Qadiani Historian’s Futile Attempt to refute Dr. Basharat Ahmad’s View

Did the Qadiani Jamaat Progress by preaching its Beliefs?

by Dr. Zahid Aziz

The Light (UK), March 2006 Issue (pp. 6–8)

In the Qadiani Jamaat Urdu organ Al-Fazl International for 30^th December 2005 (p. 7), their historian Dost Muhammad Shahid has written an article which begins by presenting it as a “resplendent sign” of the truth of their khilafat [caliphate] that their Jamaat is building a new centre in England. He makes three points as to why this is such a grand sign of their truth, the second and the third of these points being concerned with the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement.

His second point is that Dr Basharat Ahmad, a leading scholar and writer of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, had written in an article in 1934 that any progress made by the Qadiani Jamaat under Mirza Mahmud Ahmad was only because he had the advantage of taking over an already built-up organisation in Qadian, and moreover he capitalised on being son of the Founder of the Movement. Dr Basharat Ahmad then added: If Mirza Mahmud Ahmad did not have these advantages and he were to go out of Qadian and propagate his religious doctrines to create a new movement from scratch, only then could it be considered an achievement. Quoting this, Dost Muhammad Shahid writes that his Jamaat has indeed done this and thereby proved Dr Basharat Ahmad wrong: first, Mirza Mahmud Ahmad (Khalifa 2) emigrated to Pakistan from Qadian and created a new centre in Rabwah; second, Mirza Tahir Ahmad (Khalifa 4) emigrated from Pakistan to England and created a new centre there, and now with the founding of another new centre in England

“God has set the seal of truth on the heavenly khilafat of the fifth Khalifa”.

Even a little dispassionate thought shows that in none of these examples, cited by Dost Muhammad Shahid, has the Qadiani Jamaat proved Dr Basharat Ahmad wrong. In every one of these cases, the Khalifa arrived in a place where his followers were already well-established, and he still of course had the advantage of capitalizing on being a descendant of the Promised Messiah [Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian]. It cannot at all be said that they created a new Jamaat out of nothing, merely on the strength of preaching their beliefs. In fact, far from preaching their beliefs, the Qadiani Khalifas dared not repeat most of those controversial religious doctrines that were a matter of dispute between them and the Lahore Anjuman members. They reneged on their cherished beliefs.

So, what are those Qadiani religious doctrines that Dr Basharat Ahmad is referring to? Dost Muhammad Shahid does not mention them himself in his article. Moreover, while he claims to be quoting “the actual words” of Dr Basharat Ahmad, he has omitted from inside the quotation the two or three words which tell us what those doctrines were. If we translate into English the ending of the quotation as given in Dost Muhammad Shahid’s article, it reads:

“… If he did not have the spiritual seat of Qadian and was not the son of the Promised Messiah, and Mirza Mahmud Ahmad had gone into the outside world and shown that he could spread his doctrines and create a Jamaat from scratch, that would have been an achievement.” (Paigham Sulh, 15 December 1934, p. 19)

If we consult the original article by Dr Basharat Ahmad, we find that Dost Muhammad Shahid has omitted the words “of takfir and nubuwwat” occurring after “his doctrines”, so that the text should read:

“… shown that he could spread his doctrines of takfir and nubuwwat and create a Jamaat from scratch…”

Mirza Mahmud Ahmad’s doctrines “of takfir and nubuwwat” are that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a prophet and that any Muslim who fails to declare openly that he accepts his prophethood is an unbeliever (kafir) outside the fold of Islam, just as a person who does not accept the Holy Prophet Muhammad cannot be a Muslim. He had been proclaiming these doctrines as Khalifa since 1914, but when in 1954, shortly after his emigration to Pakistan, he appeared before the Punjab Government Commission of Inquiry investigating the anti-Ahmadiyya agitation (known as the Munir Commission) to answer questions, he disavowed his former repugnant belief that all Muslims outside the Ahmadiyya Movement are kafir [non-Muslims]. Similarly, Mirza Tahir Ahmad never mentioned these doctrines and indeed denied in many of his speeches and sermons that were broadcast that his Jamaat declares other Muslims as non-Muslims, outside the fold of Islam.

Not only was Dr Basharat Ahmad right, but the Qadiani leadership itself recognised that they could not proclaim these doctrines before the wider world. Even Dost Muhammad Shahid is careful not to specify them in his article. He quotes a statement against Maulana Muhammad Ali made by Mirza Mahmud Ahmad in his book Ainah-i Sadaqat, and before the quotation he remarks that Mirza Mahmud Ahmad:

“has written at the end of his falsehood-shattering book Ainah-i Sadaqat with full glory and grandeur”.

Yet this is one of those books in which Mirza Mahmud Ahmad has declared other Muslims as kafir and outside the fold of Islam most forcefully and explained this doctrine in full detail. Its English translation was first published by the Qadiani Jamaat in 1924 under the title The Truth about the Split. We quote below some extracts from it to show exactly what Mirza Mahmud Ahmad has written in it “with full glory and grandeur” about his beliefs:

“… all those so-called Muslims who have not entered into his [i.e., Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s] Baiat [pledge] formally, wherever they may be, are Kafirs and outside the pale of Islam, even though they may not have heard the name of the Promised Messiah.” (p. 55 of the 1965 edition)

Giving a summary of an earlier article that he had written, Mirza Mahmud Ahmad writes in this book:

“Regarding the main subject of my article, I wrote that as we believed the Promised Messiah to be one of the prophets of God, we could not possibly regard his deniers as Muslims.” (pp. 137–138)

“And lastly, it was argued from a verse of the Holy Quran that such people as had failed to recognise the Promised Messiah as a Rasul even if they called him a righteous person with their tongues, were yet veritable Kafirs.” (p. 140)

These are Mirza Mahmud Ahmad’s religious doctrines regarding which Dr Basharat Ahmad wrote in 1934 that if he could successfully propagate these on their own merits in the outside world, then he could claim that as an achievement. But the Qadiani Khalifas have been distancing themselves from these doctrines for more than 50 years now. And Dost Muhammad Shahid avoids mentioning what these doctrines are, and even deletes their mention from inside his quotation from Dr Basharat Ahmad. As he has eulogised Ainah-i Sadaqat he must be fully aware of what this book says about these beliefs of his Jamaat.

As the third point of his article, Dost Muhammad Shahid gives two extracts from articles in Paigham Sulh by responsible writers who expressed dismay at the decline of the Lahore Jamaat and the level of faith of some of our members. He concludes that these show

“the exemplary fate that befell the movement which denied the khilafat in 1914”

as compared with the

“amazing world-wide blessings bestowed on the khilafat system”.

We are surprised that he is unaware of the fact that such expressions of disappointment or self-criticism are quite usual in religious movements. Let him read the khutba [sermon] of his khalifa just above his own article on the same page. Addressing his followers in Mauritius Mirza Masroor Ahmad says:

“You have fallen behind in the work of propagation, one reason for which could be that you are paying more attention to worldly business … Your forefathers understood Ahmadiyyat correctly, so Allah bestowed His unlimited grace upon them. You people, instead of looking at where the world is heading today, should look at where God is calling you to. … Today there are many evils at large which are having an influence in our society as well … May Allah allow you to make up for the loss caused by your neglect of the work of propagation”.

He should also read the khutba of Masroor sahib of 18 November 2005 in which he has reprimanded his followers for financial dishonesty and misappropriating the property of others. After quoting the teachings of Islam and the Promised Messiah on the subject Masroor sahib declares:

Perhaps Dost Muhammad Shahid could tell us what conclusion people should draw about his Jamaat from the above words of his Khalifa.

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