion and culture, Ahsanullah said: "No one complains or interferes in the use of religion or customs, shows devotion and respect for everyone's religion and spends time in brotherhood thinking that the same Creator is like two flowers on one stalk." Ahsanullah's plea for peace is still relevant. And so, the Ahsania mission still has a long way to go.

Without spiritual development, the development of humanity is not possible, mutual respect and true love is not possible. The main goal of Ahsania Mission is to enlighten people with love. In fulfilment of this goal, Ahsania Mission still dreams of establishing a world of spiritual development and peace through spiritual education. The mission is working relentlessly with this dream. Today, on the 87th anniversary of the Ahsania Mission, the hope is that people will develop a sense of brotherhood, people will love the entire universe, conflict between religions will end, that communal seeds will be destroyed by germination, stability will return to the world of instability.

Md Monirul Islam, Director, Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah Institute.