Islam does
not subscribe to the infallibility of any man. Even the Messengers and
Reformers are not the sons of Allah, nor are they partners in the Divine
kingdom. They do not control life, not death; nor resurrection, nor are they
immune from the trials and persecutions at the hands of the rebels and
transgressors of their times. Weak as human beings are, it is Allah (twa) who
chooses and raises His servants from among them and they serve their mandate
according to the Divine Will and they move on to the home in the Hereafter when
their assigned time is up in this world. In the true conception of the Islamic tradition,
a Divine servant being attacked and/or killed at the hands of the enemies-
rather than meeting with a natural death- does not cast aspersions on his lofty
spiritual mission.
Yet today, a
section of the Ahmadi Muslims- the proclaimed followers of the Promised Massih
Hadhrat Ahmad (as); the Lahoris and
their fellow-travellers and also the new Mujaddid
claimants- Abdul Ghaffar Janbah Sahib of Pakistan/Germany and Dr. Nasir Ahmad Sultani Sahib of Pakistan/Sri Lanka - hold
the belief that Divinely-appointed Reformers are absolutely immune from life-threatening
attacks and/or being killed within a period of 23 years of their spiritual claims.
They have tailored their spiritual doctrines to please their nafs’ desire of calumniating Hadhrat
Khalifa Sani (ra) of the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya¸
who met with such an attack on the fortieth (40th) year of his Khilafat.
The Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam has always
responded to the unfortunate insinuations
that malign the just reputation of Hadhrat Khalifa Sani (ra). Several articles in the Blog explain and show
how the critics are wrong on several grounds of reasoning- Qur’anic insights, sacred prophetic traditions, viewpoint of the
Promised Massih (as). These posts can be seen and read here: [ 1; 2; 3;4; 5; 6).
In this
article, after noting the murderous attack on Hadhrat Khalifa Sani (ra) and the
view of his critics, we discuss the life and times of the universally
acknowledged, first Mujaddid of Islam Hadhrat Umar bin Abdul Aziz (ra).
It provides an insightful episode from the Islamic spiritual tradition for
those who wish to reflect more profoundly on these matters and correct
themselves of the doctrinal mistakes that they commit.
The Attack on
Hadhrat Khalifa Sani (ra)
It was on
March 10, 1954- exactly, sixty years to
this day- that Hadhrat Khalifa Sani (ra) was physically attacked, in a
murderous attempt on his life. In the words of Zafrullah Khan (ra), one can
read an account of the events:
“Yet, there were those who, through error, bigotry,
misunderstanding or sheer perversity entertained bitter hostility towards him
and were capable of subjecting him to the most heinous outrages. One day
in March 1954 a young man belonging to this last category managed to take his
stand in the first line of worshippers immediately behind him, while he was
leading the afternoon service in the principal mosque of Rabwah. In the
middle of the service he suddenly advanced upon him from his rear and drove the
blade of long sharp knife into his neck with murderous force….the
injury inflicted… was deep and grievous and had a serious effect on his nervous
system… The blade of the knife had penetrated into his neck a distance of four
inches and its point had stopped right at the jugular vein… the
unanimous conclusion was that the point of the knife had broken at the jugular
vein and was embedded in it.
The
expert advice was that no attempt should be made to extricate it as the risk to
his life involved in any such operation was too serious to be worth taking. He
was advised to adopt a restful pattern of life and to avoid hard work and long
periods of sustained labour. For a person of his temperament and high
capacities this was a disappointing prospect. But there was no help for it. He
was still able to carry on a comparatively active life, but the pressure on his
nervous system, instead of being eased with the passage of time, tended to be
intensified progressively.” (Ahmadiyyat
the Renaissance of Islam by Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, pp. 331-333)
View of the Critics
According to
the critics, Khalifa Sani (ra) met with this murderous attack ten years after
making the claim of being the personal fulfilment of the prophecy on Musleh
Maoud in Jan 1944. Noting that he died in November 1965-within 23 years after
making the claim, these opponents insinuate by interpretation that the severe physical attack on his neck, with
the point of the knife being embedded in the jugular vein, is a clear case of
Divine chastisement (God forbid) for making what they allege, false claims in
the name of God.
Even before
his death/during his lifetime, some of the especially hostile critics in the Haqiqqat Passand Party used to shout
this argument in Pakistan. Sixty years after the attack,
it is apparent from the internet sites of the Lahori sect that their members
have inherited and propagate this satanic theory. Even the claimants of Mujaddidiyat in our times- such as Abdul
Ghaffar Janbah Sahib and Nasir Ahmad Sultani Sahib- have elevated this claim to
the lofty plane of their own ‘truth’ and veracity. As we have shown elsewhere,
Janbah Sahib and the others are profoundly mistaken in holding/understanding
the real viewpoint of the Promised Massih (as) on the question of 23 years.
Killing of Prophets in the past
An
assassination attempt or the ultimate sacrifice of Shahadat or martyrdom visiting a Divine servant had never been
looked down upon by the Muslim Ummah.
Instead of blaming the victims of physical attack when it occurs, justice and
fairness demands that we uphold their dignity. The fair-name and honour of
martyrs and the righteous servants need to be defended when they are blamed for
what happens to them at the hands of their myopic enemies.
According to
the Holy Qur’an, in the past, the rebels and transgressors of the lost
generations had made frequent attempts to kill the prophets of their times. And
in many cases, people with a Divine Mission had been unjustly killed by these
unscrupulous men. (Surah Al Baqarah,
2:62; 88; 92; Surah Aal-e-Imran, 3:22;
113; 145; 182; 184; Surah Al Nisa, 4:156;
Surah
Al Mai’dah, 5:71).
Murder attempts on Khulafa-ur-Rashidun
An attempt to
kill the Holy Prophet of Islam (sa) in Madina was made by a Jewess and the
Prophet (sa) died while he was still suffering from the after-effects of this
attack which took place almost three years before his death. Among the Khulafa-ur-Rashidun, Hadhrat Umar (ra),
Hadhrat Usman (ra) and Hadhrat Ali (ra) left the world as a consequence of and
due to the evil plots and machinations of the unjust enemies, rather than
natural causes of old age.
While the Khulafa-ur-Rashidun did not claim any
Divine appointment to their position as successors to the Holy Prophet of Islam
(sa), poisoning by unscrupulous opponents and consequent death at a young age did
not deter the Ummah from recognizing
the lofty spirituality of the First Mujaddid of Islam, Hadhrat Umar bin
Abdul Aziz (ra). Nor the period of 23 years became a barrier for such
recognition in his case, who died within the age of Forty (40 years), due to
the betrayal of a servant who poisoned his food at the allurement of the enemy.
Hadhrat Umar bin Abdul Aziz- First Mujaddid
According to
an authentic Ahadith: "Allah shall raise for this Ummah at the head
of every century a man who shall renew (or revive) for it its religion."
—Sunan Abu Dawood, Book 37: Kitab al-Malahim [Battles], Hâdith
Number 4278
According to Shah Waliullah Dehlawi (of Delhi):
“A
Mujadid appears at the end of every century: The Mujadid of the 1st century was
Imam of Ahlul Sunnah, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz. The Mujadid of the 2nd century was Imam of Ahlul Sunnah Muhammad
Idrees Shaafi the Mujadid of the 3rd century was Imam of Ahlul Sunnah Abu Hasan
Ashari the Mujadid of the 4th century was Abu Abdullah Hakim Nishapuri.
-Izalat al-Khafa'an
Khilafat al-Khulfa lit. 'Removal of Ambiguity
about the Caliphate of the [Early]
Caliphs'), p. 77 part 7.
Khilafat
Hadhrat Umar
bin Abdul Aziz (ra) was born in 682 CE (CE: Christian Era) and passed away in February
720 CE. He was the eighth Caliph of the Umayyad dynasty to rule over the Muslim
empire, reigning from 99 to 101 AH (717-720 CE). He was titled ‘the fifth Rightly-Guided Khalifa’ due to
his piety, asceticism, extreme caution on public spending, and for adhering to
the way of ruling of the first four Caliphs of Islam. He is also unanimously
regarded as the prophesised reviver (Mujaddid)
of Islam of the first century.
ʿUmar was born in 63 AH in
Madīnah. He was the great grandson of the second ‘Rightly-guided’ Khalifa ʿUmar
ibn Al-Khaṭṭāb (ra) through his mother, Umm ʿĀṣim (ra). He spent time as
governor of Madīnah before his cousin and predecessor, Caliph Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd
Al-Mālik, nominated him as his successor during his final illness in 99 AH.
After reluctantly accepting
the Khilafat, Hadhrat Umar became concerned with implementing a number of neglected
laws of Islam to rectify the moral state of his subjects. Thus, he enforced the
prohibition of the drinking of alcohol, eliminated mixed gender bath houses,
and abolished the tax on non-Arab converts to Islam. He also ended the cursing
of the fourth ‘Rightly-Guided’ Khalifa ʿAlī (ra)
during Friday sermons, commissioned the first compilation of Prophetic
traditions, and dealt justly with his governors and subjects. Furthermore, he
standardised all weights and measures in the empire, abolished trade embargos,
and outlawed unpaid labour.
Despite being the Khalifa, Hadhrat Umar
abandoned the luxurious lifestyle of his recent predecessors and instead
preferred to embody the lifestyle of the Messenger of Allah (sa) and the ‘Rightly-Guided’
Khulafa. Therefore, he deposited all
extra assets of the Khalifa into the public treasury, abandoned the palace of
the Khalifa and moved into a modest dwelling, and wore rough clothes rather than
royal robes. He exhorted his governors and generals to offer the ritual prayer
in a timely manner, to meticulously follow the Islamic regulations, to invite
people to Islam, and to be lenient in handing out punishments in the courts. He
also called back the Muslim armies that were failing in their bid to conquer
Constantinople, and sent messengers to spread Islam in China and Tibet. It was
on his invitation that a number of Indian Kings and Berber tribes accepted
Islam.
ʿThe Khalifa was also a scholar in
his own right, and narrated from fellow Successors such as Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd
Al-Raḥmān and ʿUrwa ibn Al-Zubayr (ra).
Those who narrated from him included Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd Al-Raḥmān, Al-Zuhrī,
Ayyūb Al-Sakhtiyānī, and Nāfiʿ (ra).
His
Sayings
“I
would be delighted if all the non-Muslims converted to Islam and, due to the
lack of tax income from converts, we have to take up agriculture to earn a
living.”
- Ibn
Al-Jawzī, Manāqib ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd Al-ʿAzīz. Berlin, 1900 (p. 64).
“Some
people say that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) will not punish everyone for
the wrong actions of a few. However, when the wrong action is committed openly,
then they all deserve to be punished.”
- Mālik, Muwatta (Kalām,
23/#1836).
“If
we are unable to gain ascendency over our enemies on account of our
righteousness, we would never be in a position to defeat them through our
military might.”
-Ibn
ʿAbd Al-Ḥakam, Sīrāt ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd Al-ʿAzīz. Egypt, 1346 AH (p. 84-87).
Pious Life
“I’ve never seen anyone whose prayer more closely resembles the prayer of
the Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless him and grant him peace) than
him.”
-Anas ibn Mālik (ra)
Fatimah, the
wife of Umar ibn Abdil Aziz[ra]:
"I never saw anyone that would pray and fast as much as him. Nor did I see
anyone that had as much fear of God as him. After Isha he would just sit and
cry until sleep would overcome him. And in the middle of the night he would
wake up and start crying again until sleep would overcome him. Sometimes he
would be in bed and think about a matter to do with the akhirah and start shaking
like a bird that shakes off water".
Death caused by
Poisoning:
Hadhrat Umar-II was loved by
the masses due to his reforms and justice, and by his second year as the
Khalifa, there was not anyone in the empire that was poor enough to be eligible
to receive the Welfare tax (Zakāt).
Thus, his governors began to use that money to emancipate slaves in the empire
or return the tax back to the people.
History
records that his administrative reforms in favour of the people greatly angered
the nobility of the state, and they would eventually bribe a servant into
poisoning his food. According to the narratives, Hadhrat Umar (ra) learned of
this on his death bed and pardoned the culprit, collecting the punitive
payments he was entitled to under Islamic law but depositing them in the public
treasury. He died in February 720 (101 AH), probably the 10th and probably forty years old, in Aleppo, Syria. (Inset: Maqbarah) It is reported that death came after he recited a verse of the Holy Qur’an:
"We grant the Home in the Hereafter to those who do not seek superiority
on earth or spread corruption: the happy ending is awarded to those who are
mindful of God". ( Surah Al-Qasas, 28: 84)
The period of Khilafat was
very short- Only three years 99-101
A.H. (717-720 CE). And yet, Hadhrat Umar-II (ra) lives in the collective memory
of all believers across the centuries. High spiritual standing, religious
scholarship and seminal contribution to the codification of Ahadith, justice and equity-oriented
governance, administrative acumen, etc.
were some of the abiding features of his Khilafat.
He attempted to preserve the integrity of the spiritual tradition by
emphasizing religion and a return to the original principles of the faith.
When Khalifa
Umar bin Abdul Aziz died, the Roman Emperor is reported to have said:
“I should not be the least surprised if a
monk renounces the world and busies himself in worship behind closed doors, but
I am simply amazed at this man who has a vast empire at his feet but he
rejected it and lived the life of a monk”.
As noted by a
Muslim scholar, “Allah appointed him as a Mujaddid
before the age of 40 years and he was able to fulfill the Divine mission that
he was made responsible for within his short life. May Allah bless his soul”.
In Lieu of Conclusion
The Holy
Qur’an expressly states that some of the Divine servants had been killed by
their unscrupulous enemies in the past and there were also other cases, whereby
attempts to murder them were made by the religious criminals, precisely with
the objective of ridiculing their Divine missions. As is apparent from the
Qur’an and the Ahadith, attempts were made on the life of the Holy Prophet
(sa), including through poisoned food by a Jewess in the final years.
As the Muslim
Ummah unanimously and conclusively agree on the Mujaddidiyat of Hadhrat Umar bin Abdul Aziz (ra) in accordance with
the profound view of the Qur’an, one can only conclude that in the matter of
the attack on Hadhrat Khalifa Sani (ra), Janbah Sahib and his ilk are inventing
their own ‘spin’ by listening to the inclinations of their nafs, if they are not following satanic revelations which insinuate a bad end for a servant of Islam, whereas the Qur'an declares "WAL AAKIBATHU LIL MUTHAQEEN" (28:84).