An article with a full and referenced history/analysis of the split between Lahori and Qadiani Ahmadi sects can be found on This Link
Introduction
For those of you who are blissfully unaware, the Lahori organisation are a miniscule and insignificant group of a few hundred Ahmadis who accept Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as a holy personage, but reject his prophethood and Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya (after Hadhrat Nooruddin). Since their rejection of Khilafat in 1914 to this very day, in their articles and videos Lahoris enjoy abusing Khilafat in the most foul terms and of course one way in which they do so is by describing Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya as a dictatorship. This, of course, is a gross insult to both The Holy Prophet s.a.w and Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad a.s who clearly advocted this system in their writings.
Khilafat
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet s.a.w said, "The Israelis used to be ruled and guided by prophets: Whenever a prophet died, another would take over his place. There will be no prophet after me, but there will be Khalifas who will increase in number." The people asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What do you order us (to do)?" He said, "obey the one who will be given the pledge of allegiance first. Fulfill their (the Khalifas') rights, for Allah will ask them about (any shortcoming) in ruling those Allah has put under their guardianship." (Bukhari)
The Holy Prophet s.a.w taught that true Khilafat was a system to which Muslims must pledge their allegiance as it was comparable to the prophethood enjoyed by the Israelites. He also made it clear that those to whom allegiance had been pledged first must be obeyed (in the instance of the split this would mean Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad, not Mualawi Muhammad Ali Sahib who was later elected by the Lahori branch as their Amir).
The Holy Prophet s.a.w also repeatedly made it clear that leaders must be obeyed. The Quran says:
O ye who believe! obey Allah, and obey His Messenger and those who are in authority among you. (Quran 4:59/60)
To give just one example how The Holy Prophet s.a.w elaborated on the philosophy of the above verse, he said:
Anas Narrated that the Prophet s.a.w said, "Listen and obey (your chief) even if an Ethiopian whose head is like a raisin were made your chief." (Bukhari)
The companions of The Holy Prophet s.a.w followed this instruction regarding Khilafat:
Narrated 'Ubaid-ullah bin 'Adi bin Al-Khiyar: Uthman said, "Allah sent Muhammad with the Truth and I was amongst those who followed Allah and His Apostle and I believed in what ever he (i.e. the Prophet) was sent with, and participated in two migrations, as you have said, and I enjoyed the company of Allah's Apostle and gave the pledge of allegiance him. By Allah! I never disobeyed him, nor did I cheat him till Allah took him unto Him. Then I treated Abu Bakr and then 'Umar similarly and then I was made Khalifa. So, don't I have rights similar to theirs?" I said, "Yes." (Bukhari)
It is worth noting that the Lahoris condemn Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya as a family business as four of the five Khulafa have been descendants of the Promised Messiah. However, they fail to explain why all four of The Holy Prophet's s.a.w Khulafa were his relatives (two were father in laws, one was a son in law and the fourth was both a son in law and a cousin). They also do not point out that Abraham was a prophet whose nephew Lot was a prophet and whose sons Ishmael and Isaac were prophets and whose grandson Jacob was a prophet and whose great-grandson Joseph was a prophet according to the Quran. Presumably the Lahoris reject each of these as family business impostors, God forbid. They also fail to point out the first Khalifa was not from the Promsied Messiah's family and also do not explain how the electoral college that elects the Khalifa and is made up almost entirely by people who are not related to The Promised Messiah's family is being manipulated on each occasion into electing from the same family with no incentive to do so. They also fail to explain the repeated revelations received by Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad about the divine leadership of his son and his family.
Moreover, although the rightly guided prophetic Khilafat came to an end after around 30 years with the martyrdom of Hadhrat Ali, The Holy Prophet s.a.w had prophecised its return:
Prophethood shall remain among you as long as God wills. He will bring about its end and follow it with Khilafat on the precepts of prophethood for as long as He wills and then bring about its end. Kingship shall then follow to remain as long as God wills and then come to an end. There shall then be tyranny which shall remain as long as God wills and come to an end upon His decree. There will then emerge Khilafat on the precepts of Prophethood (Musnad-i-Ahmad)
So the commandments of Allah and The Holy Prophet s.a.w are clear and the understanding of them by his companions are also clear. Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's writings on the subject were also clear:
Allah manifests two kinds of Power. (1) First He shows the Hand of His Power at the hands of His Prophets themselves. (2) Second, when with the death of a Prophet, difficulties and problems arise and the enemy feels stronger and thinks that things are in disarray and is convinced that now this Jama‘at will become extinct and even members of the Jama‘at, too, are in a quandary and their backs are broken, and some of the unfortunate ones choose paths that lead to apostasy, then it is that God for the second time shows His Mighty Power and supports and takes care of the shaken Jama‘at. Thus one who remains steadfast till the end witnesses this miracle of God.
This is what happened at the time of Hadrat Abu Bakr Siddiq r.a, when the demise of the Holy Prophet s.a.w was considered untimely and many an ignorant Bedouin turned apostate. The companions of the Holy Prophet s.a.w, too, stricken with grief, became like those who lose their senses. Then Allah raised Abu Bakr Siddiq r.a and showed for the second time the manifestation of His Power and saved Islam, just when it was about to fall, and fulfilled the promise which was spelled out in the verse:
"And that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them; and that He will surely give them in exchange security and peace after their fear." (Quran , 24:56)
(Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, The Will, 1905)
So Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's writings were unequivical: a divine manifestation will appear after himself in support of his community in the same way Hadhrat Abu Bakr (Khalifa I) appeared directly after The Holy Prophet s.a.w. After Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's passing, his companions understood the passage above and one immediately made the following speech:
According to the command of the Promised Messiah set out in The Will we Ahmadis, whose signatures are appended below, are sincerely convinced that all present and future members of the Ahmadiyya Community should take the pledge of spiritual allegiance, to Hadhrat Nooruddin, who is the most learned and most virtuous of us all and is the most devoted and oldest friend of Hadrat Imam who held him up as an excellent example, as he said, ‘How good would it be if every member ofthe community were a Nooruddin, So would it be if every heart were filled with the light of the certainty of faith.’ Hadhrat Maulawi Sahib’s orders will be as binding upon us, as were the orders of the Promised Messiah. (Badr, June 2nd 1908)
Hadhrat Nooruddin gave a moving response:
I have for some time reflected on what shall be our situation after Hadrat Sahib. That is why I have striven that Mahmud’s education may be pushed forward. There are three likely persons among the close relatives of Hadrat Sahib. There is Mahmud Ahmad, who is both my brother and my son. I have a special relationship with him. Then Mir Nasir Nawab, being Hadrat Sahib’s father-in-law, is entitled to his respect and our respect. The third one is his son-in-law, Nawab Muhammad ‘Ali Khan.
Of the devoted servants of the faith there is Sayyid Muhammad Ahsan, who possesses outstanding ability. He is a descendant of the Holy Prophet s.a.w. Then there is Maulawi Muhammad ‘Ali who serves in ways that I cannot even conceive of. All these are available in Qadian.
This is a heavy, a perilous responsibility, which can be carried only by a commissioned one of God, who has wonderful promises of divine support which sustain him against backbreaking burdens. At this time it is necessary that men and women should become united. To achieve this, pledge your allegiance to any of the revered personages I have named; I shall also do so along with you.
I promise you solemnly that if you choose any one of those I have named, I shall pledge my allegiance to him along with you, but if you insist on pledging your allegiance to me then note carefully that this pledge means total commitment. pledging allegiance is a solemn and grave matter. He who takes the pledge subordinates all his freedom and the flights of his fancy to the will of another Remember, all good proceeds from accord. A leaderless people are dead. (Hadhrat Nooruddin, Badr, June 2nd 1908)
Immediately, all the Ahmadi Muslims present at the meeting demanded to offer their allegiance to Hadhrat Nooruddin and did so with the following words:
'...This day I take the pledge of spiritual allegiance at the hand of Nooruddin, accepting all the conditions prescribed the Promised Messiah for the pledge...' (Badr, June 2nd 1908)
Shortly after the proceedings, Khwaja Kamaluddin (later a Lahori leader) published the following notice:
Before the funeral prayer for the Promised Messiah all members of the community who were present in Qadian and whose number was twelve hundred, accepted Hadhrat Nooruddin, may Allah keep him, as his Successor and Khalifa, according to the directions set out in The Will and in conformity with the recommendation of the members of the Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya then in Qadian and the relatives of the Promised Messiah, and with the permission of Hadrat Ummul Mu’minin; and took the pledge of allegiance to him. Of the members of the Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya there were present Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad, Maulawi Muhammad ‘Ali…This intimation is addressed to all members of the Movement, that on its receipt they should immediately take the pledge of allegiance to Hadrat Khalifatul Masih. (Khwaja Kamaluddin, Al Hakam, May 28th 1908)
It seems that despite initially pledging their allegaince, the Lahori group quickly began to regret accepting a Khalifa. The reason seems that it occurred to these people that they themselves were influential members of the community and they began to lust after position and prestige. Whilst they could just about abide Hadhrat Nooruddin's Khilafat, as they viewed him as an old man who may not live too long, they feared that after his passing they may again miss out. These foolish and ignorant people did not realise that it is no man or group of men who appoints the spiritual Khalifa, but Allah who appoints.
Anyhow, the conspiracy against the Khilafat of Hadhrat Nooruddin began to openly surface from those who would later form the Lahori group in 1909. This is a long history and there has been a lot of literature published about it. I do not wish to go into the long history, but Hadhrat Nooruddin openly and severely admonished the dissenters in a speech delivered on Eid-ul-Fitr and we will publish just one part of the speech here:
Some of you say that they are not seeking to limit my authority, but wish to clarify and define the authority of my Successor. But they do not reflect that he may be greater than Abu Bakr r.a. and Hadrat Mirza Sahib a.s. (Hadhrat Nooruddin, Eid speech, 19th October 1909)
However the scheming against Khiilafat continued. Fearful of openly expressing their views, the conspirators took to a new strategy. Whenever Hadhrat Nooruddin gave an instruction, they would obey. However, instead of saying 'The Khalifa has ordered so and so' they would instead say 'The President has instructed so and so' referring to the Khalifa's dual position of President of the Anjuman and Khalifa. In this way, they tried to give the impression that Hadhrat Nooruddin's authority only came from his role in the Anjuman and that, God forbid, his Khilafat was only an honorary token.
Hadhrat Nooruddin, in his wisdom, decided to circumvent these intrigues by resigning from his post on the Anjuman to make it clear that his authority came from his Khilafat and not from the Anjuman. Moreover, he appointed Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad as his successor!
Now the Lahoris have a problem. They say that they could not accept Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad's Khilafat as he was not appropriate for the role. On the other hand, they say that the Anjuman is superior in position to the Khalifa. How can it then be that they accepted Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad as the President of the Anjuman if they view this to be the superior position, all the while remaining unwilling to accept him in the 'inferior' position of Khalifa? How strange indeed!
In December 1911, the Ahmadiyya community held it's annual conference or Jalsa Salana in Qadian. Hadhrat Nooruddin addressed the entire community on the 27th of December and openly condemned the secret plots, conspiracies and agitations of the Lahoris:
Harken! I am Khalifatul Masih and God has made me Khalifa. I had no desire at all to be Khalifa, but now that God has invested me with this mantle, I intensely dislike all dissension. Standing in this mosque, with the Quran in my hand, I call God to witness that I had not the least desire at any time to become a spiritual preceptor. But no one knows God’s design. He did whatever He willed. He united all of you at my hands, and He Himself, and not any of you, invested me with the robe of Khilafat. It is my duty to honour and respect it.
I do not desire from you money or anything else. I do not care whether any of you offers me greetings or not. Up to April last I used to pass on your personal offerings to me to Maulawi Muhammad ‘Ali, but someone misled him and he said these offerings belonged to the Anjuman and he, as Secretary of the Anjuman, was their custodian. Thereupon I stopped sending him these monies, out of regard for the pleasure of Allah, to see what would they do about it. Those who think like that are in error and have been guilty of disrespect. They should repent; I repeat that they should repent. If they do not repent they will be in evil case.
Keep well in mind that you have no authority to remove the Khalifa. If you perceive something in me that you esteem a fault, point it out to me respectfully. It is God who appoints a Khalifa; it is not the business of men. God made Adam a.s a Khalifa, and also David a.s. Therefore, none of you has the authority or power to remove me. If God desires to remove me, He will cause me to die. You had better leave this matter in God’s hands; you have not the power of removal. I am not beholden to any of you. He lies who says he has made me Khalifa.
It hurts me when I hear it said that this is the age of constitutions and Parliaments; Iran and Portugal and Turkey have all set up Parliaments. I affirm that he who considers this Movement Parliamentary and constitutional should repent of his error. What comfort do you think has been procured for Iran and others by a Parliament? Many were ruined under Muhammad ‘Ali Shah, and his successors are receiving ultimatums. Have the Turks slept in peace after setting up a Parliament?
I remind you again that it is clearly set forth in the Holy Quran that it is God who appoints Khalifas. When He appointed Adam a.s. He said: I am about to place a vicegerent (Khalifa) in the earth (2:31). The angels raised objections, but what benefit did they derive therefrom? Read the Quran and see. If that was the case with the angels and they had to confess: Holy art Thou, no knowledge have we save that which Thou hast taught us (2:33).
Then who are you to criticise me? You had better look into your mirrors. I remember well someone saying: A Parliament has been established in Iran; it is the age of constitutions. Such sentiments are disloyal and disrespectful. Those who think like this were shown the consequences of constitutionalism, by the jealousy of God, in Iran itself. I repeat they should repent even now.
I have not related all this in my defence. Allah knows well that I attach no value to your approval or disapproval or rejection of me. I have told you this lest any of you should become guilty of sin by falling a victim to suspicion. (Hadhrat Nooruddin, Jalsa Salana Qadian 1911)
The people who would go on to break away from the Ahmadiyya Community to form the Lahori Ahmadi group opened a mosque they had built in 1912. Hadhrat Nooruddin spoke at the opening and again condemned their disloyal ideologies in the following words:
Should any one say that the Anjuman has made me Khalifa, he would utter a lie. Such ideas lead to ruin, be on your guard against them. Listen with attention once more, no man or Anjuman has made me Khalifa, nor do I consider any Anjuman competent to make any one a Khalifa. No Anjuman has made me Khalifa, nor would I have attached any value to any Anjuman’s doing so. I would not so much as spit on any Anjuman’s repudiation of me.
No one has the power to deprive me of this robe. Who do they think was entitled to be Khalifa? There is my very dear Mahmud who is the son of my master and my benefactor. Then there are his son-in-law Nawab Muhammad ‘Ali Khan, his father-in-law Mir Nasir Nawab, and his wife the Ummul Mu’minin. These are the only ones who may be deemed to have a claim to the Khilafat.
Yet it is curious that those who assert that their right has been usurped do not reflect that they are all obedient and loyal to me. They have not presented their claim to these critics. The descendants and close relatives of Hadrat Mirza Sahib are all devoted to me. I tell you truly that there is not one of you who obeys me as do my dear ones Mahmud, Bashir and Sharif, and as do Mir Nasir Nawab and Nawab Muhammad ‘Ali Khan. I do not affirm this to please them, but state it as a fact that they love me out of the desire to win the pleasure of God.
I have heard the Ummul Mu’minin affirm a score of times that she deems herself my servant. Miyan Mahmud is grown up, he will tell you that he obeys me sincerely. A critic might say that he does not obey me sincerely, but I know for certain that he is truly, obedient to me, more than any one of you. All the members of Hadrat Mirza Sahib’s family obey me as ‘Ali r.a, Fatima r.a. and ‘Abbas r.a. obeyed Abu Bakr r.a, even more so. Every one of them is so devoted to me that I cannot conceive any of them entertaining a wrong notion about me.
Another question on which you differ and raise contentions is: What is the status of our opponents? Now listen carefully. The Word of God has expounded the principles with regard to the acceptance and rejection of a Prophet. Whenever a Prophet has appeared there has been no difficulty with regard to the classification of those who believe in him and those who disbelieve. Casuistry apart, God Almighty has set forth clearly the principles of disbelief, faith and association of partners with Allah. There have been Prophets in the past. In each case there were those who believed and those who disbelieved. Have you had any doubt concerning them; and have you had any problem about the classification of those who did not believe in them?
You have been told of the principles of belief and disbelief. Hadrat Mirza Sahib was a Messenger of God. Had he not applied the term Prophet to himself, he would have been guilty of rejecting the Hadith narrated in the compilation of Muslim in which the one who was to come was named a Prophet. The question of believing in him or rejecting him is clear. If one who rejects him professes to be a Muslim he is that much closer to you, as the Christians are closer to you than the Jews. In the same way the Muslims who reject Hadrat Mirza Sahib can be closer to us than the others.
He who believes in Hadrat Mirza Sahib and rejects me is like the Rafdis who reject the companions of the Holy Prophet s.a.w. The matter is quite clear, but the idlers occupy themselves with futile contentions.
Hearken! My prayers reach the Throne, and my Lord fulfils my designs even before I supplicate Him. To contend with me is to contend with God. So desist and repent. Hold your peace for a short while; then he who follows after me will deal with you as God wills. Some of the matters on which you differ have been pronounced upon by Hadrat Mirza Sahib. He who goes against his pronouncement is not an Ahmadi. On matters on which he has expressed no view you are not at liberty to philosophise without my permission. (Hadhrat Nooruddin, Opening of Lahori Group's mosque- prior to their open split- in 1912)
As if the passages above weren't enough, the founder of the Lahori Jamaat even admitted that the first Khalifa, who they all accept, wanted Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad to be his successor:
I have learnt on the most reliable authority that in his (Hadhrat Nooruddin's) will of 1911, he set out the name of Miyan Sahib (Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad) as his successor. (Maulawi Muhammad Ali Sahib, Haqiq-e-Ikhtilaf)\
What is even more strange is that the Lahoris were ready to accept Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad as the Khalifa in 1914:
Election of the Sahibzada is held to be valid, but he would not have the authority to call the already existing membership to take fresh bai’at, at his hand, there being no discernible need for anything of this kind to be done. We are ready to accept him as our Amir in this capacity. Nor would he be considered entitled to interfere in any way with the rights and previliges, and the prerogatives, of the Anjuman Ahmadiyya vested in that body by the Promised Messiah himself, holding that the Anjuman would be considered to have succeeded him as the overall supreme authority in the affairs of the Movement. A deputation comprising the following gentlemen should wait on Sahibzada Mahmud Ahmad to place these resolutions before him, requesting his agreement on the points involved. (Paigham-i-Sulha, March 24, 1914)
Summary of points above
1- Khilafat was an institution begun by The Holy Prophet s.a.w and compared by him to prophethood
2- The Holy Prophet s.a.w. prophecised Khilafat would one day be reestablished in the Muslim ummah
3- The companions were instructed (and followed) the instruction of pledging absolute obedience to Khilafat
4- The Promised Messiah prophecised a second divine manifestation, using the example of Khilafat to illustrate it
5- The companions of the Promised Messiah understood his prophecised second manifestation to mean Khilafat and on that basis elected Hadhrat Nooruddin to be their Khalifa
6- Those who would later become the Lahori group were on record as accepting Hadhrat Nooruddin's Khilafat and still refer to him as Khalifa to this day.
7- Hadhrat Nooruddin clearly said that Khilafat is a divine manifestation, greater than any anjuman (parliamentary authority) and that no person had the right to limit the Khilafat
8- Hadhrat Nooruddin described Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad and other members of the family of the Promised Messiah as the greatest servants of the Jamaat and publicly nominated Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad to be his first choice as Khalifa, as well as writing that he wished him to be his successor after he had become Khalifa.
9- Hadhrat Nooruddin appointed Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad as the president of the Anjuman ahead of the Lahori leaders within his own Khilafat.
Questions for Lahori Ahmadis regarding the issues above
11- The Holy Prophet s.a.w compared Khilafat to prophethood, his companions accepted it as an authority and The Promised Messiah prophecised it as a divine manifestation, which his companions all then accepted (including Lahoris) in the time of Hadhrat Nooruddin - who also specifically described it as a divine manifestation. What right do humans (Lahoris) have to try and end a divine manifestation?
12- If Khilafat was not necessary, why did the Lahoris accept Hadhrat Nooruddin in the first place?
13- If Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad was not competent to be a Khalifah, why did Hadhrat Nooruddin nominate him as his first choice on the death of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad? Why did he constantly praise him to such a great extent during his own Khilafat, nominate him again in a letter when he thought he might die and appoint him to the most senior position in the Jamaat other than Khalifa, ahead of the Lahori leaders?
14- How can the Lahoris claim that the Anjuman is the divine authority ahead of Khilafat, when for four years it was lead by Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahamd whom you now castigate as an unholy liar, God fobid? In fact, when half or more of the Anjuman's members joined the Qadiani group and refused to have anything to do with the Lahoris, how can this be considered a divine authority when half of its members refuse to accept it as such? That is like calling someone a prophet who denies being a prophet and who is - according to you, God forbid - an unholy liar anyway.
15- Why were your leaders ready to accept Hadhrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad as the leader of the Lahori group so long as he joined you, if as you claim he was incompetent for the position of leading a divine position?
An article with a full and referenced history/analysis of the split between Lahori and Qadiani Ahmadi sects can be found on This Link
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