Nizaam-e-Jamaat: Evolving a Parallel ‘Culture’

‘‘Within a century after the departure of a Mujaddid, his followers lose their spiritual self. They become creatures of the earth, lusting after material riches and vain pursuits’. 

This prescient observation of the Promised Massih (as) is today staring the Jamaat-e- Ahmadiyya in its face- the same Jamaat that he established to revive the faith of Islam more than a century back in India. 

While Ahmadis continue to delude themselves that they remain in the right path, a parallel ‘culture’ has developed within the Jamaat that has corroded and subverted its inner core of sublime spirituality. The empty shell of Khilafat as it exists today is virtually incapable of stopping the eroding ground beneath its feat. Forget about reversing the tide altogether! 

In his Friday Sermon of January 06, 2012 the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius confirms what thoughtful Ahmadis have feared for years- the development of a parallel ‘culture’ within. The sermon contains a searing critique of the gross mismanagement and the resultant disarray within the rank and file of the Nizaam-e-Jamaat. It describes the apparent features of this parallel ‘culture’ that has eaten into the vitals of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya's value systems, corroded the ethics of its members and has come to define their ill-informed decisions and wrong choices today.

Read the Extracts from the Sermon:

“The fifth Caliph is not taking care of the Jamaat of the Promised Messiah (as) like the latter had established the management of the Jamaat. The Caliph is basing himself on false reports of his amirs and mullahs. It is his so-called mullahs and amirs who are leading the Jamaat astray and the caliph is not taking the right decisions for the cause of Allah and according to the precepts of Islam. It is those around him who are taking the major decisions, especially about whom the Ahmadis should greet salaam or not, and boycott.

The Ethics of Islamic Veil

In his Friday Sermon of 20 May 2011, Hadhrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (atba) of Mauritius spoke at length about the question of gender equality in the social order. Based on his deep insight, the Khalifatullah rejects the western notion that Islamic veil seeks to seclude women at the cost of her individual freedom and spiritual identity. He explains the profound moral precepts of Islam that seeks to promote family values and maintain a complex balance in gender relations in society- while restraining unhindered mixing of men and women, it does promote healthy interactions across the gender divide by observing the Islamic norms. He calls for abundant caution in the pursuit of addressing “any weakness (or) immoderation in the system” and asserts that the system is essentially rooted on the principles of “justice and equity, balance and proportion”.

Read the extracts from the Friday Sermon:

Islam on Women’s Rights

Gender relations and women’s space, rights and status in Islam have been a perennial source of debate in the recent times. In a series of sermons in May 2011, Hadhrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib has now reflected on various aspects of this wide-ranging issue. Reproduced below are extracts from the Friday Sermon of May 20, 2011.

“As a fundamental of its system, Islam holds that the woman is a human being; and she has a soul similar to that of man. The Holy Quran says: “O people! Be careful of (your duty to) your Lord, Who created you from a single being and created its mate of the same (kind) and spread from these two, many men and women; and be careful of (your duty to) Allah, by Whom you demand one of another (your rights), and (to) the ties of relationship; surely Allah ever watches over you.” (4:2)

Thus, men and women are quite equal to each other in their origin, their abode as well as in their place of return and are as such entitled to similar and equal rights. Islam gave her the right to life, to honour, and to property like men. She is an honourable being and it is not permissible for anyone to find fault with her or backbite her. No one is permitted to spy on her or hold her in contempt due to her functions as a woman. These are the rights that both men and women enjoy, there being no differentiation against either of them.

So, none can deny the fact that as human beings, man and woman are equal. Both make up the human race together as its equal constituent parts. Both are equal partners in building up community life, creating and bringing about civilisation, and thus serving humanity. Both have been endowed with hearts, brain and reasoning power and both possess feelings, desires and the other human instincts. Both stand in need of mental and intellectual training and education so that they may duly contribute to the happiness and welfare of society.