Souvenir on 50th Jalsa Salana USA — Page 8
RE-ESTABLISHJ\rlENT OF KHILAFAT IN ISLA:\1 THR()U(;II TJIE PROMISED MESSIAH (AS) In his book Al-Wasiyyat. th e Promi has always been the way how the will of Allah works, show- ing two manifestations of His power. so that He should demolish two fabe joys of the opponent'>. is it possible that now He should proceed to alter this long established divine practice? You should not, therefore, grieve over what 1 have told you, nor should you let yourselves be heartbro- ken, for you are destined Lo sec the second manifestation of God's power as well. And the coming of that manifestallon would be better for you, for it would be everlasting. of which the chain shall not break until the Day of Qiyyamah. (Al-Wasiyyat, Pa ge 6) This prophecy was fulfill ed in a magnificent manner, when. on th e demise of th e Promised Messiah (AS) in 190 8, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community elected H adlmlf Ma ul ana uruddin ( RA ) as th e lirst Khalifa of th e Pro mi sed Messiah (AS). The blessing of Khilafat has continuously remained with th e Commu ni ty. H adhrat Hakim Maulvi Nuruddin, Kh a li fat ul Masih I ( RA ) was a descendant of Hadl mtt Umar Farooq ( RA ), the second Khali fa of Isla m. He was a ve ry le arned man and studied for a long Lime at the holy c iti es of Mecca and Medina. He was also a talented ph ysicia n and an expert theologian. When the Promised Messiah (AS) initiated th e B ai'at on march 23, 1889, he was the first to take the pledge. He se r ved as th e fiN Khalifa of th e Promised Messiah (AS) for six years. He is well known for the lessons he gave on the Holy Qur' an. Ha cllmlf Mirta Ba shiruddin Mahmud Ahmad (RA) was born in 1889 in fulfillment of a great prophecy vo uchsafed to the Promised Messiah (AS). He was elected as Khalifa in 191 4 and championed the cause of Islam fo r 51 years. He i '> well known for the lar ge r a nd th e shorter Commentary on the Holy Qur'an. He also initiated many sc hemes and organised the auxiliaries wi thin the Community. I le opened th e mi ssions to sp read Islam througho ut th e world and opened schools a nd hospitals in Africa. lladh rat Mirza Nasir Ahmad (R T). the eldest son of Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II (RA), was elected as the third khalifa in 1965. He committed the entire Holy Qur'an Lo memory in early childhood. He was educat ed at Oxford and then served as th e head of auxiliary or ga nizations a nd as Principal of th e Talimul Islam College, Rabwah. He initiated the Nusrat Jahan Scheme for the uplift of health and education in s ix West African countries. He also initiated the centennial Jubilee scheme. He lead the Community fo r 17 years.