KHILAFAT AND MUJADDIDIYYAT AN EXPOSITION Hadhrat Hafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad Khalifatul Masih IIIrh © 2008 Islam International Publications First published in 1983 by The American Fazl Mosque Typesetting by Masood Nasir NOTE This is the English translation of the full text of the concluding speech of the late Hadhrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih III (Allah’s mercy be upon him), delivered at the final day of the Annual Rally of Majlis Khuddamul Ahmadiyya (Ahmadiyya Youth Organization), on November 6, 1977, at Masjid Aqsa, Rabwah, Pakistan. Ata Ullah Kaleem KHILAFAT AND MUJADDIDIYYAT After reciting Tashahhud, Ta'awwuz and Surah Fatiha, Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih III said: Our Annual Rallies are held every year but there did occur some breaks. It is now the fourth year, since 1973, that this Rally was last held. Due to this reason, coupled with the slackness of the Central administrators as I understand, the number of the participating Majaalis (branches) is lower in this Rally than those of the 1973 despite the fact that scores of new Majaalis (branches) and Jama’ats have been established since 1973. This year 493 branches have participated while in 1973 as many as 546 branches took part in the Rally, with 1954 foreign Khuddam and 1856 Rabwah Khuddam, totalling 3810 Khuddam. What has gone wrong is gone. May Allah the Exalted grant us forgiveness. This mistake should not occur next year. We should ever march forward. The second thing I would like to say is that the Khuddamul Ahmadiyya was entrusted with the responsibility of collecting contributions from the Atfalul Ahmadiyya for Waqf-i-Jadid. The young Atfal (boys) and Nasirat (girls) of Ahmadi families were required to pay collectively one hundred thousand rupees (Rs. 100,000) during the current year. But even the pledges received so far 2 Hadhrat Hafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad amounted to nearly 68,000, while the actual amount received is only Rs. 28,000. Hence, I hereby draw the attention of all the local office bearers of Khuddamul Ahmadiyya of each branch — whether they are present in this Rally or could not attend due to slackness — to try to acquire the pledges in accordance with the budget and escalate the speed of getting the pledges redeemed. We should have probably received half the amount so far but even in this respect there is a deficiency of Rs. 28,000. Hence pay heed to make up this deficiency. May Allah the Exalted empower you to do so. In my inaugural speech on Friday, brothers and children, I drew your attention to the fact that the grand revolution, launched by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be on him) for traversing stages of advancement in the last days, has ushered in its second phase. A prediction has been made in the Holy Quran regarding this age. The Ummat of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of God be on him) has been given glad tidings through the Holy Prophet that in accordance with the happy news: ﻪِﻠﱢﹸﻛ ﻦﹺ ﻳﺪﱢ ﻟﺍ ﻰﻠﹶﻋَ ُﻩﺮَﻬﹺ ﻈﹾ ُﻴﻟِ that He may cause it to prevail over all religions 1 the Islamic faith would dominate over all other faiths and isms. 1. The Holy Quran, 9:33 Khilafat and mujaddidiyyat 3 Islam Will Prevail I do not interpret Aladdeene Kullehee as only religions; rather, I include all those principles of civilization, society and economics which the human mind has formed and which people have taken as substitutes for religion. It means to my mind that Le Yuzherahoo Aladdeene Kullehee (ﻪِﻠﱢﹸﻛ ﻦﹺﻳﺪﱢﻟﺍ ﻰﻠﹶﻋَ ُﻩﺮَﻬﹺﻈﹾ ُﻴﻟِ ) does not only connote that the truthfulness of Islam would be manifested to the Christians and not to the atheists and communists. But rather, Islam, with its spiritual, moral, and scientific principles, would also prevail over the communistic order which they have established in their country and in the regions under their influence as a substitute for religion. Islam would also convince them of its worth. Similarly, the nations which have drifted away from religion and have formed philosophical principles for practical life shall have to admit that neither any old creed in this age nor their own wisdom could lead them to the path of salvation. Consequently, mankind would ultimately turn into one Ummat and one family under the banner of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be on him). Two Basic Demands This grand revolution which was set in through the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be on him) 1400 years ago, as explained earlier, has ushered in its period of advancement wherein it has to reach its climax and has to acquire final victory. The ushering in of this great phase of the grand revolution in its final round is making 4 Hadhrat Hafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad two basic demands from us. It is on these two demands that I would like to focus my present speech. The First Demand The task of turning mankind into one Ummat and one family under the banner of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of God be on him) demands that we have complete and durable unity among our own ranks. I stated in the Ansarullah Rally that in the early period of Islam — in the first three centuries of Islam’s first renaissance — there occurred great revolutionary changes in human life through Islam and the spiritual beneficence of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of God be on him). Nevertheless, one thing is quite significant and that is the diffusion which is very clearly seen in this unity, the unity of the first period of Islam. For instance, we take Fiqah (the Islamic jurisprudence) which in fact is similar to the general law. When the general laws are produced in accordance with Godly guidance they are termed as issues of Fiqah. For example, the issues of bargaining, the issues of solving the disputes and fights, the issues of matrimonial relations, the problems of trade, the issues of partnerships in business, the safeguarding of one another’s properties, anti embezzlement issues, problems relating to honesty, and anti treason issues, etc. In short, all the laws have been formulated by the jurists in the light of Islamic guidance. Although there had been the law of the world before Islam, yet it is a fact that the service rendered by the Muslim Jurists in this field for mankind, after toiling day and night, has given humanity the foresight which resulted in the opinion that this is the proper way in which Khilafat and mujaddidiyyat 5 these laws should be presented. No doubt, there are a few old laws in the world which were promulgated by some nations and are pursued by Europe even today, yet they are devoid of that basic beauty and fundamental perfection that is found in Islamic jurisprudence. Religions According to Human Nature It was Islam alone that turned the comprehensive wisdom and thinking of man towards the requirements of human nature. So the Islamic Jurists have done a lot and the four Imams (of Jurisprudence) have worked hard. They suffered great hardship for mankind and provided it with fine Fiqah (Jurisprudence) and law. Notwithstanding all this, the Muslim Ummat divided, into four divergent groups: the Fiqah Hanafi followers of (the jurisprudence of Imam Abu Fiqah Shafi’ee Haneefah), the followers of (The Jurisprudence of Fiqah Malikee Imam Shafiee), the followers of (the jurisprudence of Fiqah Hanbali Imam Malik), and the followers of (the jurisprudence of Imam Ahmed Bin Hanbal). Then, there are internal differences in each of these schools of thought. Hence, it is the same thing to say that there had been diffusion in the unity or unity in the diffusion. We cannot say that there was a total diffusion which shattered the Muslim Ummat into pieces. They were broken into pieces yet they were interlinked. 6 Hadhrat Hafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad The Grand Everlasting Guidance They were one in their belief in God and His attributes; they were in unison in taking Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) as best of all the Messengers and Khatamal Anbiya — the seal of the prophets. They were in full agreement in believing Islam, the religion of God revealed to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him), as the perfect and complete Shariat (Law) and they were unanimous in taking the Holy Quran as grand and everlasting guidance given in man’s hand for the guidance of entire humanity. In short they were united in the fundamental issues. Nevertheless, despite being in unison regarding the being of God, there occurred differences in the detail, such as: the Uniqueness of God and His attributes; His being characterised with excellent attributes and being devoid of all defect, imperfection, abatement and evil as disclosed by God Himself. One stumbled at one place and the other at another. Basically there is marked unity, yet the diffusion is wide. We notice both these things simultaneously in the first period of this wave of grand revolution. Nevertheless, as in accordance with the prophecies and the sayings of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him) the welding of the entire humanity into one Ummat is the task of the Messiah and Mahdi and his Jama’at, hence, there should be no diffusion in his Jama’at. Our Jama’at must manifest the perfect model of Unity and harmony without any split as enjoined in: Khilafat and mujaddidiyyat 7 ﺍﻮﹸﻗﺮﱠﻔﹶﺗَ ﻻﹶ ﻭَ ﺎﹰﻌﻴﻤِ ﺟَ ﻪِﻠﹼﻟﺍ ﻞﹺ ﺒْﺤَ ﺑﹺ ﺍﹾﻮﻤُ ﺼِ ﺘَﻋْ ﺍﻭَ And hold fast, all together, to the rope of Allah and be not divided.2 The Second Demand The second demand, regarding the ushering in of this grand revolution in its second period is that there should be coordination in all the projects prepared and all the plans adopted for the dominance of Islam and for bringing the entire humanity into a single Ummat. This is required in particular because, as God the Exalted has opened unlimited vistas for the spiritual progress of man, He has not provided him immunity from Satanic whisperings and devil’s interference. Man has been endowed with the perfect guidance through the Holy Quran but simultaneously he has been given the choice to accept or reject it. God says: 3ﺍﹰﺭﻮﹸﻔﻛﹶ ﺎﻣﱠﺇﹺﻭَ ﺍﹰﺮﻛِ ﺎﺷَ ﺎﻣﱠﺇﹺ If you wish, you may act on the teachings of Islam, being grateful servants of God; and if you desire, you may turn ungrateful to His favours with your own free will and thus fall into the wrong paths. At another place He says that the truth has come 2. The Holy Quran, 3:104 3. The Holy Quran, 76:4 8 Hadhrat Hafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad ﺮْﻔﹸﻜﹾ ﻴَﻠﹾﻓﹶ ﺀﺎﺷَ ﻦﻣَﻭَ ﻦﻣِﺆْ ﻴُﻠﹾﻓﹶ ﺀﺎﺷَ ﻦﻤَ ﻓﹶ Let him who will, believe, and let him who will, disbelieve. 4 On the other side the Holy Quran has figuratively made a mention of Satan. I do not like to indulge here in the discussion as to what is Satan and how it attacks man, as it is not pertinent to the present subject. I like to point out only that the Holy Quran says that God has permitted Satan to misguide people, but simultaneously He has declared that despite its doing its worst, those who are the servants of God will ever remain His servants. Now as our task is to turn the whole world, the entire mankind, into a single Ummat and bring it to the threshold of God, hence, as dictates of reason demand, the onslaught of Satan in this age should be stronger than it ever was before in the past. Hence the Promised Messiah (peace be on him) says: "In accordance with this very ancient law, God has informed through His Holy Prophets that when six thousand years since the time of Adam would be coming to an end, the earth would be engulfed in utter darkness and the deluge of sins would gush forth and the love of God in the hearts dwindle and come to naught, then God, only through heavenly means without any earthly sources, would spiritually breathe the spirit of truth, love and knowledge in a person as He did in Adam. This person will also be called Messiah because God, with His own hands, will anoint his spirit. This Messiah of the promise, who was in other words called the Promised Messiah in the Books of God, would be made to face the Satan. This 4. The Holy Quran, 18:30