Need of the Company of the Righteous — Essence of Islam Vol. 3

14 Sep, 2026 Essence of Islam 0

Essence of Islam Book Cover by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS)

Introduction

In this discourse from Essence of Islam (Volume 3), Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS), the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, expounds upon Need of the Company of the Righteous, presenting profound spiritual insights and scriptural verities.

Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 3)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 5: Prophethood in Islam
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: Need for Reformers After the Perfection of Faith | Next: Need for Teachers and Fresh Exposition of the Holy Qur’an »

ure it was necessary to accept Islam and to obey the Holy Prophetsa with complete sincerity. After this absolute certainty, the kind of obedience they exhibited and the feats they performed and the manner in which they laid down their lives at the feet of their Holy Preceptor, were matters which were not possible for anyone who had not witnessed what the companions had witnessed.
Such high qualities cannot be developed and salvation cannot be truly achieved without such means. It is, therefore, necessary that the Beneficent God Who has invited everyone to salvation should make a similar arrangement in every century so that His creatures should not fail in any age to attain the stage of absolute certainty. The affirmation that the Holy Qur’an and the Ahadith alone suffice us and that we do not need the company of the righteous is opposed to the teachings of the Holy Qur’an, as Allah the Exalted has said:

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَكُونُواْ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ

“O ye who believe! fear Allah and be with the truthful.” (Surah ‘And be with the truthful.’—Al-Taubah, 9:119)

The truthful are those who have recognized the truth through their spiritual insight and are devoted to it. This high grade of spiritual insight cannot be achieved unless heavenly guidance conveys a seeker to the stage of certainty by experience. In this sense the truly righteous are the Prophets, the Messengers, the Muhaddathin and the perfect Auliya’ who are guided by heavenly light and who behold God Almighty with the sight of certainty in this very world. The verse that we have just quoted indicates that the world is never left without the truthful, as

Prophethood in Islam 159 the commandment 127 necessitates the presence of the truthful at all times. Besides, observation confirms that the learning and knowledge of those who do not seek the company of the righteous does not help to rid them of their physical passions, and that they do not achieve even that minimum status in Islam which generates the certainty of belief that God does indeed exist. They do not believe in the existence of God with the same certainty as they feel with regard to their wealth, which is locked in their boxes, or about the houses which they own. They dread swallowing arsenic, as they are certain that it is a fatal poison, but they do not dread the poison of sin, though they read in the Holy Qur’an: 128

The truth is that he who does not recognize God Almighty cannot recognize the Holy Qur’an. It is true that the Holy Qur’an has been revealed for guidance, but the guidance of the Qur’an is bound up with the personality of the one to whom it was revealed or of one who is appointed his substitute by God. Had the Qur’an alone been enough, God Almighty had the power to have the Qur’an inscribed on the leaves of trees or could have made it descend from heaven in the form of a book, but this was not what He did. He did not send the Qur’an into the world till the teacher of the Qur’an had been sent. You will find that at several places the Holy Qur’an affirms: 129 127 Ibid. 128 ‘Verily, he who comes to his Lord a sinner—for him is hell; he shall neither die therein nor live.’—Ta Ha, 20:75 [Publisher] That is: ‘The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) teaches the Qur’an and its wisdom to the people.’ At one place it is said: 130

This means that: ‘The verities and the insights of the Qur’an are revealed only to the purified.’ Need for Teachers and Fresh Exposition of the Holy Qur’an This shows clearly that for the true understanding of the Holy Qur’an a teacher is needed who is purified by God Almighty Himself. Had a teacher of the Qur’an not been needed, there would have been no such need from the beginning of time. It is idle to assert that in the beginning a teacher was needed for the exposition of the difficult parts of the Qur’an, and that exposition having been made, a teacher is no longer needed. Fresh exposition is needed from time to time. The Muslims are confronted with new difficulties in every age. It is true that the Qur’an comprises all knowledge but not all its knowledge is disclosed at one time. It is revealed as difficulties and problems are encountered. Spiritual teachers, who are the heirs of the Prophets and are reflectively invested with their qualities, are sent to resolve the difficulties that arise in every age. The reformer whose functions closely resemble the functions of a Messenger bears the name of that Messenger in the estimation of Allah. Teachers are also needed, because some portions of the teaching of the Holy Qur’an are matters of hal as op-
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3, p. 158]

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Introduction