Author name: min_ad

“Allah has promised those who believe and do good works that he will surely make you Successors in the Earth as he made Successors among those who were before you.” Holy Qur’an, 24:56 Caliphate is spiritual leadership. The Prophet Muhammad said that in this age Caliphate would emerge following on the footsteps of a Prophet. This prophecy has been fulfilled in the Ahmadiyya Khilafat. We live now with the Fifth Khalifa, Mirza Masroor Ahmad. He represents the leadership and guidance Muslims around the world are crying out for with their disunity and and discontent.   A theocracy is a state in which religious law is made civil law, binding upon all of its citizens. We see this in the modern day most clearly in some muslim-majority countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran. Religious precepts are forced upon citizens, leaving them religious by compulsion and not by choice. This is taken by many both within the Muslim world, and outside of it, as being representative of Islam’s teachings. It may surprise both groups therefore to discover that it is not. The Holy Qur’an states: “There is no compulsion in religious matters. Surely, right has been made distinct from wrong.”(Holy Qur’an, 2:257) “For me my religion, and for you your religion.”(Holy Qur’an, 109:7) “O Prophet, thou art only a warner over them — thou hast no authority to compel them.”(Holy Qur’an, 88:22-23) This means that there can be no situation permissible in Islamic law for a teaching of Islam to be forced upon its citizenship simply because it is written in the holy book of Islam. Not only is this discriminatory against the adherents of other beliefs, but it also undermines the entire system of religious spirituality. In religious spirituality, it is the very choice to act on the teachings of Islam that makes one worthy of merit. If one is forced to pray in the Islamic way, or wear the headscarf, then what merit does that person deserve in God’s eyes? Moreover, such a system is entirely counter-productive, for it engenders bitterness within the people towards the established faith. Thus the ‘religious police’ of such countries are in fact opposing God’s cause, not aiding it. Those who support a theocratic vision of Islam are refuted not only by the Qur’an, but by the practice of the Prophet Muhammad himself, peace be upon him. When he was chosen as the head of state for the metropolitan Medina, he found himself at the head of three major religious groups — the Muslims, the Jews, and the Pagans. What did he do? Did he make Islamic law binding upon them, compel Islamic professions, and enforce an Islamic dress code? Far from it. In fact, he drew up the historic charter of Medina. This charter was ratified by all the major groups of Medina, and enshrined responsibilities of each group to the others in shared citizenship. Rather than enforcing one religious law on others, the Prophet pledged to judge each group by their own laws — the Muslims by the Muslim law, the Jews by Jewish law, and the Pagans by their traditional law. He thus allowed the citizens of his state the right to self-determination, shunning the tyranny we see today in many muslim-majority countries. The Prophet’s time was one where people identified sharply along religious and ethnic lines. Today’s polity is more mixed, with blurring along the edges of traditional ethnic and religious lines. Thus translated into a modern context, his practice would require the citizens en masse to decide what laws they wanted to represent them — giving them the right to self-determination — as seen in theory by modern democracies. The Prophet’s example was thus thoroughly modern, indeed many hundreds of years beyond his time. A shining example of the separation between mosque and state is today seen in the Khilafat of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The Khalifa shuns all political allegiance, and provides a spiritual leadership that transcends nationhood. Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the current Khiafa, leads many millions of Muslims across over 200 countries in a worldwide spiritual fraternity.

“O ye people! Fear your Lord Who created you from a single soul and of its kind created its mate, and from them twain spread many men and women…” Holy Qur’an, 4:2 The Qur’an teaches that all people are equal in the sight of Allah. It says that all humans are descendants from the same original soul, and are therefore spiritually equal. True Islam does not consider God only to be the God of the Muslims, or the Arabs, or any particular people — rather it says that He is the ‘Lord of all peoples’ (1:2). It therefore cuts at the root of all racism, and brings all nations together in universal brotherhood and sisterhood. We present a short extract from Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khan’s Islam & Human Rights showcasing the social values of the Holy Qur’an: SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLAH KHAN, AHMADI MUSLIM & RENOWNED DIPLOMAT Islam’s Social Values BY SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLAH KHAN All values affecting man are based upon the concept that every human being is capable of achieving the highest stage of moral and spiritual development and that his personality must be respected. The Quran takes note of diversities of race, colour, language, wealth, etc., which serve their own useful purpose in the social scheme, and describes them as Signs of God for those who hear and possess knowledge (30:23). But none of these confers any privilege or imposes any disability. The Quran says that God has divided mankind into tribes and nations for greater facility of intercourse. Neither membership of a tribe nor citizenship of a State confers any privilege, nor are they sources of honour. The true source of honour in the sight of God is a righteous life (49:14). In his Farewell Address, the Prophet said: “You are all brothers and are all equal. None of you can claim any privilege or any superiority over any other. An Arab is not to be preferred to a non-Arab, nor is a non Arab to be preferred to an Arab; nor is a white man to be preferred to a coloured one, or a coloured one to a white, except on the basis of righteousness”.(Hanbal V, pg. 411) Islam has established a universal brotherhood. It is stressed that true brotherhood can be established only by virtue of our relationship with one another through God. Other factors — common interests, common pursuits, common occupations-may help to foster friendship and brotherhood to a degree, but the very same factors may also engender jealousy and hostility. It is only the consciousness that mankind are all equally creatures and servants of God and that they must all constantly seek the pleasure of God, that can bring about the realization of true brotherhood, which can stand the test of all the contingencies to which life is subject. “Hold fast, all together, by the rope of Allah, and be not divided; and remember the favour of Allah, which He bestowed upon you when you were enemies and He united your hearts in love, so that by His grace you became as brethren; and you were on the brink of a pit of fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah explain to you His commandments, that you may be rightly guided”(Holy Qur’an, 3:104).

“And as for those who strive in Our path–We will surely guide them in Our ways. And verily Allah is with those who do good.” Holy Qur’an 29:70 True Islam teaches that Jihad means to struggle for goodness. This generally means that we should personally struggle to become better people. In exceptional circumstances, Jihad can also mean to defend people of any faith or background when they are being threatened by tyrants. This military Jihad is known as the ‘lesser’ Jihad — the ‘greater’ Jihad is to strive for God through good deeds.   Given the controversy and misunderstanding around the concept of Jihad, we here present a speech by the present Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad. This discourse, published in The Review of Religions, was given to an audience of German natives in 2008, at the annual gathering of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Germany. In this single speech, all qualms will be removed, and all questions answered. True Concept of Islamic Jihad BY HAZRAT MIRZA MASROOR AHMAD …Some people declare that through terrorism, Islam is destroying the peace of the world. It is most unfortunate that there is a group that has a poor understanding of the teachings of Islam, but is fanning the flames of this erroneous concept. Some educated non-Muslims have connected the concept of life after death and heaven and hell to Muslim extremists, terrorists and suicide bombers who believe, as if, there is somehow a shortcut to heaven for suicide bombers. So, the result is that the fatalist desire to enter paradise has awakened a peculiar concept of Jihad and of dying in the name of Allah, which has caused them to take up the sword and cause disorder in the world. These groups of today are in reality a by-product of this teaching and concept. In any case, while I admit that the acts committed by certain ignorant and over-enthusiastic Muslims have no doubt given a totally wrong impression of the teachings of Islam, I must also point out that the literature that has been written against Islam, without a proper understanding of Islamic teachings, has presented the same erroneous concept about Islamic Jihad. However, I will try to present the true teachings of Islam as they have been expounded by the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadpbuh, whom we believe is the Promised Messiah, according to his understanding of the Holy Qur’an, the Traditions of the Holy Prophetpbuh and the history of Islam. First of all, I will explain the true concept of Jihad in the words of the Messiah of the timepbuh. It has been one hundred years since the Founder of the Ahmadiyya communitypbuh passed away. Therefore, no one can say that the Ahmadiyya Muslim community has made up a fanciful reply in response to the wrong impression created in the world today, and is now presenting something new. On the contrary, these are the very same teachings that are set out in the Holy Qur’an. The Promised Messiah pbuh says: ‘The prevailing practice found amongst Muslims of attacking people of other religions, which they call “Jihad”, is not a lawful war; for it is clearly against the commandment of God and the Prophet Muhammadpbuh and constitutes a grave sin.’ (1) Now see, what do the words “lawful Jihad” used by the Founder of the Ahmadiyya community mean?   HIS HOLINESS, MIRZA GHULAM AHMADPBUH In order to understand this, we have to very briefly glance at the conditions existing in that part of Arabia where the Founder of Islam, the Holy Prophet Muhammadpbuh, had proclaimed his divine mission and invited people to Islam. Remember, those people were illiterate and uncivilised. Animosities were borne out of ridiculous and petty matters over which they would continue to kill each other for years. When the Holy Prophetpbuh made his claim and invited the Arabs towards the One and only God, the intelligent amongst them, some of whom were his relatives, poor people and slaves, embraced Islam. When this movement grew, the disbelievers of Mecca increased their persecution. Their cruelty reached such heights that the believers were made to lie on the burning sands of Arabia. While baking-hot stones were placed on their chests, they were whipped; their limbs were tied to camels and the camels were then driven in opposite directions, rendering their bodies apart. The Holy Prophetpbuh and his group of believers were banished to a valley, and an embargo was placed on them; neither food nor water was allowed to be delivered to them. His Companions used to say that they would die in any case, so why not go down fighting? After all, these Muslims too came from among those who were ready to kill and cause bloodshed over the most trivial matters. But when anyone said: “Permit us to fight,” the Holy Prophetpbuh would say that he had not been commanded to fight, but to be patient. This patience was not due to any weakness; indeed, history later proved that a few hundred believers managed to defeat a force of thousands. This patience was shown only because the Holy Prophetpbuh had not been commanded by Allah the Almighty to fight. At last, the Holy Prophetpbuh allowed some oppressed ones to migrate. And then, after some time, he too migrated to Medina. By that time there were some inhabitants of that town who had become Muslims. On his arrival, a large number of people embraced Islam. The Holy Prophetpbuh entered into covenants with other tribes and faiths, and amongst them there were also some Jews. He established a State in which all subjects were granted freedom. If anyone was punished for some crime, that punishment was given according to his or her own religion or religious jurisprudence. Nevertheless, as subjects of the State, all of them held equal rights. On one occasion a Jewish tribe was expelled due to their breach of an agreement. At that time there were some local Muslims of Medina,

“Admonish therefore, for thou art but an admonisher. Thou hast no authority to compel them.” Holy Qur’an 88:22-23 The Qur’an is explicit in many places that belief is a matter of the heart, and not something that can be forced or controlled externally. The Qur’an prescribes no punishment whatsoever to be administered to those who give up religious beliefs. Indeed, it is the freedom of choice in having religious beliefs in the first place that makes them worthy of merit. We present below an article by the late Imam of the London Mosque, Bashir A. Rafiq, first published in the magazine Review of Religions:   Apostasy Not Punishable by Death By B. A. Rafiq Islam does not allow the taking of life of a person simply because he is a non-Muslim or has gone back from Islam to disbelief. The golden rule of Islam is: “there is no compulsion in religion” (2:257). Allah says in the Holy Quran: “And say: ‘It is the truth from your Lord; -wherefore let him who will, believe, and let him who will, disbelieve”(18:30). ‘Say: ‘O Ye men, now has the truth come to you from your Lord. So whosoever follows the guidance, follows it for the good of his own soul, and whosoever errs, errs only against it. And I am not a keeper over you”(10:109). These verses show clearly that in the matter of faith everyone is free in the choice of one’s religion. There cannot possibly be any compulsion in preventing people from accepting or renouncing Islam. Had it been proper to use force in any shape or form in the matter of religion, God Himself would have forced the people to enter Islam and to renounce all other faiths. God says in the Holy Quran: “And if thy Lord had enforced His Will, surely all men on the earth would have believed together. Wilt thou, then, force men to become believers?”(10:100). The Holy Quran has, on no occasion, prescribed death penalty for the apostates. Let us refer to some verses of the Holy Quran in this context: “Whoso disbelieves in Allah after he has believed—save him who is forced thereto while his heart finds peace in the faith, — but such as open their breasts to disbelief, on them is Allah’s Wrath; and they shall have a severe punishment. That is because they have preferred the present life to the Hereafter, and because Allah guides not the disbelieving people.”(16:107, 108) “Those who believe, then disbelieve, then again believe, then disbelieve, and then increase in disbelief, Allah will never forgive them nor will He guide them to the way.” (4:138) “And they will not cease fighting you until they turn you back from your faith, if they can. And whoso from among you turns back from his faith and dies while he is a disbeliever, it is they whose work shall be vain in this world and the next. These are the inmates of the fire and therein shall they abide.”(2:218). “Oh Ye who believe! whoso among you turns back from his religion, then let it be known that in his stead Allah will soon bring a people whom He will love and who will love Him; and who will be kind and humble towards believers, hard and firm against disbelievers. They will strive in the cause of Allah and will not fear the reproach of a fault-finder. That is Allah’s grace: He bestows it upon whomsoever He pleases; and Allah is bountiful, All-Knowing.”(5:55). “And he who turns back on his heels, shall not harm Allah at all. And Allah will certainly reward the grateful.”(3:145). “And whosoever takes disbelief in exchange for belief, has undoubtedly gone astray from the right path.”(2:109). “Many of the people of the Book wish out of sheer envy from their own selves that, after you have believed, they could turn you again into disbelievers after the truth has become manifest to them. But forgive and turn away from them, till Allah brings about His decree. Surely, Allah has the power to do all that He wills.(2:110) “And whoso seeks a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the life to come he shall be among the losers.”(3:86). “How shall Allah guide a people who disbelieved after their believing and after they had borne witness that the Apostle was true.” “Of such the reward is that on them shall be the curse of Allah and of angels and of men, all together. “They shall abide thereunder. Their punishment shall not be lightened nor shall they be reprieved; except those who repent thereafter and amend. And surely, Allah is most Forgiving, Merciful.”(3:87-90). Nowhere in the Holy Quran has it been laid down that an apostate is to be put to death. When we turn to Ahadith (sayings of the Holy Prophet) we find that he did not prescribe death penalty for the apostates. There can be no true Hadith in contradiction to the Holy Quran. The Holy Prophet had said that whenever anyone wanted to quote any saying of his, one should see whether it was in accordance with the Holy Quran. If so, then it would be from him, otherwise not. Thus it is quite clear from the Holy Quran that there is no physical punishment for an apostate in this world.

“And We have not sent thee but as a bearer of glad tidings and a Warner, for all mankind, but most men know not.” Holy Qur’an 34:29 A distinctive feature of Islam is that it addresses itself to the whole of mankind. Previous religions only addressed a particular people at a particular time. Islam however is the summit of religious evolution, and addresses itself to every nation on Earth, in whichever era they live. It is thus a unique religion in that it recognises the truth of other Prophets, such as Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster and others, while recognising that over time their messages may have been misinterpreted or distorted. Islam came to restore and excel whatever truth they had, while correcting the shortcomings that had crept into them. Thus a Muslim has nothing but love and affection for other religions, as it sees them all as having emanated from the same Divine Source. We present below an extract of writing from Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (May Allah have mercy upon him ), the Fourth Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. This was originally published in his short book, Some Distinctive Features of Islam. A Universal Religion BY HAZRAT MIRZA TAHIR AHMAD (MAY ALLAH HAVE MERCY UPON HIM ) The very first leaf of the Holy Quran praises the Lord Who is the Sustainer of all the worlds, and its last passage urges us to pray to the Lord of mankind. Thus, both the first and the last words of the Holy Quran present the concept of the entire universe, and not merely that of a God of the Arabs or the Muslims. Verily, no one before the Holy Prophetsa of Islam had beckoned the whole of humanity, and no book before the Holy Quran had addressed the entire world. The first such claim was made in favour of the Holy Prophetsa of Islam in these words: ‘And We have not sent thee but as a bearer of glad tidings and a Warner, for all mankind, but most men know not.’(Holy Qur’an, 34:29) And then: “Say, ‘O mankind! Truly I am a Messenger to you all.’”(Holy Qur’an 7:159) And when the Holy Quran calls itself a message for all the worlds (8:128), it upholds itself as the guidance with which is linked the true development and advancement of mankind. The Holy Quran has repeatedly been called the Verifier of other Books and Muslims are admonished to believe in all other Prophets (pbut) in exactly the same manner as they believe in their own Prophetsa. In our faith, it is forbidden to make a distinction among any of them, much less to believe in some and reject others. The Holy Quran says: “All (of us) believe in Allah, and in His angels, and in His Books, and in His Messengers.”(Holy Qur’an 2:286) It may not be without merit to examine if universality in itself is a desirable feature, and why Islam has laid such great stress upon it. Ever since Islam has brought the message of the unity of mankind, the pace of the march towards such unity has continued to accelerate in every sphere. An example of this march in our times is the establishment of different international bodies and federations. Indeed, these are but milestones along the long and devious journey towards unity among all mankind. So, the need that is keenly felt by the advanced and civilised man of today had already been fulfilled by planting the seed of its solution in the message of Islam 1400 years ago. Today, of course, the rapid development of travel and communication has lent a new impetus to the march towards unity among peoples and nations. HAJJ, THE ISLAMIC PILGRIMAGE, IS THE ULTIMATE SHOW OF HUMANITY’S UNITY. © CAMERA EYE Differences and Contradictions among Faiths – Their Reality A question that arises is: if all religions were in fact founded by Messengerspbut from God, then why is there any difference in their teachings? Can the same God sends own different teachings? This question is answered by Islam alone, and this, too, is a distinctive feature of this religion. Islam holds that there are two basic causes of differences between various religions. First, that varying conditions had needed varying dictates and rules, and the All-Knowing and All-Wise God had provided guidance for different ages, regions and peoples in accordance with their respective needs. Second, the contents of various faiths faded and wilted under the vicissitudes of time; hence they were not preserved in their original form. In some cases, the followers themselves introduced innovations and variations to suit changing needs, and the originally revealed Books continued to be interpolated for this purpose. Obviously, such adulteration of the Divine Message ultimately mandated fresh guidance from the Original Source. As God has said in the Holy Quran: “They pervert the words from their proper places and have forgotten a good part of that with which they were exhorted.”(Holy Qur’an 5:14) THE HOLY QUR’AN, THE FINAL DIVINE BOOK If we examine the history of differences between various faiths in the light of the principles enunciated by the Holy Quran, we find that the differences tend to diminish as we reach nearer the source itself. For instance, if we limit the comparison of Christianity and Islam only to the life of Jesuspbuh and the four gospels in the Bible, then there will appear only very minor differences between the basic teachings of the Bible and the Holy Quran. But, as we travel further down the road of time, the chasm of these differences becomes wider and wider, till it becomes totally unbridgeable—and all because of human endeavour to revise that which was originally revealed. The history of other faiths also reveals the same basic reality, and we find strong corroboration of the Quranic view, that the direction of human changes and revisions of the Divine Message, has always been from the worship of one God to that of several, and from reality to fiction, from humanity to deification of human

“And your God is One God; there is no God but He, the Gracious, the Merciful.” Holy Qur’an, 2:164. A distinctive feature of Islam is that it addresses itself to the whole of mankind. Previous religions only addressed a particular people in a particular time. Islam however is the summit of religious evolution, and addresses itself to every nation on Earth, in whatever era they live. It is thus a unique religion in that it recognises the truth of other Prophets, such as Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster and others, while recognising that over time their messages may have been misinterpreted or distorted. Islam came to restore and excel whatever truth they had, while correcting the shortcomings that had crept into them. Thus a Muslim has nothing but love and affection for other religions, as it sees them all as having emanated from the same Divine Source. ———————————————– MIRZA TAHIR AHMAD. The Unity of God By Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad FOURTH KHALIFA OF THE AHMADIYYA MUSLIM COMMUNITY MAY ALLAH HAVE MERCY UPON HIM ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN AN ELEMENTARY STUDY OF ISLAM. This seems to be a rather simple and elementary concept. It should not be difficult for anybody to understand the oneness of God, and there the matter seems to rest. But in fact there is far more to this than meets the eye. When one examines the concept of Unity in depth, the entire world of religion seems to revolve around this pivotal point. This belief influences man’s life in all its aspects. It also implies the negation of all else but God. So belief in the oneness of God is not the end-all of belief, but all other beliefs spring from this fountain-head of eternal truth. This also delivers a message of liberation from all other yokes and releases man from all obligations except such as is born out of his submission to God. This article [of faith] has been further elucidated from different angles, both in the Holy Quran and the traditions of the Holy Prophetpbuh of Islam. For instance, the declaration ‘La houl wala quat illa Billah’ (There is no all-encompassing power except Allah) opens up new windows for a deeper and wider understanding of Unity. It negates all fears other than the fear of God. The second part of the same brings to the focus of attention another very important aspect of Unity, i.e. that the power to achieve good is solely dependent on God and that He is Master of all sources of strength and energy. Hence while the first part relates to the negative aspects of power, the second part relates to the positive. In application to human actions, intentions and motivations etc., these two forces are all-encompassing. Man’s intentions and his subsequent actions are always guided and controlled either by fear or hope and there is no exception to this rule. Those who do good deeds do so out of fear and hope, and those who indulge in vices are motivated by the same. The fears of non-believers belong to the negative ungodly category, and they shape their lives in accordance with these worldly fears. Sometimes they are afraid of earning the displeasure of monarchs and authorities, sometimes they are afraid of society in general or of despots and bullies. Again, sometimes they act evilly out of a fear of poverty and loss etc. So, in a world full of vices, a large part of human actions can be explained with reference to these fears. The belief in Unity dispels these fears altogether and brings to one’s mind the importance of the fear of God, which means that one must not be afraid of the displeasure of the ungodly, but should always endeavour to avoid displeasing God and shape one’s life according to that fear alone. In the positive sense, the same applies to all human motivations and consequent actions. Man always lives by some motive to please someone, himself being no exception. In fact, more often than not, he works to please himself even at the cost of those who are otherwise dear to him. WORSHIPPERS OF THE AHMADIYYA MUSLIM COMMUNITY PLEDGING ALLEGIANCE TO THE AHMADIYYA KHALIFA, AND REAFFIRMING THEIR DEDICATION TO THE UNITY OF GOD. A more exaggerated form of this attitude renders man a worshipper of his own ego. To achieve his purpose, man has to please those on whom his pleasures depend. As such, again he has to constantly strive to win the favours of monarchs, authorities etc. What we are describing is the worst form of slavery. The hopes and fears of a slave are completely dependent on the whims, pleasures and displeasures of his master. But a godless man has not one master alone. Every other human being in relation to his personal interests can play as God to him. If you analyse the ultimate cause of social, moral or political evils, it is such human worship which destroys the peace of man’s mind, and society as a whole begins to deteriorate endlessly. From this point of view, when you cast another glance at the fundamental declaration, that ‘there is no God but Allah, the One and Only’, all these fears and hopes relating to objects other than God are dispelled, as if by the waving of a magic wand. In other words, by choosing one master alone you are liberated from slavery to all others. To be a slave of such others as are themselves slaves to numberless gods is a poor bargain indeed! But that is not all. The gods that such people worship are many a time products of their own imagination, which can do them neither good nor harm. Most men, on the other hand, worship nothing but mortals like themselves, their own egos being supreme among them all. Hence each of them bows to numberless egotistic gods, their interests being at clash with each other, creating a situation which is the ultimate of chaos. HAJJ, THE ISLAMIC PILGRIMAGE, IS THE ULTIMATE