The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement Blog

Archive for April, 2011

Submitted by Rashid Jahangiri.

While going through online news reports about death of Indian guru Sai Baba. One thing that caught my attention was claim that his birth was result of “immaculate” conception just like Jesus (BBC Urdu online).

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib in absence of any divine guidance regarding birth of Jesus continued to keep the belief held by rest of Muslims. He held belief that Jesus had “immaculate” conception. In his opinion, which is absolutely justified, proving human intervention in birth of Jesus does not defeat propagation of Christianity. Where as proving death of Jesus does stop propagation of Christianity. But at the same time HMGA did not stop his followers for holding belief that a human fathered Jesus.

My question to opponents of Maulana Muhammad Ali sahib and other Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement elders and members, who criticize us for holding such belief:

What stops you from accepting Indian guru Sai Baba birth as result of Immaculate Conception?? Remember Sai Baba had millions of followers (including Muslims) in his life that believed in his claim, unlike Jesus who had only few followers during his stay in his native land.

If God allowed Immaculate Conception in case of Jesus then why can’t He allow it in case of Sai Baba??
BBC Urdu online link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/india/2011/04/110424_guru_sai_baba_ra.shtml

Al Jazeera English online link:
(Please pay attention to photo of Muslim follower of Sai Baba)
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2011/04/201142452416203714.html

Submitted by Ikram.

The Ark of Noah – by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

Briefly, this book is a reflection of a purified mind that speaks genuinely from personal Divine experience and its consequent conviction in tauheed and righteousness. These feelings of the author gush forth in an unstoppable ecstasy out of his love for the Divine Source – Allah, respect and recognition of the Last Divine Messenger – Muhammad (PBUH) and the authority of the Last Divine Book – Quran. The author cannot hide his yearn for the reader to connect with these three sources of Islam. In doing so he is speaking from his heart rather than preaching from a pulpit.

Our generation is almost fifteen hundred years removed from Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and as a consumer of faith, its an inevitable ecstatic craving to be in company of some kind of a divine source or mind that one can connect with our contemporary times, else the spiritual grandeur of the past remains folklore and campfire stories. Is there anyone out there who can share his cup from the Divine Fountain that he has already drank from? This book gives one such opportunity to wet ones lips to such an original inspiration. Recognition of the author as manifestation of Messiah is definitely an advantage but not a requirement of faith of Islam. If one recognizes the Messiah-hood of the author, then it naturally opens ones mind to the authors spiritual connections that one can read in his extensive writings.

While putting to pen his inspirations, the author constantly reminds and even admonishes the reader that the focus of the book is not the author himself but God and fervently tries to hand carry the reader to God. In doing so he constantly addresses the in born intelligence of the reader and poses direct questions as to what keeps the reader from going to the Divine Source in the first place.

This book is a must read for anyone to experience what it means to feel the pain of someone who sees and discerns the communal spiritual void around himself. Only a divinely infused can carry this extent of anguish and this kind of pristine teaching in his heart. This book serves as a vessel to take the faithful out of sea of moral dross to the Mount Judis of Islam i.e. Allah, Quran, Muhammad.

Submitted by Ikram.

Application of prophecies is supposed to be self-serving

The other day a lawyer friend recounted an incident in the court. During a motion hearing before a judge the opposing attorney complained that my friend’s client’s declaration was self-serving and must be disregarded. The judge paused for a moment and then humorously commented “Counsel declarations are supposed to be self-serving” Da!

The moral of the story is that any argument which relates to the claimant can only benefit the recipient and should be self-serving otherwise it loses its purpose.

With the above in mind, read the following verses about Joseph (PBUH):

12:43. Now (it so happened that one day) the king said, `I saw (in a dream) seven fat kine which seven lean ones were eating, and seven green ears of corn and (as many) others withered. You nobles of the court! explain to me the real significance of my dream if you can interpret dreams.’

12:44. They said, `(These are) confused dreams and we do not know the interpretation of such confused dreams.’

Above verse draws the parallels between the court-nobles of then and literary-nobles of HMGA times, both call visions as confused dreams or misinterpretation of prophecies.

12:45 And of the two (prisoners) the one who had got his release and who (now) recalled (Joseph) to his mind after a long time, said, `I will inform you of its (true) interpretation, therefore send me (for the purpose to Joseph in prison).’

12:46 (So he went to Joseph in the prison and exclaimed,) `Joseph, you, the man of truth, explain to us the (real) significance of (a dream in which) seven fat kine which seven lean ones devour; and (of) seven green ears of corn and as many others withered, so that I may return to the people and they may know (the interpretation and thereby your exalted position).’

12:47. He (- Joseph) replied, `You shall sow for seven years working hard and continuously and let what you have harvested remain in its ear excepting a little whereof you may eat.

12:48. `Then there shall follow seven (years of famine) of great severity (and) these (years) shall consume all the stores you have laid by in advance for them except a little which you may have preserved.

12:49. `Then, thereafter shall come a year of rains in which people shall be relieved and in which (season) they will press (fruit and seeds).’

Now imagine, the critics must have challenged the veracity of above interpretation.
…
…
12:54. And the king said, `Bring him to me. I will make him my special attache.’ And when he (- Joseph came and) spoke to him, he (- the king) said, `From this day you hold a (notable) position of honour (and) trust with us.’

12:55. (Joseph) said, `Appoint me over the treasures (- granaries and stores) of the land, for I am a careful keeper and possessed of knowledge (of the Job).’

Isn’t Joseph (PBUH) benefiting from his interpretations? Firstly, case against him (of Zulaikha) is dropped, secondly he is released from the prison, and thirdly, he becomes the chief treasurer, the highest office after the king, while his interpretation has yet to be fulfilled in fifteen years hence. There was no way for Joseph (PBUH) to prove any of his claims at the time, except that he interpreted the dream for two inmates before. Similarly, HMGA had done the groundwork of Islamic literature before his claims.

If HMGA applied the prophecies of Muhammad (PBUH) to himself, then it finds a precedence in the Quran.

12:56. That is how We granted Joseph high power in the country. He wielded authority therein wherever he chose. We bestow Our mercy on whomsoever We will and We suffer not the reward of the doers of excellent deeds to be lost.

Now, Quran testifies to the truthfulness of Joseph (PBUH) and explains the working of Divine system, where the manifestation of the prophecy results in virtuous gains for the society. Further, history proved that both Joseph (PBUH) and HMGA were correct in their interpretations. Just for clarification, HMGA cannot be compared to a prophet, but the above illustration elucidates the divine principles.

This was published earlier under the post “Facts are Sacred”. I have copied it to a new post for convenience of reading and reply.

Rashid Jahangiri posted the following on 5th April.

Anomosity of Dr. Munir D Ahmad towards Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib, Maulana Noor Ud Din, and Maulana Muhammad Ali sahib is evident by his choice of words and the way he makes his case in article. I’m copy pasting this article with the purpose of preserving it and for ease of readers.

Admin Note: Due to length of the article, I have saved it at this holding page on this blog:

https://ahmadiyya.org/WordPress/hadith-in-the-ahmadiyya-theology-by-munir-d-ahmed

Submitted by Ikram.

The story goes like this. There was a Sadhu (an Indian holy man, follower of Krishna-PBUH) who in pursuit of inner purity and to prime his “supernatural” powers became a cave dweller in remote mountains for twenty years. After a certain threshold of spiritual achievement he decided to return to civilization. On his return he came across a river. On the river was a boat that would charge minimal fee to take people across. People were queued up and when the Sadhu’s turn came to embark, he was asked for fifty cents at the toll booth. He tried to explain that he had been away for long time and had no money to pay. But the boat owner was adamant and would not budge. As the negotiation prolonged, so did the tempers. Finally, in disgust the Sadhu shook his head in defiance, with frown on forehead, took off his slippers, pulled up his loin cloth, walked down to the embankment and to the amazement of everybody walked over the water to the other side. There was a pin drop silence in the crowd with hung jaws. Soon the boat owner burst into laughter. Everyone tried to scold him, but he retorted back, “Look at this idiot! All he earned in twenty years was fifty cents.”

Moral of the story is that there has to be utility to ones faith, else it is waste of time, resources and emotions. Religion should be a source of material and non-material enjoyment. The purpose of religion is to bring body and soul into mutual harmony and uplift. Our material and spiritual passions and incitements are God given faculties and there is nothing evil in them as long they are utilized and enjoyed in balance and proportion according to Allah’s Laws. Reverting to an old example, it is the same gravity that can maim a person by a fall or be a source of soaring pleasure for the para-glider, all depending on how one utilizes it. Same can be said about our passions.

Islam for sure is an unshackling experience for man, yet it is not unbridling. Factually, it was the job description of Muhammad (PBUH) to unchain humanity from their self made dogmas to which Quran testifies:

7:157. `Those who follow this perfect Messenger, the Arab Prophet whom they find described in the Torah and the Evangel which are with them, who enjoins upon them that which is right and forbids them that which is wrong, and who makes lawful for them all the pure and good things, and makes unlawful all the impure and bad things, and who relieves them of their heavy burden and shackles that weigh them down. Indeed those who believe in him and honour him and serve him and follow the light that has been sent down with him, it is these who will attain their goal.’

A believer is nothing but a good citizen who conforms to and utilizes Laws of Allah for material and spiritual gains. Unlike human laws which are punitive, Allah’s laws have rewards built into them and it is expected of man to enjoy those rewards:

30:46. And (it is one) of His signs that He sends the winds as heralds of glad-tidings. He does it that He may let you enjoy (the blessings of) His mercy and that the ships may sail at His command and that you may seek His bounty and grace and so that you may render ( Him) thanks.

Who says, Islam in not utilitarian and fun!

For the detractors of this blog who are mostly polemic hair-splitters and who are burdened by hate and bigotry, please wake up to the Message of Quran. Your piles and piles of philosophy and medieval nit picking has not much utility to it, except like an athlete who runs on the same spot without gaining distance. Unlike your compunctions, Islam is not entrapping. Your faith must be a pragmatic and a model for the world to follow and not to be shunned like a plague. Your attitude towards LAM or other similar efforts should not be like the coreligionist of Jesus (PBUH) who fettered him before he could be in league with the Romans. Self reflect for a moment. If you carry the burden of hate in your hearts, then you are not following the faith of Muhammad(PBUH) as outlined above. Let Islam lighten your burden. Do not be ashamed of having fun. While doing so do not equate having fun to “Liberalism.” In Islam there is no such thing as “Liberalism” or “Conservatism.” These adjectives are stuck only in your own cultural background. In Islam there is only “the straight path that leads to a virtuous goal.” It is this disentanglement of man which was the mission Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (ra) and ever since LAM and its literature is an effort in that direction.

As far as that Sadhu was concerned, this is what Quran has to say to him:

57:27. …And We placed compassion and mercy in the hearts of those who followed him,
but as for monasticism they invented it themselves, We did not enjoin it upon them…. [him=Jesus, them=Christians]

I have noticed today that when you click on a link to reach a comment (e.g. under Recent Comments), it reaches the top of the appropriate page quickly but it waits there for a while before reaching the comment further down that page. If anyone else is experiencing this, I apologise for the inconvenience. It must be slowness on the server to execute the php script which takes it to the comment.

Zahid Aziz

Submitted by Ikram.

To All:

Hateful, arrogant and ignorant rants on this blog are a God sent sample of bigotry that is out there and a bane of Islam of Muhammad (PBUH). Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is a towering figure in both religious and secular history alike, not for the mere reason that he was the chosen one, but also for his refinement that emerged from the hardships and challenges that he faced from such opposition.

According to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (ra), when one prays…

1:6. Lead us on the exact right path till we reach the goal,
1:7. The path of those on whom You have bestowed (Your) blessings…

…then one should think of the path of the person who has been bestowed with most blessings, i.e. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Remember that path of Muhammad (PBUH) was not an easy one.

Having said that, even though such hate and bigotry creates counter transference, but where in the world would one get an opportunity to critically study Quran and counter all the unnatural questions and beliefs unless some people raise them. The solution is very simple and is based upon the Quranic verse:

30:30. So pay your whole-hearted attention to (the cause of) faith as one devoted (to pure faith), turning away from all that is false. (And follow) the Faith of Allâh (-Islam) to suit the requirements of which He has made the nature of mankind. There can be no change in the nature (of creation) which Allâh has made. That is the right and most perfect Faith, yet most people do not know (it).

With this standard of Quran that everything in the Book is based upon human nature, then responding to any challenge or dogma that is brought against Islam, the responder should dissect the nature of the question. If the question is based upon unnatural assertions Quran will definitely refute it.

If Islam overcame the ignorance at its inception through Quran, there is nothing stopping it from doing the same today.

Comment on Munir Ud Din Ahmad article by Rashid Jahangiri.

Dear Dr. Munir D Ahmad sahib,

I read your article ‘Ahmadi Authors and Publishing Houses’ on anti-HMGA website www.ahmedi.org

You wrote:

“It is indeed one of the sad facts about the Ahmadiyya that it cannot tolerate independent authors. It already started during Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s time, when he got perturbed by the books of Dr. Abdul Hakeem Patialvi, who had taken an independent standpoint in the question that a human being can attain God’s favour and enter the Paradise without being a follower of the Prophet Muhammad.
He was rebuked by MGA, who also gave out the word that no independent publication by an Ahmadi will be allowed in future.”

Link to your article:
http://ahmediorg.yuku.com/topic/3557/Ahmadi-Authors-and-Publishing-Houses

I would request you:
In your opposition to Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib, YOU SHOULD NEVER FUDGE THE FACTS.

1- Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib (HMGA) NEVER discouraged independent thoughts and understanding of Holy Quran. Maulana Noor Ud Din held belief that a human fathered Jesus. This was different than that of HMGA belief.

2- In life of HMGA, ‘Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishat-I-Islam, Lahore’ was founded by companions of HMGA for propagation of Islam.

3- In life of HMGA ‘AAIIL’ published their Urdu language newspaper ‘Paigham-e-Sulah’.

As Khan Abdul Wali Khan titled his book ‘Facts are Sacred’. I request you to please keep it in mind. Don’t let your animosity towards HMGA fudge the facts.

I will also post this email on Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement blog: https://ahmadiyya.org/WordPress/

Thank You,
Rashid Jahangiri.

Submitted by Ikram.

One of the persons while debating on this blog has relied on and emphasized the necessity of “Supernatural” and “Archeological” aspects of Islam. It is unacceptable to him for Muhammad Ali to refute that Abraham was not thrown into fire and cites the following verses:

21:68 They said: Burn him, and help your gods, if you are going to do (anything).
21:69 We said: O fire, be coolness and peace for Abraham:
21:70 And they intended a plan against him, but We made them the greater losers.
21:71 And We delivered him and Lot (directing them) to the land which We had blessed for the nations.[Muhammad Ali]

Many a times the readers of Quran do not read the text of Quran and instead they gloss over and read their own fanciful minds. Any plain reader has to ask as to where in these verses is the actual exposure of Abraham (PBUH) to the flame? Clearly throwing of Abraham into fire is a “fill in the blanks” by some storyteller.

Seems that sources of information for such advocates are different from actual spoken words of Allah above. From secular point of view, does it even matter in today’s globalization where one is scrambling to make a livelihood, as to what happened to Abraham thousands of years ago?

One of Allah’s Laws regarding burns is that temperatures over 44 degrees Celsius can cause injury and major burns over mere 15% of body in adults can be fatal. Smoke inhalation injury has a separate mortality of its own alone. Lets not equate the seriousness of inferno setup by a king of the stature of Nimrod to that of a child-play for show-and-tell of flame swallower or fire-walker. Think for a moment, if Abraham (PBUH) had those “supernatural” (that some base their faith on) moments, would it not have been prudent that by the same “supernatural” acts of God he would have walked up to Nimrod and unseated him from his power once and for all and by one wave of hand converted the entire audience to Islam and saved the humanity? Why did he have to migrate/escape to Land of Canaan with his wife Sara and his relative Lot (PBUH) in a rag tag manner? Answer is simple, he was just a human, no different from Muhammad (PBUH) or you and me. Laws of medicine applied to him equally as to rest of humanity. He could not have survived a blazing fire if he were cast into it. Abraham had an Omnipotent God who by His design saved him, within the confines of His physical, moral and social laws.

There is similar fanciful thinking by some “archeological” minds about Jesus being born without a father:

3:47. She said, `My Lord! how can I and whence shall I have a child while no man has yet touched me (in conjugal relationship)?’ (The Lord) said, `Such are the ways of Allâh, He creates what He will. When He decrees a thing He simply commands it, “Be” and it comes to be.’

In this case Mary asks the obvious `My Lord! how can I and whence shall I have a child while no man has yet touched me (in conjugal relationship)?’ and God replies (The Lord) said, `Such are the ways of Allâh, He creates what He will. Superficial reader will jump to the conclusion that Mary conceived Jesus immediately and immaculately, whereas after this dialogue God without breaking His laws arranged a husband for her. So she conceived Jesus and word of Allah became true i.e. When He decrees a thing He simply commands it, “Be” and it comes to be.’ without breaking His Laws.

Just like Mary, Zachariah (PBUH) also had a child John (PBUH) perhaps by some medical treatment of the couple. Lets not forget given the short life expectancy of those times, anyone over thirty would considered himself old:

3:40. `Lord!’ he said, `How shall I have a son now that old age has already come upon me and my wife is barren?’ (The Lord) said, `Such are the ways of Allâh, He does what He will.’

Similarly, Jonah in belly of a fish for days has no mention in Quran:

37:142. Then (it came about that) a big fish took him in its mouth while he was reproaching (himself).
37:143. Had he not been of those who glorify (God)
37:144. He would have surely remained in its belly till the time people are raised up (after their death).
37:145. Then (it came to pass) that We cast him on a bare and wide tract of land and he was completely worn out and sick.

Clearly, if Jonah were not repentant, the fish would have swallowed him (which it did not) and he would have faced death i.e. He would have surely remained in its belly till the time people are raised up (after their death). From simple zoology, we know it takes only five minutes to die from lack of oxygen and any recovery will accompany permanent brain damage. And if swallowed, it takes couple of hours for protein bolus to clear the stomach and move to small intestine, a point of no return, and onwards to the other end. Days and that too in stomach is utter biological nonsense.

Another example is that of Adam and mankind:

23:12. We create a human being from an extract of clay;

It would be quite fanciful to imagine God making a human cast of clay and then breathing into him His spirit before Adam came to life. Isn’t it simple to think that from clay comes the plants, animals eat the plants, man then eats the salts in clay, the plants and animals to become and stay alive? Quran puts quite succinctly when it states We create a human being from an extract of clay. How true.

Now, going back to birth of Jesus, Quran is quite clear as to how he was born:

3:59. Verily, the case of Jesus is as the case of Adam in the sight of Allâh. He fashioned him out of dust, then He said to him,`Be’, and he came to be.

i.e. Jesus (PBUH) was born just like Adam (who is a template of mankind) from clay and by natural conception because both belong to mankind:

39:13. O mankind! We have created you out of a male and a female…

Maryam, mother of Jesus is mentioned by her name on numerous occasions in Quran because she has high status for her piety. As far as father of Jesus (i.e. Joseph) is concerned he is lumped up with general mention of fathers of the prophets:

6:83. … Abraham…
6:84. …Isaac and Jacob…Noah…David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses and Aaron…
6:85. … Zachariah, John, Jesus and Elias…
6:86. …Ismâîl and Elisha and Jonah and Lot…
6:87. And (We exalted men) from among their fathers and their descendants and their brethren. We chose them and We guided them along the exact right path.

If we look at the above verses besides various other “supernatural” events in Quran, the proponents of “supernatural” and “archeological” Islam inevitably create contradictions in Quran. Then out of natural guilt to undo these contradictory understandings they invent theory of abrogation as a crutch. If it were left to such dead-hand scholarship Quran would had been ruined by now, but thankfully to Allah’s guardianship, the Book is well preserved:

15:9. Verily, it was We, We Ourself Who have revealed this Reminder (- the Qur’ân); and
it is We Who are, most certainly, its Guardian.

41:42. Falsehood cannot approach it (- the Qur’ân) neither from the front nor from
behind…

Now that text of Quran has been preserved forever under the Divine writ, what about the message of the text? How will it be preserved? For that under Islamic tradition, we have at least one revivalist i.e. Mujaddid for each century.

Quran is not a book of bedtime fairy tales or poetry to make one go into slumber. The morality and implications of such brief narrations in Quran and their contextualization is relevant in our lives. The FIRE of hate, anger, bigotry, arrogance, ignorance and deceit setup by Mullah’s and their followers will not touch the Message of the Mujaddid of 14th Century Hijrah. That’s Allah’s design. The God of Abraham and of this organization is alive and kicking. His law of compensation and retribution is as valid today as in the past. If He spoke to man then, He is not dumb today either. What this fire story tells us is that despite the risk of life, righteousness prevailed then, so will it today and tomorrow.

One has to self reflect in the verses about Abraham preceding the above quoted ones:

21:66. (Abraham) said, `Do you then worship, apart from Allâh, the things which can do no good to you, (who are their worshippers), nor can do harm to (those of) you (who are their destroyers).

21:67. `Shame on you and on the things you worship apart from Allâh! Will you not then make use of (your) understanding?’

Does one worship certain ideas and dogmas as internalized idols besides Allah i.e. the things which can do no good to you, (who are their worshippers), nor can do harm to (those of) you (who are their destroyers)? Rethink, Will you not then make use of (your) understanding?

The purpose of this blog is to clarify issues at hand and in the process the learning is mutual.

For the superficial readers of the Quran their dilemma is analogous to the following example. If a lay person is shown palm of a fanned out hand, all that he will see is a hand and its superficial features. And, if that person happens to be inclined towards “supernatural,” he will be construing about the palmistry lines and keep on imagining the “supernatural.” But, if you show the same hand to a surgeon, he will mentally see all the hidden anatomy i.e. muscles, arteries, veins, nerves, ligaments, joint capsule, bones etc. Why so? Answer is simple “Eyes see what the mind is trained for.” But is it the end of it? No. The layperson by careful study can equate and better the knowledge of that the surgeon. Lets not lose hope.

The school of thought that this web site nurtures sees Islam in “Natural” and “Contemporary” light conforming to Laws of Allah, both physical and moral and their mutual harmony rather than any contradiction.