Measuring the Message of the Ahmadiyya International Leader to the World; A Rally Point of The Khilafah System and The World Peace
Starting the Friday Sermon on January 1, 2021, an international leader of a Muslim community said that several world leaders had responded to him regarding the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Previously, the leader of this organization personally sent a letter to world leaders, stating that this pandemic was nothing but a warning from Allah subhaanahu wa Taala, as well as a warning that if the handling was not taken properly, World War III might occur as a result.
This message is not even the first to be conveyed in a world forum. On 8 October 2019, this leader even spoke at the UNESCO forum in Paris, and delivered 4 (four) important points for world peace, those are:
- The importance of education for girls;
- Access to education is the key to world peace;
- There is no contradiction between Islam and science;
- Al-Quran is a guide that has inspired Muslims to achieve intellectual and knowledge advancement.
He, the messenger, is none other than the international leader of the Ahmadiyya Community, who has the title Amirul Mukminin Khalifatul Al-Khamis Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad.
Examining these four points, regardless of who delivered it, it can be seen that the message was conveyed by a person or group representative which is universal and does not have any tendency towards the sovereignty of a country.
Although there is a mention of the holy book Al-Qur’an, which is a symbol of Muslims, it is not in the context of imposing its use as the only law that is most entitled to be used, including replacing the codification of a country’s law.
Al-Qur’an in the context of the sentence is a spiritual guideline, which is used by Muslims as individuals, in which the verses also broaden the view of the importance of one’s intellectual progress through education and knowledge.
However, when we know who is delivering the message, perhaps immediately arise fortress which generalizes the word ‘Ahmadis’ as a stream that does not deserve a place in the world, especially Indonesia, although the caliph led them to convey a message of peace to the world, which sometimes accepts also the truth.
The existence of the khilafat system and the Ahmadiyya Community in Indonesia are two things that have been mentioned by Prof. Azyumardi Azra (one of the university professors in Indonesia) on several occasions discussions. Recently even, he provided input to the Minister of Religion Gus Yaqut about an affirmation of belief minority rights in Indonesia, one of the Ahmadiyah. While on another occasion, Prof. Azyumardi Azra several times gave his views regarding the khilafat system which ended after the leadership of Caliph Ali, and also never left his mark in the archipelago.
This discussion becomes interesting if we take a different point of view. He, Prof. Azyumardi Azra, as reported by republika.co.id, explained that the true caliphate system is as happened during the khulafaur-rashidin period. This means that there will be no further khilafat system after that, especially if the khilafat system (which is debated in Indonesia) aims to replace the Pancasila ideology and control legal state sovereignty with a government system based on sharia. At the same time, there is also his opinion, the impossibility of this arises because Indonesia has a relaxed Islamic atmosphere. Islam in Indonesia is in the midst of local wisdom that is heterogeneous, colorful, peaceful, not very thick with Arabic, but it is not less Islamic than Arabic. (www.dw.com accessed on January 31, 2021).
This view, if paired with the meaning ‘khilafat’ desired by several organizations in Indonesia, which has been dissolved, it is very much different. The khilafat system which is coveted as a substitute for Pancasila Democracy is actually impossible with the climate of multicultural Indonesian society. But what khilafat system adopted by the Ahmadis, who just put the Caliphate as a divine system?
In that sense, even though Ahmadiyah has a caliph, which also means that Ahmadiyya glorifies the caliphate system, it does not make them have the desire to overthrow the Indonesian government which is already sovereign with Pancasila as its basis.
Ahmadiyya put caliphate as prophetic successor, which also means they put the caliphate as a theological way of life only. The context is spiritual, not political. Why is that, because Ahmadiyah believes in the caliphate not as a government system, but as a way of life. This means that Ahmadiyah and its caliphate system do not associate their caliphs with the nation-state system.
So from the understanding of the Ahmadiyah version of the caliphate, if it can be said, there is a meeting point that cools the debatable caliphate polemic after the 2019 Presidential Election. The Khilafah system is still adhered to by Ahmadiyah members in Indonesia, and their leadership caliph also calls on their congregations to remain obedient and obey the laws in force in their respective countries, by raising a message that loving the homeland is part of faith and obeying the ulil amri as a form of obedience to the word of Allah subhaanahu wa taala.
The Importance of Education and Knowledge in Islam
The thoughts of Prof. Azyumardi Azra about the importance of education is also something similar that was conveyed by the Khalifah of Ahmadiyah on several occasions. Even according to the Caliph, discrimination on the right to education for minorities and women can trigger conflicts between nations, because the progress of education is a parameter of the progress of a nation, and also as a means of determining the stability of state security towards world peace.
The turmoil of the issue of Islam’s rejection of knowledge is naive. Islam is a universal belief, and therefore it will definitely be accepted by reason. How can Islam be a religion that is accepted by humans' minds, if Islam is not in line with science, which is also the work of the human’s mind?
The position of Islam is none other than, so that Muslims who explore knowledge and discover new things in it, do not automatically become arrogant and forget the power of Allah the Almighty.
Islam in the human heart is a “control function” that controls the human passions, so that intellectuality and the high level of knowledge they have will only be utilized for the best benefit of the people, to preserve the environment, and not to make it the ruler who destroys the world. At this point, the intellectual and knowledge used in accordance with the norms of Pancasila, which is as unifying the nation for the sake of social justice for all Indonesian people, will be in line with Islamic values intellect, and knowledge.
The caliphate system is a spiritual control wheel that always reminds the hearts of the people to stay on the path of truth. Khilafat which can be side by side with the nation-state is khilafat which does not touch the political realm. The caliphate that can stand in any government system, is a spiritual caliphate articulated in the form of love for the homeland and the nation where they belong, prioritizing humanity and love for fellow humans, without discriminating against any ethnicity, race, culture, and also any religious background.
