Blessings of Khilafat — Page 31
31 impossible for the companions of the Promised Messiah as to make such a blunder. If his companions were to make such mistakes, then of what benefit was his advent? There is no doubt that there are some among us who are weak of faith, but was there not a whole group of hypocrites living at the time of the Holy Prophet sa ? Moreover, why was it that a few who always remained among the party of the Companions of the Holy Prophet sa are not remembered with the salutation “May Allah be pleased with them”. As a matter of fact, they are not even counted among the Companions of the Prophet sa The only reason is that they were hypocrites. They paid lip service to the Holy Prophet sa , whereas, at heart, they were devoid of true faith. The same is our stance now. We will call all those who have been sincerely following the commands of the Promised Messiah as both in the past and the present the Companions of the Promised Messiah as ; but we will not bestow this title on those who will not follow the teachings of the Promised Messiah as. Did Abdullah bin Ubayy not live in the company of the Holy Prophet sa , and did he not pass his time among the Companions? Yet, he is not counted as one of the Companions. This is because he was a hypocrite. Similarly, if a person from among the companions of the Promised Messiah as falls into error, it would be his own fault. It is impossible to believe that just by living in the company of the Promised Messiah as for some time one can become secure from the harm which one may invite upon himself as a result of his own mistakes. I reiterate that we are not alone in presuming that after the demise of the Promised Messiah as the Jam a ‘at did not go astray as a whole. The fact is that the Promised Messiah as had received this revelation long before his demise: