Khilafat
Introduction A Khalifa literally means a ‘successor’. Khalīfah is an Arabic word used in the Qur’an to denote a person who succeeds or represents a forebear. The institution as a whole is called Khilāfah, which is referred to on the Indian Sub-continent as Khilafat. The Holy Qur’an specifically promises the Muslim Community that ‘Khilafat’, or ‘successorship’ will remain among them after the demise of the Prophet Muhammadsa, Allah has promised to those among you who believe and act righteously, that He will surely make them Successors (Khulafā) in the earth, as He made Successors from among those who were before them; and that He will surely establish for them their religion, which He has chosen for them; and that He will surely grant them security and peace in place of their fear.(Holy Qur’an, 24:56) This verse clearly and explicitly foretells the appearance of Khulafā, (the Arabic plural of ‘Khalifa’), among the Muslims as there were among previous peoples. These Khulafa will come to establish the faith, and to give people ease and security at a time of fear. The Promised Messiah, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas explained the need for Khulafa as follows: ‘A successor is called a Khalifah. The successor of a prophet in the real sense can only be the one who has the excellences of a prophet on a shadowlike basis…in fact a Khalifah is the shadow of a prophet. As no person can live forever, therefore Allah the Exalted willed to establish the beings of prophets, who are the most eminent and the best among all the beings of the world, on a shadow-like basis till the Day of Judgement. It is with this objective that Allah the Exalted chose Khilafat so that the world may never and at no time be deprived of the blessings of prophethood.’ The Prophet Muhammadsa elaborated on the future appearance of Khilafat among his followers in a well-known narration: HIS HOLINESS MIRZA MASROOR AHMADATBA KHALIFA OF THE AHMADIYYA MUSLIM COMMUNITY “Prophethood shall remain among you as long as God wills. Then khilafat on the pattern of prophethood will commence and remain as long as He wills. A corrupt monarchy shall then follow and it shall remain as long as God wills. There shall then be a tyrannical despotism which shall remain as long as God wills. Then once again khilafat will emerge on the precept of prophethood.” (Masnad-¬Ahmad, Mishkat, Chapter Al-Anzar Wal Tahzir). Thus the Prophet Muhammadsa foretold that after his demise, true spiritual Khilafat will emerge. Then would follow various phases of Islamic rule, each worse than the last, before ‘Khilafat on the precepts of Prophethood’ would reappear once more. History has borne witness that every word of the Holy Prophetsa has been fulfilled. After his own passing, there emerged spiritual leadership in the form of the four Rightly-Guided Khulafa. Then there followed age after age of successive Muslim leadership, the integrity of which dissipated every century. Then, in the 19th Century, came the advent of the Promised Messiahas, a follower-prophet after the Prophet Muhammadsa. After Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s demise, there once again appeared Khilafat ‘on the precept of Prophethood,’ providing spiritual guidance in an age of worldly decadence. The current Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadatba, a spiritual light in this age of darkness, renowned throughout the world as a tireless campaigner for international peace and justice. *** If you want to learn more about Khilafat after reading through these pages, you can discover more articles, books, and multimedia on the http://www.alislam.org website. Types of Khilafat The 2nd Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Bashirrudin Mahmud Ahmadra delineated the different kinds of Khilafat in his erudite commentary on the following verse: Allah had promised to those among you who believe and do good works that He will surely make them Successors in the earth, as He made Successors from among those who were before them; and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them; and that He will surely give them in exchange security and peace after their fear: They will worship Me, and they will not associate anything with Me. Then who so is ungrateful after that, they will be the rebellious. (Holy Qur’an, 24:56) He explained: ‘The present verse embodies a promise that Muslims will be vouchsafed both spiritual and temporal leadership. The promise is made to the whole Muslim nation but the institution of Khilafat will take a palpable form in the person of certain individuals who will be the Prophet’s Successors and the representatives of the whole nation. They will be, as it were, Khilafat personified. The verse further says that the fulfilment of this promise will depend on the Muslims’ observing the Prayer and giving the Zakat and on their obeying the Messenger of God in all religious and temporal matters concerning the nation. When they will have fulfilled these conditions, the boon of Khilafat will be bestowed upon them and they will be made the leaders of nations; their state of fear will give place to a condition of safety and security, Islam will reign supreme in the world, and above all the Oneness and Unity of God – the real purpose and object of Islam – will become firmly established. The promise of the establishment of Khilafat is clear and unmistakable. As the Holy Prophet is now humanity’s sole guide for all time, his Khilafat must continue to exist in one form or another in the world till the end of time, all other Khilafahs having ceased to exist. This is among many others the Holy Prophet’s distinct superiority over all other Prophets and Messengers of God. Our age has witnessed his greatest spiritual Khalifa in the person of Ahmad, the Promised Messiah. The Qur’an has mentioned three kinds of Khulafa: Khulafa, who are Prophets such as Adam and David. About Adam, God says in the Qur’an: “I am about to place a vicegerent in the earth” (2:31); and about David He says: “O David, We have made thee a vicegerent in the earth”
