Bai‘at Means Handing Over One’s Life to Almighty Allah

The Promised Messiah(as) further says:

To take bai‘at means handing over your life to Almighty Allah. It means, ‘Today we have sold our life to Almighty Allah.’ It is wrong to say that by treading in the path of Allah anybody would ultimately suffer a loss. The truthful can never be in a state of loss. Only he who is false — i.e., who, for worldly gain, breaks the pledge that he has made with Almighty Allah — suffers loss. One who commits such an action because of the fear of the world should remember that at the time of his death no ruler or king of this world would come to procure his release. He has to present himself to the Judge of all the judges, Who will enquire of him, ‘Why did you not honour Me?’ Therefore, it is essential for all the believers to believe in Allah, Who is the King of the heavens and earth and to make a true repentance. (Malfuzat, vol. 7, pp. 29–30)

These sayings of the Promised Messiah(as) make it very obvious what bai‘at is. If each one of us recognises that, ‘My person does not now belong to me; I now have to abide by all injunctions of Almighty Allah under all circumstances and have to follow them faithfully, and make all acts of mine subservient to the pleasure of Allah,’ that would be a summary of the ten conditions of bai‘at.

I will now present a few ahadith in which the subject of bai‘at is treated in different ways.

‘A’idhullah Bin ‘Abdullah(ra) narrates that: ‘Ubadah Bin As-Samit(ra) was among the Companions(ra) who joined the battle of Badr and also took part in bai‘at at ‘Aqabah. ‘Ubadah Bin As-Samit(ra) told ‘A’idhullah Bin ‘Abdullah(ra) that the Holy Prophet(sa) said at the time when a group of his Companions(ra) were around him: Come and take a bai‘at upon the condition:

that you will not associate anything with Allah, nor will you steal, nor will you commit adultery1, nor will you kill your children, nor will you slander, nor will you disobey me in anything good I ask you to do. So anyone of you who will prove true to this pledge of bai‘at, his reward is with Almighty Allah. Whoever falls short of fulfiling this pledge and suffers a loss in this world, his loss will become expiation for him. And he who falls short of fulfiling this pledge of bai‘at, and Almighty Allah covers his faults, his affair is with Almighty Allah; if He wills, He may punish him, and if He wills, He may forgive him.’ (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Kitabu Manaqibil Ansari, Babu Wufudil Ansari Ilan-Nabiyyi Bi Makkata Wa Bai‘atil ‘Aqabah)

Then there are other ahadith

Hazrat ‘Ubadah Bin As-Samit(ra) narrates that, ‘We pledged at the hand of the Holy Prophet(sa) on the condition that we will listen and obey during the times of comfort and also during the times of hardship, during periods of joy and also during periods of pain, and that we will not argue with those in authority, and wherever we might be, we will hold fast to truth and will not be afraid of the objections of any critics.’ (Sunan Al-Nasa’i, Kitab-ul-Bai‘ati, Babul Bai‘ati ‘Alas Sam‘i Wat Ta‘ah)

Mother of the faithful, Hazrat ‘Aishah(ra) relates that, ‘The Holy Prophet(sa) used to take the pledge from the women in accordance with the verse of the Holy Qur’an:2

‘O Prophet! when believing women come to thee, taking the oath of allegiance at thy hands that they will not associate anything with Allah, and that they will not steal, and will not commit adultery, nor kill their children, nor bring forth a scandalous charge which they themselves have deliberately forged, nor disobey thee in what is right, then accept their allegiance and ask Allah to forgive them. Verily, Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful.’

Hazrat ‘Aishah(ra) continues that:

At the time of taking the pledge, the hand of the Holy Prophet(sa) never touched the hand of any woman except those who belonged to his household. (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Kitab-ul-Ahkami, Babu Bai‘atin Nisa’i)

Even before the Promised Messiah(as) started taking bai‘at, some pious Muslims were troubled by the conditions which had fallen upon Islam and felt that the only person who could save the ark of Islam from drowning and who had true sympathy for Islam was Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani(as), and that he was the al-Imam and al-Mahdi. Therefore, people used to request of him to take their pledge, but he always responded:

‘I have not been commissioned.’ He once wrote to Maulavi ‘Abdul Qadir Sahib(ra), care of Mir ‘Abbas ‘Ali Sahib, that:

The nature of this humble one is overpowered with the Unity of God and committing all affairs to Allah, and… since Almighty Allah has not conveyed anything to me in the matter of bai‘at, it is not proper that I should do so on my own initiative.3

Maulavi Sahib should continue to strive to foster the brotherhood in faith and nurture this tree with the pure water of sincerity and love. This method will God-willing prove beneficial. (Hayat-e-Ahmad, vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 12–13)