Khilafat Centenary Souvenir 1908-2008 — Page 14
• YJTks th at He will, surely, make them successors tarlh, as He made Successors from among those u· re bef or e them; and that He will, surely, establish or them their religion which He has chosen for them; and th at He will, surely, give them in exchange security and pe ace after their fear; They will worship Me and they will not associate anything with Me. Then whoso disbelieves after that, they will be the rebellious. 24:56 Hadhrat Maulana Hakeem Nooruddin ra, the first Khalifa in Ahmadiyyat, writes: Khulafa came in the past and they shall be born in the future also. Whatever type of Khalifa it is, shall come into being at the behest of God alone. . . it is He alone Who can make a Khalifa. Haqaiqul Furqan, Vol. I, p. 125 At the demise of the Holy Propher aw , Khilafat was established when Hadhrat Abu Bakr ra became the first Khalifa in Islam. He attained this position in fulfillment of the dictates of the above-referenced verse. With regard to the future of Khilafat, the Holy Propher aw has given the good news contained in the following hadith: Prophecy of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsaw Hadhrat Huzaifara narrates that the Hol y Propheraw said: Prophethood shall remain among you as long as Allah shall will. He will bring about its en d and follow it with Khilafat on the precepts of prophethood for as long as He shall will and then bring about its end. A tyrannic al monarchy will then follow and will remain as long as Allah shall will and then come to an end. There will follow thereafter monarchial despotism to last as long as Allah shall will and come to an end upon His decree. There will then emerge Khilafat on precept of Prop he thood. The Holy Prophet saw said no more. :llasnad Ahmad B_ · abandoning the law of Khilafat so clearly laid out • e Hal , Qur'a n by Allah and paying no heed • "' · rarements of the Holy Prophet 'aW, how and can Khilafat be attained through people's · ~-eme d ways and means ? good news to the world in general and the Muslims in particular that Allah has not deprived the world of the blessings of Khilafat. Those who are deprived of its blessing are simply those who have so chosen to remain deprived. God Almighty had already bestowed the world with this Blessed Institution a hundred years ago when He established Khilafat on the pattern of prophethood just as the Holy Propher aw prophesized He would. Blessed is the one who recognizes the truth and embraces this divine bounty and believes! Fortunate indeed is the one who accepts this blessed Khilafat and remains obedient to it. Wise and possessing of spiritual sight indeed is such a one. It is worth mentioning here the statement of the fourth Khalifa in Ahmadiyyat, Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad rta Let the whole Muslim world put their full efforts into trying to bring about Khilafat by their own power. . . they will never be able to do it because Khilafat is the sole prerogative of Almighty God. Friday Sermon, April 2, 1993 Conveying the good news related to the impending establishment of Khilafat by God upon his demise, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as states in his book, The Will: "I appeared from God as a manifestation; I am personified power of God; and after me there shall come other persons who will be a manifestation of a second pow er of God. You should, therefore, all come together in prayer to wait for the second manifestation. All communities of the righteous people among my followers in every land should remain in prayer togeth er, so that the second manifestation of power should descend from the hea ve ns and show you how powerful is your God. " So as foretold by him, at his passing away, Al-Hajj Hadhrat Maulana Hakeem Nuruddin ra became blessed by God with the mantle of Khilafat and since then the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has continuously been blessed with this divine bounty, it being the centenary of this Blessed Institution that we are celebrating this year in 2008.