The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement Blog

Lecture in 1898 by Maulvi Abdul Karim of Sialkot on claims and work of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

In the year 1900, when the Urdu book Sīrat Masīḥ Mau‛ūd (Character and example of the Promised Messiah) by Maulvi Abdul Karim of Sialkot was published, after covering the topic of the title, the book included the text of a public lecture given by the author in 1898 on the subject: 'What reform work has been carried out by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad'.

This section of almost 70 pages is well worth reading. Therefore I have made it available at this link.

— Zahid Aziz

Eid-ul-Fitr message by Dr A.K. Saeed, Head of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement

Here is the Eid-ul-Fitr Message, June 2018, of Hazrat Ameer Dr A.K. Saeed, Head of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement.

Ramadan 2018

Welcome to the Ramadan Daily Quran Studies for 2018

(Note: Any new posts during Ramadan will be filed below this post.)

Prayers urged on LAM members for Ramadan by Maulana Muhammad Ali: English translation |  Urdu original

Some further prayers in Urdu advised by Maulana Muhammad Ali (added here 29 May)

Section on Lailat-ul-Qadr in Sahih Bukhari, translated into English by Dr Zahid Aziz and Mr Nasir Ahmad (added here 6 June)

• Fast 1 — Fasting
• Fast 2 — Fasting: Its purposes
• Fast 3 — Fasting: Developing good qualities
• Fast 4 — Fasting: The month of Ramadan
• Fast 5 — Fasting: Conclusion
• Fast 6 — Prophets and Messengers of Allah — raised in all nations
• Fast 7 — Prophets and Messengers of Allah — raised in all nations for guidance

• Fast 8 — Prophets and Messengers of Allah — Muslims to believe in them all
• Fast 9 — Prophets and Messengers of Allah — as mentioned in the Quran
• Fast 10 — Prophets and Messengers of Allah — as mentioned in the Quran
• Fast 11 — Prophets and Messengers of Allah — as mentioned in the Quran
• Fast 12 — Prophets and Messengers of Allah — Dhul Kifl
• Fast 13 — Prophets and Messengers of Allah — Dhul Kifl
• Fast 14 — Prophets and Messengers of Allah — Mercy of the Prophet Muhammad

• Fast 15 — Prophets and Messengers of Allah — Mercy of the Prophet Muhammad
• Fast 16 — Prophets and Messengers of Allah — Buddha's fasting
• Fast 17 — Moderation in fasting (1)
• Fast 18 — Moderation in fasting (2)
• Fast 19 — Muslims extended belief in prophets to include prophets not mentioned in the Quran
• Fast 20 — Prophets and Messengers of Allah — Prophets taught only One God
• Fast 21 — Prophets and Messengers of Allah — None told people to take him for a god

• Fast 22 — Prophets and Messengers of Allah — Meaning of terms
• Fast 23 — Broad use of word 'messenger'. All prophets were "a single community"
• Fast 24 — Prophets and Messengers — Their submission to God (1)
• Fast 25 — Prophets and Messengers — Their submission to God (2)
• Fast 26 — Prophets and Messengers — Their submission to God (3)
• Fast 27 — Prophets and Messengers — Their submission to God and their mortality
• Fast 28 — Prophets and Messengers — were mortals, and so are their followers

• Fast 29 — Prophets and Messengers — Prophet Muhammad as a mortal
• Fast 30 — Prophets and Messengers — Prophet Muhammad as culmination

Many of us will have a Ramadan of 29 days this year. Nonetheless I always produce 30 Studies.

Thanks to Allah for passing us through another month of Ramadan. May He keep us safe and well over the next year, ameen. Eid Mubarak to all readers!

A Muslim woman convert in Denmark who runs an all-female mosque

A feature appeared in The Times (London), 2 June 2018, in its magazine section, carrying an interview with a Danish Muslim woman convert to Islam who runs an all-female mosque. She has written a book, Women are the Future of Islam, in which she "outlines her vision of a modern, gentle, flexible faith bridging the ever widening gulf between western society and orthodox teaching".

Read the interview at this link.

A short reading from ‘Islam, Peace and Tolerance’ on BBC Radio 4

There was a programme on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday 27th May, in a series entitled Something Understood, on the topic of 'Righteous Anger', presented by a retired famous BBC correspondent Sir Mark Tully. It contained a short reading from my book Islam, Peace and Tolerance, from the beginning of chapter 7 ('Muslim Anger'). The programme producers had contacted me in advance to obtain permission.

At this link on the website of the BBC you can read the programme synopsis.

You can listen to the programme from this link, but need to register an account at the BBC and sign in to it. The reading from my book begins at 18:48.

If you scroll further down the above page, then under "Readings" you will see:

"Title: Islam, Peace and Tolerance

Author: Zahid Aziz

Published by Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore"

Mirza Mazhar Jan-e-Janan (d. 1780) on prophets in ancient Hinduism

Mirza Mazhar Jan-e-Janan (1699-1780) was a famous Sufi poet of Delhi. It is said that he is recognized as one of the four pillars of eighteenth century Urdu poetry alongside with Sauda, Mir Taqi Mir and Khwaja Mir Dard.

Regarding the Hindu religion he expressed the views that:

• "God had sent a holy book by the name of Veda for the correction of their world through an angel called Brahma,"
• "prior to the birth of Islam, God had indeed sent Prophets to India and that their activities have been recorded in the holy books of the Indians."
• "the general mercy of God did not forget the humanity of this vast landmass"

See this article in The South Asian Tribune from 2010.

His statements about the Divine origin of the Hindu religion are in a letter to a disciple, which is found in a collection of his letters. Here is the link to that Urdu book (see Letter no. 14 on pages 92-95).

Photos and brief video clips from the Berlin Mosque renovation ceremony, 17 April 2018

With the completion of the renovation of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Mosque in Berlin (built 1927), a ceremony was held on 17th April 2018 to mark this event.

Here is a link to a pdf document with some photographs of the occasion and links to two brief video clips.

Zahid Aziz

Comments by an academic researcher in the USA

An academic researcher at a prestigious USA university writes to me praising the quality of the book 'A Mighty Striving'. She says:

"The book "A Mighty Striving" is very well done, the prose is flawless and flowing, and I like the combination of original source material with a narrative that is both descriptive and analytical."

This book is the English translation of Mujahid-i Kabir done by my late mother Mrs Akhtar Aziz and myself, with supplementary material and extra references added by me. The book Mujahid-i Kabir is the biography of Maulana Muhammad Ali in Urdu.

The researcher's topic is the history of the Anjuman Himayat-i Islam, a mainstream Muslim association founded in Lahore in the 1880s. The researcher comments as follows:

"The Anjuman-i Himayat-i Islam's relationship with the Ahmadiyya is very interesting, because it seemed to have changed much over time. In the beginning, there were close ties between both organizations, I think. As you probably know, Khalifah Hamid ad-Din was one of the founders of the Anjuman, and his son Khalifah Rashid ad-Din converted to the Ahmadiyya. His daughter Rashida married Mirza Mahmud Ahmad. In 1890, the Himayat-i Islam also published Ibtal uluhiyyat-i Masih by Nur ad-Din, with the permission of the author and for the "benefit of the people of Islam", as it says on the title page. It also publicly endorsed other Ahmadi writings in its monthly Risalah. In the 1890s, as you know, Khwaja Kamal ad-Din and Muhammad Ali taught at Islamia College.

I wonder though when the relationship changed, and why? There must have been a lot of interaction between the Ahmadiyya Anjuman in Lahore and the Himayat-i Islam, because since 1914, Islamia College and the Ahmadiyya Buildings were on the same street. Also, how does one explain the role of Muhammad Iqbal? He still had a positive attitude towards members of the Lahore group, such as Khwaja Kamal ad-Din in 1911 and even after that. Why did he change his position later on and attack the community?"

I may add that these are questions explored by real and proper acedemic researchers, who carry out serious, objective study. They are at the opposite end of the spectrum from bigots of little knowledge and no reasoning capability who seek the approbation of the common crowd.

Reply about a speech by Hazrat Maulana Nur-ud-Din made at Lahore in 1912

The following has been submitted by Hussun Ahmad.

In the same speech of 1912 he [Hazrat Maulana Nur-ud-Din] also says:

The descendants and close relatives of Hadrat Mirza Sahib are all devoted to me. I tell you truly that there is not one of you who obeys me as do my dear ones Mahmud, Bashir and Sharif, and as do Mir Nasir Nawab and Nawab Muhammad ‘Ali Khan. I do not affirm this to please them, but state it as a fact that they love me out of the desire to win the pleasure of God. I have heard the Ummul Mu’minin affirm a score of times that she deems herself my servant. Miyan Mahmud is grown up, he will tell you that he obeys me sincerely. A critic might say that he does not obey me sincerely, but I know for certain that he is truly, obedient to me, more than any one of you. All the members of Hadrat Mirza Sahib’s family obey me as ‘Alira, Fatima and ‘Abbas obeyed Abu Bakr even more so. Every one of them is so devoted to me that I cannot conceive any of them entertaining a wrong notion about me.

This speech also is interesting about the question of non Ahmadis. I was wondering if i could have the Lahore Jamaat interpretation of this?

Another question on which you differ and raise contentions is: What is the status of our opponents? Now listen carefully. The Word of God has expounded the principles with regard to the acceptance and rejection of a Prophet.

Whenever a Prophet has appeared there has been no difficulty with regard to the classification of those who believe in him and those who disbelieve. Casuistry apart, God Almighty has set forth clearly the principles of disbelief, faith and association of partners with Allah. There have been Prophets in the past. In each case there were those who believed and those who disbelieved. Have you had any doubt concerning them; and have you had any problem about the classification of those who did not believe in them? You have been told of the principles of belief and disbelief.

Hadrat Mirza Sahib (as) was a Messenger of God. Had he not applied the term Prophet to himself, he would have been guilty of rejecting the Hadith narrated in the compilation of Muslim in which the one who was to come was named a Prophet. The question of believing in him or rejecting him is clear. If one who rejects him professes to be a Muslim he is that much closer to you, as the Christians are closer to you than the Jews. In the same way the Muslims who reject Hadrat Mirza Sahib can be closer to us than the others.

Can a “saved” Christian even commit murder?

Submitted by Abdul Momin.

Billy Graham, a very prominent American evangelist and who had close connections with several American Presidents, recently passed away.

Although I am not aware of anything negative that Billy Graham may have said concerning Islam, his son Franklin Graham after 9/11 once called Islam "a very evil and wicked religion".

An article about the life of Billy Graham appeared on MSN at the time of his death. In this article Billy Graham is said to have been "saved" after attending a preacher's sessions in 1934. He is then said to have made a "decision for Christ."

What is very interesting is how he felt after this conversion. The article states:

Returning home with a friend that night, Mr. Graham said, he thought: “Now I’ve gotten saved. Now whatever I do can’t unsave me. Even if I killed somebody, I can’t ever be unsaved now.”

While Billy Graham may never have killed anybody in his life, apparently being "saved" by Jesus saved him from eternal damnation, even if he killed someone. It seems that Jesus would unburden a Christian of his sin even if that person killed someone. However this concession or tolerance is not available to people of other faiths. 

I do not recall ever reading that Jesus made killing of humans lawful.