The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement Blog

Mujib-ur-Rahman’s statement on MTA about janaza prayers

Submitted by Rashid Jahangiri.

Qadiani Jamaat Khalifa 4 and now 5 and others in the leadership and important positions in their jamaat have started to violate and reject beliefs and instructions of their Qadiani Jamaat Khalifa 2 and his younger brother Mirza Bashir Ahmad. Mirza Mahmud Ahmad has written and said in his numerous writings that all those who have not accepted Promised Messiah Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as prophet are Kafir (non-Muslim) and even their young children are non-Muslims and it is not permitted to offer their Janazah (funeral prayer).

And now their Spokesman Mr. Mujib-ur-Rehman has made absolutely 180 degree turn.

On their TV channel MTA there was a live programme on Saturday 12th June called “Raah-i Huda”. Mr Mujib-ur-Rahman was interviewed from Pakistan by telephone at just before 6.00 p.m. UK time.

In regard to the allegation that the Qadiani Jamaat does not hold janaza prayers of non-Ahmadi Muslims, Mr Mujib-ur-Rahman stated most forcefully that saying janaza prayers is a “fard-i kifaya” in Islam, and that this means that if any other Muslims have held the janaza prayers of a non-Ahmadi then there is no requirement for the Qadiani Jamaat to hold them as well. He added that in the case where there were no other Muslims who could hold the janaza prayers of a non-Ahmadi (for example, in a foreign country with few Muslims), then the Qadiani Jamaat does hold janaza prayers for that non-Ahmadi. He was proud that if there are no other Muslims to hold the janaza prayers for a non-Ahmadi, then the Qadiani Jamaat holds it.

He also stated that if non-Ahmadi Muslims started saying janaza prayers for deceased members of the Qadiani Jamaat, then they would start holding them for non-Ahmadis deceased persons.

He also stated that in the time of the Promised Messiah, before he was declared kafir, Ahmadis used to pray behind non-Ahmadi imams and join janaza prayers behind non-Ahmadi imams. But after he was declared kafir, then according to Hadith this declaration of takfir reflected back upon his opponents. Mr Mujib-ur-Rahman stated that this was the only reason why his Jamaat members do not say janaza prayers of a non-Ahmadi behind a non-Ahmadi imam.

For comparison with these statements of Mr Mujib-ur-Rahman, please see attached statements of Mirza Mahmud Ahmad from books which are on the Qadiani Jamaat website www.alislam.org.

For additional references, see the following on alislam.org:

Musalman Wohi Hay Jo Saab Mamoron Ko Maany by Mirza Mahmud Ahmad
Page 3 and 4 of pdf format online edition: See book no. 9 on this page

Kalima-Tul-Fasal by Mirza Bashir Ahmad. Just read the first few pages of this book: http://www.alislam.org/urdu/pdf/Kalma-tul-Fasal.pdf

Nawaz Sharif calls Ahmadis “brethren” and “asset for Pakistan”

I am grateful to a member of our Jamaat in Trinidad for sending me this news item:

“… He [Nawaz Sharif] also termed terrorists attack at the worship places of Ahmadis in model town and Ghari Shahu condemnable adding that Ahmadis are our brethren and asset for the country. He also informed that the elements involved in firing at Ahmadis worship places have been arrested and law enforcement agencies have been carrying out investigations with them.

Tehreek-e-Khatme-Nabuwat has meanwhile warned Nawaz Sharif against making such statements if he still wants to stay popular with his voters.”

See this link.

Qadianis Modus Operandi and their Fundamental Difference with Muslims.

Submitted by Rashid Jahangiri

Mr Abbas Ather, Chief Editor, of Pakistani Urdu Newspaper ‘Express News’ paper has recently written columns in series related to Ahmadis from Qadiani Jamaat. These columns are written in the backdrop of massacre of Qadianis in their mosques in Lahore, Pakistan on May 28, 2010. So far he has written 2 episodes.
Title: ‘Ahmadion [Qadianis] Ka Masla’ (Ahmadi [Qadiani] Problem).
By Abbas Ather.
Email address: abbasather@express.com.pk

So far he has pointed out what we members of Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement are very familiar with.
1- Qadianis first make social contacts with fellow Muslims in Pakistan, Then gradually start preaching them with the aim of bringing them into “their faith”. I used word “their faith” because if Qadianis consider “their faith” as Islam then they would not be preaching Muslim with the intention of bringing them into “their faith”.
I can relate my personal experience: From 1980 to 1984 for 4 years I was Pakistan Air Force Flight Cadet at PAF college Sargodha. Our distant relatives and family friends ‘the Shah family from Hazara Division’ were living in Rabwah. I use to visit them on Friday weekends and even attended their annual jalsa (gatherings).
My relatives always managed to get some bearded ‘murabi’ around me to “convert” me to “their faith”. Although I was 16 years old but I do remember having some interesting conversations with them.
It was some Friday Khutba (sermon) or speech on annual jalasa. Mirza Nasir Ahmad the Qadiani Jamaat Khalifa 3 to help Qadianis audience understand mission in their lives gave them an analogy. It was like this:
Take one drum full of water and another empty drum. Connect two drums with a pipe between them. And pump water from full drum into empty pump. Gradually empty drum will fill up. This way you should bring non-Ahmadis (Qadianis) into Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya (Qadiani jamaat).

2- Qadianis believe and present Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib as “nabi” (prophet). This really upsets and angers General Muslims who do not want to accept a “Punjabi” Prophet after Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
3- Qadiani Jamaat Khalifa 3 Mirza Nasir Ahmad at the end of 52 hours of questioning/ hearing in Pakistan National Assembly said that those who do not accept their (Qadiani Jamaat) version of Islam are Kafir (non-Muslim).
I don’t know what Abbas Ather sahib will write in next episode. So far he has made these points.

I wrote him the following email:

Respected Abbas Ather sahib:
Aslam Alikum.

I am member of Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement (in lingua franca ‘Lahori-Ahmadi’). I have read first two parts of your column ‘Ahmadion Ka Masla’. I hope you are aware that there are two factions of Ahmadis. In 1914 Ahmadiyya Jammat split and its members that moved to Lahore are called Lahori-Ahmadis, and those who remained in Qadian, India are called Qadiani-Ahmadis. Later Qadiani-Ahmadis moved to Rabwah (now Chenab Nagar), Pakistan. I hope you are aware that between these two factions there are VERY FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCES.
Briefly, Lahori-Ahmadis hold beliefs:
1-All reciters of Kalima-Shahada are Muslims.
2- Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) is the LAST prophet/ messenger of Allah (SWT).
No new or old prophet can come after him.
3- Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib of Qadian was ONLY a Mujjadid (reformer) of 14th Islamic Hijra century.
4- It is NOT must to believe in Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib for a Muslim.
5- Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement is only an organization for propagation of rational, tolerant, peaceful, inspiring, non-sectarian message of Islam. Mostly focused on taking its mission of service to Islam to Christian countries of Europe and Americas.
6- If some Muslim brother/ sister wants to join our organization they are expected to volunteer their time, energies and finances as much as they can afford comfortably for propagation of Islam.
7- Every Muslim and non-Muslim is welcome to read, benefit and propagate message of Islam available in its literature. Available online and in print.

Respected Abbas Ather sahib I 100 percent agree with the points you raised in two parts of your column. I.e.:
1- Qadiani-Ahmadis are always busy in efforts to bring Muslims into their version of Islam. They believe like Catholic Christians to “save souls”. Which is only possible for Muslims if they do ba’it of their Qadiani Khalifas and pay multiple types of Chanda (financial contributions). They never let go any such chance. As soon as Muslim gets friendly with them, their next objective is to do ‘tabligh’ and report increase in their numbers to their “Hazoor” i.e. Qadiani Khalifa.
2- Qadiani-Ahmadis hold belief that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib of Qadian was a “prophet”. And a Muslim can not be a Muslim if he/ she does not believe in “prophethood” of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib. This is the reason they do not offer prayer (namaz) behind a non-Qadiani Imam, not even behind Lahori-Ahmadi Imam. Qadianis do not offer janazah (funeral prayer) of non-Qadani Muslims, including those of Lahori-Ahmadis. And of course Qadiani-Ahmadis do not marry their daughters to a Muslim or for that matter a Lahori-Ahmadi unless he does ba’it of Qadiani-Khalifa.
3- Qadiani-Ahmadis consider Muslims as Kafir. And they especially consider Lahori-Ahmadis as MURTAD (heretic).

Respected Abbas Ather sahib, now I’m coming to my purpose of writing this email to you. Unfortunately, Muslims brothers and sisters are NOT aware of the fundamental differences between the two factions of Ahmadiyya Movement. This problem was further compounded by 2nd amendment in Pakistan’s 1973 constitution and enhanced by General Zia’s order 20 in 1984.
My request to you:
I will very much appreciate if you could kindly highlight in your column the differences between the two factions. Or at the very least make it clear in your column that when you use word ‘Ahmadi’ by it you mean Qadiani-Ahmadis who moved their headquarter to Rabwah after independence, whose Khalifa resides in London, UK since mid 1980s.

It is very unfortunate that Lahori-Ahmadis are bundled together with Qadiani-Ahmadis, and are ‘guilty by association’.

Link to Abbas Ather’s columns:
http://www.columnpk.com/category/urdu-column/abbas-ather/

Moment of Introspection.

Submitted by Rashid Jahangiri.

New York Times contributor Ahmed Rashid’s recent write-up:
Terror in Pakistan’s Punjab Heartland
From NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS. (JUNE 4 2010)

My thoughts on it.

The author basically talks about Qadiani-Ahmadis, when he uses word ‘Ahmadis’ in his write-up.

Author writes:
“The Ahmaddiya movement is a sect that follows the teachings of a nineteenth-century religious reformer and promotes the peaceful propagation of a variant of Islam.”

I think he is confused on the status of founder of Ahmadiyya Movement i.e. Mirza Ghualm Ahmad sahib of Qadian (MGAQ). As it is Lahori-Ahmadis who consider him to be a ‘reformer’ where as Qadiani-Ahmadis consider him a “prophet”.

Author very aptly wrote:

“Ahmadis are by far the most persecuted minority in Pakistan by Islamist parties and right wing media, and they are widely portrayed as subversive and cultish in school text books. Prominent journalists and politicians think nothing of publicly reviling the Ahmadis or Christians, describing them as agents of foreign powers or anti-Pakistan, while the state has again and again demonstrated its unwillingness or inability to protect them and other religious minorities. Moreover, while Christians have prominent bishops and community leaders who are outspoken about their tribulations, and the Shia priestly hierarchy is influential and is supported outside Pakistan by Iran, nobody is willing to speak up for the Ahmadis. On Friday some of the local TV channels even refused to name their sect, calling them instead “a religious minority.” Senior government officials declined to meet with Ahmadi representatives or visit hospitals where the wounded were being treated.”

I think it is also a moment of ‘introspection’ for Qadiani-Ahmadis. They need to find what went wrong on their side and situation has deteriorated to such an extent that Senior government officials declined to meet with (Qadiani) Ahmadi representatives or visit hospitals where the wounded were being treated. Is it not possible that senior government officials are also hurting inside by some thing Qadian-Ahmadis have done?

See link here.

Ah! Professor Fred Halliday dies untimely death at 64.

It was only a day or two ago that I learnt of the death in April of a great scholar of Islam and its relations with the West, Fred Halliday, Professor of international relations and Middle East politics at the London School of Economics. He was opposed equally to the critics of Islam in the West, who condemn Islam for preaching intolerance, oppression and violence, and to Islamic fundamentalists who approve of the same image of Islam. He was the voice of reason and true understanding, but was passionate and forthright about his rational views.

As someone writes, one of his books “repudiating the idea of a clash between Western and Islamic civilisations, has provoked hostile reaction from both Muslim and non-Muslims”. I am sure you can guess which type of Muslims and non-Muslims these would be.

See his obituary in The Times, London, here.

There is one in the Daily Telegraph, illustrating more clearly what I mean. The link to it is here but unfortunately the obituary is followed by a comment from a bigoted reader who is suffering from a deep malice against Islam, and indulges in false anti-Islamic propaganda.

At this link is an interview with Prof Halliday, which will give you a good idea about his views. For example:

“The dogmatic image of Islam, which is both projected by the enemies of Islam and enforced by fundamentalists, is false to the great richness of Islamic tradition.”

“The reason in my view why fundamentalism has made such an advance here in Europe is because people [meaning Muslims in Europe] are not educated and literate in their own history and culture.”

“People who don’t like Muslims say ‘Islam can’t be democratic’ and certain Muslim rulers say ‘this is a Western system, we don’t want it’ – but it’s got nothing to do with Islam. … I don’t see democracy or human rights conflicting with Muslim culture.”

I first saw Prof Halliday in a TV panel discussion in the early 1980s. Appearing also was one Kalim Siddiqui, a UK Muslim scholar and fundamentalist supporter. Siddiqui said that things had gone wrong in the West since the age of reason began 500 years ago because people no longer accepted religious teachings obediently without question.

Fred Halliday was enraged by this comment. He replied something like: I am proud of the age of reason, and I know you don’t represent Islam, and I look forward to the day when Muslims, exercising reason, throw mullahs like you out of politics.

Yes, Fred Halliday did not mince his words. He will be missed terribly by all those non-Muslims who don’t demonise Islam and all those Muslims who know that the Mullahs have perverted the teachings of Islam in order to gain power over the Muslim masses.

by Zahid Aziz, admirer of Professor Fred Halliday.

AAIIL Press Release on Lahore mosque attacks

29th May 2010

Yesterday, two mosques of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat of Rabwah (Qadian), in Lahore, were attacked brutally by terrorists, which has taken more than a hundred innocent lives.

We strongly condemn this cowardly act of terrorism which is inhuman in its nature. We strongly believe that life of each human being is sacred and no one has the right to shed blood in this cruel manner.

We pray that may Allah enter all the martyrs in Paradise and may they be among the successful ones. We sympathise with the families who have lost their near and dear ones.

We, the members of Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-i Islam Lahore (Lahori Ahmadis), stand with Jamaat-e Rabwah in this time of trial and pray that may Allah keep them safe for all times to come.

Amir Aziz,
General Secretary,
Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-i Islam Lahore

Qadiani Jamaat mosques attacked in Lahore, many killed. Explosions heard by worshippers in our Darus Salaam.

Today, Friday 28th May, gunmen attacked Qadiani Jamaat mosques in
Model Town and Garhi Shahu in Lahore. See:

http://www.jang.com.pk/

Our own Jamaat members in Darus Salaam for Jumua prayers heard the explosions from Model Town. The gathering had to be sent home. Our members are safe but extremely worried.

Please pray that all remain safe.

See also:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/10181380.stm

Message from General-Secretary of AAIIL in Lahore

Dear brothers and sisters
Assalamu Alaikum

We would like to inform you that yesterday’s attacks on Ahmadiyya mosques were on Qadiani jamaat’s mosques in Lahore. All our members are safe with the blessings of Allah.

We condemn these attacks and this cowardly act which has taken lives of a hundred innocent people. All members are requested to keep on praying for us.

Yours truly,
Amir Aziz
General Secretary
AAIIL

Reinterpreting the Holy Quran

Submitted by Rashid Jahangiri.

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib under divine guidance reinterpreted Holy Quran i.e. death of Jesus. This encouraged his followers starting from Maulana Noor Ud Din to Maulana Muhammad Ali and others to continue the tradition to better understand Holy Quran. As a result today’s interpretation of Holy Quran published by those who accept HMGA as Mujaddid of 14th Islamic Century is very palatable than the previous interpretation.

The reinterpretation of Holy Quran is not limited to HMGA followers but has also influenced modern commentators of Holy Quran, including people like Marmaduke Pickthall, Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Muhammad Asad, Dr. Shabbir Ahmad. This idea of reinterpreting Holy Quran has started to permeate among Muslims as evidenced by article on Pak Tea House blog. Unfortunately, Muslims have started to give thought to reinterpret HQ under current domestic and global political situations. Had this thought given importance earlier, may be Pakistani Muslims could have avoided current fiasco in their country:

Rethinking Islam
By Ziauddin Sardar

“We have failed to respond to the summons to ijtihad for some very profound reasons. Prime amongst these is the fact that the context of our sacred texts the Quran and the examples of the Prophet Muhammad, our absolute frame of reference has been frozen in history. One can only have an interpretative relationship with a text even more so if the text is perceived to be eternal. But if the interpretative context of the text is never our context, not our own time, then its interpretation can hardly have any real meaning or significance for us as we are now. Historic interpretations constantly drag us back to history, to frozen and ossified context of long ago; worse, to perceived and romanticised contexts that have not even existed in history. This is why while Muslims have a strong emotional attachment to Islam, Islam per se, as a worldview and system of ethics, has little or no direct relevance to their daily lives apart from the obvious concerns of rituals and worship. Ijtihad and fresh thinking have not been possible because there is no context within which they can actually take place.”

“The freezing of interpretation, the closure of the gates of ijtihad, has had a devastating effect on Muslim thought and action. In particular, it has produced what I can only describe as three metaphysical catastrophes: the elevation of the Shariah to the level of the Divine, with the consequent removal of agency from the believers, and the equation of Islam with the State. Let me elaborate.”

“As such, the Shariah is a problem-solving methodology rather than law (1). It requires the believers to exert themselves and constantly reinterpret the Quran and look at the life of the Prophet Muhammad with ever changing fresh eyes. Indeed, the Quran has to be reinterpreted from epoch to epoch which means the Shariah, and by extension Islam itself, has to be reformulated with changing contexts (2). The only thing that remains constant in Islam is the text of the Quran itself its concepts providing the anchor for ever changing interpretations.”

See this link

“Quran gives no immunity, stresses justice for all” [Pak tribune]

Submitted by Ikram.

Quran gives no immunity, stresses justice for all [Pak Tribune]

– “Now that the ‘revelation’ of ruling PPP’s Central Information Secretary Fauzia Wahab that there was no constitution in the era of Hazrat Omar (RA) has ignited a new debate in Pakistan’s religious and legal circles, a thorough research of Islamic jurisprudence on the concept of equality and justice reveals that the Holy Quran had provided complete guidelines in this context over 1,400 years ago.”

– “It has also been reported on the authority of Abdullah Ibn-e-Zubayr in the famous Hadith book Abu Dawood, “The Messenger of Allah has ordered that the two disputing parties should sit before a judge.”

– “Therefore, any citizen whether Muslim or non-Muslim, must be brought before a judicial court and the case must be investigated by a judge.” [Excerpts]
—

Above is a very poignant essay about Justice in Islam. The issue arose after Secretary Information Pakistan People’s Party Fauzia Wahab came to defense of the Pakistan President by emphasizing the guidelines of Constitution whereas the Clergy in Pakistan emphasizes the Quran e.g. Mufti Naeem stated “…it is wrong to believe for a Muslim that there was only Holy Quran in the past era and now there is only a Constitution.” [Religious scholars slam Fauzia Wahab’s views – The News]

See for yourselves the double bind of the same PPP and the Mullahs who declared Ahmadis non-muslims in 1974 and were mutually proud to make tall claims i.e. Z.A. Bhutto claiming to solve the “the hundred year Ahmadi problem” and Mullahs claiming for themselves the huge success of ingraining their fatwas in the Constitution of the state. Lets not forget that both PPP and Mullahs circumvented the due judical process and investigation by a neutral judge.

Question to PPP and Mullahs: Are you willing to re-consider the clauses in the Constitution about Ahmadis and make Quran the sole basis of Justice especially in the matters of Religion?

Before they answer, I would like to draw their attention to how they gave short measure to Ahmadis then, and now that the argument is mutually between them, each is trying to short justice the other, i.e. PPP emphasizing The Constitution and Mullahs the The Quran. Quran is very clear in its admonishment about such double standards:

83:1. Woe be to those who make a default in any of their duties and give short measure.

83:17. Then it shall be said (to them), `This is that (very punishment) which you used to cry lies to.’

[The Holy Quran – Nooruddin]

Dilemma of a Modern Muslim Mind

Submitted by Rashid Jahangiri

Modern Muslims living in free societies of Europe and Americas are coming up with questions that were at least asked over 100 years ago. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad sahib and his companions answered it then.

On Pakistan Tea House blog, an article ‘The Journey of a Pakistani Muslim’ by Omar K (based in United Kingdom) writes:

“It was “If God created the world then who created God?” and “Why does he need to be worshiped for doing acts which occur to him naturally?” This was really the start of a very doubtful journey through Islam which would eventually make me into the person I am today. I would ask the “naive” question about who created God and was always told to remember Surah Ikhlas and Ayat-ul-Kursi. This would apparently answer my query. From what I could recall I was told that the question was the wrong type of question to ask and that I had to re-adjust my perspective. That question was never answered.”

“What I also did was in the disguise of this relative I would email questions to very well known and respected Muslim scholars in the west. So in a way I was trying to alleviate my doubts in a covert way. Sometimes they would respond and sometimes they wouldn’t. I even went out to see the scholars thinking that if I saw the best of them my doubts would be resolved. What I did find in the answering technique was that I was either told that the premise of the question was incorrect and that I was using the wrong terminology such as being “objective” or that my questioning had no basis in reality and that the questions that I was posing were really questions to which “I” knew there were no answers to, or better still my questions were circumvented and instead rather than answering the question directly, I was answered with a question to go back and ask my relative. I would humbly go away feeling numb and empty thinking that I’d been snubbed but nevertheless giving the scholar the benefit of the doubt. I also started reading and listening to scholars such as Hamza Yusuf and others like him hoping that my answers would be in their writing and talks. I did realise soon enough that their writing and talks were fairly much preaching to the choir.”

“The mistake I made at this time was shutting out material evolution and all the arguments and books against the existence of God because I didn’t want anymore doubt to penetrate and do more damage. I wanted to resolve the issue and be able to believe. I concentrated on Islamic sources and it was there that I found that Islam was not as water tight as what I was led to believe. There were two things I found and it was the scholars were always doing apologetics and squaring the circle to justify the absurdities written in the hadith and the events in the sura.”

“There were also issues of abrogation and technicalities which for a religion that was claiming to be the “final” and unalterable word of God was posing more questions for me than it was answering. There were many other things regarding Islam that were simply left unanswered. My friends thought that I was barking up the wrong tree and that I should “trust” the scholars’ hard work and piety. This just didn’t answer the question and I immediately thought that this is the same excuse that the Christians use, so why should I take this excuse from the Muslims? Using excuses like Imam Bukhari prayed before adding the hadith into his collection was simply begging the question and thinking along those lines didn’t cut it in the academic world.”

“I eventually realised that my real problem was the existence of God…”

“I still read works like this and other ideas now that I have freed myself from Islam.”

Read at this link.