But they are not “real” Muslims or so I am told

By Robert Salaam, from his blog.

I am deeply saddened and pained by the news that at least 80 Muslims from the Ahmadiyyah sect were murdered in Pakistan by terrorists during Friday prayers. This great loss of humanity should reverberate throughout the Muslim world, however it won’t likely even be mentioned. Unfortunately, due to great ignorance and hypocrisy, my fellow Muslims who claim to be Sunni as I am don’t seem to think much of Ahmadiyyah’s. What crime have they committed that could have possibly warrant the slaughter of so many men, women, and children? What beliefs could they hold that are so “anti-Islam” that it could warrant decades of oppression, slaughter, and inhumanity by those who themselves ironically claim the title of “Muslim”? Allah (swt) knows best.

I will not go into depth about where my beliefs as a Sunni Muslim differ from those who belong to the Ahmaddiyyah sect, because it is not necessary. These MUSLIMS bear witness to the ONE God, and bear witness to His Messenger Muhammad, upon whom peace and blessings are to be bestowed. I happen to be of the opinion that since I don’t have the keys to paradise nor hell that it’s ultimately up to Allah (swt) to decide, but I seem to be in the minority.

I need not go into how many friends I have that are Ahmaddiyah who I claim as true friends and family, nor do I need to repeat my arguments in defense of their cause as I have in the past. The important thing is that it is about time for Muslims to start being Muslims. It’s time for Muslims to actually follow the Sunnah. There is no way I could call myself Muslim and ignore the barbaric practices carried out by fellow Muslims. There is no way I could ever believe that the Prophet (saw) would ever advocate terrorism and oppression against those who say they believe.

However, on we sleep. On we idly sit by apathetic to the suffering wrought upon this group and many others. Yet, our passions can easily be awoken if the French threaten to pass an anti-burqa law or someone draws a cartoon and calls it “Muhammad”. We have truly become a community of hypocrites.

What kind of backward people would turn a blind eye to murder, allow open persecution, dictatorship, and evil to exist in our lands yet never suffer a cartoonist to live without fear of death?

And we actually wonder why people mock us. We actually wonder why they call us backward and barbaric.

I am thoroughly disgusted and am tired of all the hollow statements from our so-called Muslim leaders who have much to say when it’s convenient and are silent when it is not. The alphabet soup of Muslim organizations love to condemn actions when it’s politically expedient. We love to call out artists and engage in a debate about free speech when we feel “disrespected”. But where are these organizations, Imams, student associations, and other Muslim groups today?

They are silent.

Where is our government who loves to remind us that Pakistan is our ally yet are tight lipped concerning the persecution that the Pakistani government openly allows and sanctions through uncivilized and discriminatory laws?

I pray for all the victims of these terrorists and their families regardless of what sect they belong to, regardless of what they believe, regardless if Allah (swt) considers them Muslim or not, because it’s the human thing to do. I pray that a day will come when Muslims act on the decree of Allah (swt) and actually be a model for all civilizations. I pray for a day when no one will ever feel unsafe when they have Muslims for neighbors.

These Satanic actions must not only be condemned, but punished, legislated against, and openly debated. If we sit back and allow this tyranny to exist and do nothing, we become part of the tyranny and are worthy of the hellfire. How can we claim Islam as our religion and not try to stop these actions physically, verbally, or at least hate it in our hearts.

I call upon all Muslims and those of other faiths to speak out against the terrorism and oppression of the Ahmaddiyah community. I call upon America’s citizens to contact our legislators and our President and let them know that we will not tolerate a Pakistani government that openly oppresses her citizens and creates an atmosphere that results in actions taken similar to those that occurred today in Pakistan.

Either we truly are believers or we are not. At least be man or woman enough to admit it. No drawing is more important than the murders of innocent men, women, and children right under our noses. Where’s the fatwa against this crime?

I would like to believe that my fellow Sunni Muslims would echo my sentiments, but I’m already wise enough to know that I’m more likely to hear the sounds of crickets than I am to at a minimum hear or read a statement from one of our “leaders” or “organizations” condemning these crimes. Unfortunately, my rose colored glasses were shattered years ago.

Here’s to holding my breath…..

My Allah (swt) reward, protect, and guide His true servants in these perilous times.

Pity Pakistan as a weak nation

By Hajrah Mumtaz
Monday, 07 Jun, 2010

Whether your leanings are towards the left or the right, if you’re a rational person in any way this will have set you shuddering. It’s awful, chilling and frightening. It is also hate speech, incitement to murder and violence, possibly conspiracy to commit crime (murder) and many other things viewed as criminal under the laws of the land. -Dawn.com

The ironies we witness every day in Pakistan would have us shaking our heads were it not for the fact that they usually provoke such deep visceral dread.

Take the furore over the recent shutdown of Facebook and other websites. In Pakistan the debate framed the issue mainly in terms of either the freedom of speech or the legitimacy of government censorship. Both models, as constructed here in Pakistan, were flawed and reductionist. Let that be as it may, I wish to point out something else. The websites were shut down because many people found their content ‘blasphemous’ and hurtful to their sentiments as Muslims.

Fine. I’m willing to go with that for the moment, and indeed add that the instigator of the Facebook event can also validly be accused of religious discrimination, hate speech and incitement to violence, which are criminalised in many countries.

A few days later came the sickening attacks on the Ahmadi community in Lahore. Here verbatim are excerpts from an email sent subsequently to some individuals and organisations, including Maj-Gen Athar Abbas, the military spokesman, if the message address field is to be believed:

“Congratulations for the whole nation. What the brave Mujahideen did yesterday in Garhi Shahu and Model Town, Lahore. […] As a whole we do like to encourage the nation for increasing this kind of activities like target killings of Qadianis, Shia, supporting political parties, Law enforcement agencies, Pakistan Army, racist parties and many more. […] We advise realistic people to take initiative and kill every that person who came in their range. There is no specific need of detonators, bombs and explosives. Just kill them either by means of just crashing them under their cars. […]”

Whether your leanings are towards the left or the right, if you’re a rational person in any way this will have set you shuddering. It’s awful, chilling and frightening. It is also hate speech, incitement to murder and violence, possibly conspiracy to commit crime (murder) and many other things viewed as criminal under the laws of the land.

Yet this email, sent by the ‘Taliban media cell’ through a web-based email account, received no attention. No one ordered the government to contact the email system’s authorities and have the address shut down. No call was made to ban or block the address. No Muslim found it repugnant to the sensibilities of either their religion or their own sense of right and wrong.

Perhaps this email did not come to the attention of either our right-minded justice system or the public. Fair enough. Nevertheless, this is just one example of criminal behaviour. One finds similar sentiments with regularity across the country’s media and academic landscape.

Television anchors have on air declared certain communities as deserving of being killed. Similar statements have been made in public rallies by rightwing people and parties. Recently, a journalist came under suspicion for having links with the Taliban. Religious seminaries print, teach and widely distribute books and pamphlets that incite hatred and violence against any number of communities, from Ahmadis and Shias to women and aid agencies.

Meanwhile, the law looks the other way. In fact, sometimes it colludes, as in the case of two banners that were up in Lahore. One was recently on Mall Road outside the Lahore High Court and translated, read: “Jews, Christians, Ahmadis are enemies of Islam.”


The other was a billboard put up last year, reportedly, for the Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwat. Translated, a section of it reads: “Friendship with Ahmadis is rebellion against the Prophet, peace be upon him.” City authorities did not remove this venom for fear of provoking a reaction by the extremist right.


On May 30, Zaeem Qadri, adviser to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, said in an interview on Dunya TV that the provincial government had failed to remove the threatening banners from the city’s thoroughfares in order to prevent “adverse reaction against the government” by the groups responsible.

Bombings and mass-scale massacres have become a regular feature in our country. And while they are condemned almost by routine, there are few examples of the average good Muslim standing up to say that murder and mayhem are repugnant to their religion and hurtful to the memory of and example set by the leaders of Islam. It took years for religious scholars to condemn suicide bombings as un-Islamic, despite this manifestly being the case. And it took politicians some time before they visited Ahmadi victims in hospital.

The fact is that over the years bigotry and religious discrimination have been institutionalised in Pakistan. The 1974 anti-Ahmadi amendments to the constitution are one example. Ziaul Haq’s 1984 Martial Law Ordinance XX was another move that legalised, even encouraged, the persecution of the Ahmadi community.

The blasphemy law continues to be used to target the Christian community in southern Punjab in particular, often for reasons of dispossession of land and assets. And where the laws of the land are not discriminatory in specific, the lack of reaction by law enforcers makes for the rest. Why is hate material in books, video and audio form so easily available across the country? Why are people who spew venom against others and create the social fabric that makes criminal acts not prosecuted? Why are the laws not repealed?

It could be because the mindset of bigotry and discrimination, and the violence it engenders, has been absorbed by policy formulators, justice dispensers, lawmakers and enforcers in the same manner as the rest of the citizenry. We have had, after all, at least three decades in which to steep ourselves in hatred for those who are different.

Khalil Gibran got it right: “Pity the nation that raises not its voice when it walks in a funeral, boasts not except among its ruins, and will rebel not save when its neck is laid between the sword and the block. / Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment deeming itself a nation.” — The Garden of the Prophet (1934). Except that in Pakistan’s case, it is the pity one reserves for people on death row, there as a result of their own crimes.

hajrahmumtaz@gmail.com

A video message to Pakistan: Ahmadiyyat Zinzabad

Love For All. Hatred For NoneLove For All. Hatred For NoneLove For All. Hatred For NoneLove For All. Hatred For NoneLove For All. Hatred For NoneLove For All. Hatred For NoneLove For All. Hatred For None

With love,
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Zion, Illinois USA

Pakistan, WAKE UP!

State Sponsored Terrorism in Pakistan. The Shame of Pakistan. We Pray For You!

The Dark Shame of Pakistan: Decades of Persecution

Of Sacred and Secular

Of Sacred and Secular

From the Mosque: Bait-ul-Muqeet and the mourning Ahmadiyya community

By Joshunda Sanders | Saturday, June 5, 2010, 02:42 PM

Religious groups and sects that I rarely ever see and, therefore, never write about exist just out of my comfort zone. I realized that this week when thinking about Gaza and the flotilla and also, while visiting the Bait-ul-Muqeet Mosque for Friday prayers yesterday.

I’ve been reading Stephen Prothero’s latest book “God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run The World And Why Their Differences Matter.” So far, it’s been a great read and a helpful primer on religious differences. I’ve just gotten to the chapter on Islam, and when I read this passage, it rang true, at least for me:

Is Islam a religion of terror? Are Christianity and Islam now engaged in a clash of civilizations? Or do Muslims stand peaceably alongside Jews and Christians as siblings in one tripartite family of religions?

Unfortunately, this crucial conversation rarely advances beyond a ping-pong match of clichés in which some claim that Islam is a religion of peace while others claim that Islam is a religion of war. One side ignores Quranic passages and Islamic traditions that have been used to justify war on unbelievers, while the other ignores Islam’s just-war injunctions against killing women, children, civilians and fellow Muslims (hundreds of whom died in the Twin Towers on 9/11). The reason for all this ignoring is our collective ignorance. We are incapable of reckoning with Islam because we know almost nothing about it.

I told Aziza Faruqi, a member of Austin’s Ahmadiyya Muslim community, something similar to the above passage yesterday. She wrote on Monday to invite me to Friday prayers at the Round Rock mosque. There, Ahmadis were still mourning nearly 100 members of their community killed in attacks on two mosques in Lahore, Pakistan on May 28.

The Ahmadi Community is religious minority group within Islam that believes in a messiah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who came after the Prophet Muhammad, a fact that separates them from most Muslims. While it is believed that Prophet Muhammad died in 632, the Ahmadis believed their prophet died in 1908. As a result, the minority sect has been persecuted and discriminated against for decades in India and Pakistan, where there are more than 2 million adherents (in America, there are more than 4,000, according to adherents.com).

“We are a small Muslim sect which is persecuted in Pakistan and some other Muslim countries because we believe in the Messiah,” Faruqi said. “We are a peaceful and progressive-minded community with a motto, ‘Love for all, Hatred for none.’”

Faruqi and others that I talked to at the Round Rock mosque believe this is why those killed during Friday prayers in Lahore were targeted, because the Muslim extremists who wanted to send a message knew the Ahmadiyya community would be unarmed. So, Muslims sprayed bullets from their AK-47s from a top a minaret, blew themselves up inside the mosque and killed 94 people.

Maqbool Ahmad told me on Friday that in 1984, Pakistan’s blasphemy laws declared Ahmadis non-Muslims and that it is illegal for Ahmadis to declare themselves Muslim in Pakistan. Those laws protect the perpetrators of crimes like the mosque attacks he said, “because they are protected under the law.”

Even while recounting the bias against Muslims in Pakistan, Ahmad and Iftikhar Naghmi, said that the community here would remain true to the convictions of their faith and pray for their lost loved ones, who they now consider martyrs. They said they would not consider retaliation, which is a contradiction of their faith. “Our youth group will donate blood soon,” Naghmi said, noting that the biggest need in the aftermath of the attacks was blood donation because so much had been shed.

The women in the community echoed that same resolve, as leaders and laypeople alike said prayers asking for strength and understanding in the face of such loss and sadness. Husna Ahmad, 41, lost a first cousin in the attacks. “Our community is like one body so that if one part of the body hurts, we all hurt,” Ahmad said. “The fanatics, they don’t know the Quran. They talk against us and say we deserve death, but all religions are good if they are practiced in their original way.”

Comments

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By Hasan

June 10, 2010 8:46 AM | Link to this

The scale of discrimination practiced against Ahmadis is simply mind-boggling. It is simply a grotesque form of modern-day apartheid. When the state itself discriminates against a section of its people and humiliates their religious icons, it takes discrimination to a whole new level.

By Hasan

June 10, 2010 8:44 AM | Link to this

The scale of discrimination practiced against Ahmadis is simply mind-boggling. It is simply a grotesque form of modern-day apartheid. When the state itself discriminates against a section of its people and humiliates their religious icons, it takes discrimination to a whole new level.

By Hasan

June 10, 2010 8:44 AM | Link to this

The scale of discrimination practiced against Ahmadis is simply mind-boggling. It is simply a grotesque form of modern-day apartheid. When the state itself discriminates against a section of its people and humiliates their religious icons, it takes discrimination to a whole new level.

By Zebr

June 7, 2010 7:12 PM | Link to this

Great thoughts and interesting facts. Its just a matter of extending one’s hand to experience so many diversities around. And indeed, this counts as a strong step in building bridges at a time when we need many more. It is surprising, however to see the hate mongerers among the commentators, one wonders if there is anyone who actually takes the time to listen to, or care about anyone anymore. Maybe the world is now a satirical soapbox theatre and all the good people have taken to be silent mimes. Maybe we need take the step you took and actually test the water some too.

By Alex H.

June 7, 2010 1:07 PM | Link to this

The Muslims I have met in Austin are good people. I worked for one for several years and I am an Orthodox Jew. We had no problems. Other Muslims I have met in Austin have been friendly and good. I have trouble squaring what I know in Austin to what I see happening around the world in the name of the same religion. It must be like how Catholics and Protestants felt when there was so much fighting in Ireland. There seemed to be a difference. What they did in Ireland did not spill into the USA. If it had, I would have expected some accounting by those groups in the USA but I would not have expected them to suddenly jump up and join the violence. Each religion has had their violent episodes and each had to find a way to square up their religious edicts with reality. As a Jew, I’ve done that. Christians are well on their way to doing it and Muslims are lagging. No surprise. They are the the youngest religion.

By deed

June 6, 2010 12:23 AM | Link to this

Oh joshunda al-talibani, how sweet it must be securing your place among us—the infidels. Hope you get your wish soon, so you can just be at home barefooted and having kids, cause you won’t be able to drive, little thing…hope you get it.

By SJ

June 5, 2010 11:27 PM | Link to this

“Islam has bloody borders.” — Samuel P. Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations?” Foreign Affairs magazine, Summer 1993

By ThinkCrimson,Horns!

June 5, 2010 9:41 PM | Link to this

Ah, yes, the weekly muslim apologetic installment from Joshunda.

Great picture, Joshunda! Such a diverse group. Of the eighteen congregants in the photo, I count eighteen dark-skinned men wearing funny hats. Celebrate diversity! COEXIST! proclaims the popular bumper sticker. It’s on all the Priuses these days.

“in 1984, Pakistan’s blasphemy laws declared Ahmadis non-Muslims and that it is illegal for Ahmadis to declare themselves Muslim in Pakistan”. You can’t make this stuff up. 1984. Ironic that the blasphemy laws were passed in that year. How about this:

“in 1984, America’s blasphemy laws declared the Amish non-Christians and that it is illegal for the Amish to declare themselves Christian in America”.

And this:

“the Episcopalian extremists who wanted to send a message knew the Amish community would be unarmed. So, Episcopalians sprayed bullets from their AK-47s from a top a steeple, blew themselves up inside the church and killed 94 people”

Maybe that would draw your attention, Joshunda, in your dogged pursuit of “Religious groups and sects that I rarely ever see and, therefore, never write about exist just out of my comfort zone”

By TXatheist2

June 5, 2010 5:47 PM | Link to this

“…but all religions are good if they are practiced in their original way” Yikes, killing for working on the sabbath, adultery or for taking god’s name in vain would make society very barbaric and I’m glad we ignore most of the 10 commandments in the 21st century. You are naive if you think having ‘no other gods before me’ would have allowed islam to be invented. Thank you Enlightenment Era. And on a lighter note do the Ahmadis think Joseph Smith was a prophet or has anyone told the mormons Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a prophet?

By Lubna Qureshi

June 5, 2010 5:16 PM | Link to this

Thank you Joshunda for a very well written article! I admire you to come forward and share the pain of the grieving community by spreading the word out. I just wanted to make a clarification that Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believes in Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the last law bearing prophet and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as the Promised Messiah of the latter days. The Promised Messiah founded the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in 1889 and passed away in 1908 leaving behind an ever growing community that, at present, spans to 180 countries.

Lubna Qureshi Interfaith Coordinator

Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Association, Austin

Sufficient for us is Allah, and He is an excellent Guardian

Summary of Friday Sermon

Delivered by Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad ^at, the Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

March 5 ^th, 2010

NOTE: Alislam Team takes full responsibility for any errors or miscommunication in this Synopsis of the Friday Sermon

People of Divine communities have the same responsibilities as the Prophets of God who establish them, i.e. summon people to God and having pointed out misleading thoughts and practices that get set in with the passage of time, show them the way of truth. History of religion tells us that each time followers of a Prophet of God did this they received overwhelming opposition, especially at the time when they were small in number. Pharaoh-like people tried their best to obliterate Prophets of God and their followers. This happened with each religion as long as they stayed firm on the original message. Likewise, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) was treated in similar manner although he was the most beloved of God. The troubles, difficulties, wars etc. that he had to endure were indeed more than the earlier Prophets. However, his steadfastness was resolute and he inculcated this spirit in his Companions as well. Lack of numbers and weapons etc. did not ever shake the resoluteness of his Companions. The Holy Qur’an states: ‘As to those who answered the call of Allah and the Messenger after they had received an injury — such of them as do good and act righteously shall have a great reward; (3:173)

Those to whom men said, ‘People have mustered against you, therefore fear them,’ but this only increased their faith, and they said, ‘Sufficient for us is Allah, and an excellent Guardian is He.’ (3:174). This strength of faith and spirit to sacrifice one’s life in the cause of God can be seen in the account of the Battle of Uhad. Due to the error of a small group of Muslims, a battle that had been clearly won was turned around and the pagans of Makkah attacked once again incurring heavy loss on the Muslim side.

The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) lost his blessed tooth but the Companions gathered around him in a manner that no force could move them and each attack of the enemy met with failure. The pagans of Makkah appeared to have the upper hand, although not in the militarily. The Arabs taunted them that they had imagined to retaliate for Badr, but what sort of a victory was this where there was neither any bounty of war nor any prisoners. This incited the pagan to return to the battlefield and attack the battle-weary and injured Muslims.

The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) got wind of this. He gathered the Companions and prepared to chase the pagans but said that only those would participate who had been to Uhad. Imagine the weary and the injured Companions, 250 of them set out with the passion of a victorious army. When they encamped the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) ordered that fire be lit in 500 spots. It was a most impressive sight from distance.

The pagans of Makkah thought it better to go back. The Muslims too returned after a stay of two three days, God’s awe having struck the pagans. It is significant to note that on return from Uhad Abu Sufyan had declared and challenged that they would fight the Muslims at Badr one more time. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) accepted this callenge. In 4 Hijra the Muslims prepared an army of 1500 while Abu Sufyan prepared an army of 2000. His spies had informed him about the numbers of Muslims and he was secretly perturbed that their number was not large enough.

He sent a man to Medina to scare the Muslims into believing that a very large Makkan army was on its way. However, God states such propaganda by the enemy actually enhances Muslims in faith. Their reply was and always is: ‘Sufficient for us is Allah, and an excellent Guardian is He.’ The 1500 Muslims reached Badr but the pagans of Makkah went back from a little outside Makkah. They said it had been a famine year and their preparation was not adequate, they would come the year after. Death had scared the pagans off whereas it enhances believers in faith.

Hudhur said the history of Islam is full of incidents where the scare-mongering of the enemy did not work. Today, the believers should respond in the very same manner. Today the followers of the Promised Messiah respond in the same vein when efforts are made to scare them. True believers are not frightened of the scare-mongering of any group, any legislative body or any organisation.

They are always steadfast and firm on faith. They are beaten up, abused and their lives are taken, but they are never in awe of anyone save God, their response is always: ‘Sufficient for us is Allah, and an excellent Guardian is He.’ The more the enemy tries the more they turn to their Lord. Hudhur said today there is great opposition towards our community in some countries. This, in fact is a testimony of its truthfulness.

In their opposition all the 72 sects of Islam have tried their utmost in Pakistan but have not been able to harm Ahmadis, indeed, they cannot harm them. Apparent loss is nothing for a true believer, the real thing is faith. Hudhur said he receives letters from parents and families of the martyred Ahmadis expressing a greater and enhanced spirit of faith and sincerity. Now, opposition is growing in parts of India as well and the situation in Bangladesh too continues to be adverse at any given opportunity.

In some Arab countries, be it Syria or Egypt, situation is similar as it is in Bulgaria and some ex-Soviet states where the Muftis pressurise our community. Opposition of the community of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) in different parts of the world confirms its global significance. Those who appreciate and understand the Divine attribute of Al Hasib will always respond that no matter how much opposition there is, their reply is: ‘Sufficient for us is Allah, and an excellent Guardian is He.’This is what we have learned from the Companions of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him).

The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said, ‘These verses illustrate that true courage derives from steadfastness. To be steadfast against every personal passion or against any calamity that attacks like an enemy and not to run away out of cowardice is true courage.’ (The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam’ p. 77). Hudhur explained that the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) unfolds a different perspective for us here, that aside from apparent enemy, passions of the self can also be aggressive like an enemy. To overcome passions of the self also enables one to contend with apparent enemy. Therefore one has to submit oneself completely to God and it is then that one experiences the manifestations of the Divine attribute of Al Hasib beyond one’s imagination.

The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) also said that joining his community entailed following it’s teaching in the face of all opposition. He said that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and his Companions faced bitter persecution for thirteen years but eventually all the enemies were obliterated. God has willed that this community too will spread in the world and when it will gain in numbers, the opponents will be silenced. God wills to give training of patience through these circumstances. He wrote that many who used to be abusive repented and took bai’at. Patience is also a kind of worship and has countless blessings. Pain strengthens faith.

Hudhur said he has chosen two subjects with reference to the Divine attribute of Al Hasib for today’s Sermon. One was to elucidate that the strength of true believers' faith and their steadfastness enables them to face opposition. It is a source of attaining nearness to God and gives them an insight and perception that God is Sufficient for them. Next Hudhur cited verses 41 and 42 of Surah Al Rad and explained that the objectives of Prophets of God and their followers is to take the message of truth to people whether people accept it or not. The consequences of them not accepting is in God's hands, Who is Al Hasib (the Reckoner). Verse 41 states: ‘And whether We make thee see the fulfilment of some of the things with which We threaten them or whether We make thee die, it makes little difference, for on thee lies only the delivery of the Message, and on Us the reckoning. (13:41)

Do they not see that We are visiting the land, reducing it from its outlying borders? And Allah judges; there is none to reverse His judgment. And He is swift at reckoning. (13:42). Hudhur explained that God has His own way of chastisement and knows well when to punish whom. It is not essential for Him to implement prompt chastisement. Chastisement can be a sign and its objective is reformation. It is in God’s knowledge who will desist in their opposition of Prophet of God and will be reformed and who will reform after slight punishment and who will never desist. It is these people who are chastised.

Hudhur explained that some enemies of Prophets of God are brought to account during the lifetime of the Prophet while others are not. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) accurately foretold the exact locations where some of the enemies would lose their lives in the Battle of Badr. There were indeed some among the enemy who later accepted Islam and were saved in the various battles.

The real objective of a Prophet and his followers is to spread the message, punishment is not their aim, rather, it is to make people worship God. As a matter of principle those who have been warned will be chastised, whether in this world or the next. That only God knows. Accountability is with God. Hudhur said some people object that this prophecy or that prophecy has not been fulfilled. It will all be evident in the Presence of God. Ahmadis are witness to the fact that many prophecies have indeed come to pass, others are coming to pass and each new day makes the truthfulness of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) evident.

In verse 42 of Surah Al Rad God states that can the opponents of truth not see that God is ‘reducing earth from its outlying borders’? Hudhur said Islam spread rapidly in its early years and numerous came in the sphere of its safety and security. When God decreed He also punished. It is God’s verdict that either great numbers accepting Islam reduce the earth for enemies of Islam or natural disasters reduce land for them. This happened in the past, is currently happening and will happen in the future. When God is with His Prophet then who is it that can come in the way? There is none who can reverse God’s decree. Therein God has given hope and courage to true believers that as long as they continue to be true servants of God, they will have no fear. God is swift in reckoning.

Verse 45 of Surah Al Anbiya states the same subject: ‘Nay, We provided those and their fathers with the good things of this world till life grew long for them. Do they not see that We are visiting the land, reducing it from its outlying borders? Can they even then be victors? (21:45). Hudhur said if a nation has been in power for a long period of time and feels superior about it, certainly such situations are not permanent. In fact God states that He generously provides generations upon generations of a nation but it should always be kept in view that great big nations were diminished in the past. In recent past the European nations lost much of their power.

They had colonised huge parts of the world and now they are diminished. Russia too had spread over a vast area but many of its nations have gained independence. This very destiny will one day be repeated in America. Smaller countries too may not have any presumptions, they too can diminish. However, there is glad-tiding for Islam, there is glad-tiding for the followers of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) that Islam will be triumphant.

Our Tabligh efforts are humble, our task is to spread the message with love. However, we see glimpses of what Divine decree can do in the form of earthquakes and other calamities. If only the Muslims too would abandon their opposition and become a part of the destiny that will come to pass through the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace). Hudhur said the current-day calamites and disasters are also a sign of support for the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace). Many people query that the opposition is from the false Imams, why then are the poor and disadvantaged being killed in these disasters.

Explaining this, the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said that it is the way of God that when all limits are exceeded in accusing truthful people of God of falsehood and they are persecuted, all kinds of calamities occur in the world. All Books of God state this as does the Holy Qur’an. Just as at the time when Moses (on whom be peace) was accused of falsehood all kinds of calamities befell Egypt. Although the far-afield people of Egypt had not even heard of Moses (on whom be peace) and therefore had not sinned. While the Pharaoh was saved, the unaware were killed. Again, in the time of Jesus (on whom be peace) those who wanted to kill him through crucifixion remained unharmed.

However, forty years later thousand of Jews were killed and there was an outbreak of plague. The Qur’an proves that this was due to Jesus (on whom be peace). Similarly in the times of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) a seven year famine took place and most of the poor died whereas the great big evil-doers were saved for a long period. In short it is the way of God that when someone comes from Him and is accused of falsehood, all kinds of calamities come to pass. However, people who have nothing to do with the accusation of falsehood are caught up in the calamities. Gradually the false Imams are seized and the time of the wickedest comes in the end. The natural calamities that follow accusation of falsehood on God’s appointed people are general and not specific.

Hudhur said a few days ago a huge earthquake struck Chile. Two months ago an earthquake had struck Haiti. The Chilean earthquake was 64–times stronger than the Haitian quake. Hudhur said these are signs in support of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace). Hundreds of thousands of homes have been damaged. It is being said that the Chilean earthquake is the seventh most dreadful earthquake since records began. The earthquake has taken off 1.26 milliseconds from Earth day, which is now this much shorter. Scientists have also recorded that the powerful quake shifted the Earth’s figure axis by three inches. Hudhur explained this is the axis about which the Earth’s mass is balanced. Thus a situation is arisen to ‘reduce earth on its outlying borders’.

The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) indeed foretold earthquakes as one of his signs. A quake struck Chile in 1906 which the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) had called as a sign in his support. From 1570 to 1835 five earthquakes struck Chile. The next one struck in 1868 and then the 1906 one. Since then Chile has been struck with eighteen powerful earthquakes. The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) wrote at the time of the Chilean earthquake of 1906 that he had had his prophecies about strong earthquakes striking the world published many times so much so that the earth would disintegrate. He wrote that the earthquakes of San Francisco and Formosa that came in accordance to his prophecy were known to all, but recently, on 16 August 1906 an earthquake had struck Chile which was no less powerful. It destroyed fifteen towns, thousands lost their lives and hundreds of thousands were made homeless. Some could ask how could this be a sign, as these earthquakes did not strike Punjab.

They did not realise that God is the God of the entire world not just of the Punjab and He had informed the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) about the whole world. It was unfortunate that accusations of falsehood were levied in the Punjab. The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) warned that just as earthquakes had struck according to prophecies in America and Europe, they would strike in Asia, some of which would be a picture of Day of Judgement, obliterating life en masse. So much so that those with wisdom will find this extraordinary and no worldly knowledge will be able to explain the phenomenon.

This is when mankind will get anxious and many will be given salvation while many will be destroyed. This will come to pass in the not too distant future and many other dreadful calamities will take place. Some occurring from the skies, others on the earth. This will be because mankind has stopped worshipping God and all attention is focussed on the world. The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said had he not come, these calamities may have been slightly delayed, but with his coming the hidden will of God had been made evident, just as God has declared: ‘…We never punish until We have sent a Messenger.’ (17:16). Those who repent will be granted refuge.

A famous quote of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) in this regard states: ‘O’ Europe, you too are not in peace and O’ Asia, you too are not safe, and O’ dwellers of the islands no false god will help you. I see cities being demolished and find populated areas desolated. The One and Only God remained silent for a long time while repulsive things were done in front of Him and He said nothing. But now He will manifest His countenance with awe.

Those who have ears to hear may listen that the time is not far. I tried to gather everyone under the refuge of God, but it was certain for what was destined to be fulfilled. I say most truthfully that the turn of this country is also approaching. You will witness the time of Noah and you will see the incident of Lot. But God is lenient in chastisement. Repent, so that you may be given mercy. A person who leaves God is a worm not a man and a person who does not fear Him is dead not alive.’ Hudhur added that this warning is specifically for the region of India and Pakistan.

Hudhur prayed that may God give sense and understanding to the world to recognise one sent from God and is thus spared God’s chastisement. May He also enable us to take the true message of Islam to others and may each difficulty and trouble in this cause strengthen our faith and may we not abandon our task out of fear. May God enable us so.

‘Sufficient for us is Allah, and an excellent Guardian is He.’

‘Sufficient for us is Allah, and an excellent Guardian is He.’

‘Sufficient for us is Allah, and an excellent Guardian is He.’

The Dark Shame of Pakistan

Pakistan: A Nation Complicit

COMMENT: Zaair Hussain

We cannot possibly claim, as a country, that we value freedom of speech above all else. If we did so, we would choke on the magnitude of our hypocrisy. When, in human history, has the oppression of a country’s own citizens paid dividends to either the oppressed or the oppressors?

In recent times, we as Pakistanis have developed not an immunity, but a resistance to the mental strain of terrorism. This is a tragedy of the times, and a triumph of our spirit. Recently, however, we encountered a new horror, one that I hope we shall never inure ourselves to: shame.

On May 28, some 100 Pakistani citizens became the victims of deranged and blasphemous sociopaths and bled out into holy ground. This was horrific, but not in itself shocking. There will always be the frighteningly insane, the desperately misguided, the irredeemably hateful who will inflict death and horror upon innocent human beings, shatter families and snuff out lives in some service to an “ideal” that makes a mockery of the word itself.

What was shocking was the aftermath; the heartbreaking sound of silence. As our people vehemently decried Facebook as the root of all human malfeasance and rightly protested the shockingly cavalier attitude of Israel towards international law and the sanctity of human life itself, more than a hundred Pakistanis were brutally murdered upon the soil of their own nation.

Nary a whisper.

We as a people are so quick to take to the streets in protest that it may soon be our official national sport. Where, then, were the wildfire demonstrations against those who wage war on Pakistani citizens; the slogans, screamed with a raw hate reserved for the murderers of innocents; the burning effigies of Taliban leaders?

The victims were Ahmedis.

They were Ahmedis and so, when scores of Pakistanis lay dead and dying, when the inability of our state to protect us was thrown into harshest relief, where there should have been a flood of grief and sympathy from every human heart still capable of sensation, there were sparse smatterings of cold and careful condolences.

One of the most difficult concepts to impress upon the minds of outsiders is that Pakistanis and Muslims are not terrorists; we are the victims of a tiny and fringe group of rabid madmen.

But in these killings, we were complicit.

A banner proclaiming Ahmedis the enemies of Islam has hung, obscenely, right outside the Lahore High Court. Pakistani talk show hosts have made thinly veiled suggestions that members of that community are literally unworthy of life, and were severely punished for their hateful and dangerous comments with precisely zero consequences.

Recently, the major religious parties declared the attacks to be conspiracies in order to provoke debate about the Ahmedi laws. Allow this to sink in for a moment: legitimate political parties in Pakistan, composed of actual adult politicians, are implicitly accusing the Ahmedis of killing a hundred of their own to further a political agenda.

These gut-wrenching incidents are exceptional only in profile; they fit far too neatly into the context of oppression and contempt that we have been party to.

We cannot possibly claim, as a country, that we value freedom of speech above all else. If we did so, we would choke on the magnitude of our hypocrisy. But whereas we had an eruption of full-throated protests from every corner of the country regarding the Facebook fiasco, there were little more than polite murmurs of “steady on now” when full-blown hate speech incited (and continues to incite) people to violence against our own citizens.

Hate speech is not only a weapon, it is a coward’s weapon, urging the desperate and misguided and insane to commit heinous acts that the speaker himself does not have the stomach to commit.

At a time when militant killers rend daily our national fabric, determined to recreate it in their own nightmare vision, at a time when being a Muslim has become a stigma the world over, at the precise moment that we need all the allies and all the goodwill we can garner, we seem hell-bent on the alienation and eventual destruction of a peaceful community that resides within our borders and has never agitated or taken up arms against our state.

When, in human history, has the oppression of a country’s own citizens paid dividends to either the oppressed or the oppressors?

Once the covenant between the state and its citizens break down, it breaks down for everyone. It will not end with the Ahmedis. A haunting quote from Martin Niemöller rings true in today’s Pakistan:

“They came first for the Communists,

and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,

and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,

and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for me,

and by that time no one was left to speak up.”

To intervene for the Ahmedis is not charity, and it is more than common human decency. It is at its core a policy of self-preservation.

If we allow the Ahmedis to be punished for who they are and what they believe, rather than what they do, we have placed our feet upon a blood-slick slope that leads into a frightening place, a place where nobody is ultimately safe because nobody, ultimately, has rights.

Are you so certain you, your friends, your loved ones, your family will not be next? That you will not have to bury your fallen, ringed by the indifference, suspicion and even hatred of your neighbours? That you will not have to barricade your doors at night against a street, a city, an entire country hostile to you?

How certain are you?

I am far from the first voice to speak against this shameful affair, and I pray I am not the last. This is less than the smallest thing we can do for the victims of a staggering crime: to say that they are human, and our countrymen, and that our heart is broken for their incalculable loss.

Even if they are not part of the green they are surely part of the white, part of Jinnah’s Pakistan, more so by a thousand-fold than those that slaughter our people in cold blood.

The majority of Pakistanis are Muslim. With our sensitivity to the systematic violence and oppression in Kashmir, in Gaza, in Gujarat, in a hundred other places, we should know better than most the injustice of being targeted for what we are and what we believe.

For shame.

Zaair Hussain is a Lahore-based freelance writer. He can be reached at zaairhussain@gmail.com

My Take: Most victims of Muslim religious persecution are other Muslims

Editor's Note: Asma T. Uddin is founder and editor-in-chief of altmuslimah.com and an international law attorney with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

By Asma T. Uddin

Religious persecution in Muslim countries has gotten a lot of ink lately, but what's been mostly overlooked is that Muslims themselves are the most frequent victims of that persecution.

Members of minority religions are hurt disproportionately, owing largely
to the government's failure to prosecute crimes committed against these
individuals. But in terms of sheer numbers, it is Muslims of minority sects or Muslim dissidents who are most consistently victimized. The recently released annual report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) makes this abundantly clear.

Shiites are usually the main victims, given that they're the minority sect in Islam and are also often associated with an Iranian political threat.

In Saudi Arabia, Shiites constitute 10 to 15 percent of the populace but occupy very few top government positions. Members of Ismailism, a Shiite sect, often face apostasy and blasphemy charges; Hadi Al-Mutif, an Ismaili, was sentenced to death in 1994 for apostasy and is still in prison today - despite the fact that he says he is a Muslim.

Blasphemy laws are also a huge problem in Pakistan, where they're used to exact revenge on business or personal rivals. Because these laws do not penalize false allegations nor require proof of intent or evidence beyond allegations, extremists use blasphemy allegations to intimidate minority groups, including Shi'as and members of the Ahmadiyya sect, who consider themselves Muslim.

Similarly, Egypt's blasphemy laws are wielded against Shiites and Koranists, as well as dissident Muslims from the majority Sunni population.

The Muslim Brotherhood, for example, is an illegal organization in Egypt
and its members are routinely tortured or detained for long periods of time, without any evidence of violence or incitement to violence. The Egyptian government persecutes the Brotherhood because of its socio-political influence in Egyptian society and across the Muslim world.

The group, which seeks to overthrow the current secular government and implement Islamic law in Egypt, did fairly well in recent parliamentary elections - despite government repression during the voting process.

In Iran, meanwhile, senior religious leaders who oppose the government's
religious and political practices are subject to house arrest, detention
without charges, and torture. Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri, once the designated successor to Khomeini, died in December 2009 after years of imprisonment and persistent harassment because of his strong opposition to Iranian clerical rule.

Two patterns emerge in these cases.

First, the use of blasphemy laws to protect a state-sponsored definition
of Islam. Second, state control of religion politicizes religion.

Blasphemy laws presuppose a single version of a given faith that is "right" and that all other interpretations are necessarily wrong. Stultifying debate by freezing religious interpretations is extremely dangerous-not just because it robs religious groups and individuals of the ability to define their religion for themselves, but because it prevents the type of reform and revival of faith that make it relevant to changing times.

Suppressing social activism under the pretext of blasphemy is even more
dangerous. It takes away people's right to express these elements in a peaceful and productive way, driving them underground instead. With the public square sealed off, they run to the mosque as the only free space. Social activism ends up taking on religious overtones and becomes radicalized against the government. The result is often terrorism.

The way forward? The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom's report recommends that the U.S. government fill the vacancy for the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.

While various government working groups have been established on inter-religious dialogue, the report says that these groups give mere passing reference to religious freedom. Religious freedom programs must be funded, and U.S. government agencies interacting with religious actors abroad need to make religious freedom a central component of these efforts.

Faith is central to most of the world's inhabitants. When they are oppressed on account of it, instability ensues - and the world becomes unsafe for everyone. If only out of self-interest, the U.S. would do well to pay more attention to religious freedom.

The Ahmadiyya Position.Ahmadiyya teachings prohibit protests, demonstrations,

The Ahmadiyya Position.Ahmadiyya teachings prohibit protests, demonstrations, industrial strikes and agitations
Posted on June 10th, 2010

Dr. Ifthikhar Ahmad Ayaz, OBE

1.(Officer of the Excellent Order of the British Empire)
2. Consul General of Tuvalu Island in the United Kingdom
3. Senator World Nations Congress
4. Ambassador of Peace appointed Universal Peace Foundation
5. Recipient of International Peace Prize
6. Member UN Human Rights Council Committee in the Rights of
Minorities – Rights of Woman / Rights of Children
7. Member World Poverty Alleviation Forum

8. Honored as the 2010 Man of the Year in Human Rights.

9. An eminent member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Islam.

The Ahmadiyya Muslims are now a well recognised and a well respected community in the world. They are known to be law abiding, peace loving and completely non violent. Their teachings prohibit protests, demonstrations, industrial strikes and agitations. They have shown great dignity in enduring the pangs of persecution in Pakistan and elsewhere. Just end of May over a hundred of their members while offering the weekly Friday prayers in the two mosques in Lahore, Pakistan, were barbarically massacred but they have sustained this catastrophic tragedy in silence. They are also unique being a community of over 200 million people representing all races, nations, cultures and languages heralding from over 190 countries of the world but solemnly united under one spiritual leader divinely designated as ‘Khalifa’. The community was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India, who claimed to be the Promised Messiah.

The present khalifa, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the fifth Successor of the founder of the community, was compelled to reside in London, U.K. because of the legislation passed by the Government of Pakistan prohibiting Ahmadis to practice as Muslims in Pakistan.

In this brief article it is my intention to review the services of the Ahmadiyya community to humanity in general and to Pakistan in particular. The founder of the community, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, clearly stated the importance of good relationships with fellow human beings. He said:

“I admonish you to adhere to two primary principles- Keep your affairs with Allah on the straight path and treat the human beings with sympathy and good manners.”

(Malfoozat, Volume 9, page 35)

The Ahmadi Muslims strongly supported and struggled for the creation of Pakistan and along with other Muslims migrated from Qadian, their headquarters in India. The editor of the Newspaper “Rangin,” Mr. Arjan Singh, writes in his book, Sair-i-Qadian:

“So far as our information goes we could say with confidence that the Ahmaddiya community is a strong supporter of the activities of the Muslim League. It is well known that they have besides contributing thousands of rupees, devoted their efforts for the success of the Muslim League.”

The Ahmadi Muslims were at the forefront of safeguarding the Muslim Political Rights during the Montague- Chelmsford Reforms of 1917, when the British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith had recognised the increasing demand for India’s self-rule. The then Imam of the Ahmaddiya Muslims, Mirza Bashirudeen Mahmood Ahmad, was invited by the Governor General of India, Lord Frederick, to address the special conference on the subject which was held in Delhi on 13th November 1917. Subsequently, the Ahmadiyya Community played a prominent role in the political developments leading on to the creation and formation of Pakistan.

An eminent Ahmadi leader, Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khan, also played a key role in the politcal negotiations representing the Muslims of India at the Round Table Conference. Sir Zafrullah was the President of the All India Muslim League in 1931-1932. Khawaja Hasan Nizami of Delhi in the Urdu Newspaper ‘Munadi,’ writes in its 24th October 1934 issue about Sir Zafrullah:

“His political sagacity is greater than any Muslim in India. The Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for India, the Viceroy, and all British politicians admire his ability and Hindu leaders too, though reluctantly, acknowledge that this man is their rival- a very able, effective and accomplished rival. During the Round Table Conference, every Hindu, Muslim and Englishman acknowledged Chaudhry Zafrullah Khan’s merit and confessed that amongst the Muslims, Chaudhry Zafrullah is a person who has full command over the complexities of politics. Zafrullah is faultless and his character is irreproachable.”

History speaks for itself and there is no room in this brief exposure to go into detail. However, it is evident that from the very inception of the All India Muslim League in the Punjab in 1907, to the partition of the subcontinent in 1947- for forty long years- the Ahmadiyya community and its eminent members faithfully and persistently rendered crucial and outstanding services towards the freedom movement which culminated in the creation of Pakistan.

Sir Zafrullah Khan also had the distinguished honour of being the first Foreign Minister of Pakistan and in that capacity he eminently served the cause of the Muslims in Kashmir and Palestine. After the most disgusting legislation of 1974, when Bhutto declared Ahmadis to be non-Muslims and then the shameful Ordinance passed by General Zia ul Haq in 1984, the wife of the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, had this to say as reported in the Daily Dawn, Karachi, July 10th 1985:

“During the past one year, Newspapers have reported murders of Ahmadi notables in mysterious circumstances. More recently, hundreds of arrests have been made of members of this peace loving Community. Those arrested have been reportedly subjected to physical torture, while the charge against them is usually that of wearing Kalima Tayabba badges. This situation deserves to be condemned forthrightly without any reservations. It is known history that while the Ahmadiyya Community supported the cause of Pakistan, most of Mullah Community, their present persecutors, opposed the creation of Pakistan tooth and nail. The two great Quaids, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan, appreciated the contribution of Ahmadis towards the Muslim cause and recognised it by appointing Chaudhry Muhammad Zafrullah Khan as the first Foreign Minister of Pakistan. In those great days, Pakistan had not been reduced to a theocratic State, and not only Muslims, regardless of the auxiliary beliefs, but even Hindus, were given Cabinet posts. The rights of minorities and small groups were not paid just lip service, but were protected with deliberate effort.” (Daily Dawn, Karachi, July 10th 1985)

Alhumdullilah! The Furqan Force Battalion

Soon after the formation of Pakistan, the Ahmadiyya community raised a voluntary ‘Furqan Force Battalion’ for deployment on the Kashmir border. The Battalion was placed at the disposal of the Commander in Chief of the Pakistan Army on 10th July 1948. Some of the Army Officers in this Ahmadi unit were Major Waqiuz-Zaman, Major Hamidullah and Capt. Nehmatullah Sharif. The entire cost of maintaining Furqan Force Battalion at the Kashmir front was borne by the Amadiyya community. The Furqan Force Battalion established a high reputation for discipline, courage, bravery and an eager spirit of service and sacrifice.

The Ahmadiyya community has always been at the forefront of services in the cause of the freedom of Muslims, particularly the Palestinian Arabs. This was acknowledged by the ‘Nawa-e-Waqt’ Magazine of 6th March 1982. It stated:“In their struggle to win their freedom, the Arab nations were fully represented by Zafrullah Khan at the International Forum of the UN General Assembly.”

Appreciating the Ahmadiyya community’s services to the Muslims of Tunisia, Morocco, Iran, Egypt and Jordan, the famous Egyptian leader Al Sayad Mustafa Momin stated in an interview to the Associated Press of Pakistan published in various Pakistani Newspapers of 24th and 25th March 1952: “Chaudhry Muhammad Zafrullah Khan holds an enviable position in the world of Islam. He is looked upon as a top most Statesman in the Middle East in general and in Egypt and other Arab countries in particular. By his forceful support of Tunisia, Morocco, Iran and Egypt at the United Nations, he has served the cause of Islam in a way no other leader has been able to do so.”

Of the many Ahmadis who have rendered selfless sacrifices to the nation of Pakistan, the eminent one is Dr. Abdus Salam who was a world renowned nuclear physicist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Nuclear Physics. His significant contributions towards the development of scientific research in Nuclear Physics have been universally acknowledged.

Commending Dr Salam’s services, Mr. Ishrat Usmani once the Chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, said:

“Most of the scientific effort in Pakistan is in a large measure due to Salam’s imagination and the weight of his personality. Salam is a symbol of the pride and prestige of our nation in the world of science.”

General Ayub Khan appointed Dr. Salam as Chief Scientific Advisor to the President of Pakistan (1961-1974). Dr. Salam was also the founder and Chairman of the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Committee (1961-1964).

Dr. Abdus Salam served as a Scientific Secretary at the first Atoms for Peace Conference convened by the UN in Geneva, Switzerland. Later, he also served the cause of world science as the Director of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy.

In recognition of his unique services, in addition to the Nobel Prize, Dr. Salam was awarded several other prizes from 19 different nations.

It is very unfortunate for Pakistan that on account of submission to Islamic extremism, fanaticism, and Mullah hatred against Ahmadis, Pakistan, by passing legislation in 1974 declaring Ahmadis non-Muslims , lost the unique services to the country of its two distinguished sons, Sir Chaudhry Muhammad Zafrullah Khan and Dr. Abdus Salam.

The prejudice against Ahmadis was so strong, that even after the demise of Dr. Abdus Salam, the Government removed the word ‘Muslim’ engraved on his epitaph. What a disgrace and what a shame!However, such acts of animosity and ruthless discrimination have never deterred Ahmadis from serving and sacrificing for Pakistan.

The Ahmadiyya community offered to the Pakistan Army 15000 soldiers and 199 Officers who were well trained in the battlefield during the Second World War. They offered unique sacrifices in the cause of the motherland. In this article, only a sampling of their valiant and splendid services can be mentioned.

Major Gen. Akhtar Hussain Malik’s extraordinary planning and speedy execution put the rival troops to flight in the Chamb Sector during the 1965 War with India. Brigadier Abdul Ali Malik stood like a rock in the path of the heaviest armoured advance of the elite Indian War machine.

Squadron Leader Khalifa Muniruddin Ahmad served in the Air Force with great distinction. Thousands of Ahmadi officers and ranks in the Armed Forces of Pakistan helped in the defence of the motherland. The names of Major Munir Ahmad and Major Qazi Bashir also stand out prominently. There are countless examples of the valour and the dauntless courage of many Ahmadi soldiers standing tall with their comrades in arms. Other Ahmadis whose loyalty and devotion were inspiration included Gen. Chaudhry Ahmad, Gen. Iftikhar Janjua and Air Marshall Nasir Zafar Chaudhry.

Today, the Ahmadiyya Muslims are doing all that they can to appease the suffering of humanity, to appease poverty, and provide health facilities, education, clean drinking water, alternative energy sources and training in skills leading to economic development in Africa, Asia, the Far East, the Pacific and other Regions of the world. They have established a special unit, Humanity First, to respond to all such needs and also to natural disasters and catastrophes. For the moral and spiritual education of the world they run a Satellite Television Station (MTA), which broadcasts in seven languages around the clock every single day.

Such is this community, with love for all and hatred for none, serving Islam and humanity devotedly with the determination to raise the banner of Islam and the dignity of humanity all over the world and do whatever it can for the welfare and wellbeing of all, without any discrimination whatsoever.

The Ahmadiyya Muslims have won respect and admiration from all sections of the world community for their loyalty and peace loving practices. They have a golden heart for humanity. They have a track record of people who are honest, hardworking, innovative, reliable, responsible, and with high morals. They are a treasure for the nation wherever they are, but unfortunately Pakistan has shelved this treasure of human resources on account of sheer, meaningless, damaging religious prejudice, extremism and hatred by passing deliberate legislation and ordinances against Ahmadis.

Alas! Pakistan would open its eyes at this very critical juncture in its history and get the Ahmadiyya Muslims on board to extinguish the rising flames of terrorism, corruption and devastating situation of law and order in the country.

Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community talks with Press and Media

mtaOnline1 — April 11, 2009 — Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community talks with Press and Media regarding various matters including political and social instability currently engulfing Pakistan.
© Copyright MTA International

Phenomenon of satanic forces and God's chosen people

Summary of Friday Sermon

Delivered by Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad ^at, the Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

May 28 ^th, 2010

NOTE: Alislam Team takes full responsibility for any errors or miscommunication in this Synopsis of the Friday Sermon

Hudhur recited verses 72 – 75 of Surah Sad, the translation reads: ‘When thy Lord said to the angels, ‘I am about to create man from clay, ‘And so when I have fashioned him in perfection, and have breathed into him of My Spirit, fall ye down in submission to him.’ So the angels submitted, all of them together. But Iblis did not. He behaved proudly, and was of those who disbelieved.’ And delivered a Friday Sermon on the phenomenon of satanic forces and God’s chosen people, His Prophets helped by hosts of angels.

Hudhur said from the beginning of time Satan and man have been contending with each other. In religious account God’s love for Adam (on whom be peace) caused Satan to declare war with him with much ferocity. This enmity was repeated in the era of each Prophet of God and indeed is still being repeated. Prophets of God guide to ways leading to God and Satan has always tried to spoil this process and continues to do so. He frightens and misleads people with all manner of pretext, greed and terror. The Holy Qur’an cites in many places that from the creation of Adam (on whom be peace) Satan started using ploys. From Surah Al Fatiha to Surah Al Nas, God has mentioned Satan to alert believers from his attacks, and has commanded to protect themselves from him through prayer.

The aforementioned verses declare the creation of God’s beloved and His command to angels to completely submit to man and the arrogance of Satan in declining to submit to one who was, in his view, created from lesser matter. When God created man, He put the capacity in him to imbue Divine qualities and thus attain nearness to God, and go on to attain a high point in this nearness where angels would be commissioned to serve him. God sends His Prophets who attain the greatest nearness to Him and as a result the entire system of angels arises to help and support them. God’s special decree comes into action for this purpose. God created man as the most eminent of all creation and pressed the entire creation in his service. When man is granted prophethood he becomes the Adam of his age, imagine the support and succour he would receive in such instance.

During the time of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) he and the believers were bitterly persecuted and the pagans of Makkah marshalled aggression in order to eliminate Islam. In the Battle of Badr it was God’s angels whose help turned the tide in favour of the Muslims. There are several other instances from the time of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) which illustrate that an army of angels was always with him and the believers. Indeed, the Muslims lost their lives as well as suffered from loss of property etc. however; the mob of Iblees (Satan) could never achieve their objective. Those who follow Satan try their utmost to create doubts and suspicions in people’s hearts through murder and mayhem, financial loss, both overtly and covertly putting terror in people’s hearts. Opponents of good fall into the control of Satan because of their arrogance. Their argument is that those who claim prophethood and who call to God are in fact poor and lowly and it is them who are knowledgeable and conversant, how could they then take their bai’at? Hudhur said it is again arrogance of those who do not accept the Imam of the age that is preventing them from accepting him.

When God commanded angels to prostrate to man it was not a literal command for only God is worthy of prostration. This command meant that one who is commissioned by God should be perfectly obeyed and Satan should not be allowed to succeed in his objectives against him. It meant that the Prophet should be helped in making Satan unsuccessful and an awareness of the message of the Prophet and God’s help and succour for him should be inspired in pious-natured people so that they may recognise the truth and join the community of the Prophet. These people would then go through spiritual enhancement and experience God’s help and succour, as a result their life on this earth and their Hereafter is accomplished and they become the recipients of God’s Paradise. The hearts of pious-natured people are enthused and this is when angels declare: ‘So the angels submitted, all of them together…’ Meanwhile the works of Prophet is blessed in extraordinary ways and one can observe the ‘submission’ of pious-natured people and it is this obedience and submission that is the ‘prostration’ to carry the mission of the Prophet further. By becoming most excellent helpers they take his work forward.

Hudhur said in this age it is the true and ardent devotee of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him), the Promised Messiah, who has been addressed as ‘Adam’ by God. The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said that to affront one commissioned by God is to affront God. Hudhur said today those who oppose the community of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) in fact are contending with God. It was revealed to the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace): ‘I determined on the appointment of a Vicegerent and so created Adam, the Vicegerent of Allah the Sultan’ (Tadhkirah p.369). Hudhur said our Khilafat is spiritual rather than temporal and this status was granted to the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) because of his subservience to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). Having granted the status, God commanded angels to submit to him, that is, submit to the special human who had been chosen for faith. In another revelation God thus assured the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace): ‘…I shall stand with My Messenger and angels will help him…’ (Tadhkirah p. 453). Hudhur explained that this ‘help of God’ is not a tale of yore. We witness to this day that Satan is at work and so are the angels. Our opponents oppress us with their persecution in one place and the community grows in many new places.

Hudhur said he read in Al Fazl recently how Hilmi Shafi sahib accepted Ahmadiyyat and how God inclined him. Mustapha Thabit sahib, who was an Ahmadi, lived worked in Sana desert with Hilmi Shafi sahib. Hilmi sahib would watch the then young man as different from the rest and regular in Salat. Gradually they became friends and while discussing Islam Thabit sahib would present reasoning and argument to which neither Hilmi sahib had the answers to nor could his religious leaders help with. When they parted way, Hilmi sahib kept some of Thabit sahib’s books, including the Five Volume Commentary of the Holy Qur’an. Having read the books, he would, as is the way of people outside our community, try and find objections within. Hudhur said these days it seems to be a trend in Pakistan to look for objections in our books where it clearly demonstrates that the ‘objection’ is actually borne out of the lack of knowledge of the objector. So, Hilmi sahib too would try and find fault and when he sought assurance from religious scholars he could not get any. When he read the book ‘Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam’ it excited him. He showed the book to his father and asked what sort of a person could have written it. His father said, ‘certainly a waliAllah’ (friend of God). Hilmi sahib asked his father what if such a person is claiming to be the Messiah. His father replied he could not object to him, only one very close to God could have written it. However, he added he was old and could not accept him. Hilmi sahib’s heart changed and he accepted the truth and took his bai’at.

Hudhur said such incidents take place even now. Many people are given the message of Ahmadiyyat through dreams. All this is the commotion created by angels in help of one commissioned by God which leads pious-natured people turn to the truth. On the other hand, those who follow Satan, exceed in their opposition and create impediments backed by arrogance. It is their arrogance that persuades them to rebellion and to follow Satan. Whereas God’s people try and become a reflection of Divine attributes and enhance their spirituality.

The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said that arrogance is an evil that does not give up chasing man. He said arrogance comes from Satan and unless one distances from Satan, one cannot accept the message of truth and cannot avail of Divine beneficence. Unless and until man purifies himself of conceit he cannot win God’s pleasure. It was conceit that led Satan imagine he was superior to Adam and was thus accursed by God. However, when one attains Divine knowledge one comes into the guardianship of God. Hudhur explained that the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said that his opponents may prostrate in his opposition, make cursing prostrations in the process and rub their noses to the ground, their noses would rot but no loss would come to the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace).

Hudhur said news are coming in the today, many must have heard it, seen it on TV, severe attacks have been made on two [of our] mosques in Lahore, one in Model Town and the other Darul Zikr. Similarly, rallies have been taken out in Kunri. Likewise, in other places in the world, in various countries, opposition is carried out by following the mullah. Can this opposition finish Ahmadiyyat? Did Ahmadiyyat ever come to an end after earlier opposition? Most certainly not, and it never will, of course it will definitely make those who oppose us the target of God’s chastisement and reprove.

Advising us, the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said that prayer is such that when Adam and Satan contended with each other no other scheme availed but prayer. In the latter-days, again, triumph will come about through prayer. The first Adam was triumphant through prayers and the second Adam too, who will fight Satan in the latter-days, will be triumphant in this way.

Hudhur said enmity against us is increasing greatly. There is tremendous need for us to turn to prayer. Indeed, our community is also progressing and growing in spite of Satan waylaying at every corner. Pious-natured people continue to enter the community.

Hudhur said we need to pay attention to the Quranic prayer: ‘Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves; and if Thou forgive us not and have not mercy on us, we shall surely be of the lost’ (7:24) to gather blessings and for protection against satanic attacks, both on an individual as well as communal level.

The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said that in His wisdom God made Adam with two connections: one connection was with God Himself ‘And so when I have fashioned him in perfection, and have breathed into him of My Spirit, (38:73). This verse proves that by breathing His Spirit in Adam, God created a connection with him so that mankind too could have that connection. On the other hand, He created a natural connection in man with the rest of mankind. Hudhur said it is our responsibility to develop this connection. If this connection of ours is correct, the nature of Adam will become a part of our nature. We will be drawn to pay the dues of mankind and will take the mission of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) forward.

Hudhur said the situation regarding the attacks at the mosques in Lahore is not quite clear yet, however there have been many martyrdoms and many have been injured, some of whom are in a critical condition. The situation in Darul Zikr is not clear yet. The number of martyrdoms could increase as people had come there for Jummah, we will know more when the details will come in. May God elevate the stations of all the martyrs. Pray for the injured, some are critically wounded. This was an aim by the opponents to inflict communal loss. Certainly, God has the power to retaliate. Through which source will He demonstrate His decree, how will He seize those who create disorder and persecute, He alone knows. However, may He make those a cautionary sign, who challenge God’s sense of honour again and again and are exceeding all limits in oppression and InshaAllah this will come to pass.

Hudhur reiterated that Ahmadis should enhance compassion in their prayers. May God demolish the arrogance and conceit of our opponents and their presumption of power by demonstrating a manifestation of His Power. May we ever increase in our faith and belief and may this trial never become a cause of weakness for us. All Ahmadis should pray for Pakistani Ahmadis these days. The circumstances there are most adverse. Similarly, pray for the Ahmadis who are imprisoned in Egypt, may God facilitate their speedy release. In Kerala, India, some Ahmadis have also been wrongly imprisoned, remember them in your prayers. In accordance with His promise, God will never let the sacrifices of those who are imprisoned and the injured and the martyrs go to waste. InshaAllah. Satan and his mob will never be successful. May God have mercy on us and keep us safe from every trial in future.

Patience and prayers on great sacrifices of the Lahore martyrs

Summary of Friday Sermon

Delivered by Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad ^at, the Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

June 4 ^th, 2010

NOTE: Alislam Team takes full responsibility for any errors or miscommunication in this Synopsis of the Friday Sermon

Hudhur recited verses 31 – 33 of Surah Ha Mim Al Sajdah, the translation reads:

‘As for those who say, ‘Our Lord is Allah,’ and then remain steadfast, the angels descend on them, saying: ‘Fear ye not, nor grieve; and rejoice in the Garden that you were promised.

‘We are your friends in this life and in the Hereafter. Therein you will have all that your souls will desire, and therein you will have all that you will ask for —

‘An entertainment from the Most Forgiving, the Merciful.’ (41:31 – 33).

Explaining Hudhur said each week he receives thousands of letters asking for prayers regarding illnesses, prayers for dear ones, letters including Hudhur in the joy of marriages, letters asking prayers regarding anxiety over finding matrimonial matches, prayers for blessings in employment, businesses or problems relating to them, prayers for success in examinations, in short many other subjects. However, last week Hudhur received thousands more letters than is usual and the subject of all of them revolved around the great sacrifices of the Shaheeds (martyrs) of Lahore. There was expression of grief and pain and anger, but the anger transformed in the very next sentence in patience and prayers. Every one forgot their own problems. These letters came from Pakistan, India, Australia and the island, from Europe, America and Africa. These were not just the emotions of Ahmadis of Pakistani descent. Rather, person of every ethnicity who has been enabled to come into the bai’at of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) has been expressing anguish as if it were their close, blood relations who had been victims of the cruelty. As for those whose close relations were martyred, they have been consoling Hudhur in their letters on the martyrdom of their sons, fathers, brothers and husbands. It is a great account of patience and steadfastness. Hudhur personally telephoned the families of all the martyrs to pay his condolences. Hudhur said he should be informed if any family has been missed. In each family that Hudhur rang, he found children, wives, mother and fathers submitting to the will of God. Hudhur said letters can conceal emotions but he clearly heard their resolute voices on the telephone expressing in light of the Quranic injunction: …‘Surely, to Allah we belong and to Him shall we return.’ (2:157). Hudhur said they said what they said in full awareness and with complete perception of attaining God’s pleasure that they submitted to the will of God. One or two sacrifices were nothing for them, they were prepared to spill the last drops of their blood for the community of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) because today it is their blood alone which will demonstrate the status of the Holy Prophet as Khatumun Nabiyeen and the chief of all Prophets (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). They are those who will revive the model of the earlier-ones, they keep the great example of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) in view. Hudhur said having read all these letters he feels unable to express his own emotions. However, they have further strengthen his belief that most certainly God granted these beloved people to the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) in order to accomplish his high objectives. These are the great people who are patient and steadfast, whose departed ones also demonstrated models of steadfastness as they met their God and thus verified the Quranic statement of: ‘And say not of those who are killed in the cause of Allah that they are dead; nay, they are living; only you perceive not.’ (2:155). They demonstrated to the world that while they have attained the pleasure of God they have also become a source that shall flourish faith. Every single drop of their spilt blood will bear great fruits. Angels will have embraced them and they would not have felt anything as they gave their lives; how the bullet hit them or the shrapnel from the grenade struck them. These embodiments of steadfastness who offered their lives for faith lay injured in their blood for hours and recited Durud. If any one of them uttered a sound out of pain, the other injured said to him, ‘be patient, people give their lives without any cause, you are going to sacrifice yourself for a great cause.’ And then, the one who uttered the sound recited Durud till he breathed his last and thus assured that he was fulfilling his promise made to the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace).

Hudhur said he has seen a most heartbreaking video recorded by an injured person which is most moving. God indeed took sacrifices of these people but His angels showered tranquillity on them and they waited patiently for hours without groaning and instead prayed. A 19 year old was hit by several bullets but he waited patiently for hours in one position and prayed. If the police had arrived on time many precious lives would have been saved but where the entire system is full of disorder what else can be expected? One young man caught the terrorist’s grenade wanting to throw it back, but the grenade detonated. He thus gave his life and saved many. An elderly person also offered his life as he ran towards the assailant thus taking all the bullets on his body. Hudhur said the IG of the police is boasting that the police captured two terrorists. This is what happens when the entire system, from top to bottom, is reeks of untruth. Indeed, the two terrorists who were held were held by our own. One was held by a young man who is slim of build but was full of faith. He held the terrorist with one hand on his neck and the other preventing him to detonate his suicide belt.

Hudhur said the terrorists were men in their late teens early twenties of deprived backgrounds. Due to poverty these people are taken in childhood by criminals who brainwash them, give him false hopes of Paradise and make them carry out suicide attacks whereas such death incurs God’s displeasure. We never see the ring-leaders of terrorist, we never seen them sacrificing their own children. It is the children of the deprived who lose their lives.

Hudhur said while the descent of angels is apparent on the injured God has also placed it on those who lost their loved ones. It is due to their faith in the Imam of the age. God commanded the angels to console them as they are engaged in prayers. Hudhur said he saw the same outlook in every home and was amazed at the calibre of people God has given to the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace), each one appears a personification of ‘…I only complain of my sorrow and my grief to Allah…’(12:87) and this indeed is the glory of a believer. God has reminded believers to be patient: ‘And seek help with patience and Prayer…’ (2:46). A servant of the Gracious God will only submit to God rather than raise a clamour, take out rallies and take the law in his own hands. He shifts his emotions to patience and prayers and that is when he is worthy of glad-tiding. God has foretold us that: ‘And We will try you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth and lives, and fruits; but give glad tidings to the patient’ (2:156).

Hudhur said the verses recited at the beginning cite people such as the martyrs and those who live their lives to seek the pleasure of God. Angels console people such as these. Life and property of believers as well as honour is attacked and at times it appears as if the doors of God’s help have closed from all directions. When believers exercise patience and steadfastness in such trials they garner God’s grace and come in His refuge. Door to success are opened for them and God demonstrates wonders for them. Thus, steadfastness is the condition. Blessed are the Ahmadis of Lahore who have displayed steadfastness, those who have departed as well as those who are left behind. God is True to His promises, He will fulfil all His promises. Currently the tranquillity of hearts is a sign of the fulfilment of His promises.

The Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) said angels descend on those who say our Lord is Allah and who are steadfast. God is their Friend in this world and in the Hereafter. Most excellent steadfastness is when one is engulfed in misfortunes from all directions and there is no assurance. When, as a trial, Allah even does not show consolation through dreams etc. If one does not display cowardice and there is no lessening in steadfastness and dedication and one does not rely on anyone for support, rather is firm and resolute by oneself and does not flinch at God’s decree and does not show any impatience or restlessness until the trial is over. This is the steadfastness through which one finds God and the fragrance of which can still be smelt from the dust of the Prophets, the truthful and the martyrs.

Hudhur said today the dust of our martyrs too gives off this fragrance and it is making us fragrant and is telling us not to let go of the patience that we have held on to. God is True to His promises, our resolve should not waver due to the length of the trial and no word of ingratitude should be uttered. Hudhur said many have seen good dreams of the Lahore martyrs in Paradise being awarded medals.

Our sorrow and our grief is only expressed to God and there should be no lessening in that. Addressing the Ahmadis of Lahore Hudhur said they are those about whom the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) had a revelation:

‘There are our pure members in Lahore’ (Tadhkirah p. 482). Hudhur said this is their honour and they should try and uphold it as there is immense glad-tiding in this connection. Fortunate are you, Hudhur said, that the Promised Messiah has given a glad tiding about your city. Hudhur said in his view the enemy did not carry out these attacks only to incur loss of life. They wished to create fear. In their assumption they wanted to alienate the weak Ahmadis and create restlessness among the youth. They did not know that these are the sons of mothers in whose milk runs the pledge to sacrifice one’s life, property, time and children. Who themselves possessed the fervour to honour loyalty. The enemy had assumed Ahmadis will not be able to bear this huge loss and will take out violent rallies which would give the government the chance to impose its will on them. And by exaggerating any such reaction to the rest of the world Ahmadis could be disgraced. What they did not know was that Ahmadis are those who seek God’s help with patience and Prayer and who come in His refuge, who gather under the banner of Khilafat and will therefore never react in such a manner.

Hudhur said when such a reaction was not forthcoming and the outside world raised concerns and the media too exposed these people, then late in the night, they too thought of issuing statements of sympathy. Hudhur said it is astonishing that they still do not realise what sort of people Ahmadis are. Even a history of 120 years has not opened their eyes that these people rise and sit on the voice of one Imam. They are the followers of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) who came to establish the teaching of his master the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him); teaching that had brutes transform into righteous men. Now that we have left the state of brute-like existence and aspire to be godly people, how could we take out rallies and react in a violent way? We said ‘Surely, to Allah we belong and to Him shall we return’ and left our matter with God and we await His decree. You keep your brutality and your violence that you perpetrated in the name of God on God’s beloved people and with which you appear to take the masses back to the brutality of 1500 years ago. Some say there is no need for a reformer, the Shariah of the Holy Qur’an is sufficient. Are these acts in line with the Shariah then?

Hudhur said, ‘You are unsuccessfully trying to bring the name of my master, benefactor of mankind, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) in disrepute.’ Hudhur said on the Day of Judgement the Kalima (declaration of Islamic faith) will seize every single one of them and hurl them to their bad ending. Our task is to be patient; not only are the others amazed at our steadfastness rather they are inclined towards Ahmadiyyat and have expressed the wish to take bai’at. Thus their brutality has resulted in blessings for us.

Hudhur said he had thought that he would relate some incidents but some of them are so heartbreaking that Hudhur feared he would overcome with emotion. However, Hudhur related a few:

One worshipper at the funeral Prayer said, ‘ I have received one more blessing, I am now a father of a martyr. My resolve and courage is high.’ One Ahmadi was informed that his brother had been martyred he should go to such and such hospital. His reply was, ‘the one who has departed has gone. I will stay here, Ahmadi brothers may need my blood donation.’ One mother said, ‘I have placed my youth son from my lap onto God’s lap, he was God’s trust’. Shad sahib, our martyred missionary of Model Town who was delivering Friday sermon at the time of attack, continued to recite Durud and prayers and also said Allaho Akbar aloud. He had mentioned earlier Ahmadi martyrdoms at Fajr on the day. About 200 Ahmadis took shelter under the staircase outside. One terrorist came to the edge of the courtyard. Had he come outside, the 200 Ahmadis would not have remained. A 65 year old Ahmadi ran towards him and took his bullets on his chest. The terrorist was delayed in coming out and as a result many Ahmadis ran to safety. When it was all over and they came out, they saw many martyrs lay on the staircase.

One Ahmadi who was visiting from Japan went to funeral Prayers. He says that these funeral Prayers evoked memory of the time of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). Such were the models of steadfastness that it is difficult to put them in words. He met an elderly person and asked him how did he know the martyr? His reply was, ‘he was my son’. The narrator says his heart sank but the father of the martyr said, ‘Alhamdolillah, it was God’s will’. There were resolute faces all around. A lady has related that her young children had gone for Friday Prayers, God saved them. When the incident was shown on the TV the lady’s neighbouring women flocked to her house assuming she would be wailing. However, she told them our matter is with God. She told them she was not concerned about her children; everyone [in the mosque] was her relative. If her children were martyred they would gain nearness to God, if they survived they would be Ghazi (one who has been in a conflict for Islam). One mother lost her only son, her other children are daughters, she is exhibiting extreme patience and steadfastness. An Ahmadi from Syria was visiting and was in the mosque and got injured. He relates that he has never quite seen anything like this ever before. There was no panic, no chaos, no fear. Everyone was doing their duties, obeying instructions even when firing was going on.

Hudhur said these are those people, those mothers who the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) has created in his community and who have established great models of sacrifices. They are not only concerned about their own children, their hearts pain for the entire Jama’at. Hudhur said, ‘O Ahmadi mothers, never allow these virtuous, pure emotions to die. As long as they remain, no enemy can harm even an iota of the Jama’at.’

Moving the coffins of the martyrs in ambulances one young man remarked that the last coffin was his father’s. Rather than leave with the coffin in the ambulance, he went back to his duty in the mosque. Hudhur said these are the great people of the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) who only show their emotions to God. Hudhur said there were scores of other incidents which will be all collated and written down at a later time. Every one says while the terrorists were in the mosque there was no sense of panic. As long as they were alive, the murrabi sahib, the office holders gave out instructions and they were followed. Even afterwards everyone remained organised. One elderly person stayed in prostration posture. Hudhur said these are illustrations of true faith.

Hudhur said he has been receiving many letters with reference to verse 24 of Surah Al Ahzab: ‘Among the believers are men who have been true to the covenant they made with Allah. There are some of them who have fulfilled their vow, and some who still wait, and they have not changed their condition in the least; (33:24) and these people are giving Hudhur assurance of their own pledge and allegiance. The enemy thought he would weaken us, will break our strength. He assumed urban Ahmadis probably did not have faith. He did not know the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) has infused the energy of faith in his community. Doubtless they are involved in worldly matters but they are not their objectives, when they are called for faith, they are always forthcoming. Rather than brutality, they are the champions of humanity. Hudhur said after all Ahmadis also belong to the same nation/ethnicity, however, after accepting the Promised Messiah (on whom be peace) these people sacrifice their lives for religion in the manner instructed by God.

Hudhur said may God reward the Pakistani press for their just coverage of the incidents and may He always enable them to say the truth and not go back to the old ways. Hudhur said many countries have sent messages of condolences; here some MPs have also expressed sympathy. May God reward them all. What is more, even the Khatm e Nabuwat appear to have said this was a bad deed. Hudhur remarked, if this is so, what about those hate-filled posters and banners? Those which are displayed under the name plates of High Court judges? Who has plastered them? It is they alone who incite the foolish. Now that they see the course of the world has changed so they have joined in. The real reason for this atrocity is the rancour and spite that the so-called mullah exhibits against us. The Chief Justice of Pakistan takes notice of every small matter by going to press. Did he not ever think of taking notice of this huge atrocity, the banners, the posters? Should he not take action against these mullahs who incite to hatred? Is his standard of justice limited to his choice? Our sorrow and grief is to God alone, we do not expect anything from him. Hudhur said he was only pointing out his standards. Indeed after every trial our perception of sacrifice for God and attainment of His pleasure increases. People can neither harm us nor can they give us anything.

Hudhur said indeed there is a lot of terrorism in Pakistan but when perpetrated against the Ahmadis, it has the protection of law. The perpetrators of Mong [an atrocity committed in an Ahmadi mosque a few years ago] are roaming the street free. Ahmadis do not expect anything from these people. Allah is our Lord and He alone is our Helper. He will continue to help us. We do not expect any good from them in future, therefore Ahmadis need to stay alert. We should recite the prayers: ‘O Allah, we make You a shield against the enemy and we seek Your protection against their evil designs.’ And ‘ O’ Lord, everything is subservient to You. O’ Lord protect us, help us and have mercy on us.’ Hudhur said say many other prayers, pray for them to get their just deserts. Hudhur said we now have one more martyr as a Dr. Imran sahib, who was injured in the incident has passed away.

Hudhur said Ahmadi played a pivotal role in the creation of Pakistan more than those who are today posing as the care-takers of the country. Pray a lot for the country, that it is saved from their evil and the evil of those create disorder, may He keep each Ahmadi safe from all evil. Someone wrote to Hudhur that the enemy has rolled our diamonds in dust. Hudhur said this is incorrect. The enemy has tried but God gathered these diamonds and embraced them. Every single one of these diamonds has further strengthened the diamonds left behind and they are decorated on the horizon of Islam, Ahmadiyyat and they have created a new constellation and each of these stars is a guiding light for us. None of our enemies can ever be successful. May God elevate the station of these martyrs and continue to grant us steadfastness.

Hudhur said he would mention the martyrs another time. He announced leading their funeral Prayer after Jummah. Following these atrocities an Ahmadi was martyred in Narowal district Pakistan while he slept in his house. His son was injured in the attack, may God grant him healing and elevate the station of the deceased, who leaves behind a widow, three daughters and three sons. The murderer belonged to the Tahafuz e Khatm e Nabuwat group and confessed that he had carried out the act in light of the statement of a mullah following the Lahore incidents.

Hudhur prayed that may God keep each Ahmadi safe from every evil. Hudhur said pray profusely; also pray for the injured that may God grant them perfect healing.