Ahmedis should be provided equal rights and this evil witch-hunt to eliminate them must stop. Every corner the Ahmedi turns to he is faced with injustices and rights violations. Ahmedis are one of the most enterprising communities in Pakistan that could play a major, major role in Pakistan's economic growth.
The heroes of the Ahmedi people are people like Zafarullah Khan who Jinnah called "his son" and Abdus Salaam who was the first person from Pakistan to receive a nobel peace prize. It is unfortunate what this aspiring community is going through just because of fanatics and terrorists in Pakistan who do not wish to allow unity to be established in this beautiful land.
We need to take severe action against people who are hostile to Ahmedis. We should provide full protection to minorities and accord them with good positions in jobs instead of making them strain in brick kilns. I am very worried about the situation for minorities in Pakistan.
If the problem with Ahmedis arises from something as simple as them adding another prophet to what they believe is the Islamic faith and that is the cause of attacks on them, then the Christians and Jews should be killing Muslims with impunity because we added another prophet to their faiths as well. This bias and discrimination against the Ahmedis must end and bigotry must subside to give way to equal rights for all citizens in Pakistan.
Havi, you can not take something as truth just because people like Beena Sarwar, Raza Rumi, or Kamran Shafi, or anyone else says so. You need to go to the sources and learn for yourself. You are a journalist by training, right?
Your arguments are mostly recycled and in many cases specious. Let us just take your expression ".... then the Christian and Jews should be killing Muslims with impunity because we added another prophet to their faiths as well". Your view is so wrong on so many levels.
Let us see:
1. Jews and Christians did (and do) kill whenever they could (and can) - not all of them, but enough of them to be a counter point. They have killed each other and more, whenever they could. It is not just us. You forget or ignore history. You are right in one thing though. For them Islam is a blasphemy.
2. We did not add a prophet to their faith. We are a separate religion and we call ourselves as such. We do not claim to be Jews, or Christians.
3. Qadianis shamelessly present themselves as 'the true', 'the real', believers - and all others are Kafirs. In a secular environment, they could (and did) invent a religion, but they did not have the decency to call themselves by some other name. They HAD to lay exclusive claim to Islam, even when they were in violation of a fundamental article of faith. Did they not know what happened to Muslaima, or other false prophets like him and their followers?
4. Since you are very emotional and care very deeply about Pakistan - and I suspect your fervor for Pakistani nationalism is at the level of a deeply held religious conviction - let me ask you something. Suppose there is someone who is at odds with Pakistan. This person does not believe in Constitution, or the vision, or the establishment process, of Pakistan. How would you deal with them? Especially when they tell you that they are entitled to be a Pakistani and not you? Now invert this case and apply this to Qadianis. Catch my drift?
5. Qadianis dug a hole for themselves when they declared Muslims as Kafirs. Why complain now? If they must blindly follow the ruling of their caliphs as eternally binding, then why complain? Faith calls for sacrifice. Let them then make a sacrifice for their faith. Simple as that... Christians lived a life of sacrifice and repression for the more than two centuries before Constantine converted to Christianity.
6. Before you tell me about what Quaid-e-Azam said or did regarding a particular person, do you mind reading Iqbal's short poem "Punjabi Musalman" and thinking about what he is trying to convey? Everybody knows Quaid-e-Azam was not much of a religious person. He can not be treated as a religious leader, as far as his opinions or actions are concerned. But Iqbal, being the principal idealogue was different. His opinions do matter since he was a scholar in so many ways, unlike our Quaid.
Now here is a gem. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Qadianis try their best to portray Iqbal as a Qadiani. Now that takes the cake.
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So far I have refrained from commenting on anything linked with Qadianis, because the level of din reaches such proportions that perspective is lost.
About Qadiani religion:
1. It is not Islam. This has been said ever since Mirza of Qadian claimed prophethood. This message took a while to surface on the collective consciousness of Muslims, simply because Qadiani religion was a fringe group. Its tamasha was restricted to a few districts of Punjab. In other places not many people noticed this thing before the death of its founder. This explains their erroneous inclusion by some in the bracket of 'Islam'. Some who do not believe in Islam find it expedient to use this bogey to cause confusion. Many do not understand the reasons why Qadianis are non-Muslims, and that is the function of either their lack of knowledge, or apathy. In either case, their uninformed opinion means nothing.
2. It would be wrong to View of Qadiani religion is an issue related to sectarianism. Sects are a function of perspective, view, emphasis, and religious practice. Qadianism by virtue of violating fundamental tenets can not be considered Islam.
3. One can draw a comparison of Qadiani religion with Bahaism, which took inspiration from Shia Islam. Bahais were honest enough to call themselves a separate religion, and they are known as such. There are some in Pakistan, but no one has heard of them - simply because they are not concerned with masquerading themselves as True Muslims and denigrating Muslims as Kuffar. This is an important distinction to remember.
4. The primary religious sources of this religion are filled with curses for people who disagreed with its founder. But the most outrageous denunciation for Muslims was the emphatic declaration by its first Caliph (Mirza's son) that Anyone who did not believe in prophethood of Mirza of Qadian was a Kafir. This put all of us on a plane of damnation as far as Qadianis were concerned. Nobody in subsequent years dared reverse this declaration. Nobody can. This was the damning proof which clinched the debate in Pakistan's parliament in 1974. If they could declare Muslims as kafirs, then Muslims had no compunction in telling them off as kafirs themselves.
Mirza of Qadian: I generally refrain from saying much at all about religious personalities of other religions simply because it is the easiest way of causing hurt. However, I would make a few quick notes.
1. People who come to defense of Qadianis are themselves ignorant of the career of Mirza of Qadian. Most of the liberal / secular gang would have second thoughts if they knew a bit of history. I will leave it at that for now.
2. Typically, Hindus are bewildered at rejection of Qadianis. For them it is difficult to understand as to why a difference in doctrine causes such a significant reaction. For them, I would advise that they learn a little more about Islam. While Islam generally has been more accepting of internal differences compared to, say Classical Judaism or Classical Christianity, there are however important red lines that must never be crossed. Claiming prophethood from God is historically the most important of these red lines. Anyone who crosses it is automatically a non-Muslim. There are no exceptions in this regard. All sects in Islam are agreed on this. That Qadian religion is NOT Islam is agreed upon by ALL sects.
3. In any case if Hindus were to know of the career of Mirza of Qadian, they would certainly have second thoughts about coming to defense for him and consequently of his religion. Why is it so? Well this has to do with his earlier chosen calling for 'defending Islam' in debates. The targets of his vitriol were often Hindu religion, its revered personalities, and its defenders. He often ignored the Islamic guideline of not saying bad things about gods (and religious personalities) of other religions. Islamic scholars had noted and deplored his tactics and denounced him.
4. Mirza of Qadian was not consistent in his approach on many things. His writings (at least as much as I have come across them) are convoluted, build impossible premises upon doubtful grounds and are filled with hyperbole. It was difficult to pin him down to a particular position. This was a reason why many people were slow in denouncing him. In his earlier career as 'defender of Islam' against Hinduism and Christianity, he had learned to use preconditions, shady rhetoric, vitriol, and unverifiable claims. He used all these devices to confuse Scholars & public at large. He lost many followers this way, but no matter. We Punjabis are suckers for demagoguery.
5. It is very important to remember that the rise of this phenomenon could not have been possible without monetary support from ordinary Muslims who believed his claims for being a 'defender of Islam'. Had the Muslim public at large known what was about to happen, they would not have been so generous, to say the least.
6. His doctrinal positions were important for the British crown. He ruled out Jihad, and therefore felt that he deserved official patronage. He is reported to have claimed that he did not receive enough support from Colonial administration. Direct or indirect British colonial support was important for him.
About Followers of Qadiani religion:
1. They tend to proselytise based on person to person contact. I lost a childhood friend this way. He tried to convince me to become a Qadiani. In my ninth year at school, I knew enough to demolish his attempt. I took the books he gave me. I scanned through them. Then I asked him questions that he could not answer. He ended up by saying "you shall see in 500 years"!!! As if... Efforts to convert are important for them. They would use any means - preying on the weak, needy, and gullible. In the process they would easily concoct new meanings for Quranic words and phrases. For example a Qadiani would tell you that the Arabic word for seal (Khatim), really actually means a ring, thus deliberately hiding the fact that engraved rings were used to make personal seals.
2. Family and financial ties are important to them. In case one of them (and there are many) wants to break free of this net and convert to Islam, they find it nearly impossible. But even then many of them do convert to Islam, and then they have plenty of stories to tell......
3. It is important to note that these people have found allies among exactly those, against whom Mirza of Qadian spoke in his inimitable way to 'defend Islam'. Hyprocrisy?