Download File

True concept of Khilafat
What is Khilafat?
Khilafat (often Latinised as Caliphate) is a Divine institution established after the demise of a Prophet
to guide and spiritually train the believers and carry on the work of the Prophet to bring peace,
guidance, unity, reassurance and righteousness to mankind.
The literal meaning of 'Khalifa' is ‘successor’ and as such, a Khalifa is deemed to be the
representative of a Prophet and vicegerent of God on the earth. A Khalifa is one who carries on the
Prophet's work after his demise.
In this sense, it is our belief that all Prophets like Jesus, Moses and others were succeeded by some
of their devout followers like Joshua after Moses and Peter after Jesus (peace be upon them all).
Khilafat is in no way a worldly, political or dictatorial system. A Khalifa is solely a spiritual leader and
his main objective and responsibility is to guide and train the believers in moral, spiritual and
religious matters. True Khilafat is quite unrelated to politics and civic rule. A Khalifa generally has no
authority over the running of the affairs of a state, rather his role is to advise and guide his followers.
Khilafat is quite the antithesis to dictatorship. A Khalifa is elected by the believers who are guided by
God while dictators assume charge by force and rule by might and power. A Khalifa on the other
hand assumes his office with the burden of responsibility to discharge the trust placed on his
shoulders by God. Therefore, Khilafat is quite different to any other worldly kind of leadership.
Hadrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad
ra
writes:
God Almighty does everything through wisdom and foresight, and there is always a good
reason and logic behind it. According to nature’s physical laws, man has only a limited life
span, but the task of reformation and training of society requires a much longer time. So,
Allah has established the system of Khilafat after the system of Prophethood. The Khalifah
continues and carries on the task of the Prophet. The seed sown by the Prophet is
protected and nurtured by the Khalifah till it becomes a strong and sturdy tree. It shows
that in fact Khilafat is an offshoot or branch of the system of Prophethood, that is why the
Holy Prophet
sa
says that after every Prophet, the system of Khilafat is established. (taken
from Welcome to Ahmadiyyat).
Khilafat is compatible with democracy
The separation of Mosque and State is something which is condoned by Islam. Islam teaches that the
state should have no interference with the religion of people. ‘There should be no compulsion in
religion’ (Holy Qur’an 2:256).
When the Holy Prophet of Islam (Peace be on him) set up the first Muslim State, he set it up with a
democratic system. Religion had no say in the general running of the affairs and the people were
consulted in matters of the state as taught by the Qur’an: ‘and consult them in matters of
administration’ (Holy Qur’an 3:160)
The only system of governance which Islam promotes is any which is fundamentally based upon the
principles of firm justice, absolute freedom of conscience and equality for all.
The Qur’an teaches that those who are most suitable for governance should be elected and placed
in their respective roles: ‘Verily, Allah commands you to make over the trusts to those entitled to
them, and that, when you judge between men, you judge with justice. And surely excellent is that
with which Allah admonishes you! Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.’ (Holy Qur’an 4:59)
Therefore, because Khilafat itself is a spiritual and religious system, it can have no interference in the
general running of a country nor can it involve itself in political or worldly objectives.
In relation to this, the current Khalifa of Islam and the Head of the Worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim
Community, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad says:
“Khilafat has no relation to government or politics. When Ahmadiyyat spreads far and wide
the Khilafat will play no role in government and will never interfere with matters of State.
We have no political ambitions or desires. We believe entirely in a separation of religion
and matters of State.”
Furthermore, upon being asked whether there could be more than one Khilafat within Islam, he said:
“There cannot be a Khilafat in each sect of Islam. If Muslims wish to progress then they
have to unite upon the leadership of one person in accordance with the prophecy of the
Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who said that the Institution of Khilafat will
be established within the community of the Promised Messiah. Certainly, you will not find
any other Islamic community that is united like the Ahmadiyya Community. Wherever our
members are in the world they act in the same way and have the same beliefs.”
How is a Khalifa elected?
A Khalifa is elected by the believers who are guided by God to select the most eligible, righteous and
God fearing man among them. Khilafat is not a hereditary system nor does the Khalifa necessarily
have to be from the progeny of a Prophet. Therefore a Khalifa is deemed to be from God and is His
representative on earth. A Khalifa can be elected from within the entire community of believers
regardless of age, lineage, wealth, nationality or ethnicity.
Just as God appoints a Prophet, it is He who appoints a Khalifa as well. He chooses the person who is
most eligible to become a Khalifa, and guides a group of pious believers into manifesting His Will
through a process of selection of the Khalifa. Thus, it may apparently seem that the Khalifa is chosen
by a group of pious people, but it is in fact the Will of God that guides their faculties into choosing
the Khalifa of His Choice. Once a Khalifa is selected, he remains a Khalifa for the rest of his life as a
living testament to Divine Will.
The role of a Khalifa
A Khalifa is simply there to guide and instruct the believers in matters of spiritual and moral
significance.
He leads them in prayers and instructs them on how to achieve nearness to God. He prayers for his
people as well as the people of the world and takes the message of the Prophet who he represents
to those who have not yet received it. In short, he carries on the work of a Prophet and is the
spiritual teacher of all those who follow him.
In relation to Khilafat, the Holy Qur’an says:
‘Allah has promised to those among you who believe and do good works that He
will surely make them Successors in the earth, as He made Successors from
among those who were before them; and that He will surely establish for them
their religion which He has chosen for them; and that He will surely give them in
exchange security and peace after their fear: They will worship Me, and they will
not associate anything with Me.’
Thus, from this the role of a Khalifa becomes clear:
1. A Khalifa is made by God and no one can become a self-imposed ‘Caliph’ nor can anyone
declare such a Caliphate himself.
2. A Khalifa is made from among those who believe in God and do ‘good works’, rather than
those who would spread hatred, violence and injustice.
3. The purpose of the Khalifa is solely religious. His role is only to establish the religion by
teaching the people the true way of practicing it and himself demonstrating it.
4. The Khalifa is one who provides security and peace from fear and worry, which is opposed to
any kind of radical, violent or extremist views of Caliphate.
5. The Khalifas main objective is to facilitate the worship of God and nothing else beside God,
this is his primary and most important aim.
Khalifat-e-Rashida
(The Rightly Guided Khilafat, commonly refers to the first 4 Khalifas after the Holy Prophet)
When the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) migrated to Medina from his Meccan persecuters, he
was unanimously elected the chief of the town and therefore became a secular as well as a religious
leader. After his demise, his successors inherited his spiritual and temporal kingdom and therefore
ruled over the Islamic Empire for some decades. The first four Khalifas are deemed by Muslims to be
the most rightly guided and legitimate successors to the Prophet however the Holy Prophet
prophesied what would happen after his demise:
"Prophethood shall remain among you as long as Allah shall will. He will bring
about its end and follow it with Khilafat on the precepts of prophethood for as
long as He shall will and then bring about its end. A tyrannical monarchy will then
follow and will remain as long as Allah shall will and then come to an end. There
will follow thereafter monarchial despotism to last as long as Allah shall will and
come to an end upon His decree. There will then emerge Khilafat on precept of
Prophethood." The Holy Prophet said no more (Hadith, Masnad Ahmad)
This grand prophecy outlines 5 important stages of Islamic leadership:
1. The era of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) 610 CE – 632 CE
2. The time of the 4 rightly guided successors of the Prophet 632 CE – 661 CE
3. The Ummayad Caliphate 661 CE – 750 CE & Abbasid Caliphate 750 CE – 1258 CE
4. Ottoman Caliphate 1517 CE – 1924 CE
5. The dawn of the Ahmadiyya Khilafat 1908 – Present
While the Ummayad, Abbasid and Ottoman eras of rule were named ‘the Caliphate’, they were
however no more than kings, hereditary monarchy and despotism as the Holy Prophet had foretold.
The divine Khilafat had ended in 661CE with the 4 rightly guided successors after internal dissentions
and disloyalty to God’s chosen Khalifa and thereafter there was no true Khalifa until the dawn of the
Promised Messiah after which, in 1908 the Ahmadiyya Khilafat on the precepts of Prophethood was
established and remains the true Islamic Khalifat to this day.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Khilafat
The Promised Messiah (Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad) is deemed by Ahmadi Muslims to be the
Promised Prophet and Reformer of the Latter Days prophesied by all previous Prophets and
expected by followers of all religions. After his demise he prophesied Divine successor-ship to
continue his work.
Since 1908, the Ahmadiyya Khilafat has been working hard to restore the true teachings of Islam
through missionary activities, peace conferences, letters, literature, seminars and the media. Since
the first Khilafat, the Ahmadiyya Community has spread to almost every country in the world and
has been serving humanity for over a century. The Ahmadiyya Khilafat is now the only truly
recognised and united Islamic leadership in the world.
Here is a brief outline of the Ahmadiyya Khilafat to this day:
Name
Picture
Lifespan
Office
Held
Khalifatul
Masih I.
Hadhrat
Hakeem Noorud-Din
1841–
1914
1908–
1914
Close companion of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, he
sent the first Ahmadiyya Muslim missionaries to the UK,
and successfully dealt with internal dissensions within the
community.
1914–
1965
Son of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was elected as
Khalifa at the young age of 25, considered to be the
'Promised Reformer. He established the entire
organisational structure of the community, and is known for
extensive missionary activity outside the subcontinent of
India.
1965–
1982
Spoke himself for the Ahmadiyya community at the
National Assembly of Pakistan, laid the foundation of the
first mosque in Spain after 750 years. He oversaw the
compilation of the dreams, visions, and revelations and the
dialogues of the founder, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.[10]
Khalifatul
Masih II.
Hadhrat Mirza
Basheer-ud-Din
Mahmood
Ahmad
Khalifatul
Masih III.
Hadhrat Mirza
Nasir Ahmad
1889–
1965
1909–
1982
Brief Bio
Khalifatul
Masih IV.
Hadhrat Mirza
Tahir Ahmad
Khalifatul
Masih V.
Hadhrat Mirza
Masroor Ahmad
Led the community through periods of severe persecution,
provisionally changed the Ahmadiyya headquarters
from Rabwah to London and launched the first Muslim
satellite TV channel by the name of Muslim Television
Ahmadiyya International.
1928–
2003
1982–
2003
1950–
present
Presently guiding the community through a period of
widespread scepticism towards Islam, regularly holds
2003–
peace conferences. Launched sister channels MTA
present
2 and MTA 3. A frequent speaker on the international stage
including Capitol Hill, European and British Parliaments.
The current Khalifa
The current Khalifa, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad is a paradigm of the true Khilafat as presented
by the Holy Qur’an. He is the fifth successor of the Promised Messiah (the Promised Prophet of the
Latter Days) and has for the last decade been promoting the true teachings of Islam and removing
the violent and extremist misconceptions that have crept in to the pure teachings of Islam. He
frequently calls upon Muslims to reflect and return to the true peaceful teachings of Islam and
promote love, brotherhood and unity. He regularly addresses dignitaries, politicians and MPs
explaining what Islam truly is and removing the fear, misguidance and misconceptions that shroud
Islam today.