Nubuwwat & Khilafat Prophethood & its Successorship — Page 37
Khilafat-i-Ahmadiyyah and the Pledge of Allegiance to Khilafat 37 On the demise of the Promised Messiah as , he was approached by many leaders of the Jam a ‘at to take the leadership and accept the pledge of allegiance. These included Khw a j a Kam a l-ud- D i n, Maulav i Muhammad ‘Al i and many of their friends. The response which he gave them is worthy of note: 1) If you insist upon making the covenant with me then bear in mind that bai‘at means to be sold. On one occasion Hadrat Sahib [the Promised Messiah as ] indicated to me that I should put the thought of my home out of my mind. Thereafter my entire honour and all thinking became attached to him and I have never thought of my home. Thus, bai‘at is a difficult matter. A person who makes a bai‘at gives up all his freedom and high flights… Concluding the speech he said, “Remember all goodness proceeds from unity. A Jam a ‘at which has no leader is dead. ” ( Badr, June 2, 1908) 2) After assuming the office of khil a fat he said: Now I am your khal i fah. If anyone should say that the name N u r-ud-D i n is not mentioned in al-Wa s iyyat by Hadrat Sahib [The Promised Messiah as ], I would counter: Nor are the names of Adam as and Ab u Bakr ra mentioned in earlier prophecies. The whole Jam a ‘at has accepted me as khal i fah by consensus. Anyone who goes against that consensus puts himself in opposition to God. Then listen with attention that if you act contrary to your covenant, your hearts will be filled with hypoc- risy. ( Badr, June 2,1908) 3) Then again, he said: I remind you again that the Holy Qur’ a n sets forth clearly that it is Allah Who appoints khulaf a’.