Defining Khilafat

What Does Khilafat Mean? The word Khilafat means successorship. –This means that the Khalifa of the time is a successor of a prophet of Allah It has been said that Prophets put down the seed of Allah’s teachings, and Khilafas are bestowed upon us to nurture and care for that seed until it is a strong and sturdy tree. –We are blessed with a Khalifa so that he can carry on the religious teachings of the Prophet he is following.

In the Holy Quran, Allah says: 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 whoso is ungrateful after that, they will be the rebellious. (Surah Al-Nur, Verse 56).

The Holy Prophet (SAW) has said: “Prophethood shall remain among you as long as Allah shall will. He will bring about its end and follow it with Khilafat on the precepts of prophethood for as long as He shall will and then bring about its end. A tyrannical monarchy will then follow and will remain as long as Allah shall will and then come to an end. There will follow thereafter monarchial despotism to last as long as Allah shall will and come to an end upon His decree. There will then emerge Khilafat on precept of Prophethood." (Masnad Ahmad)

What Does This Mean? Allah has promised Khilafat for us as long as we need it. However, Allah the Almighty can also take the blessing of Khilafat away from us Allah will bless us with Khilafat if we are constantly praying and obeying Him and His Messenger.

How is a Khalifa Chosen? Allah chooses a prophet from among the believers. In a similar way, Allah chooses who becomes a Khalifa. Allah knows who is the right person to become a Khalifa, so he guides the believers to make the right choice. The Khalifa is elected by people but chosen by God Almighty.

The Guided Khilafat The “Guided” Khilafat or Khulafa-e- Rashideen are the first four Khalifas after the Holy Prophet (SAW) –Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) –Hazrat Umar (ra) –Hazrat Usman (ra) –Hazrat Ali (ra)

The Ahmadiyya Khilafat The Khilafat following the demise of the Promised Messiah (as) is known as the Ahmadiyya Khilafat. –Hazrat Hakeem Noorudin (ra) –Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad (ra) –Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad (ra) –Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (ra) –Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (aba)

Why Do We Need Khilafat? Allah the All Knowing knows that his believers need a divinely guided pious leader to carry on His message. There are Muslims all over the world that are divided because they do not have one sole leader. Unlike these divided Muslims, Ahmadis are a very united people. –Without unity and harmony, we cannot focus on the real teachings of Islam –Being unified allows us to be able to accomplish so many more Jamaat goals than if we were divided.

Cont’d The Khalifa helps us to stay close to Allah. –The Khalifa is here to help us and constantly remind us to remain on the same path that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) wanted us to go on. i.e. Like when a teacher constantly urges you to try harder