In
reference to a press release, “Khalifa of Islam delivers 'a powerful and
inspiring address, in EU Parliament” Maulana Suharwardy crossed the sacred
interfaith line of denying the rights of Ahmadiyya Muslim to present themselves, as they deem it fit.
The
role of a Muslim is to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill for creating
cohesive societies for humanity to live in harmony, not just Muslims, but the entire creation.
Maulana Suharwardy is a member of
Canada’s interfaith group, and writes, “I am extremely offended by the claim that
was made in Mr. Ahmed’s email. Who appointed Mr. Masroor Ahmed “Khalifa of Islam”? What authority he
has to make such an outrageous claim? He can be Khalifa or prophet or messiah of his
own faith or community. But he has no right to claim that he represents
Muslims. He represents his own Ahmadi/Qadyani community. “
First of all, I am disappointed
that he calls the community “Qadianis”, which is not how they want to be called
- Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, the founder was from the town of Qadian, but the community prefers
to be called Ahmadiyya Muslim community and we should honor that.
One of the Golden rules of interfaith
groups is, we do not define others or put others in our imaginary cages, we
respect the otherness of others.
Muslims, Jews or Hindus simply do not like when a right wing Christian calls
their faith a “Muhammadan cult” or “Christ Killers” or Idol worshippers
respectively. We are much more civilized
than that. We have to respect the otherness of others.
I take strong objection to Mr.
Suharwardy’s reference, and I urge him to consult fellow interfaithers about the
guidelines.
He asks, "Who appointed Mr. Masroor Ahmed “Khalifa of Islam” to speak about Islam?"
Mr.
Suharwardy, it is a good question, you should have asked Osama Bin Laden, who
authorized him to terrorize the world in the name of Islam? Who authorized the
Muftis of Saudi Arabia to declare Shias to be infidels? Who authorized the Iranian
Imams to declare Sunnis to be non-Muslims?
Who
authorized King Abdullah to claim to be the Guardian of the holiest places? Is
he the Guardian or Allah the ultimate Guardian? The Ismaili community calls his
highness Aga Khan as the Hazar Imam, the Shias do not agree with it, perhaps
you may not either, but they believe. Do you dare question the usage of the title
Ayatollah or Ruhollah, if you know the meaning of it? Is Jesus the only way?
Malaysia
went through hilarious case of fighting to pass the ordinance that the Sikhs
and Christians cannot call Allah for God, Huh! Is Allah their personal
property? Thank Allah; the Muslim clergy
did not win the case. Any one on the earth can call God, any name he or she
chooses. By the way, the Sikh faith scriptures address God as Allah, Ishwar and
other beautiful names. The Christian Arabs call Allah for God, indeed, Jesus
Christ called God Elahi. Who authorized them?
Is God and Islam any one’s property?
It’s a free
world my friends and we have to learn to live freely with different claims. Let’s
learn to respect the otherness of others, as long as they are not killing you,
robbing you or confiscating your property or breaking a contract with you - let
them live their life with their titles.
On the contrary, the
Ahmadiyya Muslims are doing good things in the name of Islam, serving the local
communities, it is nothing but building a
positive space for Muslims. However, I urge the community leadership to avoid,
yes, avoid, making any inference that they are peaceful Muslims, as if others
are not. To a Christian, Hindu or Jew, it appears that you are saving your
tail. Please don’t do that. Whether, I am sitting in your Masjid (I visit every
Masjid of every Muslim denomination) and listening to you or not, this
projection is difficult for me to sit and listen. I have mentioned this to the community twice before and here again.
Maulana
Suharwardy, sadly, you and I, and our generation is brain washed to believe
that we are the only righteous one, there is nothing wrong with that, but to
deny other’s their righteousness is arrogance.
Once,
we the primates become dear to God, the new generation will breathe freedom. None
of us would be left to inject the poison of arrogance in their veins. We are
stuck with beliefs and we cannot, and do not want to extricate ourselves from
that conditioning. It is sad.
If
you are a true Muslim, you will stand up for injustices a few radical Muslim are inflicting
on fellow Muslims and others. I was kidding about your
Muslimness, I am sure you are a true Muslim, who am I to judge?
The new generation is open towards each other
in creating a cohesive society, where everyone can live with his or her own
belief, without making a business of denying the others their beliefs, and
thanks God for the American and Canadian school systems, where they do not
further brainwash our kids to be prejudiced towards others. One of the central
tenants of Islam is to be non-judgmental, because only the Creator is the
master of the Day of Judgment. Is he not?
----------
Mike Ghouse is a speaker,
thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at
work place and standing up
for others as an activist. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and
offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. Mike has a
presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent
guest on Sean Hannity
show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he
contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News, fortnightly
at Huffington post, and
several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes everything you
want to know about him.
----------
From: Syed Soharwardy [mailto:soharwardy@shaw.ca]
Sent: December-06-12 1:38 PM
To: Subject: RE: Khalifa of Islam delivers ‘a powerful and
inspiring address,’ in EU Parliament
Hello Friends,
My apologies if my email
offends any member of this forum. I am fully aware that this forum represents
many faiths and denominations. I respect all of them. I have NO animosity or
hate towards anyone. However, I know for sure, my response to Mr. Ahmed’s
email will be interpreted as hate message. I have no intention or desire to
insult or hate anyone including my brothers and sisters of Qadyani / Ahmadi
faith. I love them and respect them as much as I love and respect the other
forum members. However, I have to speak up what I believe.
I am extremely offended by the
claim that was made in Mr. Ahmed’s email. Who appointed Mr. Masroor Ahmed “Khalifa
of Islam”? What authority he has to make such an outrageous claim?
He can be Khalifa or prophet or
messiah of his own faith or community. But he has no right to claim that he
represents Muslims. He represents his own Ahmadi/Qadyani community.
These outrageous unwanted
claims from Qadyanis/Ahmadis are the cause of clashes between Muslims and
Ahmadis in Pakistan and elsewhere. If Ahmadis stop claiming that they represent Islam then the problem
will go away. Ahmadis represent their own community which has
different beliefs than the Muslims. It is a unanimous understanding among all sects and
denominations (shia, sunni, salafi, wahabi, etc……) of Islam that Ahmadis are not
Muslims because they believe in a person as a prophet who claimed that he was
the second coming of Jesus Christ (peace be upon him). Overwhelming majority of
Muslims believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmed Qadyani was an imposter, not a
prophet.
Until today, no Christian or
Muslim or anyone has found the grave of Jesus Christ but Qadyanis / Ahmadis
have found the grave of Jesus Christ in India. Mirza Ghulam Ahmed Qadyani not
only claimed that he was the returned Jesus Christ but he also claimed to be
Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. He gave birth to himself, what a nonsense.
He insulted Prophet Muhammad, his family and his companions (peace upon all
of them). He cursed thousand time on all those Muslims who do not believe in
him. He called all those Muslims who do not believe him as a prophet or
messiah, “ The children of prostitutes”. I have references from his own
books.
I have no problem with what
Ahmadis believe. This is their belief and people have complete right to
believe what they want to believe. But no one has the right to hijack my
faith and become Khalifa of my faith.
Unfortunately, the extremists
and the terrorist have done the same thing with Islam. They became the
champions of Islam while their beliefs and actions are completely against
Islam. For God’s sake leave Islam alone. Mind your own business and please do
not become Islam’s Khalifa. No Muslim want you to be our Khalifa. You can be
Khalifa of Ahmadis / Qadyanis. I will have no issue with that.
For the past three years I have
been trying to have face to face dialogue with my Qadyani / Ahmadi friends on
their Prophet’s outrageous claims but they refuse to have this dialogue. You
will be shocked to read from his own writings how outrageous claims he made.
Muslims do not want to be considered the followers of an imposter.
Once again, I apologize for
raising this issue. I have cordial relationships with all the members of this
forum including Ahmadis but I could not ignore such a false claim. I will
never compromise on something which I know is wrong. May Allah and his final
and last prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) be my protector.
I am so concerned about my and
family’s safety and wellbeing. In the past Ahmadis / Qadyanis have gone to
police in Calgary and Toronto to get me arrested. Every time when I express
my disagreement with them they run to police and accuse me of spreading hate
against them. I am sure this email will go all the way to their headquarters
and there will be an action on it.
Let me repeat, I love all God’s
creation including Qadyanis/Ahmadis but I will NEVER allow any terrorist or
imposter to hijack Islam. I will rather die instead of watching such
humiliation with my faith, Islam.
Thanks
With Peace (Ma'assalamah)
