Khilafat
is a Sunnat Allah. According to Islamic teachings, and historic
evidences of enduring Divine practice ['Sunnat Allah'], a Prophet of God is usually succeeded by a
system of 'Khilafat' among the believers who followed in the footsteps of that
elect of God. Since the traditions of the Holy Prophet (sa) also acknowledges
prophets of the past without any large body of disciples and followers in their
times, how the mission of God as represented by the Messenger is continued in a
new era after the Prophet's times is indeed a matter of Divine Plan and related
decisions. In the aftermath of a question received by a member of our Jamaat on
prophethood and Khilafat, Hazrat Imam Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah
Al Mahdi Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius has advised his disciples to bear in mind that Allah’s works
and plans are always perfect. People may not understand a matter but that Allah
has the perfect reply for it.
Reproduced below is the Question raised to, and the Response offered by Hazrat Saheb (aba):
The Question is as thus: Huzur, there is a Hadith which
states that: 'There had not been any prophethood which was not succeeded by
Khilafat' (Kanz al-Ummal, Hadith 32246)
But in another long Hadith it is
mentioned that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had said: 'Nations were
displayed before me, one or two prophets would pass by along with a few
followers. A prophet would pass by accompanied by nobody…' (Bukhari)
The question here is that if a prophet had no follower, how could he be succeeded by Khilafat?
First of all, every true Muslim
should bear in mind that Allah shall never let the works and missions of a
prophet, even if during his lifetime he had no follower, go to waste. One
should bear in mind that there are different kinds of prophethood with which
Allah can raise someone. That one might have come without a law-bearing book,
and come as a simple man in the eyes of people, but considered as a prophet in
the eyes of Allah. This is also a type of prophethood which is veiled by Allah
from the people but known to Allah due to his piety, righteousness and his love
for Allah and for spreading His Tawheed.
So, this type of prophet is usually
not known to the people, but holds the status of prophet in the sight of Allah.
Thus, even though he had no follower, but Allah holds him dear to Him.
In the more than 124,000 prophets
which have come into this world, many of them were such kinds of prophets, and
there were also prophets who were raised officially as prophets but yet did not
get any follower, and if they got one, two and or a few, then later on, those
followers left him, thus making him alone in his mission.
If we take the example of Isa (as),
we have two versions of his life portrayed to us in the world today. The
Christians know him to have lived till his mid-thirties and rose bodily to
heaven, while he had 12 believing disciples, but then near his crucifixion, one
became a hypocrite and traitor. On the other hand, the actual story in his case
is that he lived more than 100 years and went on a long journey to present-day Indo-Pakistani
Kashmir to find the lost tribes of Israel which had scattered there. So, in
Christian theology, he had only 11 sincere disciples during his lifetime. But
the truth about the actual number of his disciples is with Allah, especially
after his journey through the many countries till he reached Kashmir.
So, we see that there are many
versions of “truths” which people see as truths, yet the truth is another
matter altogether.
In the case when the Holy Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) mentioned that he was shown by Allah prophets who did not have
any follower, this refers to the exclusive prophethood status which Allah raise
someone even though he may not be known as a prophet to his nation or even the
world. Such prophethood is bereft of Khilafat (caliphate) as we know it. The
successors of such prophets are those whom Allah raised as prophets in the same
status and honour as them. They are neither bringer of any law, or even come
officially in the precept of a known prophet. That prophet is a sure follower
of a prophet, but he is not known as a prophet to the people.
Secondly, there are also those
prophets who come officially to spread Allah’s message to their nations (and
the world) – Here I am talking in general and not only concerning the past
prophets, but it may happen also that in the future such kinds of prophets may
be raised after the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who may have no follower
whatsoever, yet this does not diminish their status of being a prophet in the
least. But concerning the Khilafat after them, then bear in mind that whenever
the time of death of a prophet approaches, Allah in His infinite wisdom would
have already planned for someone to follow-in his footsteps. Allah always
guides his prophets to where they belong. Even if during their whole lives,
they did not get any follower to listen and believe in their message, but Allah
will ultimately direct them to such a place where His sincere servants are,
those who, even though did not accompanied His prophet during his whole
mission, yet at the end of his life, or even after his demise, He inspires His
true servants to believe in Him.
Bear in mind that this world is not
filled with only fools and stupid people who are disobedient to Allah. It may
be that in the native place of the prophet, nobody believed in him, but then at
the end of his life, Allah directs him to another place where He knows that his
mission will flourish there, during the last years of his life or even after
his demise, and inspires those hearts to recognize his truth.
All in all, prophethood followed by
Khilafat is Sunnat Allah. Like I have explained in my various sermons on the
subject, there are different kinds of Khilafat. A prophet can be a Khalifa
(caliph) and vice-versa, but such prophethood, like all prophethood have the
stamp of the Ruh’il Quddus (Holy Spirit) upon them, even the prophet who
remains unknown to the people, and known to Allah only as well as
His angels. They are blessed with divine revelations and nearness to
Allah. If Allah tells someone to proclaim himself as a prophet, then he
has the duty to stand up and proclaim himself on the command of Allah, whether
the people believe in him or not. But if he does not get any revelation
from Allah, and is not a prophet but yet let the people think that he is a
prophet or messenger of Allah or even a Reformer from Allah, then this sin will
crush him and see him in the profoundness of hell. Those
who fabricate lies against Allah do not prosper. (An-Nahl 16: 117)
I hope that this answer is clear
for you all. Allah’s plan is the best plan. He knows whom He will raise after a
prophet and how He will enable the hearts of the people to accept him (even
though they lost the blessings of his company while he was still alive).
Let me remind you also, that I had
also told you before that when a prophet of Allah dies, the works of the Satan
also is such that he also begins to inspire the people to recognize his truth
(after they calumniated and rejected him). As long as the prophet of Allah was
alive, he inspired the hearts against him, but after his death, after that the
people have lost the blessings of his company and message, he also begins to
inspire those hearts to believe in him, but compared to Allah the Most High,
Satan’s works as expected is evil and he drives the people to not only believe
in those prophets but to take them also as deities, as partners in the worship
of Allah, thus making those people take the prophets as idols and pray to them
instead of to Allah.
May Allah grant my disciples the faith, piety, righteousness and intelligence to always remain on the right path and not to be beguiled by the satans and to reform yourselves in the best way, to reflect the true Islam in you so that you may deserve Khilafat after me. This is all in the Hands of Allah. I trust His plan and indeed His plan is best. Ameen.
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