"The
obligation of appointing an Imam (Khalifah) is from the
necessities of the Shari'ah that
simply cannot be left." - Imam
Al-Ghazzali
It is regrettable that most Muslims today are simply unaware of the deep verities of the Faith
they otherwise claim to profess and even practice. People in
their ignorance and stupidity usually remain satisfied
with what they are habitually familiar with- inherited family traditions,
ritual practices and the tales of dead and gone Divine savants in their communities. So
much so that by their sheer negligence of profound teachings - especially those pertaining to the advent of Divinely-imbued souls to guide the Ummah in every era of Islam-, the folks do not recognize what they are missing out in experiential
spirituality or the rich inner life that the Islamic
Way promises to the Divine-seekers.
Against this indifference of contemporary peoples stand the rich record of the past. Indeed through
the millennium and more of Islamic history, the Divinely-raised
Mujaddidin had left their imprints on Islamic spirituality in every era. As Shah
Waliullah Dehlawi (ra) noted
in one of his books: "A Mujadid appears at the end of every century, the Mujadid of the 1st century was Umar bin Abdul Aziz for establishing justice. The Mujadid of the 2nd century was Imam Shafi for explaining the Aqa’id and Fiqh. The Mujadid of the 3rd century was Abu Hasan al Ashari for formulating the sciences of Ahl us Sunnah and refuting the innovators. The Mujadid of the 4th century was Imam al Hakim and Al Baihaqi for laying the foundations in Hadith sciences and Abu Hamid Isfara’ini for spreading Ilm of Fiqh. In the 5th century was Imam Ghazzali for opening new paths in Fiqh, Kalaam and Tasawwuf. In the 6th century was Fakhr ud-Din Razi for spreading knowledge of Kalaam while Nawawi spread knowledge of Fiqh.” [Shah Walliullah in his Izalat al-Khafa]
Against this indifference of contemporary peoples stand the rich record of the past. Indeed through
the millennium and more of Islamic history, the Divinely-raised
Mujaddidin had left their imprints on Islamic spirituality in every era. As Shah
Waliullah Dehlawi (ra) noted
in one of his books: "A Mujadid appears at the end of every century, the Mujadid of the 1st century was Umar bin Abdul Aziz for establishing justice. The Mujadid of the 2nd century was Imam Shafi for explaining the Aqa’id and Fiqh. The Mujadid of the 3rd century was Abu Hasan al Ashari for formulating the sciences of Ahl us Sunnah and refuting the innovators. The Mujadid of the 4th century was Imam al Hakim and Al Baihaqi for laying the foundations in Hadith sciences and Abu Hamid Isfara’ini for spreading Ilm of Fiqh. In the 5th century was Imam Ghazzali for opening new paths in Fiqh, Kalaam and Tasawwuf. In the 6th century was Fakhr ud-Din Razi for spreading knowledge of Kalaam while Nawawi spread knowledge of Fiqh.” [Shah Walliullah in his Izalat al-Khafa]
Like
many saints of Islam in the past, in the previous century, the
Promised Massih and Mahdi Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of
Qadian also offered layers of spiritual and
logical explanations to ‘normalize’ the phenomenon of Divine
Manifestations among the Muslim believers. Through his
comprehensive and all pervading engagement with the spiritual
doctrine in all its settings, the Promised Massih (as) has left
behind an extraordinary range of explanations emphasizing the need
for recognizing an Elect of God whenever such a person
announces his spiritual mission of renewal of the Faith. The Promised
Massih (as) noted that Allah (swt) maintained the institution of
Reformers (Mujaddidin) after the Seal of the Prophets,
because along with their own practical example, these personages
command a spiritual attraction and influence, and virtue of the
highest degree could be observed in their persons- a path of
spirituality that any thoughtful person would inherently find
appealing.
