My Dear Members of PAAMA!Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah.
May the Lord of mankind open unto you the gates of His mercy and may He so ordain that you are always accompanied by the supplication of His angels. Ameen.
All prophets without exception are but mortal human beings. However, although the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) like all prophets before him suffered a mortal death, his message was to endure till the end of days. Thus, Allah Almighty promised in the Holy Quran that Islam would be nourished through the dedicated efforts of his rightly guided Khalifas or caliphs so that after his demise Islam would not pass into history. We read in Holy Quran: “Allah has 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 those who were before them; and that He will, surely, establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them…” (Ch 24:56)
In accordance with that promise, on the demise of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) Hadhrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was elected as the First Khalifa in Islam and in that capacity he united the Islamic Empire safeguarding it against internal disorders and external threats. He was succeeded by Hadhrat Umar, Hadhrat Usman and Hadhrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with them) as Khalifas of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Their collective eras represent a truly golden period in history during which Islam spread throughout the then known world and many blessed schemes for the welfare of mankind were initiated.
After the sad martyrdom of Hadhrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), however, Muslims discarded the glorious robe of Khilafat (the Islamic Caliphate) with all its countless blessings. The system of monarchy, devoid of all spiritual glory, was set up with various dynasties arising over many centuries. Civil wars greatly weakened the Muslims so that the time came when other religions, though based on false doctrines, began to dominate the true religion of Islam.
The re-establishment of Khilafat has been the greatest challenge facing the Muslims. Various movements to establish Khilafat peacefully or, as we observe today with some Muslim groups, by use of brutal force, have all met or will meet with failure. This is because the Khilafat promised in the Holy Qur’an is in the footsteps of a prophet and was to be re-established only with the advent of the Promised Messiah, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (on whom be peace), who founded the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at.
Upon his demise, Khilafat was once again established on earth when Hadhrat Maulvi Nuruddin (may Allah be pleased with him) was unanimously elected to the office of Khalifatul Masih. He in turn was succeeded by Hadhrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad, Hadhrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad and Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on them) as Khalifas of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace). Again their tenures of office were blessed with manifold bounties, schemes and initiatives.
Today we are passing through the blessed era of the fifth Khilafat under the headship of Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, a man of peace and integrity who inspires the members of the Jama’at to serve Allah and His creation. He ensures that Islam and all other religions are recognised for their true and beautiful teachings.
My Dear Members of PAAMA! It is obvious that Khilafat is very blessed institution and calls for the highest degree of obedience. A Khalifa is elected by the act of the believers but through the Will of Allah. In other words, at that critical hour when the election of a Khalifa is due, the minds and deliberations of the faithful are guided by Allah, the Almighty, to the appointment of His choice. Therefore, inasmuch as the Khalifa is elected in accordance with the Divine Will, disobedience to him is, in fact, tantamount to the disobedience of Allah and, by the same token, obedience to Allah Almighty and obedience to the office of Khilafat are simply the obverse and reverse of the same coin.
This, in itself, is both a necessary and sufficient condition for the continuation of this great Divine institution. It is only through the blessings of Khilafat that Islam made progress in the past as it continues to do today. Prophethood is a seed after which Khilafat spreads its glory throughout the world. After the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) Islam spread throughout the then known world through the works of his Khalifas. Today, under the guidance of the Ahmadiyya Khilafat, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is spreading and spreading exponentially all around the world despite all efforts to arrest its progress by hostile fanatics, both individual and governmental. Indeed, the days are fast approaching when we shall witness the unification of mankind under the banner of the Ahmadiyya Khilafat. May Allah make it so and bless you all profoundly. Ameen.
Wassalam.
Yours humbly,
Tommy Kallon. President Pan-African Ahmadiyya Muslim Association UK
