Khilafat Centenary Souvenir 1908-2008 — Page 160
Khilafat Centenary outside for English translation. I was so excited, that I went early so that I could be seated in the first row. Some members of my Jama' at came and told me to sit in the translation tent. I said that I wanted to be in the front row and I was not worried about the translation because I could always listen to it later. When he would talk, I would feel like he was penetrating my soul. It felt "up close and personal. " Not only to me, but to everybody. There was no one that was not treated with the same love and affection. We would share stories about our mulaqaat with him and talk about the gifts that he would give, such as the rings. (rings bearing the inscription of a revelation sent to the Promised Messiah as : 'Is God not enough for man?') Hadhrat Khalifatul-Masih IV ta taught us in his sermons that we have to have respect for all officers of the Jama' at. I also would always read from his sermons when I ledjuma prayer because, as he said in one of them: , "Whose voice is better than the Khalifa of the time?" That made a great impression on me. Munib: In terms of Khalifat, what do you think of the status and meaning of Khilafat? To me, the Khalifa is not just the Khalifa of the people who have signed Bai'at inJama'at Ahmadiyya. The Khalifa is the Khalifa for all mankind. Allah has appointed him to supervise in a sense every human being who walks on the face of the earth. Whether you acknowledge him or not, you benefit from his presence. Wherever the Khalifa may be, a spiritual awakening takes place. Instead of looking at the Khalifa as a title or as a prestigious position, you have to look at that position as someone who was chosen by Allah for that position even before they were born. So Allah, does not have a list of people before Him and say these are the applicants for the position of Khilafat. He already knows His choice, and that person doesn't know, and his life is being played out in front of him. The guidance that is coming to him from his parents, and everyone in his community is all going into preparing him and them for the Khilafat. Everyone is watching him but when he becomes Khalifa, it is a whole different thing that happens. So I don't look at the Khalifa as being a title, but as someone who has been selected by the Creator through a process that is foolproof. The Creator does not make mistakes. So in order for me to accept the Khalifa, I have to accept that fact as well. That he is placed there by Allah for the good of me and for the good of all mankind. You have to have a spiritual mindset, in order to appreciate the institution of Khilafat. There is something that I said to the current Khalifah aba during my recent mulaqaat (personal audience). I said that I watch him everyday. He asked, "Wh at do you see?" I said that I see you look the same for Fajr prayer as you do for Zuhr prayer, and Asr prayer, and Maghrib prayer and Isha prayer. Whereas everyone else is yawning and tired when they are walking in for Fajr prayer. Huzura ba started laughing and said, "You understand. Allah gives me the energy to do this job. This job is so time consuming, that there is not a job on the face of this earth that compares with what I have to do on a daily basis. " So if the members of our community can understand that, they will benefit more. So my message to people is that wherever Huzur aba may be , we benefit from him being there. Whether we are in the first row or the last, whether we have a mulaqaat with him or not , we still are benefitting from his spiritual presence. I would not be in this organization for over 50 years if it were not for the relationship that I have had with the Khulafa over the past 50 years. I am grateful for Allah, because had I remained a Christian, I could not have had that kind of relationship with my pastor. I could not have had that kind of relationship with the Pope or the Dalai Lama. I could not have had that kind of relationship with anyone else in this world. In closing, I was reading a Hadith, where the Holy Prophet5 aw was asked by one of his followers "Oh Prophet! I am not good at offering prayers, I am not good at fasting, and I am not good at any of the Islamic injunctions. I was thinking that when you pass away, I will not able to be in Paradise with you. " The Holy Prophet5 aw said "Who do you love ?" And he responded, "I love Allah and the Prophet of Allah saw " And he said to the person "You will be with the ones you love. " And what better place to be than that with those you love such as the Holy Prophet5 aw ,the Promised Messiah as and the Khulafa. After the interview, he thanked us for driving all the way to Philadelphia and gave us the same loving and affectionate hug and prayed for our safe journey back. 160