Khilafat and Anjuman

While on the prophecy regarding the Muslih Mau'ud, under a heading "Hazrat Masih-i-Mau'ud's Al-Wasiyyat ", Mr. Faruqi writes on page 33 of "Truth Triumphs":

"Hazrat Mirza Sahib, on getting indications from God, that the time of his death is drawing nigh, wrote his last will in the shape of a pamphlet entitled Al-Wasiyyat. In this he announced the establishment of an `heavenly burial-ground' for the righteous mureeds of his community. One of the conditions was that such persons must give at least one tenth (and at the most one third) of their property and wealth in the way of Allah. To handle such donations, and to conduct other community works, Hazrat Mirza Sahib organised a Sadar Anjuman-i-Ahmadiyya, and made this central organisation the true successor of God's Caliph on earth (i. e. Mirza Sahib himself). In fact at one occasion later on, he gave the following statement which is a `magna carta' of the Ahmadiyya Community:

`My ruling is this, that on whatever matter Anjuman takes a decision and the majority is in its favour, then the decision should be considered right, and should be given effect to. However, I would like to add this much, that in certain religious matters which intimately concern our communal organisation, I would be informed about it. I am confident that this Anjuman will not go against my wishes. But I am mentioning this as a matter of precaution that it is possible that such matter may be of a nature about which God has some special design. This condition, however, is confined to my life-time only. After me all the decisions of this Anjuman, shall be considered final and sufficient.'"

The implied conclusion, here, on the part of Mr. Faruqi is that there is no room, in the affairs of the Ahmadiyya Community, for a Khalifa, as the supreme authority, since the executive work has been entrusted by the Promised Messiah to the Sadr Anjuman-i-Ahmadiyya.

As for our reply to the questions involved in the conclusion, the correct position in regard to the matter is quite simple, though friends of the Lahore Section are always doing their best to confuse, beyond hope of redemption.

Of course, the Promised Messiah had passed some duties to the shoulders of this Anjuman, even during his own lifetime, to lighten the weight on his own shoulders, to some extent. The written statement under reference here, he had given that those working under the Anjuman should work with the due zeal and earnestness, even when he himself was not always directly in the picture before their immediate eyes. It is also true that in the fields of work entrusted to the Anjuman at that time, its decision, on the basis of a majority vote, was given a position of finality. What we need to determine now, with due care, how did the Anjuman in question use its mandate, in the light of Al-Wasiyyat, and the statement of October 27, 1907.