Like I was telling you
last Friday, the greatest challenge the Ummah has been facing for centuries is
unity around a single Leader – not just any leader or Caliph, but a leader
based on the precepts of our beloved Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). Many
people have come and proclaimed that they are the ones who have come to bring
reform to the Ummah. It is true that many Mujaddids (reformers) have
come, but after guidance, people have become divided again and that too, sub-divided,
to the point that no one truly knows where the truth lies.
Each of the sects, the Jamaats
(communities) of Islam, is seeking the Khilafat for itself, to lead the
Ummah, but this Khilafat – let me tell you – is chosen by Allah! When
man deviates from the path of Allah and abandons the spiritual heritage of
Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh), of Islam – an Islam that all the prophets have preached
since the creation of man – then Allah sees the need to raise His own Khalifa
(Caliph/ Representative) to bring about that unity. This Khalifa of
Allah does all he can, through the divine revelation he receives, to revive the
Qur’an and Islam in the hearts of people across the world; not just Muslims,
but also people of other faiths who have long lost the right path.
So, if we look closely,
who truly deserves the Khilafat? When we analyse the sects of Islam that have
deviated from the right path, we see how many have already lost true guidance;
therefore, each Muslim must reflect on whether he is truly following the “Siratwal
Mustaqeem” (the straight path), and where it is truly leading him: towards
Allah and His pleasure, or towards divine anger and punishment?
A Khilafat that
is based on the footsteps and works of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) – when the time
comes, it will appear, and continue to appear, after people have lost the
compass of Islam – that is, when they lose the direction that leads to true
Islam.