"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.
Reproduced below are two such expositions made by the Promised Massih (as) in his writings.
(1) In
his famous book “Haqiqatul
Wahi”, the Promised Massih (as)
cited the sacred tradition from the Holy Prophet (sa)-
regarding the advent of Mujaddidin, cited above- in order
to explain the significance of Divine Elects among the believers in
every era to provide living testimonials to the vitality of the
Islamic path. In this discourse, the Promised Massih (as) dismissed
all usual objections that sceptical persons and the ignorant
ones raise on the subject of Mujaddidin by providing simple but
powerful counter-questions/arguments whereby he points to the
authenticity of the Hadith regarding the advent of the Mujaddidin in
every era. Just as no one knows the names of all the Prophets who had appeared and preached Tawheed among all corners of the world, before the glorious advent of the Holy Prophet (sa) in the spiritual world; Allah (swt) would have raised Mujaddidin in all parts of the expanding Islamic world in the previous eras and hence, he argues that the Hadith cannot be invalidated on the ground of one not being able to agree on the chronological listing of Mujaddidin of the past.
Read
the Discourse Below:
'Meaning that, Abu Dawud reports that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: ‘At the head of every century, God will commission a Mujaddid for this Ummah who will revive the Faith for its sake.’
The
twenty-fourth year of the present century is now nearing its end and
it is not possible that a saying of the Holy Prophet, may peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him, should remain unfulfilled.
If
someone asks, ‘If
this Hadith is authentic, then tell us the names of the Mujaddids
[Reformers] of the twelve centuries?’, the answer is
that this Hadith has been continually held as authentic by the
scholars of the Ummah. If, at the time of my claim, even this Hadith
is to be declared as a fabrication, such can indeed be expected only
from these maulawis.
Some
eminent scholars of Hadith themselves claimed to be the Mujaddids of
their own times, while others have tried to project someone else as
the Mujaddid. Therefore, if this Hadith is not authentic, they did
not act honestly.
As
for the names of the Mujaddids, it is not necessary for me to
remember them all. Such all-encompassing knowledge is exclusive to
God alone. I lay no claim to know the unseen except for what God
reveals to me. Furthermore, this Ummah
is spread over a large part of the world. Divine wisdom raises a
Mujaddid in one country at a certain time, and in another country at
other times. Who can have full knowledge of the works
of God and who can encompass His domain of the unseen?
Will
you please tell me how many Prophets have appeared in every one of
the nations from Hadhrat Adam as [Adam] to the Holy Prophet, may
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him? If you tell me this, I
shall tell the names of the Mujaddids too. It
is obvious that lack of knowledge about something does not
necessarily mean that it does not exist....'(pp.241-42;
Haqiqatul-Wahi).
-------------------
(2) In
his collection of Discourses entitled Malfoozat, one
can read an address delivered by the Promised Messiah (as) on 31
January 1898, after Fajr Prayer, where he spoke
about the profound and organic linkages
between Nubuwwat and Wilayat/Mujaddidiyyat:
A
Succession of Mujaddidin and Muhaddithin
“(A)
matter worthy of reflection is that one form of rain descends so that
the seed may be sown, and another form of rainfall descends so that
the seed may grow, develop and flourish. In the same manner, the rain
of prophethood descends to sow the seed. After this, the rain of the
recipients of divine revelation (Muhaddithin) and
the Reformers (Mujaddidin) falls,
so that this seed may sprout, grow and develop as alluded to in the
following verse:
Verily,
We Ourself have sent down this Exhortation,
and
most surely We will be its Guardian…..Al-Hijr,
15:10
I
have stated countless times that prophethood serves as an anchor for
divinity. An individual who rejects prophethood, slowly but surely
reaches a state where they deny the existence of God.
Moreover, sainthood serves as an anchor for prophethood. When
a person rejects a saint, eventually and gradually they lose their
faith. At present, you may observe that a period of over
1300 years have elapsed since the Messenger of God, peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him. If God Almighty had remained
completely silent until this time and if He had not manifested
Himself, Islam would have no more value than a tale or fable and it
would have no distinction or superiority over any other religion.
For
example, the Hindus attribute miracles to their saints and relate
these stories as they appear in their puranas and shastras,
but can demonstrate no such feats today. In the same manner, if today
the miraculous signs of Islam were related by Muslims as they appear
in their books, but they could not show any such signs in this day
and age, what superiority would it possess over other religions?
Human
nature is such that it expresses a dislike and aversion to such
things that do not possess a superiority over others. Faith in Islam
would fall weak if it did not possess a superiority, because faith
cannot remain strong unless it finds perfection in a matter.
Therefore, the hedge of sainthood has been planted around the tilth
of prophethood. You may reflect and see how clear and subtle a
response this is to those who raise objections against God taking
oaths. (p. 234; Malfuzat-I)
To read the first part, click here.
To read the first part, click here.