Khilafat Centenary Souvenir 1908-2008 — Page 19
Khilafat Centenary on these at length and arrived at the conclusion that there is nothing that relates to the work of reformation of the people that is left out of these four duties. In short, everything that needs to be done to achieve a total reformation of mankind is included in these four tasks. Once one has understood the mission and duties of the Prophets it becomes easy to understand the duties or the work of the Khulafa because their mission is exactly the same, because the Khalifa who succeeds the Prophet, his job becomes the continuation of the work of the one who was before him. So the work of the Khalifa shall be the same as that of the Prophet. [pp. 23 - 24] Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih rr ra further stated: Allah says the Prophet's duty is to preach, to make the disbelievers into believers and not only this but further to establish the believers in the shariah. Even more than this, his duty is to inform them of the fine, subtle paths of advancement and then to purify their souls. These same responsibilities are the duties of the Khalifa. So remember well that these same are my duties now. In the recitation of the signs of Allah is comprehended the work of presenting the proofs on the existence of God Almighty, proofs on the existence of the angels, the need of prophethood and proofs in support of the prophethood of Muhammad saw, the truth of the Holy Qur'an, and need of revelation and proofs in favor of reward and punishment and the nature of divine decrees and arguments in support of the day of judgment. . . all these duties are no easy matter. There is immense need for all these arguments in this day and age and this is an immense enterprise. Then there is the second duty: to teach them the Book. This requires repeatedly drawing the attention of the people to the shariah and to remind them of their duty to comply with all commands and prohibitions of the shariah. Then wherever there may be laxity, [the Khalifa's duty is] to take care to remedy the situation. Now, you yourselves should ponder over this: Can all this be done by some number of clerks and the remaining work of the Khalifa becomes just the taking care of financial donations and to make sure that there is an office to take care of auditing and to see that monies come and some members together see to it that the funds are spent? There are many associations and societies in the world and there are many very large ones where hundreds of thousands of rupees are collected annually and they spend those monies also, so do those become a Khalifa? The work of a Khalifa is nothing ordinary or mean. Khilafat is a special divine bounty and distinction that is bestowed upon that person who is chosen by God for that purpose. You, yourselves should ponder on this. The duties I have laid out here are not assigned by me, they are assigned by God Himself. Can a secretary of any association or society or corporation discharge these duties? Would people accept the dictates of some corporate secretary in regard to the matters that relate to the duties of the Khalifa? Or has anyone seen this take place anywhere in history? Let us forget about the rest of the world, has any corporation carried any such work out here? Yes, I admit people have been reminded to make their donations. This is certain, however, that to teach them the Book; a Khalifa is indeed needed, because where is there written that in order to become a corporate secretary one has to be pure and righteous and holy? It is quite possible that a Christian or a Hindu [could] be given the corporate secretary job because of his proficiency in the handling of office work, but how then could such a person be the Khalifa? Teaching of the Book is a must for the Khalifa; this is one of his duties. . . read the requirements related to a corporate secretary and you will not find this duty listed there. Then there is the duty of the Khalifa that he make clear to the people the reasons and secrets underlying the commandments of God, gaining which knowledge develops in them greater zeal and enthusiasm to act on those commandments. Now tell me whether this duty is included in your corporate secretaries' duty roster? How many times were you taught one or another underlying wisdom and philosophy of any divine commandment by your corporate secretary? Can we find secretaries of this type or can corporations discharge this type of a responsibility? Absolutely not! Corporations are there for the sole purpose of maintaining records and putting into action the commands of the Khalifa. Then there is the work of purifying the people. Can a secretary attend to this task? Have you ever heard that a secretary said that he prays fervently, weeping before God so that the people may become purified?