The Lahore Ahmadiyya Islamic Movement
Showing Islam is Peaceful • Tolerant • Rational • Inspiring
www.ahmadiyya.orgA Research and Educational Website
Home
1. Islam
2. Ahmadiyya Movement

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

Refuting allegations against him

Allegation of being sponsored by the British
3. Publications & Resources

Contact us
Search the website

Allegation of being sponsored by the British

We challenge our accusers: Read the views of other Muslim leaders of the time. Then tell us: Were they also “British stooges”?

Contents

  1. Founders of Muslim League expressed loyalty to British rule
  2. “The Repudiation of Jihad by the Indian Scholars (Ulama) in the Nineteenth Century”
  3. Dr. Sir Muhammad Iqbal:
    1. Iqbal praises British rulers of India
    2. Iqbal expresses support for British rule over Muslims in India during his London visits in 1931–32
  4. Loyalty of Nadwat-ul-Ulama to British rule
  5. Maulana Zafar Ali Khan of Zamindar declares British rule a “divine dispensation” for Muslim of India
  6. Fatwas declaring it un-Islamic to fight British rule, quoted by Hunter in The Indian Musalmans
  7. Other Muslim leaders and prominent figures expressing support for British rule:
    1. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
    2. Maulavi Chiragh Ali
    3. Deputy Nazir Ahmad
    4. Maulana Sayyid Nazir Husain of Delhi
    5. Nawab Siddiq Hasan Khan of Bhopal
    6. Deobandi leaders and theologians
    7. Anjuman Himayat-i Islam
  8. Land for Central London Mosque (Regents Park) in U.K. given free by British government for Muslim loyalty to British empire
  9. Pakistan historian K.K. Aziz on the views of Abdullah Yusuf Ali and other Muslim scholars and leaders on support of British rule of India

Introduction

An accusation widely made against Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is that he was acting on behalf of the British colonial rulers of India, as their “stooge”, to make Muslims accept British rule and to dissuade them from rising up and fighting a jihad against the foreign rule. The basis of this accusation is that Hazrat Mirza wrote that he was loyal to the British government and that Muslims should be loyal and faithful to this government, and not rebel against it.

The plain historical fact is that from about 1870 onwards (ten years before Hazrat Mirza appeared on the public scene), almost all Muslim leaders of India, whether religious, political or intellectual, had decided to abandon opposition to British rule, to assure the British that Muslims were entirely loyal and faithful to their rule, and likewise to urge Muslims to remain loyal. Hazrat Mirza merely repeated this agreed position held by almost all Muslims. It is impossible that Hazrat Mirza could convince the general Muslims to abandon jihad if they had wanted to undertake it, because he was in any case so much reviled in the Muslim community that he could not at all influence the Muslims to change their minds about anything.

Here we quote the views of prominent, highly-respected Muslim leaders of his time, some of whom are regarded as great figures in Muslim history, which show that they too expressed loyalty to British rule in the same way that he did.

Top