Thursday, January 16, 2020

'Khalifatullah': A Divine Promise


The Promise of Allah to the Prophet & the Believers


“O you who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance! It may be that your Lord will remit from you your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise) the Day that Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believe with him. Their Light will run forward before them and by their right hands, while they say, ‘Our Lord! Perfect our Light for us, and grant us Forgiveness: for You have power over all things’. (Surah At-Tahrim, 66 : 9)

In light of this Quranic verse, I present to you a Hadith where Hazrat Abu Dharr and Hazrat Abu Darda (ra) reported that Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) said that: On the Day of Judgment I will recognize my people. The Sahaba (companions) asked him: O Prophet of Allah, how will you recognize your people? Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) said: 'I will recognize you by the light that will be before you'.

Therefore, in the world there are those who have the light of Imaan (faith) and on the day of judgement this light will be before them and on their right.

When you read Chapter ‘The Light’, i.e., Surah Al-Nur, Verse 56, where Allah (swt) says:

Allah had promised to those among you who believe and do good works that He will surely make them Successors in the earth, as He made Successors from among those who were before them; and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them; and that He will surely give them in exchange security and peace after their fear: They will worship Me, and they will not associate anything with Me. Then whoso is ungrateful after that, they will be the rebellious.”

This has always been the way of Allah, a practice that He has demonstrated since the existence of man, that it is Allah (swt) Himself Who raises His Chosen Messenger, His Prophet, His Khalifatullah as this verse makes us understand. And Allah says in this verse that it is a promise that He makes to those who believe and do good works. 


This promise, Allah has not made it to all those whose works do not please Him; those whose actions go against His teachings; and what is important to note is that Allah (swt) said He will make those who do not go against His teachings successors (His Caliphs / Representatives) on earth; it’s not a Caliph who will be elected by man, where people come together to elect a Caliph; where all types of people with different mentalities come together to make this decision. And certainly it is Allah (swt) alone who knows the hearts of people [all people]. This is why He made this commitment and made this promise that it is He alone, Allah (swt) who will raise His successors on earth, just as He had established successors among those who came before them; and that He will establish for them their religion that He has chosen for them and He will give them in return after their fear, security and peace. 

Light of Faith through 'Roohil Quddus' 

When you read this verse, it becomes more interesting given the way Allah (swt) formed the words [of this verse] and made us understand this subject, more precisely when He informs us that it has always been His practice to raise His caliphs just as in the past, He had raised Successors. So, it is quite clear, these successors were not chosen by man, they were not chosen in a committee or an assembly where an election is held to choose anyone to be placed as a successor [representative]. When Allah (swt) made this promise, it is He Who takes all the responsibility for raising His Selected Successor and He raises him with the Holy Spirit, “Ruhil Quddus”. This is the way of doing [i.e. the practice] of Allah, a practice that He has always taught [or demonstrated] since the creation of man, that it is Himself who chooses His Servant (not man) and Allah comes to the aid of His prophets (or as you may call them: His chosen servants, His prophets or messengers, His Caliphs etc.), and gives them a superiority [over all people]. Allah (swt) says in the Qur’an in Surah Al-Mujadala, Chapter 58, Verse 22:

Allah has decreed: ‘Verily! It is I and My Messengers who shall be the victorious’.”

The words: victorious, triumph, prevail, or predominance can be described as follows: Historically the fervent desire of all prophets is that the arguments for [the cause of] Allah be firmly established on earth in such a way that no one can refute them. So with the support of great signs, Allah manifests their truthfulness and by the hand of these prophets, Allah sows the grain of righteousness that these prophets had the desire to spread everywhere. But only Allah (swt) does not complete the mission of the prophets with their own hand, but on the contrary Allah (swt) bring about their deaths in such a circumstance and in such an era which seems like they failed in their mission. This gives the opponents the opportunity to ridicule them. But after the smirks and mockeries of these opponents, it is only then that Allah sends another manifestation of His power and He creates a series of circumstances that eventually leads to the achievement of the goal of these prophets. That is to say, Allah manifests His power twice: First, during the life of His prophets and through their works, Allah (swt) shows the power with his hand [the hand of the prophet strengthened by that of Allah ]. Second, after the death of His prophet, the disciples of this prophet undergo all kinds of difficulties. The enemies are renewed in strength and begin to believe that the prophet’s mission has ended there itself with his death. They even think that the disciples of this prophet also will go to their loss [to their destruction]. There are even members of this movement (Jamaat) who begin to have doubts as if their backs have been broken. There are some unhappy people who even end up denying this prophet. It is then that Allah (swt) shows His power and ability and He saves this community which was in difficulty. So those who endure till the end become witnesses to this miracle from Allah, the Almighty.

It looks like what happened during the time of Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra). The death of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) was considered inappropriate and several ignorant Bedouins denied Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). The companions of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) were overcome with sadness. In these critical moments, Allah (swt) made Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) stand firm and through him Allah showed a manifestation of His power. This second manifestation of power is certainly vast.

So, this second manifestation of power of Allah is that after the coming of the noble prophet (pbuh), there were the Khulafa-e-Rashideen, the Mujaddids, and then the advent of the Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) in the previous century, and before one hundred years of his mission, Allah (swt) raised Hazrat Musleh Ma’ud (ra), and in this present century also there is a Musleh Ma’ud, because Allah (swt) knows very well how the divine teachings have been trampled by power-hungry people and the establishment of their dynasties.

At the beginning of this century Allah (swt) raised His Khalifatullah, such a Khalifatullah that Allah established after a law-bearing prophet, that is, Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). It is on this system that the progress of Islam and its victory rests in order to revive this Sahih Al Islam (these true teachings of Islam) and this is a blessed system because it was raised by Allah (swt) Himself, not by man as some believe (that is, that through an election - by votes, someone is elected even if he receives no revelation, inspiration or divine message, which comes from the Creator).

So where Allah raises His Chosen One is the blessed system itself and it is a reflection of prophethood and it is an absolute guarantee of all kinds of progress. So, this is a subject that needs to be short - short but sweet, where everyone can understand it, small dose by small dose, and Insha-Allah, next week I will continue on this same subject. May Allah give me the required knowledge by His grace. [Ameen].  

--- Friday Sermon of 10 January 2020 ~14 Jamadi’ul Awwal 1441 AH delivered by Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hadhrat Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah MUnir Ahmad Azim (atba) of Mauritius.