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Our contributor Usman has referred us to the this column of The Dawn, Karachi

The article is primarily about the requirement by a Housing Scheme to declare one’s religion in its application forms, which the writer calls discriminatory and a violation of fundamental rights. Towards the end, the following is worth reading:

“The state of Pakistan is intrusive when it comes to matters of religion. Why? Are we not supposed to all be equal citizens with equal rights as decreed by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the man who founded and made the country? According to the original constitution as promulgated at noon on Aug 14, 1973 by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, we were equal citizens of the state, with equal rights. But this equality was done away with in 1974 by Bhutto’s second amendment to his constitution, bending to the obscurantists and bigots, and an entire community was shorn of its rights and declared a minority.

Prior to this, in 1979 the same community was targeted by Ziaul Haq, general of the army and president of the republic, pious and God-fearing. He had decreed that all citizens, regardless of their religion, wishing to obtain a passport must sign a declaration that it is his/her belief that the Prophet of Islam is the final prophet and that any pretender that follows him is false.”

by Ardeshir Cowasjee, printed in the Daily Dawn on 23 Aug, 2009.

By Rashid Jahangiri.

In April 2009 I talked on telephone with Dr. Shabbir Ahmad sahib. We talked about 20 minutes. I thanked him for publishing a rational and modern translation and interpretation of Holy Quran. I specifically informed him that when I present his translation of Holy Quran to fellow Muslims, I don’t get accused of presenting Lahori-Ahmadiyya translation. And how this has made my life easy.

Dr. Shabbir sahib informed me, he has mashAllah converted over 16000 (sixteen thousand) non-Muslims, including couple of members of JihadWatch. I purchased his translation of Holy Quran and couple of other books.

Dr. Shabbir sahib was highly respectful of late Abdul Mannan Omar sahib, Khawaja Kamal Ud Din sahib, and Maulana Muhammad Ali sahib. He was highly appreciative of their works on Holy Quran and Islam. Dr. Shabbir also informed me that he talked to Mannan sahib few years ago.

I asked Dr. Shabbir sahib, in life we see a healthy tree of sweet mangos, which is capable of producing sweet mangos, but its fruit can get infected by insects and is totally wasted. As we see in case of prophet Noah’s son. But it is not possible for a sweet mango to grow on a tree, which produces some other kind of bitter fruit. So, keeping this reasoning, how is it possible that people like Mannan sahib, Kamal ud Din sahib, and Muhammad Ali sahib, towards whom you showed so much respect because of their works on Islam and knew religion so well, they not only get attracted to, rather become staunch followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib of Qadian? Dr. Shabir sahib was quiet and did not answer.

We talked about 1974, 2nd constitutional amendment that declared Ahmadis (both Lahori and Qadiani) a non-Muslim. Dr. shabbir sahib was of opinion that there was no need of this amendment, because it was Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib who “first” declared Muslims as kafir so per hadith ‘fatwah takfir’ fell back on him. I informed him that in reality it was about 200 Muslim Ulama in India who issued a joint fatwah declaring Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib a kafir. And Mirza sahib only applied hadith to point out to these opponent ulama that per hadith ‘fatwah takfir’ falls back on them and they subsequently become kafir. Dr. Shabbir sahib was quiet, and did not comment.

Dr. Shabbir sahib brought Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib writings into question.
I replied Mirza sahib had five kinds of audiences, i.e. Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Sufia, and Atheists. So if we keep in our minds to what kind of audiences Mirza sahib is addressing, we are better able to understand him. Unfortunately, Muslim readers do not pay attention, while reading his books i.e. to which he is addressing and that’s were confusion originates. I gave him few examples.

I brought to Dr. Shabbir sahib attention that we see good percentage of Muslims, especially those living in Europe and Americas, are practically following Mirza sahib even if verbally they use abusive words for him. I told him, in my opinion, following 6 were Mirza sahib’s mission:
1- All reciters of Kalama-Shahada are Muslims.
2- No part of Holy Quran, not even a dot, is abrogated.
3- Allah SWT is living God. He has communicated with his chosen ones even after Rasul Allah SAWS. And this will continue.
4- Islam does not allow jihad with sword for its propagation.
5- Isa A.S. is physically dead. And will not return to earth.
6- Yajooj-Majooj and Dajjal is not supernatural animal.
Dr. Shabbir sahib did not object to any of above 6 points.

Dr. Shabir Ahmad wrote ‘Hashish From Qadian’. Dr Zahid Aziz sahib has written an article referring to this book, in ‘The Light—UK edition, May 2009’. See link here.

Based on my conversation with Dr. Shabbir sahib, I very much doubt if he has read Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib’s books. And even if he did, he did not read them carefully. And it is very likely his opinion of Hazrat Mirza sahib is based on his teacher’s opinion. I don’t know, as Shabbir sahib never mentioned to me, but this is what I have heard that he is student of Ghulam Ahmad Pervaiz sahib. And it is known fact that Pervaiz sahib was opponent of Mirza sahib and he has used strong language for him.

I will email this blog post to Dr. Shabbir Ahmad sahib. I would like to read his comments.

Link to Dr Shabbir Ahmad’s website.

This is a report in my own words after listening to the khutba.

Zahid Aziz

Today, Friday 14th August 2009, on the anniversary of the founding of Pakistan, the Head of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, Hazrat Ameer Dr A.K. Saeed, delivered the Friday khutba from the Centre of the Movement in Lahore starting at 2.00 p.m. local time. The khutba was broadcast on the Internet.

The Hazrat Ameer went over the vision of Pakistan laid out by the Quaid-i Azam Mr M.A. Jinnah in his speeches and interviews around the time of independence. He showed that Mr Jinnah rejected the concept of a theocratic state in Pakistan, one which would be ruled over by religious clerics. Mr Jinnah wanted all citizens of Pakistan in the new state to have freedom of religion.

The Hazrat Ameer also read out from writings and announcements of Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ali at the time of independence, showing that the Hazrat Maulana wished Pakistan to be a country where the rulers and the people would display Islamic values in their lives, and where one’s duty to God and one’s duty of service to the people and of justice to all human beings would be held uppermost. The Hazrat Maulana envisioned Pakistan as a base for spreading the true picture of Islam throughout the world, by presenting an appealing model of behaviour and ethics.

Lastly, Hazrat Ameer referred to the numerous calls in Pakistan that all decisions of former dictators of the country be declared invalid and be rescinded and withdrawn. He demanded that this must include withdrawal of the notorious 1984 dictatorial ordinance which prohibits Ahmadis from calling themselves Muslims, from calling out the Azan, from proclaiming the Kalima Shahadat, from greeting their fellow Muslims with assalamu alaikum, from calling their mosques as mosques, etc.

He said that these days there are calls for the independence of the judiciary in Pakistan, and similarly we Ahmadis also demand independence to practise Islam openly. He called for the protection of the rights of all religious minorities, be they Hindu, Sikh, Christian or anyone else.

He added that we recite the Kalima from the bottom of our hearts. We know that we are Muslims in any case, and we don’t depend on approval from anyone in order to be known as Muslims. However, freedom of religion is our right.

To deliver a Friday khutba in Lahore, broadcast on the Internet, declaring that we are Muslim and demanding that the oppressive laws against Ahmadis be withdrawn, in the powerful language that Hazrat Ameer used, is an act of great courage.

A quote from a very interesting article ‘The Contradictions of the Khilafat Movement’ by Hamza Alavi on Pakistani Blog ‘Pak tea House’ :

QUOTE:
Meaning of the word ‘Khalifa’
It is important to be clear at the outset about the meaning of the word Khalifa and the way in which that word was later transformed linguistically by Umayyad Monarchs to legitimise their rule, having seized power by military force. The word Khalifa is derived from the Arabic root khalafawhich means ‘to follow’ or ‘to come after’. It means a ’successor’ in the sequential sense, not in the sense of inheritance of properties or qualities. When Prophet Mohammad died, Hazrat Abu Bakr was elected to succeed him. He was consequently called ‘Khalifat al-Rasool Allah’ or the successor of the Messenger of Allah. In its true meaning (successor) the word Khalifadoes not indicate any kind of office or status such as that of a ruler, the sense in which it came to be used later. Khalifa meaning ’successor’ could be used meaningfully only with reference to a specified ‘predecessor’. Hazrat Abu Bakr was Khalifa only with reference to his predecessor, al-Rasool Allah.

The head of the Muslim Umma, Hazrat Umar, who succeeded Hazrat Abu Bakr could have been called Khalifat al-Khalif al-Rasool Allah, or the ‘Successor to the Successor to the Messenger of Allah. With every succession thereafter one more ‘Khalifat al’ would have had to be inserted before such a title of the previous one. That would have been quite absurd. The question of using the word Khalifa for those who came after Hazrat Abu Bakr simply did not arise. Instead, Hazrat Abu Bakr’s successors,Hazrat Umar, Hazrat Uthman and Hazrat Ali, the three successive elected heads of the Umma were each designated by the title ‘Amir al-Mu’minin’ or the Commander of the Faithful.
UNQUOTE.

In year 2000, late Abdul Mannan Omar sahib son of Maulana Noor Ud Din (rta) explained exactly the same meaning of word ‘Khalifa’ to me. I even wrote post on Qadiani Jamaat now defunct forum based in Canada ‘ahmadiyya.com’. I questioned use of word ‘Khalifa-tul-Masih’ for Mirza Mahmud Ahmad, Mirza Nasir Ahmad and Mirza Tahir Ahmad. (Now I can include Mirza Masroor Ahmad, too). I asked Qadiani Jamaat friends only Maulana Noor ud Din deserved to be called ‘Khalifa-tul-Masih’ and Mirza Mahmud Ahmad should be called ‘Khalifa-tul-Khalifa-al-Masih’ etc. Of course I was ridiculed by Qadiani Jamaat posters. Now I am glad same point is presented by some one who is not a Lahori and not writing about the Qadiani Khilafat.

Link to blog article:
http://pakteahouse.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/the-contradictions-of-the-khilafat-movement/#more-5436

Here is the Urdu translation of the words referring to Al-Akhira occurring near the beginning of Sura Baqara of the Holy Quran. These are images scanned from the published translations.

Translator 1:

Translator 2:

What is the difference between the two translations above?

Translator 1 is accused by a group of deliberately violating the command of the Promised Messiah by translating Al-Akhira in this way.

Translator 2 is regarded by the same group as a true successor of the Promised Messiah.

Submitted by Rashid Jahangiri.

Kingdom of Jordan’s official forum ‘The Amman Message’ endorses Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement as Muslim.

This endorsement will InshAllah help in decreasing resistance and opposition faced by Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement (LAM) in propagation and defense of Islam, from Muslims, especially Mulla Muslims.

Check the official website of ‘The Amman Message’ and endorsement of LAM:
http://ammanmessage.com/

LAM as OFFICIAL SIGNATORY. See number 16:
http://ammanmessage.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=87&Itemid=69

According to Ilham of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (HMGA) sahib, Allah SWT will exonerate him from all the false accusations, whoever they may be made by.

Submitted by Rashid Jahangiri.

Recently I purchased Holy Quran Translation by Tarif Khalidi. This translator has previously taught at the Oxford University and the University of Chicago, and currently he is professor at the American University of Beirut. He has published number of books on Islam and Arab history. His translation of Holy Quran was published in 2008.

In his translation of Chapter 5 Verses 115 to 117, he translates:

“I was a witness to them while I lived among them,
But when You caused me to die, it was You Who kept watch over them.”

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib’s mission included the subject of Death of Jesus. For his stand on this subject abuses were hurled at him in his lifetime and even to this day. But the good news is that Muslim Translators of Holy Quran living in Muslim majority countries feel courageous enough to translate these verses truthfully.

Review of his translation by Ziauddin Sardar in the Guardian

Thanks to our friend Usman for bringing this to notice.

This is the link to this article on Reuters’ website.

The text is quoted below:

Relics of old Afghanistan reveal Jewish past

GOLNAR MOTEVALLI

ARTICLE (June 25 2009): Behind a parade of old mud brick shops, through narrow winding alleys, a tiny door opens onto a sundrenched courtyard, where school children giggle and play alongside the ghosts of Afghanistan’s Jewish past. The Yu Aw is one of four synagogues in the old quarter of Herat city in west Afghanistan, which after decades of abandonment and neglect, has been restored to provide desperately-needed space for an infant school.

When Israel was founded in 1948, the estimated 280 Jewish families that lived in Herat began leaving. Today, there are no Jews left in the city and only one left in the entire country, the last remnant of a community that dates back some 2,500 years. “Before this was a community centre and school it was a synagogue for the Jewish families who lived in the area,” said Fatemeh Nezary, a teacher and supervisor of the school.

“The children don’t know, they are too young to understand right now,” she said, pointing towards her small class of doe-eyed five-year old girls and boys. The Herat synagogue, over a century old, is comprised of a modest stone courtyard framed by a series of small rooms including a main prayer room which still has a raised platform where the torah would have been read.

Parts of the prayer room’s high ceilings are decorated in painted Persian-style floral patterns and motifs. The “mikvah”, an echoey underground chamber underneath the courtyard, has also been restored. Decades of rubbish was gutted from its cavity to reveal a natural pool of water which is thought to have been used for bathing rituals.

“Wherever possible we try and put back the elements. We can’t put back what we don’t find, some of the buildings have been stripped,” said Jolyon Leslie, a South African architect who leads restoration projects in Herat’s old city on behalf of the Agha Khan Trust for Culture. “What we’re trying to do is protect as many old historical monuments as possible. Whether it’s a mosque whether it’s an ex-synagogue like this or whether it’s a hamam, to try and put them in public use,” Leslie said.

“It’s important that Heratis understand for future generations that this was a very rich society in the sense of its religious diversity and it’s pluralism,” he added. Where Jewish prayers once rang out, now Afghan children chant nursery rhymes. The platform where the torah would have been read is left undisturbed to bask in warm sunshine which floods through wide, arched bay windows.

“There’s a huge shortage of classes in this part of the city and some 60,000 people (here) and some 20,000 of those are children … we really wanted to invest both in protecting the historic monument but also in having a new use,” Leslie said. “It’s a mixture of conservation and social development.” Three other synagogues in the same neighbourhood are being renovated. Two will also be used as schools for children living in the neighbourhood. The third is now a mosque for the residents who live in a cluster of simple, centuries-old abodes.

LONG GONE

Afghanistan’s once thriving community is believed to trace its roots to the Assyrian and Babylonian conquests in 720 B.C. and 560 B.C. when exiled Jews moved to what is now Iraq, Iran and neighbouring countries such as Afghanistan. By 1992, when the Soviet-backed communist leadership in Kabul collapsed, the community disappeared from Herat. A few have since returned to re-visit the refurbished relics of their past.

“Jewish visitors from abroad, even Herat Jews from abroad, have come back to visit these places and there’s a sense of them re-owning these properties and being very proud to see them restored,” Leslie said. He recalled a recent visit by a Herati Jewish family who had travelled from Canada to visit Yu Aw. They sobbed when they saw the restored synagogue.

A few kilometres away from the old quarter, an Afghan boy unlocks a heavy wrought-iron door to an open field where overgrown thorn bushes and weeds breed unchecked around craggy and windswept white marble tombs inscribed with Hebrew. The family which has taken care of the cemetery for the past 150 years continue to do their best to protect it, but since Herat’s Jews left, they are no longer paid for the work.

“When my grandfather worked here, they were still here and they gave him a salary. But then when the security situation got bad the last of them moved to London. And so our salary was stopped,” Jalilahmed Abdelaziz said, adding that the cemetery contained about 1,000 graves. Through three decades of conflict and the rule of the austere Taliban, Abdelaziz’s family guarded the site, which is off a dirt track lined with Muslim cemeteries.

The Taliban, though responsible for harassing the family at times, resisted damaging the graves. “The Taliban were not the worst of our problems. We had neighbours who would try and desecrate the graves or steal the stones, they were the worst, but we would tell them to stop and tell them what they were doing was unIslamic,” Abdelaziz said. “We knew all of the families here. If they wanted to visit here they could, but they don’t.”

In a comment Bashir writes:

“100% of the scholars from Muhammad to HMGA all unanimously agreed on the idea that Jesus was alive in heaven…”

Bashir says that Hazrat Mirza sahib made statements of certainty (e.g. about age of Jesus) while he should really have been more careful and said “may be”. But Bashir himself goes on making statements of certainty such as the above. “100% of all scholars”? So if even one accepted scholar of repute didn’t agree, it would disprove Bashir’s claim!

Another example of Bashir’s reasoning is this. He says Hazrat Mirza sahib was wrong on the birth of Jesus, and he was wrong about the tomb of Jesus. So, on the first issue, where HM agreed with the vast majority Muslim opinion, he was wrong, and on the second issue where he disagreed with (according to Bashir) 100% of scholars, HM was still wrong!

A question arising from this “100%” of scholars” claim is: how did those general Muslim scholars after the time of HM who believed in the death of Jesus reach that conclusion? They must have found that before their time it was only the reviled figure of HM and his oddball followers who believed in the death of Jesus and no other Muslim whatsoever. So what made them break the 100% consensus?

Submitted by Usman.

A Khatm-e-Nubuwwat conference was held in Rawalpindi on 31st May 2009. As a support to the issue of Khatm-e-Nubuwwat, the organisers and workers have stepped up their activity of asking Muslims to do a business boycott of Ahmadis. Brochures are being widely circulated in the market, asking the retailers not to stock and sell any product made by an Ahmadi company. Certain products made by companies partly or wholly owned by both Lahori and Rabwah Jama`at members have been mentioned by name. Obviously the objective is to drive the companies into bankruptcy by not allowing them to sell their products.

Here is the irony. The products made by the “Ahmadi” companies (as if now companies also have a religion) are known for their quality and most importantly correct weight, while may “Muslim” companies are known for giving short weight! Of course the Khatm-e-Nubuwaat people also do not seem to be concerned about the fact that thousands of Muslim families depend upon these companies for their livelihood. So while the rest of the world is trying hard to kick start economies by encouraging investment and creating employment, the anti-Ahmadiyya groups are working in the opposite direction; making people unemployed and depressing local economies. In the process also ensuring that quality products make way for sub-standard products. A service to Islam indeed !