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July 17, 2006
Pakistan: Ahmadiyyas Charged Under Muslim Blasphemy Laws
We reported on June 25 that in a village in Daska tehsil (district) in the Punjab, Muslims went on the rampage against members of a Muslim sect which is deemed "heretical".
The Ahmadiyya believe that their guru Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani (1835-1908) was a prophet, but in every other aspect they are sincere Muslims, with the added bonus that they abhor violence. Under Pakistan's draconian blasphemy laws, Article 298-B and 298-C, the Ahmadiyya (also called Ahmadi or Qadiani) are not allowed to preach, nor even to call themselves Muslims, lest they receive a three year jail sentence.
The incident of Ahmadiyyas being attacked happened in Jhando Sahi village, where there were reports that someone had desecrated a Koran. As a result, a mob ransacked Ahmadi areas, setting fire to shops and houses, and also vehicles. This caused the entire Ahmadi community of 60 to 70 villagers, to flee from the village. Two people were injured. The individuals accused of desecrating the Koran were arrested.
Once again, anti-Ahmadiyyah feeling is being vented in the same tehsil of Daska, which is near Sialkot, the industrial city virtually adjoining the border with India. The village in this case is Mianwali Bangla, states the Pakistan Daily Times.
A case file ( FIR - 174/2006) has been made with police accusing four Ahmadiyya of preaching publicly in the village. Asghar Ali, Naeem Akram Bajwa, Prof Iftikhar and Shehzad Ahmad are the named accused.
Additionally, the four are claimed to have "preached their teaching to a local Muslim villager, Mukhtar Ahmad, and forced him to embrace 'Qadiyaaniat'." The villagers have apparently protested against the activities and "unabated preaching" of Ahmadiyya faith in the village, and are urging police to ensure the early arrest of those accused.
This story, like so many others which involve blasphemy, is almost certainly a fabrication. The Muslims are, as usual, bringing false charges against people whom they do not like. Just like the cases of "desecrated Korans", which are used to mount violent attacks against minority faith members, particularly Christians. In the cases of Christians having their communities vandalised, as happened in Sangla Hill on November 12 last year, and at Sukkur on February 19 this year, there is rarely any evidence at all of "desecrated Korans."
The Ahmadiyya are peaceful, and sincere in their faith. But in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia, they are subject to vicious and spiteful persecutions by mainstream Sunni Muslims, who are as violent and dangerous as Muslims can be. Because the Ahmadiyyah take a vow in which they swear to harm no-one, they are often vilified by the "true" violent Muslims.
In Bangladesh, a community of Ahmadiyya are currently besieged in their homes, as a result of vicious campaigning by Sunni Muslims. Their situation has not been relieved.
Yesterday, the Bangladesh Daily Star carried an article on the Ahmadiyya who are being victimised, but it has now been removed. The anti-Ahmadiyya are powerful, with links in three of the 4 parties in the coalition government (Islami Oikya Jote, Jamaat-e-Islami and the BNP), and even have the support of the main opposition party, the Awami League. I suspect the Daily Star is being pressured to censor its reporting. But anyway, here is the article which has "vanished":
Bigots' Threat
Ahmadiyyas demand protection
Staff Correspondent
Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat once again urged the government to protect the minority sect in the wake of religious extremists' recent threats of holding them incommunicado at their houses and spreading hatred among the villagers at Sharishabari in Jamalpur.
The minority sect also condemned law enforcers for being silent and reluctant to act in two assault incidents on Ahmadiyyas on July 29 last year and June 16 this year. The sect believes it encouraged the bigots to be more aggressive.
The recent declaration of holding 'incommunicado' the Ahmadiyyas by the extremists at Ijara Para on Thursday instigated communalism among the common villagers, who have started boycotting the minority members socially.
The Ahmadiyyas have become confined to their houses and refrained from going to work after the fanatics, agitating under the banner of 'Ittefaqul Ulama', threatened of attacks on them.
The local Ahmadiyyas lodged two general diaries (GD) with Sarishabari Police Station on July 7 and 9 in this connection but the local police failed to ensure their security.
The fresh campaign against the Ahmadiyyas began on Thursday at a 'Khatme Nabuwat' rally in Fulbaria Ijarapara Primary School ground where the Ittefaqul leaders asked locals to boycott Ahmadiyyas, stop selling anything to them or have any kind of contacts with them.
The fatwa (an Islamic decree), was issued from different local mosques including Baitun Nur Masjid during the Juma prayers Friday, instigating the locals not to communicate with the Ahmadiyyas.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Bangladesh yesterday in a press release expressed their concern and sought government's intervention to ensure the safety of the minority sect across the country, a constitutional right of all.
UPDATE: The issue of the Ahmadiyyas being beseiged has been settled, though when community prejudices are invoked, I do not forsee peaceful and easy times ahead for the Ahmadiyya of Sarishabari. The Bangladesh Daily Star reported on 20 July:
Ahmadiyyas relieved as peace restored in Sharishabari
Staff Correspondent
Local administration's initiative restored peace in Sharishabari yesterday five days after bigots launched a hate campaign on the Ahmadiyyas of the upazila.
The Ahmadiyya families resumed their daily activities yesterday following a successful meeting Tuesday night brokered by the Sharishabari Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Al Amin.
The minority community was literally confined into their houses and were barred from mixing up with other people of the area after the hatred started to engulf the area.
The local UNO played the pivotal role in the meeting at the upazila headquarters and succeeded bringing peace and calm in the area where tension was running high since an anti-Ahmadiyya rally there last Thursday.
Earlier, the zealots staged a rally provoking hatred against the beliefs of the Ahmadiyyas under the banner of 'Ittefaqul Ulama'.
After the rally, the fanatics attacked the house of an Ahmadiyya sect believer Shamsuddin Master, assistant headmaster of Mesta High School. They forcibly snatched the teacher's cattle, threatened eight other Ahmadiyya families of attacks and abduction and instructed them not to get out of their houses.
Provoked by the local anti-Ahmadiyya leaders' instigating speeches, locals also enforced incarceration on the Ahmadiyyas and stopped conducting any trade of necessary commodities with the Ahmadiyyas.
Panicked Ahmadiyya children were forced to stop going to their educational institutes while the adults were barred from going to offices or looking after their agricultural farms.
After an appeal from the Ahmadiyya families and leaders of different human rights organisations, the local administration convened the meeting of Ahmadiyyas and the anti-Ahmadiyya outfit.
Six anti-Ahmadiyya leaders including key organisers Nurul Huda Abedi, who is also the principal of Sharishabari Aliya Madrasa and brother-in-law of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh chief Abdur Rahman, Imam of local mosques Nurul Islam Dudu and Habibur Rahman Faruqi were present at the meeting.
Sharishabari Municipality Chairman Faridul Kabir Talukder came down heavily on the anti-Ahmadiyya leaders for their hate campaign against the Ahmadiyyas and asked them to stop the torment immediately.
"No-one will be spared if he attacks on followers of any sect of Islam and members of other religion here from now on," the municipality chairman said during the meeting.
Local ward commissioner and officer-in-charge of Sharishabari Police Station were also present at the meeting.
The anti-Ahmadiyya outfit leaders promised that their men would refrain from any further attack on the Ahmadiyyas.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at July 17, 2006 6:57 PM
Comments
A Call to the Real Salvation:
This is an invitation to observe, to ponder and to be with us, aware and certain that it is our duty and moral obligation to convey the message of our Creator.
In the search for truth, it is indispensable that we take some time and effort to know the basis of our faith, and as true believers, we must follow the purest essence of our belief as exemplified by the messengers of God.
Who else can give us the guidance but those whom God chose and entrusted with the mission of proclaiming glad tidings to the believers and warnings to those who deviate from the way of our Creator and refuse to believe.
Religion for some may simply be a field of academics, to others it’s a medium solely for spiritual enrichment, and to a lot more various aspects or views people may find fitting on their level of desires or caprices.
But for us, our religion is a complete way of life as shown by all the prophets of God (Peace and blessing be upon them all) and as epitomized by the last Prophet (Peace and blessing be upon him) in order to attain salvation.
There is no doubt that this temporary life is only a probationary period, a transitory phase to the next and final one. As such, it should offer everyone the necessary requirements instrumental in paving the way for our last destination, where belief in the lone Creator and obedience to His command (doing what is right and forbidding what is wrong) will be the only acceptable means to merit salvation.
Thus, knowing the true teachings of God is tantamount to knowing life! That’s how important it is!
With due respect and love to Jesus (Peace and blessing be upon him) as one of God’s mightiest prophets who was sent to the lost sheep of Israel, we cannot discount the teachings he brought to establish the way, the truth and the life.
We regard and accept him as a real messenger of God whose ways and belief inevitably coincide with ours as illustrated by the last Prophet including all the Prophets before him (Peace and blessing be upon them all).
Yes, Prophet Jesus (Peace and blessing be upon him) was not a Christian for he did not introduce Christianity to the world, as evidenced by what he said in Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law or the prophets. I have come not to destroy, but to fulfill.” Instead, he confirmed the teachings preceding him, which was the Law set by Prophet Moses (Peace and blessing be upon him). A guidance that is sanctioned by and is also analogous with that of Islam, having been anchored upon monotheism, its inherent bedrock which happens to be every other prophet's battlecry and message.
Moreover, Jesus (Peace and blessing be upon him) further uttered words which prove that his mission was not yet complete and that another Prophet was to come after him to finalize the message, the guidance or the revelation itself, when he prophesied in John 16:7-14.
“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you, and when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in me; of righteousness, because I go to my father and you see me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of the world is judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak of his own authority; but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify me. He will take what is of mine and declare it to you.”
The concluder of this message was neither The Holy Spirit nor Paul himself, as some Christians believe or were made to believe. He was Muhammad (Peace and blessing be upon him), the only true Prophet who succeeded Jesus (Peace and blessing be upon him).
Muhammad (Peace and blessing be upon him) was the sole Prophet who brought with him a complete, comprehensive and final revelation from the Creator.
This divine manifestation has been preserved as it was revealed to him originally, challenging the whole world to come up with even just one chapter like it. Such is the provocation and appeal, which frustrated those who were at the other end of the moral and spiritual spectrum during the Prophet’s time including the rest of their kind today. As God said in Chapter 2:2-5 of the Holy Qur’an (which is translated as follows):
“This is the Book: In it is guidance sure, without doubt, To those who fear Allah (God); Who believe in the Unseen, Are steadfast in prayer, and spend out of what We Have provided for them; And who believe in the Revelation Sent thee, And sent before thy time, And (in their hearts) Have the assurance of the Hereafter, They are on (true guidance). From their Lord and it is these who will prosper.”
It is the last testament of faith addressed to the whole world embodying complete light and guidance as well as the conviction of sin, a revelation that embodies Islam.
Jesus (Peace and blessing be upon him) thru Matthew, chapter 7 verse 15 of the Bible, cautioned people regarding the need to discern the false prophets from the genuine ones via a specific criterion, the same standard of measure that we ask you to gauge prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessing be upon him) and his teachings against with:
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly, they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.”
Give yourself a chance to know the true Religion of God including all His Prophets and discover the difference, for “Only the truth shall set you free” (as it says in your Bible). You’ve got nothing to lose, but once you understand and accept, you’ve got your whole life to gain!
Biblical Excerpts As Proofs Of Islam's Conformity With The Religion Of Jesus:
Here are some points to consider regarding Jesus, Muhammad (Peace and blessing be upon them) and the Muslims, which are indeed one in the essence of Islam. The following verses extracted from today's Bibles collectively support our claim as mentioned above.
We pray that such accounts will appeal to your senses as well as reconcile you with the truth, thus enlightening you in the process to the remaining facts still existent in the present versions of the Bible.
They are as follows:
I. BELIEF IN THE ONENESS OF GOD (ALLAH):
Jesus was very explicit in his words about the “Unity of God” instead of the “Holy Trinity” which he never said nor preached in his lifetime:
1. Matthew 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you Satan! it is written:” you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only you shall serve”.
2. Mark 12:29 Jesus answered him. “The first of all the commandments is: Hear O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one”.
3. Isiah 43:10-11 “Before me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no savior.”
4. John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and of Jesus Christ whom you have sent”.
II. GOOD DEEDS:
A. Carrying out Prayer (Prostration):
The only people in the whole world today who pray like Jesus (Peace and blessing be upon him), and all the other prophets are the Muslims:
1. Matthew 26:39 “He (Jesus) went a little farther and fell on his face, and prayed, O my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will”.
2. Psalm 55:17 “Evening and morning and at noon, I will pray and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice”.
3. Numbers 20:6 “So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them”.
B. FASTING:
Islam obliges Muslims to fast just as Jesus and the prophets did during their tenure in the world:
1. Matthew 4:2 “And when he (Jesus) had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry”.
2. Exodus 34: 28 “And he (Moses) was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water”.
3. Matthew 6:16 “Moreover when you fast, be not as the hypocrites, with a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward”.
C. CHARITY:
Islam obliges Muslims to pay charity, just as Jesus urged his constituents in his time:
1. Matthew 6:3-4 “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your father who sees in secret will himself reward you openly.”
D. PILGRIMAGE TO MACA/BACA:
Muslims perform pilgrimage (Hajj) like the prophets before them to the first house of worship (Ka’bah) in Maca, also known as Baca, which was built by Abraham, the father of all the prophets and his son Ishmael.
1. Psalm 84:5-6 “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the valley of Baca, They make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools”.
E. GREETINGS:
Muslims greet each other by saying: Peace be with you (As-salam ‘Alaykum), the same way Jesus (Peace and blessing be upon him) greeted people during his ministry on earth:
1. Luke 24:36 “Now as they said these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you”.
2. John 20:19 “Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you”.
Conclusion
We abide with God (Allah) when He tells us in His Holy Book (Quran) that if anyone speaks THE TRUTH, let him produce THE EVIDENCE as mentioned in chapter 2:111(which is translated as follows):
"…Say: Produce your proof if ye are truthful."
In the same breadth, we want you to realize that what we have just deliberated are but some of the many practices that the true believers emulate. They are ways and manners which are reflective as well as representative of the genuine teachings of Jesus (Peace and blessing be upon him) and even more so with Muhammad (Peace and blessing be upon him).
Likewise, the same very practices should serve as sound proofs to help you realize the truthfulness of our claim, that indeed, there is only one way leading to the true salvation, and that is ISLAM.
As Allah says thru chapter 5: Verse 19 of the Holy Quran (which is translated as follows):
“ O People of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)! Now has come to you Our Messenger (Muhammad) making (things) clear unto you, after a break in (the series of) Messengers, lest you say: “There came unto us no bringer of glad tidings and no Warner”. But now has come unto you a bringer of glad tidings and a warner. And Allah is able to do all things.”
He further says in Verse 77 of the same chapter (which is translated as follows): “Say (O Muhammad): “O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)! Exceed not the limits in your religion (by believing in something) other than the truth, and do not follow the vain desires of people who went astray in times gone by, and who misled many, and strayed (themselves) from the Right Path.”
We in our capacity, we had presented the preceding facts in order to enlighten you only, and it is up to you to make the next move.
If you really treasure your salvation in the hereafter that much, and desire an eternal life of rewards over an eternal existence of punishment, then the choice must be clear by now. We advice you to act soon enough, before it’s too late, for no one ever knows when or where he or she is going to die---death being like a thief that comes in the middle of the night!
As for your guidance to the truth, you should ask directly from the CREATOR--- the One and Only, the Absolute, the Unlimited and the One who begets not, nor is He begotten. Seek it from Him who has no equal or no one comparable with. Pursue it from the Only One who Knows our intention and what we have in our hearts, with all your humility, sincerity and honesty. Turn your face to Him who is in the heaven, above His throne, ultimately seeking for His help and direction!
As they say: "Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened up to you."
We will be looking forward to your Real SALVATION !!!
Dear brother in Humanity,
There is no compulsion for a person to accept the TRUTH, but it is certainly a shame upon the human intellect when a man or woman is not even interested in determining the TRUTH!
Islam teaches that our CREATOR has given human beings the faculty of reason. Therefore it is incumbent upon them to reason things out objectively and systematically for everyone to contemplate, to question and to reflect.
Similarly, you should find out for yourself about Islam from reliable sources and not only taste it, but rather digest it very well before you form an opinion of it. That would be an intellectual approach to the TRUTH.
In making your next move to the Religion of TRUTH, Islam will continually reassure you that your rights to freedom of choice and freedom to use that God-given faculty of thought and reason will be respected. For everyone has that individual will, no one else can take away that will and force you to submit to the will of our CREATOR, you have to find out and make that decision yourself. May your intellectual journey towards the TRUTH be a pleasant one…
Visit our blog to read more, http://thejourney2islam-team.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Hanifah ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.westernresistance.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 17, 2006 10:46 PM
Thanks for the sermon, Hanifah
And thanks for the commercial for your blog.
Isn't copy and paste brilliant?
Now I wonder if you would address the issues in the article. Do you approve of persecuting the Ahmadiyya as heretics?
And do you approve of Pakistan's blasphemy laws, which mean that anyone who insults the child-molesting "prophet" Mohammed can receive the death penalty?
If so, then you have no right to use the message of Christianity to justify your barbaric ideology.
Posted by: Giraldus Cambrensis at July 18, 2006 1:23 AM
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