Truth Prevails — Page 133
( 133 ) Subequently, however, Maulvi Mohnmmad Ali came to be more and more influenced by Kh. Kamaluddin, and gradually points emerged which gave rise to ideas which soon crystallised as deep seated differences in religious doctrine, such as the Nabuwwat of the Promised Messiah, and the question of the kufr , or Islam, of those who did not accept the Promised Messiah. Originally, in 1908, and in 1909, the question of differences centred only on Khilafat; the doctrines of the Nabuwwat of the Promised Messiah, and the kufr , or Islam, of those who did not accept him, or opposed him tooth and nail, had not cropped up. Now the idea was born in the mind of these people, and it continued to get more and more hold on their mind, that they made a serious blunder when they accepted a man in a position of such supreme authority as Khalifatul Masih in the extraordinarily firm tradition of the Khilafat-i-Rashida. They found that they could not succeed in getting the Movement entirely under their own control, without cleaning the mess they had made over the question; and they bent all their endeavour in the direction that this position of strength of the Khalifa should melt away, and they should ensure that they did not repeat the mistake they had made once, already. So at the time of the election of the second Khalifa, they ignored the directions given by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I, in his last will and testament, and flatly denied the need for the Institution of Khilafat. A Glorious Pronouncement During the period of his Khilafat, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I made a great and glorious pronouncement, of an extraordinary strength and grandeur, which shall remain as a beacon light on the question of Khilafat , for all time to come. In the course of this pronouncement he said: “No human being, nor any Anjuman has made me Khalifa ; nor do I take any Anjuman as having the capacity and power to confer Khilafat on anyone. So neither has any Anjuman made me Khalifa , nor do I have the slightest regard or sense of obligation towards it, for conferring this favour on me; and I would not care even to spit on it, should it desire to deprive me of its support. Nor does anyone now have the power to snatch the mantle of Khilafat from me. ” ( Badr , July 4, 1912). Evidently, therefore, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I did not believe that any earthly agency had the authority and power to remove a Khalifa from this office. He also declared: “He (the Lord God) has given me this mantle to wear. To do due honour to this mantle, and to appreciate it properly, is a binding duty that lies squarely on my shoulders. I stand in no need of your wealth and riches; nor of anything else, which you happen to have. I do not have the slightest desire, in any corner of my heart, that anyone should extend recognition to me, even to the extent of greeting me with a salam. ”