Voice of British Muslim Women

Fezia Haq, London

The beauty of Khilafat (Caliphate) is that one doesn’t have to be in close proximity to the Khalifa (Caliph) to reap its blessings. We can gain closeness to our Khalifa through correspondence, and these same blessings cross borders to reach us as a result.

Although God Almighty has blessed me with being in the presence of the Khalifa, some of my most cherished moments with Khilafat don’t involve meeting His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad (may Allah be his Helper). His warmth radiates much further than physical nearness.

Back in 2016, my eldest niece was born. However, it was a worrying time for our family at the start. Oxygen hadn’t reached her brain, meaning there was potential impairment in this region. Naturally, we turned to God. The second thought, which Ahmadi Muslims are fortunate to turn to, is Khilafat. Despite being thousands of kilometres away and in different time zones, it was Khilafat which turned our fears into peace. I’m certain that His Holiness’ prayers found special acceptance in the Heavens, as her situation took an astonishing 360° turn for the better within a few hours – Alhamdulillah. His prayers continued to benefit us, and his enquiry regarding her health the following day was moving beyond words. One can only thank Allah the Almighty for gifting us a Divine leader; otherwise, our weak souls would have been so lost and deprived.

A lot of people have also experienced the strange phenomenon where we only contemplate writing to the Khalifa or have written but our message hasn’t yet reached him, yet somehow our needs are already starting to get fulfilled. This is something which happened nearly two years ago, whilst writing my final year dissertation. With 4 days left until the deadline and being only halfway through the required word count, I ran out of ideas of what else to cover. I noted down a message requesting His Holiness’ prayers. Almost immediately, my mind was filled with all the things that could be included and was able to complete it on time and well, by the Grace of Allah.

When we connect with the Khalifa, we form a link with God Almighty Himself. His Holiness is the Successor of the Promised Messiah (peace be upon him). That Messiah was the ardent devotee of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Prophet Muhammad was the greatest Messenger sent by Allah Almighty. And so, Khilafat truly is the Rope of Allah. Holding onto it is the source of God’s Benevolence.

Our Khalifa spends days and nights praying for us despite the magnitude of his responsibilities and engagements. We may not be able to repay him, but we can help him with prayers. ‘O Allah! Aid and strengthen our beloved Imam with the Holy Spirit.’ Ameen.