The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement Blog

Archive for 2008

It appears that the Indonesian legal authorities have given the Qadiani Jama`at three months to prove its committment to recognising the Holy Prophet Muhammad as the Last Prophet. Our suggestion to the Qadiani Jama`at is that they re-issue the following statement by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad which he made in February 1892, signed by eight independent witnesses:

“Be it known to all the Muslims that all such words as occur in my writings Fath Islam, Tauzih Maram and Izala Auham, to the effect that a muhaddas is in one sense a prophet, or that being a muhaddas is partial prophethood or imperfect prophethood, are not to be taken in their real sense, but have been used according to their root meaning in a straight-forward way; otherwise, I lay no claim whatever to actual prophethood. On the other hand, as I have written in my book Izala Auham, page 137, my belief is that our leader and master Muhammad mustafa — may peace and the blessings of God be upon him — is the Khatam-ul-Anbiya (Last of the Prophets).

So I wish to make it clear to all Muslim brothers that, if they are displeased with these words and if these words give injury to their feelings, they may regard all such words as amended, and instead consider me to have used the word muhaddas. For I do not like to create dissension and discord among the Muslims.

From the beginning, as God knows best, my intention has never been to use this word nabi as meaning actually a prophet, but only as signifying muhaddas. Of muhaddas it is stated in a saying of the Holy Prophet: “Among the Israelites who were before you, there used to be men who were spoken to by God, though they were not prophets, and if there is one among my followers, it is Umar” — Bukhari, v. 1, page 521, part 14, ch. Virtues of Umar.

Therefore, I have not the least hesitation in stating my meaning in another form for the conciliation of my Muslim brethren, and that other form is that in every place instead of the word nabi the word muhaddas should be understood, and the word nabi should be regarded as having been deleted.”

(Majmu‘a Ishtiharat, reprinted by the Qadiani Jama`at in April 1986, volume 1, pages 312 to 314).

Read at this link the original Urdu text of this statement.

Here is a news item from The Jakarta Post dated 19th January 2008 (the time difference means it is already the 19th in Indonesia):

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20080118.H03&irec=2

(Note on 19 January: Unfortunately the above link shows a different item of news every day! However, yesterday I copied from the original news the extract given below.)

We may highlight from it the following:

Wisnu, who is the deputy attorney general of intelligence, said the board gave Ahmadiyah three months to prove it was committed to its new stance that recognized Muhammad as the last prophet of Islam. …

“We have given Ahmadiyah followers the opportunity to return to the right path, and their activities will be monitored and evaluated over the next three months,” Wisnu said.

Before this news (see next item), there was an earlier item of news from Indonesia actually quoted on the the Qadiani website www.thepersecution.org itself.

See: http://www.thepersecution.org/world/indonesia/08/01/jp04.html

This is quoted from The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, 4th January 2008. It is stated within it:

“Junior Attorney General for Intelligence Affairs Wisnu Subroto said the AGO would treat the letter from the forum [i.e. the anti-Ahmadiyya organisations] as a recommendation in the body’s meeting, along with the recommendation from the Indonesian Ulemas Council submitted previously.

The government needs to hear all the information from all parties, including from Ahmadiyah members. During the last meeting with the AGO, Ahmadiyah leaders explained they did not recognize Mirza Gulam Ahmad as a prophet, but merely as a pious leader.

“Many groups, including the forum’s members, believed the clarification was just a game being played by the Ahmadiyah leaders to escape being banned (at that time),” Wisnu told The Jakarta Post by phone.

This is a statement from a government official appearing in a newspaper in Indonesia, and then reproduced on a Qadiani website. If it is not correct, the Qadiani website could have added their own comment to clarify that they did not say that “they did not recognize Mirza Gulam Ahmad as a prophet, but merely as a pious leader”.

News is being received that the Qadiani Jamaat in Indonesia, when presenting their beliefs to government officials, have issued a statement omitting their belief that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a prophet. Their statement acknowledges that the Holy Prophet Muhammad was the last Prophet and that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is their teacher or murshad.

Please read the following link:

http://www.indonesiamatters.com/1539/ahmadiyya/

If this is fully confirmed then once again the founders of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement have been vindicated. Perhaps in the 100th anniversary year of his death Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad has been exonerated and cleared of the stigma and false charge of claiming to be a prophet.

Since the Split occurred in 1914 the Qadiani Jamaat has been forced, over the years, to retract its following false beliefs:

• That the ‘Ahmad’ mentioned in the prophecy of Jesus, recorded in the Quran, is not the Holy Prophet Muhammad but Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
• That all other Muslims, except those who take the Pledge of the Promised Messiah, are kafir and excluded from Islam.
• That for Ahmadis to hold janaza prayers for any other Muslim, whomsoever it may be, is prohibited.
• And now, that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a prophet.