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| Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the present head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community |
Contents
1. Khilafat in the Quran
2. Ahadith prophecising the advent of khilafat
3. A sign in favour of khilafat: prayer duel vs Zia-ul-Haq, Aslam Qureshi etc
1- Khilafat in the Quran
Say: "Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger." But if you turn away, he is responsible for what he is charged with and you are responsible for what you are charged with and if you obey him, you will be rightly guided and the Messenger is only responsible for the plain delivery of the Message. Allah has promised to those among you who believe and do good works that He will surely make them successors in the earth, as He made khalifas (successors) from among those who were before them and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has chosen for them. (Quran 24:54-56)
The Quran prophecised that the followers of messengers who do good will be blessed with khilafat, a spiritual successorship which will help to establish the messenger’s religion.
2- Ahadith prophecising the advent of khilafat
Narrated Abu Huraira: "The Prophet said: 'The Israelis used to be ruled and guided by prophets: Whenever a prophet died, another would take over his place. There will be no prophet after me, but there will be khalifas who will increase in number.' The people asked: 'O Allah's Apostle! What do you order us?' He said: 'Obey the one who will be given the pledge of allegiance first. Fulfil their rights.' (Bukhari)
Some may argue the above hadith refers to the Khilafat which immediately followed Muhammadsa and ended with Ali and not to anything further. However, Muhammadsa clarified that khilafat would re-emerge after a future prophet:
Prophethood shall remain among you as long as God wills. Then khilafat on the pattern of prophethood will commence and remain as long as He wills. A corrupt monarchy shall then follow and it shall remain as long as God wills. There shall then be a tyrannical despotism which shall remain as long as God wills. Then once again khilafat will emerge on the precept of prophethood. (Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal)
3- A sign in favour of khilafat: prayer duel vs Zia-ul-Haq, Aslam Qureshi etc
Aslam Qureshi was a Pakistani cleric with a deep hatred for Ahmadis. Once, he attempted to assasinate Mirza Muzaffar Ahmad, the grandson of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, by following him into a lift. He stabbed Muzaffar and raised his knife to strike again, but the wounded victim was able to hold him off until help arrived. Having served a nominal prison sentence, one day in 1983 he set off from his house to deliver a speech at an anti-Ahmadi rally. He did not return and Pakistan's politicians and media continued their anti-Ahmadiyya propoganda overdrive:
We will persevere in our efforts to ensure that the cancer of Qadianiism [derogatory term for Ahmadiyya] is exterminated (Zia-ul-Haq, President of Pakistan)
Since the election of Mirza Tahir Ahmad the movement has started a terrorist campaign. Aslam Qureshi has not only been abducted but possibly killed by Ahmadis (Laulak newspaper)
During recent months, the ulema of different shades of opinion gathered under the banner of the Khatm-i-Nabuwat movement, accelerated their campaign against the Ahmadiyya sect and demanded that the Government should remove all Ahmadis from influential and sensitive public offices, ban all literature published by them, impose restrictions on their missionary activities and arrest Mirza Tahir Ahmad, head of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat, on charges of involvement in the presumed murder of Maulana Aslam Qureshi. The ulema alleged that Maulana Aslam, a strong activist of their campaign, was kidnapped by some Ahmadis, and was feared murdered because police had failed to trace his whereabouts. (Viewpoint newspaper)
Is an atomic plant being prepared under the official residence of the Khalifa of Rabwah? (Nawa-e-Waqt, June 24th 1982)
Politicians matched their words with actions. A great deal of anti-Ahmadiyya legislation was enforced in Pakistan, the worst example of which was:
Any person of the Qadiani group or the Lahori group (who call themselves 'Ahmadis' or by any other name) who by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation:
-refers to, or names, or calls, his place of worship as 'Masjid': shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to fine.
-refers to the mode or form of call to prayers followed by his faith as 'Azan', or recites Azan as used by the Muslims, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to fine.
-directly or indirectly, poses himself as a Muslim, or calls, or refers to his faith as Islam, or preaches or propagates his faith, or invites others to accept his faith, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations, or in any manner whatsoever outrages the religious feelings of Muslims, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine. (Zia-ul-Haq, Ordinance XX, 1984)
Ahmadis responded to the persecution in their characteristic peaceful and law-abiding manner as even the Pakistani press were forced to admit:
According to reports, the Ahmadia Jamaat, after a high-level meeting held in Rabwah under the chairmanship of its head Mirza Tahir Ahmad, ordered all its organisations in the country to accept the bans imposed on them. (Viewpoint, 3rd May, 1984)
Following the introduction of Zia-ul-Haq's anti-Ahmadi laws, it became impossible for Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad to conduct his duties as khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community while residing in Pakistan and so he migrated to the UK where he delivered the following warning to Zia:
I made it clear that not a single Ahmadi should, at any time, even under extreme provocation, behave irresponsibly. Furthermore, I told them that I could only permit them to supplicate and wail before God Almighty and they were not permitted to be beyond that limit...I will now mention some dreams and visions which relate to the current events. At a later stage, I will give out a vision of the Promised Messiah which also relates to the current situation. I received several messages clearly indicating impending danger and containing assurances of Allah's protection. There were indications that some who would not desist from wrongful acts would attract the wrath of Allah. We must, therefore, pray for the Pakistani nation with great humility and earnestness. (Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, 30th April, 1984)
Rather than heeding the warning, Zia's state-sponsored persecution of Ahmadis only worsened:
The present Government is determined to eradicate the evil of Mirzaiyyat (derogatory term for Ahmadiyya) and is duty-bound to uproot it completely. A Committee has already been set up for this purpose. (Malik Khuda Bux Tiwana, provincial minister for Auqaf and Local Bodies, Punjab)
On 4th May, for no apparent reason, the police took away one of our elders, Hafiz Muhammad Amjed of Bhera District. Mr. Muhammad Hayat Chaudhry and I went to enquire why he had been taken into custody. We parked our motorbike outside the gate of the police station. There was a mob of about twenty to thirty mullahs armed with sticks. Upon seeing us they started abusing us in the most filthy and provocative language. We ignored them and proceeded towards the police station. In no time the mob was on us and began striking blow after blow in the presence of the police. No mobster was arrested. We complained to the authorities but to our surprise the police refused to file our case. Instead a case was filed against two of our young men, the charge being that they used threatening language against the mullahs. (Zafrullah, Ahmadi Muslim writing in The Review of Religions November 1986)
The graves of some Ahmadis have been dug open by the mullahs under the supervision of police authorities and the dead bodies removed from their last resting places. (The Review of Religions, November 1986)
The Home Department of the Government of Punjab, Pakistan has issued a directive to all district Magistrates in the province instructing them to remove the inscription: "There is none worthy of worship except Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" from all Ahmadiyya Mosque. The circular says that an organisation of the anti Ahmadiyya Mullahs called Majlis Khatme Nabuat held a meeting under the chairmanship of the Federal Minister for Religious Affairs in which they decided that these words should be removed from the Ahmadiyya mosques immediately and the members of the Ahmadiyya community responsible should be arrested and tried under section 298-C of Pakistan Penal Code. As a result the City Magistrate of the town of Kasur has ordered the police officer incharge of Gandasinghwala to comply with this order immediately in his area and report the action taken by him. It should be noted that these sacred words were not written after the controversial Ordinance of 1984 but were there from the time the mosques were erected. (The Review of Religions, February 1988)
In four years after the introduction of the anti-Ahmadi ordinance, 3,000 Ahmadis were charged. Further, under new blasphemy laws Ahmadis could be sentenced to death for wearing badges with the Islamic creed on them, or for saying 'Salam' which is not only the Muslim greeting but the greeting of the national langauge of Pakistan. Six Ahmadis were sentenced to to 25 years imprisonment each. Four more were sentenced to death. Ahmadi children as young as 12 - perhaps unaware of the laws - were taken to court for writing that they were Muslims. The whole nation, when applying for passports, either had to declare that they were non-Muslims, or sign a statement saying: "I consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani to be an imposter and also consider his followers to be non-Muslims".
Finally, the khalifa challenged Zia-ul-Haq and his supporters to a prayer duel:
I want these people who are doing these things to mend their ways and not to accept this challenge. I advise them to have fear of God and not to accept it, but be as wise the Christians of Narjan who did not accept the challenge of The Holy Prophetsa. If they accept then let them be in no doubt the will of God will be manifest. If you fear God but feel you cannot admit your faults because of your worldly position then just withdraw your hands from tyranny and the oppression of the Ahmadis and simply keep quiet. We shall then assume that you have declined to accept the challenge of mubahala and we will pray to God to save you from His wrath. I do not want the head of a country with which we are related to become a target for a manifestation of God's wrath. (Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, 3rd June 1988)
Following this speech, the khalifa published a formal version of the challenge and this publication was distributed throughout Pakistan and the world and recorded in Ahmadiyya Muslim Community magazines such as The Review of Religions. The challenge mentioned only two people specifically by name. Firstly, it mentioned Zia-ul-Haq as the main target of the challenge and secondly it mentioned Aslam Qureshi as an example of the false allegations which had been leveled against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Extracts from the formal challenge read:
Now whoso disputes with thee concerning him, after what has come to thee of knowledge, say to him, 'Come, let us call our sons and your sons, and our women and your women, and our people and your people, then let us pray fervently and invoke the curse of Allah on those who lie!' (Quran, 3:62)
…Prominent among these to whom this invitation is specially addressed are General Muhammad Ziaul Haq, ex-Chief Martial Law Administrator of Pakistan…The following allegations are being levelled personally against me, that is, the present Imam and Head of the Ahmadiyya Community that I am involved in the kidnapping and subsequent murder of a person named Aslam Qureshi…Our Lord! Whichever of us in Thy sight are liars and fabricators let Thy wrath descend upon them within one year. May Thou inflict such disgraceful and tormenting punishment upon them that people should witness their debasement and utter destruction. Let Thy wrath descend upon them in diverse ways and let the criminals be punished and exposed in an exemplary manner so that the world bear witness that they were recipients of Thy wrath. (Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, 10th June 1988)
The prayer duel was explicit. If Zia-ul-Haq did not repent he would face God's 'utter destruction' within a time frame of 'one year'. Further, God would display who was truthful and who was a liar in the case of Aslam Qureshi and other allegations leveled against Khilafat-e-Ahmadiyya. Within a month, the destiny of Allah's decision was becoming clear when Aslam Qureshi was found and arrested:
Maulana Muhammad Aslam Qureshi of the Tehrik Khatme Nabuwwat, who was alleged to have been kidnapped and murdered by a minority of Pakistan over five years ago was produced on Tuesday before newsmen at a hurriedly called press conference addressed by Inspector General Police Punjab, Nisar Ahmad Cheema. Maulana Qureshi told newsmen that he served the Iranian Army for about five years and fought at various fronts during this period. He said that he had left his hometown Sialkot due to frustration caused by financial and other domestic problems. (Daily Muslim, 13th July, 1988)
However, Zia-ul-Haq refused to repent and continued with his persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Finally, the khalifa warned Zia's chance to repent was over and his 'utter destruction' would now 'become a sign':
It means the people we are talking about who we have challenged to a prayer duel, unfortunately they will now see the wrath of Allah. Otherwise I would not have received the message from Allah the Almighty:
History repeats itself, you will not see any change, the wrongdoers will be punished.
The decree of God will surely catch them and surely punish them. This punishment has become their destiny and definitely a party amongst them - not all of them, but some of them - will now become a sign. (Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, 12th August 1988)
Five days after this announcement, Zia-ul-Haq and several of his closest advisors were killed in an unexplained plane crash. His 'utter destruction' was manifested and the only parts of his body recovered from the plane's debris were his teeth. The khalifa responded:
God has given his decision. It is not correct to rejoice in the death of one's enemy. We cannot deny that Ahmadis all over the world are happy and cheerful. It is not because someone is dead. They are happy because they have witnessed the victory of God. It is a great heavenly sign of the succour that God has extended to us. (Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, August 19th 1988)
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