In a
Hadith recorded in Sahih Al Bukhari, the
Holy Prophet of Islam (sa) ruminates about the decline of scholarship and eclipse
of spiritual knowledge and right understanding. And in another tradition, the
Holy Prophet (sa) spoke about the emergence within the Ummah of misguided (and
misguiding) leaders who will deviate people from the Straight Path through
their ignorant pronouncements. The traditions are as follows:
“One of the signs of the Hour is the disappearance
of knowledge and the prevalence of ignorance".
"God Almighty does not take away the
knowledge of Islamic Law and Faith by removing its books from His servants, but
He takes it away through the death of scholars. When all scholars pass away,
the public will make ignorant people their leaders; when they are asked about
something, they answer without knowledge; they are misguided and they misguide
others."
According
to the Promised Massih (as), the traditions of the Holy Prophet (sa) are
actually the profound commentary of the verses of the Holy Qur’an. These
Ahadith could arguably be linked to what Allah says in the Holy Qur’an: “And
among men is he who disputes concerning Allah without knowledge and without
guidance and without an illuminating book.”(22:9)
In his
book “The
Victory of Islam”, Hadhrat Ahmad (as) confirms that within a century
after the departure of a Divinely-raised Reformer, the community drifts away
from the straight path of Sahih Al Islam. Through their grand theological
discourses over satellite television and Internet, these leaders misguide the
people when they seek guidance on spiritual matters. That is because they speak
without knowledge and without divine guidance.
Truth
be told, none has exceeded Mirza Masroor
Ahmad Sahib, the Fifth Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Community, in paying a
greater tribute to the wisdom and truthfulness of these prescient prophecies
about the state of spirituality in Islam over time! Through his ignorant pronouncements
on Islamic Khilafat and the future of Mujaddidiyat in recent months (May 27 and
June 10, 2011), Masroor Sahib is guilty of trampling upon the teachings of the
Promised Massih (as) and worse, casting aspersions on the profound Divine
Scheme of permanent Khilafat for Muslims.
In
order to perpetuate the mythical grandeur of the Ahmadiyya Khilafat and to
preempt any doubts about its aura in the spiritual realm, the Fifth Khalifa has
fed a very appealing story to the faithful: That Islamic Khilafat ended in 30
years, Islam was without its divinely-raised Khulafa for 1400 years and that the
Khilafat was reestablished after the death of the Promised Massih (as). A common Ahmadi hearing this story would be
forced to bend before the Khalifa as the poor man (and woman) was told that the
Divine system has come out of the world after a period of 14 centuries and all
blessings originate from there!
Ahmadis
need to awake from their bliss of ignorance if they want to know the true
conception of Khilafat and the real teachings of the Promised Massih (as) in
this regard. The Promised Massih (as) literally frowned upon the idea of
30-year Khilafat in Islam, pointing out that Islam offers permanent Khilafat
for all times.
In his
book “Shahadatoul Qur’an ” Hadhrat Ahmad (as)
says:
…It is a pity that those who hold this view do not reflect upon the word caliph
which is related to istikhlaf, for caliph is applied to a successor, and only such people can be a
successor to the Prophet in the true sense who possesses within them the
Apostle's qualities by way of being a reflection. For this reason, the Holy
Prophet did not want the word caliph to be applied to tyrannical monarchs,
because the caliph is in reality the image of the Apostle. And since no human
being lives forever, God willed that the prophets, who are the best and most
superior of all the beings of the world, should continue to exist permanently, by
way of reflection, till the Day of Judgment. So for this purpose God instituted
the khilafat in order that the world should not be deprived of the blessings of
apostleship in any age whatever.
The Promised Massih (as) further states:
Therefore,
the person who accepts the caliphate of only thirty years ignores its real
purpose through his folly. He does not know that it was most certainly not Allah's purpose
that it is only essential to continue the blessings of apostleship after the
Holy Prophet's death through the caliphs for a mere thirty years, and after
that He would not care a whit even if the world was facing destruction. In
fact, in the early days the caliphs were needed for not much more than
spreading the power of Islam, because the lights and blessings of prophethood
were still being disseminated newly and freshly, and thousands of miracles had
just then poured down like rain.
Had God so willed, it was not beyond His law to extend the life of the
Holy Prophet by thirty years, instead of having four caliphs. At the end of
this thirty year period the Holy Prophet would have reached 93 years of age,
and this is not much more than the ages attained in those times, nor is it in
excess of the law of nature regarding human life span which we observe before
us.
Can sound sense propose the
despicable idea about
the Merciful, Kind God, that He cared about this Muslim people for only thirty years and then left them wandering
permanently, and the light which from ancient days He had been showing within
the followers of previous prophets in the mirror of khilafat, He did not
approve of showing for this people? Most certainly not..."
By
embracing the myopic vision of Islamic Khilafat, the Fifth Khalifa may have
been seeking to put his office on a pedestal. However, the razor- sharp
arguments of the Promised Massih (as) have cut the present Khalifa to his real
place and shape. This episode raises troubling questions for the Ahmadis and
their Khalifa:
(a)
Since Ahmadis believe that their Khalifa is God- appointed,
how come the current Khalifa entertains ideas that tarnish the reputation of
Islam as a living religion for all times?
(b)
If Islam
offers permanent blessings and such men were always present throughout history
as the Promised Massih (as) points out,
what is so special about the current Ahmadiyya Khilafat?
(c)
If the
Khalifa has such twisted understanding about an issue on which the Promised
Massih (as) wrote so very clearly, comprehensively and eloquently, is he really capable of guiding the
Community?
(d)
When the man-elected Khalifa seeks to eclipse the spiritual
verities, is it surprising that a Divinely- raised Khalifa (Khalifatullah) has come to revive the
lost teachings of the Promised Massih (as)?