A Response to Maulana Umar Sahib

[This article is the second part of the series on 'Kerala Ahmadis and the New Mujaddid'. The first part was published yesterday, May 14, 2011 and can be accessed here. The series of articles analyses the strategies deployed by the Ahmadiyya leadership to put out the Light of Allah in the form of the new Mujaddid in Mauritius and his disciples in Kerala].   

Maulana Muhammad Umar Sahib is currently the Naib Nazir A’la, Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya, Qadian. He is one of the leading scholars of the Indian Ahmadiyya Jamaat and among the first to officially respond to the coming of a Mujaddid in our times. Soon after the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam was formed and legally registered as an organization in Kerala, he wrote an article entitled “Khilafat and Mujaddidiyat” in the December 2010 issue of Sathyadoothan,  the official Ahmadiyya Journal. In spite of his profound learning and remarkable scholarship, the Maulana Sahib has come up with a deeply disturbing argument.  In the editorial abstract of the article, it is written: “The coming of Mujaddidin is irrelevant because the Khilafat system established by the Mahdi Massih is thriving”.(Sathyadoothan, p.13).

Kerala Ahmadis and the new Mujaddid-I

Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam, which was established in March 2008 by the Mujaddid of the new Century Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib of Mauritius, crossed the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea and reached the shores of Kerala, India in September –October 2010. 

Supporting and endorsing an Elect of Allah is the binding duty and responsibility of believers who live in the time of a Divine Reformer. Thus Jamaluddin Sahib of Mathra was the first person in India to have the honour of accepting and becoming a disciple of the new Massih of Allah. Strangely, however, the Ahmadi Maulanas are standing up against the great Divine favour on the Community.

When the Massih of Allah elevated his first disciple in Kerala to the position of Amir Jamaat after the formation of the Jamaat in the State, the Maulanas gave went to their anger at the Divine favour by trying to assassinate the character and honour of the disciples of the new Massih. They seek to extinguish the Light of Allah through all foul means possible. At this juncture, it is important to remind them of what they don’t want to remember or hear: 

That till recently Jamaluddin Sahib of Mathra was an honourable man in the Jamaat. More than 50 people took Bai’at and were initiated into the Jamaat through him. He was instrumental in the formation of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat in two places in South Kerala: Mathra and Trivandrum, the capital city of the State. And some of the Ahmadis who took Bai’at through him later went on to form another branch of the Jamaat in the neighbouring State of Tamil Nadu as well. These are uncommon achievements by the record and practice of the Kerala Ahmadiyya Jamaat today. It would not have been possible but for the combination of special blessings of Allah and sincere  efforts of the people concerned. Caught up in the cauldron of jealousy and  hubris, can the leadership be expected to have the humility to acknowledge contributions or care about higher notions of gratefulness?   

The Fall of Usama ibn Laden

Usama ibn Laden, the slain chief of the Al Qaeda militant group, sought to project himself as championing the “Muslim” cause, by attacking imperial domains, promoting suicide bombings and indiscriminate killings. He thus 'elevated' “Fasad” into the realm of “Jihad” and sought to subtly project himself as the “blood-thirsty” Mahdi many common Muslims seem to expect from the Prophetic traditions for our times. By waging ‘Jihad’ against the US and their imperial allies, he was clearly taking on the great Satan (Dajjal) mentioned in the prophecies! How long can this subterfuge work? How long will Allah allow the falsehood to roam free? Reflecting on the recent events,  the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius states: “falsehood is bound to be washed away and truth rendered clear”.

Read the extracts from the Friday Sermon of May 06, 2011:

An Encounter with Sai Baba

Allah, the Most High has always been raising His Messengers with a single message: to preach the Unity of God. They come to confront the people’s practices of worshipping false gods- be it images, human beings or nature. Like all messengers before and after them, Hazrat Ibrahim (as), Moses (as),  Jesus (as) and the Holy Prophet of Islam (sa) have  preached their non-negotiable stand on the Unity of God against all odds and that too in the den of polytheistic practices of their times! 

It is spiritually appealing to think that in these times when the Unity of God/Tawheed doctrine is being challenged and undermined through polytheistic practices among the human beings of all religions and fractional groupings in the world, God has raised someone as a renewer of Faiths, the true spirituality of Oneness of God in all traditions of people's beliefs. "Sathya Sai Baba", the Indian godman who died recently, had hundreds of thousands of people who looked upon him as the personification of God Himself. While speaking on the larger theme of the eventual fall of criminals irrespective of their religious identity or sectarian orientation, Khalifatullah Hazrat Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius briefly touched upon the story of his encounter with the Sai Baba in 2005 at his place - Puttaparthy, India.

Read the extracts from the Friday Sermon of May 06, 2011:

Like you are all aware, the Sai Baba died on Sunday 24 April 2011 at the age of 84. Lots of people used to take him as god on earth and there are many of his adherents in Mauritius, whom I know personally, who pray him. There is a quote which says: When you do not believe in one God, then you shall believe in a million gods. By the grace of Allah, here in Mauritius, the devotees of the Sai Baba invite me in their several conferences to address them, and thus, it is on these occasions that I seize the opportunity to talk on the unity of Allah.

A Conference visit to Puttaparthy

In 2005, I was invited in Puttaparthy in India to participate in an inter-faith conference whereby different religious leaders of all communities were present and invited to address the audience. My family and I went there in the month of July (the 11^th) 2005. Many of Sai Baba’s devotees all round the world were present at the place of conference. 

Perspective on Ahmadiyya Khilafat

In a recent mail, an Ahmadi critic wrote: “…on one side the community that you belong to, keeps a view that this present Ahmadiyya Khilafath is not supported by Holy Quran, meanwhile on the other, it accepts this khilafath as divinely ordained, partially. That stand is too bizarre to be understood even…”

For the understanding of seekers after truth, we are providing below an extract from an Interview Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius granted to Mubashar Dar Sahib of Ahmadiyya News in 2006 wherein as the Mujaddid of the new Century of Islamic Hijri, he explained his position on Ahmadiyya Khilafat.  

Ahmadiyya News: What is your opinion towards the Khulafa of the Jama'at Ahmadiyya. Their ability and approach towards achieving the ultimate victory of Islam and Ahmadiyyat as prophesied by the Promised Messiah a.s.?

Munir Ahmad Azim:

I believe in the Khalifas of Jamaat Ahmadiyya like I said above: Hazrat Moulvi Hakim Nooruddin, Hazrat Mousleh Ma'oud Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad, Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad, and also Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad. Although they were not directly divinely appointed by God Almighty, Allah was their help as long as they were on the right path and preaching the true teachings of Islam. Allah gave them true dreams and revelations to help them in their task, because they were righteous in their devotion to help the cause of Allah Ta'ala and Allah blessed them with great knowledge and Insight.

Expulsion by the Nizam-e-Jamaat: True Facts

What ails Ahmadiyyat today? Who can explain what is wrong with the Jamaat better than the one who comes in the mantle of a Prophet from Allah, the Most High? What better way is there to explain what is wrong in the Community than by narrating the personal experiences which a man of God has had to undergo at the hands of the Pharaohs of the day?

Hadhrat Khalifathullah Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib (atba) of Mauritius has now written profoundly on the circumstances surrounding his expulsion from the Jamaat of the Promised Massih (as) in a new booklet entitled: “A Background Story of the Predominance of Truth over Falsehood”.

Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Sahib was expelled from the mainstream Ahmadiyya Jamaat in December 2000. The expulsion order was issued by the Fourth Khalifa Mirza Tahir Ahmad Sahib who simply relied on a report of Mr. Amine Jowahir, the unfortunate Amir of Mauritius.  The order (reproduced in page no.43 of the Book) is evidently an absolute act of unbelievable hubris on the part of those who issued it.

Mr. Amine Jowahir, the man whose report was relied upon by the fourth Khalifa, was recently dismissed from his position by the fifth Khalifa Mirza Masroor Ahmad Sahib on charges of corruption, nepotism and moral irresponsibility after a lengthy enquiry by his special representative who visited Mauritius for the purpose of investigating the glaring charges against him.

Think about it. A report filed by a man of questionable integrity was used by the then Khalifa to expel some one who claimed he received revelations from Allah the Most High. Now that his true colours have been revealed, will the Jamaat show the decency to respect principles of natural justice? Even secular courts show minimum respect for evidence and notions of justice by reinvestigating cases where new evidence or suppressed facts are unearthed and become available even if it happens after decades. For instance, in Kerala recently, a criminal case was reinvestigated after 43 years and justice served. Will the Jamaat which swear by spiritual notions of absolute justice, reinvestigate the case and give a fair hearing to the cause of the Khalifathullah?  

Fourth Khalifa on Mujaddidiyat-II

In the first part of the essay, published here on May 05, 2011, we have noted an important statement of the Fourth Khalifa Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad Sahib on the question of the coming of Mujaddidin in the new century, just as it used to be in all the centuries before in Islam. In our analysis, we have clearly shown how mistaken the Khalifa was in thinking that the Promised Massih Hadhrat Ahmad (as) shared his perspective. The emphatic statement of the Fourth Khalifa clearly shows that knowingly or unknowingly, there has come to be a radical disconnect between the original teachings of Islam as well as the explanatory commentary of the same by the Promised Massih (as) on the one hand and the current beliefs in the Ahmadiyya Community on the other. For the essay, click here.

It is remarkable to note that the statement of the Fourth Khalifa came in 1993, exactly 84 years after the death of the Promised Massih (as). What is the significance of 84 years in Islamic spirituality? A thousand months constitute 84 years and stand for a century in the spiritual realm. Thus, the Holy Qur’an states:

“The Night of Destiny (Decree) is better than a thousand months. Therein descend angels and the Spirit with their Lord’s decree concerning everything”. (97:4-5)

Both the Promised Massih (as) and Hadhrat Musleh Maoud (ra) have written that the period referred to in the Holy Qur’an is linked to the advent of a Mujaddid.