The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 166
166. Essence of Islam-III righteously, that He will surely make them successors in the earth, as He made successors among those who were before them. " 'Those who disbelieve will continue to be afflicted with a calamity, physical or spiritual, or would descend close to their dwellings till the Divine promise is fulfilled. Surely. Allah doeth not contrary to His promise. ' 'And We send not a punishment till after We have raised a Messenger. '. If a person reflects upon these verses he will realize that. God Almighty has clearly promised the Muslims a permanent Khilafat. If this Khilafat were not permanent there would have been no sense in describing it as resembling the Khilafat of the Mosaic dispensation. . . . . A Khalifa is a reflection of a Prophet. As man is mortal,. God Almighty designed that Prophets, who are more exalted and honoured than all other beings, should be reflectively preserved forever. For this purpose, God instituted Khilafat so that the world should at no time be deprived of the blessings of Prophethood. He who limits it to thirty years, foolishly overlooks the true purpose of. Khilafat, and does not realize that God did not design that the blessings of Khilafat be limited to thirty years after the death of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of. Allah be upon him) and that, thereafter, the world may go to ruin. . . . . There are many other verses in the Holy Qur'ān, which give tidings of a permanent Khilafat among the Muslims, and there are also several Aḥādīth to the same effect. But what I have said already should suffice for those who accept established verities as great wealth. . There is no worse concept concerning Islām than to say