Obey the Khulafa with True Sincerity — Page 4
impropriety will bring about their downfall from being a believer to a disbeliever. There- fore, a person must guard against their words or risk losing their faith. I have observed that there are certain people who are far from obedient, despite referring to me as Khalifatul-Masih in their speeches and writings. Such hollow honorif- ics are meaningless. Shias, out of a sense of irony and jest, use the term khalifa for barbers and tailors, but surely this does not lessen the status of khulafa. People have placed no value to this rank but before the eyes of God, khi- lafat has an elevated station. God has granted them respect and honour and affirms that the khulafa are divinely appointed. He says: وَمَنْ كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فَأُولَبِكَ هُمُ الْفُسِقُونَ 20 That is, rejecting the khulafa is a form of 2 Then whoso is ungrateful after that, they will be the rebellious. Surah Al-Nur, 24:56 [Publishers] -4-