The Promised Messiah (alaihi salam) wrote:
‘Don’t think that God will let you go to waste. You are the seed which the Hand of God has sown in the earth. God says that this seed will grow and flower and its branches will spread in all directions and it will become a huge tree. So, blessed is one who believes in what God says and does not fear the trials which he suffers in His path. For, the coming of trials is essential so that God may try you to see who is true in his declaration of Bai‘at and who is false. Whoever falters in the face of a trial would do no harm to God whatsoever and ill- luck would only land him in hell. Were he not born, it would have been better for him. But all those who remain steadfast till the end—they will be shaken with quakes of calamities, and battered with storms of misfortune, ridiculed and mocked by people, and hated and reviled by the world—shall at last come out victorious.’ (The Will, pg. 12)
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Silence will bear testimony
Why the 2nd amendment must be repealed.
Maqasid al shariah (the objective of Islamic law) are falah (welfare) and hayat-e-tayyabah (good life) for a member of the community. When contemporary Islamic zealots argue for the politicization of this divine vision of Islamic state, they define the Islamic state as that which implements Islamic law. Islamic law is divine and Allah Subhan wa tallah does not need the consent of this band of bandits. They insist on imposing their own interpretations of divine law without consent or consensus. The irony of this reality is that in seeking to impose Islamic law and create an Islamic state, they are actually in direct opposition to the spirit and letter of the Quran. Quran is very explicit when it says “there is no compulsion in religion”(2:256). Quran encourages Jews to live by the laws revealed to them in Torah. In fact the Quran expresses surprise that some Jews sought arbitration of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) rather than their own legal tradition (5:34). The Quran also orders Christians to live by their faith. “so let the people of the gospel judge by that which Allah has revealed therein, for he who judges not by that which Allah has revealed is a sinner”(5:47). From these verses it is very clear that an Islamic state must advocate religious pluralism even to the extent of permitting multiple legal systems.
As we continue to refer to Ahmadi mosques as Marakaz and ibadatgahs, we must remind ourselves of the views of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah who relied heavily on the Ahmadi community and its brilliant son Ch. Zafarullah Khan (whose brother was killed in the recent genocide in Lahore). Jinnah not only considered Ahmadis Muslims but relied heavily on them to provide the manpower and skilled intellectual force in their efforts on behalf of the Muslims of India. As a secular liberal Jinnah could not imagine how someone who considered himself Muslim could be called something else. He said: “I have been asked a disturbing question, as to who among the Muslims can be a member of the Muslim Conference. It has been asked with particular reference to the Ahmadis. My reply is that, as far as the constitution of the All-India Muslim League is concerned, it stipulates that any Muslim, without distinction of creed or sect, can become a member, provided he accepts the views, policy and program of the Muslim League.” Mr. M. A. Sabir tried as hard as he could to persuade the Quaid to declare Ahmadis as being out of the folds of Islam, but the Quaid said with full resolution: “what right do I have to declare a person non-Muslim, when he claims to be a Muslim.”
The society of Pakistan has its genesis in a polity of cultural, religious and ethnic traditions which has a strong democratic base. Islam in this region of the world did not spread through the might of the sword. It is a historical fact that Islam took root in this region through the positive example set by an an inclusive non-political approach of the sufia karam. They were actually the harbingers of a society of equality and respect for all faiths and beliefs. As bulleh shah said,
Bulla, ki jaana main kaun
Bulla, ki jaana main kaun
Na main moman vich maseetan
Na main vich kufar dian reetan
Na main pakan vich paleetan
Na main andar bhed kitaban
Na main rehnda bhaang sharaban
Na main rehnda mast kharaban
Na main shadi na ghamnaki
Na main vich paleetan pakeen
Na main aaabi na main khaki
Na main aatish na paun
Bulla ki jaana main kaun
Na main arabi na lahori
Na main hindi shehar nagaori
Na hindu na turk pashauri
Na main bhet mazhab de paya
Na main aadam hawwa jaya
Na koi apna naam dharaya
Avval-aakhar aap nu jana
Na koi dooja hor pacchana
Maithon na koi har syana
Bulle shauh Kharha hai kaun
Bulla ki jaana main kaun
After the brutal partition of 1971, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto sought support and sustenance in Middle East – specifically in Saudi Arabia – and one of the channels of that ideology was Maulana Maududi’s Jamaat-i Islami and Ahmadiyyat was a central issue for them. They had been re-buffed in the 1950s and 1960s by sternly secular governments but in Bhutto, though himself a non-practitioner, they finally found a workable ally. The amendment to Article 260 of the 1973 Constitution declared Ahmadis non-Muslim, and the Second Amendment in 1974 (under Zia regime) further defined this.
I fail to understand that why are these self-proclaimed contractors of Islam given the space in which they are not only bringing a bad name to our religion of peace and salvation but also why are our political and civil institutions shying away from questioning the self-imposed sacred cows? These fanatics of religious hegemony are not only bringing us shame by violating rights of civility, humanity, gender and minority equality but also smearing our religion by presenting it as exclusive, in utter contrast to the true inclusive spirit of Islam. I believe it is our duty as sensible, responsible and god-fearing Muslims to stop these fanatics from annihilating our space as custodians for civil and human rights in our society. We will be responsible in Allah’s court of judgment for not standing up against these usurpers of peace, these fasadis who are playing a game of make belief by deceiving the impressionable that they have the authority to give the sanction of being a Muslim to some and not to others. They have through their political gimmickry forced our rulers in the past to declare our Ahmadi brothers and sisters as non-Muslims. If we do not rectify our mistake, the day is not far when they will force us to declare our shia brothers and sisters as heretics and then deobandis will want to declare barelvis non-Muslims and ahle-hadiths will threaten that those who do not subscribe to their brand of Islam are wajib-ul-qatl. I fail to understand why the 2nd amendment cannot be repealed from the constitution of this country that we all call our homeland – our Pakistan.
I am a Sunni Muslim Pakistani and I know any words of apologies, repentance or any justification for what happened in the Ahmadi mosques is not enough. This and all that has been done to our Ahmadi brothers and sisters on the name of a socio-political power play more than an open hearted tolerant discourse of religious beliefs is unpardonable. What happened in Lahore cannot be justified under any religious doctrine. I apologies on behalf of majority of Muslim men and women of this country and tell u that the loss of life in this inhuman incidence is neither less nor in anyway justified… Just as the lives lost anywhere else in Pakistan, be it Parade Lane, Ashura or Gojra. May Allah give all of you the strength to bear the loss and may Allah be with us all.