بسم الله الرحمن
الرحيم
والصلاة والسلام
على اشرف الانبياء والمرسلين
والعاقبة للمتقين
That it is virtuous and righteousness of a very
high level to raise one’s voice against oppression, falsehood and evil may be
derived from the fact that it is a miniscule fraction of the people who manage
to muster up the moral courage to do so. It has been my observation that the ‘sheep’
of this world have an innate need for acceptance and the approval of others. In
the view of Islam, that is a character flaw. Thus, Allah the Exalted enjoins:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ
آمَنُوا كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاءَ لِلَّـهِ وَلَوْ عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِكُمْ
أَوِ الْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالْأَقْرَبِينَ
O
you who believe! Be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah,
even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives
(Sura
4:135)
This is moral courage – standing up for justice
even if it is against one’s own interests or against one’s family and by
extention one’s friends and community. My beloved master, the Prophet Muhammad
(sall Allahu alayhi wasallam) declared that the Jihad which is most superior
is:
كَلِمَةُ حَقٍّ عِنْدَ سُلْطَانٍ جَائِرٍ
“A word of truth in front of a tyrannical ruler”
For the past few weeks, the management
of my local musalla where I worship has been pressing me to curse Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad – founder of the Ahmadiyya sect – so that I may prove to them and
others that I am a bonafide Sunni Muslim. I refused this silly, ridiculous
demand for a number of reasons. Firstly, from the perspective of our Religion
and Shari’a, there is no such requirement to curse Ghulam Ahmad in order for a
person to be considered a member of the Sunni denomination, let alone a Muslim.
It is only the profession of faith – the two testimonies (“there is none worthy
of worship except Allah; Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah”) – through which a
person becomes a Muslim. A Believer is one who believes in the Oneness of
Allah, and in His Angels, His Apostles, His Scriptures and the Afterlife. Cursing
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is not an article of faith, nor a condition for the
acceptance of the validity of one’s Islam and membership in the Muslim community.
On the contrary, to make it a condition for the validity of one’s Islam or as
something necessary for an Ahmadi who wishes to convert to Sunni Islam is a modern-day
bid’a (evil innovation) that has been introduced into our Religion by
the narrow-minded, ignorant mulla. And what does it say about the Islam of
these people that it requires you to curse an individual if you wish to enter
into it. Secondly, Allah Most High commands:
وَلَا تَسُبُّوا الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّـهِ فَيَسُبُّوا اللَّـهَ
عَدْوًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ
And do not insult those they invoke other than Allah,
lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge
(Sura 6:108)
A principle is derived from
this Verse; it is not right to insult or curse any one or any thing that is considered
sacred or holy by another community. Thus, whether Ghulam Ahmad is worthy of
being cursed or not is a moot point. Even if, for the sake of argument, he is
worthy of being cursed, it would still be forbidden to curse him because he is
a personality that is considered sacred and holy by the Ahmadiyya community. By
cursing Ghulam Ahmad, we open the door for the Ahmadis or Qadianis to retaliate
by cursing those individuals who are considered sacred and esteemed by our
Sunni community. This is the beautiful wisdom and rationale for why Allah Most
High has forbidden us to disparage any personality that is held in high regard
by any community, even if that personality has no status in our view.
Thirdly, the justification
given for cursing Ghulam Ahmad is that he allegedly claimed to be a Prophet of
God, in violation of the doctrine of the Finality of Prophesy. I have shed some light on this issue and clarified that in reality, Ghulam Ahmad did not make a bid for Nubuwwa, but actually affirmed, quite emphatically and consistently, that Prophet Muhammad (sall Allahu alayhi wasallam) is the last and final Prophet. Though the matter is hotly contested, I refuse to curse the
man as a precaution. Being cautious and careful in such matters is keeping with
the spirit of Islam which enjoins taqwa and husn adh-dhann (giving
people the benefit of the doubt).
So to cut a long story short,
after I made it clear to the management of the musalla that I cannot curse
Ghulam Ahmad for some of the reasons I have just explicated, they resolved to
place some shocking restrictions upon me. I was informed that I could still
offer the Fard prayers in the musalla, but am required to depart immediately
afterwards.
To be continued
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