Sathyadoothan’ [in Malayalam,
it means “True Messenger”] is the Malayalam organ of the Ahmadiyya Muslim
Community in Kerala. This venerable journal, established in the early part of
the last Century by very distinguished Ahmadi elders, has had an enviable
record of enlightening the people of Kerala on the mission and message of the
Promised Massih (as) through its elegant articles. Of late, however,
unfortunately, the journal is repeatedly drifting away from its high standards,
even making blatant errors in the interpretation and understanding of the views
of the Promised Massih (as). It is now virtually misleading and misguiding Ahmadis
on the most important spiritual issue of the day: the future of Divine Guidance.
In its quest for elevating the status
of the current Khilafat arrangement in the Community among its common members,
the monthly journal is on a campaign mode: that
Allah cannot and will not raise a Mujaddid in the new century because the current
and Fifth Khalifa is Divinely- appointed and guided. It argues that the
status of the Khalifa is even above that of Mujaddidin who appeared in every
century of Islam. And the institution of Mujaddidiyat
is inexplicably dismissed as a mere “temporary phenomenon” that happened to last
through the entire Islamic Era. Astonishingly, it put the Khilafat of early Islam (that lasted
only 30 years after the death of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) and in spite of
its perceived absence for over a millennium from among the Muslims) as the “enduring
phenomenon” which made a reappearance after the death of Hadhrat Ahmad (as)
with the institutionalization of Khilafat in the Community in 1908.
While dismissing the very need
for Mujaddidin in the presence
of the “permanent” Ahmadiyya Khilafat, the Journal is cautious enough to acknowledge
that prophets can come even in future as the Holy Qur’an keeps the door open
for revelation and prophethood through its several verses. It begets a
pertinent question: Will the coming Messenger of Allah not be the Mujaddid of his era? Why only the
Khulafa elected by men can be raised to these Divine offices as Elects of Allah
when the Holy Qur’an offers this possibility of spiritual elevation for ALL
righteous believers?
Even while describing Hadhrat
Ahmad (as) as the Mujaddid of the
Millennium, the current Khalifa of the Community is on record stating
that an Ahmadiyya Khalifa can declare himself as the Mujaddid if and when Allah so informs him through revelation [Friday Sermon of June 10, 2011]. In
other words, even the Khalifa does not believe that a Mujaddid will not be raised in future. This is in spite of what
his own disciples and scholars of the Jamaat are expressly holding forth in their
articles in the Sathyadoothan.
