Did Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (A.S) Make Takfir of His Deniers?

In the Name of Allah; the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful

May salutations of peace and blessings be showered upon our beloved master Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family, companions and progeny.

One of the objections against Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, founder of the Ahmadiyyah movement who claimed to be the Mahdi and Messiah, which I repeatedly encounter, is that he and his followers make Takfeer of non-Ahmadi Muslims, i.e., Muslims who do not believe in or accept Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

I have already touched upon this controversy in my series refuting Iqbal’s paper Islam and Ahmadism, in which Iqbal has put forward this accusation quite strongly. The reader can refer to it here.

The crucial statement of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad that represents his basic position was quoted there, and I quote it again here:

ابتدا سے میرا یہی مذہب ہے کہ میرے دعوے کے انکار کی وجہ سے کوئی شخص کافر یا دجّال نہیں ہوسکتا۔ 

ہاں ضال اور جادہ صواب ‍‌‏سے منہرف ضرور ہوگا۔ اور میں اس کا نام بے ایمان نہیں رکھتا۔ ہاں میں ایسے سب لوگوں کو ضال اور جادہ صدق و صواب سے دور سمجھتا ہوں جو ان سچّا‌‎‍‌‎‎ئیوں سے انکار کرتے ہیں جو خدا تعالی نے میرے پر کھولی ہیں۔ میں بلا شبہ ایسے ہر ایک آدمی کو ضلالت کی آلودگی سے مبتلا سمجھتا ہوں جو حق اور راستی سے منحرف ہے۔ لیکن میں کسی کلمہ گو کا نام کافر نہیں رکھتا جبتک وہ میری تکفیر اور تکذیب کر کے اپنے تئیں خود کافر نہ بنالیوے۔ سو اس معاملہ میں ہمیشہ سے سبقت میرے مخالفوں کی طرف سے ہے کہ انہوں نے مجھ کو کافر کہا۔ میرے لئے فتوی طیار کیا۔ میں نے سبقت کر کے ان کے لئے کوئی فتوی طیار نہیں کیا۔ اور اس بات کا وہ خود اقرار کر سکتے ہیں کہ اگر میں اللہ تعالی کے نزدیک مسلمان ہوں تو مجھ کو کافر بنانے سے رسول اللہ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم کا فتوی انپر یہی ہے کہ وہ خود کافر ہیں۔ سو میں ان کو کافر نہیں کہتا۔ بلکہ وہ مجھ کو کافر کہہ کر خود فتوی نبوی کے نیچے آتے ہیں۔

Translation: “From the beginning, it has always been my madhhab (belief) that by denying my claims no person will become a kaafir (unbeliever) or dajjaal (antichrist). Yes, (such a person) is misguided and removed from the right path. But I do not name him as Bay Imaan (faithless). Yes, I consider all such people as being misguided and far from the true and right path who deny those truths which God Most High has revealed upon me. I, without a doubt, consider every such man as being afflicted by the disease of misguidance, removed from the true path. However, I do not name anyone who professes the Kalimah as Kaafir unless he does Takfeer and Takdheeb of me, whereby he makes himself a Kaafir. Thus, in this matter it has always been my adversaries who, from the start, called me a Kaafir. They prepared a Fatwaa against me. But I never prepared a Fatwaa against them. And they themselves can confirm that if I am a Muslim in the sight of Allah Most High, then by making me a Kaafir the Fatwaa of Allah’s Messenger Sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam upon them is this that they themselves are Kaafir. Thus, I do not call them as Kaafir. Rather, they call me as Kaafir thereby themselves coming under the Prophetic Fatwaa.”

In a footnote to this statement, Hadrat Mirza sahib writes:

یہ نکتہ یاد رکھنےکے لائق ہے کہ اپنے دعوے کے انکار کرنے والے کو کافر کہنا یہ صرف ان نبیوں کی شان ہے جو خدا تعالی کی طرف سے شریعت اور احکام جدیدہ لاتے ہیں۔ لیکن صاحب الشریعت کے ماسوا جس قدر ملہم اور محدّث ہیں گو وہ کیسی ہی جناب الہی میں اعلی شان رکھتے ہوں اور خلعت مکالمہ الہیہ سے سرفراز ہوں۔ ان کے انکار سے کوئی کافر نہیں بنجاتا۔

Translation: “This point is also worthy of remembering that to call anyone a Kaafir who rejects one’s claims is only the right of those Prophets who bring from God Most High a Shari’ah and new commandments. But apart from the Saahib al-Shari’ah – whatever degree (of excellence) held by a Mulham and Muhaddath, regardless of the high status he holds with God and being honored with the robe of being conversant with the Divine – nobody will become a Kaafir through denial of him.”

Reference: Ruhani Khaza’in; v. 15, pp. 432 – 433

The summary of the statement is that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad does not, in principle, consider anyone who denies any of his claims to be an unbeliever outside the fold of Islam. He does, however, consider such people as being misguided and astray from the truth, but they are still considered as Muslims. With regard to the aggressive adversaries of Ghulam Ahmad who issued Fatawaa (legal edicts) against him declaring him as an apostate, he regards such adversaries as coming under the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) statement:

أَيُّمَا رَجُلٍ قَالَ لِأَخِيهِ يَا كَافِرُ فَقَدْ بَاءَ بِهَا أَحَدُهُمَا

“If a man says to his brother: ‘O Kaafir!’ Then surely one of them is such.”

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

What this means is that if a person accuses another of being a Kaafir (unbeliever), either he is right in his accusation, but, if he is making a false accusation, and the person whom he proclaimed to be a Kaafir is in fact a true believing Muslim, then the one who has made this false accusation himself has the Fatwaa of Kufr rebounded on him. It was on the basis of this Prophetic Tradition that Ghulam Ahmad suggested that his bigoted adversaries have their verdicts of Kufr against him rebounded on themselves since he is a true believing Muslim in the sight of Allah, and the adversaries have launched an impure and false allegation against him.

Furthermore, Ghulam Ahmad clarifies the principle in the footnote that it is only denial of the claim of a Prophet who is sent by Allah with a Shari’ah containing fresh commandments that constitutes actual and real Kufr. But while rejection of a Mulham and Muhaddath (someone who is inspired and conversant with Allah but does not bring a Shari’ah) is something that leads to misguidance and can theoretically lead to the extinguishing of the light of faith, nevertheless, such a rejection cannot, by principle, result in immediate Kufr.

Regarding the allegation that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad declared as unbeliever anyone who does not believe in him, even if such a person had never heard his name or belongs to a country that had not as of yet received his message, Hadrat Mirza sahib outright repudiated this false allegation, which originates with one Dr. Abdul Hakim Khan of Patiala. The latter was initially a follower of Ghulam Ahmad, but due to his un-Islamic and heretical ideas, was expelled from the Ahmadiyyah congregation:

یہ کہ ڈاکتر عبد الحکیم خان اپنے رسالہ المسیح الدجّال وغیرہ میں میرے پر یہ الزام لگاتا ہے کہ گویا میں نے اپنی کتاب میں لکھا ہے کہ جو شخص میرے پر ایمان نہیں لائیگا گو وہ میرے نام سے بھی بیخبر ہوگا اور گو وہ ایسے ملک میں ہوگا جہاں تک میری دعوت نہیں پہنچی تب بھی وہ کافر ہوجاۓ گا اور دوزخ میں پڑیگا۔ یہ ڈاکتر مذکور کا سراسر افترا‌‏ئ ہے میں نے کسی کتاب یا کسی اشتہار میں ایسا نہیں لکھا۔

Translation: “Dr. Abdul Hakim Khan in his article Al-Masih al-Dajjal (“the False Messiah”) etc. has launched an allegation against me that I have written in my book that any person who does not believe in me, even if he is unaware of my name or lives in a country to which my invitation hasn’t reached, even then he is a Kaafir and will remain in Hellfire. This is a manifest fabrication of the above mentioned doctor; I have not written anything like this in any of my books or any of my posters.”

Reference: Haqiqat-ul-Wahi; p. 178