Virtues of the Khulafa-e-Rashideen
The Promised Messiah (as) states:
“I have been granted in-depth knowledge from my Lord regarding Khilafat. And just like any scholar, I have also been able to delve into the depth of the matter and my Lord has revealed to me that Siddiq [Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra)], Farooq [Hazrat Umar (ra)] and Uthman (ra), may Allah be pleased with them all, were pious believers, who were among the chosen ones of Allah the Almighty and were favoured with the special bounties of the Gracious God.
“Furthermore, many of the wise have borne witness to their virtues. They left their lands for the pleasure of the Honourable and Glorious God, they entered the furnace of every battle, and they cared not for the scorching midday heat of every summer, nor the cold of the night of every winter; rather, they marched forward upon the paths of their faith like youthful men, inclining neither to their own people, nor to others and they bade farewell to everything, all for the sake of the Lord of all the Worlds. Their actions were imbued with a sweet fragrance and their deeds with an aroma.
“All of this points to the gardens of their rank and the orchards of their good deeds. Likewise, the aromatic breezes of their zephyr [soft, sweet-smelling wind] reveal their intricate qualities and their light becomes manifest to us with all its radiance. Thus, you ought to ascertain their illustrious rank from the aroma of their fragrance and do not show haste and follow those who think ill. And do not rely on just certain narrations because they are filled with poison and exaggerations and they cannot be trusted. Many of those narrations are like a powerful and destructive wind and like the lightning which deceives one into thinking there is going to be rain. Thus, fear Allah and do not follow such narrations.”
(Sirr-ul-Khilafah Urdu Tarjumah, pp. 25-26, Nazarat Ishaat Rabwah)