The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement Blog

Archive for August, 2016

1. Maulana Nur-ud-Din wrote a book entitled Nur-ud-Din in response to a book Tark-i Islam by a former Muslim who joined the Hindu Arya Samaj and had explained the reasons why he had left the religion of Islam. In answering one of his objections against Islam, Maulana Nur-ud-Din wrote:

“I know of no verse in the Quran containing a command which permits something or which makes something compulsory and then it is stated about the same command that what it permitted or required is forbidden. No, no, certainly not. Our Quran has nowhere said to us that a certain command in a certain verse is now absolutely abrogated. Our guide, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him, has never said: Such and such a command of the Quran is now abrogated. His holy successors were Abu Bakr and Umar, about whom God said: “And the foremost, the first of the Emigrants and the Help­ers, and those who followed them in goodness  — Allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with Him” (9:100), and God declared obedience to them to be a way of earning His pleasure. They also never said that such and such a command of the Quran is abrogated, and it is not at all right to act upon it.

If naskh means to make a command void, i.e., a command is to be found in the Quran and it was abrogated, I know of no such command. If anyone claims to the contrary, he should provide evidence.”

— From the book Nur-ud-Din, p. 231–232, published from Qadian in 1904. News of its publication was announced in Badr, 1 March 1904, p. 8, foot of col. 3.

2. In his verbal teaching sessions on the Quran, commenting on verse 2:106 of the Quran (“Whatever ayat  We abrogate or cause to be forgotten…”), Maulana Nur-ud-Din said:

“As to the question whether there is abrogation in the Quran or not, as far as my understanding goes I will say that I have never, till today, seen any verse which is abrogated while it is found in the Quran. There is no statement reported from the Holy Prophet Muhammad or Hazrat Abu Bakr or Umar showing that such verses are to be found in the Quran.

God says the reason for this abrogation is not Me, but because your circumstances keep on changing so My commands have to be altered.”

— Badr, Appendix, 11 March 1909, p. 19, col. 2; session dated 15 February 1909. See also his collected teaching sessions in Haqa’iq-ul-Furqan, p. 216, where this verse is numbered as 107.

(Translator’s Note: An example of what is indicated in the last statement above is that after Hijrah Muslims were allowed to fight in battle to repel their enemies, whereas before Hijrah the only command was to bear the persecution. This is change of circumstances, not abrogation of an earlier command.)

3. In his verbal teaching sessions on the Quran, commenting on verses 16:101–102 of the Quran (“And when We change an ayat for another ayat…”), Maulana Nur-ud-Din said:

“From these verses some people try to prove abrogation of verses. They face two difficulties. Firstly, they take the word ayat as meaning a verse of the Quran. Secondly, they have to show that the abrogated verse exists in the Quran.”

— Badr, Appendix, 10 February 1910, p. 147, col. 1; session dated 2 February 1910. See also his collected teaching sessions in Haqa’iq-ul-Furqan, p. 512, where these verses are numbered as 102–103.

There is a silent newsreel film on Youtube covering the visit to Pakistan of Chinese PM Chou En-Lai, probably in 1964, in which he is welcomed by President Ayub Khan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VSrV8Y3-c0

At 1.14 mins in the film he is seen being introduced by President Ayub Khan to Mr N.A. Faruqui. Mr Faruqui is also briefly seen a little later seated on a chair in a room.

At this link I have extracted three relevant screen shots from it.

Towards the end of the film, starting at 2.33 mins, Chou En-Lai visits the site where Islamabad was to be built and plants a tree there.

I believe the same tree planting photo is on Flickr at this link.

In this Flickr photo Mr Faruqui, wearing a dark-coloured cap, is standing next to Z.A. Bhutto as they watch the tree planting.

Readers may be interested in this link to the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner.

The page is headed: Pakistan to face review by UN Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which is to be on 16th and 17th August.

Through this page I found reports submitted to this committee by some countries' governments. I downloaded the report submitted by the Pakistan government, which I have saved here.

Here are a few choice quotations from it:

"19. Safeguarding the rights of minorities is the priority of the Government of Pakistan. Pakistan is a democratic country and pluralism is the central pillar of our society. Under Articles 20, 21, 22, 26, 27 and 28 of the Constitution of Pakistan, minorities are equal citizens of Pakistan and are free to profess their religion and visit their places of worship."

"20. … All citizens of Pakistan are, thus, equal before law. Citizens of religious minority groups in Pakistan enjoy equal rights as citizenry of the State. … The contributions of minorities in Pakistan have been substantive and they have excelled in most spheres of professions. For instance, the first ever Law Minister, Jogendra Nath Mandal was a Hindu; Justice A.R. Cornelius, a Christian, was the 4th Chief Justice of Pakistan; … …  Dr. Abdul Salam, an Ahmedi, was a Nobel Laureate of 1979."

"22.  The prevalence of Racial Discrimination is, thus, non-existent in Pakistan."

"23. As mentioned above, racism is a rare phenomenon in Pakistan and, therefore, has little or no impact on the lives of the peoples of Pakistan as such."

"25. …  Racial Discrimination does not exist in Pakistan as such, and despite that the State has taken effective measures to prevent incitement to or acts of discrimination based on theories of superiority of race, color or ethnic origin."

"32…  Evidently, there is no apartheid and racial segregation/ discrimination in Pakistan. "

"43. In accordance with existing legal framework, it is also a crime to promote enmity between religious groups"

"61. In a case filed through the Ministry of Law & Justice, i.e. Pakistan Hindi Council v. Pakistan, the Supreme Court held that every citizen had a fundamental right to profess, practice and propagate his religion. 

 … the Lahore High Court held that “under Article 20 of the Constitution, it was the right of every citizen to profess, practice or propagate his religion…"

"62. The Supreme Court … held that every citizen of Pakistan is free to exercise the right to profess, practice or propagate his or her religious views, even against the prevailing or dominant views of his or her own religious denomination or sect."

"63. The aforementioned judgment accords protection to members of all religions and criminalizes incitement of religious hatred."

"64. The minorities are free to preach their respective faith."

"65. The laws in Pakistan cater genuinely to all people belonging to various beliefs."

 "106. Pakistani society is one of the least racist societies due to adherence to the tenets of Islam which prohibit discrimination and promote equality and human dignity."

Does anyone recognize this picture of Pakistan?