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January–March 2003
Volume 80, Number 1
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CONTENTS:
- Significance of the Islamic sacrifice at ‘Id-ul-Adha
by the Editor.
- Election of Dr A. K. Saeed Pasha as Amir (Head)
of our Community
Translated and compiled by the Editor.
- Friday Khutba by the Head of the Movement
Sermon delivered in Lahore by Dr A.K. Saeed Pasha
- In memory of Dr Asghar Hameed marhoom
by Ijaz Ahmad Sayal, M.Sc., Lahore.
- My impressions of Dr Asghar Hameed
by Mr Nasir Ahmad, former Editor The Light
- A brief history of the Woking Muslim Mission and
its work
Extract from a book by the famous writer, Ashiq Husain Batalvi
- Woking Mosque functions on historic film clips
by the Editor.
- Affirmations in Haqiqat-ul-Wahy that prophethood
ended with Holy Prophet Muhammad
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad writes in book one year before his
death
Compiled and translated by the Editor.
- Questions from members of the Qadiani Jama‘at
compiled by the Editor.
- Our Arabic publications.
Significance of the Islamic sacrifice at ‘Id-ul-Adha
by the Editor
[The article below is being published on the occasion
of ‘Id-ul-Adha, which took place on February 12th, 2003.]
“And for every nation We appointed acts of devotion
[sacrifices are meant here] that they might mention the name of
God on what He has given them of the cattle quadrupeds.” — 22:34
The Holy Prophet Muhammad, to whom this verse was revealed, himself
knew of only a few nations in his part of the world, and could not
possibly know the fact that is disclosed here, that sacrifice has
been a universal practice among all people on earth. This revealed
statement has been confirmed by modern studies in history and anthropology.
Similarly, in the case of fasting, it is a universal practice,
so widespread that it was even practised in the original religion
of the native American Indians, just as the Quran tells Muslims
that fasting had been “prescribed for those before you”. So the
Holy Prophet Muhammad informed the world of this great truth that
fasting and sacrifice are both universal institutions. And the same
applies to the remaining two practical ordinances of Islam: prayer
and charity. These traditions are spread throughout humankind because,
according to Islam, God raised prophets in all nations on earth,
and they taught human beings to serve the One God in the ways that
are an innate part of human nature.
However, all these widely-prevailing practices had, in various
religions, become corrupted and surrounded by a mass of misconceptions,
and Islam came to restore them to their true significance, meaning
and purpose.
As regards sacrifice, in various religions such as the Jewish and
Hindu religions, the worshippers offered a sacrifice as a gift to
God, to the One God or to some other deity that they believed in,
in order to please that god, to assuage the anger of the deity or
to get some favour from it. For example, the Vedas of the Hindus
show that the sacrifice was in fact a bribe given to secure the
favour of a particular god. It was believed that if you offered
the proper victim as sacrifice, the gods could not refuse your prayer
and had to grant you what you asked for.
The Holy Quran corrected the notion that God, like a human being,
requires some gift to make Him happy and pleased with you. The Quran
says that God is above need of anything that could be supplied by
His creation: “Allah is above need, and you are needy” (47:38),
He is above need of your thanks (39:7), He is above need of the
things in this world (3:96).
It is also fitting to quote here the verse:
“Shall I take for my friend and protector someone other
than Allah — He feeds and is not fed.” — 6:14
This is significant because in most sacrifices what was offered
in sacrifice was some eatable, ranging from grain and butter to,
of course, animals such as cows and sheep. In a Hindu sacrificial
rite, wood and ghee (clarified butter) are fed into fire,
and it is believed that the god in the fire, called Agni, carries
these offerings to the gods in the skies. But the Quran tells us
that God is the One Who feeds and is not fed.
Regarding the animal that Muslims are required to sacrifice, the
Quran says:
“Not their flesh, nor their blood reaches Allah. What
reaches Him is your righteousness.” — 22:37
What reaches Allah is your sacrifice of yourself, that is, the
sacrifice of your desires. When the animal is sacrificed, you are
making the statement by this act that you are sacrificing the animal
desires, the lower desires, within yourself. That is the purpose
of the sacrifice which has been continued as a practice in Islam.
Another way in which the institution of sacrifice had been corrupted
and perverted was by the custom of sacrificing human beings, often
children or maidens. Again, the hideous idea behind this was to
offer to a god something that is most pure and unsullied. It was
also the most valuable thing that could be sacrificed. Human sacrifices
prevailed very widely in the world among most races and in most
regions, for example, among the Greeks, Romans, Northern Europeans,
Britons, various Middle Eastern nations and among Hindus in India.
Several of the gods worshipped by certain castes of the Hindus are
said to be appeased by the sacrifice of a human life, and such sacrifices
were offered when some calamity or disaster befell the community.
Indeed in Hindu scriptures human sacrifice is sometimes mentioned
as part of the religious rituals. Such sacrifice was banned only
in modern times under British rule in India. Nonetheless, even during
the 20th century there were cases brought to court in South India
in which a human being — usually a child or even the sacrificer’s
own son — had been sacrificed among certain Hindu castes, as offerings
to please certain gods of those people.
Abraham’s sacrifice
This brings us to the subject of the sacrifice which Abraham was
intending to make of his son, Ismail, and how, through that incident,
God communicated to mankind that human sacrifice is not what is
required.
It was after much prayer that Abraham had a child, a son, and
that too in old age. When Ismail reached his early teens, Abraham
saw in a dream that he was sacrificing him. As human sacrifice,
particularly of the first-born son, was a practice prevailing among
various nations, Abraham came to believe that he was being instructed
by God to sacrifice Ismail. Having obtained Ismail’s agreement,
Abraham tried to perform this act but God stopped him and said:
“You have already fulfilled the vision” (Holy Quran, 37:104–105).
To mark this event, the practice of the sacrifice of an animal was
instituted, which takes place annually at the time of the Pilgrimage
to Makka.
This incident, apart from having many other important lessons and
significances, showed that human sacrifice is a mistaken and wrong
notion which is not warranted by God. This was a great blessing
to humanity, and one of the aspects that we mark by recalling this
event every year is how God disallowed this cruel and barbaric practice
which was spread among all countries and nations.
Was Abraham actually commanded to slaughter Ismail
A question arises whether God actually ordered Abraham to sacrifice
Ismail, and when he showed his readiness to do so, God told him
that his willingness to make the sacrifice was tantamount to fulfilling
the vision. Was the Divine purpose to test Abraham to see if he
would carry out this order? A famous Indian Muslim scholar, author
and historian, Maulana Shibli Nu‘mani (who was a contemporary of
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad) writes in his well-known biography of
the Holy Prophet Muhammad Sirat-un-Nabi as follows:
“It must first be explained that in the religion of
Abraham, the same word was used for both making a sacrifice and
devoting something to God. If it was said that a child should be
sacrificed in the temple the meaning was that he should be taken
from his house and given to the service and custodianship of that
temple. But when the same word was used about an animal, then physical
sacrifice of life was meant. It is said in the Torah from the mouth
of God: ‘For all the first-born among the people of Israel are mine,
both of man and of beast’ (Numbers, 8:17). It is also mentioned
in detail in the same book of Numbers (ch. 8) that the Levites should
be offered ‘before the Lord as a wave offering … that it may be
theirs to do the service of the Lord. Then the Levites shall lay
their hands upon the heads of the bulls’ who will be sacrificed.
The command given to Abraham in his dream to sacrifice
his son meant that the son should be devoted to the service of God.
Abraham at first took this dream literally and actually, and tried
to act on it exactly. However, it later became clear that it was
a symbolic dream. On that basis, Abraham devoted his son for the
service of the House of God.” (pages 136, 137)
A little further on, he writes under the heading The nature
of the sacrifice:
“Leaders of Sufi thought have written that the dreams
shown to prophets are of two kinds: those meant exactly as seen
and those meant symbolically. In the former, what is seen in the
dream is exactly what is meant. In symbolic dreams, the significance
is conveyed by means of similitude and illustration. The dream shown
to Abraham meant that the son should be devoted for the service
of the House of God, so that he is not to pursue some other walk
of life than service of the Ka‘bah. In the Torah the word ‘sacrifice’
is repeatedly used with this meaning.
Abraham took this dream literally and tried to
act upon it exactly as he saw it, though his thinking was an error
of judgment which prophets can make, but such error is removed through
a warning from God. So Abraham was stopped from carrying it out.”
(pages 145–147)
Thus Abraham was informed by revelation that he had already fulfilled
the vision by leaving Ismail, along with his mother Hagar, at the
site of the Ka‘bah in the service of God.
Whatever interpretation we take, the lesson for us in the sacrifice
of Abraham is to be ever-prepared to sacrifice, when required in
the Divine cause, whatever we hold dearest to us, be it our lives,
wealth, position in society, relationships, etc. It is not the thing
we sacrifice that matters, but the sacrifice of our attachment to
it and of our desire to possess it, when that desire conflicts with
doing our duty to God.
It must be emphasized that sacrifice of life, as required by Islam,
does not consist of throwing away your life by committing
an irrational, reckless act of intentional suicide for some object,
or by urging and teaching others to do so. Through the incident
of Abraham’s dream, Allah has taught His prohibition of literal
human sacrifice. So if any people or community sends its young sons
to their certain deaths by getting them to undertake premeditated
suicide attacks, this is not the sacrifice of life required by Islam;
indeed it is disallowed by Islam. True sacrifice of life is to spend
your life working for the cause of Islam.
There is another kind of ‘sacrifice of son’ as well, which is greatly
beneficial. Often parents pander to the wrong ambitions, habits
and desires of their sons, out of misguided love, rather than correcting
them. Fathers in position of power or authority misuse their position
to allow wrongdoings, flagrant misdeeds and injustice by their sons
to continue unchecked. The worst examples of this are when sons
of presidents and rulers feel free to violate the law of the land
as well as transgress the rules of morality because the father does
not stop them nor allow the law to take action against them. Those
are occasions when a father should sacrifice his love for the son
in the path of justice.
In conclusion, we must remember that the sacrifice of an animal
at ‘Id-ul-Adha is only a token of our resolve to make real
sacrifices of the animal desires within us. Maulana Muhammad Ali
often used to exhort the members of this community in his ‘Id-ul-Adha
addresses that, on every such ‘Id, they should strive to
give up one bad habit permanently. It is doing that which is the
real sacrifice.
Election of
Dr A. K. Saeed Pasha as Amir (Head) of our Community
Translated and compiled by the Editor
A news report was published in a recent issue of the paper Paigham
Sulh, the Urdu organ of the Central Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore,
recording the events of the election of the new Head of our Movement.
We have translated some extracts from it as given below.
From Paigham Sulh, 16 October–1 November
2002, page 2:
Following the death, on 14 October 2002, of Dr Asghar Hameed, Ph.D.,
the Amir of the Community, the question of the election of
the new Amir was to be faced. The names of many good and
honourable men of rectitude were being considered. Allah, by His
mercy, produced agreement and harmony among the elector members,
and they unanimously decided to ask Dr Abdul Karim Saeed Pasha to
accept this position. This was a severe trial for Dr Pasha: his
choice was between service of the faith on the one hand and worldly
position and riches on the other. Accepting this position required
him to take premature retirement from his position as Head of the
Department of Medicine at the Ayub Medical College Abbottabad, as
well as leave his vast medical practice, thus losing his income
from these sources. He related that, after undertaking special prayers
to Almighty Allah, he was clearly guided to take this opportunity
of giving precedence to service of the faith. So, bearing worldly
loss and preferring to serve the faith, he stated his readiness
to accept the office of Amir. On 3 November, when he came
to attend the meeting of the General Council (majlis mu‘timidin),
the Presiding Officer of the meeting, Mr Umar Farooq, formally invited
him to accept this office and asked members of the meeting to express
their views. Without hesitation, all members raised their hands
in his support, and thanks to Almighty Allah the new Amir
was elected unanimously.
It is also a matter of rendering thanks to Allah that as the news
reached the various branches of the Jama‘at that Dr Abdul
Karim Saeed Pasha had been elected our fifth Amir great satisfaction
and happiness at the result were expressed everywhere. Just as this
is a result at which members of the Jama‘at everywhere deserve
to receive felicitations, so does the Amir Dr Saeed Pasha
deserve congratulations for attaining this illustrious office and
receiving the confidence of the Jama‘at in his person.
Being Head of the Jama‘at is a heavy responsibility that
can only be discharged with the help of Almighty Allah. As Dr Pasha
has set an excellent and commendable example of preferring religious
service over worldly interests, it also behooves all members of
the Jama‘at to fulfill their obligation of giving priority
to the well-being of the Jama‘at over their personal interests,
and to cooperate with him for the progress of the Movement.
We must admit that we have not been able to take the grand knowledge
of Islam, as presented in the books of the Promised Messiah, to
the whole world on the scale on which it needs to be done. This
work can be expanded by means of wide distribution of pamphlets
on various subjects, for adults and children, and by means of the
Internet as well as correspondence. We can also strengthen the ties
between us. To improve communications in order to strengthen and
consolidate the Jama‘at, and to forgive each others’ faults,
must become our main characteristics. The Jama‘at is only
a name for a group of individuals. So we must devote attention to
the moral and spiritual welfare of each and every individual.
It is our tradition that members of the Jama‘at serve the
cause of the Movement and Islam sincerely, fervently, zealously
and with sacrifices, under the guidance of the Amir. That
is what we must continue to do for the progress and strengthening
of the Jama‘at.
Ratification of the election of Amir
In the Paigham Sulh issue dated December 2002, the ratification
of the election of the Amir as required by the Constitution
of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore is reported. It is translated below
in its entirety.
“A special session of the Ahmadiyya
Conference (majlis ‘áma) was held on Thursday 26 December
2002 at 8.00 p.m., at Darus Salaam, New Garden Town, Lahore,
with Mr Umar Farooq, Senior Vice-President of the Central Anjuman,
as Presiding Officer, to ratify and approve the election of Dr Abdul
Karim Saeed Pasha as Amir of the Jama‘at.
After reciting the Holy Quran, the General-Secretary Professor
(retired) Aziz Ahmad read out and presented for approval the decision
of the General Council (majlis mu‘timidin) taken at its meeting
of 3 November 2002 to elect Dr Abdul Karim Saeed Pasha as the Amir
and President of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore. He asked the Presiding
Officer to seek the opinion of the Conference on this decision.
The Presiding Officer first instructed all those present to recite
the Darood, which the members proceeded to do. Then he put
it to them to express their opinion regarding the ratification of
the decision of the General Council. All those present raised their
hands in support of the decision. Thus the Ahmadiyya Conference
too unanimously ratified the election of Dr Abdul Karim Saeed Pasha
as the Amir and President of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore.
The requirements of the Constitution of the Anjuman were thereby
fulfilled.
The Presiding Officer congratulated all the members and prayed
that Allah the Most High help us and enable this Jama‘at
to render further service to the religion of Islam.”
— Paigham Sulh, 1–31 December 2002, page 8.
Friday Khutba by the Head of the Movement
Sermon delivered in Lahore by
Dr A.K. Saeed Pasha
Translated by the Editor, The Light
[I have translated below the report of the Friday
Khutba delivered by the new Head of the Movement in Lahore on 27
December 2002, as it appeared in Paigham Sulh, December 2002, which
published its highlights and salient points.]
“Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority
from among you.” (4:59)
Under this injunction of Allah the Most High all of you have the
duty of obeying me as long as I remain obedient to the orders of
Allah and His Messenger, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, and of whole-heartedly
cooperating with me. If I violate the orders of Allah and His Messenger
then you have the right and duty to correct me, and I cannot have
any complaint if you do. If anyone feels aggrieved with me, he should
make me aware of his grievance, and I will try my best to redress
the complaint. If there is a mistake on my part, I shall apologize.
You have handed me the responsibility of headship at a time of
the most difficult circumstances. Today it is a hard time for our
Jama‘at (community). The Promised Messiah had identified
this already and wrote in Barahin Ahmadiyya: “Every Muslim
will belie me”. So do not worry about these fatwas against
us and this belying. This hard time will pass. Maintain harmony
and concord among yourselves. Our entire Jama‘at is like
a family spread all over the world. All Ahmadis, wherever they may
be, must help one another and not neglect taking care of each other.
Consider the pains and troubles of every other member as being your
own pains and concerns, and try to alleviate them. Every branch
of the Jama‘at must work under the authority of the Centre
and maintain contact and liaison with it. Try to reconcile those
brothers who are discontented and bring them into the community
to work with you. We must make each and every member realize that
he or she is a valuable asset to the community, and has a role to
play. Our Centre is the heart and it is necessary to strengthen
it. If it is strong the whole community will be strong.
I want to draw your attention to devoting your lives and properties
in the way of Allah. Sayyid Abdul Latif shaheed offered his
life to prove the truth of the Promised Messiah and his mission.
This is not a loss making transaction. The sacrifices made by Hazrat
Maulana Nur-ud-Din in giving his wealth and services to the mission
of the Promised Messiah also was not a loss making transaction.
Allah will cause the mission of His appointed one to succeed. You
must come forward to offer service with your life and wealth. You
will not lose; Allah will bestow upon you a great reward. This work
is Divinely-ordained, so if you do not do it God will fulfill this
mission through someone else. God does not need us. It is we who
stand in need of our offerings being accepted by Him. When you have
spent in the way of God, do not try to claim credit for it, for
then your good work will be lost.
In memory of Dr Asghar Hameed marhoom
by Ijaz Ahmad Sayal, M.Sc., Lahore
Translated by the Editor The Light
[The article translated below appeared in Paigham
Sulh, 1–15 January 2003, pages 11–12.]
Hazrat Amir Dr Asghar Hameed (may Allah have mercy on him)
went to his final abode during the night of 13–14 October 2002 —
inna li-llahi wa inna ilai-hi raji‘un. The One Who calls
back is the most beloved.
Maulana Muhammad Ali also died on almost the same date, 13 October
1951. By another coincidence of Divine decree, our second Hazrat
Amir Maulana Sadr-ud-Din and third Hazrat Amir Dr Saeed
Ahmad Khan died on the same day, 15 November (1981 and 1996 respectively).
One notable quality of these elders is that they had a high spiritual
status, and they had been tried by Allah in different ways, in order
to elevate their spiritual rank, before they became Amir.
Maulana Nur-ud-Din, Maulana Muhammad Ali and Maulana Sadr-ud-Din
had been spiritually brought up in the care of the Founder of the
Ahmadiyya Movement. Dr Saeed Ahmad Khan, for his spiritual elevation,
was tried by Allah in 1974, when due to the anti-Ahmadiyya agitation
he suffered the loss not only of his house and clinic, but had to
leave his means of livelihood and his home town and migrate to Lahore.
But he never complained about this tribulation, nor express regret.
Dr Asghar Hameed too, for his spiritual progress, was made to pass
through trials and tribulations. He had also to pass through the
anti-Ahmadiyya agitation of 1974. His home was attacked and his
car was burnt. After retirement he moved to Darus Salaam (the Lahore
Ahmadiyya locality). Here he had to face the shock of the unexpected
death of his son Captain Dr Asif Hameed, and shortly afterwards
his wife passed away. His domestic worries increased, but he showed
the most perfect example of patience and fortitude.
I knew the late Dr Asghar Hameed since he moved to Darus Salaam
after his retirement. I was then an F.Sc. student at college. As
he was regular in coming to the mosque for prayers, I met him everyday.
My brothers and I became increasingly close friends of his two sons,
the late Asif Hameed and Asim Hameed.
He had a Suzuki motorcycle, on which he used to take Asif to school.
Whenever we youngsters needed to use a motorcycle, we would ask
to borrow his. He never refused, but as he was a strict follower
of legal rules he used to ask us if we had a license to ride. However,
he never asked to see it.
He was a University teacher of mathematics, and I was a student
of statistics. I began having difficulty with statistics, and when
I mentioned it to him he started giving me lessons with love and
affection. He was more concerned about my progress than I was. If
I ever did not attend, he would ask the reason for it the next time.
Similarly, other students in the Jama‘at also sought his
assistance. Sometimes he would even remain in the mosque giving
us guidance on a topic of our study.
He enjoyed fine health. Following the example of the Holy Prophet
Muhammad, he did the mundane household tasks himself. He used to
walk to the shops for the daily domestic shopping, carrying two
large bags. If anyone offered to carry them, he would decline the
offer with a smile. This routine continued even after he was chosen
as the Amir. We young people got together and decided that
we would help Hazrat Amir in these daily tasks such as shopping.
But when we tried to do it in practice, he smiled and insisted that
it was his work and he must do it himself. Our friend Anwar Ali,
who had newly joined the Jama‘at, was much impressed and
said that we read of such incidents about Hazrat Umar, the second
khalifa of Islam, but now we see with our own eyes the head
of our community following that same path. He treated his domestic
workers with great sympathy and affection. This is why they were
always so happy and contented with him. He also used to joke with
them occasionally.
His personal wish was to be buried in the old cemetery of the Jama‘at
at Miani Sahib, close to his mother’s grave. However, as he respected
the opinions of others, when he saw his son Asim insisting that
the burial place should be in the Darus Salaam cemetery, he agreed
to this.
The true believers are granted a special kind of commanding dignity
and esteem by Allah, and he had been given this kind of impressive
personality. He was held in great respect and honour by everyone.
His students in his university held him in very high regard. Some
of his colleagues in the university referred to him as an angel.
He was a member of various university committees, and was absolutely
scrupulous in keeping accounts down to the last penny. He never
hid the fact that he was an Ahmadi, and by his actions he presented
the true image of an Ahmadi. In 1974, when there was an anti-Ahmadiyya
campaign raging throughout Pakistan, he lived within the precincts
of the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore (UET). A
crowd of inflamed students gathered outside his house, intending
to attack it. He was inside the house at the time. They damaged
his car and were about to enter the house. With the greatest courage
he came out to face the angry crowd and called out to their leader,
who was his student, “What is the matter?” The student leader was
so overwhelmed by the presence and manner of Dr Asghar Hameed that
he retreated and took back the crowd with him. The following day
the same student leader came to him with a mathematics question.
Dr Asghar Hameed magnanimously made no reference whatever to the
previous day’s commotion and helped him with his problem.
Dr Asghar Hameed was a scholar and a lover of knowledge. He applied
thinking to the study of religion as well, and would make investigations
in order to reach a conclusion. On the instructions of Dr Saeed
Ahmad Khan he started imparting teaching of the Holy Quran in Darus
Salaam after the maghrib prayers. During the illness of Mr
Nasir Ahmad Faruqui he took over the giving of the Friday khutba
for several months. His addresses were simple but full of knowledge.
He listened to the speeches of others with rapt attention, and would
sometimes point out subtle things. In our annual training classes
there is one session of questions and answers, in which the students
answer questions about religion. As long as his health allowed,
he participated in this session and could answer the most difficult
question simply, clearly and positively.
He had devoted attention to this particular claim of Hazrat Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad that he was Dhu-l-Qarnain (‘Man of two centuries’),
and in this connection he had looked into the calendars of various
religions. He held the view that Hazrat Mirza sahib was Mujaddid
of two centuries, but he did not object if we disagreed with this
view. He also believed that one must avoid making needlessly detailed
investigations of these matters because it will create problems
rather than solving them.
He was the living picture of the Quranic injunction to “speak straight
words”. Not only in the meetings of the executive committee or the
general council of the Anjuman, but generally as well, he stuck
strongly to this principle. When the khatib of the Darus
Salaam Jami‘* Raja Muhammad
Baidar was going on leave, Dr Asghar Hameed asked me to start giving
the khutba. I replied that I have neither the experience
nor the knowledge to do so. He said: If you start delivering the
khutba, the experience will come by itself; use books to
make your preparation. I benefited greatly by his love and encouragement,
and Allah made me successful in this work, praise be to Allah for
it. He used to advise that one must write down one’s khutbas
and speeches. The speaker benefits because he keeps a record
of it, and other people benefit because they can study it later.
*Footnote: By Jami‘
is meant mosque. The law of Pakistan prohibits Ahmadis from using
the word ‘mosque’ or masjid for their mosques. Hence
we call them as Jami‘. — Editor, The Light.
When I was directed by the Anjuman to visit the Jama‘at
in Fiji, he guided me at every step. He showed as much concern for
my trip as if he himself was going. He very kindly gave me speeches
and Quran lessons written in his own hand. He also gave me a recorded
khutba of his on tape to present as a gift to the Fiji Jama‘at.
I had some problems with getting transit visas for certain countries,
and there was the danger that I would be returned back to Pakistan
from those countries. He asked me what I planned to do now. I replied:
I will do as you say; I am not worried about myself being turned
back or penalized in some other way, but the Anjuman’s fare would
be wasted. He said: Then get ready to go, don’t worry about the
money, we should not stop the work of the Jama‘at merely
for that reason. Generally too, he used to say that money should
be spent on Jama‘at work, and the more is spent the more
is given by Allah.
He was strictly regular in prayer and used to pray in congregation
with great serenity and composure. When his health declined, he
was unable to come to the mosque and prayed at home. If a visitor
called when he was at prayer, his attendant would ask the visitor
to give him half an hour in view of his lengthy absorption in prayer.
In religious matters he adopted a realistic approach. So although
he exhorted the members of the Jama‘at to say tahajjud
prayers, as well as the five mandatory prayers, but he advised
that if you cannot say tahajjud prayers everyday then perform
them on a holiday. After each congregational prayer he took care
to recite the ayat-ul-kursi, thereby making those sitting
next to him aware of the importance of doing so. He gave zakat
and subscriptions to the Jama‘at very regularly. Regarding
wills, he stressed that a portion of one’s assets must be bequeathed
to the Jama‘at, but that you must try to donate it during
your life in monthly installments, as you cannot know whether your
heirs will execute your wishes after you or not.
It is a blessing of Allah upon the Lahore Ahmadiyya Jama‘at
that its leaders have always been righteous and followed the teachings
of Islam. I saw the times of Dr Saeed Ahmad Khan and Dr Asghar Hameed
from close at hand. Simple living and fear of God was their hallmark.
There was no guard at their door, nor any grand mansion in which
they lived. Their door was always open for anyone who wished to
meet them. Whenever we went to see Dr Asghar Hameed, he would call
us in at once. When he was not well, we would feel that perhaps
we had made a mistake in troubling him by going to see him, but
he never turned us away, and always granted us the honour of meeting
him. Such was his affection that about one day before his death,
when his body was cold as ice and he was into his last hours, he
still allowed me to meet him.
When he was well, he offered his visitors fruits etc. His box of
chocolates was a source of attraction for us, and he made sure that
it was never empty. Whenever he was asked how he was, he would reply
al-hamdu lillah (‘Praise be to Allah’), and ask for prayers
for himself. He used to pray much for the Jama‘at, and whenever
anyone requested him for prayers he remembered his name in prayer.
He was blessed by Allah with extraordinary powers of memory and
recall. He knew everyone’s name, what they did, what studies any
youngster was pursuing, etc.
By way of his last instructions he had said that the next Amir
must be chosen by united agreement and disputes of all kinds must
be avoided. Thanks to Allah that his wish was fulfilled, and the
General Council unanimously selected Dr Abdul Karim Saeed Pasha
as Amir. Dr Asghar Hameed also had him in mind for this office.
May Allah make the leadership of our new Amir blessed for
us, and through him strengthen our Jama‘at in every way!
My impressions of
Dr Asghar Hameed
by Mr Nasir Ahmad, former Editor The Light
Translated by the Editor, The Light
Dr Asghar Hameed was a man of high principle and strong faith,
and a sympathetic, kind and forthright person. He had held the highest
post in the Mathematics department at the UET, Lahore. He had a
distinguished place in the eyes of the staff and students because
of his academic ability, hard work and conscientiousness. The students
were deeply impressed by his virtuous character and truthful speaking,
and for these qualities they held him in the highest esteem.
Although I did not have much opportunity to be close to him or
to work with him, but for the short period that I did have this
chance I was struck by his simplicity, humility and courage.
He was a teacher of mathematics, which he taught till his retirement,
but despite that he had much interest in Urdu and Persian literature
and a command over these languages. He paid special attention to
the finer points of word usage and grammar. This was why when any
writing was placed before him for his opinion, he would improve
it. He would work hard on any writing, whether his own or someone
else’s, to perfect it so as to leave no flaws in it, whether from
the viewpoint of expressing its meaning or its use of language.
His memory was superhuman. Seeing any extract or reference just
once, it would become etched in his memory, and whenever he saw
it reproduced again he could immediately spot if there were any
changes from the original.
I go back now to the last phase of the life of Maulana Muhammad
Ali. Members of the Jama‘at would come from far and wide
to attend the Friday prayer at the mosque in Ahmadiyya Buildings.
We children would sit in the last row in the mosque and listen with
rapt attention to the khutba of this spiritually radiant
personality. We used to observe that a very smart, elegant man would
come with great regularity on a bicycle and sit in the front row.
As soon as the prayers finished he would exit the mosque quietly
and leave on his bicycle. Being curious to know who he was, I asked
someone and I was told that it was Dr Asghar Hameed, professor of
mathematics at the Engineering College Lahore (now UET). This was
situated about 5 kilometers from Ahmadiyya Buildings, but whether
it was summer or winter, whatever the weather, he used to attend
the Friday prayers unfailingly in this way.
A long time passed after this. In 1960 I became associated with
the publications section of the Central Anjuman. When we needed
to correct misprints in the 1951 revised edition of Maulana Muhammad
Ali’s English translation and commentary of the Holy Quran we discovered
that Dr Asghar Hameed had, all by himself, with much effort and
skill, prepared a list of misprints and their corrections. Seeing
this list, I was very impressed with his scholarship and his love
for the Quran, and I came to esteem him very highly. Similarly,
with the Urdu translation and commentary of the Holy Quran he prepared
a list of corrections with much labour. This service of his to the
translations of the Quran will always be greatly valued.
Much later, Dr Asghar Hameed took on the responsibility of Headship
of the Jama‘at. As during his period of leadership I was
mostly staying in England I did not get much opportunity to work
with him. However, during this period I returned to Pakistan twice
and saw him from close at hand. Now he was not in such good health
and mainly stayed at home. But he continued to supervise the work
in the office and preside over meetings of the executive committee
and the general council. He displayed great skill, tolerance and
patience in chairing these meetings and firmly maintaining order
and regulation.
He wrote messages to be read at conventions of the branches of
the Jama‘at in other countries. These messages displayed
maturity of writing, high aims and an urge for the propagation of
Islam. He exerted much labour in translating from Urdu to English
the voluminous book Kitab-ul-Bariyya by the Promised Messiah.
He made great efforts to ensure that no word in the Urdu book was
omitted in the translation. His completion of this translation,
inspite of facing many problems, is testimony to his love and adoration
of the Promised Messiah.
In the demise of Hazrat Amir Dr Asghar Hameed we have lost
a sincere, virtuous, energetic, pious man, who was devoted to the
worship of Allah and was a man of firm principle. May Allah the
Most High admit him into His Janna, grant us to follow in
his footsteps, and enable us to create stronger foundations on which
to establish the mission of the propagation of Islam!
— Paigham Sulh, 16–30 November 2002, page 4.
A brief history of the Woking Muslim Mission and its
work
Extract from a book by the famous writer, Ashiq Husain
Batalvi
Translated by the Editor
Introduction
Dr Ashiq Husain Batalvi is a well known author, journalist and
biographer. He obtained his doctorate from the famous School of
Oriental and African Studies in the University of London. He was
very active in the Muslim League and devoted his early life to the
struggle for Muslim independence in pre-partition India. He worked
with the Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, in the later
years of the efforts for the creation of Pakistan. For many years
he was the permanent correspondent of the famous Pakistan newspaper
‘Dawn’ in England.
He has given his opinion and estimation of the Woking Muslim Mission
in his Urdu book Chand Yadain, Chand Tasirat (‘Some Memories,
Some Impressions’). The extract below is translated from this book,
published in Lahore in 1992 by Sangmel Publications (this book was
also published earlier in 1969 by A’inah Adab in Lahore).
[Quote Begins]
The name of the Woking Muslim Mission has reached more or less
every part of the world. It has done so much work of propagation
of Islam in Europe as no other organization has probably done. Woking
is a pretty town 25 miles from London. From Woking railway station,
the mosque is situated at a walk of about 15 to 20 minutes and is
set in a green plot of two acres. Its green dome is visible from
afar. Inside there is a carpet on the floor. Above the mihrab,
directly in front, are affixed inscriptions bearing verses of the
Quran, and the minbar is close to it. Adjacent to the mosque
is a spacious house where the Imam resides. It is this mosque which,
for the past half a century, has been the centre of the propagation
activities of a Muslim mission.
It seems pertinent to explain first how this mosque came to be
built on British soil and who was its founder. The interesting history
of the Woking mosque is that the name of the man who built it was
Dr Leitner, who at one time was employed at the University of the
Punjab [Lahore, present-day Pakistan]. Upon relinquishing his post
and returning to England he came up with a plan to establish an
institute for the dissemination of Islamic culture. For this purpose
he applied to the ruler of Bhopal, the lady Shah Jehan Begum, for
financial assistance, and she gave him a substantial sum of money.
With this money, Dr Leitner purchased this two acre plot of land
in Woking and built the mosque in 1889. The ruler of the state of
Hyderabad, Salar Jung, also gave him financial help, with which
the residential house was built.
Dr Leitner died before he could complete his plan and this property
came into the hands of his son, who had little interest in his father’s
project. Gradually the mosque became entirely derelict. Now look
at this fortunate coincidence that in 1912 the late Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din
came to England. He was a highly successful lawyer in Lahore, but
he had a boundless love for Islam. Leaving his practice, he devoted
his life for the propagation of Islam and came to England for this
purpose.
That was the time when the British nation was at the peak of its
world rule. Its empire was spread east and west, and it was said
that the sun never sets on the British empire. Muslims everywhere
were subjugated and dominated, and this subservience and servitude
had created in them extreme feelings of inferiority. When the Khwaja
sahib decided to propagate Islam in England, many people advised
him that he was destroying his legal career for no reason because
the British had no inclination for Islam, and if they were interested
why should they accept the religion of a subject people whom they
were ruling over? But these disheartening comments did not weaken
the Khwaja sahib’s resolve.
After coming to London, he initially settled in the Richmond area
and began to preach the message of Islam by speech and writing.
For this purpose he also started his famous magazine Islamic
Review. However, he required a place which he could make the
permanent centre of his activities. At this stage he learnt about
the existence of the Woking mosque and that this house of God was
lying deserted. The Khwaja sahib went to Woking and took possession
of the mosque. The heirs of Dr Leitner attempted to evict him from
there but the Khwaja sahib told them that according to Islam a place
once designated as a mosque remains forever a mosque, and no person
can prevent Muslims from praying in it. In this connection he was
helped greatly by the late Mirza Sir Abbas Ali Baig who in those
days was a member of the Council of the Secretary of State for India.
The result was that the mosque came into the control of the Khwaja
sahib.
Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din was a lawyer. So he created a Trust for the
guardianship of the mosque which initially had three members: (1)
the Rt. Hon. Sayyid Ameer Ali who was a member of the Judicial Committee
of the Privy Council, (2) Mirza Sir Abbas Ali Baig, and (3) Sir
Thomas Arnold who had been Sir Muhammad Iqbal’s teacher in Government
College Lahore. This Trust appointed the Khwaja sahib as Imam. Since
that time the Woking Mosque has been the biggest centre of the propagation
of Islam in England.
Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din faced great difficulties at first. There were
many strange stories and unfounded myths about Islam prevailing
in the country. To remove this barrier of prejudice and ignorance
was not an easy task. But the Khwaja sahib possessed an extraordinary
mind and heart. He was extremely intelligent and hard working. He
had enviable command of both writing and speech. Above all, he had
the most perfect conviction in the truth of Islam, and it was this
that sustained his courage. Consequently, in his own lifetime he
saw this Mission make tremendous progress.
He wrote some twenty books on Islam in English. Through his efforts
the English translation of the Quran by Maulana Muhammad Ali of
Lahore was published from Woking in 1917. This was undoubtedly a
great achievement because before that no Muslim in the world had
translated the Divine Word into English. Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din died
in Lahore on 28 December 1932. Before his death he made over his
property, including his writings and the magazine Islamic Review,
to the Woking Mission.
Apart from the Khwaja sahib, other people who have served as Imams
of the Woking mosque from time to time included Maulana Sadr-ud-Din,
Maulana Muhammad Yaqub Khan, Maulana Abdul Majeed, Maulvi Mustafa
Khan, Dr Shaikh Muhammad Abdullah and Maulvi Aftab-ud-Din Ahmad,
whose good names deserve great honour and respect. Except for the
late Maulvi Aftab-ud-Din Ahmad, I have personally known all these
gentlemen. In fact, the first three mentioned above were my teachers
during my days as a student.
To realize the importance of the activities of the Woking Mission
it is necessary to review the past fifty years, during which the
workers of the Mission have rendered the most valuable service to
the cause of Islam in Europe. Leaving aside the other countless
writings and publications produced by the Mission, just the issues
of the Islamic Review are testimony to that service. There
cannot be any aspect of Islamic teachings, history, civilization,
culture, traditions and social life on which there have not appeared
scholarly and learned articles in this journal. This magazine is
read all over the world and it has undoubtedly done great work in
presenting the true picture of Islam.
Besides propagation work, the Woking Mission has become the centre
for the gatherings of those hundreds of thousands of Muslims who
live in Britain. They include Muslims of every country from Morocco
to China. On ‘Id occasions, the scene at Woking is worthy
of view. There are Muslims gathered from Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Malaya,
Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Arabia, Nigeria, Algeria, in short,
every race, colour and nation. There are also many British converts
to Islam who take part. In this international gathering, despite
the differences of language, dress, colour and custom, there runs
a tremendous wave of brotherhood that removes the difference between
east and west, and black and white, and binds all Muslims together
as members of one community. The ‘Id prayers are held in
a very large marquee and after the prayers lunch is served there,
which is provided as hospitality by the Mission. We are all guests
of the Woking Mission on ‘Id day.
What has impressed me most is that the Woking Mission is doing
the service of Islam while remaining entirely away from sectarianism,
and indeed above it. I have seen in the last ten years*
that the ‘Id prayers are led by different Imams [of different
sects]. They include the Iranian Shia religious leader, the ambassador
of Indonesia, the famous British convert to Islam Dr Cowan and Dr
Abdul Aziz Khulusi of Iraq.
*Footnote: The
period referred to is 1953–1963. — Editor, The Light.
There is a Muslim Society established under the auspices of the
Mission. Its head office is in the area of Victoria in central London,
where there are very interesting gatherings every week, in which
people of all beliefs and views participate. Usually someone gives
a talk on a religious, social, academic or literary issue concerning
the Muslims, and this is followed by a reasoned discussion.
The Imam of the Woking mosque is especially busy. Many societies
and organisations in Britain hold meetings at which representatives
of different faiths are invited to speak. Most often the Imam of
Woking has the honour to represent Islam at these functions.
Today, by the efforts of the Muslims, there are mosques in other
cities in Britain as well. In England there is not the same unawareness,
ignorance and prejudice regarding Islam that existed half a century
ago. Despite that, there is no decline in the pivotal position of
Woking, and today too Woking is the chief centre of the renaissance
of Islam in Britain.
— London, 1963.
[Quote ends]
(Chand Yadain, Chand Tasirat, pages 465–469. Translated from
the extract published in Paigham Sulh, 1st–15th February
2003, pages 11–12.)
Woking Mosque functions on historic film clips
Covering period 1919 to 1950s
by the Editor
British Pathe was an organization which, for much of the twentieth
century till about 1970, made films of current events, and these
were then compiled into newsreels and, as older people will remember,
shown to the public in cinemas before the main film (movie) programme
began. Recently British Pathe have created a website, on which they
have made most of their stock of film clips available for viewing,
and this website provides a facility to search for clips by name
of topic. I searched for films clips relating to the Woking Mosque
and discovered that there were eleven clips covering various events
at the Woking Mosque over the period 1919 to 1958. I downloaded
these clips, which can be done free of charge for the low picture
quality versions of these clips, viewed them and made notes about
their contents. Subsequently the U.K. branch of A.A.I.I.L. purchased
from British Pathe the same film clips in high picture quality on
video tape, a service that they provide.
Contents of the clips
Two of the clips are just over two minutes in length, four are
between one and two minutes long, and the remaining five are less
than one minute. These times may appear short, but when the clips
are actually viewed one finds that a clip of length one minute contains
a considerable amount of coverage.
Further details of these clips are as follows.
- ‘Id-ul-Fitr prayers in 1954. This clip has full sound
commentary. Dr S.M. Abdullah is shown leading the prayers, and
is named in the commentary as the Imam. People are shown before,
during and after the prayers.
- December 1936. This has brief sound commentary. Opens with Maulana
Aftab-ud-Din Ahmad walking with Crown Prince Faisal (later King
Faisal) of Saudi Arabia, and then shows the Maulana leading the
prayers. The Maulana’s voice is heard reciting the verse Ihdi-nas-sirat-al-mustaqim
as well as calling out the Takbirs.
- ‘Id-ul-Adha 1933, with Imam Maulvi Abdul Majeed leading
the congregation in open air. The prayer is shown from start to
finish, and you hear the sound of the Imam, except for the omission
of the main part of the qiyam during which the Fatiha
and Quranic recitation takes place. Lord Headley is seen in
the front row.
The remaining clips, below, are without any sound.
- 1925. Visit of the Begum of Bhopal to the Woking Mosque. This
was the Muslim lady ruler who financed Dr Leitner to build the
Woking Mosque. The clip shows Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din escorting the
Begum into the mosque. Lord Headley is also seen at the beginning
of the clip.
- Visit of Haille Selassie to Woking in 1936. An address is given
in his honour by Sir Archibald Hamilton, a British convert to
Islam.
- ‘Id-ul-Fitr 1929, showing Maulvi Abdul Majeed leading
the prayers in the open air. At the end the Imam is shown delivering
the khutba to a congregation seated on the ground.
- ‘Id-ul-Fitr, 1926. Very similar content to the above.
- This is from 1920 and the clip is entitled The Problem of
Turkey. It shows the famous Muslim political and nationalist
leader and orator Maulana Mohamed Ali Jauhar making a speech in
the open air. According to history, he was visiting England as
part of the ‘Indian Khilafat Delegation’. In the second
scene, people are shown filing out of the mosque, among whom is
Maulana Sadr-ud-Din.
- ‘Id-ul-Fitr 1920, a short clip.
- ‘Id-ul-Adha 1919, a short clip.
- Unpublished, unedited, raw extracts showing a variety of scenes
from ‘Id in 1958.
We have reason to believe that other film clips may also be found
from various archived sources.
Affirmations in
Haqiqat-ul-Wahy that prophethood ended with
Holy Prophet Muhammad
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad writes in book one year before
his death
Compiled and translated by the Editor
Haqiqat-ul-Wahy is one of the last books of Hazrat Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad, published in May 1907, one year before his death.
In this book he has made the affirmation no less than four times
that prophethood ended with the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
1. Belief in Allah includes belief that Holy
Prophet came at the end of all prophets
Discussing what it means to believe in Allah, Hazrat Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad writes:
“God the Most High has defined the name Allah
in the Holy Quran as follows. Allah is the Being Who is Rabb-ul-‘alamin,
Rahman and Rahim, Who created the earth and the heaven
in six days, and made Adam, and sent messengers and scriptures,
and at the end of all of them sent Muhammad, may peace and
the blessings of Allah be upon him, who is the Khatam al-anbiya
and the best of messengers.”
— Haqiqat-ul-Wahy, p. 141; Ruhani Khaza’in,
vol. 22, p. 145.
Here he says that the very definition of the name Allah,
as given in the Quran, includes the fact that Allah sent the Holy
Prophet Muhammad as the last of all messengers.
2. Last Prophet to gather all nations under his
banner
While referring to certain of his own prophecies, Hazrat Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad writes :
“This news was given only by that God Who sent our
Holy Prophet, may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him,
at the end of all the prophets, in order to gather all the
nations under his banner.”
— Titma or Appendix to Haqiqat-ul-Wahy,
p. 44; Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 22, p. 477.
Not only does he say here plainly that Allah sent the Holy Prophet
Muhammad “at the end of all the prophets”, but he gives a
reason for it, namely, so that he could unite the followers of all
previous prophets under the banner of Islam.
3. The Kalima teaches that Holy Prophet Muhammad
was the Final Prophet
Regarding the most fundamental teaching given by every prophet,
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad writes:
“If all the books of God the Most High are looked into
closely, it will be found that all prophets have been teaching:
believe God the Most High to be One without partner and along with
it also believe in our risalat (messengership). It was for
this reason that the summary of the teachings of Islam was
taught to the entire Umma in these two sentences: La ilaha
ill-Allah Muhammad Rasul-ullah (There is no god but Allah, Muhammad
is the Messenger of Allah).”
— Haqiqat-ul-Wahy, page 111; Ruhani
Khaza’in, vol. 22, p. 114. Words in bold in the quotation are
bold in the original book.
According to this statement, no prophet can come after the Holy
Prophet Muhammad because any such prophet would have to teach people
that “There is only one God, and I am His messenger”, but this he
cannot do because the entire Muslim Umma, for all time
to come, has already been taught “There is no god but Allah,
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” as the summary of Islam.
4. Followers of previous prophets (even now) required
to believe in Prophet Muhammad
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, after quoting verse 81 of chapter 3
of the Holy Quran, translates it into Urdu as follows:
“And remember when God took a covenant from all
messengers that when I will give you the book and the wisdom,
then in the last ages My messenger will come to you, confirming
your books, you must believe in him and aid him. He said: Do you
affirm this compact and adhere to it? They said: We do affirm. Then
God said: Now be witness to your compact and I too am a witness
with you.”
He then adds the comment:
“Now it is clear that the prophets died, each in his
own time. So this command is for the Umma of every prophet,
that when that Messenger appears you must believe in him, otherwise
you will be accountable for it.”
— Haqiqat-ul-Wahy, pages 130–131; Ruhani
Khaza’in, vol. 22, pages 133–134.
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad has used the words all messengers
and the Umma of every prophet for the prophets and
messengers who appeared before the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
So all prophets and messengers who were ever to appear, other than
the Promised Messenger himself, had already come before him. That
Messenger, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, is also described by him as
coming “in the last ages”.
Moreover, the followers of those prophets (e.g. Jews and Christians)
were commanded to believe in “that Messenger”, i.e. the Holy Prophet
Muhammad, when he appeared. That obligation upon them to believe
in him has been in force since the beginning of Islam, and into
the future permanently. Therefore no prophet can come after the
Holy Prophet Muhammad because at any time, today also, the followers
of previous prophets are required only to believe in the Holy Prophet
Muhammad and not additionally in another prophet after him.
Questions from members of the Qadiani Jama‘at
compiled by the Editor
Prophecy about Muslih Mau‘ud
The following question was received at our website on 15 March
2003:
I am a (Qadiani) Ahmadi Muslim student in Toronto who
was reading through your website. I have a question that would clarify
your standpoint for me immensely: Do you believe in the prophecy
of Musleh Ma'ood that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (r.a.) received
concerning the illustrious birth of his son and his subsequent service
to Islam?
Our answer, which has been added to a page on our website, is the
following.
We certainly believe in all the prophecies revealed by Allah to
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. But the interpretation and fulfilment
of those prophecies must be in accordance with the principles and
precedents that govern the fulfilment of prophecies from God. Those
principles are given in the Holy Quran and Hadith, and can be seen
in the Bible as well. Islamic scholars of past times have also explained
them, and in particular Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad has expounded
them extensively and clearly in his writings. Therefore his followers
should not have any problems in understanding how a prophecy is
fulfilled and how it is not fulfilled.
As to why we do not accept Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad to
have been the true Muslih Mau‘ud, we make the following points:
1. The Split in the Ahmadiyya Movement took place in 1914,
almost thirty years before Mirza Mahmud Ahmad announced his
claim to be Muslih Mau‘ud. Therefore it cannot be said that
the leaders of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Anjuman opposed him in 1914
because of his claim of being Muslih Mau‘ud, in the way in
which people oppose those who are sent by Allah. Mirza Mahmud Ahmad
was fiercely opposed for his beliefs (in particular, his calling
of other Muslims as kafirs and as excluded from the fold
of Islam), long before he claimed to be Muslih Mau‘ud. Those
who are truly appointed by Allah do not face such opposition before
their claim; on the contrary, they are widely held in high regard
and honour before their claims, as were the Holy Prophet Muhammad
or Hazrat Mirza sahib.
2. The evidence and arguments which the leaders of the Lahore
Ahmadiyya Anjuman presented since 1914 to show the falsity of the
beliefs of Mirza Mahmud Ahmad remain entirely valid even after his
claim in 1944 to be Muslih Mau‘ud. Mirza Mahmud Ahmad cannot
just say, after thirty years of failing in argument, that his beliefs
are right because Allah has told him that he is the Muslih Mau‘ud.
A person can only prove the truth of his beliefs by arguments and
evidence, and not by claiming that God has appointed him to a status
and therefore he must be right in his beliefs. When Hazrat Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad announced that Jesus had died, he gave arguments and
evidence from the Quran and Hadith to prove it, and did not say
that his interpretation was right because God had made him Promised
Messiah.
As Mirza Mahmud Ahmad’s beliefs (that the Promised Messiah was
a prophet, and those who do not accept him are kafir and
excluded from Islam) are wrong, and are contrary to Islam and to
the teachings of the Promised Messiah, he cannot possibly be the
Muslih Mau‘ud.
3. All Ahmadis believe that the prophecy in Hadith about
the coming of Jesus the son of Mary was fulfilled in the person
of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, despite the fact that he was neither
Jesus nor the son of any woman called Mary. Therefore, when Hazrat
Mirza sahib himself prophesies the coming of a ‘son’, then it certainly
does not necessarily mean a physical son.
In his pamphlet Ayk Ghalati Ka Izala Hazrat Mirza sahib
has referred to the belief of some Muslims who held (and still hold)
that the coming Mahdi would be a physical descendant of the Holy
Prophet Muhammad because there are some Hadith reports which say
that “he shall be from me”. Hazrat Mirza sahib writes:
“People who think in physical terms have variously
considered this promised one to be a descendant of Hasan, or of
Husain, or of Abbas. But the Holy Prophet only meant that, like
a descendant, he would be his heir — heir to his name, heir to his
nature, heir to his knowledge, and heir to his spirituality — displaying
his image within himself from every aspect. … Similarly in the verse
‘We have granted thee al-kausar’ [the Quran, 108:1] there
is the promise of a burooz … In this verse also, the necessity
for physical progeny is belittled, and a prophecy is given of
buroozi offspring. And although God has bestowed upon me
the privilege of being an Israelite as well as a Fatimi, having
a share of both stocks, I give precedence to the spiritual relationship
which is the burooz connection.”
Therefore the most important condition to be fulfilled by the Muslih
Mau‘ud is that he must be a spiritual heir, regardless
of whether or not he is a physical descendant. As Mirza Mahmud Ahmad,
unfortunately, went contrary to the beliefs of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad on certain very basic issues, it means that he is not his
spiritual heir and cannot be the Muslih Mau‘ud.
4. As to the “service to Islam” performed by Mirza Mahmud
Ahmad, we do not wish to deny any service that he or anyone
else may have rendered to Islam. However, the specific service
to Islam which the Promised Messiah exhorted his followers to perform,
namely, the propagation of Islam and of the Holy Quran, was done
most prominently by Maulana Muhammad Ali. For details please see
our following webpage:
www.muslim.org/m-ali/hmviews.htm
One important example of his service may be given here. Hazrat
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad wrote in his book Izala Auham in 1891:
“I wish to prepare a commentary of the Quran which
should be sent to them [the Western nations] after it has been rendered
into the English language. I cannot refrain from stating clearly
that this is my work, and that definitely no one else can do it
as I can, or as he can who is an offshoot of mine and thus is included
in me.” (page 773)
Maulana Muhammad Ali performed this great service and published
his English translation and commentary of the Holy Quran in 1917.
It received, and still receives, great acclaim all over the world
for its unique qualities. By rendering this magnificent service,
Maulana Muhammad Ali proved himself to be a true branch of the Promised
Messiah, about which the Promised Messiah has written that he is
“included in me”. It may be noted that the Qadiani Jama‘at under
Mirza Mahmud Ahmad was unable to produce any English translation
of the Holy Quran for thirty years after Maulana Muhammad
Ali’s translation first appeared.
See also this link:
www.muslim.org/qadis/contents.htm#mm
in connection with the general issue of Muslih Mau‘ud (from
where you can access three khutbas by Maulana Muhammad Ali
in 1944).
Our quotations questioned
A person by the name of Taha Ahmed sent an e-mail to our website
on 22 February 2003, as follows :
“I was browsing your web site and I came to the page
on ‘The Split in the Ahmadiyya Movement’. I was quite shocked to
learn of the quote you mentioned from Mirza Bashir-ud-Din’s book
‘The Truth About the Split’. I did not believe this quote to be
true at all. I therefore did some of my own research and found out
that this quote does not exist in Mirza Bashir-ud-Din’s book ‘The
Truth About the Split’.
Perhaps you should double check your writings
on your web site and your references.”
I immediately replied to him as follows:
Dear Taha Ahmed, assalamu alaikum
You don’t have to do much research because the book
‘The Truth About the Split’ is available online at the Qadiani Jamaat
website itself, at the link:
www.alislam.org/library/split/index.html
All statements quoted from this book in our publications
(whether in ‘The Split in the Ahmadiyya Movement’ or elsewhere)
can be found in this book at this link.
You must let me know exactly which statement we have
quoted that you have not been able to find in ‘The Truth About the
Split’ and I will let you know where it occurs. I keenly await your
reply.
We have not received any reply from Mr Taha Ahmed.
Our Arabic publications
So far four translations of our English publications into Arabic
have been published, as follows:
- The Introduction section of the English Translation of the Holy
Quran under the title Muqaddama li-Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Karim,
97 pages.
- Living Thoughts of the Prophet Muhammad under the title
Al-Ta‘alim al-Khalida al-Mauhayy bi-ha ila an-Nabi al-Karim
Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alai-hi wa sallam, 235 pages.
- The Ahmadiyya Movement under the title Al-Haraka al-Ahmadiyya,
326 pages.
- The Teachings of Islam under the title Ta‘alim al-Islam,
208 pages.
The first three are writings of Maulana Muhammad Ali while the
fourth is the famous book by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. The Arabic
translations have been done in Egypt. In the book The Ahmadiyya
Movement some of the quotations given from the books of Hazrat
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, in English translation, are originally in Arabic,
being from his Arabic writings. In all such cases, we supplied the
translator with the original Arabic wording to use.
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s Arabic books
The Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement himself wrote several books
in Arabic. In his Arabic book Nur-ul-Haq, Part 1, published
in 1894, he explains why he has written books in Arabic addressed
to the Arab people and their ulama. He states at length that
the ulama of India are unmoved at the troubles facing Islam
and at Muslims even leaving Islam, and they declare as kafir
anyone who pleads with them to do something to defend Islam. He
then writes:
“To sum up, when I saw these illnesses and poisons
afflicting most of the ulama of India and I saw that they
were heedless of the Book of Allah and His Messenger … and they
boldly declare believers as kafir, as if they are safe from
the punishment of Allah and accountability before Him and Allah
is not going to question them …
I saw that these troubles were not confined to themselves
(i.e. the ulama) but the masses had gathered on their whistle
and were enticed by their dry and gilded speeches. So the anger
of the masses was roused against us and their blood boiled because
of the fabrications, and they took the ulama to be learned,
sincere and truthful.
So when the whole of the land of India was shaken,
and I found the ulama to be ungenerous and jealous, I made
up my mind to turn away from them and run to Makka and turn to the
righteous Arab people and the elect of Makka who have been created
from the clay of freedom and brought up on the milk of independence.
So Allah put it in my heart, at the time of this need, that I should
write books in the Arabic language.”
A little later in the same book he answers some people who were
not hopeful that Arabs would listen to him. He writes:
“Do they not know that the Arabs have always been
the first to accept the truth, ever since the ancient times? In
fact, in this they are like the root and other people are their
branches. Then we say that our affair is a mercy from Allah, and
the Arabs are the most deserving, the foremost and the nearest,
for accepting His mercy. And I can smell the fragrance of the grace
of Allah, so don’t speak words of disappointment and be not
of those who have lost hope.”
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