Khilafat-e-Rashidah — Page 208
208 KHILAFAT-E-R A SHIDAH nothing else. In short, the successor can only be like his principal. As there was no political system assigned to the Promised Messiah as , the question as to why his Khulaf a ’ did not have it cannot be raised. A yat-e-Istikhl a f Applies to Both the Nubuwwat and Khilafat of the Promised Messiah as Another reply is that the words, [as He made Successors from among those who were before them] are not confined to a political system. Instead, these words apply to all the promises made in the verse. But the dissentients who believe in the Nubuwwat of the Promised Messiah as , e. g. Sheikh Mi s r i etc. , admit that the Nubuwwat of the Promised Messiah as does not correspond with the Nubuwwat of the previous Prophets. As the Promised Messiah as has written himself his Nubuwwat differs greatly from that of the previous Prophets in that the previous Prophets were appointed independently, while he is a subordinate Prophet. Just as the fulfillment of the promise “He will surely make them Successors in the earth, as He made Successors from among those who were before them” does not suffer from any deficiency because of the different nature of his Prophethood;