Question:
As-Salamu `Alaykum. What can you tell us about Ahmadis? I think you can give us some insight into their ideology and method and what should our attitude be toward their missionaries.
Answer:
Wa`alaykum As-Salaamu Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
In The Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear questioner, thank you very much for having confidence in us, and we hope our efforts, which are purely for Allah�s Sake, meet your expectations.
In his response to the question, Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, former president of the Islamic Society of North America, states the following:
Ahmadiyyah is a movement that started in India in the beginning of the 20th century. The founder of this movement, Ghulam Ahmed, from the village of Qadiyan in Punjab, claimed to be the Messenger of Allah.
Because of this claim, the scholars of Islam unanimously consider him as a non-believer. Some of his followers still believe that he was the Messenger although they say that he was not the full Messenger, but a subsidiary Messenger. They misinterpret the verse of Surat Al-Ahzab where Allah Almighty says, ” Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets; and Allah is Aware of all things.” (Al-Ahzab: 40)
They claim that the word Khatam An-nabiyyin doesn’t mean the last Prophet, but the best Prophet.
According to them, Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, was the best Prophet, but it is possible to have lesser or minor Prophets. However, this is obviously a wrong interpretation because there are many other verses and Prophetic Hadiths that indicate that Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, was sent as a Prophet of Allah for all people, and there are many authentic Hadiths, of which the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said that there would be no Prophet after him.
So Ahmadi’s have rejected a basic principle of Islamic faith and because of this, they are not considered Muslims. Among them, there is a group that says that Ghulam Ahmad was not a Prophet, but that he was the Messiah or the Madhi or things like that.
However, that is also obviously wrong because the Messiah and the Mahdi will come at the end of the world and the end of the world has not come yet, so that shows that this claim was a false claim.
The Ahmadi missionaries succeed because they are organized and they spread their message all over the world while many of us are lazy and we don’t present the authentic message of Islam with the same vigor and enthusiasm. Thus, instead of getting into arguments with Ahmadis or any other group, let us concentrate on presenting the authentic message of Islam and Insha Allah, the truth will prevail.”
May Allah guide you to the straight path, and guide you to that which pleases Him, Amen.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Question:
With regard to your comment about Ahmadiyyah, I like to share what I believe you too have experienced. It is true that Ahmadi missionaries have a certain misplaced zeal, not uncommon in Christian missionaries. However, their zeal is at least partially due to the recognition and prestige they receive as the result of being visible and active.
One thing I have experienced often with Ahmadi missionaries is that they pretend to quote verses of Quran, hadeeth or writing of scholars, in support of their notions and conjectures. However, they target such claims to individuals, who are in the dark about the teachings of Islam and can be tricked by the outward claim of Ahmadis to represent “True Islam”. In fact, these missionaries, like Christian missionaries, are themselves ignorant of Islam and blindly quote from missionary books which mistranslate selected verses of the Quran, impose baseless conjectures upon ayat of the Quran, allege to quote hadith which either do not exist or are false and misquote the writings of the scholars, taking their opinion out of context.
In short, I believe you are correct in stating these overzealous missionaries have had a little success, specially with the poor and uneducated Muslims in some countries. However, we need to note that their “successes” are due to the lack of knowledge of people they approach, together with their outward claim of being Muslims, the financial aid they offer (as Christian missionaries do) and their underhanded way of misguiding their targets with invented “evidence”, as listed above.
I already know several former victims of Ahmadiyyah, who have returned to Islam. Truly, knowledge and sincerity can set anyone free from the chains of misquidance and blind sectarianism.
Ma Assalam.
Answer:
Wa Alaikum Salaam wa Rahmatullah,
Thank you very much for your comment. I am pleased to know that you have brought back to Islam some people who were misled by the Ahmadi’s. May Allah reward for your efforts.
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum.
What can you tell us about Ahmadis? I suspect being from Pakistan, you are able to give us some insight into their ideology and method and what should our attitude be toward their missionaries.
Wassalam.
Answer:
Wa Alaikum Salaam wa Rahmatullah,
Ahmadiyyah is a movement that started in India in the beginning of the 20th century. The founder for this movement, Ghulam Ahmed, from the village of Qadiyan in Punjab, claimed to be the messenger of Allah. Because of this claim, he was considered by the ‘Ulama of Islam unanymously as a non-Believer. Some of his followers still believe that he was the messenger although they say that he was not the full messenger, but a subsidiary messenger (tabaa’). They misinterpret the ayah from surat al Ahzab where Allah says, “Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Last of the Prophets (SAAWS).” They claim that the word “khatam an-nabiyyin” doesn’t mean the last Prophet, but the best Prophet. According to them, Prophet Muhammad was the best Prophet, but it is possible to have lesser or minor Prophets. However, this is obviously a wrong interpretation because there are many other ayats and ahadith that indicate that Prophet Muhammad (SAAWS) was sent as a Prophet of Allah for all people “kaffatan lin-nas” and there are many authentic ahadith of which the Prophet (SAAWS) said that there would be no Prophet after him (SAAWS).
So Ahmadi’s have rejected a basic principle of Islamic faith and because of this, they are not considered Muslims. Among them, there is a group that says that Ghulam Ahmed was not a Prophet, but that he was the Messiah or the Madhi or things like that. However, that is also obviously wrong because the Messiah and the Mahdi will come at the end of the world and the end of the world has not come yet, so that shows that this claim was a false claim. The Ahmadi missionaries succeed because they are organized and they preach their message all over the world while many of us, we are lazy and we don’t present the authentic message of Islam with the same vigor and enthusiasm, so instead of getting into arguments with Ahmedi’s or any other group, let us concentrate on presenting the authentic message of Islam and Insha Allah, the truth will prevail.