AN OPEN INVITATION TO A MUBAHALA

6 AN OPEN INVITATION TO A MUBAHALA Now whoso disputes with thee concerning him, after what has come to thee of knowledge, say to him, ‘Come, let us call our sons and your sons, and our women and your women, and our people and your people, then let us pray fervently and invoke the curse of Allah on those who lie!’ (Holy Quran: AI-Imran:62) To all the leaders who play a prominent role in the rejection of all the claims of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, and insist that he was an imposter. Also to those leaders who incite hostility against the Ahmadiyya Community with totally false and fabricated allegations. Mubahala: A term of the Holy Quran which means that when the claimant of God is outrightly rejected and no further room is left for a meaningful dialogue and argumentation, then both the parties – those who believe in him and those who reject him – should invoke the curse of Allah on the wilful liars. TI-IIS IN”VIT.A. TION” IS TO .A.LL REVIEW OF RELIGIONS 7 FOREWORD Ever since the promulgation of the anti-Ahmadiyya Ordinance of 26th April, 1984 by the then dictator of Pakistan, the Government of Pakistan has usurped the fundamental religious and human rights of Jamaat Ahmadiyya to profess Islam to be its faith. Ahmadis have been debarred, on pain of punishment, from: * * * * Affirming their faith through the recitation of Kalima Tayyaba [Lailaha Illallaho Muhammad-ur-Rasulallah] (There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is His Messenger); Calling the Adhan (call to prayers); Calling their mosques as “Mosques”; Professing to be Muslims. Following upon this, an ,utterly false and evil world-wide campaign is being carried out to malign Jamaat Ahmadiyya and its leadership. This campaign is being fully supported by the Government of Pakistan and to a large measure, financed by the Rabita-i-Alam Islami of ‘Saudi Arabia. Such scholars and ‘Ulemas’ mainly from Pakistan, have been hired or are being supported who have devoted themselves entirely to the task of spreading lies and attributing beliefs to Jamaat Ahmadiyya which have nothing to do with the real beliefs and faith of Jamaat Ahmadiyya. A continuous and unabated movement is being launched and maintained to vilify the Ahmadiyya Community ‘in the sight of other Muslims to create greater distance and chasm between them. Moreover, a part of this campaign is being directed at the character- assasination of the Founder of the world-wide Ahmadiyya Movement, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (1835-1908), and other Ahmadiyya religious leaders. This has now been carried too far. No doubt, this campaign is spearheaded by the President of Pakistan, ex-Chief Martial Law Administrator, General Muhammad Ziaul Haq, who set the ball rolling through the afore-mentioned Ordinance which has deprived Ahmadis of all their fundamental 8 MUBAHALA religious rights. In my capacity as Head of the world-wide Ahmadiyya Community, I hereby declare that: Whereas all attempts on my part and on the part of Jamaat Ahmadiyya to make the leaders of this campaign to see the light of the day and to behave sanely have failed, and Whereas they have no regard for Islamic principles of justice and fair play, in their treatment of Jamaat Ahmadiyya, We are left with no choice but to invite them to Mubahala and to take this long drawn dispute to the Court of God Almighty, the All-Knowing and All-Powerful. May He decide between right and wrong and between those who are true and those who are liars. Prominent among these to whom this invitation is specially addressed are: (a). General Muhammad Ziaul Haq, ex-Chief Martial Law Administrator of Pakistan; (b). Officials of Rabita-e-Alam Islami who have been surreptitiously inciting many governments to take such measures against Jamaat Ahmadiyya as have been taken by the Government of Pakistan and who have been secretly funding many anti-Ahmadiyya Movements; (c). Leaders of religious denominations specifically hostile to the Ahmadiyya Community, including those religious scholars who style themselves as “Ulema Khatmi-Nabuwwat”: (d). All political leaders of Pakistan who have overtly or covertly aided and abetted the hostile anti-Ahmadiyya campaign: (e). Such government officials who have been carrying out this campaign at the behest of the Government of Pakistan: (f). All judges of the so-called “Shariat Courts” of Pakistan: (g). All those scholars who have authored anti-Ahmadiyya literature. be it in the form of pamphlets. books. or articles. etc.: REVIEW OF RELIGIONS 9 (h). All those magistrates and judges of the courts of Pakistan who have sentenced Ahmadis under various provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code for committing the following so-called “crimes” ; (i) The profession that Ahmadis are Muslims and have no Faith other than Islam; (ii) The declaration that: 41)1 J”””J I~ 01 ~I J J.\I ‘\’1 4J1 ‘\’ 01 ~I [I bear witness that there is no god but Allah,’ and 1 bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah]; (iii) The observance of Prayers as prescribed by the Holy Quran and the Sunnah; (iv) The recitation of the Holy Quran; (v) The greetings of peace to other non-Ahmadi Muslims by addressing them in the words “Assalamo Alaikum”; (vi) To inscribe or to be found in possession of any written verse of the Holy Quran, printed or otherwise; THE INVITATION We can divide our invitation to Mubahala into two parts, hereafter referred to as: Part A: The rejection of the claims of the Founder ofthe Ahmadiyya Movement and declaring him to be an imposter, a conscious liar, a knave, a dissembler and one who attributed words to Allah which He never spoke to him. Part B: Accusations against Jamaat Ahmadiyya and attributing to it such beliefs, actions and designs with which Jamaat Ahmadiyya has nothing to do. 10 MUBAHALA By the authority vested in me as the Imam and Head of the world-wide Jamaat Ahmadiyya, I hereby invite all those who hold either of the beliefs set out in Parts A or B above, to a Mubahala in ac:cor-dance with the teachings of the Holy Quran: rt i\–:’~; G 5/..:;;;t {Q -‘ G’rc;i g i~~jt -: I ~ .. J “,.n/ -: .. ..- .. ,..:: ~ t- ~~f\” (–::0.:\” ~\ ~ . ~~..-J .J . .J ~ 0 ~~’f.-::J\~ ” ..• Say to him, ‘Come, let us call our sons and your sons, and our women and your women, and our people and your people, then let us pray fenently and invoke the curse of Allah on those who tell lies!” MUBAHALA: PART A: (AI-Imran: 62) As far as part A is concerned, there already exists an invitation to Mubahala to all concerned since 1907 in the very words of the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, which we reproduce below: “Everyone who considers me to be a liar, and everyone who regards me to be a cheat and an imposter, and rejects my claim that I am the Promised Messiah, and considers whatever revelation I have received from God Almighty as fabrication, be he called a Muslim, or a Hindu, or an Arya, or be he of any other faith – he is at liberty to publish a Mubahala challenge against me. He can publish the said Mubahala in some newspapers declaring: I swear by God Almighty that I am fully convinced that this person, [here he should clearly write my name], who claims to be the Promised Messiah, is infact a manifest liar indeed, and this revelation, some of which he has written in this book, is not the word of God but a concoction on his part infact. Having given due consideration, pondered over this matter with gravity, and having fully deliberated over this matter, I can declare with full responsibility that this claimant is false and fraudulent and also a fabricator and a dissembler. Therefore, 0 Mighty God, if according to Thee, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is true in his claim – not an imposter, a liar, an infidel or a non-believer, then, on account of my rejection and mockery of truth, inflict a severe REVIEW OF RELIGIONS 11 chastisement on me. If, however, my adversary is in the wrong, then subject him to severe punishment instead. Amen! This door is open for anyone desirous of seeing a fresh sign. (Haqeeqatul Wahy, Roohani Khazain Vol. 22 p. 71-72) Since the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement who issued this challenge is no longer alive, it is essential that his followers and adherents representing him openly accept the responsiblity and consequences of his challenge on his behalf as the First Party of Mubahala. As Head of the world-wide Ahmadiyya Community, I declare with full consciousness the acceptance of this responsibility along with the members of my family and the entire world-wide Jamaat Ahmadiyya. MUBAHALA: PART B Following is a list of allegations made by the enemies of Jamaat Ahmadiyya which Jamaat Ahmadiyya declares to be blatantly false and totally baseless. On this issue, I on behalf of Jamaat Ahmadiyya invite all those responsible for engineering and fabricating these lies or those, believing them to be true, to accept this challenge to a Mubahala and publish their consent thereof in a few dailies so that people at large may become witness to this. ALLEGATIONS: GROUP ONE * It is claimed: That the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Community, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, clearly denied the Khatam-e-Nabuwwat of Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa, Rasulullah, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and did not believe him to be the Khataman Nabiyyeen and as such Ahmadies hold the same belief; * That Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian was guilty of the inteq~olation of the Holy Quran and wilful distortion of its text and meamngs; * That he has debased the mausoleum of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and declared it to be the 12 MUBAHALA most putrid site – a place where insects abound; * That he has slandered Hazrat Imam Hussain and declared his rememberance to be a pile of shit; * That having studied the history of all the false claimants, he wilfully proclaimed himself to be a prophet whereas God had never commissioned him for anything; * That he abrogated the Quranic concept of Jihad at the behest of the British; * That his claim was not that of a subordinate prophet under the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, but he claimed to be a new law-bringer and brought forth a Shariah of his own other than that of Islam; * That the Qadianis (Ahmadis) consider the claimed “revelation” of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian and published under the title, Tadkira, equal in rank to the Holy Quran and believe it to be the book of Shariah. In my capacity as the Imam of the world-wide Jamaat Ahmadiyya, I do hereby declare all these allegations to be utterly false and a bundle of fabrications against the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. So, in the words of the Holy Quran, We invoke • 1;:-‘1,/1;;: l~ *’;~ u-;UJr . ……… / Allah’s curse be on those who tell lies. ALLEGATIONS: GROUP TWO As part of the campaign of the character-assassination of the Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Community, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, it is claimed: * That he was a cheat and a dishonest person; * That in retribution for the misappropriation of household property, his father had expelled him from his home; REVIEW OF RELIGIONS 13 * That most of his prophecies and revelations which he declared to be Divine, turned out to be a pack of lies; * That the British gave hundreds of thousands of acres of land to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian. In my capacity as the Imam of the world-wide Jamaat Ahmadiyya, I do hereby declare all these allegations to be utterly false and a bundle of fabrications against the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. So, in the words of the Holy Quran, We invoke 0L;lfJl”lf: ~ I;;t