WINTER • 2 010$4.00

11 Freedom FromTerrorism

21 Jihad: ToBehead or Win the

Pleasure of Allah

14 The Root ofTerrorism: An

Unholy Thought

17 There’sNothing Religious

About ReligiousTerrorism

“In the latter days, the sun shall rise from the west” • Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be on him)

2 MuslimSunrise

T he Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a religious organization,international in its scope, with branches in 189 countries inAfrica, North America, South America, Asia, Australasia, and Europe.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was established in 1889 by HadhratMirza Ghulam Ahmadas (1835-1908) in Qadian, a small and remote village inthe Punjabi province of India. He claimed to be the expected reformer of thelatter days, the Awaited One of the world community of religions (The Mahdiand Messiah). The Movement he started is an embodiment of the benevolentmessage of Islam – peace, universal brotherhood, and submission to theWill of God – in its pristine purity. Hadhrat Ahmadas proclaimed Islam as thereligion of man: “The religion of the people of the right path” (98:6).TheAhmadiyya Muslim Community was created under divine guidance withthe objective to rejuvenate Islamic moral and spiritual values. It encouragesinterfaith dialogue, diligently defends Islam and tries to correctmisunderstandings about Islam in the West. It advocates peace, tolerance,love and understanding among followers of different faiths. It firmly believesin and acts upon the Qur’anic teaching: “There is no compulsion in religion”(2:257). It strongly rejects violence and terrorism in any form and for anyreason.

After the passing of its founder, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community hasbeen headed by his elected successors. The present Head of the Community,Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, was elected in 2003. His official title isKhalifatul Masih V or Fifth Successor of the Promised Messiah..

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

EditorFalahud Din Shams

Editorial BoardImam Mubasher AhmadDr. Shanaz ButtHasan HakeemSardar Anees Ahmad

Staff EditorsMaham KhanAtif MirNaser Shams

Staff WritersLubna MalikSardar Anees AhmadDr. Zia H. ShahShazia Sohail

Religion & Science Dept.Dr. Zia H. Shah

Hasan Hakeem, Design/LayoutMuneeb Ahmad, WebsiteShuaib Shams, Circulation

Editor's Notes:The Muslim Sunrise is published by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, USA,15000 Good Hope Road, Silver Spring, MD 20905, Phone 301.879.0110, Fax301.879.0115, under the auspices of Dr. Ahsanullah Zafar, Ameer and NationalPresident. The views and opinions expressed by individual contributers in thispublication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ahmadiyya MuslimCommunity, USA.

The Muslim Sunrise welcomes letters to the editor, questions and submissions. Emailus at MuslimSunrise@Ahmadiyya.us or go online to www.MuslimSunrise.com.

Library of Congress Call Number BP195.A5 M8

Mailing Address: The Muslim Sunrise, 2 S 510 Route 53, Glen Ellyn, IL60137, Phone: (630) 790-4100, ext. 206, Fax: (630) 793-4100.

Muslims follow the name of God’s prophets with the prayer alaehis salaam or‘may peace be upon him,’ and for the Holy Prophet Muhammad, sallallahualaehi wasallam or ‘may peace and blessings of God be upon him.’ Companionsof prophets and righteous personalities who have passed away are saluted byradhi-Allaho anhu/a or ‘may Allah be pleased with him/her.” While suchsalutations sometimes are not set out in the text for readability, we encouragereaders to offer these prayers as if set out in full.

Dr. Mufti Muhammad Sadiq (1872-1957) was the first Ahmadiyya Muslim missionaryto arrive in America. In 1921, he founded the Muslim Sunrise, which stands todayas the longest running Muslim publication in America. The magazine seeks to opendiscussions on Islam and topics relating to religion in general. It highlights the roleof Islam in an ever changing global society. It provides a platform for publicopinion on contemporary issues and presenting their solutions from an Islamicperspective.

www.muslimsunrise.com

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908)

WINTER 2010 3

Winter 2 0 10 • V o l u m e 90 • I s s u e 4

Features

11 Freedom From Terrorism

14 Root of Terrorism: An Unholy Thought

17 Religious Terrorism

19 Terrorism Defined

21 Jihad: To Behead or Win the Pleasure of Allah

23 What’s Up with Faisal Shazad?

26 Hajj Rites

38 The Law of Probability & the Fulfillment ofProphecies About the Mahdi

41 Ignominious Outcome: A Survivor’sPerspective at the Scene of the LahoreMassacre, May 28, 2010

Departments

5 In the Words of the Promised Messiah

7 Editorial

8 Friday SermonStriving in the Way of God

28 Religion & Science

Science and Islam

In This Issue

Muslims who believe in the Messiah, HazratMirza Ghulam Ahmad, QadianiAS

For More Information onIslam/Ahmadiyyat:Alislam.org or

1.800.WHY.ISLAM

31 Book ReviewTerror in the Name of God, by Jessica Stern

33 Poetry CornerI’m a Writer, Not a Fighter

34 AhadithSayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsaw

35 News, Views and Reviews

37 Question and Answer

45 PerspectiveMy Weekend Dilemma

4 MuslimSunrise

From the Holy Qur'an

[4:94] And whoso kills a believer intentionally, his reward shallbe Hell wherein he shall abide. And Allah will be wroth with himand will curse him and will prepare for him a great punishment.

[4:95] O ye who believe! when you go forth in the cause ofAllah, make proper investigation and say not to anyone who

greets you with the greeting of peace, ‘Thou art not a believer.’You seek the goods of this life, but with Allah are good thingsin plenty. Such were you before this, but Allah conferred His

special favor on you; so do make proper investigation. Surely,Allah is well aware of what you do.

Chapter An-Nisa (verses 94-95)

WINTER 2010 5

In the Words of the Promised Messiah

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908)

The doctrine of Jihad asunderstood and propagatedby the Muslim divines of

this age who are called maulvis isutterly incorrect. It can lead tonothing except that by theirforceful preaching they would

convert common people into wildbeasts and would deprive them of allthe good qualities of human beings;and so it has happened. I know forcertain that the burden of the sins ofthose people who commit murdersthrough ignorance on account ofsuch preachings, and who are

unaware of the reason whyIslam had to fight battles in itsearly stages, lies on the necksof these maulvis who go onpropagating secretly thesedangerous doctrines whichresult in such grievous loss oflife. When these maulvis call ongovernment officials they bowdown before them at such anangle as if they are ready to gointo prostration; but when theyare among their own ilk theypersist in declaring that thiscountry is Dar-ul-Harb [lit. Houseof War] and that the employment

of the sword for the purpose ofthe propagation of the faith is aprescribed obligation. There arefew of them who do not adhere tothis doctrine. The large majorityof them are so committed to thisfalse doctrine which is utterlycontrary to the Holy Quran andthe teaching of the Holy Prophet,peace be on him, that theycondemn anyone who differs withthem on this score as Dajjal andproclaim that he may be killed withimpunity. I have been the subjectof such condemnation since a longtime.... They should remember thatthis doctr ine of Jihad asconceived by them is not at allcorrect. Its first result is thesacrifice of human sympathy. Theirnotion that as Jihad was permittedin the early stages of Islam there

The Holy Prophet,peace be on him, neverraised his sword exceptagainst those who firstraised it themselves andmost mercilessly killedinnocent pious men,women and children.

6 MuslimSunrise

is no reason why it should not belawful now is utterly misguided. Wehave two answers to it. The first is thatthe Holy Prophetsaw never raised hissword except against those who firstraised it themselves and mostmercilessly killed innocent pious men,women and children. They were killedin such cruel manner the recital of whicheven today brings tears to our eyes.Secondly, even assuming that in thebeginning of Islam such Jihad wasobligatory, as is mistakenly conceivedby these maulvis, yet in this age it nolonger holds good as much as it iswritten that when the PromisedMessiah appears Jihad by the swordand all fighting for religion will come toan end as he will not take up the swordor any other earthly weapon and hisonly weapon will be his supplications,and his high resolve will be his sword.He will lay the foundation of peace andwill gather the goat and the lion together.His age will be the age of peace andkindliness and human sympathy. Whydo these people not reflect upon thefact that thirteen hundred years ago theHoly Prophet, peace be on him, hadsaid concerning the Promised Messiah:He will put an end to war.

O Ye Muslim divines and maulvis,listen to me. I tell you truly this is notthe time of fighting for the faith. Do notdisobey the Holy Prophet, peace be onhim. The Promised Messiah, who wasto come, has appeared and has di-rected:

Henceforth desist from religiouswars with the sword which causedbloodshed. To persist in bloodshed andnot to desist from such sermons is notthe way of Islam. He who accepts mewill not only desist from such sermons

but will hold this way as most viciousand likely to invite divine wrath.

Now that the Promised Messiahas

has come, it is the duty of every Mus-lim that he should refrain from havingrecourse to fighting for the propagationof the faith. Had I not come there mighthave been some excuse for this misun-derstanding. But now that I have ar-rived and you have witnessed the dayof promise, those who take up thesword on behalf of the faith have noexcuse left which they can put forth be-fore God Almighty. He who possesseseyes and can read the Holy Qur’an andthe Ahadith can realize that this kindof Jihad which the ignorant ones insistupon in this age is not authorized byIslam. It is an error which has spreadamong the Muslims in consequence ofthe upsurge of unlawful passions or thevain hope of winning paradise throughsuch misguided action.

Ignorant maulvis, may God guidethem, have grievously misled the com-mon people and have told them thatsuch action which is sheer wrong andcruelty and is opposed to all moral val-ues is the key to paradise. Can it be agood action to shoot down an utterstranger who is walking through thestreet on some errand and who hasdone us no harm? If this kind of thing isvirtuous, wild animals possess more vir-tue than such men. Glory be to God,how righteous were those and how trulywere they inspired by the spirit of theprophets who, when they were com-manded in Mecca not to resist evilthough they might be cut to pieces, be-haved like humble and weak sucklingbabies as if their hands and their armspossessed no power at all.

How grievous and shameful it is that

an utter stranger who has done us noharm and who is occupied with somelawful errand should be shot down with-out any cause and his wife made awidow and his children made orphansand his dwelling turned into a house ofmourning? Which Ahadith and whichverse of the Holy Quran authorizes suchan outrage? Can any maulvi furnish ananswer to this question? Ignorantpeople who have only heard the wordJihad make it an excuse for the fulfill-ment of their selfish desires (BritishGovernment and Jihad, pp . 5-12) .

I have brought you a commandmentwhich is that Jihad with the sword hasbeen ended but the Jihad of thepurification of your spirits must continueto be waged. I say this not on my own butin order to proclaim the design of God.Reflect on the Ahadith of Bukhari whereinit is stated that the Promised Messiahas

would put an end to fighting for the faith.Accordingly, I command those whohave joined my ranks that they shoulddiscard all such notions. They shouldpurify their hearts and foster their mercyand should have sympathy for the afflicted.They should spread peace on the earth,for this would cause their faith to spread.They should not wonder how this wouldcome about. As God Almighty has utilizedthe elements and all earthly means for thepurpose of bringing about new inventionsto serve human needs like mechanicallocomotion, etc., in the same way He willput His angels to work for the fulfillmentof spiritual needs through heavenly signs,without the intervention of human agenciesand there will appear many flashes of lightwhereby the eyes of multitudes will beopened (British Government and Jihad,pp. 14-15, For full contents of thebook go to Alislam.org.).

WINTER 2010 7

Editorial

Terrorism is being discussed everywhere

in the world. The U.S.news media spends a significantamount of time reporting terrorism,specifically focusing on Islamicterrorism. News consultants andpundits analyze how Islamicterrorism works and explain howwe should react to it.

A fundamental flaw in thesediscussions is the terminology beingused—Islamic terrorism. Terrorismhas nothing to do with any religion.It’s an abuse of religion. Christianterrorists in Ireland or Serbia andHindu terrorists in India or Sri Lankaare just, plain and simply put,terrorists. A thief is a thief is a thief.A Muslim thief, Hindu thief or aChristian thief is a plain and simplethief. By associating a religion to theoutlaws, we create an inseparablepolitical sympathy among thefollowers of the religious group theyare associated with, although it’s afictitious relationship. As soon as themedia acknowledges that theterrorists claim to serve their faith inIslam, certain Muslim groups becomesympathetic and, astonishingly, evendefend the terrorists knowing full wellthat Islam opposes the barbaric acts.

Adding fuel to the fire, fundamentalistpreachers and proponents of Christianityjump on the bandwagon to preach thatthe Holy Qur’an promotes terrorism.Recently, a preacher who could not evenpronounce the word Imam was onnational TV professing and describingwhat the Qur’an teaches. His solutionwas to burn copies of the Qur’an. Thefundamental commandment of turningthe other cheek was probably not taughtin his church.

A religion should not be judged by theacts of a minority of outlaws regardlessof their claimed religious affilitation.Christians should not be judged bythe acts of their brothers in Serbia orIreland. Christianity should be judgedby the teachings and practice of Jesusas

and his disciplesra. Similarly, Islamshould not be judged by the terrorists inPakistan, Afghanistan or the MiddleEast. It should be judged by theteachings and practice of the HolyProphet Muhammadsaw and hiscompanionsra. Did they kill every Jewand Christian that they met? Certainlynot. Their example illustrates that we

In our discussions with one of the topconsultants of a nationally well-known

think tank in Washington, DC, heexpressed his concern about the termIslamic terrorism. He acknowledgedthat Islam did not have anything to dowith terrorism but did not know how toterm the Muslims who are involved interrorism. He actually invited us to comeup with a term so the media wouldreplace it over the currentterminology. The question is whyterrorism needs to be associatedwith any religion or religious group.We need to deal with it just as wedeal with other sins and lawbreaking activities such as murder,theft or character assassination.We don’t need to distinguish aMuslim murderer from a Hindu ora Christian one.

Terrorism is spread all over theworld and we need to deal with it.We must sensibly acknowledge itfor what it is—a crime againsthuman i ty . The in t e rna t iona lcommunity would be able to dealwith it once a united front is createdagainst terrorism as a crime and notas a b ranch of any fa i th o rinterpretation of any particularreligion. It is only then that theworld can form a united front toeradicate the catastrophic plagueterrorism has wreaked across theglobe.

should even invite Christians to offertheir prayers in our mosques, as theydid in the Prophet’s Mosque in Medinaback in the seventh century.

8 MuslimSunrise

Summary of Friday SermonDelivered by Hadhrat Mirza

Masroor Ahmad at, Head of theAhmadiyya Muslim Community,

September 3 rd, 2010

Hudhur gave a discourse on striving inthe way of God in his Friday Sermon today.He began by reciting the following Quranicverse: ‘And as for those who strive in Ourpath — We will surely guide them in Ourways. And verily Allah is with those who dogood.’ (29:70) Hudhur said we are currentlygoing through the last ten days of Ramadan

which are special days to attain the highestpoint in acceptance of prayer. Today, beingFriday, is also a blessed day that comes everyseven days and which also has a particularmoment of acceptance of prayer. All thesecombined blessings draw our attention toGod’s favours. Such thoughts should not betemporary, rather, as the aforementioned versestates there should be constant striving inGod’s way.

Success is attained in this striving by con-sistently and resolutely trying, keeping in viewGod’s commandments. It is indeed His favourthat He facilitates an environment duringRamadan when there is keenness in spiritualdevelopment. Fasting and worship in Ramadanare also a particular ‘striving’, if carried outthoughtfully.

Hudhur said each person has different ca-

pacities and inclinations, and the command-ment is to seek God in accordance to what-ever capacity one has. When effort is made inthis regard, God shows the way that leads toHim. However, if selfish thoughts and excusesget in the way, slight effort is assumed as‘striving’, man cannot attain God. Hudhur ex-plained the ways and means to attain Divinenearness and to be included among those whoin God’s sight ‘do good’ through various writ-ings of the Promised Messiahas that he hadpenned in elucidation of the particular afore-mentioned verse of Surah Al Ankabut.

ThePromised Messiahas said one who iscareless and indolent cannot attain the same

degree of Divine grace asone who makes an effortwith all one’s might andwith sincerity to search forGod.

Hudhur said there aredifferent degrees of Divinenearness which can be at-tained by constant strivingwhich attracts God’s atten-tion. One must strive inGod’s way according tothe means that God hastaught. Belief in the unseenand perfect belief in God’sattributes inclines one tothis striving. If one tries tofind God purely throughintellect, God does not

show the way. God has not left man in dark foras regards this search. From the advent of theHoly Prophet Muhammadsawtill the Day ofJudgement we have the Holy Qur’an as theguidance. Earlier, there were other Prophets.God also manifests signs through His Proph-ets to prove His existence.

The Promised Messiahas said that Godstates He would show the way to whoeverstrives in His way, this is His promise. Con-versely, He has taught us the prayer of ‘guideus in the right path’ (1:6). One should say thisprayer during Salat with the supplication andaspiration to be counted among those whohave been granted spiritual advancement andinsight.

Hudhur said if this prayer, which is read ineach rakah (unit) of Salat, is said with duecare and compassion, wanting guidance, God

grants it. It is obvious that when a wise per-son derives benefit through someone’s ad-vice, he/she is grateful to the one who hadadvised as well as tries to inculcate a connec-tion with them. Indeed, should try and incul-cate a connection. Hudhur said it is importantto understand this point, it leads to success.When Prophets and those who are commis-sioned by God, guide to the ways of seekingGod, it is essential to follow them and stayconnected to them. The Holy Prophetsaw

oretold about the coming of the Messiah inthis age. How important it is then to pay at-tention to one who was to connect man withGod. How important it is that rather than mind-lessly reject him, by making a connection, theytry to at least experiment finding the ways thatlead to God. They have the prayer (1:6) to dothis. Hadhrat Musleh Maudra would even tellnon-Muslims that although they would notsay the Quranic prayer of ‘guide us in theright path’, but if they simply prayed for thestraight path with an open mind, God wouldguide them. Many told him that the truth ofIslam was unfolded to them. How important itis then for Muslims to try this formula! It isalso important for us Ahmadis, who have ac-cepted the Imam of the age, to not simply sitback but try and constantly strive in the wayof finding God, especially during these days.

The Promised Messiahas said that God iswell aware of what is in hearts. If one is righ-teous He is Ghafur (the Most Forgiving) forthose who turn to Him.

Hudhur explained that God fulfils His prom-ise when one turn to Him. Just as He promisesto show the way to one who endeavours inHis way, illuminating their way, it is statedabout those who turn away that they fall indarkness. ‘…So when they deviated from theright course, Allah caused their hearts to de-viate, for Allah guides not the rebelliouspeople.’ (61:6)

The Promised Messiahas said that just asin our worldly life each action has an effect,similar is the law of religion. As God states inthe two instances: ‘And as for those who strivein Our path — We will surely guide them inOur ways.’ and ‘So when they deviated fromthe right course, Allah caused their hearts todeviate’. Hudhur remarked that it is man’s mis-fortune that he distances himself from God.Hudhur said a friend from outside the commu-

Striving in the way of God

WINTER 2010 9

nity came to visit Hudhur from Pakistan andasked what was the reason for what is hap-pening in the country [Pakistan] and whenand how will it get better. Hudhur told himthere were only two things to keep in view.God states come to Me, make an effort, en-deavour. Hudhur said he gave the referenceof this Quranic verse. God states make yourutmost effort and I will show the way. Hudhurasked the person, was the state of affairs so?He replied it was quite the contrary. Hudhurresponded to him that when the situation isthus, God’s second action comes into play.Hudhur said collectively the Pakistani nationhas to change its train of thought. The Paki-stani media is raising a hue and cry, by makingcertain statements it has gone to extremes andHudhur would not like to repeat. Yet no one istrying to make concerted effort to stop theinstances of barbarity. May God have mercy.

Explaining how God treats good-naturedpeople, the Promised Messiahas said that ulti-mately God removes the shortcomings ofgood-natured people and gives them strengthfor piety. All that is unpleasant in God’s sightbecomes unpleasant for them. God blesses allefforts made by them. The ways that are dearto God become dear to them. They are grantedstrength which does not weaken, fervourwhich does not wear out and taqwa (righ-teousness) which is not followed by sin andGod’s pleasure is thus attained, but this gracetakes time in being granted. Man stumbles alot in the beginning due to his weaknessesbut as his constant striving continues and Godsees the resoluteness, God draws man to Himas stated: ‘And as for those who strive in Ourpath — We will surely guide them in Ourways.’ It is a long and constant endeavourwhich gives permanence to taqwa and beliefand one finds the ways of Divine love andknowledge.

Elucidating the verse ‘And as for thosewho strive in Our path — We will surely guidethem in Our ways.’ in another place, the Prom-ised Messiahas says that the entire matter restson striving, without which nothing can be at-tained. Some people erroneously cite thatSyed Abdul Qadir Gilani (may Allah havemercy on him) turned a thief into a chief in onelook. It is all misconstruction; people assumethat one can achieve spirituality by certainpeople blowing on them. Those who rush inmatters with God are destroyed. Like anyprogress in the world, spiritual developmentis also gradual and nothing can be attainedwithout striving and this striving also has tobe in accordance to God’s commandments,

rather than any self-made spiritual exercises.This is what God commissioned the PromisedMessiahas for. Striving is required for the doorof spiritual knowledge to open, striving thatis carried out in the ways taught by God andin following the blessed model of the HolyProphet (peace and blessings of Allah be onhim). Many people leave this and visit Pirsand Faqirs (ascetics) to seek their ‘blowing’.This is a sin. Guidance comes from God alone.He opens the ways of spiritual knowledge tothose who search for Him with sincerity ofheart, those who search for Him merely for thesake of sincerity and earnestness. However,anyone trying on an experimental level forderision is left deprived.

Hudhur explained that Muslims visitshrines, wear amulets, they reckon thesesolve their problems or efface their sins, re-gardless if they offer Salat or not. Some as-cetics also presume they can give guidanceand tell people that they have become pi-ous by simply giving them an amulet. Like-wise some people hold gatherings, the oddAhmadi also gets involved, in which theytry alternative ways of dikr assuming theycan forgo Salat.

The Promised Messiahas said that Godwishes to imbue everyone in the colour ofHis knowledge. ‘Say, ‘We will adopt the re-ligion of Allah; and who is better than Allahin teaching religion, and Him alone do weworship.’ (2:139) Hudhur said each believershould try and imbue in the colour of God,adopt the colour of Divine attributes. Thissignifies that man has the capacity to es-pouse Divine attributes. The HolyProphetsaw said that God created Adam inHis form. Hudhur explained that God isSattar (Coverer of faults), partaking of thisattribute we should also practice coveringthe weaknesses of others. God is Shakur(Most Appreciating), although when ap-plied to God the term ‘Shakur’ has differentsignificance, man should be thankful. Thenthere is the expansive Divine attribute ofRabbul Alameen (Lord of all the worlds).Keeping this in view, man can be a rabb inhis/her limited sphere, like parents in rela-tion to their children. The PromisedMessiahas said that one finds God when onelooks for Him by being in Him. This signi-fies adopting His attributes. God is Rahman(Most Gracious) and Raheem (Ever Merci-ful). His mercy is His overriding attribute.

How can those who commit barbarity inHis name find His way? Hudhur said todayagain we have received sad news. Terror-ists attacked our mosque during FridayPrayers in Mardan [Pakistan]. However, dueto timely action of the Khuddam on dutythey were not successful in coming insidethe mosque. They threw grenades, one sui-cide attacker was injured and then blew him-self up. Because of this the gate of themosque and some walls fell. A few Khuddamon duty were injured and one Khadim wasmartyred, Inna lillahe wa inna illaiherajioon. May God elevate the status of themartyr and heal the injured. The other as-sailants fled. What sort of people are thesewho perpetrate these acts in the name ofGod? They can never be called godly, forthey attack those who worship God in thename of God. Two days ago they attacked aShia rally taking many innocent lives. Thehearts of the perpetrators are so deviant thatit appears there is no turning back for them.Those who help them or those who havepower but do nothing about it are also cul-pable. May God soon rid the country ofthese oppressors and also rid the world, forthey have now spread in the world.

The Promised Messiahas said thatthose who endeavour ultimately find guid-

‘And as for thosewho strive in Ourpath — We will

surely guide them inOur ways.’ In

another place, thePromised Messiah

(on whom be peace)says that the entire

matter rests onstriving, without

which nothing canbe attained.

10 MuslimSunrise

ance. Just as a seed grows with watersupply and even destroys itself in or-der to grow into a plant, unless onesupplicates God daily for help, His gracewill not come and change cannot comewithout Divine help.

The Promised Messiah as said theCompanions of the Holy Prophetsawdidno t r each t he i r e l eva t ed s t a t i onsthrough ordinary worship. Most peoplewish to reach the heavens by a simplyblowing of the mouth. None can havethe lofty station of the Holy Prophetsaw

, when he did not avail of ‘blowing ofthe mouth’ then who else is there to doit? He spent extended, arduous hoursin the Hira cave in worship of God afterwhich he received Divine grace. Unlessone annihilates oneself in God’s way,there is no reciprocation. However,when God sees that man has tried hisvery best and has assumed a kind ofdeath on himself to seek God, this iswhen God reveals Himself to the per-son.

One who endeavours and strives inGod’s way is never unsuccessful, as in-deed God states: ‘And as for those whostrive in Our path — We will surelyguide them in Our ways.’ If we can feel

sympathy and compassion for someonestaying up late preparing from exams,could God let the hard work of one wish-ing to seek Him go to waste? Most cer-tainly, never.

When the Holy Spirit helps a believerit is simply a blessing of God. It is givenwithout exerting any effort to those whotruly believe in the Holy Prophetsaw andthe Holy Qur’an and is thus borne outof belief. The condition for its confer-ment is that one is truthful and stead-fast. However, the Divine guidance asstated in: ‘And as for those who strivein Our path — We will surely guidethem in Our ways.’ is not granted with-out striving. One who is inclined to God,God also inclines to him. If one is notindolent and makes endeavour, when hisendeavour reaches its highest point hewitnesses God’s light. The condition forsuccess is not to lose courage.

Islam grants true spiritual knowl-edge, which brings about a death to lifeof sin, which in turn gives a new leaseof life. The reason every person cannotattain this is because it is not attainedwithout striving, repentance and com-pletely submitting to God, as stated in:‘And as for those who strive in Our path

— We will surely guide them in Ourways.’

It is because of their striving in theway of God that the Companions of theHoly Prophetsaw were likened with starsby God. God stated that such was theirbrilliance that anyone who followedthem would find guidance.

The Promised Messiahas said thatthe real objective of his bai’at is toattain love of God and a loathing forsin. If one did not strive in the way ofGod and did not pray after bai’at , onein fact dishonours the bai’at .

Hudhur prayed that may each oneof us understands the essence of thisand may our efforts ever be to moveonwards and to fulfil our pledge withthe Promised Messiahas and to attainGod’s pleasure. May we never be em-barrassed in front of God by showingweakness in our promise and def i -ciency in our effort. May He continueto enable us to fulfil our promise andt o s e e k H i s n e a r n e s s a n d m a y w es p e n d t h e r e m a i n i n g d a y s [ o fRamadan] in prayer more than before.May God Himself become our Shieldand may He bring about the chastise-ment of our enemies.

MuslimsCondemnBurning ofHoly Qur’anAhmadiyya Muslim Communitycounsels patience, prayer andpromotion of knowledge of the HolyQuran and its true teachings

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USAstrongly condemns a Florida church’s effort todesecrate the Holy Quran on “International Burna Quran Day” on Sept. 11. In response, it is launch-ing a nationwide campaign to educatefellow Americans about the Holy Quran.

The campaign, which coincides with the holymonth of Ramadan, commences immediately andincludes the distribution of literature on the HolyQuran, exhibitions across the United States ex-

plaining the holy book and its teachings, andinterfaith symposia promoting the respect and

honor of sacred scriptures of all religions, includ-ing Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Bud-dhism. Copies of the Holy Quran in both Englishand Spanish will be distributed widely.

“It’s regrettable that some fringe elements ofthe Christian faith plan to burn the Holy Quran,”said Dr. Nasim Rehmatullah, Vice President of theAhmadiyya Muslim Community USA. “Suchgroups do not understand the true teachings ofthis beautiful book, which champions truth, jus-tice and freedom of religion for all—values thatAmericans hold dear.”

Many other churches and Christian organi-zations have condemned this inflammatory eventthat will create disorder and hatred at a time whenpeace and brotherhood is needed. The very actof burning religious scripture is contrary to theteachings of the world’s major religions, includ-ing Christianity, which enjoins its followers toturn the other cheek.

As Muslims who believe in the MessiahMirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian and his MasterProphet Muhammad (peace be upon him), theAhmadiyya Muslim Community invites intellec-tual debate on the Holy Quran, which gives highstatus to Jesus Christ and his mother Mary (peacebe on them both).

“It’s regrettable thatsome fringe elementsof the Christian faithplan to burn the Holy

Quran,” said Dr.Nasim Rehmatullah,Vice President of theAhmadiyya MuslimCommunity USA.

WINTER 2010 11

By Ayesha N. Rashid

Terrorism is a complex term.Violence that appears as terrorismto some is actually freedom fight-ing to others - recent historyserving as an adequate witness.When Afghan militants foughtagainst the Soviet Union, they wererespectfully called Mujahideen orfreedom fighters. However, whenthe same army later fought theUnited States, they were dubbedterrorists. It would seem, accord-ingly, that there is no fine linebetween freedom fighting andterrorism. Blanketing them allunder the term terrorism and tryingto root it out will only result ininstigating more hatred and moreviolence. Such a solution is nosolution at all.

In the post 9/11 era, two political lead-ers appeared as the main players in the waron terror – former United States PresidentGeorge W. Bush and former Pakistani Presi-dent General Pervez Musharraf. PresidentBush hailed democracy as the solution torising terrorism and sent forces to Afghani-stan and Iraq for such a cause. People whoalready had negative feelings for Americanforeign policy increased their disdain for thedemocratic system to which they were nowsubject.

Pakistan served as a breeding place forterrorists in the post Afghan-Soviet war era.Madrassa culture promoted fundamental-ism and intolerance in the society. PresidentMusharraf considered “enlightened mod-eration” as the saving grace to eradicateterrorism. To achieve this he tried to pro-mote education in Pakistan. Unfortunately,he too was wrong in his perception. Stud-ies have shown that there is only an indi-rect, complicated and weak link betweeneducation and terrorism. The evidence dem-onstrates that public opinion for violent at-tacks does not decrease with higher educa-tion and higher standards of living. BothMuslim and Jewish militants were highlyeducated, with some were working in highpaying jobs.1 Highly educated terrorists ofPakistani origin further prove PresidentMusharraf’s inability to get to the root causeof the problem.

Another common mistake is to associateterrorism with Islam. Some governments, me-dia outlets and members of the public labelIslam as the root cause of terrorism. However,in his book Dying to Win, Robert Pape estab-lishes that in recent years, Tamil Tigers, aHindu group, have committed more suicideattacks than all Muslim militants combined.He further establishes that Muslim militantgroups have political agendas or nationalisticviews - i.e., they have less to do with the reli-gion and more with nationalism. However, wecannot completely dismiss the idea of religionbeing forcibly involved in the business of ter-rorism. The terrorists declare themselves tobe Muslims and claim to be following and serv-ing Islam through their violent activities. Evenif their hidden agendas are something otherthan religion, still they give rise to terrorismby propagating false teachings in the name ofIslam. Muslim militancy is on the rise and twofactors are fostering its growth. First, brainwashing techniques of Muslim warlords pol-lute young minds with false understandingsand applications of jihad. Second, the falsepropaganda of much of the western media de-picts Islam as a religion — not terrorists alone— as a threat to the western world. Instillingmore hatred amongst Muslim youth, this trendgenerates a backlash and increases thelikelihood that such individuals will seekout revenge. Ultimately, this makes theman easy target for terrorist organizations.

Freedom from Terrorism

12 MuslimSunrise

The Promised Messiahas provides an ef-fec t i v e s o l u t i o n t o t h e t e r r o r i s mwrongly associa ted wi th Is lam. Heproved through the teachings of theHoly Qur’an and through the examplesfrom the life of the Holy Prophetsa thatIslam does not support violence in anycapacity. However, the general form ofterrorism too can be eradicated with thegolden Islamic principle of “justice.”History bears witness to the fact thatconstant suppression of any particularnation or group gives birth to violentelements within the society. This callsfor a just body to apply absolute jus-tice for both the oppressed as well asthe oppressors.

Effective United Nations

The Holy Qur’an [49:10] says: “Andif two parties of believers fight againsteach other, make peace between them;then if after that one of them trans-gresses against the other, f ight theparty that transgresses until it returnsto the command of Allah. Then if it re-turns, make peace between them withequity, and act justly. Verily, Allah lovesthe just.”

The Holy Qur’an sets a simple ruleto f ight te r ror i sm — to jo in handsagainst it. This verse is certainly notethnocentric in scope, but can be ap-plied to any such situation regardlessof the faiths or governments involved.C o m m e n t i n g o n t h i s v e r s e , M i r z aMahmood Ahmadra, the 2nd Khalifa ofthe Ahmadiyya Musl im Communitysays:

“The verse lays down the follow-ing principles for the maintenance of in-ternational peace. As soon as there areindications of disagreement betweentwo nations, the other nations, insteadof taking sides with one or other, shouldat once serve a notice upon them, call-ing upon them to submit their differ-ences for settlement to a ‘League ofN a t i o n s ’ o r ‘ U n i t e d N a t i o n sOrganisation’ as the case may be. Ifthey agree the dispute will be amicablysettled. But if one of them refuses tosubmit to the ‘League’ or having sub-mitted refuses to accept the award ofthe ‘League’ and prepares to make war,t h e o t h e r n a t i o n s s h o u l d a l l f i g h tagainst it. It is evident that one nation,

however strong, cannot withstand theunited might of all other nations and isbound to make a speedy submission. Inthat event terms of peace should besettled between the two original partiest o t h e d i s p u t e . T h e o t h e r n a t i o n sshould act merely as mediators and notas parties to the dispute and should notput forward new claims arising out ofthe conflict with the refractory nation,for that would lay foundation of freshdisputes and quarrels. The terms ofpeace should be just and equitable withreference to the meri ts of disputes;they should be confined to the originaldispute between the parties and shouldnot be allowed to travel beyond it. It issuch a ‘League’ or ‘Organization’ whichcan safely be entrusted with the main-tenance of international peace, not aleague or organization whose very ex-istence is dependent upon the goodwillof others.”2

Thus, the key is in uniting againsta group that opts for violence. No mat-ter the organizat ion and might of agroup, it cannot have the strength tofight with the cluster of other groups,organizations or countries. The Holy

Qur’an does not suggest to immediatelyimpose war on such a group. Instead itcommands to first pursue peace throughnegotiation and arbitration. Then, ifthe aggressive group stil l prefers tofight , then the peace-seeking groupmust now resort to war as a last resort.Such an opposition would discouragethe violent group so much so that hewill be bound to comply.

In this regard the example of medi-eval Muslims is worth noting. Follow-ing Barbarian invasions in the 5th cen-tury, the Visigoths ruled Spain until the8th century. They later collaboratedwith Catholics and openly persecutedJews for some time. Jews were deprivedof holding public office and restrictedfrom marrying Christian women, both ofwhich were permitted before. Moreover,Jews were given the option to eitherconvert to Catholicism or face expulsionfrom Spain. Some 90,000 Jews convertedand thousands escaped3. This persecu-tion finally ceased with the efforts of theUmayyad Khalifa Walid of Islam in 711.An army of Berbers and Moors joinedhands under the command of Tariq binZiyad and freed the Jews of Spain from

Thus, the key is in uniting against a groupthat opts for violence. No matter theorganization and might of a group, it cannothave the strength to fight with the cluster ofother groups, organizations or countries.

WINTER 2010 13

Catholic Visigothic atrocities.4 ManyJews joined the Muslim army in opposi-tion to the Visigoths. The Jews of To-ledo were so grateful to the Muslims thatthey opened the “gates of the City” forTariq bin Ziyad as an expression of grati-tude. It is recorded that the Muslim rul-ers were benevolent after their victoryand the nat ives were not forced tochange their customs, language or reli-gion. The Spanish “retained their Ro-mance tongue, and enjoyed completec iv i l independence wi th the i r ownchurches, laws, courts, judges, bishopsand counts.”5 This historical event notonly refutes the idea that Islam forcesconversion, but also establishes theconcept that there is “no compulsion inre l ig ion .” 6 Once peace wasestablished, Christians, Jews and Mus-lims continued to live in mutual harmonyunder Muslim rule. It is a known fact thatmed ieva l Spa in p roduced some o fhistory’s most prolific scientists, archi-tects, l inguists , mathematicians andphysicians. These combined efforts ledto a 700 years long Golden Age in Spain.Thus, the Holy Qur’an offers a solutionthat not only promotes peace but alsoensures societal prosperity.

The foundation of the League of Na-tions in 1919 was a step in the right di-rection for world peace. Though estab-lished by non-Muslim governments,many objectives of the League were incomplete harmony with Qur’anic instruc-tions mentioned in verse (49:10). TheLeague aspired to prevent wars throughcollective security disarmament and tosettle international disputes through ne-gotiation and arbitration.

While it served as the prototype tothe United Nations, both the League ofNations and the United Nations havefai led. The sole purpose of UnitedNation’s existence was to resolve terri-torial disputes. Studies provide insightthat the current day terrorism sproutsfrom the territorial disputes and politi-cal conflicts. For instance, Robert Papewrites that 301 out of 315 suicide attackscommitted from 1980-2003 were to gain“political concession” from a target gov-ernment rather than religious fundamen-talism.7 Therefore, at the very least theUnited Nations should have the strengthto resolve the issues associated with itsvery existence. However, the inability to

do so has only served to create more ha-tred between the weaker and strongernations.

This inability is largely due to theveto power delegated to the permanentfive members (P5) of the United Nations. This veto power undermines justice andassists the P5 to avoid decisions thatare contrary to their own interests .Thus, each P5 member single handedlystifles the United Nations intended au-thority. For instance, the United Nationshas instructed Israel to vacate occupiedPalestinian territory. Yet, due to theUnited States veto power, such a reso-lution has never been implemented. From Kashmir to Rwanda, from Bosniato Palestine, the United Nations hasbeen unable to function in its intendedcapacity.

Thus, the goal is to transform theUnited Nations into an autonomousbody that makes and implements just de-cisions, regardless of the might or weak-ness of the nation in question. Only thencan true progress towards internationalmediation and conflict resolution be-come possible.

Controlling Media

Media plays an increasingly impor-tant role in combating terrorism. Thoughvaried, modern day media around theworld is homogeneously biased. Whilethe media in Muslim countries blameMossad, RAW and Black Water for ev-ery act of violence in their countries, thewestern media hurries to blame Islam.The hype the media creates about ter-rorist activities further enhances thecauses of terrorists i.e., getting into themedia to instigate more hatred. Accord-ing to a January 2010 Gallup poll, almosthalf of Americans hold an unfavorableview of Islam. The hatred is mutual: Ac-cording to the Gallup poll of 2002, morethan 60% of the populations of largeMusl im countr ies hold unfavorableviews of America.

Both types of media have created an“us vs. them” mentality - a suicidal ap-proach in itself. It is a win-win situationfor the terrorist, and lose-lose for inno-cent parties. Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad,the fourth Khalifa of the InternationalAhmadiyya Muslim Community, warnedabout this growing polarization as a re-

sult of pitching Muslims against non-Muslims. He said:

“The policy of setting the Muslimsagainst the non-Muslims is a suicidalpolicy born out of ignorance becausenothing shall be achieved as a result; in-stead, they will lose even the little theycurrently have.”8

In this regard a slight tilt of media to-wards the correct direction can savemany lives. If the Muslim media gives duecredit to the Western nations for givingequal opportunities, social security andreligious freedom to Muslim immigrants,things would certainly improve. For in-stance, President Obama’s visit to Israelwas shown on Muslim countries’ mediaover and over again to instigate hatred. Yet, his efforts to building bridges withthe Muslim world are reported signifi-cantly less. Likewise, if a news reportabout American Muslim soldiers fightingfor national security changes the viewsof even one American about Islam andsaves even one Muslim falling prey tothe terrorists, it is a giant step towardsinternational peace.

Terrorism may always remain a complexterm with a difficult definition. However, itneedn’t remain as such. If we champion aUnited Nations on the pillars of absolutejustice while maintaining objectivity in themedia, we will foster a worldwide unifica-tion against terrorism. In such a scenario,terrorists might still exist, but faced with aunited world of freedom fighters, theywon’t exist for long.

Ayesha Noor Rashid holds a Master’sDegree in International Economics andwrites on issues ranging from Islam toSouth Asia culture. She resides in Virginia.

Endnotes1 Krueger, Alan B.; Male ková, Jitka, Education,Poverty and Terrorism: Is there a causalconnection? The Journal of EconomicPerspective.2 Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad,Khalifatul Masih II, The Holy Quran with EnglishTranslation and Commentary; Vol.5, pp.25-26.Five Volume Commentary.3 Gerber, J. S: The Jews of Spain: a history of theSephardic experience, P. 124 Marks, S. A. The Jews in Islamic Spain: AlAndalus5 Sertima, I, V. African Presence in early Europe.Page 1556 Holy Qur’an. (2:257)7 Pape, R. A Dying to Win, Pg. 158 Tahir, A. M; Gulf Crisis and The New WorldOrder, p. 327

14 MuslimSunrise

In this article I want to describe thethought that leads to terrorism. Itis a thought that any human canhave and is not specific to Muslims.

It is the thought of not holding the life ofother humans as sacred. Are human livessacred or not? Are they priceless or canwe put a price tag on them? Are theydispensable for our poli t ical gains?Should we label some of them ascol la te ra l damage? Can somefundamentalists kill a few and go and meettheir share of virgins in paradise? Theseare some of the ques t ions tha t canidentify the unholy thought that leads toterrorism.

What is terrorism? ‘The systematic useof violence to create a general climate offear in a population.’ The EncyclopediaBritannica defines terrorism as, ‘therebyto bring about a particular political objec-tive.’ It further adds, ‘Terrorism has beenpracticed by political organizations withboth rightist and leftist objectives, by na-tionalistic and religious groups, by revo-lutionaries, and even by state institutionssuch as armies, intelligence services, andpolice.’ I would like to add an importantaspect to this definition of terrorism,namely, of victimizing innocent bystand-ers for achieving ones political goals.

A recent terror attack in India demon-

strated to the world once again that Mus-lims do not have a monopoly on terrorism.Scores of passengers of a Maharashtra-bound express train were killed on May28, 2010 and 200 injured in a left wingMaoist attack which led to derailment of13 coaches that were hit by a goods traincoming from the opposite direction. AMaoist party left two posters near the railtracks clearly owning responsibility for thederailment of the train but later in a publicannouncement denied any involvement.One observation was, however, about thelatest terror attack in India that the Mus-lims had nothing to do with it!

It seems like terrorist acts are motivatedby a belief in effectiveness of terrorism indelivering results for the cause whose righ-teousness terrorists believe in to the ex-clusion of nearly all else. The problem liesin not holding human life sacred or worthmore than the political cause that the ter-rorists are trying to achieve. Amy Zelman,a writer and consultant on political vio-lence, explains:

“If you look at any group that is widelyunderstood as a terrorist group, you willfind these two elements are basic to theirstory.

“Zionists who bombed British targetsin 1930s mandate Palestine felt they mustdo so in order to create a Jewish state.

“The IRA (Irish Republican Army)bombed English targets in the 1980s tomake the point that they felt their land wascolonized by British imperialists.

“In the 1960s and 1970s, the PopularFront for the Liberation of Palestine feltthat armed attacks in Israel were a justifi-able response to the usurpation of theirland.

“Osama bin Laden’s declaration of waron American interests in the 1990sstemmed from his belief that U.S. troopsstationed in Saudi Arabia represented anabomination to the kind of Islamic state hebelieved should exist in the Arabian pen-insula.

“Uighur separatists in China today feelthat Chinese religious repression (theUighur Chinese are Muslims) justifies theirterrorist tactics.”

The Holy Qur’an describes that theprohibition of murder is as old as ProphetAdamas. It defines the worth of each hu-man life as priceless! It states that the Di-vine teaching to the Israelites was that theworth of each human life is as high as the

There is an often quoted saying, “Watchyour thoughts; they become words. Watchyour words; they become actions. Watchyour actions; they become habits. Watchyour habits; they become character. Watchyour character; it becomes your destiny.”

Root of Terrorism: AnUnholy Thought

Zia H Shah MD

WINTER 2010 15

whole of humanity. It prescribes the sameteaching for all Muslims also in the words,“We prescribed for the children of Israelthat whosoever killed a person — unlessit be for killing a person or for creatingdisorder in the land — it shall be as if hehad killed all mankind.” The Holy ProphetMuhammadsaw linked the sanctity of hu-man life to the human appreciation of sa-credness; as he addressed a large, sob-bing and spellbound crowd of pilgrims, atthe time of his last pilgrim to the house ofone God in Makkah. He said, “Even asthis month is sacred, this land inviolate,and this day holy, so has God made thelives, property and honor of every mansacred. To take any man’s life or his prop-erty, or attack his honor, is as unjust andwrong as to violate the sacredness of thisday, this month, and this territory.” It isonly through Divine law that we come toknow the absolute value of human life. Dr.Andrew Conway Ivy was appointed by theAmerican Medical Association as its rep-resentative at the 1946 Nuremberg Medi-cal Trial for Nazi doctors. He wrote, “Onlyin a moral world, a world of responsibility,can man be free and live as a human beingshould. Men are truly equal and free onlyas creatures of God, because only as thechildren of God and only in the sight ofGod and ultimate moral law are men trulyequal.” In the Nuremberg trial he struggledwith the question that if man-made law isthe sole source of basic human rights, whycondemn the Nazi assault on Jews, Gyp-sies, Poles, and political enemies; and hav-ing been shaken by this perplexing trial heconcluded:

“If God and the ultimate moral law are

denied, there can be no absolute argumentagainst slavery, against ‘might makes right’and man’s greedy exploitation of man. Ifhuman beings have no absolute intrinsicvalue, no absolute intrinsic freedom ofdecision, no absolute liberty, no absoluteduties, they possess only extrinsic valueand may be used as chattels, slaves orserfs by those who have the intelligenceand power.”

Extending Ivy’s thesis further, if humanlife does not have an absolute worth thenthe possibility of terrorism opens up, de-pending on how much a group values herpolitical cause. That is the reason whyhumans have used terrorism for their po-litical goals over the millennia. They haveconsidered human life to be dispensable.The history of terrorism is as old as his-tory itself. The Encyclopedia Britannicastates:

“Terror has been practiced by state andnonstate actors throughout history andthroughout the world. The ancient Greekhistorian Xenophon (c. 431–c. 350 bc)wrote of the effectiveness of psychologi-cal warfare against enemy populations.Roman emperors such as Tiberius (reignedad 14–37) and Caligula (reigned ad 37–41)used banishment, expropriation of prop-erty, and execution as means to discour-age opposition to their rule.

“The most commonly cited example ofearly terror, however, is the activity of theJewish Zealots, often known as the Sicarii(Hebrew: “Daggers”), who engaged in fre-quent violent attacks on fellow Hebrewssuspected of collusion with the Roman au-thorities. Likewise, the use of terror wasopenly advocated by Robespierre during

the French Revolution, and the SpanishInquisition used arbitrary arrest, torture,and execution to punish what it viewed asreligious heresy. After the American CivilWar (1861–65), defiant Southerners formedthe Ku Klux Klan to intimidate supportersof Reconstruction (1865–77) and the newlyfreed former slaves.”

The root cause of terrorism lies in notrespecting human life. It lies in notassigning an absolute worth to everyhuman life and regarding its value as lessimportant than one’s political goal. Anyunexamined belief that condones violencecan become a catalyst for terrorism. Casein point, the belief of both the SunniMuslims and the Christians in a violentsecond coming of Jesusas. A similar viewis shared by the Sunni and Shiite Muslimsregarding a bloody Mahdi. Hadhrat MirzaGhulam Ahmad,as the Founder of theAhmadiyya Muslim Community analyzesthe situation in the case of Sunni Muslims:

“A very detrimental belief that is pro-foundly hurting the spirituality in Islam isthat the mullahs are awaiting a bloodyMahdi who will soon after his appearancesubmerge the world into violence andbloodshed. These are the signs that theysubscribe for their imaginary messiah also,that as soon as he descends from theheaven he will start killing the non-believ-ers, and only those will be saved who willbecome Muslim. Men with such beliefscan never be sincere with others; eventraveling alone with such believers is riskybusiness, lest they should kill you think-ing that you are a non-believer, while theyare in total denial of their own disbelief!Always remember that to call these absurd

The root cause of terrorism lies in notrespecting human life. It lies in not

assigning an absolute worth to everyhuman life and regarding its value as

less important than one’s political goal.

16 MuslimSunrise

ideas as root of Islam and attribute themto the Holy Quran is preposterous.”

Almost every religion of the worldrecommends the Golden rule! What is theGolden rule? It can be expressed in differ-ent words but with the same message fromdifferent traditions:

THE GOLDEN RULE

HinduismOne should not behave towards others in away which is disagreeable to oneself. This isthe essence of morality. All other activities aredue to selfish desire.

Egyptian Book of DeadHe sought for others the good he desired forhimself.

Law of MosesThou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

Grecian instructionDo not do to your neighbor that you wouldtake ill from him.

Zoroaster, PersiaDo as you would be done by.

Confucius, ChinaWhat you would not wish done to yourself donot unto others.

Buddhist instructionOne should seek for others the happiness onedesires for oneself.

Roman LawThe law imprinted on the hearts of all men is tolove the members of society as themselves.

Jesus ChristAll things therefore whatsoever you wouldthat men should do unto you, even so you dounto them; for this is the law of the prophets.

Prophet MuhammadBy God Who holds my life in His Hand,none of you can be a truly faithful Muslim,unless he liked for his brother what heliked for himself.

None of us want to be innocent by-standers of a terrorist attack or collat-eral damage. If we wish the same forothers there cannot be any terrorism.

I f a n y r e l i g i o n t e a c h e s h a t r e dagainst any group or minority then weneed to trade that religion for some-thing better. The Messiah of this era,t h e l e a d f o l l o w e r o f t h e P r o p h e tMuhammad,saw Hadhrat Mirza GhulamAhmadas wrote in his last book, TheMessage of Peace:

“A religion which does not incul-cate universal compassion is no reli-gion at all. Similarly, a human beingwithout the faculty of compassion isno human at all. Our God has never dis-cr iminated between one people andanother. This is illustrated by the factthat all the potentials and capabilitieswhich have been granted to the Ary-ans have a l so been g ran ted to theraces inhabiting Arabia, Persia, Syria,China, Japan, Europe and America. Theearth created by God provides a com-

If any religion teaches hatred againstany group or minority then we need to

trade that religion for something better.

mon floor for all people alike, and Hissun and moon and many stars are asource of radiance and provide manyother benefits to all alike. Likewise, allpeoples benefit from the elements cre-ated by Him, such as air, water, fire andearth, and similarly from other productscreated by Him like grain, fruit, andhealing agents, etc. These attributesof God teach us the lesson that we,too, should behave magnanimouslyand kindly towards our fellow humanbeings and should not be petty of heartand illiberal.”

EPILOGUEWhen a Muslim does not check his

thoughts against the touchstone of theQur ’anic verse, ‘We have sent thee(Muhammad) not but as a mercy for allpeoples,’ he is vulnerable to fall victimto the unholy thought that may lead toterrorism. Likewise, when a Jew doesnot check his thought or plan againstthe teaching, ‘Thou shalt love thy neigh-bor as thyself,’ when a Christian doesnot evaluate his thought with the litmustest, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’when an agnostic or atheist does notevaluate his thoughts and plans againstthe 30 articles of the Universal Declara-tion of Human Rights, he or she may beslipping on the slippery slope that canlead to pillage, war, terrorism and may-hem. Do as you would be done by!

Zia H. Shah is a doctor practicing in sleepand lung disorders in upstate New York.Shah is also the editor of Alislam eGazette,an international publication of theAhmadiyya Muslim Community.

WINTER 2010 17

By Amtul Mussawir Mansoor

When referring to the idea of ‘religiousterrorism,’ one may assume that it isthe religion itself that promotes

terrorism, but this is far from the truth. Not oneof the beautiful religions of the world promoteskilling of innocent people. In the Holy Qur’an,God says: “…whosoever killed a person…itshall be as if he had killed all mankind” (5:33).Accordingly, the Bible says: “Thou shalt notkill” (Exodus 20:13).

So what does one mean by ‘religious ter-rorism?’ Religious terrorism is a type of politi-cal violence motivated by an absolute beliefthat an otherworldly power has sanctionedand commanded terrorist violence for thegreater glory of the faith. Acts committed inthe name of faith will be forgiven by theotherworldly power and perhaps rewarded inan afterlife.1 Basically, the terrorists believe

that their religious faith legitimizes violenceas long as such violence is an expression ofthe will of God.

Since time immemorial, terrorism in thename of faith has been advocated in order topromote a belief system or as a defensemechanism. In these recent years, there hasbeen an increase is religious terrorism butwhat has inspired these so-called ‘religious’terrorists to commit such heinous crimes?Many are inspired by the attainment of mar-tyrdom. This is not new. During the Cru-sades, whose purpose was to capture the HolyLand from the disunited Muslims, Christianknights and infantry answered Pope UrbanII’s call because he promised that fighting anddying for the Cross would ensure martyrdom,guaranteeing a place in Heaven. Thus,“knights who with pious intent took the Crosswould earn a remission from temporal penal-

ties for all his sins; if he died in battle he wouldearn remission of his sins.”2

Nowadays, those participating in the ‘Is-lamic’ Jihad believe, that if they commit sui-cide bombings, they will attain paradise. Butas far as Islam is concerned, it categoricallyrejects and condemns every form of terror-ism. It does not provide any cover or justifi-cation for any acts of violence, be it commit-ted by an individual, a group or a govern-ment.3 One of the most notorious organiza-tions participating in this so called ‘Islamic’Jihad is Al-Qaeda, also known as ‘Interna-tional Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jewsand Crusaders.’ Its leader, Osama bin Laden,issued a fatwa or religious ruling in February1998, calling for a worldwide ‘Islamic jihad’(holy war) to kill Christians and Jews. Hismain targets were U.S. citizens and U.S. prop-erty because he was infuriated by the pres-

There is nothing religious about “religious terrorism”

18 MuslimSunrise

created. They worshipped the Hindu goddessKali, the destroyer. They would stranglesacrificial victims in the name of Kali and burythem. Offerings would then be made to Kali.The British eventually destroyed the movementduring the 19th century. “This secretive cult isbelieved to have murdered 20,000 victims ayear…perhaps dispatching as many as severalmillion victims altogether before it was brokenup by British officials.”7

Recently, there has been a rise in state-spon-sored religious terrorism, which basically meansthat the state or the government sponsors theterrorist organization around the world. Iranbeing one of them. After the overthrow of themonarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in1979, and the creation of the theocratic IslamicRepublic of Iran, Iran has sponsored a numberof groups known to have engaged in religiousterrorism. One of the main terrorist organiza-tions Iran sponsors and facilitates is the Hamasorganization based in Palestine. Hamas aims toestablish an Islamic state in the West Bank andthe Gaza strip. This goal combines Islamist ob-jectives with Palestinian nationalism. Hamashas called for the destruction of the state ofIsrael, and refused to recognize it. Hamas urgesMuslims to wage ‘jihad’ against foreign usurp-ers of Muslim lands, mainly Jews and Western-

ers. They have since claimed responsibility forhundreds of attacks against both military andcivilian Israeli targets, in shootings, knifings,and short-range rocket attacks, as well as sui-cide attacks.8

The future looks bleak as there are manyactive religious terrorist organizations aroundthe world trying to establish their superiorityover the other. But they should each followand understand the religious teachings of one’strue faith. The many Muslim terrorist organiza-tions who have defamed the name of Islam andthe character of our beloved ProphetMuhammadsa, should understand the true mean-ing of the term “Jihad.” Their doctrines shouldbe reformed and their books should start teach-ing the true Islamic concept of Jihad. On theother hand, Christian extremists who are con-tinuing to promote a war on terrorism, which inactuality is a war on Islam, should try to under-stand the true teachings of Islam. No true reli-gion, be it Islam or Christianity, promotes vio-lence and killing of innocent human beings inthe name of God. As Hadhrat Khalifat-ul-MasihIVrh beautifully put it, “God is love, God is peace!Love can never beget hatred, and peace cannever lead to war.”9

The writer is currently a sophomoreat the College of New Jersey. She ismajoring in Biology and ReligiousStudies.

Endnotes:1 Martin, Gus. Essentials of Terrorism. 1st ed.Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Inc,2008. 114.2 Martin, Gus. Essentials of Terrorism. 1st ed.Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Inc,2008. 115.3Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Khalifatul MasihIV. Murder in the name of Allah. http://www.alislam.org/library/books/mna/chapter_9.html4http://law.jrank.org/pages/11973/Terrorism-Religious-Terrorism.html5Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. BritishGovernment and Jihad, Roohani Khaza’in,Volume 17, p.176 Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. BritishGovernment and Jihad, Roohani Khaza’in,Volume 17, p.11-137 Martin, Gus. Essentials of Terrorism. 1st ed.Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Inc,2008. 116.8 http://terrorism.about.com/od/groupsleader1/p/Hamas.htm9 Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Khalifatul MasihIV. Murder in the name of Allah. http://www.alislam.org/library/books/mna/chapter_9.html

ence of U.S. military and its influence of West-ern culture on Islamic nations.

Al Qaeda is responsible for the destructionof Khobar Towers residence in Saudi Arabia in1996, the U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya andTanzania in 1998, the bombing of the USS Colein Yemen in 2000, and its most famous crime,their attack on the World Trade Center in NewYork City, and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.on September 11, 2001.4

Sadly, Al-Qaeda and other Muslim terroristorganizations are following a wrong interpreta-tion of Jihad. The Promised Messiahas explains:“The current practice found among the Mus-lims to attack people of other religions, whichthey call by the name of Jihad is not Jihad ac-cording to the Shariah (Islamic law), rather, it isclearly violation of the instructions of God andthe Messengersa and a grievous sin.”5

He further elaborates: “Could it be consid-ered a good act, for example, there is a personwalking in a bazaar engulfed in his ownthoughts, and is a complete stranger to us, andwe do not even know his name, and neitherdoes he know us, but we fire a gun at him withthe intention of killing him? Is this a religiousact? If this is a good act, then the beasts are farbetter than human beings in carrying out gooddeeds…Did God instruct us to cut a person intopieces without any proof of crime, or kill himwith a gun while we do not even know him, andneither does he know us? Can such a religionbe from God that teaches to start killing sinlessand innocent people of God without any ex-cuse and reservation, and without even deliv-ering them the message, and that it would leadus to heaven? It is pitiful and shameful that aperson, with whom we have no previous en-mity, and is a complete stranger to us, and whilehe is buying something for his children from astore, or is busy in some other lawful act, andwe, without any reason, fire a gun at him, andmake his wife a widow and his children orphans,and turn his house into a place of mourning.Which Hadith mentions this practice? Whichverse of the Holy Qur’an mentions this? Is thereany Maulvi who could answer this? The un-wise people have heard the name of Jihad, andusing it as an excuse are fulfilling their vain self-ish desires, or are carrying out gory acts be-cause of their insanity…When no one killsMuslims for the sake of religion, I wonder, un-der what authority they kill innocent people?”6

Unfortunately, Christianity and Islam are notthe only religions misrepresented by religiousterrorism for there are also other major religionsof the world involved. In India, during the 13th

through the 19th centuries, a cult “Thugee” was

No truereligion, be it

Islam orChristianity,

promotesviolence and

killing ofinnocent

human beingsin the name of

God.

WINTER 2010 19

Sixty years after theterrifying wreckageof Pearl Harbor, thenext devastation on

American soil occurred onSeptember 11, 2001. The al-Qaeda functionaries carriedout a terrorist attack on theWorld Trade Center towersand the Pentagon. Themotivation was multifold:Symbolically, attacking theWorld Trade Center and thePentagon buildings was todown the American toweringstature as the worldsuperpower.

TerrorismDefinedMubasher Ahmad, M.A., LL.B.

Like Osama bin Laden, all the terror-ists were from Saudi Arabia. InitiallyOsama bin Laden did not take any creditfor the horrifying attacks that killed al-most 3000 civilians. Even the U.S. intelli-gence could not provide any concreteproof to the guilt of Osama bin Ladenwhen the Taliban regime of Afghanistanasked for evidence that he was the cul-prit.

However, after three years, Osama binLaden himself released a taped messagein which he took full responsibility forthe attacks and explained that the motiveof the attack was “to regain the freedom”of the Muslim nation (Fox News, Octo-ber 30, 2004). Richard A. Clark, a counter-terrorism expert, outlines the U.S. foreignpolicy decisions that contributed to al-Qaeda leadership mot ives to hur tAmerica. Among others, Mr. Clark ex-plains that confronting the U.S.S.R. inAfghanistan, putting the U.S. Military inthe Persian Gulf, and helping Israel eco-nomically and militarily were the factorsthat contributed to bin Laden’s motives(Clark, 2004). Peter Bergen, a news corre-spondent , fur ther expla ins tha t b inLaden’s motive was to unify the Muslimsof the world behind him against the U.S.Bin Laden attacked the U.S. to instigatethe American Government to increase thenumber of its forces in the Middle East.The increased U.S. military presence in

the Muslim countries, in turn, would forcethe Muslims to unify politically and ac-cept a united Islamic government in theregion. (Bergen, 2006, p.229).

Sometimes terrorism is clearly a state-sponsored act of offense, and at othertimes it is merely an act of a small cell ofdisgruntled persons. It is relatively diffi-cult to keep an eye on individuals whotend to change into brutes. For example,a student, otherwise well behaved andbelonging to a nice family, turns out tobe a killer of dozens of his fellow stu-dents and teachers, terrorizing the entirecommunity. A disgruntled employee endsup murdering in cold blood his fellowworkers or the employer. In a case hear-ing in a court of law, one party suddenlystarts shooting at the judge or his oppo-nents. No one can see or predict whowould perpetuate similar unexpected actsof violence by individuals. There are in-d iv iduals commit t ing cr ime l ikeUnabomber with solo campaign of terror.However, to discover and identify terror-ist organizations, working within a local-ity or on international level has becomea task incumbent upon all societies andstates. There is no dearth of well-knitterrorist groups, fully armed with explo-sives, guns and deadly ammunition. Theyplan and work in meticulous secrecy.They recruit willing and emotionallycharged individuals, and train them well

Sometimes terrorism isclearly a state-sponsoredact of offense, and at othertimes it is merely an act ofa small cell of disgruntledpersons. It is relativelydifficult to keep an eye onindividuals who tend tochange into brutes.

20 MuslimSunrise

to carry out acts of terrorism, includingsuicide bombings. Their leadership triesto remain hidden and obscure from thepublic eye. Their tactics change from dayto day. They try to use the element ofsurprise to the best of their ability (Mor-ris, 2009).

Terrorism has many faces, and it is noteasy to define it. The concept remainsvague. Still it would be helpful to readsome of the definitions. In 1974, the Brit-ish Government characterized it as “…theuse of violence for political ends, andincludes any use of violence for the pur-pose of putting the public, or any sec-tion of the public, in fear.” In 1980, theFBI identified it as: “Terrorism is the un-lawful use of force and violence againstpersons or property to intimidate or co-erce a government, the civilian popula-tion, or any segment thereof, in further-ance of political or social objectives”After three years, in 1983, the United StatesDepartment of Defense called terrorism as“the calculated use of unlawful violence orthreat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear;intended to coerce or to intimidate govern-ments or societies in the pursuit of goalsthat are generally political, religious, or ideo-logical”. In 1992, the United Nations definedterrorism as “An anxiety-inspiring methodof repeated violent action, employed by(semi-) clandestine individual, group orstate actors, for idiosyncratic, criminal orpolitical reasons, whereby - in contrastto assassination - the direct targets ofviolence are not the main targets.”

Terrorists are dreaded and hated bytheir targets and are thought to be bloodycowards and criminals. However, the sameterrorists are considered as courageouspatriots or even holy personages by theirsupporters. Usually their followers andsupporters are a minority group who areemotionally charged, having strong opin-ions concerning those who treat themwith injustice. They work in secrecy be-

cause they know the harsh consequencesif their plans are exposed ahead of time.The very nature of terrorism contains theelement of surprise, and this makes ter-rorists to work in many a creative form.Use of commercial airplanes loaded withpassengers as explosive blistering mis-siles, tying of bombs around one’s ownbody, and blowing oneself up are not thenormal ways of conducting an armed con-flict. These and similar tactics compel thetargeted people to remain on alert at thehighest level all the time. “Expect the un-expected” is the norm, and the tremen-dous cost for personal and national se-curity increases day by day.

Terror is extreme fear, and terrorism isdefined (Compact Oxford English Dictio-nary, 2005) as the unofficial or unautho-rized use of violence and intimidation inthe attempt to achieve political aims. Butthe problem lies in the fact that a terroristmay have sought his permission fromsomeone who claims to have a differenttype of authority to allow a specific actof terror to be committed. A religious fa-natic would become a terrorist on behalfof a religious authority against an estab-lished political power. Some terroristsseek “moral” authority when using vio-lence against an institution they conceiveto be immoral. A terrorist blowing up, forexample, an abortion clinic is certainly un-der the influence of a religious or moralbelief system that deems abortion as anact of killing a human life. Thus the verydefinition of terrorism remains flexible andsubjective. New concepts and creativeways are commonly utilized to justify andadvance destructive and terrorizing actsof brutality. Extreme violent behavior isunder taken for varied reasons, may theybe political, economical, social, moral orreligious. In recent times, terrorism hasbecome as expression of resentment andanger of individuals as well as of well-organized groups. Not being able to

change a political or economical status,expression of violence is a way of show-ing utter desperation and hopelessness.

The terrorists want to draw attentionof public and governments by perform-ing such horrible acts that are sure tobecome sensational news and a source offree publicity. Killing of Israeli partici-pants in 1972 Munich Olympic, for ex-ample, was reported globally. Bringingdown Twin Towers in New York in 2001was instantly picked up by the news-me-dia all over the world. Greater the dam-age, bigger the target, wider the implica-tions, the news-media picks it up at allthe levels. In August 2006, the news of aplot to simultaneously blow up 10 Britishjumbo jets with liquid explosives hiddenin carry-on luggage that could havecaused mass murder on unimaginablescale sent waves of horror all over theworld.

Ideology always plays a vitally impor-tant role to keep the leadership and mem-bers of terrorist groups motivated. As in-dicated earlier, it could be based eitheron political, religious, or economicalthoughts different from the acceptednorms. It could also be a mix of more thanone of many propelling ideas. Manytimes, an apparently politically motivatedgroup uses religious beliefs (true or per-verted) to gain its popularity and to in-crease its membership, promising spiritualas well as monetary rewards. When onecountry is under attack by a foreign na-tion, it is not difficult to utilize patriotism,and to turn many people into active ter-rorists working against the attackers.Presently, in some Muslim countries, Is-lam has become a tool in the hands of ter-rorist groups who are opposed to West-ern political systems. Thus it is an ex-tremely complex situation, hard to dis-cover the real impulses and incentivesthat might be working behind the scenes.Just to claim, as President Bush has doneseveral times during his two term presi-dency that the terrorist groups do not likeour freedom and democracy is in factoversimplification of a multifaceted anddifficult reality (President Bush’s speechat the Ronald Reagan Library, in Simi Val-ley, California, October 21, 2005).

Imam Mubasher Ahmad is a Missionaryof the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community,stationed at the West Coast of the UnitedStates.

A terrorist blowing up, for example, anabortion clinic is certainly under theinfluence of a religious or moral belief systemthat deems abortion as an act of killing ahuman life. Thus the very definition ofterrorism remains flexible and subjective.

WINTER 2010 21

By Dr. Khaula Rehman

The word ‘Jihad’ is derivedfrom the Arabic root ‘Juhd’which means ‘to strive.’Jihad is to carry on aspiritual struggle to attainnearness to God, to strugglefor self purification and selfimprovement.The wordJihad has been used in theHoly Qur’an many times:

“And strive in the cause ofAllah (Jihad) as it behooves youto strive for it. He has chosenyou, and has laid no hardshipupon you in religion; so followthe faith of your fatherAbraham; He named you Mus-lims both before and in thisBook, so that the Messengermay be a witness over you, andthat you may be witnesses overmankind. Therefore observePrayer and pay the Zakat, andhold fast to Allah. He is yourMaster, an excellent Master andan excellent Helper!”

-- Holy Quran 22:79

In this verse the word Jihad clearly signi-fies striving hard to win the pleasure and near-ness of Allah. Jihad against one’s baser selfi.e., against one’s evil desires and propensi-ties or Jihad against Satan is the real meaning

of Jihad. A Muslim has to engage in this Jihadevery moment of his life. This Jihad has beencalled Jihad-e-Akbar (the greater Jihad) bythe Holy Prophetsa. Once returning from battleof Tabuk he said to his companions that youhave returned from the lesser Jihad (fightingagainst the enemies of Islam) to a greater Jihad(waging war against ones baser self).

Allah has given the name of Muslims tothe followers of the Prophet Muhammadsa.The word Muslim is from a root word thatmeans peace. So, a true Muslim is one who isat peace with God and man and with himself.The Holy Prophetsa has defined a Muslim aptlyin the following well known Hadith: ‘A Mus-lim is one from whose hands and tongue otherMuslims are safe.’1

It is indeed strange, that a religion whosevery name means peace and whose followersare enjoined to preach and practice peace, hasbeen stigmatized by hostile and ignorantMuslim clerics and non Muslim critics. TheIslamophobic critics allege that the HolyProphetsa and his companions used the swordfor the propagation of Islam. Nothing couldbe farther from the truth.

Jihad-e-Asghar (the lesser Jihad) whereMuslims can raise the sword is only permis-sible when they are prevented by their enemyfrom declaring their faith in God, they are op-pressed, driven out of their homes and/or havebeen wronged. This is clearly stated in thefollowing verses of the Holy Qur’an:

“Permission to fight is given to thoseagainst whom war is made because they havebeen wronged, and Allah indeed has power tohelp them. Those who have been driven outof their homes unjustly only because they

said, ‘Our Lord is Allah’—And if Allah didnot repel some men by means of others, therewould surely have been pulled down clois-ters and churches and synagogues andmosques wherein the name of Allah is oft com-memorated. And Allah will surely help one whohelps Him. Allah is indeed Powerful, Mighty.”(Al Qur’an 22:40-41)

Time and again the Qur’an mentions thesignificance and essence of Jihad (striving incause of Allah). It says:

“And as for those who strive in Our path,We will surely guide them in Our ways. AndIndeed, Allah is with those who do good.” (AlQur’an 29:70)

“O ye who believe! shall I point out toyou a bargain that will save you from a painfulpunishment? That you believe in Allah andHis Messenger, and strive in the cause of Al-lah (Jihad) with your wealth and your persons.That is better for you, if you but know.” (AlQur’an 61:11-12)

“Those who believe and emigrate fromtheir homes for the sake of God and strive inthe cause of Allah with their property and theirpersons have the highest rank in the sight ofAllah. And it is they who shall triumph.” (AlQur’an 9:20)

It is a well established fact among theMuslim circles, especially the AhmadiyyaMuslim Community, that the Holy ProphetMuhammadsa was the Qur’an incarnate. Toknow him is to know the Qur’an and to knowthe Qur’an is to know him. From the Qur’anand the Sunnah (practices of the Prophet),Islamic Jihad does not imply that Muslimsshould pick up the sword and behead thosewho reject Islam. It simply means to strive hard

to behead, or win thepleasure of Allah?

The Ahmadiyya Solution: the Promised Messiah’steaching against the use of violence in religion

22 MuslimSunrise

to win pleasure of Allah.The Holy Qur’an teaches sanctity of hu-

man life and states:“Whosoever unjustly kills a single person,

it shall be as if he slaughtered all mankind;and whosoever saves the life of one, it shallbe as if he had protected the life of all man-kind.” (Al Qur’an 5:33)

“You kill not the life which God has madesacred.” (Al Qur’an 6:152)

Killing of the innocent and committingsuicide are grievous sins in Islam. The HolyQur’an forbids suicide, and it is an unforgiv-able sin in Islam.2

The Qur’an gives comprehensive instruc-tions against all evil thoughts and plans, allkinds of abusive behavior and every form ofcruelty and inequity. The Qur’an gives injunc-tions to protect the person, property, honoror good name of another person. The Qur’andeclares in clear and unambiguous words thatGod does not love those who create disorderon earth (5:65) (28:77); He does not love whoare unjust (3:57); and does not love those whoexceed the limits (2:191) (5:88).

In our era, the Messiah of the time and thelead follower of the Holy ProphetMuhammadsa, is Hadhrat Mirza GhulamAhmadas. He founded the Ahmadiyya Mus-lim Community. The community believes thatthe doctrine of Jihad has been entirely per-verted by the “fundamentalists” and it needsto be rescued. ‘Love for All, Hatred for None’the motto of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Commu-nity is the recipe for global peace.

The Promised Messiahas warned more than100 years ago that according to the teachingsof the Holy Qur’an and the Holy Prophetsa

use of force is totally forbidden in matters offaith. As stated in the Holy Qur’an:

‘There is no compulsion in religion’. (AlQur’an 2:257)

I want to make my case by quoting severalexcerpts from the writings of Hadhrat MirzaGhulam Ahmadas, the Promised Messiah. Hestates:

‘No true Muslim has ever believed thatIslam should be spread by the sword. Islamhas always been propagated through its in-herent qualities. Those who, calling them-selves Muslims, seek to spread Islam bymeans of the sword are not aware of its inher-ent qualities and their conduct resembles theconduct of wild beasts’.3

He further states:“I have come to you with an order: Jihad

with the sword has ended from this time for-

ward, but the Jihad of purifying your soulsmust continue. I do not say this of my ownaccord. This is indeed the will of God. Recallthe Hadith from Sahih al-Bukhari which hon-ors the Promised Messiahas by saying yada-ul-harb. That is to say, when the Messiahcomes he will put an end to religious wars.Accordingly, I command those who havejoined my ranks to refrain from all suchthoughts, to purify their hearts, to foster sym-pathy, and to be compassionate towards thesuffering. They should spread peace on earth,because that will cause their faith to spread inreturn.”4 5

“It should be remembered that today’s Is-lamic scholars (who are called maulavis) com-pletely misunderstand Jihad and misrepresentit to the general public. The public’s violentinstincts are inflamed as a result and they arestripped of all noble human virtues. This is infact what has happened.”6

“Their belief, that Jihad should be lawfultoday because it was permitted in early Islam,is totally incorrect and we offer two rejoin-ders. The first is that their reasoning is base-less. Under no circumstance did our HolyProphetsaw raise the sword against anyone un-less they had first raised the sword, merci-lessly killing innocent, pious men, women andchildren with such brutality that reading aboutthese events even today brings tears to oureyes. Second, even if we assume that Jihad asconceived of by these maulavis (misguidedclerics) was obligatory in early Islam, the com-mandment is no longer applicable because itis written that violent Jihad and religious fight-ing will come to an end with the appearance ofthe Promised Messiahas, who will not raise thesword or any other earthly weapon. Prayershall be his only instrument, and firm determi-nation his only weapon. He will establishpeace and gather together the goat and thelion. His age will be one of peace, gentlenessand human sympathy. Alas! Why do thesepeople not reflect that thirteen hundred yearshave passed since the Holy Prophetsaw said,“yada-‘ul-harb” in honor of the PromisedMessiahas. These words mean that the Prom-ised Messiahas will end warfare when hecomes.”7

He again writes: “At this time, I specifically instruct my

jama‘at (Community), which accepts me asthe Promised Messiah, that they should al-ways stay away from these foul habits. God

has sent me as the Promised Messiah and hasclothed me with the garment of the Messiah,son of Mary. I therefore admonish you: Re-frain from evil and be truly compassionate to-wards mankind. Cleanse your hearts of maliceand spite, for you will become like angelsthrough this habit. It is a filthy and unholyreligion that is devoid of sympathy for hu-manity, and polluted is the path riddled withthe thorns of a rancor based on selfish de-sires. O those who are with me, do not be-come like such people. Think about what it iswe seek to attain through religion. Is it to con-stantly oppress others? No, religion exists sothat we may obtain the life that lies in God.Such a life has not been, and will never be,attained unless Divine attributes come to abidein you. Be compassionate towards all for thesake of God so that you may be shown mercyin the heavens. Come, and I will teach you away that will cause your light to prevail overall other lights. Abandon all lowly spite andjealousy, be compassionate for mankind, andlose yourselves in God. Being with God,achieve the highest levels of purification. Thisis the path on which miracles are bestowed,prayers are accepted, and angels descend toone’s aid. But it is not a single day’s work.Advance and continue advancing.”8

In the end, let me summarize the teachingsof the Promised Messiahas in two lines:

“In our age the pen has been raisedagainst us. It is with the pen that we have beencaused pain and suffering. In response to this,the pen is our weapon.”9

Dr. Khaula Rehman is a Sleep MedicineSpecialist working in upstate New York.

Endnotes:1 From the book of Hadith by Bukhari2 Al Quran 4:303 Tiryaq-ul-Qulub, Ruhani Khaza in, vol.15. Page167, footnote, 1902.4 Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. BritishGovernment and Jihad. Page 17.5 http://www.alislam.org/library/books/BritishGovt-and-Jihad.pdf6 Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. BritishGovernment and Jihad, Page 87 Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, BritishGovernment and Jihad, Page 8-98 Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. BritishGovernment and Jihad. Page 16.9Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Malfuzat, Part I, p. 44.

WINTER 2010 23

By Atif Munawar Mir

Daniel Pipes, a conservativecommentator, offered a verysimplistic explanation for

Shahzad’s choice. He blamed Shahzad’s“jihadi intent” and his ideologicalpassions, ruling out the possibility thatShahzad’s actions were motivated byinsanity or by his perception of theinjustices of American foreign policy.1

Robert Wright provides a more balancedexplanation, disagreeing with Pipes,whose one-dimensional assessmentobscures deeper realities. Wrightattributes Shahzad’s terrorist mindset tohis possible anger caused by theAmerican drone strikes that regularly killPakistani women and children, as wellas the alienation due to negativeimmigration experiences. 2

Breaking the Cycleof Hate and Anger

Wright argues that U.S. policymakersmust acknowledge that their counter ter-rorism strategies have upsides as well asdownsides, one of the downsides beingthat these strategies are prone to causean upsurge in terrorist recruitment athome and abroad. Such anacknowledgement would demand of U.S.policymakers an honest and transparenteffort towards fighting terrorism withminimal collateral damage. Furthermore,the U.S. should avoid making unilateraldecisions when it deems war necessaryand instead seek the consensus of theinternational community to avoid repeatsof the Iraq war, which has brought noth-ing but death and destruction. In addi-tion to this, America should try to resolvethe Palestine-Israel issue with justice.Such efforts will go a long way in win-ning the hearts and minds of Muslimsaround the world.

Muslim governments must also ac-

cept responsibility for Shahzad’s actions.For example, in Pakistan, the young mal-leable minds are often taught that all illsthat plague Pakistani society are the re-sult of U.S.A.’s foreign policy. The pri-vate TV channels in Pakistan invite con-spi racy theor is ts , who spew hat redagainst the U.S.A, to discuss politics,economics and religion. Professor PervezHoodbhoy testifies to this state of af-fairs. He explains how extremist rhetoricis common in Pakistani society and howin some Pakistani educational institu-tions, a hate-based educational curricu-lum is taught. Hoodbhoy says that allthese conditions that perpetuate hate areamplified by Pakistan’s irresponsible me-dia, which sowed the seeds of hatred inShahzad’s mind and persuaded him thatthe problems of the world could only besolved by destroying the U.S.A.3

To summarize, U.S. counter terrorismstrategies, such as the drone strikes, be-come instrumental in angering and alien-ating Muslim youth. This anger is thenturned into hatred via media propagandaand toxic schooling. The cycle of anger

What’s Up With Faisal Shahzad?Faisal Shahzad, a young man from a privileged Pakistani family, with an MBA degreefrom the University of Bridgeport, had all that he needed to lead a fulfilling life. But,

instead of pursuing fulfillment through normal means, he decided to become a terrorist.

24 MuslimSunrise

and hatred perpetuates terrorism andwidens the already existing gulf betweenMuslims and Americans. It is imperativethat the political leaders on both sidesfind a way to break this cycle otherwiseterrorism will turn the theory of the clashof civilizations into a concrete reality andboth moderate Muslims and the U.S.A willhave to pay a very heavy price.

Alienation of Muslim Youth and the

Creation of a Terrorist

Muslim spiritual leaders and intellec-tuals also have a crucial role to play. Theymust support the integration of Muslimyouth into western societies by helpingthem reconcile their multiple identities andconflicting loyalties. Failure to integrateproduces in the youth a sense of alien-ation, that is, a feeling of isolation andpowerlessness. This is a serious matter.In 2003, the Dutch Prime Minister sug-

gested that alienation is a major cause ofterrorism. 4 This is because an alienatedmind looks for anchors to cling to andbecomes vulnerable to the influence ofterrorist ideology.

A p p a r e n t l y ,Sh a h z a d w a s a l s ovictim to feelings ofalienation and foundanchorage in a ter-ror is t organizat ionbased in Afghan i -s t an . Pe rhaps , t heIslamic institutionsin the U.S.A were notreligious enough orpure enough for his taste. His choiceof affiliation was, in fact, completelycontrary to Islamic teachings. The HolyQuran teaches sanctity of human lifeand declares that whosoever unjustlykills a single person, it shall be as if heslaughtered all mankind; and whoso-ever saves the life of one, it shall be asif he had protected the life of all man-

kind (5:33). The Holy Prophetsaw taughtthat during war the elderly and womenand children are not to be killed, andthe possibility of peace should always

be kept in view5 and when Muslims en-ter enemy territory, they should notstrike terror into the general population,and should not permit ill-treatment ofcommon folk6. Shahzad’s intentions,which were to create murder and may-hem in Times Square, were clearly anti-thetical to the fundamental teachingsof Islam.

Faisal Shahzad pleads guilty to carrying out the failed May 1 car bombing in New York's Times Square

Perhaps, the Islamic institutions inthe U.S.A. were not religious

enough or pure enough for histaste. His choice of affiliation was,

in fact, completely contrary toIslamic teachings.

WINTER 2010 25

Why did he choose to serve Islamin a completely un-Islamic fashion? Itis possible that his sheer ignorance ofIslam made him susceptible to the mes-sage of self proclaimed scholars of Islamsuch as Bin Laden and the Taliban. Ex-tremists benefit from the lack of a centralauthority in Islam. Legal experts (Muf-tis) can render legal opinions (fatwas)in matters both personal and public.While these legal opinions can be coun-tered by moderate religious leaders,they may still retain validity for theMufti’s followers.7

It may be that Shahzad resented thefact that Muslims, once the pioneers ofglorious civilizations have been reducedto objects of ridicule and instead ofblaming Muslims for their failures, heinstead held the U.S.A responsible fortheir failures. Dominique Moisi wouldsupport this idea as he argues in one ofhis books that it is a sense of humilia-tion felt by Muslims that enables ex-tremists to attract a young educatedMuslim, living in the west, to violentideology.8

A report by the New York Police De-partment concludes that the search foridentity and the failure of social andeconomic i n t eg ra t i on i s p l ay ing agreater role than oppression, despair orsp i r i t o f r evenge a s i ncuba to r s o fradicalization.9 Interestingly, however,Mohammed S idd ique and Has ibHussain, who planned the London Sub-way attacks in 2007 were well integratedinto British society. These individualsneither studied in madrassas nor werethey from poor families. What attractedthem to terrorism? Reza Aslan arguesthat although far more integrated intoEurope than their parents, first-and-sec-ond generation Muslim youth tend tofeel even more excluded from Europeansociety, precisely because their expec-tations and their sense of entitlementare greater. These expectations and en-titlements are not met due to restrictivecit izenship laws and a lack of lawsagainst religious discrimination10.

USA does not have restrictive citi-zensh ip l aws and does have l awsagainst religious discrimination. Whydid Shazad fee l a l ienated? Did theAmerican society force him to choosebetween his religious identity and loy-alty to the state? Perhaps he decidednot to become ful ly integrated into

American society because of his per-ceived injustices perpetrated by Ameri-can foreign policy. If he felt that theU.S.A. was the enemy, he should havemoved to Afghanistan or Iraq and joinedinsurgents. Why stay in the U.S.A. andchoose to ki l l innocent Americans?These questions are hard to answer.

It is also possible that Shahzad didnot believe in religion at all. He was anihilist. He was neither disenchantednor alienated, but was simply a deeplydisturbed and angry individual whowanted to vent his unknown frustration.His anger and resentment translatedinto violence and the stamp of religionon his actions lent his evil deeds somedignity and a possible shot at heavenas well. Another viable explanation isthat Shahzad found terrorism to be theshortest and easiest route to glory orfame. Possibly, he was just a rebel in amodern world who found the terroristideology more attractive because it ap-pealed to his animal and self-destruc-tive instincts. It is also possible thatShahzad was simply mentally unstableand suffered from severe anxiety dis-order not unlike Seung-Hui Cho, whokilled 32 people in Virginia Tech be-fore commit t ing suic ide . In such acase , Shahzad needs psychologica ltreatment not a lecture on the peace-ful spirit of Islam.

Compassion is a Key Ingredi-ent of Islamic Identity

At any rate, nothing gives Shahzador anyone else the right to kill innocentcivilians, especially not so in the nameof religion as God Himself has givennon-Muslims the gift of life. He lackedcompassion, which is a key ingredientof a true Muslim identity. Shahzad couldhave become a great scientist, business-man, doctor or charity worker to restorethe pride of his Muslim identity.

The Promised Messiahas, the founderof the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community inlight of the Holy Quran and Ahadithtaught us more than 100 years ago thata religion must inculcate universal com-passion and that we must learn from theattributes of God, who created Earth, air,water and fire for all humanity regard-less of their faith, and should not be

petty of heart and il l iberal. He alsotaught Muslims not to take up armsagainst a non-Muslim government whenit treats them with justice and equity.11

Conclusion

The poet Yeats said that the best lackall conviction, while the worst are fullof passionate intensity. Never beforehas it been so important for the best inthe U.S.A. and the Muslim world toforcefully articulate their compassion-ate convictions and reverse the tide ofintolerance and prejudice that lends it-self to extremism and terrorism. Muslimleaders should help Muslim youth findanchors that inspire them to serve hu-manity not harm it . They should betaught the Islam of the Holy Prophetsaw

as opposed to the Islam of extremists.Western countries should also preventor ameliorate the alienation of Muslimyouth by making a genuine effort to in-tegrate individuals like Shahzad withoutdiscouraging them from exploring theirMuslim identity.

The writer holds a BA in Political Scienceand Economics and a Master’s Degree inTaxation. He works in a major CPA firmas an International Tax Advisor.

Endnotes:

1Pipes, Daniel, the Corner, May 5, 2010http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/2Wright, Robert, “The Making of a Terrorist,”New York Times, May 11, 2010 (http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/the-making-of-a-terrorist)3 Hoodbhoy, Pervez, “Faisal Shahzad’s Anti-Americanism” (http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/faisal-shahzads-antiamericanism-850)4http://www.government.nl/News/Press_releases_and_news_items/2003/September/Alienation_at_the_root_of_terrorism5Abu Dawud6Muslim7 Esposito, John, “God in Politics” in The Future ofIslam, Oxford University Press, USA, 2010. P. 738 Moisi, Dominique, “The Culture of Humiliation”in The Geopolitics of Emotion, Anchor Books,New York, 2010, p. 769 ibid, p. 7710 Aslan, Reza, “The End of War as we Know it” inBeyond Fundamentalism, Random House TradePaperback, 2010, p. 15011 Ahmad, Mirza Ghulam, “Jihad with the Sword”in Essence of Islam, Volume II, IslamInternational Publications, 2nd Edition, p. 324.

26 MuslimSunrise

Ihram

Ihram is the intention of the person willing to perform all rites of Hajj when hearrives at the Miqat.

Each direction coming into Makkah hasits own Miqat. It is recommended that the onewho intends to perform Hajj takes a showerwith the intention to purify one’s self and tobe ready for Hajj, perfumes his body and putson a two- piece garment with no headgear.The garments should be of seamless cloth.One piece is to cover the upper part of thebody, and the second to cover the lower part.For a woman the Ihram is the same except thatshe can wear any kind of wide garments, and

should not use perfumes at all and her dressshould cover the whole body decently, leav-ing the hands and the face uncovered.

Men are recommended to utter thetalbeyah aloud while women are to say it qui-etly. This Talbeya is the following:

“ LABBAYKA ALLAHUMMALABBAYK. LABBAYKA LA SHAREEKALAKA LABBAYK. INNALHAMDA WAN-N’IMATA LAKA WALMULK. LA SHAREEKLAK”.

“Here I am at your service. O my Lord,Here I am. No partner you have. Here I am.Truly, the praise and the provisions are yours,and so is the dominion. No partner do youhave”

TawafWhen a Muslim arrives in Makkah, he

should make Tawaf around the Ka’bah, as agesture of greeting Al-Masjid Al Haraam. Thisis done by circling the Ka’bah seven times inthe counterclockwise direction, starting fromthe black stone with Takbeer and ending eachcircle at the black stone with Takbeer, keepingthe Ka’bah to one’s left.

Then the pilgrim goes to Maqam Ibrahim(Ibrahim’s station), and performs two rak’ahbehind it, (close to it if possible), but awayfrom the path of the people making Tawaf. Inall cases one should be facing the Ka’bahwhen praying behind Maqam Ibrahim.

HAJJ

The right steps for the pilgrimage to Mecca

The annual pilgrimage to Mecca is to be performed between Nov. 14-18, 2010

WINTER 2010 27

Sa’i

The next rite is to make sa’i betweenSafa and Marwah. The pilgrim starts Sa’iby ascending the Safa. While facing thedirection of the Ka’ba he praises Allah,raises his hands and says Takbeer “Al-lah-u-Akbar” three times, then makessupplication to Allah. Then the pilgrimdescends from the Safa and heads to-wards the Marwah.

One should increase the pace be-tween the clearly marked green posts,but should walk at a normal pace beforeand after them. When the pilgrim reachesthe Marwah, he should ascend it, praiseAllah and do as he did at the Safa. Thisis considered one round and so isthe other way from the Marwah to theSafa. A total of seven rounds are re-quired to perform the sa’i.

Shaving the Head orTrimming the Hair:

After Sa’i, the Muslim ends his Umrarites by shaving his head or trimminghis hair (women should cut a finger tip’slength from their hair). At this stage,the prohibitions pertaining to the stateof Ihram are lifted and one can resume his nor-mal life.

There are no required supplications forTawaf or for Sa’i. It is up to the worshipper topraise Allah or to supplicate Him with any ac-ceptable supplication or to recite verses ofthe Qur’an. There are no many specific sup-plications that the Prophetsaw used to reciteduring the rites.

A Pilgrim performing Hajj should intendIhram, from the place where he is staying, onthe eighth of Dhul-Hijjah, which is the TarwiahDay, and it is better to leave for Mina in themorning. In Mina , the pilgrims pray Dhuhr,Asr, Maghrib and Isha of the 8th day of Dhul-Hijjah and Fajr of the 9th day of Dhul-Hijja(Arafah Day). Dhuhr, Asr and Isha are eachshortened to two Rak’ah only, but are notcombined.

The pilgrims remain in Mina until sunriseof the 9th day of Dhul-Hijjah and then leave forArafat.

Departure to Arafat:On the 9th day of Dhul-Hijjah, the Day of

Arafah, the pilgrims stay in Arafat until sunset.It is preferable to pray Dhuhr and Asr at Arafat,shortened and combined during the time ofDhuhr to save the rest of the day for glorifying

Allah and for supplication asking forgiveness. A pilgrim should make sure that he is within theboundaries of Arafat, not necessarily standingon the mountain of Arafa, he should also besure that he has spent any part of the night –even a few minutes-within Arafat.

Soon after sunset on the day of Arafah,the pilgrims leave for Muzdalifah quietly andreverently.

In Muzdalifah, the pilgrim performsMaghrib and Isha prayers combined, short-ening the Isha prayer to two Rak’ah. Pilgrimsstay overnight in Muzdalifah to perform theFajr prayer and wait until the brightness ofthe morning is widespread before they leavefor Mina passing through the sacred Mash’arAl Haram valley.

Back to MinaStoning Jamrat Al-AqabahWhen the pilgrims arrive in Mina, they go

to Jamrat Al-Aqabah where they stone it withseven pebbles glorifying Allah “Allah-u-Akbar” at each throw and calling on him toaccept their Hajj. The time of stoning JamratAl-Aqabah is after sunrise. The size of thepebbles should not be more than that of apea. The pebbles can be picked up either inMuzdalifah or in Mina.

Slaughter of SacrificeAfter stoning Jamrat Al-Aqabah, the

pilgrim goes to slaughter his sacrifice ei-ther personally or through the appointmentof somebody else to do it on his behalf. Apilgrim should slaughter either a sheep, orshare a cow or a camel with six others

. Shaving the Head orTrimming the Hair:

The final rite on the tenth day after of-fering one’s sacrifice is to shave his heador to cut some of the hair. For women, thelength of hair to be cut is that of a finger-tip. The stoning of Jamrat Al-Aqabah andthe shaving of head or the trimming of hairsymbolizes the end of the first phase of thestate of Ihram and the lifting of its restric-tions except for sexual intercourse withone’s spouse.

Tawaf Al_IfadaTawaf Al-Ifadha is a fundamental rite

of Hajj. The pilgrim makes Tawaf Al-Ifadhah by visiting Al-Masjid Al-Haraamand circling the Ka’bah seven times andpraying two Rak’ah behind Maqam

brahim if possible and without causing anyharm to Muslims. Then the pilgrim shouldmake Sa’i between the Safa and the Marwa. After Tawaf Al-Ifadhah the state of Ihramis completely ended and all restrictions arelifted including sexual intercourse withone’s spouse. Tawaf Al-Ifadah can be de-layed until the days spent in Mina are over.

The pilgrim should return to Mina andspend there the 11th 12th and 13th days ofDhul-Hijjah.

During each day, and after Dhuhrprayer until the midnight, the pilgrimstones the three stone pillars called“Jamrat”: The smaller, the medium andJamrat Al-Aqabah, glorifying Allah “Al-lah-u-Akbar “with each throw of the sevenpebbles stoned at each pillar.

These pebbles are picked up in Mina. A pilgrim may leave Mina to Makkah onthe 13th of Dhul-Hijjah or on the 12th if hewishes, there is no blame on him if hechooses the latter, but he has to leave be-fore sunset if not he must stay in Mina tillhe throws the pebbles the next day (13th).

Farewell Tawaf:Farewell Tawaf is the final rite of Hajj.

It is to make another Tawaf around theKa’bah.

28 MuslimSunrise

By Naseer A Tahir, M.D.

O n May 22, 2010 NicolausCopernicus was finally laidto rest in Poland, this timewith due honor andrecognition. When Nicolaus

Copernicus died on May 24, 1543, he wasoriginally buried as an unknown scholarrejected by Catholic Church. His history-changing book was published claiming aheliocentric view with the sun being inthe center and not the ear th . Thecommonly held biblical view was that thesun revolves around the earth. His claim,while starting the scientific revolutionand forming the bas is of modernastronomy, initiated the cleavage betweenscience and Christianity. The medievalChurch cont inued i t s opposi t ion ofscience, f ight ing f iercely when thescientific discoveries did not reconcilewith the Bible. The dogmatic biblicalview point could not keep pace withdemands of reason and rationality posedby science, and dealt with this reality byresorting to persecution and oppressionof scientists such as Galileo, Bruno andNewton. It took centuries for this tochange. At a special ceremony in theVatican on May 9, 1983, His Holiness thePope John Paul II declared:

“The Church’s experience, during theGalileo affair and after it, has led to a moremature attitude ... the Church is convincedthat there can be no real contradictionbetween science and faith...”

Bernard Haisch, a well known astro-physicist, describes science in his bookThe God Theory: “Science today isbased on the premises of materialism, re-ductionism, and randomness.” Materi-alism for him is that all reality consistsof matter and energy, all measurable andobservable. Reductionism means thatcomplex things can be explained by ex-plaining their constituents. Randomnessrefers to the convention that natural pro-cesses follow laws of chance.

In his book, The God Delusion Rich-ard Dawkins writes:

“Fundamentalists know that they areright because they have read the truthin a holy book and they know, in ad-vance, that nothing will budge them fromtheir belief. ... The book is true, and ifthe evidence seems to contradict it, it isthe evidence that must be thrown out,not the book. By contrast what I, as ascientist, believe (for example, evolu-tion) I believe not because of reading aholy book, but because I have studiedthe evidence.”

What he claimed in his statement is:The Holy Book (Dawkins was talkingabout a holy book not just Quran so theauthor might want to elaborate here thatby The Holy Book the author meansQuran) is not true because it is not basedon evidence; science is true because itis all from evidence. In this article, I willsubmit that both of these presumptionsare wrong.

Sir Martin Rees in his famous book

Just Six Numbers has introduced us tosix finely tuned constants that rule theuniverse. Life on this planet is a rarephenomenon and possible only withthose constants and any slight variationof which is not compatible with presenceof life. The scientific idea of randomnessas an explanation for creation of the uni-verse poses a problem, and the only wayout for scientists is the proposal oftheory of Multiple Universes. Here ishow Bernard Haisch describes it in hisbook The Purpose Guided Universe:

“Our Universe has numerous charac-teristics that together make for a highlyunlikely fine-tuning of properties. Thisis considered by scientist to be seriousand significant enough to warrant an‘explanation.’ Apart from the ‘it is justa lucky accident explanation’ we are leftwith only two possibilities. Either theproperties of our Universe are specialbecause they are indeed the product ofintelligence or they are just the outcomeof statistics. But the latter view requiresthe existence of a vast, perhaps infinitenumber of other unseen universes withproperties different from ours.”

The number of universes needed forthis randomness of chance, as describedin his book The Cosmic Landscape byStanford physicist and father of stringtheory Leonard Susskind, is theorized tobe 10500 that is one followed by 500 ze-roes. By comparison to that the total num-ber of atoms in the entire universe is only1080. Which of the two is a more logicalexplanation? The unique properties ofthe universe are the product of an intelli-gence or randomness that requires the ex-istence of 10500 multi-universes?

The scientific evidence for multi-uni-verse is precisely zero, but the scientists(acting like dogmatic priests) have optedfor the unlikely multi-universe theory.This is just one example of the kind of ‘evi-dence’ that Richard Dawkins is boastingabout.

While mocking at a ‘holy book,’ (hewas mocking at all holy books) RichardDawkins has ironically described the truebelief of all the Muslims about the HolyQuran (might want to elaborate this point).I invite him to read the following with anunbiased (worthy of a scientist) mind:

“There is not a single verse in theQuran where natural phenomena are de-scribed and which contradicts what we

Religious & Science Section

WINTER 2010 29

ture; to reflect, to make the best use ofreason and to make the scientific enter-prise an integral part of the knowledge.’”

The Holy Quran has repeatedly en-couraged and challenged the believersto ponder over nature, “Who has cre-ated seven heavens in harmony. No in-congruity canst thou see in the creationof the Gracious God. Then look again:Seest thou any flaw? Aye, look again,and yet again, thy sight will only returnunto thee confused and fatigued.” (AlQuran, 67:4-5)

Intertwining of Divine knowledgeand scientific development also pro-duced other unique aspects only foundin Islamic empires: tolerance of otherfaiths and equal opportunity for all .Michael Morgan in his book Lost His-tory writes:

“A Muslim history that was about in-vention, creativity, tolerance, and coex-istence. It is a Muslim history that hadbeen more intellectually accomplishedthan the Christian Europe of the day, anda Muslim past where Christian, Jews,Hindus, and Buddhists had flourishedand worked together. It is culture thathad seeded the European Renaissance,and helped enable many aspects of themodern West and global civilization.

It is a history that by the beginningof the 21st century had been forgotten,ignored, misunderstood, suppressed, oreven rewritten.”

During Medieval times while Islamic

know for certain from our discoveries in Sci-ence.” (Maurice Bucaille in the Bible, theQuran and Science)

The truth of the Holy Quran is acceptedby many other scientists, following is an ex-ample of that:

“The intensive studies of the Qur’an andHadith in the last four years have revealed asystem of classifying human embryos thatis amazing since it was recorded in the sev-enth century A.D. … the descriptions in theQur’an cannot be based on scientific knowl-edge in the seventh century.” (Keith L.Moore Professor Emeritus, Department ofAnatomy and Cell Biology, University ofToronto)

As scientific knowledge developed it be-came clear that the biblical knowledge wasinadequate in many spheres. Creationismand Intelligent Design movement are stillfighting the scientifically proven conceptsof Evolution. Scientific development in Is-lamic world, taking place centuries before re-naissance, generally, faced no such handi-cap, until the more recent times.

For the Muslims, the Holy Quran is theword of God and Science is God in actionwith complete manifestation of all His rules.Since there is no intermingling of a humanhand in the Holy Quran, each word, eachsentence and each chapter of the Holy Quranis from the Divine and therefore the ultimatetruth. When the Muslims find any contra-diction between science and genuine under-standing of the Quran, they firmly believethat the correct interpretation of the Quran

will always prevail and scientific ideawill be proven wrong, as knowledge ofscience is tentative.

The acquisition of knowledge is theduty for a l l Musl im men andwomen.TheHolyProphet Muhammadsaw

advised all Muslims to acquire knowl-edge from the cradle to the grave evenif one had to go to China (a distant andhard to reach country at that time).Muslims have acted upon this advicethroughout the ages. Abu Raihan AlBiruni was a great scholar in Islamic his-tory. The story of his death is told bysomeone who was his contemporary. Heheard Al Biruni was dying and he hur-ried to his house. Al Biruni opened hiseyes and said, “are you so and so?” Hesaid yes to that. Al Biruni said, “I amtold you know the resolution of a knottyproblem in the laws of inheritance ofIslam.” He said, “Abu Raihan at thistime?” Al Biruni replied, “Don’t youthink it is better that I should die know-ing, rather than ignorant?”

Dalafi and Hassan mention in Re-naissance of sciences in Islamic coun-tries:

“According to Dr. MohammadAijazul Khatib of Damascus Univer-sity, nothing can emphasize the impor-tance of science more than the remarkthat ‘in contrast to 250 verses whichare legislative, some 750 verse of theHoly Quran — almost one eighth of it— exhort the believers to study Na-

For the Muslims, the Holy Quran is the word ofGod and Science is God in action with

complete manifestation of all His rules. Sincethere is no intermingling of a human hand in

the Holy Quran, each word, each sentenceand each chapter of the Holy Quran is fromthe Divine and therefore the ultimate truth.

30 MuslimSunrise

empires flourished in the Middle East andSpain, religion and science coexsited har-moniously. Many connect the renais-sance to the flow of knowledge fromSpain to southern Europe. Several ex-amples of religious differences leadingto persecutions and prosecutions arefound, but no record of mal-treatment of any scholar orscientist such as Galileo ex-i s t s . I f the Re l ig ion wasthought of God, then scienceis the study of action of God.

George Sar ton , in h i smonumental five-volume His-tory of Science, has dividedthe s to ry o f sc ien t i f i cachievements into ages eachlasting half a century and con-nected to a central figure. 450-400 B.C., Sarton calls the ageof Plato, followed by half cen-turies of Aristotle, of Euclid,of Archimedes, and so on.From 750 A.D to 1100 A.D. isthe unbroken succession ofIslamic scholars and scien-tists: Jabir, Khwarizmi, Bazi,Masudi , Wafa , Bi run i ,Avicenna, Ibn Al Haitham andOmar Khayam. The first Eu-ropean name of Gerard ofCremona appears in 1100 A.D.but honors are sti l l sharedwith names of Ibn-Rushd,Musa Bin Maimoun, Tusi, andIbn-Nafs. After 1350 A.D., only an occa-sional mention of Islamic names is to befound, as if the beacon of light of knowl-edge had moved to Europe entirely.

What happened to the Muslims infourteenth century?

The seeds were sown that led to Is-lam of today that finds itself in a state ofbackwardness and darkness. The samepeople who were the providers and bea-con of light for all now stand in need tobeg it from others. The thought slowlyentered Muslim minds that science mustlead to rationality and eventually lack offaith. According to Dr. Abdus Salam, theNobel Laureate in Physics from Pakistan,the causes for the downfall were bothexternal as well as internal. While inva-sion by the Mongols that destroyed theempire was one of the external causes,the internal factors include the downfallof ideology, which can be seen compar-

ing the thoughts of two Islamic schol-ars, Al-Kindi with that of Ibn-Khaldun(This idea is not clear). (Renaissance ofSciences in Islamic countries by Dalafiand Hassan)

More than 1100 years ago Al-Kindiwrote:

“It is fitting then for us not to beashamed to acknowledge truth and to as-similate it from whatever source it comesto us. For him who scales the truth, thereis nothing of higher value than truth it-self; it never cheapens nor abases himwho seeks.”

The apathy towards scientific re-search that latter developed is evidentfrom fol lowing, f rom Ibn-Khaldun,Muqddima:

“We have heard, of late, that in thelands of Franks, and on the northernshores of Mediterranean, there is a greatcultivation of philosophical sciences. ...But it is clear that the problems of phys-ics are of no importance for us in our re-ligious affairs. Therefore, we must leavethem alone.”

Muslims had changed in their think-ing and actions. Al Biruni was accusedof heresy for using a Byzantine solar cal-

endar to calculate prayers timings. AlBiruni retorted, “The Byzantine also par-take of bread. Will you now promulgatea religious sanction against bread?”

Unfortunately this backward attitudecontinues. In his speech delivered inBahrain on May11, 1983, Dr Abdus Salam

talked about his unification theoryand its effects in future technologyand economy. He said:

“So far, the only comment on thesediscoveries made by an Arab-Islamicjournal was last month; this journal,published in London, accused me offollowing in my research on the unifi-cation of these fundamental forces,‘the heretical Sufi doctrine of Wahdat-ul-Wujud.’” Dr. Abdus Salam’s reac-tion to this ill placed comment was,‘Inalillahe wa inna illahe rajeoon.’This brief verse is generally recitedon death of a person and also used asan expression of shocking amazement.The same journal promoted the ideathat we as Muslims should not con-cern ourselves with advances in sci-ence. We should concentrate on imi-tative technology.

Muslims can achieve their scien-tific glory once again. All they needto do is turn back to their originalFaith, as they had done in past. Weneed to revert to the Quranic injunc-tion, “In the creation of the heavensand the earth and in the alternation ofthe night and the day there are indeed

Signs for men of understanding. (TheHoly Quran 3:191)

The writer is an Anesthesiologist and PainManagement Specialist in Rochester, NY.He is President of the local chapter of theAhmadiyya Muslim Community and hasbeen since 1983.

Endnotes:

1 Dawkins Richard. The God Delusion.Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.2 Dalfi, H.R. Hassan, M.H.A. Renaissance ofSciences in Islamic countries. World Scientific,1994.3 Rees, M. Just six Numbers. Basic Books, 2000.4 Haisch Bernard. The Purpose-Guided Universe.New Page Books, 2010.5 Haisch Bernard. The God Theory. WeiserBooks, 2006.6 Morgan Michael Hamilton. Lost History.National Geographic, 2007.

WINTER 2010 31

Terror in thename of God:

Book Review by Maham Khan

Author Jessica Stern has sought todiscover the underlying reasons whynormal people with normal sensitivitiessuddenly transform into beings with noempathy towards those who hold oppos-ing beliefs. In her book, Terror in theName of God: Why Religious MilitantsKill, she has presented her interviewswith terrorists as well as cult memberswith the intention of trying to understandwhat goes through their minds in orderto kill...in the name of God, while theycontinue to worship Him, do good deedsand extend chari ty towards society.Where and how do the “malice and fore-

thought,” the components of terrorism,come in? What attracts people to jointhese groups and what are their griev-

ances? And then how does a leader ef-fectively run the organization? How is theleader able to successfully generate thetrain of thought to hate, harm and kill in-nocent people?

Jessica Stern put on her own empathicgarb to elicit this information from them,believing that it is necessary to grasp theroots of the beliefs of terrorists withoutany prejudice towards them. To developsuch a relationship is a must if we are tocombat the evil of terrorism: we need tocomprehend their own reasoning behindtheir motives. Stern says, “...I wanted tounderstand how they view the world andhow they feel, in order better to under-stand how to stop them” (introduction,page xxix).

Several grievances are highlighted“that lead operatives to become terror-ists” and engage in religious conflicts.However their goals are multi-dimen-sional, not necessarily always remainingreligious or spiritual in principle but quiteoften political as well as profit-oriented,thereby “switching from grievance togreed” (page 7). But to terrorize peopleis their first line of defense, or attack,whichever way we view it.

Humiliation and alienation are empha-sized as core sources for frustrated citi-zens as well as nations set back from theirgoals, to turn to terrorism. Such defeatedpeople easily succumb to the motivationsof terrorists. Stern has pointed out thatit is a matter of identifying these sourcesas well as the motivational factors thatfollow.

She herself has described quite a fewpaths that people’s lives and even na-tions, take before they get sucked into agroup that they can relate with.

Touching upon today’s martyrdomoperations, she has elucidated how lead-ers manipulate innocent men and theirfamilies, using religion and giving themrewards, both material and spiritual, tojoin a cause but also to join the sect aswas being done during the Roman Em-pire by the Christians.

Her interviews with the men in herbook have revealed how “hopelessness,deprivation, envy and humiliation makedeath and paradise, seem more appeal-ing” (pg 38), and hence the birth of a sui-cide-bomber. Furthermore, Stern hasbrought to light not only why and howMuslims become suicide-bombers but has

Author Jessica Stern

32 MuslimSunrise

drawn a similarity in how early Chris-tians glorified martyrs.

Stern’s honest work has shown thatterrorism is not peculiar to just one re-ligion or one nation. Apocalyptic cultshave their own share of zealous follow-ers who claimed that “...if purging hadto precede peace, then let the purgingbegin” (introduction, pg xv).

Ex i s t ing today a re even Jewishgroups that have aggressive agendasof their own regarding Jerusalem ande v e n t h e b u i l d i n g o f t h e T h i r dTemple...by blasting off the Dome of theRock first as revealed by an interestinginterview, with an MIT graduate, YoelLerner, who was imprisoned for terror-ist plots in Jerusalem.

Stern has also discussed in great ex-tent, how the mingling of church andstate has promoted the goals of reli-gious groups or terrorist organizationsand has cos t na t ions thousands o flives. In some cases, e.g., Maluku (In-donesia) and Pakistan, the governmentand even the military has played a vitalrole in shaping jihadi groups that even-tually corrupt to become violent. Some-

times these groups are formed to pro-tect the people because the governmenthad failed to do so. And so they preyon the disenchanted and recruit themto become future terrorists. Ultimately,it becomes difficult for the sitting oreven succeeding government to reignin the “genie it unleashed” (pg 78).

Leaders of terrorist organizationsand religious cults, as examined by theauthor, have to be adept at instinctivelyreaching out to another’s inner desiresand to recognize what is missing andwhat could satisfy the recruit. The strictmilitant ethics provided in these orga-nizations are part of the attraction forthose who want answers and solace forthemselves and the society. They findtheir solutions in men who have refinedthe art of preaching their beliefs withconfidence and wear a religious facadeto impress their sincerity upon others.

In 1998 , she in te rv iewed Ker ryNoble, an elder of the Christian cultcalled The Covenant, the Sword, andthe Arm of the Lord (CSA) whose mainpurpose was to bring about the returnof Jesus Christas. She quotes him say-

Her book is astraightforwardpiece of work

showing no biastowards any religion

or nation. Todayterrorism is a global

war with many ofthe participants

sadly being Muslim,yet she has not

excluded the role ofthe United States in

the mess thatMuslims have found

themselves in.

ing “the original timetable was up toGod but God could use us in creatingArmageddon. That if we stepped out,things might be hurried along. You gettired of waiting for what you think Godis planning” (pg 11). It is people likehim who carry such frustrations withthe world at large who are capitalizedupon. He also described how his supe-r ior made the members fee l secureamong themselves. He emphasized hisdesire for them to be purified and con-vinced them that they were s t rong.Thus, the psychological process staysin tac t by cons tan t ly reminding themembers of such convictions and de-sires.

Jessica Stern took a whirlwind jour-ney from Cambridge, Massachusettes,spanning over a couple of years totravel to places like Jerusalem, Paki-stan, Afghanistan, India, Indonesia, tocome up with Terror in the Name of God:Why Religious Militants Kill. Her bookreveals to us what lies behind the mani-fes tos o f r e l ig ious g roups such asLaskar Jihad, CSA, the Army of Godbetter known as Doctor Killers, or theTemple Mount Faithful. Her candid in-terviews with noted organizational lead-ers such as Indonesian cleric Ja’farUmar Thalib, Fazlur Rahman Khalil(Harkat-ul-Mujahideen) inform us ofhow men are sucked into these reli-gious groups and how they are taughtto nurture their “killer self” in cults andmadrassahs.

Her book is a straight-forward pieceof work showing no bias towards anyreligion or nation. Today terrorism is aglobal war with many of the partici-pants sadly being Muslim, yet she hasnot excluded the role of the UnitedStates in the mess that Muslims havefound themselves in. Acknowledgingthat it is a long road, she believes ter-rorism can only be fought with strin-gent controls on all aspects that terror-ist organizations are heavily dependenton, e.g., weapons, outside funding andpolitical support etc. However, whenreligion is being used to mobilize thepeople, it is the religious aspect thatneeds to be fully grasped and in manycases corrected. The belief that theirterror tactics are morally justified canonly be countered by the fact that “God,as is His wont, is silent.”

WINTER 2010 33

Poetry Corner

Daylight breaks; the headlines scream—Mosques attacked; a deadly scheme.

Oceans apart; my sinking heart—Bodies strewn; the innocent depart.Who am I to a country gone cold?

To extremists bereft of mind and soul?I’m an Ahmadi; I’m not a stranger—

I’m a writer; I’m not a fighter.

Lahore awakens; the 28th of May—A mother weeps while her children lay.

A hundred martyrs from the bullets’ rounds—Their blood still cries from the hallowed

grounds.Who am I to the injured and the worn?

To the father and the brother; to the familiestorn?

I’m an Ahmadi; I’m not a stranger—I’m a writer; I’m not a fighter.

Stirred hearts and awakened minds—Millions watch; their emotions grind.

The attackers’ wish? More blood on thefloor—

Of bullets and grenades; of bombs and wars.Who am I to the extreme and the barbaric?Whose anger their ailment; whose murder

their tonic?I’m an Ahmadi; I’m not a stranger—

I’m a writer; I’m not a fighter.

Confusion reigns; as the bloodstains on the victims’ remains—

Witness reports; terrorists’ retorts;the police explains.

Calm prevails; as the Ahmadis hailthe Khalifa’s statement—Of patience and prayer; ofcourage and containment.

Who am I to my beloved Imam—Whose shield I fight behind from?

I’m an Ahmadi; I’m not astranger—

I’m a writer; I’m not a fighter.

The law’s awry; hands are tied; thelies no one buys—

A cryptic defense; leaders growtense; little surprise.

But justice is blind; the truth theywill find; it’s Allah’s design—We strive for what’s right; ourpens our might; the enemies

decline.Who am I to my one true

Jama’at—Whose unity I derive my life from?

I’m an Ahmadi; I’m not astranger—

I’m a writer; I’m not a fighter.

I’m a writer, not a fighterBy Amjad Mahmood Khan

Daylight breaks; the headlines scream—Mosques attacked; a deadly scheme.

Oceans apart; my sinking heart—Bodies strewn; the innocent depart.Who am I to a country gone cold?

To extremists bereft of mind and soul?I’m an Ahmadi; I’m not a stranger—

I’m a writer; I’m not a fighter.

Lahore awakens; the 28th of May—A mother weeps while her children lay.

A hundred martyrs from the bullets’ rounds—Their blood still cries from the hallowed

grounds.Who am I to the injured and the worn?

To the father and the brother; to the familiestorn?

I’m an Ahmadi; I’m not a stranger—I’m a writer; I’m not a fighter.

Stirred hearts and awakened minds—Millions watch; their emotions grind.

The attackers’ wish? More blood on thefloor—

Of bullets and grenades; of bombs and wars.Who am I to the extreme and the barbaric?Whose anger their ailment; whose murder

their tonic?I’m an Ahmadi; I’m not a stranger—

I’m a writer; I’m not a fighter.

Confusion reigns; as the bloodstains on the victims’ remains—

Witness reports; terrorists’ retorts;the police explains.

Calm prevails; as the Ahmadis hailthe Khalifa’s statement—Of patience and prayer; ofcourage and containment.

Who am I to my beloved Imam—Whose shield I fight behind from?

I’m an Ahmadi; I’m not astranger—

I’m a writer; I’m not a fighter.

The law’s awry; hands are tied; thelies no one buys—

A cryptic defense; leaders growtense; little surprise.

But justice is blind; the truth theywill find; it’s Allah’s design—We strive for what’s right; ourpens our might; the enemies

decline.Who am I to my one true

Jama’at—Whose unity I derive my life from?

I’m an Ahmadi; I’m not astranger—

I’m a writer; I’m not a fighter.

34 MuslimSunrise

Ahadith Sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsaw

Ibn Abbas relates:I was riding behind the Holy Prophetsaw one day when he said: Boy, Iwould instruct thee in some matters. Be watchful of Allah, He will bewatchful of thee. Safeguard His commandments; He will be ever withthee. When thou must ask, as of Allah alone; and when thou must seekhelp, implore Allah alone for help. Remember that if all the peoplewere to combine to bestow some benefit upon thee, they would not beable to bestow anything upon thee except that which Allah hasappointed for thee, and that if all of them were to combine to harmthee, they would not be able to afflict thee with anything except thatwhich Allah has decreed against thee. The pens have been lifted andthe ink of the books has become dry.

Safeguard the commandments of Allah, you will find Him before you;remember Him in prosperity, He will remember you in adversity. Besure that that which has led you into error will not lead you aright,and that which has guided you to good will not lead you astray.Remember that help comes with steadfastness, there is prosperityafter adversity and that hardship is followed by ease.

Shaddad Ibn Aus relates:The Holy Prophetsaw said: A wise person is one who watches overhimself and restrains himself from that which is harmful and strivesfor that which will confront him after death; and a foolish one is hewho gives rein to his cravings and seeks Allah for the fulfillment of hisvain desires.

WINTER 2010 35

News, Views and Reviews

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Standing Behind Americaand Islam

Rizwan Alladin

With the United States fighting two ardu-ous wars in so-called Muslim countries, itwould seem difficult for American Muslims tobe proud of their country and to sing the praiseof the Constitution, especially on July Fourth.However, if a Muslim truly reflects onAmerica’s history and heritage, one shouldconclude that loving this country is the easi-est thing to do.

During the days when the United Statespopulation was primarily Caucasian and Chris-tian, we fought other similar-looking countriesduring World War I and World War II. Earlierthan that, we even fought ourselves in theCivil War. But as those were conflicts of ideol-ogy, it became imperative for America to fight,which is sadly the same situation now. Thenew troublesome ideologies of influence byterror, persecution of women and minorities,and restriction of freedom of thought, are nei-ther American nor Muslim.

I implore all my fellow American Muslimsto wholeheartedly celebrate IndependenceDay, and continue to show our support forour troops and pray for the success of theirmission and safe return.

Thank you, Founding FathersTahir Ahmad

It took awhile for me, an Indonesian Mus-lim who works and lives in America, to appre-ciate the significance of July Fourth. Then, Icame across a quote of President John F.Kennedy that helped me understand: “Letevery nation know, whether it wishes us wellor ill, that we shall pay any price, bear anyburden, meet any hardship, support anyfriend, oppose any foe to assure the survivaland the success of liberty.”

Since I have lived here, this nation has

given me an education, freedom, security andthe liberty to become a part of its society. Iunderstand and realize that this country haspaid a huge price and sacrificed many of itscitizens for me, and so many others like me, toenjoy these freedoms. For this I am very grate-ful and this July Fourth, I simply want to sayto the Founding Fathers, “Thank you.”

July 4thBy: Sohail Hussain

On this Fourth of July, I salute the flag andour founding fathers for allowing all Ameri-cans to practice their faith freely. In fact, itwas in a letter to Baptists in Connecticut thatin 1802 then President Thomas Jeffersoncoined the phrase ‘separation of church andstate.’ He assured them of the first amend-ment to the Constitution, which states that,“Congress shall make no law respecting anestablishment of religion, or prohibiting thefree exercise thereof.” Now almost nine yearssince 9/11, I appreciate more than before thecountry to which I belong. This is becausedespite the finding that the terror was perpe-trated by renegade Muslims, our governmentprotects my right as a Muslim to openly preachthe true and peaceful message of Islam that Iand millions of American Muslims uphold. Aswe wave our stars and stripes, lets us all honorour Constitution and its authors. Let us alsopray that our nation continues to flourish onthese principles of religious freedom and thatthe rest of the world follows suit.

Ground Zero Mosque: AMuslim’s Perspective

By: Harris ZafarShould a Muslim group be allowed to

build an Islamic prayer center two blocksaway from Ground Zero? This simple ques-tion has evolved into a passionate debate,as zealous support and opposition is seenalmost daily in the news. Organizers of theMuslim mosque near Ground Zero are push-ing the project forward despite a growing

number of vocal opponents wishing to haltthis project in its tracks.

At the center of this controversy is the“Cordoba House” (also being called “Park51”); a $100 million construction project of a13-story Islamic Center two blocks fromwhere the twin towers once stood. Themosque is a project of the American Societyfor Muslim Advancement and the CordobaInstitute, which promotes cross-cultural un-derstanding between Islam and the West. Ledby Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the group hopesthe new structure will stand as a symbol oftolerance and unity. Detractors call it an in-sult for an Islamic structure to be erected atthe site of the tragic 9/11 attacks where nearly3,000 Americans lost their lives.

At a hearing last week at the LandmarksPreservation Commission, nearly 100 angrypeople gathered, advocating to obstruct thisIslamic Center from being built. What mayhave begun as a civil show of disagreementoften reverted to boorish shouts from thecrowd whenever someone would speak infavor of the project.

With the passage of time, we see moremosque construction plans face opposition.Currently, the Islamic Center of Murfreesborois facing fierce opposition to its plans of con-structing an Islamic Center to serve the needsof the Muslim community in Murfreesboro,Tennessee. Back in 2007, the AhmadiyyaMuslim Community canceled its plans to pur-chase a large plot of land in Walkersville,Maryland, for use as a prayer space and fornational events after the township pressedgovernment officials to halt the sale of theland.

As a Muslim, I know a mosque is meantto be a symbol of peace and must not beused as the source of hostility. The only wayto maintain civility and peace is for the Mus-lim group sponsoring each mosque construc-tion project to reach out to its neighbors andunderstand their concerns so that any erro-neous fears can be addressed with peace andrespect.

The bitter fact is that the actions of ex-tremists have made it difficult for many Ameri-cans to trust even moderate Muslims becauseof the inability of such people to separatethe extreme faction from the rest of the Mus-lim world. Consequently, Muslims in Americaneed to be sensitive to the fears and the mis-trust that have infiltrated the minds of many

36 MuslimSunrise

of their fellow citizens. Patience and persever-ance are needed in order to help our fellowAmericans understand that a Muslim and aMosque are nothing to be afraid of.

It appears that the Cordoba House’s orga-nizers sought to avoid early publicity aroundthe proposed construction project and appar-ently waited months before seeking publiccomment. The ensuing firestorm from the lo-cal neighborhoods and communities does not,therefore, appear to be all too surprising. Abetter and potentially more palatable approachwould have been to conduct broad commu-nity outreach and enlist broad communitysupport before pushing the Center’s planthrough local government channels. Given thesensitivities surrounding the Ground Zero siteand the general ignorance of Islam, this ap-proach may have averted the nasty debate wehave now. Ultimately, I am in the favor of theconstruction of a mosque, but I am not happywith the way the organizers have appeared tohave pursued it.

Any Muslim community planning to builda mosque must reach out to the surroundingneighborhood and personally share their in-tentions behind the construction project. Iffear and mistrust is born of ignorance, thenopen dialogue and education is the only wayto help people overcome this misplaced fear.

If Muslims want to stand for peace, theymust stand patiently. We must respond to fear,intolerance and even hatred with peace, edu-cation and patience. That is our true Jihad.

July 23, 2010Secularism Is An Islamic doctrine

By: Ismat Mangla andSardar Anees Ahmad

Some two million Muslims, according tothe Pew Research Center, have the privilegeof living in the United States today. Many arecitizens who vote, participate in all parts ofcivic life and hold steady jobs. But there arestill some Americans who distrust Muslim-Americans, as evidenced by the current op-position to mosque projects in both Manhat-tan and Tennessee. Americans may wonder:Do Muslims living in Western society haveany sense of loyalty to their non-Muslim gov-ernments? If a country enacts Shariah law,does that mean that women and non-Muslims

will lose all their rights? Are non-Muslim coun-tries with large Muslim populations in dan-ger?

This past weekend, more than 6,000Ahmadi Muslims gathered in Virginia for the62nd annual convention of the AhmadiyyaMuslim Community USA, where this impor-tant issue was discussed. Mr. Naseem Mahdi,the missionary-in-charge and a vice presidentof the community, delivered a keynote speechon the question “Are Muslims required toobey non-Muslim governments?” The answer,according to Mr. Mahdi and the AhmadiyyaMuslim Community, is a resounding yes.

From the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’sperspective, there is no doubt: Secularism, is,in fact, an Islamic doctrine. “Islam,” Mr. Mahdisaid, “does not promote a system that dividesthe citizens of a country into classes, whereMuslims are first-class citizens, and everyoneelse is not.”

The Holy Qur’an states: “Verily, Allahcommands you to give over the trusts to thoseentitled to them, and that, when you judgebetween men, you judge with justice.” (4:59). This verse mandates that the Muslims acceptthe most capable person as their ruler, irre-spective of faith. And once that ruler is ap-pointed, Muslims must obey him:“Obey...those who are in authority among you”(4:60). Prophet Muhammad himself said, “Youshould listen to and obey your ruler, even ifyou [despise him]” (Bukhari). This is suffi-cient evidence of Islam’s mandate for the sepa-ration of mosque and state.

In fact, Prophet Muhammad took the is-sue of obedience to your government evenfurther. He said, “Love of your homeland, yourplace of residence, is part of your faith.” Thefounder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Commu-nity, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, reiterated

this message, stating, “It should be the dutyof every Muslim to render true and sincereobedience to this government and offer heart-felt gratitude to such an authority and prayfor its welfare.”

“If Muslims are living in the United States,they are part of this society,” Mr. Mahdi added.According to their own religious obligations,they must be loyal to and follow the rule oflaw of the society in which they reside. In fact,Muslims have a special responsibility in coun-tries like this one, which affords them so manyfreedoms. The Holy Qur’an says that God isunfavorable of those who are not grateful forwhat’s given to them: “If you are grateful, Iwill, surely bestow more favors on you; but ifyou are ungrateful, then know that My pun-ishment is severe indeed” (14:8). To take ad-vantage of American freedoms without beinggrateful for them is hypocritical and againstthe teachings of Islam.

So does Islam’s mandate of loyalty dictatethat Muslims blindly agree with any govern-mental policy, regardless of its merit? Mr.Mahdi added, “Sometimes people misunder-stand ‘obedience.’ It does not mean you can-not disagree. The first step in democracy isdissent. That’s part of the freedom of living inthis society.”

Disagreeing through legal channels, there-fore, is permissible in Islam. What’s not ac-ceptable: creating any sort of disorder whilevoicing or demonstrating your disagreement.In 2:206, the Holy Qur’an states, “And whenhe is in authority, he runs about in the land tocreate disorder in it and destroys the cropsand the progeny of man; and Allah loves notdisorder.” Thus, spreading any type of dis-cord is absolutely anti-Islamic. “If you havebeen wronged,” said Mr. Mahdi, “You havethe option of legal recourse, or you can mi-grate from that country. That is what the HolyQur’an allows.” He cited 4:98, which states,“...They will reply, ‘We were treaded as weakin the land.’ They will say, ‘Was not Allah’searth vast enough for you to emigratetherein?’”

Prophet Muhammad himself was the bestexample of this practice. After spending mostof his life in Mecca, the persecution Muslimsfaced there became too much to bear. So theProphet asked his followers to leave theirhomes and migrate to Medina. American Mus-lims are fortunate to not face such a burden;instead, we’re blessed to live in a land thatensures our religious freedoms and respectsour right to worship. The least we can do, then,is to remain loyal to it.

“If Muslims are living in theUnited States, they are part of thissociety,” Mr. Mahdi added. Accord-ing to their own religious obliga-tions, they must be loyal to and

follow the rule of law of the societyin which they reside. In fact,

Muslims have a special responsibil-ity in countries like this one, which

affords them so many freedoms.

WINTER 2010 37

In a documentary onHBO called “My Trip with AlQaeda.” A journalist spendstime in Egypt, interviewssources, etc. He then writesa Broadway play detailinghis experiences, along withthe history of Saudi Arabia,Egypt, Bin Laden, etc. In his narrative, he talksabout Taif, 55 miles fromMecca, in which BinLaden’s dad was in chargeof building a road for thosetwo cities. He parallels Taifwith 9/11 by saying thatProphet Muhammadsaw wasthe first to use a catapult tobreak down a large wall inTaif to lay siege to that city in630 AD, even while knowingwomen and children wouldbe hurt. The catapult is thesimile to the planes thatstruck the towers. Is thisTaif story true, somethingtells me he is wrong.

The Taif story is true. The Prophetsaw,after the battle of Hunain, did lay siegeto the town for 21 days. The main tribeliving there were the Thaqif. There werenegotiations to let the women and chil-dren leave, but the women, (amongstthem a daughter of Abu Sufyan who wasmarried to Urwa bin Masu'd) refused.The siege engine, testudo, was used tobreak down the gate and the outer forti-fications of the city. The Muslims at-tacked under its cover but were re-pulsed, leaving about 13 dead. Therewere no known casualties amongst theThaqif. The Muslims eventually lifted thesiege, but as was customary, the Prophetdid not lay waste their orchards outsidethe city and that bode well with theThaqif. Urwa accepted Islam and cameto Medina. He was killed on his returnby the Thaqif. The real chief of Thaqif,

Answer Abdu Yalail (who had denied help tothe Prophet during his first visit to Taif)became convinced that they could notsurvive in opposition sent a delegationto Medina to seek terms of surrender.They negotiated for many days - thesticking point was the destruction oftheir goddess, Al Lat, which was alarge rock statue. The Prophet did notbudge from his demand of its immedi-ate destruction. Neither would hecountenance a reduction in the obliga-tory prayers. Finally, it was agreedthat they would not have to do it them-selves and idol would be destroyed byothers, Abu Sufyan led the team thatdestroyed it and Urwa's son was madetheir chief.

These are the facts as reported bythe historians, Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Hishamand Tabari. The narrative is self ex-planatory.

38 MuslimSunrise

(Mr Sabet, an Egyptian Ahmadi, Engineerby trade, who lived in Canada and servedour community in many ways includinghosting the Arabic programs on MTApassed away recently. In his memory, wereproduce an article written by him andpublished in the Muslim Herald February1982 issue.)

Much has been written and saidabut the advent of the Mahdi inthe latter days. There are many

traditions mentioned by the Holy ProphetMuhammadsaw describing every aspect ofthe life, mission and the time in which theMahdi was to come. Due to these numeroustraditions and the emphasis they lay uponaccepting and supporting the Mahdi in hismission, and his high status affirmed bysome traditions which put him above allprophets before the Holy Prophet saw a greatpart of the Muslim nation has consideredthe advent of the Mahdi to be cornerstonein the reformation of the faith. On the otherhand, we find that many false claimants haveclaimed to be the promised Mahdi.Accordingly, some Muslims are inclined toreject all the traditions about the Mahdi.

I will not try to prove or disprove the au-thenticity of these traditions. To me, and tomany others, these prophecies have alreadybeen fulfilled in the person of the HolyFounder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Is-lam, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas ofQadian, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi,May peace and blessings of God be uponhim as well as on his master, the Holy ProphetMuhammadsaw. I will take only ten propheciesabout the Mahdi and analyze the chances oftheir fulfillment in one person.

I will be making use of the well knownprinciple of probability. If the chance of onething happening is one in X and the chanceof another independent or related thing is onein Y, then the chance that they both happenat the same time is X times Y, i.e. if we throw adice on the table, the chance of getting a spe-cific number is one in six, but if we throw twodice, then the chances of getting the samespecific number from both the dices is one in

The Law of Probability in the Fulfillment ofProphecies about the Mahdi

By Mustafa Sabet

36. The proof of this theory could be found inany college Algebra text. I must point out that inour daily life; we accept the validity of thesescientific facts without any objection. They arethe foundation on which rates are fixed for allkinds of insurable risks, whether it is life, prop-erty or car insurance, and in practice the truth ofthis theory has been proved in every applica-tion.

In evaluating these prophecies we shall haveto answer this question regarding each proph-ecy: One man in how many men could fulfill thisparticular prophecy? I realize that some mayobject to this question, saying that these proph-ecies were made with respect to Mahdi, and noother man can fulfill them. This, of course, istrue when we consider the mass of propheciesregarding the Mahdi but is not true of all indi-vidual prophecies. Let us, for example, take tenprophecies regarding some aspects of the Prom-ised Mahdi, such as:

1. His NameIt was prophesized, for example, that the

Mahdi (literally meaning the Guided One) wouldhave a name which resembled the name of theHoly Prophet. We know that the Holy Prophetsaw was given the name Muhammad at his birth

and it is the name by which he was addressedand mentioned in the Holy Quran. But he hadsaid that had been given different namesamong which were Ahmad and Mahmod,which literally resemble the name Muhammad.Now the question is how many persons havethe name Ahmad or Muhammad? If we as-sume that the average number of people liv-ing is 3000 million, out of which 600 millionare Muslims, a ratio of 2 out of 10; and as-sume that 50% of all Muslims have a namethat one way or another is similar to the HolyProphet’s name, there will be 300 million per-sons who could fulfill this prophecy. Thechances of fulfillment of this prophecy wouldtherefore be 1 in 10 with respect to the totalpopulation. It is well known that the name ofthe Founder of the Ahmadiyya was Ahmad.

2. His OriginIt was also prophesized that the Promised

Reformer would be a man from Persia andwould belong to the family of the HolyProphet saw. Many false claimants who be-longed to the Holy Prophet’s family neglectedthe condition of being of Persian origin. TheHoly Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movementwas a Persian through his father and be-longed to the family of the Holy Prophet saw

through his mother. But was he the only onewho fulfilled this prophecy? Of course not. Ifwe assume that there are 30 million Persiansand all of them belong to the Holy Prophet’sfamily, then the chances of fulfillment of thisprophecy would be 1 in 100.

3. His PlaceIt was mentioned that the Promised One

would come specifically in the area east ofDamascus. If we take the area bounded bythe latitude 300N and 350N and keep proceed-ing further to the east until we reach the Pa-cific Ocean, then everyone living in this areacould have claimed to have fulfilled thisprophecy. Incidentally, Qadian, the little vil-lage of the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Move-ment, lies exactly east of Damascus in the areabounded by latitudes 300N and 350N. Butagain he was not the only person who lived

WINTER 2010 39

in this area, but there may be about 300 million persons living in that stripfrom Damascus to the Pacific, and hence the chances of fulfillment of thisprophecy would be 1 in 10.

4. His Features and ComplexionIt was mentioned that the Promised Mahdi would have a fair com-

plexion, neither white nor black, and would have sharp eyes, soft hair anda flowing beard that would touch his shoulders whenever he turned hisface to the right or the left. This prophecy excludes all the white and blackraces. It also excludes all those who have curly hair from the remainingpopulation. If we estimate a possible number of 30 million people couldfulfill this prophecy, it means that the chance of fulfillment would be 1 in100. Incidentally, the Mahdi of Sudan had a black not dark complexion,had curly not soft and straight hair and had a very short beard. I believethat out of all the claimants to the office of Mahdi, the only one whofulfilled this prophecy in all the details was Hadhrat Ahmadas of Qadian.

5. His HealthIt was prophesized that the Promised One would suffer from two ail-

ments. Of course every one of us has sometimes become a victim of somekind of disease. But how many of us have lived their whole lives carryingwith them two kinds of diseases? If we estimate the number to be 300 millionpersons, then the chances of fulfillment of this prophecy would be 1 in 10.Hadhrat Ahmadas of Qadian suffered from two kinds of diseases and he hadpointed out that this was a sign from Allah to distinguish the true claimantfrom the false one.

6. His RevelationIt was prophesized that the Promised One would receive revelation from

God. I should emphasize here that Islam as explained by the Holy Quran is thelast religion, brought by the Holy Prophetsaw, for all mankind and will remainvalid and intact until the Day of Judgment. No other book is to abrogate themessage of the Holy Quran and no other religion to be sent by God. The onlykind of revelation that may exist after the Holy Prophetsaw is that which bearsglad tidings to the believers and reveals the secrets of the unseen. In no wayshould it contradict, add or cancel any word contained in the Holy Quran.Rather, it should resemble the kind of revelation the Prophet Aaronas receivedin the time of Mosesas. The same was received by the prophets raised in theJewish nations, it did not add or abrogate any teachings of the Torah, but itspurpose was to explain the teaching of the Torah. In the same way, thePromised Mahdi was to receive revelation from God, but his revelation wouldnot contradict any teachings of the Holy Quran. It would only be for thepurpose of proving that Allah is the only True Living God, and to establishthe truth and the triumph of Islam as the only true and living religion.

How many men could fulfill this prophecy? We know that from time totime, someone emerges who claims to have received revelation from God.The Holy Prophetsaw said that in the time between himself and the advent ofthe Mahdi there would be thirty false claimants. For our estimation, we sillassume that in every time there existed thirty persons all claiming to receiverevelation. Accordingly, the chances that this prophecy was to be fulfilledwould be 1 in 100,000,000.

7. His LifeThe Holy Prophet saw had said that the duration of the mission of the

Promised Mahdi would be forty years. Again in the Holy Quran, the criteriaby which we can differentiate between a true and a false prophet is that thefalse one would be killed unless he repents. If we study the life of those who

have claimed to be the promised one for the latter days we find that theywere subjected to the operation of this heavenly law. In Sudan, the onewho claimed to be Mahdi was killed by the British authorities. In Iran, theBab was also killed after six years of his claim. In the West, the founder ofthe Mormon Church was killed at the age of 34. It was only the HolyFounder of the Ahmadiyya Movement who received his first revelation inabout the year 1868 and, for forty years until the year 1908, he spent his lifein the service of Islam. In spite of all kinds of opposition and attempts uponhis life, God saved him from being killed at the hands of his enemiesproviding the irrefutable evidence of his truthful claim to be the PromisedMahdi.

How many men could claim that they had fulfilled this prophecy, thatis to say that they had spent forty years of their life in the service of Islamand that they had been appointed by God for that office, lived for fortyyears and were not humiliated or killed by their opponents? To me there isnone except Hadhrat Ahmadas of Qadian, but just for the sake of argumentand in order not to be accused of exaggerating our estimations, let usassume that there were twenty none unknown and unheard of personwho in addition to Hadhrat Ahmadas had fulfilled this prophecy. Then wecan calculate the chances of fulfillment to be 1 in 100,000,000.

8. His SignsAccording to the Holy Prophet saw the True Mahdi would have a

heavenly sign that had never occurred before. The moon would be eclipsedon the thirteenth of the lunar month and the sun would be eclipsed on thetwenty-eighth, and both eclipses would occur successively in the fastingmonth of Ramadhan. It is worth mentioning that this heavenly sign oc-curred on the same days during the month the Ramadhan of the year 1331after Hijra (AD 1894). The question we ask is how many persons couldclaim that they had fulfilled this prophecy? One may say that the estimatednumber of 3,000,000,000 persons living during the year 1894 could haveclaimed that they fulfilled this particular prophecy. But we must not forgetthat the two eclipses were not just a natural phenomenon, but they were tooccur as a heavenly sign in support of the true Mahdi. In other words, thetrue Mahdi should have made his claim before this sign had occurred, andpoint out to the world that this heavenly sign had been manifested in hissupport. Let us now consider those people who had claimed the office ofthe Mahdi at that time. The Sudanese Mahdi was killed at the hands of hisenemies in the year AD1885, nine years before the sign occurred. TheIranian Bab was killed at the hands of his opponents in the year AD1850,forty years before this sign occurred. It was Hadhrat Ahmadas of Qadian,the only living claimant at that time who claimed to be the true Mahdi andproved that this heavenly sign, which was beyond the power of anyhuman being, was manifested to affirm his truth and support his claim.

However, let us again assume that there were another twenty nineunknown and unheard persons who made such a claim. Then the chancesof fulfillment of this prophecy would be 1 in 100,000,000.

9. His MissionIt was prophesized that the Promised Mahdi would have a dual

mission. As a spiritual son of the Holy Prophet Muhammad saw, hewould be a reformer to the Muslims, who would purge the religionof Islam of all the misconceptions that had crept into it. He wouldalso be a reformer to the Christians and prove to them their error inholding a human being as God and ultimately would bring the fol-lowers of the three great religions, viz. Islam, Christianity and Juda-ism, into unity by proving that Jesus was a true prophet who was

40 MuslimSunrise

delivered from the shameful death upon the Cross. This dual missionof the Promised Mahdi was the reason that he was considered also tobe the Promised Messiah. Now let us consider how many personsclaimed to be the Promised Mahdi. Many did so. How many claimed tobe Promised Messiah? Many did so. But how many claimed to be thePromised Mahdi and the Promised Messiah at the same time fulfillingthe prophecy of the Holy Prophet saw that the Mahdi and the Mes-siah would be one person? NONE. No one except Hadhrat Ahmadas

of Qadian. This will put our estimation of fulfillment of this prophecyto be 1 in 3,000,000,000. But let us assume again that there were an-other 29 unknown and unheard of persons who had made such aclaim. Our estimation then would be 1 in 100,000,000.

10. His AccomplishmentsIt was prophesized that the institution of Khilafat would bere-established after about 1300 years from the time of theHoly prophet Muhammadsaw. It is true that some kings usedto call themselves Khalifas but the type of Khilafatmentioned in the prophecies was that Khilafat which wasestablished by the Holy Prophet saw himself. For the sake ofargument, we will consider all types of Khilafats that wereestablished between the time of the Holy Prophet saw untilnow and would exaggerate our estimation and assume that 1person out of ten had somehow established a system ofKhilafat.

1. His name 1 in 102. His origin 1 in 1003. His place 1 in 104. His features and complexion 1 in 1005. His health 1 in 106. His revelation 1 in 100,000,0007. His life 1 in 100,000,0008. His sign 1 in 100,000,0009. His mission 1 in 100,000,00010. His accomplishments 1 in 10

Now, let us go back to our laws of probability and calculatethe chances of fulfillment of these ten prophecies. To do thatwe have to multiply all our estimates together. That is:

10x100x10x100x10x100, 000,000x100, 000,000x100,000,000x100, 000,000x10

And this is equal to 1 chance in 1 with 40 zeros at its righthand side, expressed more conveniently in the form of 1 in1040.

If we would like to know the chance that any man might have livedfrom the day these prophecies were made to the present time whomay have fulfilled all these ten prophecies, we should divide our 1040

by the total number of people who have lived since the time of theseprophecies. We can estimate this number to be 100,000,000,000 (onehundred billion) or 1011, assuming that an astronomical average of 3billion people existed every 40 years. By dividing the two numbers(1040 by 1011) we get 1029. In order to satisfy some people who mayhave felt that we have over-estimated our figures, I will reduce thismargin by dividing it further by 1,000,000,000, leaving the final figureto be 1020 which means that the chance of fulfillment of those tenprophecies in any one person is 1 in 100,000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000(one hundred billion billion).

Let us try to visualize these chances.

If you mark one of ten coins and place all the coins in a hat, andthoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one,his chance of getting the right one is one in ten.

Again, if we take out 1020 coins, mark only one of them,stir the whole mass thoroughly and lay them on the face ofthe Province of Ontario (412,582 square miles; United King-dom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is 94,214 squaremiles), blindfold a man, and tell him he can travel as far as hewishes but he must pick up one coin only and say that this isthe right one.

What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just thesame chance that the people who wrote these prophecies wouldhave had in fabricating them and still have them all some true in oneman, from their day to the present time.

Now, these ten prophecies were either revealed by God to theHoly Prophet saw or the narrators and the writers fabricated them andattributed them to the Holy Prophet saw. But could they have alsoorganized their fulfillment in one person having only 1 chance in 1020?But as we have seen, all the ten prophecies came true in the person ofHadhrat Ahmad of Qadian, the Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Move-ment in Islam.

The fulfillment of these ten prophecies only proves beyond anydoubt that Allah the All-Knowing had revealed then to the HolyProphet saw and a the Powerful and Almighty God, He had the power tobring about their fulfillment. The advent of the Promised Mahdi isaccordingly considered as a great sign and an irrefutable evidenceand proof of the truth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad saw and of thetruth of the religion of Islam.

Can anyone be so unreasonable as to reject the Promised Mahdi,Hadhrat Ahmad of Qadian, and pin his hopes on such a slim chanceas finding the right coin among this great mass, covering the wholeProvince of Ontario two hundred and fifty one feet deep?

It does not seem possible, yet everyone who rejects that HadhratAhmad of Qadian was the Promised Mahdi is doing just that.

The rejection of the Mahdi is in fact a rejection of the one whoprophesized about his advent and in a way a rejection of the AlmightyGod Who fulfilled these prophecies in the person of Hadhrat Ahmadas

of Qadian.

WINTER 2010 41

S.R.A. Nasir

here was an ideology,

given the status of a

religious dogma,

b e h i n d e v e r y

scrupulous effor t made and every

sacrifice offered when the

independence movement for Pakistan

was at its pinnacle. Undoubtedly, it

was the fact that soon there is going

to be established a state based on the

high morality of Islamic teachings.

Here not only Muslims but all people

professing other religions would also

feel secure and safe in preaching and

propagat ing the i r doc t r ines .

But nobody could ever have

dreamt o f the rami f ica t ions

s u c h a s t h e c o n t e m p o r a r y

s i tuat ion in the countr y.Talking about the brutal massacre that

took place on 28th of May, the sacred dayof Friday, one can easily appreciate thefact that the original ideology behind thecreation of Pakistan was shattered topieces. In these days, there had been anumber of debates and discussions onthis topic, both futile and productive.Some incoherently termed it as an attemptto destabilise the country; some went asfar as declaring it as an attempt to sabo-

tage Yaum-e-Takbir; some terming it tobe one of those chain of events whichaim at rooting out the Ahmadiyya Com-munity from the country. We shall, how-ever, circumscribe ourselves to that seg-ment played in this episode by some per-sonnel and authorities who under normalcircumstances, claim to have been play-ing a heroic role in the stability and sanc-tity of the nation by unearthing true factsand figures in front of the public.

The Law Enforcement authorities are,in most of the cases, meant for maintain-ing law and order situation in the societyand to safeguard the lives and proper-

ties of the citizens. They are and shouldbe, like a solid armour and a protectivecover ing wi ths tanding any e lementthreatening to the society. They are re-ally an edifice of the state’s sanctity. Theyare utterly candid, unprejudiced andguileless.

But what happened in the case of theAhmadiyya Community, in Baitul-Nur,Model Town, when our own securityguard on the s ight of the terror is tsshouted out to the unarmed duty person-nel to take cover, the policemen deputedthere fully armed with rifles ran for theirlives, across the ground and out of sight.

“ I g n o m i n i o u s o u t c o m e ”A Survivor’s Perspective at the Scene of a Massacre

Talking about the brutal massacrethat took place on 28th of May, thesacred day of Friday, one can easilyappreciate the fact that the originalideology behind the creation ofPakistan was shattered to pieces.

T

42 MuslimSunrise

Had they retaliated and tried to encoun-ter the terrorists, the situation wouldhave been entirely different. Perhapsthere would not have been such a largenumber of casualties. But they opted tosave their own skins leaving 1500 unarmedpeople to the mercy of two lunatic gun-men who had come with the ultimatepledge to blow themselves up.

To add misery to it, when the civil andelite forces came about half an hour afterthe carnage had started, they remainedoutside for some ulterior motive, perhapsexpecting the two to come outside and givethemselves up. The television cameras cap-tured the scenes of our youth arguing withthe DSP in charge and imploring him togive them the weapons as they wanted toget inside and tackle the terrorists withtheir inexpert yet estimable skills. But heindolently chose to remain outside with hissubordinates along with interdicting ourmembers saying repeatedly that he didn’thave orders. Scores of innocent people aredying inside and he insists that he doesn’thave orders to act. A television anchor laterin his talk show veraciously pointed outthat even if there had been a higher levelofficial standing there, he too would havebeen inept and good for nothing becauseit was, in that case, the Ahmadiyya Com-munity.

The two terrorists held in Model Townwere caught by our brave and intrepid mem-bers, one by a 17-year-old and the otherby a 60-year-old retired Armed ForcesColonel. But the law enforcement authori-ties and their high-ups perfidiously termedtheir capture ‘as a great achievement ofour stalwarts’.

I myself was hiding inside the mosqueand came out after it seemed evident thatthe maniacs had either absconded or beenapprehended and started helping liftingthe dead and the wounded. When everysingle injured and the martyred had beensent in the ambulances, it was then thatthe ‘valiant cops’ entered the building.The elite force took the terrorists into theircustody and defused the suicide jacket hewas wearing underneath.

A similiar frightening situation washappening at the same time at anotherAhmadi mosque, Dar-u-Zikr, Garhi Shahu.The security constables deputed there,hid themselves on the first onrush of theterrorists. When they realized that the ter-rorists had gone inside, they too took totheir heels and started running towards the

other side of the road. They didn’t evencare about the people lying badly injuredand some even dead on the ground.

Our youth standing at the gate whowere left unscathed during the first burst ,without caring for their lives, just withsheer force of faith and willpower, startedbarring the traffic from coming any morenear to the mosque. That was the time whenone terrorist had already gone up the mina-ret and started firing indiscriminately at theroad. One of our boys told me that whenthe 4 stationed policemen were fleeing, hecaught hold of one of them and cried out‘For God’s sake, be brave and carry on withthe fight otherwise hand me over theweapon and I shall join in.’ But he gavehim a strong jerk and as soon as the griploosened, he followed suit with his othercolleagues.

The Police force which came after ap-proximately 10 minutes were not much use-ful either. In spite of the efforts of ouryoungsters as well as media personnel call-ing them down, they refused to do any-thing to get inside and started firing aim-lessly at the two indomitable terrorists. Nota single shot hit them and after massacringa lot of people, they blew themselves up.According to the eyewitnesses, at leastthree of them fled from the building de-spite police forces cordoning off the sur-roundings. Nevertheless, one and a halfhour later, the elite force squad came andafter another half an hour, the APC’s came.Before that, all the worshippers inside wereleft at the tender mercy of the religiouszealots.

Credit should indeed be given where itis due. Here the credit goes to the eliteforce who on reaching the spot, broke intothe mosque, down to the ground and outof sight. The danger zone was alreadycleared so more police force and rescueworkers as well as media personnel wereable to get inside.

The most tragic and unprecedentedsegment of this whole melodrama startedafter the entry of the forces inside. Thetwo delinquents had already blown them-selves up and at least three of them de-camped. On arriving at the scene, the po-lice men had the coast cleared. Abandon-ing pretence, they made a revel soot bytaking away the mobile phones, cash, va-lets and other valuables a person mightpossibly carry from the pockets of themartyred and injured. This is not just mereaccusation but there are numerous eyewit-

nesses to it. Such an inhumane, truculentand recreant attitude by those who claimto have been safeguarding the lives andproperties of people and chasing downthose involved in such malevolent andcontemptuous acts, rather than patroniz-ing and befriending them. While all thiswas happening inside, some police menwere jubilantly busy firing aerially as asymbol of their triumph.

I am utterly confounded and non-plussed by the Inspector General Policehailing this incident as an ‘operational tri-umph’ of the police force;as well as bythe Chief Minister of the Punjab, caress-ing and cosseting them as if they are somesort of heroes completely unwitting of thedespicable attitude exhibited by ‘some ofthem’. In spite of that, I salute the Res-cue 1122 workers who as far they could,returned the valuables to their rightfulowners.

We, the public, still consider this forceas our saviour showering them with acco-lades and believe in their motto ‘Police isour friend’ embosomed on their emblems.In case of any emergency, we look up tothem for our sanctity and protection. Butnow when the fat is really in the fire, whatcan one expect from them after this debacle,except to run a marathon in case of direneed. There has now arisen an inexplicablequestion mark on their infallibility.

For our community, this scenario is notnew. It is reminiscent of the role of thepolice as an active partisan in anti-Ahmadiyya riots and wiping out theKalma-e-Shahadat from our mosques. Wecan never forget their visage as a carica-turist hanging high profane and sacrile-gious posters. We also recall their non-impartial and uncouth attitude in the reg-istering of complaints in the wake of atroci-ties committed against Ahmadis.

These are not some outdated facts. Ev-ery now and then, it is happening aroundus reaching its apex after 1974 and espe-cially 1984’s infamous ordinance number20. Over the years, it has indeed becomean established fact that law enforcementauthorities and the law, in letter and spirit,are only vaguely and distinctly related toeach other. So much so that one can go asfar as saying that they are hardly relatedat all.

The writer is a student at Forman Chris-tian College University Lahore.

WINTER 2010 43

Eid Mubarak From the Muslim Sunrise StaffNov. 17-19, 2010

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44 MuslimSunrise

WINTER 2010 45

I cleaned up my desk on Fridayafternoon. I shoved all theloose papers on my desk inthe empty drawer in my deskreserved for this purpose. OnMonday morning, I would

dump the stack back on the top of thedesk and spread it all over to make itlook busy. Majority of the paperswould age in this process. Over ashort time, they would becomeirrelevant and would be shredded orgiven to my secretary so she could filethem in the burial grounds ofpermanent files. I picked up mybriefcase and left the office to go homefor the weekend.

I walked pass a cubical where Jamalworked. He was also getting ready toclean up for the weekend. I did not knowmuch about him. I knew that he com-

mutes from the inner city and is involvedin some community work. I had a fewconversations with him in the companycafeteria from time to time, but mostlyabout the quality of food. I said the cus-tomary slogan “Have a nice weekend”.He responded by the usual “you too”.However, there was an expression on hisface that he wanted to say somethingmore. I hesitated in anticipation and hestarted the conversation.

“I bet you have altogether a differentoutlook about the weekend than I do.You are thinking like others living in thesuburbs that you would have to mowyour lawn, drive your family for theweekly grocery shopping and have a din-ner out with the family on Saturday night.”

“Well, what do you look forward to?”“I am thinking that I probably would

be called to get in the middle of the

standoff between some teenager hold-ing a gun and the police. My job wouldbe to try to persuade him to give up hisgun. Either he would get killed or go tojail; either outcome would not be pleas-ant. Or I would be helping some familygrieve over their son or daughter whogot shot in a drive by shooting. The restof the time, I would be spending in help-ing serve food in the soup kitchen.”

“I knew that you were involved incommunity work and I can see what youmean by a different outlook about theweekend.”

“If you don’t mind my asking howmuch do you contribute to the soupkitchens?”

“I have not given any direct contri-bution to any soup kitchen but I givedonations to organizations that I am surepass some of the money to thoseplaces.”

“Have you ever asked those organi-zations how much they give to the soupkitchens for the hungry?”

“I am a small fish in a huge pond.My donations are not large enough thatI can demand those explanations.”

“Have you ever been inside a soupkitchen?”

“No I haven’t. Once I was drivingon South Michigan Ave and I saw a longline alongside a building. I was curious.So When I got closer I noticed that itwas outside the door of a soup kitchen.We don’t have any soup kitchens whereI live.”

“You don’t get to feel the plight ofthe hungry unless you look in the eyesof a man or woman or a child in the soupkitchen. Their eyes tell you the despera-tion and not knowing which soupkitchen they would go to for their nextmeal. I see that all the time and it givesme a different perspective on the prob-lems of the hungry. Well, now youknow what I look forward to everyFriday afternoon. You have a niceweekend though.”

I did not know how far this con-

PerspectiveMy Weekend

Dilem a“Have you everbeen inside a

soup kitchen?”

m

46 MuslimSunrise

versation would go so I took theshort cut by saying, “Well, see youon Monday.” Before he could sayanything else, I was on my way tothe parking lot.

During the weekend, while I wasmowing the lawn and driving my wifeto the grocery store, his conversa-tion kept on hounding me. Whatcould I do to help the poor and theneedy? Am I supposed to be help-ing in the soup kitchens? As far as Iknew the closest one would be anhour away. That could take justabout half a day including the com-mute. That is not convenient at all.

How would I even start this pro-cess? Where would I park my carin the neighborhood where the soupkitchen is located? I am sure thecharitable organizations give fundsto the soup kitchens. I don’t knowany friends in my suburban neigh-borhood who do this kind of ser-

vice. I am sure those facilities haveenough volunteers in the city to runtheir affairs. I don’t even knowhow many hungry people are outthere served by the soup kitchens.Why doesn’t the government dosomething about it? There is no waythat I could find time to get in-volved in community service. I eventake work home on the weekends.Sometimes I have to show up atwork on Saturdays just to impressthe boss. At the least I should notcomplain about the company caf-eteria food, especially at the sub-sidized prices.

Mowing the lawn and pushingthe shopping cart seemed picnictime as compared to what Jamalwould do in a weekend. Isn’t thatwhy people live in the suburbs sothey don’t have to face those is-sues? I have not lived in the city foryears so I only read what is in the

newspapers. That is like readingnews about another country. Myfeelings about the problems in theinner city are hampered by the wayof living in the suburbs. Out ofsight, out of mind.

While I was having dinner withmy family at the local restaurant,my head was still being pounded. Iwondered if the other families hav-ing dinner at the restaurant had suchthoughts as I did. Does my familyknow how good they have it? Howmany children are standing in thoselines outside the soup kitchens sothey can have a roll and a cup ofsoup? I have heard they give thema cookie too. Do their faces lightup when they receive it or the fearof not knowing about the next mealkeeps them from smiling? I don’tknow because I have never faceda hungry child other than in com-mercials. Those commercials neverbothered me because I knew therewas a camera man and a directornearby and it was all staged. Maybeit wasn’t.

On Monday morning, on my wayto my office, I took a different wayso I wouldn’t run into Jamal. I amnot ready to face the issues of in-ner city. It is a good thing there arepeople like Jamal in the world. Itwould take a while for me to re-cover from the thoughts he pro-voked in me. He probably wouldgive me details of how his week-end went. All I would have to sayis “How was your weekend?”. Iwasn’t in the mood or ready to talkabout inner city issues. I get sickjust by reading that stuff in thenewspapers.

He already ruined my weekend byplaying with my mind. I just didn’twant him to ruin my whole week.

• Falahud Din Shams

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (AMC) encourages andsupports soup kitchens throughout American communities. Inthe photo above, AMC members feed the poor and homelessat a soup kitchen held monthly in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

WINTER 2010 47

In our next issue, Spring 2011, our staffwriters will explore the issues andchallenges of the environment, globalwarming and the spiritual lessons we canlearn from nature.

Inner transformation & environmental crisis

Meat production and consumption in USA. The useof chemicals, hormones, poor treatment of animalsand slaughter against Qur’anic guidelines

Ibn Khaldun’s views on environmentalism

Al-Mizan — Keeping equilibrium in environment

Global warming and its effects in Muslim countries

Nature - Man’s amaanat

Perfection in the creation of Allah

Spiritual lessons in reflecting upon nature (i.e.parables that guide us to higher spirituality.

Don’t miss it! Subscribe now. Go to Muslimsunrise.com

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