Truth about the Allegations on Khalifa Sani

In the 125-year old history of the Jamaat-e- Ahmadiyya, Hadhrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad (ra) (1889-1965) holds a very special place. If the idea of Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya was invented after the death and departure of the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as) (1835-1908) and took its initial contours during the time of the Khilafat of Maulvi Hakkim Nuruddin Sahib (ra) (1908-1914), it was during the time of Hadhrat Khalifa Sani (ra) that the institution, in many ways, got consolidated, as the period of his Khilafat extended over half a century. If today, for devout Ahmadis, the institution of Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya holds much significance in their lives and the obedience to the Khalifatul Massih is perceived by the members as a foundational act of religious sincerity, it has occurred through the specific interpretations of the teachings of the Promised Massih (as) and the conscious policy choices adopted especially during the second Khilafat.

2014 marks the one hundred years of the beginning of the second Khilafat in the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya. As tragic irony goes,  the year also marks one hundred years of the Great Split among the Ahmadis. It was with the death of the first Khalifa Hakkim Nuruddin Sahib (ra) in March 1914 that the differences of opinion among the companions on ideological directions of the Jamaat came to the foreground. The refusal of some of the influential companions of the Promised Massih (as) to agree upon the leadership of the eldest son of the Promised Massih (as) led to the Split in the Jamaat and also the formation of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement (LAM) and the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Qadian (JAQ) as two separate fractions.

Ideological Implications of the Split

The formation of the LAM under the leadership of Maulana Muhammad Ali Sahib witnessed the intellectuals and the opinion makers within the Jamaat moving along with him, out of Qadian, in the aftermath of the Split. On the contrary, the substantial mass of common believers took allegiance to Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad Sahib, who became the second Khalifa of the JAQ at a relatively young age of 25. Both fractions committed themselves to the propagation of Islam as “originally” taught by the Promised Massih (as), even as they bitterly differed among themselves on the ‘true’ conception of those teachings. The great scholars in both the fractions produced volumes of literature in support of their sectarian identity, chosen lexicological interpretations of abstract concepts with nebulous meanings and advanced their respective terminological preferences such as ‘Nabi’,‘Mujaddid’, ‘Ummati Nabi’, ‘Ummati wa Nabi’, ‘Khalifa’, ‘Amir’ etc.

To the uninitiated and the ill-informed, the diverging philosophical positions might appear like highly abstract matters. Yet, the fact is that the fractional war within the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya has had its consequences, desired as well as unintended fall-outs, both internally and externally. Most crucially, it was the sectarian divisions within that played into and provided the fuel to the fire of hatred and jealousy nurtured by the Mullah and the enemy class (often feeding one another) to undermine and possibly attempt to destroy the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya altogether by declaring it out of the pale of Islam in the murky politics of Pakistan, in the subsequent decades.

Personal Dimensions of the Split

Internally, the hardening of doctrinal positions and ill- thinking of fellow brothers on both sides of the divide led to intolerance of differences within the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya. Some Ahmadis suspected fellow Ahmadis of ideological drift and personal ambitions. These tensions in ideological positions and the personal equations produced, in their wake, a number of allegations by people who were once closer to one another than their own families and clans and tribes, based on the affinity of Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya. Some of the bitter critics and vocal opponents of the second Khalifa alleged about practices of social boycott and criminal intimidation in Qadian. Even allegations of incitement to murder had been made against the Khalifa. The police records and the court documents of the times speak about these controversies. In their refusal to recognize the claim of the second Khalifa as to the fulfilment of the prophecy Musleh Maoud, part of the reason or justification publically given by his critics in the LAM includes the controversies and cases surrounding his administration of the Jamaat in Qadian.

Prophecy on Mass Killings in our times

[47:19]: “They wait not but for the Hour that it should come upon them suddenly. The signs thereof have already come…” 

Several verses in the Qur’an and the sacred traditions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) indicate, in subtle language and in different ways, the signs of the Later Days. Among these Signs, is the unmistakeable sign of mass killings that are to take place in the world. This sign has been mentioned in almost all authentic Ahadith collections, including Sahih al Bukhari and Sahih al Muslim, and one can thus read: 

Abdullah said, “The Prophet said,

‘Just before the Hour, there will be days in which knowledge will disappear and ignorance will appear, and there will be much killing.’”

-                                   - [Ibn Majah; also narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim, from the Hadith of al-A’mash]

According to the Qur’an, unity and peace in society are among the Divine blessings, whereas dissension, discord, internal strife and civil war are among the ways in which nations come under a trial. The Holy Prophet of Islam (a) described many of these signs of the Later Days in a context indicating the times of a Massih raised by Allah.

Warnings by Divine Messengers

In the previous era, the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as) through his writings, including in Tajalliyat-e-Illahiya (Divine Manifestations), repeatedly warned the world about the horrendous events waiting to unfold on the human condition as a consequence of its lack of appreciation for the Divine guidance for ethical and sustainable living. In our own times, the Muhyi-ud-Din Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius repeatedly warns us that humanity is on the brink of disaster.

Reflecting on the ongoing situation in Central African Republic and also in Myanmar and elsehwere, where the Muslim minorities are living under severe threats to their fundamental rights and freedoms of life and libaerty, in a recent series of Friday Sermons, Hadhrat Sahib (atba) had called the attention of the world to pure Islamic teachings that recognize the diversity of races, religions and languages and the need to respect and accord these rights to all groups in every humane society. In a world driven by the powerful vested interests of the developed world, principles of absolute justice and equal application of the laws in all circumstances that protect the integrity of the international system and human rights cannot be ensured. The Divine Messenger of our times has clearly identified the faultlines of diverging interests and the consequent absence of strong enforcement mechansims at the inter-State level as the apparent weaknesses of the existing world system, leading to the present crisis in world governance. 

It is not unknown to the Muslims that natural and man-made disasters strike the world when Divine sayings are ignored and reformers are insulted and humiliated, rather than respected and listened to. Instead of showing attention and concern for what the Divine message contain, the ungrateful and the rebellious seek to shoot the Messenger, leading invariably to various modes of Divine wrath and punishment. Believers who reflect would invariably be struck by the remarkable similarity of the Divinely-inspired sermons and sayings with the course of events in our times. Those who free themselves from the sins of hubris and prejudice can easily discern the proliferation of a series of events that point to the fulfilment of the grand Divine prophecies in the world affairs.

Renewal of Islam: Ulema and Divine Guidance

According to Abu Dharr, the Prophet (may God give him blessings and peace) said, reporting the words of God, ever praised and exalted is He:

“O My servants, I have forbidden injustice to Myself and I have made it forbidden amongst you. So be not unjust to one another.

“O My servants, all of you go astray except the one whom I guide. Ask guidance of Me, and I shall guide you…”

[Part I, Hadith No. 1; Muhyi-ud-din Ibn Arabi, Mishkåt al-Anwar: 101 Hadith Qudsi, written in 1202-03; Oxford: Anqa Publishing (2008); p.18.

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Renewal of Faith is through Divine Revelations

You must know that whenever a religious society became corrupted, then it was without fail, that a person came from Allah who revived the message and started a movement of great sacrifice for the sake of religion. Not taking other people’s lives but offering their own lives. Not destroying other people’s property but putting themselves in a precarious position where their property were destroyed and looted by others. So following through this hard path of sacrifice, religion was revived whereby you find these phenomena come one after the other (after religion has been trampled by stupid high priests/Mullahs who destroy the essence of religion). Our Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is thus the most dependable source of light for us (Muslims).

In fact after every other prophet and his religion became a thing of the past, Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) is the only source of light available to us. How did he revive religious values? It is through walking in the streets of Mecca and being stoned and being abused and being maltreated in the worst possible manner, by the sacrifices of his followers when they being dragged in the hard stony streets of Mecca and them being beaten almost to death and sometimes to death just for the sake of the true faith upon which they held firm till they tasted death or till they witnessed the victory of Islam.

The atrocities committed against them are enormous and yet as they walked through the path of blood and fears and toil, they were purified at the same time, they were spreading instead of decreasing in number. They were not conquered in reality but they were turning into victors because they were winning other hearts, other souls, other people joined this procession of those who offered sacrifices, and in that process they were purified.

Islam is designed like this. There is no short-cut to glory and victory and that is done always through the Messengers of Allah. If they came in the past, is present in this era, likewise Messengers of Allah will always come till the Day of Judgement in the light of perfection of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). When the religious leadership becomes corrupt, Allah takes the leadership in His Own Hands, that is the phenomena of “Nabuwwah”.

The Triumph of Divine Servants

Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) states:

When you find the Mahdi, perform bai‘at at his hand. You must go to him, even if you have to reach him across icebound mountains on your knees. He is the Khalifatullah, [he is] the Mahdi.” 

        - (Sunan Ibn-e-Majah, Kitabul-Fitan, Babu Khurujil-Mahdi, Hadith no. 4074)

The Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as) says in Arabic:

Laa waliya ba'di illallazi howa minni wa ala ahdi-    There is no Wali after me except one who comes from me and has a relationship with me.  [“ Khutbah Ilhamiyyah”, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 16, pp.69-70; Internet Edition ]

The fulfilment of these Divine prophecies has taken place in our times, with the raising of Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius as the Khalifatullah, in complete obedience to the Holy Prophet (sa) and the Promised Massih (as), as per the glad tidings they have vouchsafed to the humankind in general and the Muslim Ummah in particular.