The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement Blog

Archive for the ‘general’ Category

I refer to this news item in the Khaleej Times of the UAE:

According to it:

“Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court had called on its citizens and residents to inform the nearest court if they spot the Ramadan crescent with the naked eye or through binoculars on Saturday, May 4.”

This is quite absurd because the time of the birth of the moon was already known astronomically to be Sunday, May 5th 2019 at 1.47 am Saudi Arabian time (just after midnight).

This fact, commonly available on moon data websites, must have been known to the authorities of Saudi Arabia when they asked people to look for the lunar crescent on the evening of Saturday, May 4th.

So how could they think that someone might sight the moon on Saturday evening!

— Zahid Aziz

Above you can listen to the audio of the Friday Khutba delivered in Lahore on 22 March 2019 (in Urdu) by the Head of Lahore Ahmadiyya Hazrat Ameer Dr A.K. Saeed on the mosque killings in New Zealand. Early in his medical career, he had himself worked as a doctor in New Zealand hospitals for five years.

Here is a brief video presentation made in February 2019 in Urdu by the Imam of the historic Mosque in Berlin (Germany), Amir Aziz, about the latest renovation of this 90 year old building and its history.

At this link you can hear my talk in Urdu, with accompanying slides in Urdu, which largely relates to a dispute between a Jew and a Muslim about who was superior: Moses or the Holy Prophet Muhammad, and the Holy Prophet’s judgment on the dispute.

— Zahid Aziz

A message was received at one of our websites on 5 December 2018 from a Muslim brother in Portugal, which we reproduce below with his permission.

I am a Twelver Shia Sufi Muslim. I am also an Islamic scholar and researcher of Islam and its sciences. I am also a researcher of Christianity, Hinduism, world history, international politics, and Neoplatonic Philosophy.

But I am first and foremost a Muslim, a true monotheist, and I do not ascribe partners to Allah Ta’ala.

And my sole authority is the Holy Quran, though I accept those Hadeeth attributed to Prophet Muhammad that match with the Book of Allah, Subhana-hu wa Ta’ala.

Now, the purpose of this letter is just to salute you and commend you. I consider you as 100% Muslims and it would be an honour to perform Salah behind an Imam of yours and to eat meat slaughtered by you.

I know with some degree of certainty the differences between your Movement, the Lahore Ahmadiyyah Movement (LAM), and the Ahmadiyyah Muslim Community (AMC).

You believe, like the Sunnis and the Shias, that Muhammad (saw) is the last Prophet sent by Allah Tabarak wa Ta’ala to all Mankind and so you belong to Mainstream Islam.

Regarding the AMC, they believe that Muhammad (saw) is the final Law-giving Prophet, the final major Prophet and the final Messenger. But they believe in the possibility of very small prophets belonging from the Muslim Ummah, who are totally submitted to the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad. These very small prophets they call “Ummati Nabi”.

Though I reject the AMC’s concept of “Ummati Nabi”, I also consider them as Muslims, and I would have no problem to pray behind them and to eat the meat they slaughter.

My justification for accepting the AMC as Muslims is the following:

If we were to consider the AMC as non-Muslims because they believe in the false concept of “Ummati Nabi”, then we would have to consider the Wahhabis as apostates and mushrik because they wrongly ascribe to Almighty Allah, hands, feet, face, and so on, while Allah is neither matter nor spirit, being totally transcendent, transcending even His Holy Names.

But I consider the Wahhabis as Muslims and I even pray behind them and eat the meat they slaughter, although here in Portugal the Wahhabi Community is almost non-existent.

The problem of nowadays Muslims is that they do not respect the minor differences each Muslim group has! Respecting these minor differences does not mean that one has to agree with these differences! One may disagree with them but we must respect them. And this has to be done peacefully.

I have some beliefs that are shared with you, and I have some beliefs which you may not share with me. These are:

— The correct punishment for Zina is 100 lashes, as prescribed by Surah An-Nur. In Islam, there was not, there is not, and there will never be, stoning to death.

— The Arabic Quran we have, including the zabar, zer, pesh, is the same Arabic Quran Prophet Muhammad left. This is clearly stated in Surah 75. Rasul-ullah (saw) left the Arabic Quran we have now, in written form, many months before his demise. So I dismiss completely those false theories that say that it was first Abu Bakr and then Uthman who collected the Quran! Prophet Muhammad wrote himself the Arabic Quran we have now under the guidance of Angel Gabriel (as), and he had a committee of scribes who, under the Prophet’s instructions, also wrote the Quran. Whenever Gabriel (as) brought a new revelation, he (as) would tell the Prophet (saw) where should it be placed in the written Quran. And when the revelation of the Quran ended, Gabriel (as) taught Muhammad (saw) the proper compilation of the Quran. So, one or two years before the demise of Muhammad (saw), the Arabic Quran was already in official written form. Narrations tell us that Prophet Muhammad placed one copy of the written Quran in his Masjid, so every Muslim could copy from it.

— The Holy Quran was revealed in the Arabic Language. Allah Tabarak wa Ta’ala explained in detail in the Holy Quran why He, the Only Reality, revealed His Book in Arabic. Our Master Muhammad (saw) knew only this language, and prior to the revelation, he could neither read nor write. But the purpose of the Holy Quran is for It to be properly translated into the languages of the world, so both Arabs and non-Arabs can have equal access to the Book of Allah Ta’ala. One who reads the Arabic Quran, without understanding Arabic, is performing a very good deed because he is reading the Word of Allah Ta’ala. But one who reads a good translation of the Holy Quran in one’s mother tongue is performing by far a more valuable deed than the one who reads in Arabic without understanding it. Because the purpose of the Quran is to be a message to all Mankind and Jinn. And in order for the Quran to reach all Mankind, it has to be properly translated. Muhammad (saw) himself gave the example when, after the Quran was complete, he ordered Salman Farsi to translate the whole Quran to Persian. Salman did so and Rasul-ullah (saw) approved his translation. During Islamic history, many Awliya-allah supported the reading of the translation of the Quran in one’s mother tongue. Some of them are Rumi, Shah Waliullah Dehlavi and Allama Iqbal.

Now, I would like to know what is your view on Tasawwuf and on Wahdatal Wujud.

I end this letter by saying that this is a letter of support for your group even though we have minor differences of opinion.

Sufi Riaz Ali Carmali.

The BBC news report of this judgment on its news website begins as follows:

A Pakistani court has overturned the death sentence of a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy, a case that has polarised the nation.

Asia Bibi was convicted in 2010 after being accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad in a row with her neighbours.

She always maintained her innocence, but has spent most of the past eight years in solitary confinement.

The landmark ruling has already set off violent protests by hardliners who support strong blasphemy laws.

See this link for the full BBC news report.

Link to the pdf file of the judgment of the Supreme Court.

In the first line of the Judgment and on p. 2 under point number 2, the word Kalimah is spelt as Qalimah!

I would like to write a few words about my friend Dr Arshad Hussain, who passed away on 8th October 2018 — inna li-llahi wa inna ilai-hi rajiun.

Here is a screen shot from a webpage about him at the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Lahore, where he was Professor.

There is series of interviews with him on Youtube, the first of which is at this link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEpK5PiAsl8

My introduction to him took place as follows.

It was around the year 1990, when no websites existed. The Internet did exist in an early form, providing communication between academic institutions in Western countries. One of its features was known as ‘usenet’ discussion groups. There was a vast number of such groups, each dealing with some topic of discussion, on which messages could be posted by those few who had Internet access. Among the groups there were some known as cultural societies, and one of these was called soc.culture.pakistan. I used to contribute to it on topics relating to Islam and the Ahmadiyya Movement.

One day I received an e-mail (since the e-mail addresses of the contributors appeared with their messages) from a person unknown to me with the simple question: “Are you grandson of Dr Allah Bakhsh?” I replied with astonishment, asking him how could he possibly know? He then introduced himself as Arshad Hussain, Ph.D. student at New York Polytechnic, whose father, Sheikh Muhammad Hussain, had been treasurer of the Central Anjuman Lahore. From my messages to that group he had deduced that I was a member of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Jamaat, although I had never said this in the discussions, and he further guessed that I might be grandson of Dr Allah Bakhsh. We had some further exchange of e-mails at that time and there the contact ended.

Many years later, when I was visiting Lahore in October and November 2010, I gave a presentation at Darus Salaam about our 1985 Cape Town court case, as it was the 25th anniversary of the conclusion of that case. Arshad Hussain was in the audience and he came up to me after my talk. He was then the Head of the Lahore campus of his University. He arranged with me that on a convenient day he would take me to his University and show me around. On that visit, he took me into his office where we talked about the developments in the telecommunications field since the days when we were on the usenet group mentioned above, and we also talked about the history of Islam in recent times in the Indian subcontinent, and he told me of a book he was reading on this subject. He took me down to the area where staff and students were having lunch and told me that they don’t have separate tables for staff, so that the staff and the students are mixed with each other when sitting at lunch. He told me of their security concerns and the precautions they need to take due to threats of terrorist violence from fundamentalist groups. These groups are opposed to both modern education and mixed male/female education of the kind that they had at his institution.

It so happened that Dr Arshad Hussain was due that day to open a new computer lab for students, in which there are computers with the software installed that they require to do their courses. He honoured me with the privilege of conducting the opening, and I cut the ribbon, declaring the lab open, and spoke to the technical staff present there about their computer installation, comparing with my own experience in my University in England.

I am, consequently, terribly sad to hear of his death at an unexpectedly early age. He was an expert in his field and also well-informed about Islamic matters and issues concerning our Jamaat. As a human being, he was very humble, friendly and hospitable. May Allah grant him forgiveness and protection, and admit him into His great mercy to join His righteous servants, ameen!

— Zahid Aziz

Please read message here.

Here is the Eid-ul-Fitr Message, June 2018, of Hazrat Ameer Dr A.K. Saeed, Head of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement.

There was a programme on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday 27th May, in a series entitled Something Understood, on the topic of 'Righteous Anger', presented by a retired famous BBC correspondent Sir Mark Tully. It contained a short reading from my book Islam, Peace and Tolerance, from the beginning of chapter 7 ('Muslim Anger'). The programme producers had contacted me in advance to obtain permission.

At this link on the website of the BBC you can read the programme synopsis.

You can listen to the programme from this link, but need to register an account at the BBC and sign in to it. The reading from my book begins at 18:48.

If you scroll further down the above page, then under "Readings" you will see:

"Title: Islam, Peace and Tolerance

Author: Zahid Aziz

Published by Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore"