During his Friday sermon of 1 July 1954, Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad (ra), Khalifatul Masih II, called the attention of learned men and women to try teaching anyone who is illiterate. Huzoor (ra) stated:

“Among the many things I told the members of the community at the Jalsa Salana (Annual Convention) was for every learned man and woman to teach one member who is illiterate, reading and writing. A large part of our community is learned, by the grace of God Almighty [...] If we stay determined and work accordingly, by the next year 50% of our members would become literate [...] This task is not a difficult one […] The only issue lies in our determination.” (Al Musleh of Karachi, 21 February 1954)