Intro
It seems that ever since Mirza Basheer ud Din Mahmud Ahmad became Khalifa, the Ahmadiyya Movement began twisting a specific hadith to substantiate their Khilafat business. The Lahori-Ahmadi’s immediately responded in 1914 via Dr. Basharat Ahmad (see the refs in the below). He starts off by saying that Qazi Zahoor uddin Akmal criticized the Mishkat saying every type of weak Hadith is in there and the khilafah alaa minhaj Hadith is in there and not in any Sahih al sitta. Dr. Basharat Ahmad accuses Qazi Zahoor uddin Akmal of being academically dishonest.
Dr. Basharat Ahmad says, according to this hadith, the true Islamic caliphate will be re-established after the time of the despotic kings without a prophet coming to establish that caliphate. If the Qadiani beliefs are correct, it should have said that after the despotic kings a prophet will come after whom the true caliphate will be established. In fact, as quoted in Qadiani Jamaat literature, this hadith begins as follows:

“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….”

So prophethood ended when the caliphate of the four righteous caliphs came into being with Hazrat Abu Bakr! The coming of no further prophet is mentioned in it, after whom the true caliphate would be re-commenced.

Interestingly, in the book of Hadith called Mishkat, after quoting this hadith, it is stated by one of the narrators

“When Umar ibn Abdul Aziz came to power, I sent him this hadith in writing to remind him of it and I said I hope you are the Amir-ul-Mo’mineen after the kings and tyrants, he was happy and liked this”.

So this hadith was applied at the turn of the first century Hijrah to Umar ibn Abdul Aziz who is regarded as the first mujaddid. And MGA himself considered the chain of mujaddids to be a continuation of the khilafat of the Holy Prophet, as anyone can see by reading his book Shahadat-ul-Quran. So one can say that this caliphate on the pattern of prophethood, after the time of the first despotic Muslim kings, started with the first Mujaddid.

You can also listen to the Mufti Mubasher Shah explaining this hadith and how Ahmadi’s twisted it.

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Did MGA ever write about this hadith?

Hadith about khilafat after despotic kings

Shahadatul-Quran pp. 45-46
“”The hadith in question can only mean the early days of Islam and the last days are similar in terms of an abundance of blessings for the progress of Islam. The Promised Messiah explained, “it is proven from the Hadith that there are three ages: first, the period of the righteous khilafat, then the “age of corruption” in which there were to be tyrannical kings, and after that the last days which would be on the pattern of the times of prophethood. The Holy Prophet has gone so far as to say that the early days of his followers and the last days would be very similar, and that these two ages are like the rain: it is full of such good and blessings that one knows not whether the blessings lie more in the beginning or in the end.””
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Dr. Basharat Ahmad and the Lahori-Ahmadi’s speak up

There are two very valuable booklets in Urdu on this subject, each about 20 pages long, published in 1914, and written by Dr Basharat Ahmad:

Khilafat ala minhaj-i nubuwwat: This is about the hadith we have been discussing above.

Khilafat-i Mauooda (i.e. The Promised Khilafat).

Scans

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MGA on 24:55 in 1891

Ahmadiyya and 24:55 of the Quran and their Spiritual Khilafat


Fath Islam, 22 January 1891, p. 6 footnote

“deputies and spiritual successors (khalifas) of the Messenger of Allah” and come “by way of zill.”
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A few years later, in 1893, MGA quoted 24:55 is in his book entitled “Shahadatul–ul-Quran”

In english this book is called, “Testimony of the Quran“. This book was written in 1893 in Urdu (see pages 107-109). Thanks to the Lahori-Ahmadis for their scholarly english translation, which was completed in 1989 and i read it around 2006.

Here is a what MGA wrote:

“Secondly, the perfect and complete likeness between the khilafat to the Holy Prophet Muhammad and the successorship to Moses renders imperative the coming of the Promised Messiah, as is understood from the following verse: ‘God has promised to those of you who believe and do good that He will surely make them khalifas in the earth as He made those before them to be khalifa’ (24:55). This clearly conveys that a mujaddid must come bearing the name of the Messiah in the fourteenth century, because the Muhammadi khilafat can only attain the most complete and total likeness to the Mosaic successorship if the first and the last respective phases have a high degree of mutual conformity.” (p. 363–364) (Ruhani Khaza’in, v. 6, Shahadatul-ul-Quran) 

There are many other quotes from this book.  However, it is obvious that MGA was telling the world, that 24:55 meant that a mujadid would arise in the 14th century with the name of the Messiah, Esa (As) bin maryam.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________ In 1894, according to Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, in his Arabic book Sirr-ul-Khilafah, this verse applies principally, truly and fully to Hazrat Abu Bakr, who of course was not a mujaddid(See page 136). Here is what MGA wrote:

“In the entire number of the Companions, the position of grandeur of Hazrat Abu Bakr was greater and higher. Without doubt, he is the first Khalifa; and it was in regard to him that the verses in respect of Khilafat came down. If you consider that there is someone other
than him, after his time, to whom these verses apply, then bring a clear prophecy to that effect, if indeed you are right in holding such a view.”

“In the verse of Istikhlaf, Allah has promised Muslim men and Muslim women that, in any case, under His mercy and blessings, some of the believers would be made Khalifas; and Allah would
replace the sense of danger in their hearts with a sense of security and peace. So this is a circumstance, a condition, which does not properly and fully apply to any except the Khilafat of the Siddiq.” (Sirrul Khilafa, page 15).

Lahori-Ahmadis also tell us:

“According to the Promised Messiah ‘Khilafa’ (he seems to mean ‘Khalifas’) are of two kinds. One kind is that which falls under the verse of ‘Succession’, and the second kind falls outside this sphere. At page 20 of his book Sirrul Khalifa, he mentions the caliphate of Hazrat Ali (the fourth Khalifa after the Holy Prophet) during which there was hardly any peace in the land; and Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was put into great trouble and  difficulties by the people of his time. Muslim community was split into sections and the doors of bickering and unrest were opened. Therefore, Hazrat Ali was, no doubt, a Khalifa, but it could not be
according to the verse of ‘Succession’. Since the selection of Khalifa could not be attributed to God, therefore the question that he cannot be deposed, does not arise.” (Truth Triumphs, 1965, page 43).

However, that was totally against the ijma of islamic commentary on 24:55 since time immemorial. All the mujadids that have came over the first 13 centuries of Islam all agreed that (Suyuti and Ibn abbas and many more) 24:55 is simply a promise to Muslims that if they are living in an islamic country, and they do good works and support the govt. and enlist in the military, they will be promoted and given prosperity, whilst working for their islamic government (Tafsir Ibn Kathir and many others).

Obviously, in 1893, MGA and his team of writers/scribes decided to re-interpret 24:55. As any fair minded person can see, 24:55 is a conditional promise to Muslims in terms of political gains on planet Earth and nothing else. It had nothing to do with Esa (as) or the Mahdi or any Day of Judgement related events.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________However, in 1906, MGA seems to have quoted this verse yet again, see pages 6-7, MGA writes:

“that is, after the fear We, shall firmly re-establish them.”  He then goes on to quote Musa (as) and how his mission was carried on, and before the quotation he mentioned Abu Bakr (ra) and he carried on Muhammad (saw)’s mission.
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Links and Related Essay’s

www.reviewofreligions.org/1715/temporal-and-spiritual-authority-of-the-institution-of-khilafat/

https://themuslimtimes.info/2014/06/26/khilafat-ala-minhaj-e-nabuwwat-successorship-to-prophethood/

https://madinaesani.wordpress.com/2013/02/23/khilafat-ala-minhaj-ul-nabuwat/

Ahmadiyya and 24:55 of the Quran and their Spiritual Khilafat

Who is Dr. Basharat Ahmad? The famous Lahori-Ahmadi, (1876–1943)

Who is Qazi Muhammad Zahuruddin Akmal? (1881–1967)

http://ahmadiyya.org/WordPress/2016/05/28/hadith-about-khilafat-after-despotic-kings/

https://www.alislam.org/articles/khilafat-and-caliphate/

Click to access Khilafat-ala-Minhaj-un-Nubawt-1.pdf

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