Miracles, Myths, Mistakes and Matters — See Title Page and List of Contents
See: Project Rebuttal: What the West needs to know about Islam
Refuting the gross distortion and misrepresentation of the Quran, the Prophet Muhammad and Islam, made by the critics of Islam
Read: Background to the Project
List of all Issues | Summary 1 | Summary 2 | Summary 3
Submitted by Dil Sooz
Respected Javed Ahmad Ghamidi is a noted contemporary Islamic Scholar. He is known for objective analysis of issues. Recently, I came across this video of Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Sahib where he explains that respected Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was "Sufi" and did not claim to be Prophet as he is accused of. He also clarifies that founders of Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement did not consider him to be a Prophet.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=647159602014434
I'm not a scholar of Mr Ghamidi stature, but I do want to humbly bring this to his kind attention that Respected Mirza Sahib claimed to be Mujadid or reformer of his team. So he was under naturally divine command to declare his mission Statement before the world and then get on with his works, despite immense opposition. In contrast " Sufi" has one to to one with Allah and is not required to have broad spectrum of audience. I think Mr Ghamidi should not mix and match two different Job descriptions meant for two different persons.
This, as you know, is a common charge against Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, that in his writings he has used insulting language when speaking of Jesus.
I was reading the book Taqwiyyat-ul-Iman by Shah Ismail Shaheed (d. 1831), the right hand man of Syed Ahmad Barelvi, and found that commenting on the verse of the Quran "The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a messenger; messengers before him had indeed passed away. And his mother was a truthful woman. They both used to eat food" (5:75), he writes:
"At this point both Baidawi and the author of Jalalain [commentators of the Quran] have written that Jesus and Mary were like other animals, that just as animals are dependent on food, weak and helpless, so were these two venerable persons. By this statement, these two commentators did not mean to be insulting to their dignity and to ignore their high status. May Allah guard us from wrong understanding." (Urdu translation of Taqwiyyat-ul-Iman, p. 256-7).
Baidawi and Jalalain (the latter by Jalal-ud-Din Suyuti) are two well known, classical commentaries of the Quran, and are among the sources referred to by Maulana Muhammad Ali and other commentators of the Quran. This shows that classical Islamic works also contain statements which can be misread or misrepresented as insulting to Jesus. It is also possible that such accusations were actually made against these two renowned commentators and Shah Ismail Shaheed is writing in their defence.
Please refer to this brief document I have compiled on this subject. Its synopsis is as follows.
First I have translated (not necessarily all that well in poetic terms) some verses from a very long poem by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, written in 1905 and included in one of his books published posthumously in 1908, the verses which later on came to be regarded as a prophecy of the devastation of the First World War. But when later on? Only after the war? I have then quoted from the front page of Paigham Sulh of 13 August 1914, showing that followers of Hazrat Mirza sahib applied these verses to this war just as this war began that month of August 1914, before its horrors were known to anyone!
The centenary of the First World War is being commemorated in the UK and there are several TV documentaries on its various aspects being broadcast at present. One of the leading documentaries is Britain's Great War made by the BBC, whose first part was shown last Monday 27th January. Looking at the opening few minutes of this part, which give an overview of this war, I have compared the comments made in documentary about this war's key features with the prophesied description of this war in Hazrat Mirza sahib's pen. From this we see clearly that his prophecy was so lucidly fulfilled.
At the end I have provided the original Urdu text of these verses.
Submitted by Rashid Jahangiri.
Rind Malik, a Canada based Qadiani has sent me a link to youtube video in which two Qadianis make effort to control damage caused by Qadiani Khalifa 3 Mirza Nasir Ahmad replies in 1974 Pakistan National Assembly Special Committee.
Both participants in the program very easily forgot to answer questions raised by myself in the following link. These Qadianis feel no shame in beating around the bush and not commenting on their QK3 Mirza Nasir Ahmad replies.
In the beginning minutes of youtube video participants made an effort to paint the picture of Qadianis as a peaceful citizens of Pakistan. This is exactly opposite to what Qadianis were in the days leading to Rabwah Railway Station incident in which Qadianis as preplanned operation assaulted the Nishtar Medical College students on their return from excursion tour of Northern Pakistan.
Professor Hibbatul-Manan-Omar (alias Khalid Omar), Ph.D son of Abdul Manan Omar sahib and grandson of Khalifa-tul-Massih Hazart Maulana Noor-ud-Din RA, is currently professor of Business at Goldey-Beacom College, Wilmington, DE. http://www.gbc.edu Professor Hibbi Omar profile on college website:http://www.gbc.edu/faculty/omar/index.html
Professor Hibbi Omar was engineering student in UET (University of Engineering and Technology), Lahore in 1974. He personally narrated to me in detail, in the days before Rabwah Railway Station incident, Mirza Tahir Ahmad, who later became Qadiani Khalifa 4, visited UET and addressed Qadiani students in the university. Mirza Tahir Ahmad did not know about him and he was also in that gathering. In fact it was Professor Hibbi Omar who recited Holy Quran in the start of meeting. Anyways, in meeting Mirza Tahir Ahmad went over the plan in which operation was to be conducted by Qadiani students, in which they were to wear turbans (like worn by Qadiani Khalifa 3,4, 5) carry 303 rifles, and containers of gasoline (patrol), run on two sides of street in famous market Anarkali Bazaar, Lahore and torch the bazaar. For whatever reasons operation was not put into action, but the fact remains that Qadianis were NOT peaceful citizens of Pakistan as the following youtube video by two Qadianis try to convey.
It is reported in the Express Tribune (see link) that ex-President Pervez Musharraf's legal team "has actually challenged the authenticity of the 1973 Constitution that the former army chief is facing trial for abrogating, subverting and suspending." Their argument is given as follows:
"The argument here is that the promulgation of the document that we know and treat as the Constitution is a mere act of parliament and nothing more. Ostensibly, the reason being given is that the 1973 Constitution was passed only by the West Pakistan Assembly – ie, what was left of the combined Constituent Assembly of East and West Pakistan elected originally in 1970. If one follows this argument, after these elections, the Eastern Wing, along with half the assembly, seceded to become Bangladesh in 1971, but the West Pakistan parliamentarians remained in place. And though they remained in place, the basis of their election was the 1970 polls – and based on that, they numbered only half of the assembly.
Moreover, Musharraf contends that a majority of the members of the constituent assembly did not participate in the framing of the interim constitution of 1972 and the present “1973 Constitution”.
Hence, it is argued, the document (what we regard as the constitution) is an act of parliament and its violation technically does not amount to high treason."
Blog readers, I have for long raised this point in connection with the 1974 anti-Ahmadiyya amendment by the National Assembly, namely, that it was in fact elected in 1970 as a part of the whole National Assembly of Pakistan.
Note however that the post-1971 "Pakistan National Assembly" was not a half of the whole NA as elected in 1970 (as assumed in the argument quoted above) but it was less than a half. Seats given to each province were in proportion to its population. It appears that out of the total of 300 seats, 162 were for East Pakistan and 138 were for West Pakistan. So the post-1971 "Pakistan National Assembly" was a clear minority of the real national Assembly elected in 1970.
At this link I am providing the initial part of an article by Hazrat Maulana Nur-ud-Din addressed to the Ahmadiyya community in January 1909 (Badr, 14 January 1909). It begins:
"As far as I have read the Holy Quran and pondered on it, Allah in the Quran grants freedom and liberty to people. [Then he quotes some verses.] There are many verses of this kind, which show that the existence of difference of opinion is extremely important in the world. Since God Himself does not intend there to be unanimity, how can reformers in this world remove differences?"
At the bottom of the first column he says:
"The summary is that every person is free as regards his beliefs, words and deeds, on condition that this does not harm anyone else or even his own self. Otherwise he is not free."
This is a preamble to his main subject relating to donations to the Jamaat.
Can anyone imagine a later khalifa of the Qadiani Jamaat presenting this concept of freedom of the individual to his Jamaat and mentioning the importance of difference of opinion?
Submitted by Rashid Jahangiri
Munir-ud-Din, Ph.D, a former Qadiani now opponent of HMGA writes following posts on ahmedi.org forum:
I had known for quite some time that Maulavi Ashraf Ali Thanvi had copied from the book "Asrar-e Shari'at" by my grand father Maulavi Muhammad Fazal Khan. But I was not aware of the extant of this coping as Thanvi Sahib's book "Ahkam Islam eql ki nazar main" was not available to me. Now through some good chance I could lay my hands on this celebrated book. I thought he might have copied some paragraphs or pages. But now I know that 95 per cent of his book is word by word true copy of "Asrar-e Shari'at", all three volumes.
I had known that he had also copied from the writings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and sold that material as his own.
What a daring thief he was that copied 95 per cent of a book which was available in the market. But as we know things move very slowly in our part of the world. It took me almost 60 or more years to look into his robbery. I intend to write about this literary theft in the literary quarterly "Savera", Lahore.
~~Dear @4pac – Asrar-e Shari'at means Secrets or Philosophy of the (Islamic) Shari'a. It is a celebrated book with three volumes which runs into 1100 pages.
Now a word about Maulavi Ashraf Ali Thanvi, whom many on the Indian Sub-continent regard as the Mujaddid of the 20th century and whose book "Bihishti Zewar" (Ornament of Paradise) was customarily given to the brides as a marriage gift and which now is also available in English translation.
This man was a notorious literary thief, who even stole texts from Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and from many other authors. And although this thing is quite obvious and known to many, he is called "Hakim-i Ummat".
~~Dear @4pac – You have many times asked, if you can read the books of my Grand Father in English. Now my answer is: yes you can. A certain Rafiq Abdur Rahman translated the above book, still thinking it to have been authored by Maulavi Ashraf Ali Thanvi into English. It is also available from sellers in the West. It is called:
"The wisdom behind the commands of Islam"
By Muhammad Ashraf Ali Thanvi
Translated by Rafiq Abdur Rahman
Published by: Darul Ishaat. Karachi.
Year of the first publication: 2004 – 424 Pages.
Now that we know that 95 percent of the text was taken from "Asrar-i Shari'at" without any change or diversion, we can assume that the said book is in fact property of my Grand Father Maulavi Muhammad Fazal Khan. You may look for it in the Internet, where it is being sold for US $ 8.25.
I don't know if I can do much in this matter. Maulavi Ashraf Ali is dead and his followers will not be ready to take responsibility for this theft. All I can do is to make some noise in the media. Perhaps the translator could be persuaded to withdraw the book or at least acknowledge that it was not authored by Maulavi Ashraf Ali Sahib.
~~Well I don't know, if I will be able to take legal action in this case, as I am living too far away in a foreign country. But I will handover this matter to the younger generation of my family. Some of them are practicing lawyers and are also living in Pakistan. I have my reservations regarding the Justice system of Pakistan. Many years ago Maulavi Allah Yar Chinyoti (I hope this is the right name) visited our village Changa Bangial and made a statement regarding passages from Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani in some books of Maulavi Ashraf Al Thanvi. He said it all happend due to some mistake. In fact the original quotes were from the books of Maulavi Muhammad Fazal Khan, which were copied by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani as well as Maulavi Ashraf Ali Thanvi. So it was not that serious crime. Both Mirza Ghlam Ahmad and Maulavi Ashraf Ali Thanvi had committed the same crime.
But the fact of the matter is that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was already dead when my grand father started writing his book. In certain matters he quoted from the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad with full reference or at least with the name of "Ahmad" in brackets or in the case of Maulavi Nurruddin, the first Caliph of Mirza Sahib, whose initials were "Nur". This was done because already in 1909 it was deadly to name Mirza Sahib or other Ahmadies in your book as reference. Maulavi Ashraf Ali Thanvi did not know this or he did not care about such niceties. He left all references out and presented the text as his own. In this way he came to be blamed for steeling also from the writings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
~~At long last I have written an article with full evidance that Maulavi Ashraf Ali Thanavi stole the book "Asrar-e Shari'at" of my grand father Maulavi Muhammad Fazal Khan.It is in Urdu and can be opened by clicking on the following link.
http://munir.my-place.us/Thanavi.pdf
~~Dear @4pac – If you would have started learning Urdu by the time you began wailing for me or some one else to translate Urdu books for you, you could have mastered the language by now. I understand that you already know the spoken language. It is only the written script which anybody can learn within weeks.
And now let us talk about Maulavi Ashraf Ali Thanavi and his theft of the book of my grand father Maulavi Muhammad Fazal Khan.
Submitted by Omar Raja.
I came across a remarkable statement of Mirza Mahmud Ahmad as cited in the book, Ahmadiyyat the Renaissance of Islam by Muhammad Zafrulla Khan. The book can be found here: http://www.alislam.org/books/
Mirza Mahmud declared in 1944 regarding the prophecy of the Promised Son, “I therefore announce, under divine command, on oath, that God has appointed me the Promised Son of the Promised Messiah, peace be on him, according to his prophecy, who has to convey the name of the Promised Messiah to the ends of the earth. I do not say that I am the only Promised One and that no other promised one will be appear till the Day of Judgment. It appears from the prophecies of the Promised Messiah that some other promised ones will also come and some of them will appear after centuries. Indeed, God has told me that at one time He will send me a second time to the world and I will come for the reform of the world at a time when associate with God will have become widespread. This means that my soul will, at some time, descend upon someone who will possess faculties and capacities like mine and he will, following my footsteps, bring about a reform of the world. Thus, promised one will appear in their due times according to the promises of God Almighty.” (Ahmadiyyat the Renaissance of Islam by Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, pp. 293-294). Note: Page 303 by PDF search.
So in effect he declares that he himself will have his own ‘second coming,’ so much so that his very soul will be implanted into another human being! Thus Qadianis await the second coming of Mirza Mahmud Ahmad?
I may mention, it was curious to read as well the details given regarding the assassination attempt on his very life.
Muhammad Zafrulla Khan writes: “Yet, there were those who, through error, bigotry, misunderstanding or sheer perversity entertained bitter hostility towards him and were capable of subjecting him to the most heinous outrages. One day in March 1954 a young man belonging to this last category managed to take his stand in the first line of worshippers immediately behind him, while he was leading the afternoon service in the principal mosque of Rabwah. In the middle of the service he suddenly advanced upon him from his rear and drove the blade of long sharp knife into his neck with murderous force….the injury inflicted… was deep and grievous and had a serious effect on his nervous system… The blade of the knife had penetrated into his neck a distance of four inches and its point had stopped right at the jugular vein… the unanimous conclusion was that the point of the knife had broken at the jugular vein and was embedded in it. The expert advice was that no attempt should be made to extricate it as the risk to his life involved in any such operation was too serious to be worth taking. He was advised to adopt a restful pattern of life and to avoid hard work and long periods of sustained labour. For a person of his temperament and high capacities this was a disappointing prospect. But there was no help for it. He was still able to carry on a comparatively active life, but the pressure on his nervous system, instead of being eased with the passage of time, tended to be intensified progressively.” (Ahmadiyyat the Renaissance of Islam by Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, pp. 331-333). Note: Page 341 by PDF search.
After this type of injury, I wonder how was he able to function as Khalifa for the remainder of his life, since as I understand it, one of the controls of the nervous system is to facilitate the ability to think and reason. http://www.webmd.com/brain
Submitted by Rashid Jahangiri.
Nadeem F Paracha is a famous columnist in Pakistani English language daily Dawn. He is left leaning writer. In his articles he does recap of history on any particular subject. His writes ups are based on a reasonable research. In his articles he has been sympathetic to state of ahmadis (basically Qadianis in Pakistan) in general. His recent article published in Dawn online on November 21, 2013: The 1974 ouster of ‘heretics’: What really happened?
Some quotes from article:
“To do so I did go through some literature produced by orthodox Sunni and Shia ulema and those associated with the Ahmadiyya community during the commotion, but that literature is largely theological.”
“Instead, my findings in this respect are squarely based on, and culled from the writings of historians and authors who, I believe, have transcribed the history of the event in the most objective and informed manner.”
“A series of modern, as well as puritanical reformist Muslim movements emerged after the complete fall of the Muslim Empire in India in the mid-1800s.
The Ahmadiyya movement was one of them. The Ahmadiyya community was founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who claimed he was under divine instruction to fulfil the major prophecies contained in Islamic and other sacred texts regarding a world reformer who would unite humanity.
He announced to Christians awaiting the second coming of Jesus, Muslims anticipating the Mahdi, Hindus expecting Krishna, and Buddhists searching for Buddha, that he was the promised messiah for them all, commissioned by God to rejuvenate true faith.
When Mirza died the Ahmadiyya split into two sects: the ‘Qadianis’ and the ‘Lahoris’. The Qadianis claimed that Mirza was a prophet, and accused all Muslims who did not accept him as being non-Muslims. Claiming prophethood is regarded to be a major and unpardonable sin by a majority of Muslims, even though the Lahori faction believes that Mirza never claimed prophethood. Orthodox Muslim sects in South Asia believe that he did.
—————
Till about 1913, the Ahmadiyya movement was seen as a spiritual and evangelical branch of the modernist reformist Muslim initiatives triggered by the likes of Sir Syed and Syed Ameer Ali.
In fact, for a while, a number of Indian Muslim intellectuals were closely associated with the Ahmadiyya movement and considered Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as a modern redeemer of faith in India.
Brilliant poet and philosopher, Muhammad Iqbal, too was once a great admirer of the movement.
Contrary to popular belief, agitation against the Ahmadiyya movement (by the orthodox Muslim sects and sub-sects in India) was not an immediate happening that emerged right after the formation of the community in 1889.
The more vocal accusations against the community first arose 24 years later in 1914 when an influential Ahmadiyya leader, Mirza Muhammad Ahmad, began to publicly declare that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a messiah and those Muslims who disagreed with this were infidels.
This further split the movement, with the so-called ‘Qadianis’ sticking to Mirza Muhammad Ahmad’s assertions and the ‘Lahori’ faction denouncing him and accusing him of inferring something that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had not claimed.
Nevertheless, the schism within the Ahmadiyya community and Mirza Muhammad Ahmad’s unabashed claims left the movement vulnerable against accusations of being heretical.”
“Along with the working classes and the petty-bourgeoisie of the Punjab, the Ahmadiyya had overwhelmingly voted for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the province during the 1970 election.
——-
On May 22, 1974, some 160 members of the Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba (IJT — the student of the Jamaat-i-Islami), boarded a train headed for Peshawar in the former NWFP. On its way to Peshawar, the train stopped for a while at the Rabwa railway station. The city of Rabwa was predominantly an Ahmadiyya town and also housed the community’s spiritual headquarters. As the train stopped at Rabwa, IJT students got out and began to raise slogans against the Ahmadiyya and cursed the community’s spiritual figurehead, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. The train then left the station taking the charged students to Peshawar. No untoward incident was reported apart from the slogan-chanting and cursing.
However, when the incident was related to some Ahmadiyya leaders in Rabwa, they ordered Ahmadiyya youth to reach the station with hockey sticks and chains when the train stops again at Rabwa on its way back from Peshawar.
After finding out that the students would be returning to Multan from Peshawar on the 29th of May, dozens of young Ahmadiyya men gathered at the Rabwa station. As the train came to a halt, the men fell upon the bogeys carrying the IJT members. A fight ensued and 30 IJT men were severely beaten for insulting the religious sentiments of the Ahmadiyya.
A non-Ahmadiyya man who witnessed the commotion at the station told reporters that both the incidents (the slogans and retaliation) were unprecedented.”
Link to NFP article: http://dawn.com/news/1057427/the-1974-ouster-of-the-heretics-what-really-happened/1
Submitted by Rashid Jahangiri.
Orya Maqbool Jan on Anti-Christ, Gog and Magog
OMJ is retired bureaucrat, columnist and analyst. Frequently he comes on political talk shows on Pakistani TV channels. He is popular in conservative audience of Pakistan. Few days ago he wrote a column in Pakistani daily newspaper, and mentioned Dajjal, Yaajooj-aur-Maajooj (Anti-Christ, Gog and Magog). He presented concept similar to Lahore Ahmadiyya Movment understanding. I sent him following email. I was hoping to receive reply, as I did in reply to my email in 2010. This time I am still waiting. Link to my last email correspondence with him is at the bottom of this post.
Dear Orya Maqbool Jan sahib, Aslam Alikum,
Last we exchanged emails over three years ago. I sent you links, in reply to your question, to beliefs and articles on Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement (Lahori-Ahmadi) official website that considers EVERY RECITER OF KALIMA-SHAHADA AS MUSLIM. I was hoping to hear back from you. I take it you must be very busy.
Today, I want to congratulate you on raising a GREAT POINT in your recent column ‘Andalib Bagh-e-Hajaz’ published in published in newspaper ‘Roznama Dunya’ on November 9, 2013.
In this column you identified Dajjal, Yaajooj and Maajooj (Anti-Christ, Gog and Magog). You identified how interest based modern banking system is NOT letting Muslims live their lives as guided by Holy Quran. It was this fear that Sahaba-Akram were scared, when Rasool Allah Muhammad SAWS mentioned attributes of Dajjal. This Dajjali system has influenced lives of people in Pakistan who are considered Scholars of Islam, and extremely pious people such as Chairman of Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, whose salary comes from account on which government of Pakistan pays interest (Riba). No wonder our Master Holy Prophet Muhammad PBUH warned us that even Momin will not be spared from the dust of Dajjal. I am glad in your column you have dared to educate Pakistani readers that Dajjal mentioned in Ahadith and Yaajooj-Maajooj mentioned in Holy Quran is not some super natural animal but Caucasian Christian nations of Europe. Interestingly in 2004, in one of the TV program ‘Alif’ Mufti Muneebur Rehman sahib could not identify Dajjal.
My question to you: Do you think time will ever come in Pakistan when you could write in your column that per Hadith of Rasool Allah SAWS, the person who will identify Dajjal first will be Imam Mahdi. And Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib of Qadian, who was only a Mujjaddid (reformer) of 14th Islamic Hijra century, was the first person to identify Dajjal about whom you have written more than 100 years later? Do you also think you will be able to mention book, in your column, by Lahori-Ahmadi elder Maulana Muhammad Ali sahib:Al-Maseeh-ud-Dajjal-o-Yaajooj Maajooj: by Maulana Muhammad Ali.Urdu Translation of 'The Anti-Christ and Gog and Magog'
http://aaiil.org/urdu/books/muhammadali/maseehdajjalyajujmajuj/maseehdajjalyajujmajuj.pdf
The Anti-Christ and Gog and Magog: by Maulana Muhammad Ali
http://aaiil.org/text/books/mali/gog/antichristgogmagog.shtml
Orya sahib, I look forward to your reply. Please do acknowledge when you receive my email.
Thanks, and Allah Hafiz.
Link to OMJ column:
http://dunya.com.pk/index.php/author/orya-maqbool-jaan/2013-11-09/4946/14361948#.Uor5JSrTmP8
See following link for my previous email exchange with OMJ:
https://ahmadiyya.org/WordPress/2010/08/09/correspondence-with-orya-maqbool-jan/
According to an article published by BBC Urdu the total number of Ahmadiyya community in India is One hundred thousand.…
----Jul 27, 18:49