Shareefa Beevi Saheba (1951-2018)

Shareefa Beevi Esmail Saheba, the respected wife of Mukarram Amir Jamaluddin Saheb of the Kerala South Jamaat, passed away on the early morning of Thursday, the 10^th of May, 2018---23 Shabaan 1439 AH. Innal-Lilaahi wa inna ilayhi raajiuun.

Born in October 1951, Shareefa Saheba was 67 years of age at the time of her death. She was not keeping well for some months now, and the end came while she was sleeping peacefully at home. Indeed the angels came home to call her back to Allah (swt), like the Qur’an attests about the Divine decree regarding the course of all human souls: “Allah takes the souls at the time of their death; and those that do not die [He takes] during their sleep. Then He keeps those for which He has decreed death and releases the others for a specified term. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought” (39:43).

At home, daughter Fauzia Jamal Saheba led the other women of the family in giving a proper bath to the dead body as per Islamic rites. The funeral prayer (Salaat al-Janazah) was performed under the leadership of her husband Mukarram Amir Jamaluddin Saheb of the Kerala South Jamaat after their son Fazil Jamal and family reached home from Delhi in the late afternoon. Remaining members of the family, members of the South Jamaat, close relatives and even other Muslims outside of the Jamaat also joined the Janaza prayers at the historic Noor'ul Islam Masjid, Mathra and soon thereafter, the dead body was buried at the burial space enclave adjacent to the Masjid complex before sunset. May Allah (swt) illumine her tomb, Aameen.  

19 April 2003: A Memoir

19^th April 2003 is an important day in the annals of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya (Qadian). It was on this day that the reigning caliph of the Jamaat, 'Khalifatul Massih IV Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad [1928-2003], passed away in London, the UK. For devout Ahmadis, the day marked the end of an era and the formal beginning of another, within the larger concept and actual working of the system of spiritual succession or the ‘Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya’ system established after the death and departure of the Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) [1835-1908] almost a century back in Qadian, India. Many Ahmadis today relate that day, thus, with an important phase in the succession saga of spiritual leadership in the community, a time in transition from one caliph to another, elected by the assembly of the Ahmadis. Indeed, as is widely known,  the mainstream Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya went on to elect and appoint yet another caliph in their assembly, in succession to the departed fourth caliph, the fifth Khalifatul Massih Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad on 23 April 2003, marking continuity of religious leadership in the Jamaat system. 

Some also relate the day with the formal inaugural of a new system of ‘Khilafat’ among the Ahmadis, a Divine Manifestation in our era, with an elect of God accepting Bai’at at his hands. 

Indeed one of the questions that deeply divide devout Ahmadis today relate to the events of 19 April 2003, its meanings, interpretations and implications. As is well known, it was in the final years of the caliphate of Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad Saheb that a pious Ahmadi in Mauritius, Hazrat Munir Ahmad Azim (aba), began to make the extraordinary claim that Allah (swt) has raised him, as His Elect of this era, to invite people to God and to strengthen Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya by sharing the Divine revelations and spiritual verities being vouchsafed to him, with the assistance of Rooh-il-Quddus. 

It is also a matter of historic record and Divine destiny that the fourth Caliph thought highly of the noble qualities and preaching attainments of the future Divine Elect when he was still working as a missionary ambassador of the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya into the various communities and nations of the Indian Ocean Region. Yet, when the saintly figure was reported to have made the claims of being a recipient of Divine revelations, under misleading circumstances, he was expelled from the Nizam-e-Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya, and social boycott was administratively enforced on those who preferred faith above the world. 

  

‘Khilafat’: Elects of men, and Elects of God

 

It is instructive to note the great guidance of the Promised Massih (as) on the course of action to be initiated with regard to the continuity of Jamaat functions in times of vacuum in leadership after him. Devout Ahmadis are to remain united under an elected leader till the time “when someone inspired by God with the Holy Spirit is raised by Him” . 

 

The Promised Massih (as) wrote in his testamentary will, AL WASSIYAT:

 

Let the righteous persons of the Jama‘at who have pure souls accept Bai‘at in my name[1].  (Such persons will be selected by consensus of the believers. Hence if forty believers agree that a person is competent to accept Bai‘at in my name, he will be entitled to accept Bai‘at….) 

 

God Almighty desires to draw all those who live in various habitations of the world, be it Europe or Asia, and who have virtuous nature, to the Unity of God and unite His servants under one Faith. This indeed is the purpose of God for which I have been sent to the world. You, too, therefore should pursue this end, but with kindness, moral probity and fervent prayers. And till that time when someone inspired by God with the Holy Spirit is raised by Him, all of you should work in harmony with one another….

With the death and departure of the fourth Caliph on 2003 April 19, devout Ahmadis in Mauritius assembled around Hazrat Munir Ahmad Azim, the recipient of Divine revelations as well as several, Divinely-bestowed, sublime spiritual titles  such as ‘Hazrat’, ‘Amirul Mu’mineen’, ‘Qamaran Munira’, etc.

First Bai’at in the HAND OF ALLAH (represented by the Messenger of Allah Munir A. Azim (aba)): In Quatre-Bornes (Mauritius), House of the Ummul Mu'mineen Sadr Saheba Fazli Amena on 19 April 2003, the day on which the 4th Khalifatul-Massih Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad died in London (UK).  It was on the second storey of the house, on Saturday 19 April 2003; after Maghrib-Esha prayers in congregation, (Reference Book/ Magazine on the Life of the Messenger of Allah: The Light-Giving Moon, 2016). 

Truth about the Whispering Campaign

In the Qur’an, Allah (swa) testifies through innumerable verses that He admits into His mercy whoever He will and place His message wherever He wish. Against this clear verdict and declaration of Allah (twa), the ruling elites invariably act with arrogance, contempt and ridicule at the advent of humble servants of Allah. When one reads the Holy Quran with attention and read the history of ancient prophets, one is drawn to conclude that there has always been an opposition against the men of God. They have been insulted, oppressed, persecuted and slandered. Their enemies hatched many plots to humiliate them and to stop their activities. But all the enemies' plans fail in the end, with the prophets being able to establish the Divine Message against all odds.   This is a formal promise from Allah: “Allah has decreed: Most Surely I will prevail I and My Messengers. Verily Allah is Powerful and Mighty.” (58: 22)

The Qur’an has preserved this recurring theme of history as a template of warning for Muslims against the arrogance of rejection of Divine Reformers. Yet, as it is mostly the case, like the Qur’an says, the true significance of the message being descended on the Divine servant among them eludes most people and they end up being among the group known for hatching plots and whispering calumnies against the Divine servant. They do their worst to extinguish the Light of Allah, through their mouths and by injecting hatred for the Divine servant, on the minds of common people.

Consider the experience of the present Divine Manifestation in Mauritius. Had it not been for the fact that he is a recipient of Divine revelations and has been Divinely-entrusted with a mission of preaching Islam to one and all, the life and experiences of the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius would have been the like of his fellow countrymen, the joys and sorrows of a life lived in the present. But, time and history has other plans for him. Hence, in the last decade and beyond, ever since the advent of revelations, one could see that slanderous insults had been and continues to be, leveled against Hadhrat Sahib (atba). The storm of opposition that had broken out against the Divine Manifestation in Mauritius is truly astounding. At another level, as this Divine servant once noted, “If I had not been insulted, if there were no opposition against me, you could have doubted my claims because Allah says in the Holy Qur’an: “Alas for My servants! There comes not a Messenger to them; but they mock at him” (36:31).