Hakeem Noor-ud-Deen – Khalifatul Masih I – The Way of the Righteous — Page 113
Hakeem Sahib's Election As First Caliph 113 religion) , and if every heart is full of truth, then the goal of success is achieved. " We Ahmadis, at the hand of Hakeem Sahib, take a fresh Bai ‘ at in the name of Ahmad and follow him and show him the same obedience to his commands as shown to the ones by Hadhrat Aqdas (a reference to the Promised Messiah ). This petition carried a large number of signatures and the correct number of people who signed it could not be verified. The names included those who were already engaged in this move. First Address as Caliph After having heard the petition of the members of the Jama ‘ at, Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih I ra advanced and spoke. After reciting the Kalima Shahadat , he recited the following verse from chapter three, Surah Aal-i- ‘ Imraan, verse 105: And let there (always) be among you a body of men who should invite to goodness and enjoin virtue and forbid evil. And it is they who shall prosper. And then Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih I said: I glorify Allah, Who is ever Eternal. Every prophet, who comes to the world, has a mission, which once completed, God calls him back. Have a look at my past life; I never desired to be an Imam. When Abdul Kareem Sahib became an Imam-us-Salat (one who leads the prayer), I felt a sigh of relief. I know myself fully well and my God knows me even better than myself. The only desire that I have is that my God be happy with me and, in order to achieve this happiness, I keep myself busy with constant prayers seeking His pleasure. In Qadian, I have spent quite a time in ruminating over the fact as to what would happen after Hadhrat Sahib. From among the relations of Hadhrat Sahib, three of them are present here (Sahibzada Hadhrat Mirza Bashir-ud- Din Mahmud Ahmad, Hadhrat Mir Nasir Nawab and Nawab Muhammad Ali Khan) and, in order to maintain unity, you do