Faith Street: Since the militant group known as ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) declared that the “caliphate has been re-established” in an area straddling the two countries, I’ve been inundated with emails, tweets, and texts asking for my opinion and explanation. I expected this, as in the past few months I’ve written and been interviewed numerous times on His Holiness the Khalifa of Islam, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, whom the world’s Ahmadiyya Muslims take to be the true Khalifa, or Caliph.
Rather than reply to a barrage of emails, I thought I would address the bulk of questions here. These are the six things every Muslim and non-Muslim should know about the Caliphate.
1. What does the word “Caliph” mean?
Caliph, or Khalifa in its Arabic form, literally means “a successor,” or “one who succeeds another.” After Prophet Muhammad died, a system of Khilafat was established to keep the Muslim community united and to serve as moral and spiritual leadership. The first four Khalifas, Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman, and Ali are collectively known as “The Rightly Guided Khalifas.” This Khilafat lasted approximately 32 years, after which internal division and corruption led to the first split among Muslims — the Sunni-Shia split. Since then, the Muslim Ummah (community) has never been united under a Khalifa.
2. How is Khilafat established?
The Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad answer this question specifically. In short, the Khalifa is appointed by God. He is God’s man on earth. The Qur’an declares, “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 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…” (24:56, emphasis mine).
Categories: Ahmadiyyat: True Islam, Americas, Answers to Anti-Islam, ISLAM