There is a radical disconnect between the profound teachings of Hadhrat Ahmad (as) on the question of future divine guidance and the current official doctrine of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. While ordinary Ahmadis continue to believe that the teachings of Hadhrat Ahmad (as) regarding the coming of Mujaddidin and other Messengers of Allah are correct, the Community has already officially disowned the validity of arguments that support the coming of Mujaddidin in future.
Most certainly, we cannot blame Hadhrat Ahmad (as) for how his disciples have come to understand and interpret his teachings. This point is glaringly visible in the meaning and interpretation being attributed to the concept of Qudrat-e-Saniya or the Second Manifestation of Divine Power under the mainstream Community’s system of Khilafat.
Most certainly, we cannot blame Hadhrat Ahmad (as) for how his disciples have come to understand and interpret his teachings. This point is glaringly visible in the meaning and interpretation being attributed to the concept of Qudrat-e-Saniya or the Second Manifestation of Divine Power under the mainstream Community’s system of Khilafat.
In the official Ahmadiyya view today, the Ahmadiyya Khilafat is the Second Manifestation of Divine Power and it will last till the Day of Judgement through the progeny of the Promised Massih (as). The prevailing doctrine of perpetual man-made leaders in the Ahmadiyya Jamaat reduces the Second Manifestation of Divine Power to the human electoral system only and makes it impossible for Allah (God forbid) to send someone of His choice with Divine guidance in future except by elevating the incumbent man- elected Khalifa. If this policy is taken to its logical end, it means no Messenger of Allah or a Mujaddid can ever make an appearance except in the form of an Ahmadiyya Khalifa till the Day of Judgement because, according to them, the Khalifa will be present as prophesied by the Promised Massih (as).
This privileging of humanly elected/ selected Khalifas over common believers for the divinely ordained positions of Mujaddidin and Messengers of Allah is a mechanical method which glorifies a peculiar order even at the cost of real spirituality- the shell getting the better of the kernel as it were. Even more damaging is its implications for Divine Attributes.
I consider the idea of God’s Messengers and other divinely guided Mujaddidin appearing at His pleasure as more appealing to my conscience, for that has always been the Divine practice all through spiritual history. The Holy Qur'an is very clear, that it is Allah's prerogative to send “whoever of His servants He pleases” as His Messenger: "He causes the spirit to descend with His Command to whomsoever of His servants He pleases, that He may give warning of the Day of Meeting Him” (40:16).“Allah knows where to place His Message” (6:125).
I consider the idea of God’s Messengers and other divinely guided Mujaddidin appearing at His pleasure as more appealing to my conscience, for that has always been the Divine practice all through spiritual history. The Holy Qur'an is very clear, that it is Allah's prerogative to send “whoever of His servants He pleases” as His Messenger: "He causes the spirit to descend with His Command to whomsoever of His servants He pleases, that He may give warning of the Day of Meeting Him” (40:16).“Allah knows where to place His Message” (6:125).
The official doctrine tends to implicitly indicate that Hadhrat Ahmad (as) as representing the First Manifestation of Divine Power while they explicitly project the institution of Khilafat as the Second Manifestation of Divine Power. This is as though Hadhrat Ahmad (as) started a new religion in stead of following in the footsteps of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) in the service of Islam, the natural religion of the human kind established by Allah. It should be noted that Hadhrat Ahmad (as) always believed that he came to continue and reinforce the spiritual message of Islam and not to begin anew. The current doctrine thus has troubling implications for the relationship between Islam and Ahmadiyyat apart from going against the spirit of the express teachings of Hadhrat Ahmad (as). This interpretation can only benefit the opponents of Hadhrat Ahmad (as) who always accused him of deviating from Islam and creating a new religion. NO reflective Ahmadi can consciously accept the implications of this perspective.
“The Promised Messiah (as) had come to continue the work of Hadhrat Muhammad (sa) – work which has been trampled by the so-called Muslim scholars or Ulemas. Then, in order to accomplish that work, the manifestation of the power of God takes place, as it says in the Holy Qur’an: “This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favour upon you” (5:4).
“Its manifestation took place in the time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa). But after him, this continued in the times of his caliphs (four right-guided caliphs and the revivers of faith or Mujaddidin. They were all the ‘second power’. The ‘second power’ cannot be limited to a particular form. Whenever any nation or community becomes weak, then Allah the Most High, out of His Wisdom, sends the ‘second power’ in order to strengthen it”.
It does not mean that there is a chain of caliphs after Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) in the Ahmadiyya Movement who are the manifestation of the second power and I am the first one of these. This is Divine support for the cause of truth in a general sense. Therefore, it is the divine support that this movement receives in various forms which is the Qudrat-e-Saniya.
I would like to ask a question to Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad Sahib and to our Ahmadi brothers:
Do they believe that the ‘second power’ to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) is still being manifested and shall exist forever, or do they believe that it has been replaced and superseded by a new second power?” (Friday Sermon of May 29, 2009)
I would like to ask a question to Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad Sahib and to our Ahmadi brothers:
Do they believe that the ‘second power’ to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) is still being manifested and shall exist forever, or do they believe that it has been replaced and superseded by a new second power?” (Friday Sermon of May 29, 2009)
Hadhrat Ahmad (as) mentioned the concept of Second Manifestation of Divine Power within the larger Islamic spiritual framework of righteous Khalifas and divinely ordained Mujaddidin so as to ensure the flowering of spirituality at all times and in all ages. Contrary to the official Ahmadiyya position, there is no evidence to suggest that Hadhrat Ahmad (as) ever thought that Ahmadiyya Khilafat elected by the assembly of the faithful will remain the only form of Divine favour on the Community till the Day of Judgement. On the other hand, there are innumerable writings and prophecies that suggest that the Promised Massih (as) truly believed in the arrival of divinely ordained people in future as well. There are so many references one can point out and add up from the writings of the Promised Massih (as) in this regard.
By considering that only the institution of Ahmadiyya Khilafat reflects the Second Manifestation of Divine Power, the Ahmadiyya Community today faces a grave dilemma: the prospect of going against the prophecies of Hadhrat Ahmad (as) himself and denying the newly appointed Messenger of Allah in the new Century in the person of Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib of Mauritius who is a spiritual progeny of Hadhrat Ahmad (as) himself. It is a great and tragic irony of spiritual history that followers of Divine servants become so complacent in their spiritual condition that they mostly fail to read and recognize the new Messenger of Allah whenever they appear on the horizon.