It was just another day for me. I was on the street, probably running some errands for my family, when suddenly I noticed that grown-up people were crying like babies. These men were tough and brave. They were our heroes; they had protected the holy sites in this town, Qadian, India, from armed militias and savage marauders during the partition of India in 1947.
Moment before, an announcement was made on Radio Pakistan that the second Khalifa of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community had passed away in Pakistan on this fateful day, Nov. 8, 1965. I kept wondering what made them cry like that, hundreds of miles away.
Fast forward another 16 years, and I find myself in Blacksburg, Va., pursuing my engineering degree at Virginia Tech. I received the heart-rending news of the passing of the third Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan. I was crying like a baby, sobbing and unable to hold myself as I rushed toward my apartment. I had met the Khalifa in Rabwah, Pakistan, only a few months before. His loving, smiling countenance was fresh in my eyes. This love was what made me cry like that, thousands of miles away.
The Promised Messiah and Mahdi, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, established the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in 1889 by the command of Allah, to reform and rejuvenate Muslims who had drifted far away from the true teachings of Islam. One of the hallmarks of his teachings was the good news of the impending victory of Islam by winning the hearts of people through love and compassion, and the other, to soften the hearts of Muslims and to divest them from their misconstrued concept of Jihad.
When Mirza Ghulam Ahmad passed away in 1908, he left behind several hundred thousand devoted followers who were full of zeal and hope and were ready to spread the peaceful message of Islam to the whole world. The heartbroken community of Ahmadiyya Muslims gathered to elect a successor -- Khalifa -- to the Promised Messiah to continue his Messianic mission of bringing peace to the world through love and compassion. On May 27, 1908, the institution of Khilafat was established once again on the precepts of prophethood. This was exactly as the Prophet Muhammad had prophesied centuries ago.
The Prophet Muhammad had said: "Prophethood will remain among you as long as Allah wills. Then khilafat on the precept of Prophethood shall commence and remain as long as Allah wills. Then biting monarchy would take its place, and it will remain as long as Allah wills. After that, tyrannical monarchy would emerge, and it will remain as long as Allah wills. Then, the khilafat shall be established once again on the precept of Prophethood."
Ottoman Empire had usurped Khilafat for more than four centuries. In June 1908 Young Turk revolutionaries totally neutralized Ottoman Khilafat and established the constitution and the parliament. This coincided with the establishment of Ahmadiyya Khilafat as prophesied.
May the Khilafat in Islam Ahmadiyya remain strong, and may it succeed in bringing much needed peace and harmony in the world.