Al Hakam - 07 December 2018 by Alhakam

Loyalty to the British Raj

Admiral Meets Huzooraa at Fazl Mosque

MTA Germany Team Visit London

From the Archives

Rear Admiral Mike Bath, Naval Secretary and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Personnel), Lt Chris Sampson-Jones and Lt Commander Simon Low visited the Fazl Mosque

MTA International Germany Studios recently had the privilege of travelling to the headquarters in London

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100 Years Ago... An Appeal to the Associates of Al Hakam

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THE WEEKLY

www.alhakam.org AL HAKAM | Friday 7 December 2018 | Issue XXXVIII Ahmadiyya Archive & Research Centre (ARC), 22 Deer Park Road, London, SW19 3TL. UK info@alhakam.org | F: +44(0)208 544 7673

Tears in News

Hadith-e-Rasul – Sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa Last Hours of the Night The Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, “Our Lord, the Blessed, the Superior, comes every night down on the nearest Heaven to us when the last third of the night remains, saying: ‘Is there anyone to invoke Me, so that I may respond to invocation? Is there anyone to ask Me, so that I may grant him his request? Is there anyone seeking My forgiveness, so that I may forgive him?’” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Tahajud)

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, In His Own Words The Promised Messiah’s Place of Advent

Wiki Commons | SSG Kalie Frantz, U.S. Army

Reviewing the Week ast week saw a great deal of tears being Lsome shed on news channels; some of pain, of sorrow and some through force.

The death of former US president George HW Bush made news headline across the globe. Then we saw his son, former US president George Bush, paying an emotional tribute in the eulogy he read at the funeral of his father in Washington. He was seen breaking down in tears towards the end of the eulogy. His tears must have reminded most people of the tears that were seen during the Gulf War led by the late president; tears of thousands of innocent civilians of the war-struck region who had been orphaned, widowed or left homeless. According to statistics, the civilian losses during the war were in thousands; 1,000 Kuwaiti, 3,664 Iraqi and 300 other civilians lost their lives in this war that was a preamble of the unrest and conflict that was never to depart from the region. Then BBC reported on the plight of a Bangladeshi lady, Ms Rubie Marie, who expressed her sorrow on a marriage that was forced upon her by her parents, and that too

to a man double her age. Tears rolled down her face as she told her tragic story. Stories of forced marriages are now frequenting news bulletins and columns, but in a way that is posed, by media outlets, as a problem stemming from Islamic beliefs. We must point out here that Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih Vaa, while talking to the press on various occasions in various parts of the world, has clarified that not only does Islam discourage forced marriages, but it requires for the girl to be clearly asked if she agrees to her marriage with a certain person or not. The issue of forced marriage is cultural and not Islamic as branded by some anti-Islam enthusiasts. Footage of the Gilet Jaunes – or the Yellow Vests – protests brought to the minds of many, flashbacks of history lessons at school where the French Revolution was mentioned with much glory. The roaring flames of fires on the streets and the thick clouds of black smoke with the Arc de Triomphe on the backdrop of these scenes are reminiscent of what must have happened during the days of the revolution; albeit with

a hint of modernity with torched motors and the barricades ablaze. It is said that the government had to bow to the demands and has decided to set aside any plans of oil-price rise. We know from news reports that the issue only started with the oil-price issue, but the scale of the demonstrations clearly depicted a wave of frustration. Is this frustration only brewing in the people of France or is it a universal phenomenon only waiting for the lid to be kicked open? We don’t want to answer this question here. We refer you to the addresses of the Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaa, who, on more than one occasion, has highlighted the fact that a stark rise in the frustration of youth in the West is leading to a range of social problems – radicalisation being one and vandalising public property in protests being another of so many. However, tear gas had to be used by the French police to control the protestors and this episode, too, ended in tears.

As for the place of the Promised Messiah’s advent, it ought to be remembered that the emergence of the Anti-Christ has been foretold to take place from the East and this refers to our country. The author of Hujaj-ulKiramah writes that the disorder of the Anti-Christ is manifesting itself in India. And it is obvious that the Messiah must also appear in the same place that the Anti-Christ emerges. Then, it is narrated that the Messiah will appear in the village of Qad’ah, which is short for ‘Qadian.’ It is possible that in Yemen a village by this name exists, but one ought to remember that Yemen is not to the east of Hijaz, it is to the south. In fact, there is another Qadian, in the Punjab near Ludhiana as well. Furthermore, the name given to me by Divine destiny and decree is also a subtle indication to this very fact. The numerical value of the letters in “Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani” equal 1300 exactly. In other words, the Imam whose name this is, was to come at the start of the fourteenth century. Hence, it is to this fact that the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, alluded. (Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, Malfuzat, Vol. 1, p. 50)

Friday 7 December 2018 | AL HAKAM

From the Archives

Loyalty to the British Raj

This Week in History

Asif M Basit

azrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the H Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi , has been criticised extensively by our as

opponents for his loyalty to the British Crown. The responses from our Jamaat have also been extensive, but we wish to bring to light some facts that should, without any comments from us, be sufficient to prove how these opponents of the founder of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat responded to the British Raj. One of the so-called scholars who has been at the forefront in bitterly opposing the Ahmadiyya Jamaat and has written a large number of books on this subject is Syed Abul Hassan Ali Nadwi. As the suffix “Nadwi” suggests, he was closely associated to the Nadwatul Ulama and also went on to be the secretary of the Nadwatul Ulama. Sanaullah Amrtisari, another staunch associate of the Nadwatul Ulama, spent most of his energy and time in trying to prove that the Promised Messiahas was loyal to the British Raj. Before we go on to introducing the Nadwa, let’s first go back in history and see what “British Raj” actually meant. India was the largest colony of the British Empire and this meant that India was ruled by the British Crown. The monarch of England was also known as the Emperor or Empress of India and the governance, just as in England, was carried out by the British parliament. There would be a secretary of state for India in the British parliament. Then those representing the parliament were the viceroy, the governor general at the top and lieutenant governors or chief commissioners at provincial level and further down was the bureaucracy who ran the day to day affairs of their respective areas. In short, the British Government was the ruler and the people of the land were the ruled class. This rule of India had been passed down to the British Crown by the East India Company that had virtually ruled the subcontinent from when they had landed there for trade purposes. This handover took place after the great rebellion of 1857 when Indians revolted against foreign rule. Although this revolt did not turn out to be successful in anyway, but it left behind a legacy of fighting off foreign rule. Political, social and economic theories were formed but what proved most efficient in mobilising the masses was religion. Every religion had its own theory to offer, but for Muslims, Jihad was the element that worked most. This led to a never-ending debate of whether the British were eligible to be taken as enemies of Islam so as to determine whether Jihad could be waged against them or not. The Promised Messiahas, from the very outset of his mission, had been of the opinion that the liberty of religion that the British granted to their Indian subjects made them, in no way, an enemy of Islam. Hazrat Ahmadas rather emphasised that all Indians, irrespective of what religion they belonged to, should be grateful to the British Government for granting them the freedom to profess and practice their religion with complete

freedom – a privilege that no previous ruler, Hindu, Muslim or Sikh, had ever been able to extend to their Indian subjects. Ayesha Jalal, the great South-Asianist of our time, sees “the great rebellion of 1857” to be “of great importance for understanding the reformulation of the idea of jihad”. She notes that the modernists like Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Maulvi Chiragh Ali, Karamat Ali Jonepuri and “Mirza Ghulam Ahmad… made concerted attempts to rethink jihad in the light of British colonial rule”. How the important role of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas has been understood by historians is evident from the following passage of Ayesha Jalal’s book, Partisans of Allah: “Though endorsing the modernist Muslim argument about the Prophet’s defensive jihads, he maintained that the permission had been valid only so long as there had been a threat to the nascent Muslim community. It was a grievous mistake to assume that such an interpretation of jihad was intended to ‘extend over the future of Islam’. “The wars fought by Muslims after the death of the Prophet and first four caliphs went against the grain of the Quranic concept of jihad. If the Christians violated the rights of Allah by making a man their god, ‘Muslims did violence to humanity by unjustly drawing the sword upon their fellow-beings under the guise of Jehad’. Both had turned their respective violations into symbols of their salvation and the road to paradise. Although violating the rights of God is the worst possible form of crime, Ghulam Ahmad was more concerned about the violation of human rights by Muslims. The doctrine of jihad spread by maulvis was ‘altogether unknown in Islam’ and ‘serves only to generate savage qualities in the ignorant masses and blot out all noble qualities of humanity’. The Quran and the hadith stated that the coming of the messiah would mark the end of warfare – prayer would be his only implement and resolution his sword. ‘The days of Jehad are gone,’ Mirza Ghulam Ahmad announced. Its continued propagation was a ‘death-blow to all moral and social laws and lays the axe to the root of all kind-heartedness and fellow-feeling.’ By a strange quirk of fate, religious charlatans among Muslims, known as mullahs, had joined Christian mullahs to hide the ‘real excellence of Islam’ by ‘drawing a veil on the true significance of Jehad.’ As the promised messiah, he commanded Muslims to ‘refrain from… shedding blood for the sake of religion.’” Explaining this stance of the Promised Messiahas of not waging Jihad against the British in India, Jalal goes on to comment that “He marvelled at the peace of tranquillity prevailing in colonial India, in sharp contrast to the Punjab under the Sikhs. The British had given Islam a fresh lease on life in the Punjab.” The actual teachings of Islam, as we have just seen, did not allow Jihad to be waged upon the British; firstly, because they were not hindering the practice or propagation Continued on page 3

7-13 December 7 December 1892: The Promised Messiahas wrote: “I saw a dream that I had become Hazrat Ali, Allah be pleased with him, meaning that in my dream, I felt as though I was the very same as him. It is one of the wonders of a dream that sometimes a person feels that he is someone else and in that way I felt at the time that I was Ali Murtaza. The situation was that a group of Khawarij was opposing my Khilafat, that is to say, they wished to obstruct my becoming Khalifa and were creating mischief for that purpose. Then I saw the Holy Prophet, on whom be the peace and blessings of Allah, close to me and he said with kindness and affection: [Arabic] ‘O Ali! Stay away from them, their helpers and their harvest. Leave them and turn away from them.’ “I found that the Holy Prophetsa advised me to be steadfast in the midst of that trial and to refrain from getting involved with those people. He told me that I was in the right, but that it would be better not to address them. By ‘their harvest’ is meant the followers of the maulvis who are influenced by their teachings and whom they have been preparing for a long time. Then my mind moved towards the reception of revelation and God disclosed to me that one of my opponents said: [Arabic] ‘Leave me free to kill Musa [Moses]’; that is, my humble self. “I saw this dream at about 2:40am, and it was the morning of Wednesday.” 7 December 1907: The Promised Messiahas wrote a letter in reply to his companion Hazrat Syed Nasir Shah mentioning the reason for not being prompt in replying, which was that he was unwell during those days. 8 December 1905: The Promised Messiahas shared his thoughts during a private sitting with companions about a separate graveyard for his followers. 9 December 1899: On this day, Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Sadiqra arrived back in Qadian from Lahore after translating an article into English. The article was about the fulfillment of a prophecy regarding a certain influential figure of the Ottoman Empire. It was the practice of Hazrat Ahmadas that he would highly appreciate the humble efforts of his Companions, just as he did on this day with Hazrat Mufti Sahibra. 10 December 1892: The Promised Messiahas issued an open announcement to all clerics and religious authorities,

which can be termed as the first call of mubahilla (prayer duel). This was chosen as a decisive measure to reach a solution between him and his opponents. 10 December 1894: The Promised Messiahas issued a handbill on this day for the eyes of the British Government, Queen Victoria – Empress of India, the Governor General of India, Lieutenant Governor of Punjab and other concerned influential figures. This was published in Gulzar Muhammadi Press, Lahore and contained the rebuttal of an article titled A Dangerous Fanatic published in the Civil and Military Gazette on 24 October 1894. The article was about the Promised Messiahas and was absolutely misleading and deceitful. 10 December 1901: The Promised Messiahas was extremely worried for the masses as the pandemic plague was claiming lives in many parts of the Indian subcontinent. On this day, out of sheer sympathy, he issued a written announcement in three languages: Arabic, Urdu and Persian, with a supplement in Pashto, so that his message could reach as many locals as possible and they could safeguard themselves from this rampant punishment of the plague. 10 December 1924: Hazrat Maulana Zahoor Hussain took the message of the Promised Messiahas to the USSR for the first time, under the leadership of Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IIra. This devout servant of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat bravely endured many difficulties under the regime of the time and spent much of his time in prison due to suspicions about him being a foreign agent. 12 December 1979: Ahmadi theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate, Professor Mohammad Abdus Salam Sahib received many awards from all over the world. On this day, he was awarded with Nishan-i-Imtiaz by General Zia-ulHaq, then president of Pakistan. Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Order of Excellence) is one of the state-organised civil decorations of Pakistan. It is the highest honour given to any civilian in Pakistan based on their achievements towards world recognition for Pakistan or an outstanding service for the country.

Friday 7 December 2018 | AL HAKAM Continued from page 2

of Islam in any way, and secondly, because they were the rulers and the Holy Quran categorically commands all Muslims to obey the ruler and to respect the law of land. Now let us turn to the Nadwatul Ulama. The Nadwa was an institution founded in 1891 by Muslim scholars with the goal described as bringing harmony and cooperation among various groups within the Muslim ummah to bring about the moral, religious and educational reform and progress. This Nadwa and its adherents like Sanaullah Amritsari and Syed Abul Hasan Ali Nadawi have spilled a great deal of ink on a huge pile of papers to prove that the Promised Messiahas was loyal to the British, he sought help from them, was granted land by them and what not. Before we move on, let us see how Barbara Metcalf, in her book “Islamic Revival in British India”, sees the very foundation of the Nadwa: “Nadwah also fostered relations with the [British] government, for, in a colonial society, any ambitious leadership required its support. After a period of intense suspicion because of their presumed Pan-Islamic sentiments, the government agreed to patronize secular learning at the school, contributed land for its fine building on the banks of the Gumti in Lucknow, and, in 1908, sent the lieutenant governor himself to lay the foundation stone.” Now another allegation could be that Metcalf was a Western historian and our Muslim brethren do not hold her credible. So we pull out an issue of the An Nadwah, the official organ of the Nadwatul Ulama, and copy their own statement: “The honourable Lieutenant Governor [Sir John Hewitt] agreed to lay the foundation stone of the Darul Uloom [madrasah] of Nadwat-ul-Ulama. This ceremony was held on 28 November 1908.” (An Nadwah, December 1908, Vol. V, no. 10, pp. 1-2) To give our Nadwi brothers a bit more flavour of history, we present another line from their own beloved An Nadwah: “Although the Nadwah has nothing to do with politics, its real aim is to produce enlightened Ulama, and it is an essential duty of such Ulama to be familiar with the blessings of the government’s rule, and to spread feelings of loyalty in the country.” (An Nadwah, July 1908, p. 1)

Nadim Vanderman National Tabligh Office, UK

The proceedings of the foundation stone ceremony of the building of the Darul Uloom Nadwah were recorded by none else but the famous historian of Islam, Shibli Numani, who also held the office of secretary of the organisation. He quoted some extracts in the reports of the school from the welcome address presented to Sir John Hewitt on this occasion: “We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for honouring the Muslims generally, and members of the Nadwah particularly, by consenting to lay the foundation stone of Darul-Uloom, Nadwah, with your own hand. We are sure that all Muslims of India will be grateful to you for the encouragement you have given us on this occasion, because no part of India is without the well-wishers of Nadwah. By laying the foundation stone of a religious institute, your honour has set yet another example of the liberality and fair-mindedness which is a distinctive quality of the English people and the central pillar of British rule. “It is certain that our method of education will create a group which will be more able to resist the rebellious and emotive ideas of today. This will be a group which will be respectful to elders, friendly to neighbours, sympathetic to people in general, and loyal to the government... “We are grateful from the bottom of our hearts for the land which your honour has granted us. Recently, your honour bestowed upon us a gift of Rs.500 per month, for which we cannot sufficiently express our thanks.” (Raudad Darul-Uloom Nadwat-ulUlama for 1907 to 1909, pp. 24-33) We are sorry if our non-Ahmadi brothers, who accuse the holy founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat to be overwhelmingly loyal to the British Government, are feeling uneasy by now. But the best part is yet to come. When Britain plunged into the First World War, and Turkey decided to side with the axis forces against Britain, many Muslim organisations expressed their sympathy and loyalty with the British Government. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, we are proud to say, was also one of such Muslim communities. We are proud because we got to follow the teachings of the Holy Quran, the Holy Prophetsa of Islam and of the Imam of the age. But those who thrived on accusing the Ahmadis of doing so must be ashamed to know that their elders, too, had

done the same. The British have always been keen on securing their history. Having been a British colony, their history happens to be our history as well. A list of all such Muslim communities was compiled by the government of India and sent to the India office here in London. The same file that has the letter sent by Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmadra from Qadian also has the letter sent by the Nadwatul Ulama. It reads (translation below): “We, the undersigned office-bearers of the Nadwa-tul-Ulama consider it desirable to make the following announcement in respect of the war which has commenced between the British Government and Turkey, i.e., we, the Muhammadans of India, who, under the protection of the British Government are enjoying peace and religious liberty should maintain our loyal attitude towards the British Government and keep as out idial the same patience and perseverance which has characterized our career up to this time. “The teachings of the Quran and the Hadis [the traditional sayings and doings of the prophet] also demand that we should preserve peace and tranquillity by remaining thoroughly loyal to our Government.” (Sd.) Maulvi Khalil-ur-Rahman, Nazim (Secretary) of the Nadwat-ul-UIama (Sd,) Maulvi Abdul Hai, Rukn-i-Intizami (Member, Managing Committee) of the Nadwa (Sd.) Muhammad Aijaz Ali, Rukn-i-Intizami (Member, Managing Committee) of the Nadwa (Sd.) Muhammad Ehtisham Ali, Rukn-iIntizami (Member, Managing Committee) of the Nadwa”

Allama Shibli Nomani (1857-1914) |

(Dated 17 December 1914, in the File titled “The War: Muslim Feeling; expressions of loyalty” in the India Office Records) These two thousand and something words that have been written above seem more than enough to bring to shame the hundreds of thousands of books produced by the so-called Ulama, in their bias, prejudice and jealousy, against the Jamaat. They accused us of what they too had been doing. The difference is that we did it with pride; we did it openly; we sought authority from the Holy Quran. They, on the other hand, did it but were too shy to admit it. Admitting it would mean agreeing with Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, the Promised Messiah; and this would mean agreeing with the Holy Quran and the Hadith. They denied him; they denied the core foundation of their own faith. Alas!

Admiral Meets Huzooraa at Fazl Mosque

ear Admiral Mike Bath, Naval Secretary and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Personnel), Lt Chris Sampson-Jones and Lt Commander Simon Low visited the Fazl Mosque on 8 November 2018 to gain a closer look at the activities of the Jamaat and the true teachings of Islam. The visit was arranged by the national tabligh department, Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya UK. Our guests arrived at Zuhr prayer time and were taken inside the mosque to observe the Salat which was led by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V, may Allah be his helper. The significance of Salat, the philosophy of the different postures and how prayer is offered was explained. After prayer, the Rear Admiral had an audience with Huzooraa and discussed various matters. A photo was also taken with Huzooraa. Lunch was provided and there were lengthy discussions on the beliefs of the Jamaat. The discussion

was led by Ibrahim Ikhlaf, National Secretary Tabligh and covered matters such as its history, the difference between Ahmadis and other Muslims, how the Khalifa is elected, the persecution faced by Ahmadis and Jalsa Salana. Also present were two missionaries from Jamia, Zeeshan Khalid Sahib and Asim Hashmi Sahib, and questions were asked about Jamia. They were fascinated about the scope of activities and the similarity between the values of the Jamaat and the Navy. After lunch, there was a tour of the Fazl Mosque complex including MTA 3 Al-Arabia offices, MTA studios and bookshop. Gift packs were presented which included World Crisis and the Pathway to Peace, Life of Muhammad and various leaflets. The Admiral thoroughly enjoyed his visit and said: “It’s been a really good opportunity for me to come Continued on page 4

Wiki Commons | PD-Pakistan

Friday 7 December 2018 | AL HAKAM

MTA Germany Team Visits London

Ataul Awwal Abbasi Head of MTA International Germany Studios

MTA International Germany Studios recently had the privilege of travelling to the headquarters in London. The highlight of this journey was undoubtedly the audience with Hazrat Amirul Momineen, Khalifatul Masih V, may Allah be his helper, in which Huzooraa would give guidance and directives for the studio to pursue. It was felt imperative that there needed to be a visit to the headquarters in order to interact and integrate with the MTA International team so that both teams are

Jamaat Representation at Slovenia Book Fair Talha Ahmad Missionary, Slovenia

he Slovenian book fair is a trade fair that T takes places every year at the Congress Centre in the capital city, Ljubljana.

The Slovenian Book Fair is a traditional and the most established book festival in Slovenia, each year attracting around 100 publishing houses and thousands of visitors. This year, the 34th Slovenian book fair took place from Tuesday, 20 November until Sunday, 25 November. The book fair had a market focus on publishers from Hungary. The book fair allowed various publishers

well-acquainted with one another and gain valuable experience and guidance from the London-based team. Hence it was decided that a team of Lajna and men from our studios would travel to London. A seven-day proposed schedule was graciously approved by Huzooraa and the tour came to fruition. One of the aspects of this tour was to seek guidance and expertise from various departments of MTA International. In this respect workshops were organised with Munir Uddin Shams Sahib (Managing Director MTA) who gave valuable tips for our daily work and shared some historical

to showcase and demonstrate their products to a wide range of visitors from all over the country. There were various exhibitions, lectures, debates, presentations of new books and shows for children. This year, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in Slovenia was represented at the book fair under the banner of Islam International Publications. Islam International Publications offers a wide range of books for all ages. This year’s book fair served as a perfect platform for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Slovenia to spread the true message of Islam. Due to the presence of a large number of people, the preparation for the exhibition stall was done with great enthusiasm. Several posters and brochures were displayed to educate and inform visitors about Islam. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has been participating in this book fair since 2015. Many anxious visitors were led to our exhibition stall and to have a discussion about Islam, but these discussions turned out to be very fruitful as a lot of visitors openly expressed their changed and positive view about Islam. Eventually, the 6-day event came to an end on Sunday and with the Grace of Allah proved, yet again, to be a blessed and successful event.

events related to inception of MTA. He also emphasised on obedience without exception. Abid Khan Sahib (Director News) emphasised on the importance of delivering regular news content, Munir Odeh Sahib (Director Production) enlightened the team on the workflow of production department as well as give account of faith inspiring incidents whilst travelling on tours with Hazrat Khalifatul Masih, Asif Basit Sahib (Director Programming) gave instructions on type of content that needs to prepared and things to consider when producing programmes, Syed Taalay Ahmad (Documentary Producer) spoke on how it is best to structure a documentary whilst talking through some challenges he has faced and how to tackle them and Syed Jahangir Shah (System Engineer) gave a detailed insight into the engineering behind building a fully functional studio and also gave a hands-on demonstration of the well-integrated studio setup in the MTA International Studios.

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here today… and I have to say it has opened my eyes considerably. I think the most impressive thing for me is the amount of work you do for the community. I was taken

Following this, a whole day was organised for the team to spend in their equivalent departments in MTA International, hence staff spent time in IT, Programming and Production departments where they sought further insight into their related professions. One of the participants of this trip was Muzafar Mehmood Sahib, a producer for MTA Germany. He recounted his visit by saying: “MTA is a project of Khilafat-eAhmadiyya. Visiting the headquarters was a living proof of this. The consistency between all workshop speakers were the narrations of incidents and guidance of Khalifatul Masih for MTA and the blessings of working with the Khalifa of the time. This was very beneficial for us. May Allah enable us to fulfil the expectations of Hazrat Amirul Momineenaa. Finally, I want to offer my sincere Jazakallah Ahsanal Jazaa for the very kind hospitality of MTA International during our trip.” As there were several Lajna also taking part in this tour, various workshops were also organised with the MTA Lajna team, and these workshops were extremely beneficial for all the attendees. Shahida Sahiba from MTA Germany recounts her visit: “The Lajna department UK had prepared a training that taught us effective strategies and methods of video production. Continued on page 11

UK Tabligh Office

away by so much work that you do to help other people.” At the end some pictures were taken and thus the visit came to an end.

Friday 7 December 2018 | AL HAKAM Health

100 Years Ago...

An Appeal to the Associates of Al Hakam

The Minerals

Today, printing is very diﬀerent from the process used in past times. As compared to modern technology, early printing process was challenging and demanding. Until the early twentieth century, compositors completed each step of printing by hand, and a skilful compositor could type limited number of characters or letters in an hour while a computer can assemble the same number of characters in seconds. Nowadays, more words are being printed every month than were printed a year in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. At present, even a student using a personal computer is simultaneously doing the jobs of writer, editor and compositor. Modern equipment has made printing reasonably priced and easily available with the help of laptops, tablets and digital cellular technology. Our forefathers, including the noble Companionsra of the Promised Messiahas, however, went through diﬃcult times in the field of printing. We are eating the fruits of their untiring and arduous endeavors, which they continued to make with full devotion. A portrayal of those hardships and the resolute passion of our ancestors can be observed in the below appeal of Hazrat Sheikh Yaqub Ali Irfanira, first editor of Al Hakam, which he made to the associates of Al Hakam:

Al Hakam, 7-14 December 1918

Hazrat Sheikh Yaqub Ali Irfanira

Wbe to Him that Al Hakam magnificently

e are grateful to God Almighty and all praise

continues to publish through this age even though there is a lack of paper and printing equipment. Publishing consistency has not been affected although there is a global outbreak of influenza. Despite the fact that a strong appeal of assistance to

expand publication has not been made, an entire year of publishing is successfully coming to an end. We are grateful to the associates of Al Hakam who have valued its worth and helped support its continuation. In the limited publication of Al Hakam, there are some individuals who have not made an advance annual payment which is very much necessary. Moreover some have returned its VP (value payable) post. Although I have not an iota of doubt in their generosity, I request them that they should understand the requirements of this long-serving worker (Al Hakam). Since the launch of Al Hakam, twenty-two years back, it has been sent to all subscribers by value payable post to collect annual payment in the first week of December. In continuation of

the same cycle, this issue should have been sent through value payable post because advanced payment would have helped in storing paper and obtaining the required equipment for printing which is vital in present circumstances. I have always been mindful of the fact that Al Hakam should play a beneficial role in serving the cause (of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya). Neither do I indulge in futile discussions nor do I have any desire to waste valuable time of the Jamaat in irrelevant discourse. So, Al Hakam has been playing its part to caution and safeguard the interests of the Jamaat against harmful circumstances. It has been a duty of Al Hakam to keep the (individuals of the) Jamaat wellacquainted with their obligations and the requirements of the Jamaat, as well as to help pave a way towards the objectives laid down by the Promised Messiahas and it will continue to fulfill these responsibilities with the blessings and mercy of God Almighty. The influence and impact of Al Hakam is associated with the expansion of its publication. More or less, three hundred rupees per month are required for an up to date weekly issue. In the second year of this new era, I am determined to publish it on a weekly basis with the blessings and mercy of God Almighty, thus everyone should realise their responsibility. A single individual gave one hundred thousand rupees for a newspaper in Karachi, so is it not possible for at least one hundred devout persons of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya who are sincere and prefer religion over worldly desires to give one year’s expenses for Al Hakam? I am not pessimistic by the grace of God Almighty. I have high hopes and I earnestly believe that the One who helped continue Al Hakam’s publication in such poor economic conditions after its initiation to the age of this resolute Khalifat, He shall never let go of it in the future. My friends! These are the days to work as you may not find these days again. I understand that the present circumstances have broadened requirements and reduced the means of income, but I still believe that these conditions will not affect our associates. In brief, three hundred rupees per month are needed Continued on page 7

Dr Noureen Ahmad General Practitioner, Belgium

In terms of nutrition, minerals are chemical elements that are part of essential nutrients for the body. There are various minerals, but the most important and common mineral deficiencies will be discussed in this article. These include calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc and iodine. Other mineral deficiencies such as copper, chromium, selenium, manganese and fluoride are quite uncommon. In resource-rich countries, most foods are fortified with these minerals, so deficiencies of these occur in undeveloped countries like Asia and Africa. The first mineral to be discussed is calcium, which is an essential nutrient that is mostly (98%) present in the bones of our body. Calcium uptake is regulated and coordinated by vitamin D and plays a big role in muscle contraction, nerve conduction and skeleton rigidity. Good sources of calcium are to be found in dairy products (milk, cheese, yoghurt) and vegetables (okra, spinach, soybeans). There are two medical conditions known for calcium: hypocalcemia (low calcium level in the blood) and hypercalcemia (high calcium level in the blood). Hypocalcemia occurs in people with chronic kidney diseases, vitamin D deficiency and magnesium deficiency. The low calcium in the body can result in muscles cramps, irritability, anxiousness, skin lesions, impaired orientation and confusion. In cases of severe low levels, it can lead to seizures and heart problems. Treatment includes giving calcium supplementation depending on the calcium level, which is determined from blood samples. Hypercalcaemia occurs mostly in people who suffer from a malignancy (bone related cancers), thus individuals with high levels should be checked thoroughly for this. Hypercalcemia can result in abdominal pain with vomiting, hard stools, weight loss, tiredness, confusion, high blood pressure and kidney stones. Treatment for this condition would include hydration and treating the underlying cause. The second mineral is magnesium, of which 65% is distributed in the bones and 35% in the cells. Good sources of magnesium are present in many different foods like whole wheat, spinach, quinoa, nuts, black beans, avocado and yoghurt. Due to the good distribution of magnesium in many foods, deficiency of this mineral is uncommon. In specific situations, such as severe diarrhoea and alcohol abuse, magnesium deficiency can occur and can lead to seizures and heart rhythm problems. Treatment for this deficiency would be to take magnesium supplements. Iron deficiency is really common and affects many people around the world. Most of the iron (75%) is incorporated as haemoglobin (Hb), a protein that is important for the transport of oxygen to cells. The other part of iron is available in myoglobin form, a protein

that stores oxygen in the muscles. The remaining part of the iron in the body is stored as ferritin in the liver. Good sources of iron are found in two forms: haem form (meat, fish and poultry) and nonhaem form (many vegetables and fruits). However, the haem form of iron is better absorbed. In some countries, iron is fortified in bread and cereals to prevent this medical problem. Iron deficiency can lead to microcytic anaemia, meaning a lack of adequate red blood cells. This is known as the most common form of anaemia in the UK. Causes of this can be due to blood loss in the gastro-intestinal system or from the gynaecological system or malabsorption. The symptoms of this deficiency include fatigue, irritability, concentrating problems, weakness, dry skin and multiple lesions in the mouth. In severe anaemia, it can even lead to chest pain and shortness of breath. The iron status in the body can be derived from the blood tests such as serum ferritin and TIBC (total iron binding capacity) as well as other blood tests. Treatment exists in first treating the underlying cause of iron deficiency and when this is known, iron supplementation can be started as therapy. The guidelines recommend starting with 100-200 milligrams of iron (ferrous sulphate or fumarate). However, these tablets can cause abdominal discomfort, nausea, hard and black stools, so it is recommended to start with a low dose. Taking iron with vitamin C (orange juice) increases the iron absorption and is sometimes medically advised. If iron tablets are impossible to endure due to side effects, supplementation can be given by intravenous (through veins) or intramuscular (through injections in muscles). While giving iron supplementation, it is important to check the Hb concentration regularly in the blood. The iron supplementation should be continued till Hb is normal for at least 3 months to replenish stores. The next mineral is zinc. Deficiency of zinc is uncommon and occurs in individuals with tube feeding or from a poor diet. Low zinc in the body can result in hair loss, multiple skin lesions near the nose and mouth, night blindness, diarrhoea and can be a cause of complaints of the male reproductive system. Blood levels of zinc are unreliable as it can be influenced by many factors, so it is recommended to start with a trial of zinc supplementation and evaluate the clinical presentation afterwards. The last mineral to discuss is iodine. This mineral plays an essential role in the synthesis of the thyroid hormones. Low iodine can result in less production of these thyroid hormones, which are required for regulation of basal metabolic rate and can eventually lead to a goiter (thyroid enlargement) and hypothyroidism (less working thyroid). However, iodine is present in many foods like fish, seafood and vegetables but also in drinking water. In most countries, salt is fortified with iodine, so deficiency of this mineral is uncommon. (Always discuss with your doctor what supplements you want to take or are taking so your health and wellbeing can be properly looked after.)

Friday 7 December 2018 | AL HAKAM Divinity of Jesusas (Part IX)

Jesus and the Attributes of God as

n the previous article, it was discussed that

attributes of God. Attributes of God are not inherent in the prophets. Prophets are humble humans who simply act as agents of God. The same is the case of Jesusas. As a result, one strong argument against the divinity of Jesusas is that he never demonstrated the attributes and power of God within himself, subject to his personal will. This is a subtle, but important point. While prophets of God are a manifestation of the attributes of God, they do not have control over what kinds of powers God grants them. Jesusas elaborates this himself when he says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). Here he is clearly

stating that the authority is not his, nor his to give, but it actually belongs to God. This is further clarified when he says, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing…” (John 5:19) Hence, Jesusas is no different from other prophets who do nothing on their own but only what they are told to do from God. As such, it is very easy to bring the discussions about the divinity of Jesusas to a conclusion simply by asking: “Did Jesusas ever demonstrate to the world the attributes of God?” The answer is a

Efforts for Mosque in Erfurt, Germany Tahir Ahmed Bhatti Germany Correspondent

long-awaited ceremony took place in A the German city of Erfurt, where the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat acquired a piece

of land three years ago. For both the media and public, this event got a special focus after right wing political and social elements first raised voices against building a mosque and then started an open campaign against this mosque. This city has a population of more than two hundred thousand and bears a special historic

no extraordinary power. He was a

Farhan Iqbal Missionary, Canada

Iprophets of God are a manifestation of the

Jesusas possessed

resounding “no!” This is because at numerous occasions he seems to have been unable to demonstrate the attributes of God. For instance, one attribute of God is that He is Omnipotent – the only Being Who is the Creator of the universe and has full control of everything. Allah says: ُ َ َ َ َّ ّٰ َ ُ ُ ُ َُ ً ُ َُ ‫الل ُہ ال ِذ ۡی ﺧلقک ۡم ِّم ۡن ﺿ ۡﻌ ٍﻒ ﺛ ّم َج َﻌ َﻞ ِم ۡن �َ ۡﻌ ِد ﺿ ۡﻌ ٍﻒ ق ّوَة ﺛ ّم َج َﻌ َﻞ ِم ۡن �َ ۡﻌ ِد ق ّوَ ٍة‬ ُ ‫ُﺿ ۡﻌ ًﻔا َّو َش ۡی َب ًﺔ � یَ ۡﺨ ُل ُﻖ َما یَ َﺸ‬ ُ‫ﺂء � َو ُھوَ ال ۡ َﻌل ِۡی ُم الۡقَ ِدیۡر‬

“It is Allah Who created you in a state of weakness, and after weakness gave strength; then, after strength, caused weakness and old age. He creates what He pleases. He is the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful.” (Surah al-Rum, Ch.30: V.55) This same attribute of Omnipotence is described in the Book of Daniel as follows:

“For [God’s] sovereignty is an everlasting sovereignty, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does what he wills with the host of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. There is no one who can stay his hand or say to him, “What are you doing?” (Daniel 4:35) Contrary to this, the life of Jesus Christas was full of weaknesses, trials and tribulations, and eventually he was caught, tortured and killed

value. There are seventy-seven churches and two synagogues. In this region, more than twenty thousand Muslims reside. The German law and constitution guarantees religious freedom for every citizen of the state, so a series of dialogue, talk shows on television and articles in mainstream newspapers and journals was initiated, but the opposition of mosque did not subside. Some untoward events also occurred like placing pork meat on the piece of land, erecting an eleven-foot high cross and threats received from violent mobs, but our religious freedom was never shaken. Finally, on 13 November 2018, the foundation stone laying ceremony took place. The chief minister of Thüringen province, along with the law minister and lord mayor of the town participated in the ceremony.

(according to Christian beliefs). For him to have been God, he should have displayed this attribute extensively so that people would have had no trouble in believing in him as God incarnate. What is more is that Jesusas himself admits that he is not omnipotent when he says, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” (John 5:30) Also, it is stated, “[Jesusas] could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them”. (Mark 6:5) How much of a contrast do these two verses have with the description of God above! If Jesusas was truly an omnipotent god, he should have had no trouble in healing any person or showing any miracles or doing deeds of power. The Promised Messiahas expresses this argument beautifully as follows: “The sum and substance of the circumstances of the son of Mary contained in the Gospels, shorn of vain and senseless praise, is that he was a humble creature and was one of the prophets who were subject to the law of Mosesas… According to the Gospels, he confessed that he was neither good, nor a knower of the unseen, nor powerful, but only a humble creature.” (Barahine-Ahmadiyya, Ruhani Khazain, Vol. 1, pp. 441-442) Hence, the Gospels themselves provide evidence that Jesusas was simply a human being and did not display the powerful attributes of God. Another attribute of God is that He is Omniscient and possesses knowledge of everything – present, past, and future, as it is stated, “Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure”. (Psalm 147:5) The Holy Quran says: ۡ ُ َّ َ ُ ُ ّٰ َ ً ۡ َ َ َّ ًّ َ ۡ ُ َ ُ ۡ َ َ َ ّٰ ۡ ُ ۡ َ ۡ ُ ُ ۡ َ َ ۡ ُ ‫الس ِم ۡیع ال َﻌل ِۡی ُم‬ ‫قﻞ ا �ﻌبدون ِمن دو ِن الل ِہ ما لا یملِک لـکم ��ا ولا �ﻔﻌا � واللہ ھو‬

“Say, ‘Will you worship beside Allah that which has no power to do you harm or good?’ And it is Allah Who is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.” (Surah al-Maidah, Ch.5: V.77)

humble person and was characterised by human weakness and lack of knowledge. The Gospels show that he had no knowledge of the hidden, he went to a ﬁg tree in order to eat of its fruit and was not aware that there was no fruit on the tree. He confessed that he had no knowledge of the Day of Judgement. Had he been God, he should have known of the Day of Judgement. He possessed no Divine attribute and there was nothing in him which is not to be found in others. (Nasim-e-Da‘wat, Ruhani Khazain, Vol. 19, p. 382)

Continued on page 7

The Ahmadiyya Jamaat was established in this area by Malik Ibrahim Sahib, immediately after the historic fall of the Berlin wall. This city was blessed by short stopovers of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IVrh and Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa. In 1990, Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IVrh blessed this city with his visit and a question and answer session was held in a church hall. Then in 1997, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IVrh visited again, and on this occasion, our present head of the Jamaat, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaa was also part of the entourage. In 2008, while travelling for the inauguration of Khadeeja Mosque, Berlin, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa blessed the city with a short stopover and led Zuhr and Asr prayers here.

With the prayers of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih, Germany Jamaat saw triumph; in the face of all odds, the Jamaat was granted the opportunity by Allah to start the building process of this mosque and the hearts of the administration and governmental institutions were turned in favour of this Jamaat. Two national television channels covered the ceremony live, and in total, 42 mainstream television, radio and newspaper representatives covered this event for millions of people in and around Germany. According to an estimate, 138 million people received the message of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat by mainstream media and government officials issued their statements with photos of the event on social media, thus giving the outreach more depth.

Friday 7 December 2018 | AL HAKAM Obituary Continued from page 5

for the continuation of a regular, up-to-date weekly Al Hakam. I would urge all to make all efforts to assist in this cause. There are different ways to contribute to this cause, but the easiest way is to expand the circle of subscribers, and dedicated pious individuals should donate for this cause. This a souvenir of the profound era of the Promised Messiahas; therefore, help in its continuation and nourish it with sentiments of love and sincerity. Now I announce that Al Hakam of 28 December 1918 will be sent by value payable post to collect annual payments and any separate notification will not be made, thus everyone should consider this as a final notification. I hope that everyone to whom it will be sent by value payable post will certainly collect it. Ten Thousand Copies Special Issue of Al Hakam In the previous issue of Al Hakam an appeal was made for publishing a special issue of ten thousand copies. If a hundred devout persons purchase a hundred issues each, then this special edition will be published free of cost. A sincere and passionate individual, Hazrat Seith Abdullah Bhai Alla-Din Sahib of Sikandrabad has requested for a hundred issues. This edition is a special Jalsa issue which will Insha-Allah (God willing) be a very special one in its qualities and uniqueness, but its publication depends on the request of ten thousand issues. Thus, it is up to the people of the Jamaat whether to get it published or not. (Translated by Al Hakam)

Continued from page 6 Jesusas, on the other hand, does not display this quality of being all-knowing and in fact says quite the opposite on occasion, as an expression of his humility. For instance, he once became hungry and seeing a fig tree, he desired to get its fruit, but upon arriving, he realised that it did not have any fruit because it was not the season for it yet. (Matthew 21:18-19) How can an all-knowing god not know the seasons? Similarly, when speaking about the Day of Judgment, Jesusas says, “But about that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mark 13:32) Here, Jesusas not only expresses his lack of knowledge but very clearly and unambiguously makes the distinction between himself and God Almighty. Some Christians counter this by saying that the apostles affirm of Jesusas in John 16:30, “Now we know that you know all things…”, but these are merely the words of apostles, not Jesusas, made in a very specific context. By using the phrase “all things”, they may have simply been referring to all things related to Jesus’as ministry or his specific circumstances. To assume that they were attributing omniscience to Jesusas is a far cry from the context and directly contradictory to Jesus’as own admittance of lack of knowledge at other occasions. The Promised Messiahas expresses this argument as follows: “Jesusas possessed no extraordinary power. He was a humble person and was characterised by human weakness and lack of knowledge. The Gospels show that he had no knowledge of the hidden, he went to a fig tree in order to eat of its fruit and was not aware that there was no fruit on the tree. He confessed that he had no knowledge of the Day of Judgement. Had he been God, he should have known of the Day of Judgement. He possessed no Divine attribute and there was nothing in him which is not to be found in others.” (Nasim-e-Da‘wat, Ruhani Khazain, Vol. 19, p. 382) When we assess Jesus’as situation in relation to the attributes of God, it becomes clear that he could not have been Divine or God. Of course, the only sense in which he was “divine” is that he was an agent of God just like other agents and messengers of God.

Suyuti Aziz Ahmad Sahib of Indonesia Ober 2018, at n 19 Novem-

Suyuti Aziz Ahmad Sahib (1944-2018)

the age of 74, Suyuti Aziz Ahmad Sahib passed away. He was suffering from a severe heart illness and was sent to Rabwah for treatment where he underwent a major surgery. However, a few days after the surgery, he passed َ ٰ away.

َ ْ َ َّ َ ّ ّ ‫اج ُﻌوْ َن‬ ِ ‫ِانا ل ِل ِہ و ِانا ِالی ِہ ر‬

“Surely, to Allah we belong, and to Him shall we return.” Suyuti Aziz Sahib was born on 17 August 1944 in Bone, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. He studied in Jamia Ahmadiyya Rabwah between 1966 and 1971, and in April 1972, he was appointed as the central missionary of Indonesia. After studying in Jamia, between 1972 and 1979, he served the Jamaat as a missionary in South Sumatra, Lampung, Jambi and Bengkulu. Then, from 1979 to 1981, he served as a teacher for the muallimeen. In 1981 he was appointed as a missionary in Purwokerto, a town in Java, Indonesia. Between 1982 and 1992, he served as the Principal of Jamia Ahmadiyya Indonesia. From 1992 to 2016, he served as head of tabligh, and thereafter, from 2016 until his demise, he served again as Principal of Jamia Ahmadiyya Indonesia. Regarding how his family accepted Ahmadiyyat, he once gave an interview to MTA in which he stated: “The main reason my family and I accepted Ahmadiyyat and did Bai‘at was due to my grandfather who instructed us to follow the Imam Mahdi who was to appear in the latter days. In 1959, my family and I moved to Lampung. “In 1963, a missionary named Maulana Zaini Dehlan Sahib came to preach in Lampung, who told us that the Imam Mahdi had appeared. Upon this I asked him what proof he had of his advent to which he gave us a book to read proving the truthfulness of the Messiah of the latter days. “When I read the book, it was made apparent to me that the Imam Mahdi had indeed come. Thus, on 13 February 1963, at the age of 19, I, along with 40 other members of my family, did Bai‘at through Maulana Zaini Dehlan Sahib.” Once, in 1963, Maulana Abu Bakr Ayub Sahib, who was serving as a missionary of Southern Sumatra, visited the new converts in Lampung. After his visit, he reported to the Raees-utTabligh that he had met with a few new converts in Lampung who could be sent to Rabwah for studies. Thus, the names were recommended for admission in Jamia Ahmadiyya, Rabwah.

Among the three was Suyuti Aziz Sahib’s name. During his stay in Jamia, Suyuti Aziz Sahib was fortunate enough to meet with many of the Companionsra of the Promised Messiahas and would always seek opportunities to meet with them. The first time Suyuti Aziz Sahib met with Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIIrh was when he was elected as the Khalifa. Suyuti Sahib met him and embraced him, upon which Huzoorrh showed him great love and affection and stated that those who had come from distant countries were all his children. When Suyuti Sahib was returning to Indonesia, he met with Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIIrh. Huzoorrh embraced Suyuti Sahib and said to him, “Never be unfaithful to your Creator. This is my advice to you.” His daughter, Mardiya Sahiba, said: “My father had fully devoted his life. He spent his life serving the Jamaat to the extent that we travelled very little for sightseeing or entertainment. We always considered this to be the lifestyle of a life devotee.” His son, Saadat Ahmad Sahib, said: “He emphasised a lot about offering prayers. During our childhood, he would instruct us to offer prayers in congregation at the mosque.” His daughter, Atiyyatul-Aleem states: “My father would never miss Tahajud prayer and would offer his obligatory prayer in congregation at the mosque. Apart from when he was ill, I never saw him offering his obligatory prayers at home.” Hashim Sahib, who is a missionary, states: “I had the honour of being taught the subject of Ilm-ul-Kalam in Jamia from Suyuti Aziz Sahib. It was his habit that during the lecture, he would ask students questions. Once, he asked us ‘What is the greatest proof for the truthfulness of the Promised Messiahas?’ We all quoted various verses from the Holy Quran and presented references of Ahadith. Listening to our answers, he told us that he himself was the biggest proof for its truthfulness, meaning that every Ahmadi should consider themselves the greatest proof for the truthfulness of the Promised Messiahas. He then said, ‘Everyone should raise themselves to a standard whereby everyone is a sign of the Promised Messiah’sas truthfulness.’” This was the style of teachings and in essence the noble character he possessed. May Allah grant him a lofty place in paradise. In his Friday Sermon, on 30 November 2018, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih Vaa said: “May Allah elevate his spiritual status. May He grant him a high rank in Jannatul-Firdaus (the highest rank of Paradise). May all his loved ones be granted peace and comfort. May His progeny follow his pious footsteps.” Amin.

Dissemination of Literature in Querétaro, Mexico Amen Aqeel Haider Mexico Correspondent

Twas blessed with the opportunity to he Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in Mexico

take part in a book fair held in downtown of Querétaro on 14-19 November. During the book fair, five books were displayed, all in the Spanish language. The books displayed were as follows: 1. The Holy Quran with translation and commentary 2. Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam 3. Jesus in India 4. An Elementary study of Islam 5. Islam: Un jardín de sabiduría (Islam: A Garden of Wisdom). More than 300 books and more than 1,000 “Muslims for peace” flyers were distributed. Adnan Haider Sahib, (missionary in Querétaro) was present at the stall along with 15 other members of the Jamaat who volunteered during the book fair. All of these 15 members of the Jamaat are new converts of Mexico. In addition, a few tabligh contacts of Querétaro Jamaat dedicated their time to volunteer. Many people showed interest at our stall and many prominent contacts were made, among whom were authors, educators and catholic church representatives. Among the hundreds of people that came to the stall, one of them was a nun of the catholic church. She stopped by at the stall, looked over the books and it was apparent that she was hesitant to ask any questions, but she seemed very curious. Once a conversation began, she asked many questions to clear her misunderstandings. During the discussion, topics such as Christians in the Holy Quran, the status of Maryas, mother of Jesusas in the Holy Quran, and many other peaceful teachings of Islam were discussed. She was awestruck and wanted to continue the conversation and share with her other nun sisters as well, thus she bought all of the books and invited our missionary to her church for a lecture on Islam, Alhamdolillah. It is estimated that more than 3,500 people came to the stall and viewed the books of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat. The Querétaro chapter of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in México was blessed with the opportunity to place the aforementioned five books in all public libraries of the state of Querétaro, Alhamdolillah. There are 67 public libraries in the state of Querétaro, so 67 copies of each book were taken to the main library of the state and will be delivered to all the libraries from there. Adnan Haider Sahib led this task. A meeting was held with the government representatives responsible for libraries in the ministry of culture of the state of Querétaro. This was followed by sending an official letter requesting for Jamaat’s books to be placed in all public libraries of the state. This request was accepted and the Jamaat was able to proceed with the process of making these books accessible to the general public.

Friday 7 December 2018 | AL HAKAM

Friday Sermon 31 August 2018 Delivered from Baitul Futuh Mosque (As said on 28 September 2018, the English translation of the Friday Sermon dated 31 August would be presented soon. Thus, we present the translation here.)

Men of Excellence

After reciting the Tashahud, Ta‘awuz, and Surah al-Fatihah, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa stated:

azrat Umair bin Abi Waqas was a companion of the Holy Prophetsa who participated in the Battle of Badr. His father was Abu Waqas Malik bin Uhaib. He was martyred during the Battle of Badr in 2 AH. Hazrat Umairra was the younger brother of Hazrat Sa‘d bin Abi Waqas and was among the early Muslims. His mother’s name was Hamnah bint Sufyan. He belonged to the Banu Zuhrah tribe of the Quraish. As it has been mentioned, he participated in the Battle of Badr and attained martyrdom. The Holy Prophetsa established a bond of brotherhood between Hazrat Umair and Hazrat Amr bin Mu‘az. (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 119, Umair bin Abi Waqas, Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2002) (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 73, Umair bin Abi Waqas, Dar-e-Ihyaa, AlTurath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996) According to some, the bond of brotherhood, established by the Holy Prophetsa, was between Hazrat Umair bin Abi Waqas and Hazrat Khubaib bin Adi (Uyun Al-Athar, Vol. 1, p. 232, Bab- Dhikrul-Muwakhat, Dar-ul-Qalam, Beirut, 1993). While describing the incident of his martyrdom and his participation in the Battle of Badr, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad Sahibra writes in Sirat Khatamanun-Nabiyyin: “After setting out from Medina, the Holy Prophetsa ordered the setup of camp after a few miles, and inspected his army. Minors who had come along in their eagerness to ride with the Holy Prophetsa in this campaign, were sent back. Umairra, the younger brother of Sa‘d bin Abi Waqasra was also a minor. When he heard of the instruction that minors were to be sent back, he hid among the ranks. Eventually, however, his turn came and the Holy Prophetsa ordered him to return. Upon this, Umairra began to weep, and upon witnessing his extraordinary eagerness, the Holy Prophetsa allowed him to remain.” (Sirat Khatam-un-Nabiyyin, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmadra, p. 353) In another book of history, the following account of him is given: “Amr bin Sa‘d narrated from his father that prior to the Holy Prophetsa inspecting us in order to set out for Badr, I saw my brother Umair bin Abi Waqas trying to hide in different places. Upon this, I asked him, ‘O my Brother! What is the matter with you?’ He replied, ‘I fear that the Holy Prophetsa will see me and, considering me to be a minor, he will send me back. I wish to participate in the Battle so that God Almighty may grant me martyrdom.’ Thus, when he came before the Holy Prophetsa, considering him to be a minor, he ordered him to return, upon

which he began to weep. Upon this, the Holy Prophetsa allowed him to participate.” (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 79, Umair bin Abi Waqas, Dar-e-Ihyaa, AlTurath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996) His sword was of a considerable size. It is mentioned in a narration that the Holy Prophetsa secured the sheath to his sword with his own blessed hands. (Al-Isaba fi Tamyiz Al- Sahaba, Vol. 4, p. 603, Umair bin Abi Waqas, Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2005) Hazrat Umair bin Abi Waqas was sixteen years old when he was martyred in the Battle of Badr. (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 79, Umair bin Abi Waqas, Dar-eIhyaa, Al-Turath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996)

happened to meet the people of Yathrib [Medina] once again. When the Holy Prophetsa enquired as to their genealogy, he found that they belonged to the Khazraj, and had come from Yathrib [Medina]. In an extremely loving tone, the Holy Prophetsa said to them, ‘Can you people listen to a few things I have to say?’ They said, ‘Yes, what do you say?’ The Holy Prophetsa took a seat and invited them to Islam, recited a few verses of the Holy Quran and informed them of his mission. These people looked at each other and said, ‘This is our opportunity, lest the Jews excel us,’ and saying this, they all became Muslim. These were six people, whose names are as follows: 1. Abu Umamah Asad bin Zurarahra who

Although he was sixteen years of age, he had a short stature. Since the Holy Prophetsa would not allow minors to participate in battles in those days, therefore he was also not permitted. The second companion, whose account will be given, is Hazrat Qutbah bin Aamir, who was from among the Ansar [natives of Medina]. He was the son of Aamir bin Hadidah. He passed away during the Caliphate of Hazrat Usmanra. His mother’s name is Zainab bint Amr. Hazrat Qutbah’s wife’s name was Hazrat Umme Amr. He had one daughter called Hazrat Umme Jameel. He participated in both, the first and second Bai‘ats at Aqabah. He is among those six companions from among the Ansar, who accepted the message of the Holy Prophetsa while he was still in Mecca. No one from among the Ansar had converted to Islam before them. (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 294, Qutbah bin Aamir, Dare-Ihyaa, Al-Turath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996) Narrating the incident of his acceptance of Islam, it is written in Sirat KhatamunNabiyyin: “In Rajab [seventh month of the Islamic calendar], 11 Nabawi, the Holy Prophetsa

was from the Banu Najjar, and was the very first in his affirmation 2. Auf bin Harithra who was also from the Banu Najjar, which was the tribe of the maternal kindred of Abdul Muttalib, the grandfather of the Holy Prophetsa 3. Rafi‘ bin Malikra who was from the Banu Zariq. On this occasion, the Holy Prophetsa bestowed the entirety of the Holy Quran to him, which had been revealed thus far 4. Qutbah bin Aamirra who was from the Bani Salamah 5. Uqbah bin Aamirra who was from the Bani Haram 6. Jabir bin Abdullah bin Riaabra who was from the Bani Ubaid After this, these people took leave of the Holy Prophetsa and upon their departure, said: ‘We have been greatly weakened by civil war, and there are many disagreements between us. We shall go to Yathrib and preach Islam to our brothers. How remarkable would it be that Allah the Exalted may gather us again through you. Then we shall be fit to assist you in every way.’ Therefore, these people left, and due to them, Islam began to find popularity in Yathrib.” (Sirat Khatam-un-Nabiyyin,

Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmadra, pp. 221-222) People often assert that Islam causes divisions. However, it was Islam that removed their divisions and feuds and these people expressed the possibilities for this due to the advent of Islam. Furthermore, this was witnessed in reality and the people who were enemies, became brothers. In the previous sermon I had also mentioned that their bonds of brotherhood greatly troubled and disturbed the enemies, as a result of which they tried to create divisions. However, as a result of moral training and spiritual power of the Holy Prophetsa, an atmosphere of brotherhood was formed once again. From among the Companions of the Holy Prophetsa, Hazrat Qutbah was one of best archers. He participated alongside the Holy Prophetsa in the Battles of Badr, Uhud, the Ditch, as well as all other battles. He fought courageously in the battle of Uhud in which he sustained nine wounds. He was holding the flag of Banu Salamah on the occasion of the conquest of Mecca. The state of the steadfastness of Hazrat Qutbah at the Battle of Badr was such that he placed a rock between two rows and said, “I will not retreat until this rock retreats.” In other words, he set a condition that even if he lost his life, he would not retreat. His brother was Yazid bin Amir, who participated in Aqabah alongside seventy Ansar. Hazrat Yazid also participated in the Battles of Badr and Uhud and his children lived in Medina and Baghdad (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 294, Qutbah bin Aamir wa Akhuhu Yazid bin Aamir, Dar-e-Ihyaa, AlTurath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996). It is narrated by Abu Hatim that Hazrat Qutbah bin Aamir passed away during the Caliphate of Hazrat Umarra, whereas, Ibn Habban states that he passed away during the Caliphate of Hazrat Usmanra. (Al- Isaba fi Tamyiz Al- Sahaba, Vol. 5, p. 338, Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2005) The third companion I shall mention is Hazrat Shuja‘ bin Wahab, who was the son of Wahab bin Rabi’ah. He passed away during the Battle of Yamama. He was also called Shuja‘ bin Abi Wahab. His tribe had a confederate with Banu ‘Abdi Shams. He was tall, slim and had thick hair. Hazrat Shuja‘ is counted among those noble companions, who accepted the message of Holy Prophetsa early on. In the sixth year after the claim of the Holy Prophetsa, he migrated to Abyssinia with the second group of migrants. A short while later, hearing the rumour that the people of Mecca had accepted Islam, Hazrat Shuja‘ returned to Mecca. Later on, the Holy Prophetsa permitted the companions to migrate to Medina, upon which Hazrat

Friday 7 December 2018 | AL HAKAM Shuja‘, along with his brother, Uqba bin Wahab, left to Mecca to settle in Medina. The Holy Prophetsa declared Hazrat Aus bin Khauli to be the spiritual brother of Hazrat Shuja‘ in accordance with the bonds of brotherhood. Including the battles of Badr, Uhud and the Ditch, Hazrat Shuja‘ participated in all battles alongside the Holy Prophetsa. He was just over forty years old when he was martyred in the Battle of Yamama. (Usdul Ghaba Fi Marifati AlSahaba, Vol. 2, p. 370, Shuja’ bin Wahab, Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut) (AlTabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 51, Shuja’ bin Wahab, Dar-e-Ihyaa, Al-Turath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996) After returning from the treaty of Hudaybiyyah, the Holy Prophetsa sent letters to most of the kings and rulers of the world, calling them towards Islam. Hazrat Abdur Rahmanra narrates that one day, the Holy Prophetsa stood on the pulpit in order to deliver a sermon. After praising God, the Holy Prophetsa said, “I wish to send some of you to the non-Arab kings and rulers. Do not be in disagreement with me as the Bani Israil [children of Israel] were with Jesus.” Upon this, the Muhajireen [those who migrated from Mecca] said, “O Messengersa of Allah! We will never be in disagreement with you. Please, send us!” (Sirat Ibn Katheer, p. 41, Bab Bi‘thah ila Kisra Malikil Faris Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2005) Hence, Hazrat Shuja‘ bin Wahab was among those companions, who were blessed with the opportunity of fulfilling this religious duty. The Holy Prophetsa sent Hazrat Shuja‘ to Harith bin Abi Shimr Ghassani as his ambassador, who was the Chief of Ghouta, an area near Damascus. According to some historians, his name was Munzir bin Harith bin Abi Shimr Ghassani. Nevertheless, the opening lines of the letter he sent to him were as follows. َ َ ّ ‫الرَ ْح ٰمن‬ ّ ‫ب ْسم الل ِہ‬ )‫الرَ ِح ْی ِم۔ ِم ْن ُم َح ّم ٍد ّر ُسوْ ِ َل الل ِہ (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم‬ ِ ِ ِ ّ َ َّ َ َ ْ َ ٰ َ ٰ ُ ٰ ْ ٌ ‫ِالَی ال ْ َحارِ ِث ْابن اَب ْی ِشمر۔ َسل‬ ‫ام َعلی َم ِن ات َبع الھدی َو ا َم َن ِبالل ِہ وصدق‬ ِ ِ َ َ َ ُْ َ ٰ ُْ َ َ َ ّ َ ‫ف ِانِ ْی ا ْد ُعوْک ِالٰی ا ْن ت ٔو ِم َن ِبالل ِہ َو ْح َد ٗہ لَا ش ِریْک ل َ ٗہ یَ ْبقی لَک ُملکک‬ (Sharh Al-Zurqani, Vol. 5, p. 46, Wa Amma Mukatibatuhu alaihi Al- Salam ilal Muluk wa Ghairihim, Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2005) (Al-Isaba fi Tamyiz Al-Sahaba, Vol. 3, p. 256, Shuja‘ bin Wahab, Dar-ulKutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut) “In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. From Muhammadsa to Harith bin Abi Shimr. May peace be on him, who follows the guidance, believes in Allah and testifies to this. I call and invite you to believe in that God, Who is One and has no partner. Only under these conditions will your kingdom remain.” Hazrat Shuja‘ says, “I departed with the letter until I reached the doors of the palace of Harith bin Abi Shimr. I stayed there for two or three days, however, I was unable to enter inside the palace. Eventually I said to chief security guard that I have been sent as a messenger from the Holy Prophetsa. Upon this, he said, ‘the king will come out on such and such day. It will be impossible for you to meet him prior to this’”. Following this, Hazrat Shuja‘ says that the very same guard then started to ask me about the message of the Holy Prophetsa. He says, “I continued to give him further details which deeply affected him and he began weeping.” This was the security incharge of the king or the governor of the area. He then said, “I have read the Bible and these exact descriptions of that prophet

are present in him. However, according my understanding I thought he would appear in the Levant but it seems that he has appeared in the lands of Qarz i.e. Yemen. Nevertheless, I profess my belief in him”. The security chief said, “I believe in him and bear testimony to his truthfulness. I fear that Harith bin Abi Shimr may kill me.” He expressed his fear that the governor of the area may have him killed. Hazrat Shuja‘ further states that thereafter this security guard paid him great respect and extended him great hospitality. He would also give him updates regrading Harith and express his despair in this regard. He also said, “Harith bin Abi Shimr in actuality fears the Caesar, as he is living under his rule.” Hazrat Shuja‘ then relates, “Eventually, one day Harith went outside and sat in his royal court. He had a crown on his head and I was granted permission to appear before him. Hence, when I arrived there I handed him the letter of the Holy Prophetsa. He read it then threw it away and in a state of rage, said, ‘Who is it that can take away my kingdom? I myself will advance to him even if he is in Yemen. I will reach there to punish him. The army should be prepared.’” He ordered his administration to prepare the army, i.e. he said with regard to the Holy Prophetsa that he would go out to fight him and the letter written to him was deemed as a threat that if he did not desist then his rule would gradually weaken. He says that Harith bin Abi Shimr remained sat there till the night and people would present themselves before him. He then ordered for the cavalry to be prepared and told me, “Inform your master of the situation here”. Thereafter, he sent the Caesar of Rome all the details of the Holy Prophet’ssa letter in writing. He sent his messenger having written down all these details that such and such ambassador came to preach to him about Islam. The letter of Harith bin Abi Shimr reached Caesar when the Holy Prophet’ssa letter had already been sent at the hands of Hazrat Dihyah Kalbi. Caesar read the letter of Harith and ordered him to abandon any thought of advancing towards him and to not clash with him. Thus, when this response of Caesar was received by Harith he summoned Hazrat Shuja‘ who was still staying there. He asked him when he was planning on returning, to which he answered he would leave the following day. The governor then instructed for him to be given 100 misqal [a unit of mass equivalent of 4.5 grams] of gold. The aforementioned chief of security also came to see him and handed him a sum of money and clothes. He then said to convey his greetings to the Holy Prophetsa and to inform him that he had become a follower of his faith. Hazrat Shuja‘ states, “When I reached the Holy Prophetsa, I reported everything to him regarding the governor Harith. When he had heard the entire incident he said, ‘He will be destroyed’, i.e. his rule will come to an end. I then conveyed the greetings of peace of the security guard of that palace and conveyed everything else he had said. The Holy Prophetsa replied ‘He has spoken the truth.’” This entire incident is found in Siratul Halbiyah. (Al-Sira Al-Halbiyyah, Allama Abu Farj Nuruddin Ali bin Ibrahim, Vol. 3, pp. 357-358, Bab Dhikr Kitabihi ilal Harith Abi Shimr, Dar-ul-Kutub AlIlmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, 2002) Hazrat Sahibzada Mirza Bashir Ahmad

Sahibra has gathered information from several books of history and some of the additional information therein is as follows. He writes: “The fifth letter of invitation was sent to the Ruler of the kingdom of Ghassan, whose name was Harith bin Abi Shamir. The kingdom of Ghassan was situated adjacent to Arabia in the northern front and its King was subservient to the Caesar. When Hazrat Shujah bin Wahab reached there, Harith was preparing to celebrate the victory of Caesar. (The governor of that area was preparing a celebration for the victory of Caeser). Prior to meeting Harith, Shuja‘ bin Wahab met with his attendant. The attendant was a good man who testified to the message of the Holy Prophetsa as conveyed by Hazrat Shuja‘. After waiting for a few days, Shuja‘ bin Wahab, gained access to the royal court of the King of Ghassan, and presented the letter of the Holy Prophetsa before him. Upon reading the letter, he became enraged and threw away the letter…” rather as mentioned earlier he ordered that his army should prepare for an attack. In the meanwhile, he also wrote a letter to the Caesar informing him that he about to attack. The Caesar responded to this letter instructing him not to take military action, and that he should meet him in Ilya, Jerusalem, for royal court.” Nonetheless, the incident of the King of Ghassan comes to an end at this juncture. However, it is ascertained from Hadith and history that apprehension of an attack against the Muslims by the Ghassan tribes prevailed in Medina for some time.” (Sirat Khatam-ul-Nabiyyin, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmadra, pp. 828-829) For a certain period of time after this incident, there was a fear that Medina would be attacked owing to the reply given by Shimr to the companion of the Holy Prophetsa. In Rabi‘ul Awal, 8 AH the Holy Prophetsa was informed that Banu Aamir, a branch of Banu Hawazin, was preparing to launch an attack against the Muslims. The Holy Prophetsa appointed twenty-four Mujahideen under the leadership of Hazrat Shuja‘ to gain intelligence about those preparing to attack Medina. At the time, the people of Banu Aamir had reached Al-Siyyi, a place between Mecca and Basra, which was a five-day journey away from Medina and had set up camp. Hazrat Shuja‘ would travel by night along with the Mujahideen and would remain out of sight during the day. Unexpectedly they encountered the people of Banu Aamir in the morning. When the people of Banu Aamir saw the Muslims all of a sudden, they were confounded and confused, and even though it was they who advanced in preparation to attack with the entire army, they fled leaving everything behind. Hazrat Shuja‘ ordered the Mujahideen not to chase them as there was no need to, but instead, as was tradition at the time, they brought back the camels, goats and spoils to Medina, which the other army had left behind. One can imagine the extent of the spoils of war left behind that every Mujahid received fifteen camels each. This was aside from the rest of the spoils left behind (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 2, p. 313, Sirya Shuja‘ bin Wahab ila Bani Aamir bi Al-Siyyi, Dar-e-Ihyaa, Al-Turath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996), In other words, the opposing army had come fully equipped for battle.

The next companion I shall mention is Hazrat Shammas bin Usman. I have mentioned him briefly in a previous Friday Sermon. His father was Usman bin Sharid and he passed away in 3 AH during the Battle of Uhud. His name was Usman and his title was Shammas and this is what he was better known by. He was from the Banu Makhzum tribe and accepted Islam in the early days (Usdul Ghaba Fi Marifati Al-Sahaba, Vol. 2, pp. 393-394, Shammas bin Usman, Dar-ul-Fikr, Beirut, 2003). Ibn Hisham explained the reason behind naming Usman as Shammas. He writes that Shammasra name was Usman and the reason why he was called Shammas is that a religious leader of the Christians was also called Shammas. In the days of ignorance, he came to Mecca. This Christian leader was a very handsome man. Upon witnessing his beauty, the people of Mecca were extremely impressed. Utbah bin Rabia, who was the maternal uncle of Usman, said that he shall show them a boy who is more beautiful than Shammas. He then brought his nephew, Usman, and showed him to them and since then everyone referred to Usman as Shammas. Another reason why he was given the name Shammas was because of the white and reddish complexion of his face, as if to say that he resembled the sun. Therefore, he became more commonly known as Shammas instead of his original name. (Sirat ibn Hisham, p. 462, Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2001) (Al-Muntazim fi Tarikh Al-Muluk wa Al-Umam, Vol, 3, p. 187, With reference to Al-Maktabah AlShamilah) Hazrat Shammas bin Usman and his mother, Hazrat Safiya bint Rabia bin Abdi Shams were part of the second group that migrated to Abyssinia. Hazrat Shammas’ mother was the sister of Sheba and Utbah (who were from among the leaders of Mecca and were both killed during the Battle of Badr). Hazrat Shammas bin Usman migrated to Medina upon returning from Abyssinia and stayed with Hazrat Mubashar bin Abdil Munzir. Saeed bin Musayyab states that Hazrat Shammas bin Usman stayed in Hazrat Mubashar bin Abdil Munzir’s house until his martyrdom in the Battle of Uhud. The Holy Prophetsa established a bond of brotherhood between Hazrat Shammas bin Usman and Hazrat Hanzla bin Abi Aamir. Hazrat Shammas had a son whose name was Hazrat Abdullah and his wife was Umme Habib bint Saeed. His wife was amongst the early Muslim women who took part in the migration. (Usdul Ghaba Fi Marifati AlSahaba, Dar-ul-Fikr, Beirut, 2003) (Sirat alSahaba, Vol. 2, p.324, Shammas bin Usman, Dar-ul-Isha’at, Karachi) (Al-Tabkaat-ulQubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 130, Dar-eIhyaa, Al-Turath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996) Hazrat Shammas bin Usman took part in the Battle of Badr and Uhud. He fought very courageously during the Battle of Uhud. The Holy Prophetsa stated that he found Hazrat Shammas bin Usman to be like a shield. Wherever the Holy Prophetsa would turn, whether to his right or left, he would find Shammas defending with his sword until the point where the Holy Prophetsa fell unconscious due to a rock that was thrown at him. Hazrat Shammas stood in front of the Holy Prophetsa and shielded him with his body and as a result sustained a serious injury. He still had some life left in him and he was carried back to Medina in the same

10 state and taken to Hazrat Aishahra’s house. Upon this Hazrat Umme Salma said how can her cousin be taken to another person’s house while she is still present? The Holy Prophetsa then instructed that he should be carried and taken to Hazrat Umme Salma’s house. Thus, it was at her house that he took his last breath and passed away. Later, upon the instruction of the Holy Prophetsa, Hazrat Shammas was taken to Uhud and buried there in the same clothes. After the battle when he was carried back to Medina, he remained alive for one day and one night whilst injured and it is said that he did not eat or drink anything and was in an extremely weak state and unconscious. Hazrat Shammasra passed away at the age of 34. (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 131, Dar-e-Ihyaa, Al-Turath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996) Another companion is Hazrat Abu Abas bin Jabr. His father’s name was Jabr bin Amr. He passed away in 34 AH at the age of 70. His actual name was Abdul Rahman and his title was Abu Abas. He belonged to the Ansar tribe of Banu Haritha. In the era of ignorance his name was Abdul Uzzah, however the Holy Prophetsa changed his name to Abdul Rahman because Uzza was the name of their idol. He took part in the Battle of Badr and all the other battles alongside the Holy Prophetsa. He was also one of the Companionsra who killed Ka‘b bin Ashraf, who was a Jew. The Holy Prophetsa established a bond of brotherhood between Hazrat Abu Abas and Hazrat Khunais. He passed away in 34 AH at the age of 70 and he had many children living in Mecca. Hazrat Usman led his funeral prayer and he was buried in Jannatul Baqee. (Usdul Ghaba Fi Marifati Al-Sahaba, Vol. 5, pp. 204-205 Darul-Fikr, Beirut, 2003) (Al- Isaba fi Tamyiz Al- Sahaba, Vol. 7, p. 222, Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2005) (Al-Tabkaatul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 238, Dar-eIhyaa, Al-Turath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996) It is narrated about Hazrat Abu Abas bin Jabr that he could write in Arabic prior to the advent of Islam. Even though it was not customary in Arabia to write at the time. When Hazrat Abu Abas and Hazrat Abu Burdah bin Nayar accepted Islam, they both had destroyed the idols of Banu Haritha. Hazrat Umarra and Hazrat Usmanra would send those two to collect Sadqa [charity] from the people, meaning that they managed the department of finance. (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 238, Dar-e-Ihyaa, Al-Turath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996) Hazrat Abu Abas lost his sight during the time of the Holy Prophetsa. The Holy Prophetsa gave him a stick and stated, “Find light through this.” And so that stick would spread light in front of him (AlIsaba fi Tamyiz Al- Sahaba, Vol. 7, p. 222, Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2005). One meaning of this could be that this stick will be in your hand and it will assist you in the same manner that other blind people use their stick. However, it could also mean that the stick would spread light and project light for those who cannot see properly at night as there are narrations about certain Companions that their stick would sometimes emanate light when they would travel in the dark (Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal, Vol. 4, p.693, Hadith 13906, Musnad Anas bin Malik, Alam Al- Kutub, Beirut, 1998). In fact, it is also mentioned

Friday 7 December 2018 | AL HAKAM that once three companions of the Promised Messiahas were traveling during a dark night when God Almighty showed them some light which was leading them along the way in the same manner [as mentioned]. [Missing reference in original transcript] Hazrat Abu Abas’ son narrates: “Hazrat Abu Abas would offer his prayers behind the Holy Prophetsa and would then return to his tribe, Banu Haritha. On one occasion when he was returning home during a dark and rainy night, light started emanating from his stick and lit up his way.” (Al-Mustadrak ala Al-Sahihain, Vol. 6, p. 2028, Hadith 5495, Maktabah Nazar Al-Mustafa Al-Baaz) Hazrat Usmanra visited him during his time of illness and was in a state of unconsciousness. When he felt better, Hazrat Usman said, “What condition do you find yourself in?” He responded, “I consider my condition to be good apart from that one rope which was used to tie the knee of a camel. Some of the workers and I have lost it. We have not yet found deliverance from this matter.” (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 238, Dar-e-Ihyaa, Al-Turath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996) As I have stated that he would receive money and other items from the people in order to make a collection for Sadqa [charity]. His standard of responsibility and trustworthiness was to the extent that he felt restless on his deathbed with the concern of that one rope which was used to tie a camel and was mistakenly lost. He expressed his worry that this rope might become a source of a trial for them in the hereafter. Thus, these were the people who had such high standards of fear of God Almighty and of honesty. Hazrat Anasra narrates, “There was no one who would offer Asr prayer quicker than the Holy Prophetsa.” (That is, in terms of offering the prayer on time; the Holy Prophetsa would offer Asr prayer at its first prescribed time). “There were two men amongst the Ansar whose residence were the furthest away from Masjid Nabwi [the Prophet’s mosque]. One was Abu Lubaba bin Abdul Munzir who was from Bani Amr bin Auf and the other one was Hazrat Abu Abas bin Jabr who was from Banu Haritha. Abu Lubaba’s house was located in Quba and Hazrat Abu Abas’s house was located in Banu Haritha. It was quite far, about two to two and half miles. Both of them would offer prayers with the Companions of the Holy Prophetsa and when they would return to their tribes they still had not offered the Asr prayer yet (Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal, Vol. 4, p.607, Hadith 12516, Alam Al- Kutub, Beirut, 1998). Such was their walking speed and also the fact that they would travel large distances in order to offer prayers behind the Holy Prophetsa.” Hazrat Abdullah bin Abas narrates: “The Holy Prophetsa said, ‘God Almighty has saved one from the fire whose feet become unclean in the way of God Almighty.’” (Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal, Vol. 5, p.469, Hadith 16031, Alam Al- Kutub, Beirut, 1998) That is, those who strive in the way of God Almighty, those who tread the path [to attain] His pleasure, those who work hard [for His sake] are included in this. Similarly, those who travel to invite others towards Allah and those who travel from afar to offer prayers at the mosque are also included in this group of people. God Almighty states that they have been saved from the fire.

Then there was a companion named Hazrat Abu Aqeel bin Abdillah who was an Ansari. His father’s name was Abdullah bin Tha‘libah. [Hazrat Abu Aqeel] passed away in 12 AH, during the battle of Yamama. His name was Abdur Rahman bin Irashi bin Abdillah. His original name was Abdul Uzza. After accepting Islam, the Holy Prophetsa named him Abdul Rahman. He was from Banu Unaib, a branch of the Baliyy tribe and he was an ally of Banu Jahjaba bin Kulfah, a family from the Ansar. His filial appellation was Abu Aqeel and was commonly known by this. He fought alongside the Holy Prophetsa in the battle of Badr, Uhud and Khandaq. He was martyred during the caliphate of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiqra during the battle of Yamamah which occurred in 12 AH. (AlTabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, pp. 248-249, Dar-e-Ihyaa, Al-Turath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996) The incident of his acceptance of Islam is narrated in the following manner: “The Holy Prophetsa migrated from Mecca to Medina and one day a young man visited him. He accepted Islam and had the honour of taking the oath of allegiance. Afterwards he expressed immense dislike towards the idols. The Holy Prophetsa enquired: ‘What is your name?’ He responded, ‘Abdul Uzza’. The Holy Prophetsa said, ‘No! From today your name is Abdur Rahman.’ So he accepted this instruction of the Holy Prophetsa and informed everyone that ‘I am no longer Abdul Uzza rather, I am Abdur Rahman.’” One of his forefathers was Irasha bin Amir, and so, he was known as Irashi in that regard (Asman Hidaayat ke sattar sitare az Talib Hashmi, pp. 491-492, Al-Badr Publications Urdu Bazar, Lahore). He was one of the companions who would work all night when the Holy Prophetsa would instruct [everyone] to offer sadqa [charity] and he would offer whatever he could collect. Hence, it is mentioned in Bukhari: “Abu Masud narrates that we were instructed to offer sadqa [charity] at a time when we were doing laborious work. Hazrat Abu Aqeel brought forth 1.5 kg to 1.75 kg of dates purchased from the earnings of his labour work. When another person brought more than him, the hypocrites said: ‘God Almighty does not need charity from this person and the other one who offered charity was for mere show.’ Hence, the following verse of the Holy Quran was revealed at that moment: َّ ٰ َّ َّ َ ْ ْ َّ ْ ْ ْ ْ ‫الص َدق ِت َوال ِذیْ َن لَا یَ ِج ُد ْو َن‬ ‫ال ِذیْ َن یَل ِم ُز ْو َن ال ُمط ِّو ِعی َن ِم َن ال ُم ٔو ِمنِی َن فِ ٰ ْی‬ َ َ َ َ ْ ْ ّ َ ّ َ ٌ ‫ِالا ُج ْھ َد ُھ ْم ف َی ْسخ ُر ْو َن ِمن ُھ ْم۔ َس ِخ َر الل ُہ ِمن ُھ ْم َول ُھ ْم َعذ‬ ‫اب ال ِْی ٌم ۔‬ ‘Those who find fault with such of the believers as give alms of their own free will and with such as find nothing to give save the earnings of their toil. They thus deride them. Allah shall requite them for their derision, and for them is a grievous punishment.’” (Surah al-Taubah: V.79) (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab Al-Tafsir, Bab Alladhina Yalmizunal Muttawwi’in…, Vol. 10, p. 371, Hadith 4668, Published in Nizarat Isha’at, Rabwah) These Companions had astonishing ways of attaining the pleasure of God Almighty and the manner in which they made such endeavours to achieve this. Accepting their endeavours, God Almighty has instructed those who came after them to follow their example. Narrating this incident in detail, Allama Ibn Hajr Asqalani states, “He was known as Sahib-us-Saa‘ [The one of Saa‘ – Saa‘ is a unit

of measurement equivalent to 3-3.5 kg]. The incident is as follows that once Hazrat Abdur Rahman bin Auf presented half of his wealth. Amongst the poor Muslims of the Ansar a person stepped forward and said, ‘O Holy Prophetsa, in exchange for two Saa‘s of dates, I have been pulling out the bucket from the well all night. I have left one Saa‘ for the family and the other Saa‘ is before you.’ In other traditions it is mentioned that he had given half a Saa‘. (That is to say that he had brought half a Saa‘ for the Holy Prophetsa and kept the other half for his family.) It was then that the hypocrites said: ‘Allah has no need of the charity of the former, and the latter only did it to show off ’. Then the following verse was revealed: َّ ٰ َّ َّ َ ْ ْ َّ ْ ْ ْ ْ ‫الص َدق ِت َوال ِذیْ َن لَا یَ ِج ُد ْو َن‬ ‫ال ِذیْ َن یَل ِم ُز ْو َن ال ُمط ِّو ِعی َن ِم َن ال ُم ٔو ِمنِی َن فِ ْی‬ َ ّ ‫ِالا ُج ْھ َد ُھ ْم‬ (Al-Isaba fi Tamyiz Al-Sahaba, Vol. 7, p. 233, Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2005) “Those who defame such of the believers who give charity voluntarily, and such who could not find to give charity except what is available to them.” Hazrat Abu Aqeel is the companion who finally slayed Musailima Kazzab [the Liar]. Ibn Sa‘d states: “On the day of the battle of Yamama, Hazrat Abu Aqeel Unaifi was the first to be wounded. An arrow struck him between his shoulder and heart but since it had become bent upon piercing his body, it therefore did not kill him. When the arrow was removed his left side had become extremely weak. This occurred during the early part of the day and he was taken to his camp. When the battle grew intense and the Muslims were being defeated and were driven back behind their camp, at that time Hazrat Abu Aqeel was wounded. He heard the voice of Hazrat Ma‘n bin Adiyy who was calling out to the Ansar, ‘Have faith in Allah! Have faith in Allah! And attack the enemy once again.’ So as to set an example for others, Ma‘n then raced ahead of everyone else, throwing himself directly into the ranks of the opposing army. At that time, the Ansar were saying, ‘Let us Ansar separate from the others’. Nevertheless, one by one, the Ansar gathered on one side and the purpose behind this was that they would fight with such great zeal and courageously would march forward and attack the enemy and as a result the Muslims would acquire a stronger foothold and their morale would increase.” Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar states, “At that point, Abu Aqeelra got up, intending to meet up with his Ansari brothers. He was injured and weak, yet he got up. I said to him to him, ‘O Abu Aqeel, what are you doing? You are in no condition to fight’ He replied, ‘The one who made the announcement mentioned me by name.’ I said, ‘He only said, “O people of the Ansar.” He was not referring to injured fighters.’ He replied, ‘I am from the Ansar, and I shall respond, even if I have to crawl.’” Hazrat Ibn Umar further states, “Hazrat Abu Aqeel then fastened his back and took an unsheathed sword in his right hand. He then started calling, ‘O Ansar! Attack the enemy once more like the battle of Hunain,’ The Ansar regrouped, may Allah have mercy on them, and spearheaded an extremely fierce attack on the enemy, forcing them to retreat to an orchard. The Muslims and the enemy met at close quarters and fought each other with their swords.”

Friday 7 December 2018 | AL HAKAM Hazrat Ibn Umar further states, “I saw the injured arm of Hazrat Abu Aqeel severed from the shoulder and lying on the ground. Hazrat Abu Aqeel sustained fourteen wounds, each of which was fatal. Musailima, the enemy of God, was killed and laid besides him. Hazrat Abu Aqeel was lying on the ground breathing his last. I knelt down and said ‘Abu Aqeel.’ He replied, ‘Labbaik, I am at your service.’ Then in a faint voice he said, ‘Who has won the battle?’ I informed him, ‘Rejoice, for the Muslims have been victorious.’ Then in a loud voice I said, ‘The enemy of God, Musailima Kazzab, has been killed’. Hazrat Abu Aqeel praised God, then raised his finger towards the sky and passed away. May Allah have mercy on him.” Hazrat Ibn Umar states, “After returning to Medina I informed Hazrat Umarra about the events that transpired, to which Hazrat Umarra stated, ‘May Allah shower His mercy on him. His wish was always to attain martyrdom. As far as I know he was amongst the best of the Holy Prophet’s companions and was one of the early Muslims.’ These were the words of Hazrat Umarra.” (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, pp. 249, Dar-e-Ihyaa, Al-Turath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996) (Hayat Al-Sahaba az Yusuf Kandhalwi, Vol. 1, pp. 801-803, Maktabatul ‘Ilm, Lahore) May God Almighty continue to exalt the status of the Companionsra. After the Friday prayer I will also lead a funeral prayer in absentia. The first funeral is of respected Maulana Abdul Aziz Sadiq Sahib who was a missionary in Bangladesh; he passed away on 26 July 2018. “To Allah we belong and to Him do we return.” Whilst he was still in the fourth year of primary education, he left to study in Qadian where he had the opportunity to grow up amongst the Companions of the Promised Messiahas. After the partition of India, foreign students were required to return to their countries and so Abdul Aziz sahib returned to Bangladesh however he longed to return to the Markaz [central headquarters]. In dangerous conditions he travelled from Kolkata to Dehli – during his travel, Hindus and Sikh were astonished as to how a young

Continued from page 4

We gained motivation and inspiration from it and had a lot of fun since the training took place in a relaxed atmosphere among ladies” Kashifa Sahiba an editor in the Lajna team expressed her views narrating: “In the three days of workshops we intensively went through the working process of production and discussed all obstacles that can occur during production phases. During this time, I was also able to talk openly to MTA International

Muslim is travelling fearlessly on trains around India. Anyhow, when he reached Dehli, the Jamaat organised a flight for him to Lahore; at the time western and eastern Pakistan were not divided and Maulana Abdul Aziz Sahib arrived in Rabwah safely. He studied in Jamia Ahmadiyya for 6 years and thereafter completed another 3 years in Jamia-tul-Mubashireen. He obtained the Shahid Degree and then studied at Punjab University and Peshawar University obtaining a Maulvi Fazil degree. He was then posted in Samundari, Faisalabad. In 196364 he was then posted in eastern Bangladesh where he served in various Jamaats. Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIIrh formed a board to oversee the translation of the Holy Quran into Bangla and on the recommendation of respected Qazi Muhammad Nazir Sahib, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IIIrh included Maulana Abdul Aziz Sahib amongst the board members. For this task, Muzafar Udin Bengali and Maulwi Muhammad Ameer Bengali Sahib would also work with him; for this translation, they both stayed in Rabwah. However, Muhammad Amir Sahib was then transferred to Dhaka and after the demise of Chaudhary Muzaffaruddin Sahib, Abdul Aziz sahib was sent to Dhaka in 1979 to complete this task. After the demise of Maulvi Muhammad Sahib, Abdul Aziz sahib worked alone on the translation and on the occasion of the centenary Jubilee the translation of the Holy Quran into Bangladesh was printed. He served across the whole of Bangladesh in various places for the purpose of talim [education], tarbiyat [moral training] and tabligh [preaching]. On many occasions he had to bear physical torment from opponents of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya. He was also blessed with the opportunity of being an Aseer Rah-e-Maula (prisoner in the path of Allah). In 1992 when the enemy launched an attack on Bakhshi Bazar Dhaka, which was a Jamaat Centre, he fought them off alone with great bravery. During the attack he suffered injuries from head to toe. Apart from his wife, he is survived by three

daughters and two sons, as well as a number of grandchildren. All three daughters live in Bangladesh. From among his sons, one lives in USA and his younger son, Habibullah Sadiq Sahib, lives in the UK and works in the MTA News Department. May God Almighty elevate the status of the deceased and enable his progeny to continue his virtuous deeds. The second funeral is of Muhammad Zafrullah Sahib Shaheed, son of Mr Basharat Ahmad Sahib of Syedwala Nankana. On 29 August he was martyred in the district of Nankana at the time of Maghrib [sunset] prayer when two armed robbers opened fire at his shop. “To Allah we belong and to Him shall we return.” According to the details [of the report], six men, armed with the latest weaponry, arrived on motorcycle to his shop. He owned a jewellery shop, which they came to attack. Having looted the entire shop they opened fire. As a result of this a passer-by was shot and killed. When they had ransacked the shop and were about to leave, they opened fire on Zafrullah Sahib. He suffered three bullet-wounds which killed him instantly. Although there were other people present in the shop at the time, they only targeted Zafrullah Sahib, with the mind-set that ‘since he is an Ahmadi, it does not matter [if we kill him], in this way we will receive double the reward.’ The deceased was a civilised gentleman, who would readily meet everyone and was very hospitable. It is for this reason that a large number of mourners gathered to pay their respects, many of whom did not belong to the Jamaat. The deceased had a special love for Khilafat and would respond to every initiative launched by the Community. He was regular in observing his five daily prayers. By the Grace of Allah he was a musi [part of the Institution of Al-Wasiyyat] and an individual who was brave and courageous. At present he was serving as Secretary of Talim [Education] in Syedwala. Zafrullah Sahib was 30 years old [at the time of his demise]. He was married approximately two and a half years ago. He has one son, Muhammad Talha, who is one

Lajna team members about their challenges in recent years. After this conversation I realised that they also faced similar challenges to us in Germany, hence I was able to collect valuable experience and ideas on how to improve and tackle these hurdles.” The Mulaqat with Huzooraa was an eye opener for all 28 attendees. Our beloved Imam enquired from all members their roles and responsibilities individually in MTA whilst giving direct instructions in various aspects from programmemaking to administrative matters. Huzooraa emphasised on making programmes according to people’s interests, where we should conduct surveys among young people and see what programmes they require. Huzooraa also sought to know if the Lajna team had independent workspace and equipment before instructing them to make programmes independently. Amongst other administrative responsibilities, Huzoor highlighted the need for reporting and keeping record of various things. These

words of wisdom have been cherished by all of the team, and since returning back, everyone is enthralled at the meticulous attention to detail our beloved Imam has on all matters related to MTA. In the end Huzoor affectionately allowed all Lajna members to have a separate picture taken whilst taking a group picture with the men. Another participant, Sajed Qamar Sahib, an apprentice in the production department recalls this Mulaqat: “The highlight of our trip was the opportunity of Mulaqat with our beloved Huzooraa, in which our beloved Imam gave important instructions and shared his expectations from us. Insha-Allah we will try to fulfil these expectations. It was an amazing trip.” Atkha Sahiba who is leading the MTA Lajna editing department recounts this Mulaqat: “The highlight of this tour was the meeting with Huzooraa. Words cannot describe how happy I was when Huzoor came and sat down. As soon as I saw him, I felt that all my concerns about MTA work were gone immediately. I would like to thank

and a half years old. He is survived by his wife, son as well as his parents, one brother and five sisters. May Allah the Almighty elevate the status of the deceased and grant steadfastness to all his family members that he leaves behind and also enable them to continue the virtuous deeds of the deceased. (Translated by the Review of Religions)

Albania Flag Day Shkelqim Bytyqi Kosovo Correspondent

Tin Prishtina for the Albania Flag Day on 28 he Jamaat of Kosovo organised a meeting

November 2018. November is a special month for Albanians all around the world because this month marks the independence of Albanians from the Ottoman Empire and the creation of a free state. On 28 November 1912, the Albanian flag was raised by Ismail Qemali in Vlora, coinciding with the day in which Skanderbeg raised the same flag in Krujë, on 28 November 1443. On 28 November 1443, the national hero of Albania, a prince known as Skanderbeg (George Castriot), raised his flag over the fortress of Krujë in defiance of the Turks who ruled the country. His small mountainous nation was able to resist the forces of the Ottoman Empire, although after Skanderbeg’s death in 1468, independence was lost again. His flag was red and bore a black eagle, which today is the symbol of Albania. Like the symbol of the Byzantine Empire to which it once belonged, Albania’s eagle is double-headed. The purpose of the meeting was to express the importance and the duties of a Muslim towards his own country. The topic of one speech was The Key to Peace – Global Unity, the speech of Huzoor held in the European Parliament in 2012. Every year we meet for this day. Last year a speech was delivered on the topic of Loyalty to One’s Home Country. The event was national and a delegation participated from Macedonia. More than 50 people participated in this programme, which was also a family-event. Also, by the blessings of Allah the Almighty, a family accepted the message of Ahmadiyyat, the true Islam, and from now on is part of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Kosovo.

Huzoor for giving us some of his precious time to guide us and to motivate us.” Finally, the last two days of the tour were left for sightseeing where the team had the opportunity of visiting Islamabad, to pray at the grave of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IVrh whilst also seeing the Masroor horse riding school, then they travelled to Jamia Ahmadiyya UK before ending the day at the Makhzan-e-Tasaveer Exhibition. The final day was reserved for general London sightseeing. Overall, the consensus from all Lajna and men was of being overwhelmed by the vibrant and faith-inspiring atmosphere they witnessed in and around the Fazl Mosque due to the presence of our beloved Huzoor. Upon returning, they have been reminiscing about the visit and how fortunate they felt praying behind their Imam, Hazrat Amirul Momineen, Khalifatul Masih Vaa. May Allah the Almighty enable the team to reap great benefits from this visit, increase their faith and bond with Khilafat and act upon all the instructions given by Huzoor and setting a benchmark for obedience.

Friday 7 December 2018 | AL HAKAM

Book Intro

Government Angrezi aur Jihad Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas the true meaning of the Islamic concept of Jihad. The Promised Messiahas points to the peaceful nature of the Islamic faith and explains that Muslims resorted to defensive war early in their faith’s history only after suffering thirteen years of brutal oppression. Divine permission to retaliate was granted for the specific purpose of self-defence, to punish aggressors and to uphold freedom of conscience. We quote here from this book to get a flavour of the detailed discussion carried out therein. Explaining the etymology of the term Jihad, Hazrat Ahmadas says: “It should be understood that the word jihad is derived from the [Arabic] root juhd, which means “to strive” and is therefore The ﬁrst ever and original edition of the English rendering of used figuratively for Government Angrezi aur Jihad religious wars. It seems that the word yudh, which he majority of the time that the British is commonly used by Hindus to mean war, ruled the Indian subcontinent was spent is in reality a corruption of the word jihad. in discussions among the Muslims whether Since Arabic is the mother of all languages, Jihad should be waged against them or not. out of which all other languages emerged, Whether the British qualified as the the word yudh which in Sanskrit means war enemies of Islam was amongst the hottest is actually the same as juhd or jihad.” Why wars were fought in the early debates in Muslim circles. Some held the opinion that even if they did not qualify to history of Islam, Hazrat Ahmadas stated, be classed so, their occupation of the Indian was because the Holy Prophetsa had brought subcontinent – where Muslims had ruled a new religion and this made the existing, for centuries – was reason enough for them established communities jealous of its to be ushered out of the country through speedy spread and growth. This jealousy led weaponry Jihad. This led to a detailed the leaders of other religions to inflicting discussion on the issue of India being Dar violence and coercion upon those who al-Harb or Dar al-Salam; where Jihad of the accepted the new faith called Islam. “These reasons incited the hostility of sword was obligatory or where it was not, pagan, Jewish and Christian scholars and respectively. Government Angrezi aur Jihad is an Urdu prevented them from accepting truth in booklet written in 1900 by Hazrat Mirza the time of the Holy Prophet (may peace Ghulam Ahmadas, the Promised Messiah and blessings of Allah be upon him). They and the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim therefore sought to eliminate Islam from Jamaat. In this booklet, he refers to the Holy the face of the earth. Since there were so few Quran and the Ahadith (sayings) of the Holy Muslims during Islam’s early period, their Prophet Muhammadsa in order to explain opponents treated them with bitter hostility

out of the natural arrogance that inspires the minds of those who consider themselves to be superior to the followers of a new faith in terms of wealth, property, numbers, esteem and rank. They did not want this heavenly plant [of Islam] to take root upon the earth, but rather were fighting with all their might to destroy these righteous people. They feared that the firm establishment of this religion would in turn sow the seeds of destruction for their faith and nation. Because of this fear, which was deeply impressed on their hearts, they committed acts of extreme viciousness and cruelty and brutally murdered many Muslims.” After many years of perseverance, tolerance and patience, Allah the Almighty finally instructed the Muslims to respond to these brutalities, but only by way of selfdefence. (Surah al-Hajj, Ch.20: V.41-42) “This commandment was specific to the period and time. It was not forever. It applied during the time when those entering the fold of Islam were being slaughtered like sheep and lambs. After the time of the Holy Prophet[sa] and his Successors, people unfortunately made very grave mistakes in understanding the philosophy of jihad, which is rooted in the preceding verse. The unjust slaughter of God’s creatures was deemed to be a mark of religious virtue.” The Promised Messiah describes how the notion of Jihad has been used by the maulvis – who take themselves to be custodians of faith – to achieve their worldly goals and objectives. “It should be remembered that today’s Islamic scholars (who are called maulavis) completely misunderstand jihad and misrepresent it to the general public. The public’s violent instincts are inflamed as a result and they are stripped of all noble human virtues. This is in fact what has happened. I know for certain that maulavis who persist in propagating these blood-spattered doctrines are in fact responsible for murders committed by ignorant, egotistical people who know nothing of why Islam was forced to fight battles in its

early history…” Highlighting the duplicity exercised by these maulvis in their word and practice is highlighted in the passage below: “When these maulavis meet present day rulers, they bow down as if ready to prostrate; but among their own kind they insist repeatedly that this country is dar-ulharb [warzone].” An example of this duplicity practiced by the maulvis has been highlighted in the From the Archives column of this issue. The Ahmadiyya Archive and Research Centre (London) has been able to find the original English rendering of this book. This book was translated under the instructions of the author, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas of Qadian, printed at the Caxton Printing Works, Lahore, and sent to the learned circles of the British Government both in India and here in England. We are happy to share with our readers the title page of this first ever and original edition of the English rendering of a great work by a great man.

Insha-Allah, Al Hakam will be publishing fascinating articles regarding the history of Jalsa Qadian Friday 28 December 2018 Editor: Qaasid Muin Ahmad | Design & Layout: Jalees Ahmad | News: Ata-ul-Haye Nasir | © Al Hakam 2018