I swear before Allah and man that I have no malice whatsover against Ahmadiyyah or the Ahmadis. I strongly believe that every person is individullay responsible to Allah for his/her faith and for whatever religion he/she follows. My main concern with this exercise is to declare, in unmistakable terms, my finding that Ahmadiyyah is not Islam. This is necessary because a number of Ahmadis in Nigeria had said it to my hearing on a number of occasions that my being an Ahmadi had contributed to their becoming Ahmadis when they did. This placed a heavy burden on me when I came to discover the truth about Ahmadiyyah. This exercise is, therfore, among other things, aimed at removing this burden from myself. All praise is due to Allah the Most High for His guidance.
"Invite (mankind, O Muhammad 'peace be upon him') to the way of your Lord (i.e.Islam) with wisdom (i.e with the Divine Inspiration and the Quran) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided". (Surrah An-Nahl, 16:125).
My aim with the present exercise is also to explain to others who are genuinely in search of truth about Ahmadiyyah in case Allah may, out of His mercy, grant them better understanding and show them the right way. My prayer for such people is that, they often impressed on us that the stiff oppostion which Ahmadis suffered in India before the Partition, and subsequently in Pakistan, was a conclusive proof of the truth of Ahmadiyyah, After all, no Prophet is readily accepted in his own town or country. This also appeared plausible to us, hence we followed them with unalloyed confidence.
It was indeed, with such confidence that I addressed the Ahmadiyyah Youth Conference in October, 1972. Subsequently, certain events made me reconsider the hitherto accepted claims of Ahmadiyyah with a view to cross-checking their references.
My aim was actually to strenghten myself against the gathering oppostion to Ahmadiyyah. As a University scholar, I was conscious that my pronouncement in support of Ahmadiyyah must nesessarily be backed up with authentic references to Islamic sources.
In my cross-checking of the Ahmadiyyah missionaries' references, however, my findings were rather disappointing: I must say before Allah and man that the more I scrutinise the claim and the purported freferences for them, the more I discover that the Ahmadiyyah Mission are deceiving the world and playing on the ignorance of many of their followers.
In many cases, they quoute authors who are explicitly opposed to Ahmadiyyah ideas; but so cleverly do they quote that they give the impression that the authors support Ahmadiyyah views.
It is only by going to the source references and reading what the Ahmadis had quoted within the context in which they are set that reader, and the seeker after truth, will realise how much the Pakistani Ahmadiyyah missionaries try to deceive the world.
For example, an often-quoted "tradition" by the Ahmadis in support of Ghulam Ahmad's claim to prophethood is that 'Aisah, the wife of Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him) says: "Say that he is seal of Prophets but say not that there is no Prophet after him."
It should be pointed out that this reference to the Prophet and his wife is not found in the six authentic books of Hadith, viz. Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Daud, Ibn Majah, Tirmizi and Nasai nor in Muwatta of Imam Malik or Munsnad of Imam Ahmad bin foregoing universally recongised books of Hadith.
Anway, even thought the supposed Hadith from A'isha is wothless and unreliable, since it has become rather high in the estimation of the Ahmadis, let us consider the weight of authentic Ahadith against it. should be remmebered that the Ahamdis quote the Hadith in order to prove the Khatam-un-Nabiyyin does not mean the last of the Prophet in respect of time.
In conveying the meaning of this term; Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him) gave an illustration as follows as contained in Sahih Muslim, Fada'il 26:
"The similitude of me and the Prophets is like that of a man who built a house, completed and perfected it, except for the place of a brick. People were entering it and wondering about it saying: 'Were it not for the place of the brick.'. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says: 'I am the place of the brick. I came and put an end to the Prophets'"
From the above quotion of universally authentic Hadith, it becomes very clear that Prophet Muhammad's own understanding of Khatam-un-Nabiyyin was that he was the highest and the last of all the Prophets of Allah, and that no other Prophet will come after him. This is why the Quran which calls Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) the seal (or Last) of the Prophets, also emphasizes the fact that he had no son. It declares: "Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the last (end) of the Prophets; and Allah is Ever All-Aware of everything."
(Surah Al-Ahzab, 33:40)
In their obsession to prove the prophethood of Ghulam Ahmad at all costs, the Ahmadiyyah Mission surprisingly and shamelessly rwist the meaning and interpretation of certain verses of the Quran to suit their set purpose. One of such rwistings is their translation of the Quran 4:70 (orthodox numbering 4:69). They say: "And who so obeys Allah and this messenger of His..." (italics mine). What the Ahmadiyyah Mission translate as "and this messenger of His" is in Arabic war-rasul which, by all standards, means "and the Messenger" of "and the Apostle." It cannot mean any other thing. What the Mission have actually translated outside the Qur'anic context "wa rasulahu hadha" meaning "and this messenger(or apostle) of His." If this practice of the Mission were to be pursued to its logical conclusion, then it means an attempt on their part to interpolate the Qur'an: a grievous offence indeed from the Islamic point of view. For if the English translation of the Qur'an, as rendered by the Ahmadiyyah Mission, alone were published, so much of that translation will be found to be different from the original text. Is it not high time that all Nigerian and African Muslims who associate with the Ahmadiyyah Mission reconsidered their association, if they are genuinely interested in Islam ushered to the world by Prophet Muhammad on whom be peace and blessings of Allah the Most High?
The Ahmadiyyah Mission (they are also called Qadianis) have interplated the first part of this verse only in order to follow it up with their misinterpretation of the whole verse reads as follows: "Those who obey Allah and the Messenger are with those on whom Allah has bestowed favours from among the prophets, the truthful ones, the martyrs and the righteous ones: those are in a beautiful company."
In misinterpreting the verse, the Qadianis claim that b obeying Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) a person can rise to the dignified position of the prophet. They say: "such Messengers who may appear after the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) must neccessarily be the followers of his Shari'ah, the Holy Qura'n, as they are vouchsafed this spiritual rank through the obedience of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and not independently which subsquently implies that he is the last law-bearing prophet. Nobody will ever come to supersede him or abrogate his law."
The reason for this misinterpretation is only to prove that Ghulam Ahmad was a prophet and a messenger of God as against the overwhelming opinion of Muslims including that of Prophet Muhammad himself. One wonders why the Mission did not inform the world of the interpretation of the verse by "authentic dictionary of Qur'anic vocabulary" like Mufridat of Raghib; or what the books of Hadith and renowned commentaries of the Qur'an say about the verse. The Qadianis cannot certainly deny the knowledge of what these authorities of Islamic teachings and expositions have put down for posterity on the verse.
Commenting on the verse, Ibn Kathir(Beirut edition, 1969) says on page 522 of vol. 1 as follows:
"That is, whoever acts upon what Allah and His Messenger have enjoined; and avoids what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, then, Allah the sublime and Glorious, will make him live in His noble dwelling and grant him companionship with the Prophets, then with those enumerated after them who are the truthful ones, then the martyrs, then the generality of the believers who are the righteous ones that behave well both secretly and openly. Then
God Most High praises them by saying, 'Those are in a beautiful company'."
Many books of Hadith, including those of Muslim, Ahmad bin Hanbal and others give the incident which led to the revelation of the verse:
It is related that one of the Ansar in Medina came to Prophet Muhmmad (peace be upon him) one day with a sad countenance. So the Prophet asked him the reason for his sadness: "Fellow, why do I see you sad?"
"O Prophet of Allah, I thought of something." "What is it?" "We come to you day and night, looking at your face and keeping your company; whereas tomorrow you will rise with the Propphets and we will not be able to reach you."
The Prophet gave him no reply, then Angel Gabriel brought the revelation of the verse, saying that those who obey Allah and the Messenger shall, on the Day of Judgement, be with the Prophet, etc.(ANESA 4:69)
These are straightforward commentaries and reason for the verse. They are, indeed, too clear to need any further elucidation. I only wish that the Ahmadis could reflect properly and reject the religious indoctrination that their Moulvis(rather, preacher--Ediot) have so successfully bedevilled them.
Certainly no one or any group of persons can deceive all the people for all the time. There must be a stop to it one day. Nigerian Ahmadis, please reflect and reconsider.
As for the Mission's reference to Qur'an 7:36 (i.e. 7:35), (7:37 Pickthall) it is the same story misinterpretation out of context in order to butterss their erroneous view on the continuation of the Prophethood after Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him).
Along with contradicting the Qur'an, the Ahmadiyyah doctrine of not joining prayers led by other Muslims also contradicts an authentic directive of Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him) as contained in the Hadith of Ibn Majah, Fitnah, 8: also Hanbal, IV, 278, 357 and 383. In the Hadith, Prophet Muhammed (p.b.u.h.) is reported to have said: "My community will not agree over an error; incumbent on you (i.e. Muslims) is (the decision) of the great majority. Whoever keeps aloof from the Community to the measure of a handspan, he has indeed taken off the nose of Islam from his neck." This Hadith is certainly too clear to need any explanation.
Their doctrine of not marrying their daughters to non-Ahmadi Muslims also comes under this category. In supporting this doctrine, they refer to the Islamic injunction that Muslim women should not be married to non-Muslims. By analogy, therefore, it means that Ahmadi consider non-Ahmadi Muslims as non-Muslims. If, therefore, Ahmadis consider themselves as Muslims, then this doctrine indicates that Ahmadis, as Muslims, consider non-Ahmadi Muslims as non-Muslims. They can justify the doctrine only if Ahmadiyyah is declared as an entity different from non-Ahmadi Islam, otherweise the doctrine is both unjustifiable and indefensible. If, therefore, the Saudi Arabian Government, or any Government for that matter, should consider Ahmadiyyah as non-Islamic, and the Ahmadis as non-Muslims, who can conveniently blame them, knowing the full facts?
Another Ahmadiyyah trait that estranges them from the Muslims is the clever way by which they try to impose themselves on the Muslims. Knowing that they are not accepted by the Muslims, they try to keep educated members of their group in governmental key positions, and work indirectly through such individuals for the interest of Ahmadiyyah in the name of Islam.
I think it is high time the Ahmadis made their stand clear to the world. Are they Muslims, or a distinct group originating from among the Muslims? If they are Muslims, then they have to follow the consensus of Muslim opinion and abandon the idea of "follower-prophethood" after Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him);co-operate with other Muslims to stabilise and consolidate Islam. They are highly needed for this duty; and they can perform the duty well only by associating with other Muslims rather than alienating them through heretical beliefs and practices. If the Ahmadis are a distict group and a new formation, then let them stand apart from other Muslims and declare their identity, so that those who will embrace Ahmadiyyah will know from the start that they are entering a new religion rather than having a wrong impression of being Muslims.
It is certainly not enough to retain the name Ahmadiyyah just because Ghulam Ahmad is believed only as a Mujaddid. This is because he was not a Mujaddid in Islam. Many reformers of Islam had appeared at different times before him and each of them had carried out specific duties for the overall progress of Islam. None of them had claimed prophethood. It is not a condition in Islam that a reformer should himself form a distinct group and give it a distict name. No former Mujaddid of Islam had done that before Ghulam Ahmad. The greatest, so far, of the reformers of Islam was Al-Ghazzali; he never formed a distinct group with a distinct name.
I am aware that the Movement, within the context of Nigeria, and certain other Ahmadis, e.g. the Lahoris, do reject the idea of follower-prophethood and claim that Ghulam Ahmad is only a Mujaddid, i.e a Reformer. It should be pointed out, however that non-Ahmadi Muslims do not make any difference between the two groups. This is why the saudi Arabian Government treats them alike. The Government's argument for this action is simply that if there is any major difference between the two groups, why do they bear the common name Ahmadiyyah? To all non-Ahmadis the name Ahmadiyyah is derived from its founder's name, i.e. Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian. Anothor name for them used by their opponents, is Qadianis, which is derived from the name of the birthplace of Ahmadiyyah, i.e. Qadian in India. Wheter we like it or not, Ahmadiyyah is either going to fade away and remain only in history books like Mu'tazilah, or end up in another religion distict from Islam. (Those who like Lahories accept a repudiator of Muhammad as the last Prophet, as a Mujaddid(reformer) only cheat themsleves and others that they are Muslims (The Universal Message).
If it is true that Ahmmadiyyah is Islam, why then are the Ahmadis converting Muslims inot Ahmadiyya? Does such conversion not suggest that Ahmadiyya is a religion by itself? If Ahmadiyya is not a new religion, why are the Ahmadis taught by their Pakistani overlords that whenever an Ahmadi gets to a new place and finds no other Ahmadi around, should pray alone until he is able to convert others into Ahmadiyya and then pray in congregation with such converts? These are pertinent questions to the problem of Ahmadiyya. I wish that Nigerian and African Ahmadis could reflect, and reconsider their association with Ahmadiyya. If it Islam in which they are interessted, they must realise that Ahmadiyya is not the answer.
If I am proved wrong, let my father reject and disown me, and let the Ahmadis collectively curse and "crucify" me. But if I am proved right, then it becomes incumbent on all Nigerian Ahmadis, including my relations, both by blood and affinity, to reconsider their association with Ahmadiyya, pray fervently to Allah Almighty as I have done to show them the way of Islam and help them to follow it.
"And peace will upon him who follows the guidance."
(Surah Ta-Ha, 20:47)
In conclusion, I wish, very seriously and sincerely, to appeal to all those who still cling to Ahmadiyya in their genuine love of, and search for Islam, to realise that to all intents and purposes Ahmadiyya is not Islam. The fact that its founder gave it that name is indicative that it is a new religion from the beginning. Furthermore, certain basic beliefs and practices of Ahmadiyya alienate it from Islam. I concede the fact that everyone is free to choose and follow whichever religion he/she likes(but not said under false colours--Editor). This is, indeed, tantamount to the requirement of the rule of law, and the provision of fundamental human rights.
Nevertheless, it is also important that a person mut be very clear in his/her mind what he/she is doing. There is no gainsaying in the fact that Ahmadiyya is a religion other than Islam. Let its die-hard followers, therefore, remember and reflect on the Qur'anic statement:
"And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him; and it the Hereafter he will be one of the losers." (Surah Al-Imran, 3:85)
"The truth has come and falsehood has vanished. Verily, falsehood is ever bound to vanish." (Surah Al-Isra, 17:81).
May peace be with those who follow the guidance!
The undermentioned publications are recommended for reading and circulation as these contain:
(i) a fearless and frank exposition of the hollowness of claim of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(of Qadian) to Prophethood;
(ii) the historical perspective of the rise of Ahmadiyya (Qadiyanism);
(iii) the evolution of Ahmadiyya doctrines;
(iv) aspects of Ghulam Ahmad's life and character;
(v) critical study of the Ahmadiyya Movement and of its founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad;
(vi) survey of the activities, claims, aims, objects and "revelation" of the Ahmadiyya and
(vii) their plots and conspiracies against Islam and Muslims;
1. Save Muslim Africa from the clutches of the Qadianis (Ahmadis) apostasy -- a revealing booklet, by Adam Muhammad Traore of Ghana.
2. Islam and Ahmadiyya in Nigeria, by Dr. Ismail A. Balogun.
3. Islam and Ahmadism, by Dr. Muhammad Iqbal.
4. His Holiness, by Phoenix.
5. Qadianism: A critical study, by Maulana Abdul-Hasan Ali Nadvi.
6. Qadyaniat: An analytical study, by Ehsan Elahi Zaheer.
7. Qandianism on trial (The Case of Muslim Ummah against Qadiani's presented before the National Assembly of Pakistan).
8. The Qadiani Problem, by Sayed Abdul-Ala Maududi.
can be had from:-
(i) Maktaba Dar-ut-Tasnif, Dar-ut-Tasnif Ltd.,
Shahrah-i-Liaquat, Saddar
Karachi-3, Pakistan. Telephone 524325
(ii) Malik Sirajuddin and Sons, Publishers and Booksellers Kashmiri Bazar, Lahore, Pakistan
(Courtesy: The Universal, Karachi)
Prof. Dr. Ismail A.B. Balogun
Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies
University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
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According to a decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Ahmadis have been declared non-Muslims--Editor
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