Khilafat Centenary Souvenir 1908-2008 — Page 25
good deal mor e, consisting of that which the earlier scriptures lacked but which mankind so rely needed for its moral and spiritual development. All the right ideals, principles, ordinances and com mandm ents wh ic h are of per manent utility to man have been incorporated in it. The H oly Qur'a n stand s, as it were, a guardian over previous Books and h as steered clear of all those defects and impurities that were fo un d in them. It claims that it lacks not hing (6:39) and is complete a nd perfect in every respect. Here I quote from the Holy Q u r'an. God says: " Th is day have I perfected yo ur religion for you and completed My favors upon yo u and have chosen fo r you Islam as your re li gion. " (5:4) It should be noted that although the Qur 'an is a magnificent miracle, it needs a perfect person who is aware of its miraculous treasures. The parable is that of a unique sword which in order to exhibit its hidden potentials needs a unique swordsman. This is proven by the verse of the Holy Qur'an: "la yamassohu ill al the Prophets and the sole guide of mankind for all times, and his Khilafat mu st continue in the world in one fo rm or other till the end of time. All other Khila fa t had ceased to exist. Hadhrat Abu Hurairah ra narrates that the Holy Propher aw said that Prophets ha ve been appearing among the Is ra elites for their reformation. Whenever one Pro phet passed away another appeared as his Khalifa (successor). But there will be no Prophet after m e, rather, immediately there will be Khulafa only and on certain occasions there will be more than one claimant to Khilafat at a time. The Companions enquired as to w hat they should do under those circumstances. He replied, "Fulfill the conditions of your pledge to the one w hom you ha ve given your allegiance first, and discharge y our obligations to them. The Almighty Allah wi ll question them about the discharge of their obligations. " (Bukhari Kitabul Ambi yy a, Bab ma Zakara un Bani Israel [the book on Prophets, chapter about children of Israel]) mutahharoon ," meaning, no one -------------- but only the pure-hearted will be able to comprehend it. (56:80) It would, however, not be able to miraculously influence hearts of the impure effectively without the presence of an effector in the nation. And he would be one who h as been granted direct communication and dialogue with Almighty Allah like unto the Prophets. (Nazoolul Masih (The descent of the Messiah], page 108) The inner truths and the profound meanings of the Qur'an are disclosed only to those whose hearts have been purified. Thus, it is understood on the basis of these verses, that in order to clearly co mpr eh en d the Qur'an, there is a need for such a teach er who is purified by Almighty Allah. If there were no need for a teacher to learn the Qur'an, then there would have been none in the earlier period eith er. (S hahadatul Qu r'an (Testimony of the Ho ly Q ur 'an], page 52) Khilafat After The Ho ly Prophet of lslam saw The promise of estab li s hm ent of Khilafat among Muslims in the Ho ly Qur'an (24: 56) is clear and unmistakable. The Holy Proph er aw is the chi ef of all So, in exact accord with this Prophecy of the Propheraw Khilafat-e-Rashida continued with Hadhrat Abu Bakr '\ Hadhrat U mar ra, Hadhrat Uthman 'a and Hadhrat Ali ra who were not Prophets. When Hadhrat Ali 'a pass ed awa y, Khilafat took the shape of Mujaddidiyyat or Reformatio n. There were Reformers in every centu ry un ti l such time that Khilafat on the precepts of Pro ph et h ood was re-established by God Himself. God did this through Khatamul Khulafa Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ah mad Qadiani as - a spiritual son and a great disciple of Hadhra t Muhammad saw. And this was yet another fulfillment of a prophecy of the Holy Proph er aw. (M usnad Ahmad) The Holy Pro ph er aw has spoken at length about the person through w hom Khilafat on the precepts of Prophet hood would be re-established in the latter days. He h as called him a Prophet of God , the Messiah bin Mar yam, Al Imamul Mahdi, and Khalifatullah al- Mahdi. Since he was to become Khatamal Khulaf a, mention of some details about him is a pp ropriate her e.