Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The 'Doctrine' of Ahmadiyya Khilafat

God will continue to raise among these people, in the beginning of each century, a man who would teach them the spirit of Islam and thus, in a manner, renew the days of the Prophet”.
- Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa)

To secure the future of Islam in its pristine spiritual purity, the community of believers was thus given the glad tiding of a wonderful arrangement- Khulafa of Allah being raised in every century to renew the Faith and to rejuvenate the garden of Islam. The objective was to preserve the letter and spirit of the Holy Qur’an for all times and for ensuring the development of high spiritual qualities among the believers in every century. 

The Promised Massih Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) of Qadian explained that the achievement of salvation for everyone necessitated the coming of a Mujaddid (Khalifatullah) in every century. The Beneficent Lord has made the arrangement in every century so that His creatures should not fail in any age to attain the stage of absolute certainty”.  Hadhrat Ahmad (as) believed in the authenticity of this tradition of the Holy Prophet (sa). He projected it in support of his famous claim as the Mujaddid of the Fourteenth Century. On every opportunity that became available to explain the importance of the tradition regarding the coming of divinely ordained Mujaddidin at the turn of a Century, the Promised Massih (as) urged his followers to be careful against complacency on the matter. He cautioned that any one who raises objections against this noble tradition objects to the wisdom of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa). Further, he stated that rejecting this tradition amounts to denial of a Divine Plan of Allah, the Most High. 

Times have 'changed'. Unlike the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as), his so-called disciples today do not consider it a "disobedience to the command of the Divine" to assert that it is not necessary to believe in the advent of a Mujaddid in a new century of Islam. They consider that the meaning of Islamic Khilafat has changed after the death of Hadhrat Ahmad (as). They feel that whatever has been said by the Promised Massih (as) regarding the Mujaddidin is applicable only in the past, upto his age. In other words, through the invention of this new theological dogma, they have virtually disowned the true understanding of Islamic Khilafat as expounded by the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as) regarding the profound meaning of Islamic Khilafat.

The Ahmadiyya Community today treats Khilafat and Mujaddidiyat as separate issues. They no longer believe that Mujaddidiyat is the greater part of Islamic Khilafat as understood by the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as) and they consider that man-elected Khulafa have replaced the Divine Elects, the Mujaddidin forever. These assembly elected-Khulafa are, then, raised to the position and status of Mujaddidin and are attributed the qualities and faculties of an Elect of Allah. This perversion of the true spiritual doctrine regarding the advent of Divine Elects has been done and is being justified in the name of protecting and perpetuating ‘Ahmadiyya Khilafat' till the Last Days. It is a strange irony that by reducing Islamic Khilafat to the mundane system of elected Khulafa, the Community has preferred to adopt the perspective of those who were described as “foolish” by the Promised Massih (as). In the name of promoting the legacy of Hadhrat Ahmad (as), the teachings of the Promised Massih (as) have been trampled to dust. 

Today, the mainstream Ahmadiyya Community is, thus, daring to negate the applicability of that noble tradition of Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) in the new Century of Islam while claiming to be the greatest defenders of the Islamic faith. What an irony!