The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said that Prophethood shall remain among you as long as God shall will. God will bring about its end and follow it with Khilafat on the precepts of prophethood for as long as God shall will and then bring about its end. A tyrannical monarchy will then follow and will remain as long as God shall will and then come to an end. There will follow thereafter monarchical despotism to last as long as God shall will and come to an end upon His decree. There will then emerge Khilafat on precept of Prophethood.

During different periods of Islamic history many rulers called themselves Khalifa, yet the large majority of Muslims only consider the four Khulafa who followed the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) as the Rightly Guided Khulafa. That is, theirs was an era of guidance when the prevailing system was run in line with the model of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and in accordance to the teachings of the Qur'an. Later, circumstances changed and the aforementioned prophecy of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) was fulfilled word for word. Indeed, as it was fulfilled in its former part, it was also to fulfil in its latter part. Seeing the decline of Muslims, God's mercy was stirred. God had sent the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) with a Shariah to last till the end of time, so His mercy stirred in once again establishing Khilafat on the precepts of Prophethood. We Ahmadis firmly believe that God's mercy was stirred to fulfil the promise He had made to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and through the agency of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) Khilafat on the precepts of Prophethood was once again established on earth. God gave the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) the title of Khatamul Khulafa (seal of all Khulafa) because Khilafat was now going to ensue through him; a servant of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him).

We are fortunate that we have experienced fulfilment of the glad-tiding of Khilafat on the precepts of Prophethood and we are among those mentioned in the verse of Surah Al Jumu'ah: 'And among others from among them who have not yet joined them…' (62:4). We accepted the person about whom the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said that he would bring faith back from the Pleiades and we were enabled to give greeting to the Messiah whom the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) sent greetings. We also have had the grace to take Bai'at of the Khulafa of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace). All these blessings demand from every Ahmadi to bring about pure changes in him and this is the duty of all his followers so that they may fulfil the dues of Bai'at. The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) was to bring faith down from the Pleiades and fill his follower's hearts with it. Each Ahmadi bears witness that this was accomplished. However, establishing this faith was not limited to the Promised Messiah's (on whom be peace) lifetime or to a few decades after him because after making his prophecy the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said no more which signified that this Khilafat was to remain in all its glory till the Judgement Day.

It is thus the duty of each person who takes Bai'at to always stay firm on it and adhere to Khilafat which operates in the ways of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace). And also spread Oneness of God in the world. God sent the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) for this task and it was also for this task that his servant the Promised Messiah was sent and it was also indeed for this task that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) foretold of Khilafat that would last till the Day of Judgement. Indeed, when the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) gave his Jama'at the sad news of his parting he also gave it the glad-tiding of Khilafat. He wrote:

'…since it is the Sunnatullah, [way of God] from time immemorial, that God Almighty shows two Manifestations so that the two false joys of the opponents be put to an end, it is not possible now that God should relinquish His Sunnah of old' And he said: 'For it is essential for you to witness the second Manifestation also, and its Coming is better for you because it is everlasting the continuity of which will not end till the Day of Judgement.' (The Will, p. 7)

When God sent the second Manifestation to establish faith in the world He did not want opponents of faith to be joyous at faith being diminished once again. Thus Khilafat has been established by God after the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) in order for faith to prevail. God also deemed it the duty of those who claim to adhere to the system of Khilafat to become its helpers and be resolute in safeguarding their own faith as well as taking the message of faith to others. We know full well that second Manifestation is a reference to Khilafat. The system of Khilafat is connected to religious progress and it is a part of Islamic Shariah. We all know that religious progress, worship of Jama'at cannot take place without Khilafat. Permanence of Khilafat is part of faith. Those who rejected the air of noncompliance in the time of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I (may Allah be pleased with him) also knew these facts. Thank God by virtue of their strong faith their generations are now enjoying the beneficence of Khilafat. The greatest sacrifice in this regard was given by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (may Allah be pleased with him). He endured terrible allegations made against him and below is how he related some of the account.

He said that he called for Maulawi Muhammad Ali after the passing away of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I (may Allah be pleased with him) and asked him not to create conflict regarding Khilafat. He asked him to limit his thoughts to having a Khalifa who would safeguard the Jama'at and work for progress of Islam. He told Maulawi Muhammad Ali that he could forfeit his emotions for him on personal level but would not give up on matters of principles. He told him that he considered Khilafat a religious matter and put it to him that he had just had freedom from one Khalifa whose Bai'at he had had for six years. He said something that was permissible for six years could not now become forbidden. He told Maulawi Muhammad Ali to let go of whatever was contrary to faith and to be fair and carry on with the way [of Bai'at] that he had done thus far. He said as regards who would be beneficial as a Khalifa he would consent to whoever Maulawi Muhammad Ali agreed on.

When the meeting to elect the next Khalifa did not conclude for a long time people waiting outside started beating on the door and asked for a quick decision so that they could take Bai'at.

Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (may Allah be pleased with him) related that he told Maulawi Muhammad Ali that the question before him should be who could be the next Khalifa and not should there be a Khalifa or not! Maulawi Muhammad Ali replied that Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II only stressed upon this because he knew who the next Khalifa would be but he responded by saying he did not know and he would take Bai'at of whoever Maulawi Sahib chose. However, Maulawi Muhammad Ali was not to agree and he did not. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (may Allah be pleased with him) told him he could not tear his heart open to show him what was in it. Ultimately Hazrat Mirza Bashir ud Din Mahmood Ahmad's name was chosen and he was persuaded to take Bai'at. He hesitated saying he did not even remember the words of Bai'at but someone told him he would help him words of Bai'at. Thus the seditious people lost out and the prophecy of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) was fulfilled again.

The individuals who were distant from Khilafat were spiritual and temporal scholars and were also experienced and people of status. They took all the funds of the Jama'at with them yet remained unsuccessful. Not only Maulawi Sahib left Qadian, he and others also tried later to bring Khilafat down but could not succeed because God had promise that Khilafat would prevail. As they left emptying the coffers of the Jama'at they looked at the building of Taleemul Islam School, Qadian and predicted that within ten years this building will be in the hands of either Arya Hindus or Christians. But God fulfils His promises with great glory and continues to fulfil it to this day. They talked about ten years, well, those ten years came and passed and many more decades came and passed and today, 101 years later, Qadian is developing wonderfully in spite of some most unfavourable circumstances including the partition of the sub-continent when Qadian had to be left to few more than three hundred odd dervishes. Now modern, state of the art buildings are being built in Qadian and millions are being spent on making new schools. It is not only in Qadian, rather in the rest of the world too, great big buildings of Ahmadiyya Jama'at connected to Khilafat show Divine support and succour for Khilafat. Germany is also seeking this beneficence where a couple of days ago their Lajna and Ansar purchased a five story building for € 1.7 million. The funds in which opponents of Khilafat had left less than rupee one, two auxiliaries of a country's Jama'at associated to that very Khilafat today spend such a large sum to purchase a building. If this is not Divine support, what else it is! As for those who broke away, their affairs fell in disarray and the pious-natured among them joined Khilafat then and continue to do so today.

Today Tabligh is taking place under the auspices of Khilafat e Ahmadiyya. While the name of Islam is being brought in disrepute by some around the world, it is Jama'at Ahmadiyya connected to Khilafat which is presenting the true picture of Islam and thus God is corroborating the truth of Khilafat e Ahmadiyya. By opening up hearts of pious-natured people to the truth of the Promised Messiah, God not only corroborates the truth of Jama'at Ahmadiyya but also the truth of Khilafat e Ahmadiyya.

Our missionary in Niger writes that a village chief arrived at a class held for imams. He was asked why he had come in place of an imam. He said he realised it was a class for imams but when he told his local imam about the class the evening before, the imam refused to attend saying Ahmadis were kafirs. The chief was astonished and saddened to hear this as in his capacity as village chief he had allowed Ahmadis to do Tabligh which, to his mind made him a worse kafir. He prayed profusely that night and had a dream which he later related on oath. In his dream the moon and stars descend down to his house but they have no light in them. A white clad person comes to his house and once he is there the moon and the stars give off astonishing light and brilliance. It enters his heart most forcefully that the person belongs to Ahmadis. When he spoke to our missionary about this dream he was shown photographs and seeing photo of Huzoor he repeatedly said he was the person who had visited his house in dream.

Ameer Sahib of Gambia writes that people were informed of the advent of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) during Tabligh and conditions of Bai'at were read out to them. The village imam and chair of development committee said the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) had foretold the coming of the Messiah and Mahdi but it was the first time he was hearing about his advent. He was impressed with Ahmadiyyat and said Ahmadis were true Muslims because they had the power of Khilafat. When he was shown Huzoor's photograph he said he daily watched Huzoor on TV. Following this many hundred took Bai'at.

During this week's inauguration of a mosque in Germany many local people, including politicians, teachers, business people and others expressed their views. One guest said she knew a lot of Ahmadis and felt that she had a good idea of what Ahmadiyyat was about. However, listening to the Khalifa of Ahmadiyya Jama'at impressed her as never before and her heart understood the reality of Islam. Huzoor said he is a humble person and is well aware of himself. He said he had no quality but God has promised to grant help and support to Khilafat which God always has done and will continue to do for always.

The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) also said that the second Manifestation is established by God and indeed we observe Divine support for it and those who believe in it will continue to observe this Divine support. Islam lost its glory when materialism and worldliness entered it. The beneficence of Khilafat is now here to stay but those who give precedence to world over faith will be deprived of it. God has promised to change state of fear in peace through Khilafat for those who will pay God's dues. Among these are observance of Salat and not holding any partners with God. There are different preferences in the world and people are in pursuit of materialism and in their pursuit they use falsehood which is like associating partners with God.

Someone wrote in from Germany that he was doing Tabligh to someone who was convinced of all the truths. But when he was asked to take Bai'at he said he knew many Ahamdis who did tax fraud and told lies and did other wrong things. He said these were not his ways and he could not join the Jama'at. Although the person's response was not correct since he had understood what God and His Prophet said but did not accept it thus making himself culpable. However, Ahmadis who follow wrong practices are doubly culpable and they need to self-reflect.

Huzoor said to office-holders and workers of Jama'at that they have been blessed and enabled to serve the Jama'at merely owing to connection with Khilafat. He said it was credulous for people to assume that their knowledge, intellect or hard work was behind any good results/success. In matters of faith there can be no blessing at all without Khilafat as it has been historically proven. It is love and loyalty to Khilafat that attracts God's grace and brings about good results/success because Khilafat is a system God established. If office-holders feel any element of self-importance they should do istaghfar. If the awareness of those with religious knowledge, wisdom of the wise, intellect of those with worldly knowledge and skill of experts brings extraordinary results in Jama'at work, it is only and only due to connection with Khilafat because God has promised blessings in this regard. Knowledge and skill can work in worldly matters but in Jama'at matters everything works due to the blessings of Khilafat.

Religious scholars should educate new comers and youngsters about true connection with Khilafat. Office-holders are also responsible to do this, some of whom have little knowledge of religion. Some people tell Huzoor that they hold such and such office. Huzoor tells them not say they hold such and such office but to say they serve in such and such capacity. People should develop in righteousness and in connecting to Khilafat. Some office-holders think it is sufficient to commemorate Khilafat Day once a year. Huzoor mentioned this earlier as well with reference to Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) that adequate emphasis is not given to Khilafat in the Jama'at. Since then some effort has been made but there is room for improvement.

Recently hundreds of Khuddam of various ages from Canada and USA came to meet Huzoor in London. Some of them had recently taken Bai'at. They stayed for three days. Following the visit their feelings changed, they expressed amazing sincerity and loyalty which was astonishing to behold. They also expressed their feelings on their return home and mentioned bringing about changes in themselves. They promised to be regular in Salat, they promised to be regular in their association with Jama'at, they promised to continue and develop/enhance their connection with Khilafat. Previously neither had they been informed much about Khilafat nor had they had much experience. No doubt, meeting in person develops personal connection and love on both sides but if scholars and office-holders continue to mention the significance of Khilafat among the Jama'at, faith is strengthened and polished. Office-holders talk about their own importance, men and Lajna both, but they do not instil significance of Khilafat in hearts and mind as it should be instilled. If they do this their own significance will also increase. Missionaries, office-holders or those with religious knowledge should become helpers and supporters of Khilafat. It is wrong to assume that stressing the significance of Khilafat once is the end of the matter.

Hazrat Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) said it is incumbent on every believer who feels compassion for faith and sincerity for the Jama'at and wishes for God's work to carry on with dignity and Islam regains the honour it had in the time of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and the endeavours of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) in this regard are not negated, to work with the Khalifa night and day! He said words of the Khalifa should be relayed again and again and again to the Jama'at until even those of little intelligence understand them.

May God enable us to not only listen to the words of Khilafat but also practice them.