Perspective on Ahmadiyya Khilafat

In a recent mail, an Ahmadi critic wrote: “…on one side the community that you belong to, keeps a view that this present Ahmadiyya Khilafath is not supported by Holy Quran, meanwhile on the other, it accepts this khilafath as divinely ordained, partially. That stand is too bizarre to be understood even…”

For the understanding of seekers after truth, we are providing below an extract from an Interview Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius granted to Mubashar Dar Sahib of Ahmadiyya News in 2006 wherein as the Mujaddid of the new Century of Islamic Hijri, he explained his position on Ahmadiyya Khilafat.  

Ahmadiyya News: What is your opinion towards the Khulafa of the Jama'at Ahmadiyya. Their ability and approach towards achieving the ultimate victory of Islam and Ahmadiyyat as prophesied by the Promised Messiah a.s.?

Munir Ahmad Azim:

I believe in the Khalifas of Jamaat Ahmadiyya like I said above: Hazrat Moulvi Hakim Nooruddin, Hazrat Mousleh Ma'oud Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad, Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad, and also Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad. Although they were not directly divinely appointed by God Almighty, Allah was their help as long as they were on the right path and preaching the true teachings of Islam. Allah gave them true dreams and revelations to help them in their task, because they were righteous in their devotion to help the cause of Allah Ta'ala and Allah blessed them with great knowledge and Insight.

Expulsion by the Nizam-e-Jamaat: True Facts

What ails Ahmadiyyat today? Who can explain what is wrong with the Jamaat better than the one who comes in the mantle of a Prophet from Allah, the Most High? What better way is there to explain what is wrong in the Community than by narrating the personal experiences which a man of God has had to undergo at the hands of the Pharaohs of the day?

Hadhrat Khalifathullah Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius has now written profoundly on the circumstances surrounding his expulsion from the Jamaat of the Promised Massih (as) in a new booklet entitled: “A Background Story of the Predominance of Truth over Falsehood”.

Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib was expelled from the mainstream Ahmadiyya Jamaat in December 2000. The expulsion order was issued by the Fourth Khalifa Mirza Tahir Ahmad Sahib who simply relied on a report of Mr. Amine Jowahir, the unfortunate Amir of Mauritius.  The order (reproduced in page no.43 of the Book) is evidently an absolute act of unbelievable hubris on the part of those who issued it.

Mr. Amine Jowahir, the man whose report was relied upon by the fourth Khalifa, was recently dismissed from his position by the fifth Khalifa Mirza Masroor Ahmad Sahib on charges of corruption, nepotism and moral irresponsibility after a lengthy enquiry by his special representative who visited Mauritius for the purpose of investigating the glaring charges against him.

Think about it. A report filed by a man of questionable integrity was used by the then Khalifa to expel some one who claimed he received revelations from Allah the Most High. Now that his true colours have been revealed, will the Jamaat show the decency to respect principles of natural justice? Even secular courts show minimum respect for evidence and notions of justice by reinvestigating cases where new evidence or suppressed facts are unearthed and become available even if it happens after decades. For instance, in Kerala recently, a criminal case was reinvestigated after 43 years and justice served. Will the Jamaat which swear by spiritual notions of absolute justice, reinvestigate the case and give a fair hearing to the cause of the Khalifathullah?  

Fourth Khalifa on Mujaddidiyat-II

In the first part of the essay, published here on May 05, 2011, we have noted an important statement of the Fourth Khalifa Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad Sahib on the question of the coming of Mujaddidin in the new century, just as it used to be in all the centuries before in Islam. In our analysis, we have clearly shown how mistaken the Khalifa was in thinking that the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as) shared his perspective. The emphatic statement of the Fourth Khalifa clearly shows that knowingly or unknowingly, there has come to be a radical disconnect between the original teachings of Islam as well as the explanatory commentary of the same by the Promised Massih (as) on the one hand and the current beliefs in the Ahmadiyya Community on the other. For the essay, click here.

It is remarkable to note that the statement of the Fourth Khalifa came in 1993, exactly 84 years after the death of the Promised Massih (as). What is the significance of 84 years in Islamic spirituality? A thousand months constitute 84 years and stand for a century in the spiritual realm. Thus, the Holy Qur’an states:

“The Night of Destiny (Decree) is better than a thousand months. Therein descend angels and the Spirit with their Lord’s decree concerning everything”. (97:4-5)

Both the Promised Massih (as) and Hadhrat Musleh Maoud (ra) have written that the period referred to in the Holy Qur’an is linked to the advent of a Mujaddid.

Fourth Khalifa on Khilafat and Mujaddidiyat

One of the most unfortunate statements ever made by the Fourth Khalifa Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad Sahib was in the course of a Friday Sermon of August 27, 1993. He stated:

"Since the imamat [i.e. Ahmadiyya Khilafat] is in existence, there is no need for the coming of a Mujaddid. The supporting testimony of God has crushed this evil [fitna] for all time. The imamat shall not end till the Day of Judgment, so there is no need for a Mujaddid till the Day of Judgment. . . . Only those can deny this fact whose hearts are devoid of the fear of God. . . . As God has indeed spoken the truth, and the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement has indeed spoken the truth, so those people are false who believe that imamat will now come to an end and now that the new century [Hijra] has started they must wait for a Mujaddid. Thirteen years have already passed since the beginning of the fifteenth century and in this period no Mujaddid has arisen outside the imamat of the Ahmadiyya Movement. This has exposed this false propaganda. Even if God makes them live for a hundred years they will not see another Mujaddid." - Al-Fazl, 30 September 1993.

Why the Statement is unfortunate?

1. Because it was made by a man elected by people and was given the position of Khalifa of the Promised Massih (as) to lead them in the path of Sahih Al Islam

2. Because he thought that by saying what he did, he was following in the footsteps of the Promised Massih (as) and defending the larger cause of the Jamaat and Islam for the future.

3. Because the best of intentions may not be sufficient at times- People can be wrong even when they fervently believe something to be true and correct.

Zaki Ghulam: Open Challenge to Janbah Sahib

In articles published here on May 02-03, 2011, we have dismantled Abdul Gaffer Janbah Sahib’s theory that Khalifa Sani met with divine punishment for false claimants of revelation. We concluded that by all rational considerations, the case of Khalifa Sani cannot be included in that category. The analysis clearly showed that Janbah Sahib has failed to understand the real importance and objective of the Qur’anic verses on divine punishment for fake claimants in spite of claiming to be the Imam of the Age.

In his Friday sermon of March 25, 2011, Hadhrat Khalifathullah Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib once again explained the fallacies in the argument of Janbah Sahib and his disciple Mansoor Ahmad Sahib who wrote the essay "Lion of God". Hadhrat Khalifathullah then publicly challenged Abdul Ghaffer Janbah Sahib who claims to be the Mujaddid of the Age to show the courage of conviction and come out in the open and enter “the battlefield” and categorically stated that “we shall see whom Allah shall support and help”.

Divine Punishment on Khalifa Sani: A Response

On 10^th March 1954, Hadhrat Khalifa Sani Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad (ra) met with a serious attack on his life. 

According to Abdul Ghaffar Janbah Sahib of Germany who claims to be the Mujaddid of the new Century and the real (one and only) ‘Musleh Maoud’ as per the prophecy on ‘Zaki Ghulam’, the life-altering severe attack on the second caliph confirms that he was a fake claimant to the position, based on Qur'anic prophecies on the Divine treatment of false claimants. Based on this ‘insight’ on the Holy Qur’an, ‘the Imam of the Age’ has come up with a theory on the divine punishment to false claimants. In this article, we shall surgically examine the implications of his theory and the consequences of its application in the case of Khalifa Sani.   

Let us first state what we may call the “jugular vein-cutting theory” of Janbah Sahib.   According to Janbah Sahib,

a) “The cut off of life-artery of a false claimant of recipient of divine revelation is the clear proof of his being the liar”.

b)  “This humble self say here that above mentioned this Quranic decree of cutting off life-artery with its severe manifestation was fulfilled on Khalifa Sani”

Janbah Sahib's Allegations on Khalifa Sani

Abdul Ghaffar Janbah Sahib of Germany claims to be the Mujaddid of the Fifteenth Century of Islamic Calendar. Yet, his claim to the august office is dripping with the blood of a holy man of God: His grand theory of Zaki Ghulam is built upon cutting the jugular vein of Hadhrat Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad (ra), second Khalifa in the Ahmadiyya Community who once claimed he was elevated to the position of ‘Musleh Maoud’ by Allah, the Most High based on His commitment/glad tidings vouchsafed to his illustrious biological (and spiritual) father, the Promised Massih Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of Qadian. 

According to Janbah Sahib, the second caliph was not a 'Zaki Ghulam' (pure son) or the 'Musleh Maoud' (Promised Reformer) as foretold in the revelations vouchsafed to the Massih Maoud (as). He was, in the viewpoint of Janbah Sahib, a fake claimant. Janbah Saheb theorizes that for making the 'false' claim of being a fulfillment of Divine prophecies, the second caliph of the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya (Qadian) was punished by God Almighty. In support of his claim, the Janbah Sahib points to his own claim of being the real "Musleh Moaud". His apparent evidence is the incident of a life-altering, stab attack on the second caliph in 1954, by an impressinable youth who was brainwashed by the scheming Mullahs of Pakistan that committing of murder (assassination of the second caliph) is the way to Heaven.   

That the second caliph had to deal with the aftermath of a violent attack on his life is a fact of history. The grievous injury on his neck was of such a nature that survival from it was almost impossible; a miracle as stunning as the deliverance from the Cross of the man of God, the escape of the Messaih Jesus (as).  

Janbah sahib points out that after making the claim of being the ‘Musleh Maoud’, the second caliph eventually died within a period of 23 years. He argues by linking these two factors to establish / prove that the second caliph met with an accursed death of a false claimant of Divine revelations. Janbah Sahib further links the truthfulness of the claim of Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius as the Muhyi-ud-Din/ Khalifatullah/Messenger of Allah of this age, is inextricably intertwine with the truthfulness of the second caliph (ra). Janbah Sahib has however, then, sought to create a barrier between them by accusing the Khalifa Sani of having met with an accursed death.

The hollowness of the basic claim of Abdul Ghaffar Janbah Sahib was exposed by Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius, in his Friday Sermon of January 21, 2011. In response to a question by Shabeeb Haneef Sahib of Kerala in this regard, Mansoor Ahmad Sahib of the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Islah Pasand/ the party of Janbah sahib, has once again presented this satanic theory and the same was published online at their website recently with the title: “Lion of God”.