Approaching the West — Page 38
A pproaching the West—38 God’s promise to establish Khil ā fat as a blessing for mankind is firmly rooted in the moral and spiritual condition of sincere believers. In this specific sense, we make a distinction between Khil ā fat and caliphate. Caliphate deals with civil and political domain of the rulers in Isl ā mic history, but Khil ā fat deals with moral, religious and spiritual leadership of mankind. Khil ā fat exerts to establish the worship of One God, to see that the people remain prayerful, do good works, live freely, and maintain peace. Therefore, a political ruler who might be called “Caliph” may not be a Khal ī fah in the true Qur’ ā nic sense of the word. A Prophetic Ḥ ad ī th In the famous book of A ḥā d ī th, Musnad A ḥ mad by Im ā m A ḥ mad bin Ḥ anbal, there is one prophetic Ḥ ad ī th narrated by Ḥ a ḍ rat Hudhaifah (may All ā h be pleased with him) that the Messenger of All ā h (peace and blessings of All ā h be on him. ) said: “Prophethood will remain among you as long as All ā h wills. Then Khil ā fat on the lines of Prophethood shall commence, and remain as long as All ā h wills. Then corrupt and erosive monarchy would take place, and it will remain as long as All ā h wills. After that, despotic kingship would emerge, and it will remain as long as All ā h wills. Then, the Khil ā fat shall come once again based on the precept of Prophethood. ” In this Ḥ ad ī th, the promise of Khil ā fat is connected with Prophethood on two separate occasions. In between the two eras of Khil ā fat, the reference to “the corrupt/erosive monarchy” and “despotic kingship” is what we would like to term as “Caliphate. ” Most of the Muslim monarchs used the title “Khal ī fah,” but they had in fact