Trials of Faith and the Duty of the Believer

Test of character is a recurring theme in spiritual experience and religious history. The Holy Qur’an repeatedly warns believers to be constantly on the alert and to examine their own inner urges and external stimulations at crossroads of conscience. The experiences of disciples at the time of God’s Messengers such as Moses (as), Jesus (as) and Muhammad (sa) point to the complex questions and forces at work in social circumstances.

While faith is a framework to look for directions, it is important for believers to be cautious: You never know which way channels of vanity and material interests may overcome pure belief and corrupt your faith in God and in the manifestation of Divine favour among yourselves. Thus, in addition to fervent supplication of prayers, the believer must also distrust the human intellect and its vagaries or in any case, be critically aware of one's own subjectivity. In a speech delivered after Esha Prayers on June 10, 2011, the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib reflected on this profound subject.

Read from the extracts:

Solemn Prayers for the Light of Guidance

Allah, the Most High has always been sending His Messengers. It is entirely under Allah’s discretion where and when to raise a Messenger of His and no creature of the earth can interfere with this Divine Decree. Common Ahmadis would willingly sacrifice their lives to hold onto this belief. Yet today, they are not being allowed by their leaders and scholars to consider that Allah can speak to an Ahmadi Muslim and raise him as a Messenger of His in the new century of Ahmadiyyat, to lead them in the path of Divine Love. Worse still, as is to be expected in the time of an Elect of Allah, the religious leadership had the audacity to boycott the new Messenger of Allah by expelling him from the Nizam-e- Jamaat. Yet, Allah, the Most High did not discard His servant and in fact, raised his spiritual status and elevated him with his own Jamaat. The Holy Qur’an says: “Thy Lord has not forsaken you, nor is He displeased with you. Surely every hour that follows is better for you than the one that precedes. And your Lord will give you and you will be well pleased” [93:4-6]. 

Even as the Jamaat of the new Massih is progressing by leaps and bounds, the villains who conspired to harm the Massih is biting the dust: The scheming National Amir of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat in Mauritius, Amin Jawahir, who played the lead role in the expulsion episode was disgraced recently by his own Khalifa on charges no less serious than corruption and maladministration!  Would someone who abused his position and privilege to persecute God’s Messenger have a fate other than humiliation and loss of face among his own people?   

In a message to world Ahmadis in 2008, Hadhrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib invited them to consider his Divine Mission and asserted that anyone who considered his claims with purity of heart and nobility of intentions and sought the light of guidance from Allah will definitely receive signs in favour of the Divine Manifestation and recommended that they follow the advice rendered by the Promised Massih (as) in this regard. 

Read the extracts: 

“Today by Allah's Grace, I take Allah as witness to say that I am one of those persons who speak with the Holy Spirit ( rouhil qouddous ). It is indeed a great proof in favour of Hazrat Massih Maoud as that Allah has raised someone in his Jamaat to guide people towards him. In fact the spiritual heritage of Hazrat Massih Maoud (as) has been bequeathed to us. However, as at today the physical heritage is in the hands of others. Now it is up to you to see of which heritage you want to partake. The caliphs are the administrators of the Jamaat after the departure of a prophet until Allah sends someone else. Listen well my brothers and sisters, I swear that there are no lies in what I say and I do not have any ulterior motive.

Khalifatullah as a Laila-tul-Qadr

In his book “Victory of Islam”, the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as) specifically linked the coming of a Khalifatullah in every century with the spiritual concept of Laila-tul Qadr. He clearly stated that the Khalifatullah appears to rouse people to spiritual consciousness and that angels descent with him- through revelations, they enable him to provide a living testimonial to the vitality of Islam in every age. In his Friday Sermon of June 03, 2011, the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius explained this important point from the blessed writings of the Promised Massih (as).

Read the extracts from the Friday Sermon:

“By the grace of Allah, one of my sincere disciples called my attention on the fact that the Promised Messiah (as) draw the people’s attention to the coming of a Khalifatullah, especially when he speaks about the period of a Khalifatullah as a Laila-tul-Qadr (Night of Decree, of blessings) and that when the Caliph of Allah comes down to earth, he comes down accompanied with the light of Allah which thereafter the sincere people who surrounds the Khalifatullah receive.

By the grace of Allah, the Promised Messiah (as) has in other others say he has come to earth in the mantle of a Khalifatullah, but that which is much more surprising is that he has already said that not only in his time there shall be one (a Khalifatullah), but this Khalifatullah shall come in confirmation of his (the Promised Messiah’s) truthfulness. It is this Khalifatullah who shall come in conformity with his words and he shall come in confirmation of his truth like the Promised Messiah (as) came in confirmation of the prophecy of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa), where the Prophet of Allah (sa) said (while putting his hand on the shoulders of Salman Farsi) that when faith shall go to the Pleiades, then there shall come someone from Persian descent shall bring it back.

FRIDAY, the 10 and the New Massih

Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad Sahib (May Allah forgive him) once said that he saw in a vision “Friday the 10”.

Almost everyone in the Ahmadiyya Community is familiar with this vision of the Fourth Khalifa. And there has always been much speculation within about its real meaning and import. Reflecting upon the profound meaning of this spiritual vision, Hadhrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib of Mauritius linked it with the year 2010 and the events in his Divine mission. 

The year 2010 began on a Friday, 01 January 2010- the first Friday of the year 2010. The first Friday of the New Year was also a blessed day for Muslims- for it was an Eid-ul-Jumm’ah. And the last day of the Year 2010 was also a Friday, 31 December 2010.

It was on Friday, September 10, 2010, that Allah made the Khalifatullah stand up to officially proclaim himself as Messiah, Mujaddid and Prophet of Allah.

Within a month of this official proclamation, Allah inclined the hearts of believers in a distant Asian land -Kerala, India- to recognize the Divine Manifestation in Mauritius, an African island! That the Divine Manifestation is happening in Africa should be a matter of happiness and pride for thoughtful Ahmadis- For it confirms a prophecy of Hadhrat Khalifa Sani (ra) that “the future of the Jamaat is linked up with Africa”.

And it was on a Friday in the 10^th month of the year 2010 that the new disciples of the Khalifatullah formed a branch of the Jamaat in Kerala!!

The year 2010 also marked the 10^th year of the Divine Mission of Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib, having begun his preaching in 2001- “the number has changed place – 2001 has become 2010. The 1 which was after 0 has now come before 0”, as Hadhrat Khalifatullah mystically observed in the Friday Sermon of January 01, 2010.

Mujaddidiyat: A Lahori Perspective

The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement considers that the belief in Mujaddidiyat is in accordance with the well-established “Islamic practice as recognised by the Ahl as-Sunna”.

Read the following Article in the official website:

“The Holy Quran promises that God will raise, among the Muslims, Khalifas (deputies or successors) to the Holy Prophet Muhammad:


"Allah has promised to those of you who believe, and do good, that He will surely make them khalifas in the earth as He made those before them to be khalifas " (24:55)

By "those before them" are meant the Israelites. The Holy Prophet Muhammad said in explanation: "The Israelites used to be led by prophets; whenever a prophet died, another came after him. After me there is no prophet, but there will be khalifas and there will be many." (Bukhari, book 60, ch. 50)

Official Proclamation as 'Khalifatullah'

Divine revelations are a bounty of Allah for the community of believers: to guide them on the true and narrow path of sublime spirituality. Recipients of Divine revelations are hence a very special category of saints in the faith. It is incumbent upon the believers to recognize and accept such Divinely-raised saints when they make their proclamation about the Divine Mission they have been entrusted with. For, they come with the messages of the Divine that teach and guide the community about the true faith and practical wisdom for their everyday lives. As the world was entering into the third millennium after Christ, and the Muslim world has entered into the new Century of Hijri Calendar, in accordance with the prophecy of the Holy Prophet (sa), regarding the renewal of Islam in every century, a spiritual progeny of the Promised Massih (as) became a recipient of revelations and Divine communion. In the last decade, (2000-2010), Allah (twa) protected him under His shadows and allowed him to preach Islam to the world and also engage in seeking to refine a community of his followers on the practical ordinances of  Islam. During this decade, Allah (twa) gave him several spiritual titles and revealed very many spiritually appealing teachings. It was on May 26, 2008 that Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius proclaimed himself as the Khalifatullah of this age after recurring Divine revelations were bestowed upon him by Allah the Most High in this regard. 

Read from the Extracts of a Message issued after the official proclamation by the Khalifatullah:   

“Since the past weeks, by the Grace of Allah, I have been receiving many revelations, concerning the state of the world and the need of my humble appearance as the Khalifatullah of this Era. I am the Khalifatullah of this age. God is with me and He is standing like a sharp sword and He has revealed to me that these mischievous people who will combat me will be disgraced. Look by the Divine Commands, I have given you the warning, which was my responsibility to convey to you. You can laugh at me, much as you wish, abuse me as much as you like and plan to create problems for me as many as you like. And try to make plans by deceit to destroy me as much as you like. Even then remember Allah will show you that His Hand is overpowering.

An Ahmadi Mujaddid in Africa

In the beginning of the year 2001, Allah chose a spiritual progeny of the Promised Massih (as) Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib of Mauritius as His Chosen Messenger of our times- at a time when the world was about to enter the Third Millennium of the Christian Era and the Muslim world had firmly entered the Fifteenth century. In a post- Communist world order, Islam became the new enemy of the ‘Liberal’, ‘Democratic’, western, Christian, "free world". More than ever, Islam as a religion and Muslims as a community is under relentless attack from varying forces. So, the appearance of the new Messenger of Allah could not have been more timely and necessary.  

If we look at the history of prophethood, it was at the age of forty that the Holy Prophet of Islam Muhammad (sa) began to receive messages from the Unseen and was raised to that august spiritual position through recurring Divine revelations. Like wise, the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as) was also blessed with Divine revelations by the time he was forty years of age. It is remarkable to note that Allah, the Exalted chose to elevate the spiritual status of Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib by the time he turned forty years of age in 2001.

All Ahmadis agree that most prophecies regarding the Imam Mahdi and the Promised Massih have been fulfilled at the time of Hadhrat Ahmad (as). Yet, it is a fact that there are several prophecies remain to be fulfilled in greater measure in our times. It is thus instructive to note that several Hadiths foretells of the coming of the Mahdi (that is, the Khalifatullah) in some 20 to 30 years after the 1400 years after Hijra (of the Holy prophet of Islam).

“People will gather around the Mahdi in 1400”. (Risalat al-Khuruj al-Mahdi, p. 108). In another Hadith, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) said:

“Count two or three decades after the decades of Hijri 1400. At that time, the Mahdi emerges...” (Asmal Masalik Lieyyam Mahdiyy Maliki Li Kull-id Dunya Biemrillah-il Malik, Qalda bin Zayd, p. 216)

In the last decade, Allah, the Most High bestowed many titles on Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib- “Hadhrat”, “Amir’ul Mu’mineen”, “Muhyi-ud-Din”, “Mujaddid”, “Khalifatullah”, “Nabiullah” and “Rasulullah”. In a recent Friday Sermon, Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) observed:

“If we analyse these Hadiths, all these points in the direction of my epoch, my coming. I was expelled from the Nizam-e-Jamaat Ahmadiyya on 01 January 2001 (that is, 1421 Hijri). We are now in 1432 Hijri and I made my proclamation as Amir’ul Momeneen on 19 January 2003 (that is, 1423 Hijri), Muhyi-ud-Din on 06 December 2003 (that is, 1423 Hijri), Khalifatullah on 26 May 2008 (that is, 1429 Hijri) and Messiah, Mujaddid and Prophet of Allah officially (though I already received these revelations beforehand until Allah made me stand up to proclaim it officially) in 2010 (that is, 1431 Hijri)”.

In December 2003, proclaiming that Allah had made him the Muhyi-ud-Din/ Mujaddid of this era, Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) stated:

“I want neither pelf nor power. I have been commissioned by Allah as a Warner unto mankind, to deliver His Message to you. Should you accept it, you shall have felicity in this life as well as in the life to come. Should you reject the word of Allah, surely Allah will decide between you and me. As from today, I take Allah as my witness that I am the Muhyi-ud-Din of this era.”

For a list of Divine revelations vouchsafed to him, click here.