“Verily, We
Ourselves have sent down this Exhortation, and most surely We will be its Guardian”
-[HQ, 15:10]
In the early Muslim Community,
there were hundreds of people who knew and could recite the whole of the Holy
Qur’an from memory, as they learnt it from the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa). And
the early Muslim Khulafa took practical measures to ensure that the Holy Book
is preserved in written form as well. Beyond the physical protection of the
text of the Holy Qur’an, Divine reformers (Mujaddidin) have always appeared in every century of Islam, to
illuminate the teachings and to provide practical example for every generation.
In a recent speech, the Khalifatul Massih V of the
Ahmadiyya Community has argued that there is no need for reformers any more.
The Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad
Azim Sahib now points out that such thinking
is mistaken and is against what Allah and His Messenger has taught us. In a
speech on June 14, 2011, Hadhrat Sahib (atba) reflected on the Qur’anic perspective
for the preservation of the Holy Qur’an for all times through the advent of reformers.
Read the Extracts from the Speech:
“Now, the question which is crucial
to ponder over: Is it only through Hufaaz
(the guardians of the Holy Quran, who know it by heart) or by writing (into the
form of a Book) that the Quran shall be preserved?
Bear this well in mind: By preserving the Quran, Allah
also means to say that when the teachings of Allah shall be baffled, when
Muslims shall become in the same category as the Jews and Christians (as understood
from the Surah Al-Fatiha when we are to ask Allah not to let us become like
the “Mahzuub” and “Zwarleen”), therefore He shall
send reformers from within the Ummah of His Holy Prophet (sa), from within the
final religion which He perfected through the revelation of the complete divine
laws. These reformers do not bring anything new, but they renew the teachings
of Islam, the same teachings which the Muslims and others have each taken in
their own way, in what their minds have suggested them to do, each taking pride
in their interpretations of the Holy Quran.
It is vital that the people follow
a leader, and that was the case within the Ahmadiyya Community when there was
not yet the coming from Allah of His direct Elect. Therefore, before his
arrival, we were all behind the leadership of a man-elected caliph. But what happened after a long period of time?
Such laissez-faire have
been given access to Islam and especially the Jamaat of the Promised Messiah
(as) whereby the fourth Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Community gave replies to such
questions which brought the people to take his words as the visa to do
everything they wanted, because the caliph has said, and therefore the words of
the caliph should be taken into consideration and executed. In doing so, the
people have let go of the teachings of the Quran and Hadiths (like cutting
their hairs– especially for women, wearing all sorts of clothing, lighting
fire-crackers and committing frauds).
Therefore, as Islam is the final
religion and the Quran as the final code of life (the final perfect laws),
therefore there was a need for Allah to send His Reformer, His Messiah, His
very own Caliph (the Khalifatullah) to revive the lost faith. The teachings are
still here. Around the world, there is now millions of Hufaaz-e-Quran,
but does that mean that the Quran is being preserved? Not in the right way!
There may be the Hufaaz, but what use are the memorised words of Allah
if they are devoid of any practice and people who know them by heart do not put
them into practice and teach them to others in the way it should have been
conveyed to others?
Therefore, to ensure that Islam
remains alive and the Muslims as the best people, Allah sends His
prophets-reformers to revive the teachings of Islam. Like He extinguished the
past people through calamities of all sorts, likewise He shall destroy the
people – in this era also – so that the bad may go away and that the pure (for
future generations) may stay, so that in the final go, Islam witness His
lasting victory.
Therefore, I repeat myself again
and again, even if Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam – by this I mean the people forming
part of it – after a certain period of time (like in the past) do not conform
themselves to the teachings of Islam and erode in their views and stop being
the reflection of true Islam, thereafter Allah shall send another of His elect
who shall come from within my Jamaat (from among my pious followers) who shall
revive the true Islam. Islam shall never die.
That is why Allah shall send
Messiahs, Khalifatullahs, reformers for the revival of Islam, as a sign of the
preservation of the Holy Quran, of Islam and definitely, the promise He made in
the Holy Quran that He perfected Islam and shall preserve it and its teachings
(the Holy Quran) will remain ever true.
This preservation shall come through
the appointment (direct Divine
appointment) of Elects of Allah who
shall come in the confirmation of the promise of Allah made in the Holy Quran,
just like the Holy Prophet (sa) was the promise from Allah for the revival of
the unity of Allah, the religion and faith of Ibrahim (as), and like the
Promised Messiah (as) came for the revival of Islam, from within Islam itself. Likewise, I have come from within Islam and from
within that very divinely appointed Jamaat of the Promised Messiah (as) whom
Allah promised shall be maintained till the end of days…”