MANAGEMENT BOARD CONTENTS Feb 2009, Vol.104, No.

01
Munir-ud-din Shams (Chairman)
Mansoor Shah (Secretary)
Naseer Ahmad Qamar Editorial
Mubarak Ahmad Zafar World peace will only become a reality when true
Mirza Fakhar Ahmad
Abdul Baqi Arshad justice is established for all.
(Syed Amer Ahmad, UK) . ........................................................ 2
CHIEF EDITOR & MANAGER
Mansoor Ahmed Shah
The Future of Islam – Part 1
EDITORIAL BOARD In this epic piece the Promised Messiah(as) elucidates
Adam Walker
Syed Amer Ahmad. the fact that of all world religions, only Islam has the
Bockarie Tommy Kallon ability to avoid natural decay.
Fareed Ahmad
Fauzia Bajwa Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as), the Promised Messiah
Fazal Ahmad and Mahdi). ........................................................................... 4
Khullat Munir
Mansoor Saqi
Sarah Waseem Establishing Peace, Love and Harmony in
Tanveer Khokhar.
the Society
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS Real justice requires that even if you have to testify
Amatul Hadi Ahmad
against a close relative then you should do so.
PROOFREADERS (Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Head of the worldwide Ahmadiyya
Abdul Ghany Jahangeer Khan Muslim community) ............................................................................ 26
DESIGN AND LAYOUT
Tanveer Khokhar Forefathers of the Promised Messiah(as)
DISTRIBUTION A remarkable and detailed insight into the ancestral
Muhammad Hanif lineage of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as), portraying
PUBLISHER his origins in Iranian heritage and his ancient roots
Al Shirkatul Islamiyyah in Samarkand, one of the oldest inhabited cities in the
All correspondence should be forwarded to the world. (Hadhrat Maulana Abdur Raheem Dard(ra))....................... 33
editor at:

The Review of Religions There is No Compulsion in Religion

The London Mosque
16 Gressenhall Road
London, SW18 5QL
United Kingdom
© Islamic Publications, 2009
ISSN No: 0034-6721
EMAIL:
reviewofreligions@gmail.com
Representing and defending true Islamic
teachings and providing a balanced view
on other religions. Views expressed in this
publication are not necessarily the beliefs
of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
An in-depth rebuttal to the prevalent misconceptions
particularly in the Islamic world of the use of force
and the meaning of Jihad as according to Qur’anic
teachings.
(Syed Mir Mahmood Ahmed Nasir – Rabwah, Pakistan ). ................. 46
Love for All Hatred for None
Cover pic: Scenery shot taken in Kerala, India – location of the VIP Reception held
in honour of Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Head of the worldwide Ahmadiyya
Muslim Community
 EDITORIAL by Syed Amer Ahmad, UK

We live in turbulent times with the world at large facing a number of

unprecedented crises; but can we identify a root cause to these
problems? With most countries facing their worst economic depression
in living memory, many have partly attributed the downturn to the
unfair ‘bonus culture’ and malpractice of certain companies and
individuals. Similarly the atrocious Mumbai attacks emanated from
the actions of decadent terrorists with no sense of what is right, and
Israel’s invasion into Palestine and merciless massacre of civilians, and
the unwillingness of Muslim states to help the Palestinians, all
demonstrate how divided we stand in our global village. These
perturbing incidents and predicaments are united by one overarching
aspect, namely that a lack of justice is involved.

The election of Barack Hussein Obama, the first black President in

the history of the United States of America, brought hope for change.
People from all over the world celebrated his victory because they felt
that amongst other things, he would restore justice to an unjust world.
Although his approach to governance has been admirable, for
example he has vowed to close down Guantanamo Bay, the question
arises that can changes in policies develop justice in the hearts of
people, or does it simply force justice on them?

This month we include an illustration on the observance of proper

justice by Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih V, who
says that real justice can only be achieved by worshipping the Creator,
Who has instructed us to discharge the rights due to mankind and to
put the interests of others before our own.

But does worshipping a Creator require us to adopt a religion, and if

it does then which religion is the correct one? In answer to these

2 The Review of Religions – February 2009

 Editorial

questions Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as), the Promised Messiah

and Imam Mahdi, expounds the issue of religious choice. Whereas all
religions claim they are truthful, only Islam has benefitted from a
reformer in these days, to infuse spiritual life into people who have
otherwise forgotten the essence of faith.

NOTE FOR THE REVIEW OF RELIGIONS

Verse references to the Holy Qur’an item count ‘Bismillah...’ (In the
Name of Allah...) as the first verse of each Chapter. In some non-
standard texts, this is not counted. Should the reader refer to such texts,
the verse quoted in The Review of Religions will be found a verse earlier,
i.e. at one verse less than the number quoted in this journal.
For the ease of non-Muslim readers, ‘(saw)’ or ‘saw’ after the words,
‘Holy Prophet’, or the name ‘Muhammad’, are used normally in small
letters. They stand for ‘Sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam’ meaning ‘peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him’. Likewise, the letters ‘(as)’ or ‘as’ after
the name of all other prophets is an abbreviation meaning ‘peace be
upon him’ derived from ‘Alaihis salatu wassalam’ which are words that a
Muslim utters out of respect whenever he or she comes across that
name. The abbreviation ‘ra’ or (ra) stands for ‘Radhiallahu Ta’ala anhu and
is used for Companions of a Prophet, meaning Allah be pleased with him
or her (when followed by the relevant Arabic pronoun). Finally, ‘ru’ or (ru)
for Rahemahullahu Ta’ala means the Mercy of Allah the Exalted be upon
him.

In keeping with current universal practice, local transliterations of

names of places are preferred to their anglicised versions, e.g. Makkah
instead of Mecca, etc.

The Review of Religions – February 2009 3

 FROM THE
ARCHIVES O f all the religions prevalent
in the world, Islam is the
only religion which is free from
every error. The erroneousness of
other creeds cannot, however, be
traced to their very beginning,
The but is due to the fact, that since
the time that Islam was
Future established upon earth, heavenly
assistance has not been

of Islam vouchsafed to other religions.

Part One
by Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad(as)
The following is a lecture
delivered at Sialkot, India
on 2 November 1904 by
Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad(as) – the Promised
Messiah and Mahdi
They have, therefore, become
like the garden which has no
gardener, no one to tend or
cultivate or water it. Errors have
gradually crept into them and
they have become corrupt. The
trees that yielded fruit have all
withered away and dried up and
thorny bushes and pernicious
shrubs have grown up in their
place. Spirituality which is the
root of religions has vanished
away and nothing has remained
in the hands of their followers
except vapid words. The life and
the spirit are gone forever and
they have never been re-
animated.

But Islam has not been brought

to this condition. As Almighty
God had ordained that the
garden of Islam should be

4 The Review of Religions – February 2009

 The Future of Islam – Part One
evergreen, therefore He watered
it anew at the commencement of
every century after the Holy
Prophet(saw) and did not allow it to
wither or loose its freshness.
Though whenever a man of God
was raised for the regeneration of
the world, ignorant men opposed
him and severely resented the
correction of errors which had
taken a firm root in their
customs and institutions and
been grounded in their habits, yet
Almighty God did not forsake
His law until in this age, when the
final struggle between truth and
error was to be fought, finding
the Muslims in a state of
remissness, He again remem-
bered His promise made of old
concerning the last ages, and
breathed new life into the faith of
Islam at the commencement of
the fourteenth century of Hejira
and the seventh or the last
thousand of the present cycle of
the world. But since the time of
our Holy Prophet(saw), other faiths
have not experienced such
regeneration, and therefore they
are now all dead and devoid of
spirituality, and errors have taken
such a firm root in them as dirt
The Review of Religions – February 2009
in a cloth which is never washed.
Men who had no share of the
holy spirit in them, and whose
disobedient spirit had not yet
been purified of the dross of
earthliness introduced into them
principles according to their own
evil desires, and with such
corruption changed their whole
nature and their very appear-
ance.
Look at Christianity, for instance,
how holy were the principles
upon which it was originally
based. Though the teachings
given by Jesus Christ(as) appear to
be defective when compared with
the teachings of the Holy
Qur’an, this being due to the
apparent reason that the faculties
of man had not at that stage
been completely developed and
accordingly the time for a perfect
teaching had not arrived, yet
these teachings were quite in
accordance with the require-
ments of that time and embodied
excellent principles of moral and
spiritual growth and pointed the
way to the same God to Whom
the Old Testament had guided
men before. But after the death
of Christ(as), the Christians set up
5
 The Future of Islam – Part One
a new God for themselves, of
whom no trace was found in the
books of Moses(as) and the
prophets, and who was quite
unknown to the Israelites. Faith
in this new God overturned the
whole scheme of the Old Testa-
ment doctrines. All the directions
given by the prophets of God for
many centuries for attaining true
purity of life and obtaining
salvation from the bondage of
sin, were overthrown, and
purification from sin was based
on the monstrous theory that
Jesus(as) was in fact God and that
he himself chose to die a
shameful and accursed death on
the Crossin order to give
salvation to the world.
But the Christians did not stop
here. They went further still and
abolished many of the Old
Testament laws which had been
given for all times. In short, the
Christian religion has undergone
a complete metamorphosis and is
so completely changed that if
Jesus(as) himself were to come
back, he would not recognise in
Christianity the religion which he
had taught and preached. It is
astonishing indeed that men who
6 The Review of Religions – February 2009
had been enjoined to regulate
their conduct by the laws of the
Old Testament which had been
given for all times forsook that
sacred book all at once. For
instance, it is nowhere written in
the Gospels that the prohibition
against the flesh of swine was
taken away by Jesus(as), or that
circumcision required by the Law
was prohibited by him. How
could principles be introduced
into religion regarding which
Jesus(as) gave no directions? But it
had been ordained that a
universal religion, viz., Islam,
should be established upon earth,
and the corruption of
Christianity served as a sign of
Islam’s advent.
Hinduism had met a similar fate
before the appearance of Islam.
Idol-worship was prevalent
throughout India. Corrupt beliefs
had replaced the true and simple
monotheistic doctrines. The
same corruption still prevails in
the beliefs entertained by the
Arya Samaj who hold that the
Creator, like mortals, stands in
need of material to make things.
One error called forth another
and as a necessary consequence
 The Future of Islam – Part One

Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as)

The founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim
community
In 1891, he claimed on the basis of Divine revelation,
that he was the Promised Messiah and Mahdi whose
advent had been foretold by Muhammad, the Holy
Prophet of Islam (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) and by the scriptures of other faiths.

His claim constitutes the basis of the beliefs of the

Ahmadiyya Muslim community.

of the first belief, another and see, and is He like mortals,

erroneous belief had to be
formed according to which the
particles of matter and the souls
are regarded as self existent and
eternal like God Himself. Had
the Aryas given a little reflection
to this point, they would have
discovered the error of their
belief. For, if God stands in need
of material in His attribute of
creation like mortals, then He
must also, like men, stand in need
of resources in His attributes of
seeing, hearing, etc. The power
of hearing in man depends upon
the transmission of sound by the
waves of air, and the power of
seeing in him depends upon the
existence of light. Does God too
then need air and light to hear
dependent upon these things? If
He does not, as the Arya Samaj
will be obliged to admit, then it is
equally certain that He does not
need material for the exercise of
His attribute of creation. In
short, it is a false logic which
attributes to the Divine Being a
weakness and dependence like
that to be met with in mortals. In
fact such a belief involves the
likening of Divine powers and
attributes to the powers and
attributes of man.
Man is, no doubt, not able to
make something out of nothing,
but to judge of the power of God
in accordance with that of
mortals is an error. Man is a finite

The Review of Religions – February 2009 7

 The Future of Islam – Part One
being and God is infinite, and by
the power of the infiniteness of
His existence, He can bring other
things into existence. Such is the
mighty power of His God-head.
If He too, like men, had
depended upon other things in
the exercise of His power, He
could not have been anything
more than a mortal. Is there any
one who can resist His will or
withstand His power? Is He, the
mighty God, unable to create
earth and heavens in the
twinkling of an eye if He so wills
it? Those among the Hindus in
whom learning went hand in
hand with spirituality, and for
whom a false logic had no
charms, never entertained the
erroneous belief which the Arya
Samaj holds. Such a belief gains
currency only on account of an
estrangement from the Divine
Being, which is, in other words,
the absence of spirituality. In
short, the prevalence of corrup-
tion in every religion was a clear
sign of the necessity of a pure
religion, which need was satisfied
by the advent of Islam.
Every student of history is
obliged to admit, that just before
8 The Review of Religions – February 2009
the appearance of Islam, all the
religions had become corrupt on
account of the errors which had
crept into them and that they had
no spirituality left in them. Our
Holy Prophet(saw) was accordingly
the greatest reformer of the
world inasmuch as he restored to
it the truth which had utterly
disappeared from its face. This is
an eminence to which none but
the Holy Prophet(saw) attained. He
found the whole world involved
in darkness which gave place to
light by his appearance. He did
not depart from this world until
the whole nation, in which he
had appeared, had thrown away
the clothing of Shirk (associating
partners with God), and donned the
garments of unity. Not only did
he succeed in a wonderful
manner in firmly establishing the
Unity of God, but he made the
people who had answered his call
reach the highest pinnacles of
faith and show such faithfulness,
constancy and certainty as are
without a parallel in the history
of the world. Such marvellous
success was not granted to any
prophet except the Holy Prophet
Muhammad(saw), and it is one of
the most convincing arguments
 The Future of Islam – Part One
of his truth that he appeared at a
time when the greatest darkness
prevailed upon earth and Called
for a mighty reformer, and that
he was not called back until he
had brought about a complete
transformation, and led hun-
dreds of thousands of men out of
the evil of idol-worship and Shirk
into the ways of righteousness
and the worship of one Divine
Being.
In fact this complete reformation
is a distinctive characteristic of
the mission of the Holy
Prophet(saw). He found a people
drowned in the depths of
savageness and barbarism and
raised them to the level of
human beings, and thus
converted savages into men.
These men he then raised to the
height of civilization and uplifted
them again to the pinnacle of
perfection by making them godly
and righteous men. He breathed
into them the soul of spirituality
and brought about their union
with the true and living God. He
imparted such life to their faith
that they were slaughtered like
sheep in the path of God, and
trampled under feet like ants, but
The Review of Religions – February 2009
their faith remained unshaken,
and in every trial they made an
advancement and never retro-
graded a step. Undoubtedly our
Holy Prophet(saw) was a second
Adam(as) in restoring spiritual life
to the world. Nay, he was the true
Adam, for through him all
human excellences reached their
perfection. His teaching called
forth the exercise of all active
virtues and every branch of the
tree of humanity blossomed forth
and yielded flower and fruit.
Prophethood came to an end in
him, not only because he came
last of all, but also because the
excellences of prophethood
reached their climax in his holy
person. As the Holy Prophet(saw)
was a perfect manifestation of
Divine attributes, therefore the
Law he gave to the world was
also perfect, having attributes
both of glory and love. Hence he
was called Muhammad as well as
Ahmad (meaning a manifestation
of Divine glory and a mani-
festation of Divine love
respectively). His mission as a
prophet was not narrowed by any
limits, but was a Universal
mission, and it was so even from
the beginning.
9
 The Future of Islam – Part One
Another argument for the truth
of the Holy Prophet’s(saw) mission
is furnished by the following
circumstances. It appears from
the Holy Qur’an as well as the
books of previous prophets that
the present cycle of the world
which begins with Adam(as), will
last for seven thousand years,
every alternate thousand
representing a period of the pre-
dominance of goodness and evil
in succession. Thus beginning
with the first thousand, every odd
thousand was a period of the
prevalence of truth and virtue,
and every even thousand that of
the spread of error and evil. Now
according to this division, the
fifth thousand from Adam(as) was
a time of the spread of goodness
and it was in this thousand that
our Holy Prophet(saw) made his
appearance and re-established
the doctrine of unity which had
almost disappeared from the face
of earth. His appearance in the
thousand which had been fixed
from eternity as the time of the
predominance of virtue is one of
the most powerful arguments for
his truth.
The argument adduced above in
10 The Review of Religions – February 2009
support of the truth of the Holy
Prophet’s(saw) mission applies with
equal force to the truth of my
claim. For according to the
division suggested above the sixth
thousand which begins with the
fourth century after Islam and
ends with the thirteenth, is the
time of the prevalence of error.
In the traditions of our Holy
Prophet(saw), the men of this time
are described as the ‘Faij-e-
Aawaj’ [crooked generation]
With the commencement of the
fourteenth century the world
enters upon a new era, the
millenium, which is a time of the
predominance of truth. As it is
the last thousand, so it is
necessary that the reformer of
the last ages should appear at its
commencement. No Messiah
comes after the Messiah who has
already appeared but he who
appears as his image. The
Promised Messiah(as), therefore,
appears as the reformer of the
fourteenth century (for Almighty
God had promised that every
century would have a reformer)
and also as the reformer of the
last thousand. It is a fact upon
which the Jews and the
Christians are both agreed that
 The Future of Islam – Part One
we are now in the seventh
thousand after Adam(as), while
what has been revealed to me by
God regarding the date of the
Holy Prophet’s(saw) appearance as
contained in the letters of the
chapter known as Al-‘Asr
(Afternoon) points to the same
conclusion. Now the prophecies
of the appearance of the
Promised Messiah state unani-
mously the end of the sixth and
the commencement of the
seventh thousand after Adam(as)
to be the time of their fulfilment.
In being last of all he has a
resemblance with Adam(as) who
was the first of all.
Now Adam(as) was born at the
close of the sixth day of the
week, and as one day with God is
equal to a thousand years,
therefore it was necessary that
the Promised Messiah should
have been born at the close of
the six thousand. Moreover
Adam(as) was born on Friday and
along with him was born a
woman. So it happened in my
case, viz., I too was born on
Friday and was born a twin, a girl
being born before me. This mode
of birth indicated that I was the
The Review of Religions – February 2009
last of Imams. In short, the
appearance of the Promised
Messiah at the commencement
of the seventh thousand is
universally admitted. It is for this
reason that there is great
excitement in all Christian
countries as to the immediate
coming of the Messiah. Nay,
there is even disappointment in
some quarters as to his advent,
the exact hour having already
passed away, and some people
are beginning to think that this
promise is fulfilled by the
regeneration of the Church, a
poor substitute for the glorious
advent of the Messiah. Thus my
appearance exactly at the
prophesied hour is a conclusive
proof that I am the promised
one.
Even if there had been no other
argument for my truth, this one
argument was sufficient to place
it beyond all doubt. It shines like
the midday sun and its rejection
involves the rejection of all the
prophets. Some people think that
such a computation of time
cannot be true for none can
know of the hour of judgment,
and that accordingly no period of
11
 The Future of Islam – Part One
time can be fixed from Adam(as) to
the end. These people have never
given a thought to the Divine
books. It is a fact strongly
supported by the testimony of
the Jews and the Christians and
the Holy Qur’an and the books
of prophets. From the traditions
of our Holy Prophet(saw), it also
appears that we are in the last
ages and the signs of the
promised time have all been
witnessed. The statement that
the hour of judgment cannot be
known to any mortal requires to
be explained. It does not mean
that we must remain quite in the
dark as to the Day of Judgment.
Had such been the case, why
should the Holy Qur’an and the
traditions have described the
signs by which the approach of
that hour could be known? Not
only does the Holy Qur’an give
us the signs by which the
approach of that hour can be
known, but it tells as also that
that hour has drawn nigh. The
Gospels and the previous books
also mention the signs of its
approach. What is meant, there-
fore, is this that the exact hour is
not known to anybody. We fix it
roundly at the end of seven
12 The Review of Religions – February 2009
thousand years, but we cannot fix
the hour at which it must take
place, for an addition or subtrac-
tion of several years would not
affect the calculation.
There are numerous signs which
indicate clearly that the Day of
Judgment has drawn nigh, and a
mighty revolution has taken
place in the world. The signs of
the last ages as given in the Holy
Qur’an are mostly fulfilled. The
time of the appearance of the
Promised Messiah has come and
the question naturally arises,
whether he must appear from
among the Muslims or any other
people. Almighty God says in the
Holy Qur’an, that the Holy
Prophet Muhammad(saw), had
complete resemblance with
Moses(as). This resemblance was
at first witnessed in the person of
the Holy Prophet(saw) himself. As
Pharaoh and his hosts, the
enemies of Moses(as), were
destroyed before his eyes, so Abu
Jahl who was the Pharaoh of his
time met with destruction
together with his army at the
hands of the Holy Prophet(saw).
Thus was fulfilled the prophecy
contained in the verse, ‘A prophet
 The Future of Islam – Part One
has been sent to you like the prophet
who was sent to Pharaoh’
(Ch.73:V.16) where the unbe-
lievers are threatened with a fate
similar to that of Pharaoh and
his hosts. This is a point of
resemblance in the beginning of
the two systems. A similar
resemblance is promised at the
end.
The Mosaic system was brought
to an end by Almighty God
raising a prophet who did not
possess temporal power and who
abolished religious wars and
taught forbearance and forgive-
ness. He came at a time when the
Israelites were morally in a state
of degradation and evil had
found way among them. They
had lost all temporal power and
lived in subjection to the Roman
rule. This prophet appeared in
the fourteenth century after
Moses(as) and was the terminating
link of the Israelite chain of
prophets. In like manner has
Almighty God raised me in this
age in the spirit and character of
Christ(as), son of Mary. Religious
wars have been abolished in my
time as they were in that of
Jesus(as), in accordance with the
The Review of Religions – February 2009
prophetic word, and like Jesus(as) I
have been sent to preach
forbearance and forgiveness.
Moreover, I have come at a time
when the Muslims society has,
like the Jewish, rotten to the core,
and spirituality, which is the life
and essence, having departed,
nothing has remained in the
hands of the Muslims but the
husk of lifeless ceremonies.
This state of the Muslim people
had been foretold in the Holy
Qur’an, as in one place it uses of
them the very words which it uses
of the Jews, indicating that power
and kingdom would be granted
to the Muslims, but that they
would be deprived of it in the last
ages because of their evil deeds
as the Jews were deprived before
them. Again in Sura Nur (the
Light) the Holy Qur’an clearly
says that successors would be
raised to the Holy Prophet(saw) like
the successors of Moses(as). Thus
among the successors of
Moses(as), Jesus Christ(as) was a
prophet who did not take up the
sword nor waged religious wars.
A similar Messiah must appear
among the Muslims to complete
the promised likeness spoken of
13
 The Future of Islam – Part One
in the verse: ‘God has promised
to those among you who believe
and do the things that are right,
that He will make out of them
successors in the land, as He gave
succession to those who were
before them, and that He will
establish for them their religion
which is so pleasing in their sight,
and that after their fears He will
give them security in exchange.
They shall worship Me; nought
shall they join with Me: and
whoso after this believe not, they
will be impious’ (Ch.24:V.56). It
is in accordance with this
promise that the last successor to
the Holy Prophet(saw) has been
raised in the likeness of the last
successor of Moses(as) and has like
him been called the Messiah.
Traditions also speak of the
decline of Muslims during the
last ages and of their acquiring a
resemblance with the degraded
Jewish race. The Fatiha also
contains an allusion to this
degenerate state of the Muslims,
for it teaches us to pray to God
that we may not be like the Jews
upon whom the wrath of God
had descended because of their
rejection of Christ. Now when
14 The Review of Religions – February 2009
Almighty God orders a people to
observe a certain commandment
or to pray that they may not fall
into error, it is plain that some of
them who do not obey the Divine
directions, must break that
commandment or fall into that
error. Accordingly the prayer
taught in the Fatiha shows that
some of the Muslims would
acquire resemblance with the
Jews who were visited by Divine
wrath because of their
persecution and denial of Jesus
Christ. This involves the plain
statement that the Messiah
promised to the Muslims must
appear from among themselves,
and that it would be by rejecting
their Messiah that they would
acquire a resemblance with the
Jews who formerly rejected
Jesus(as) Christ, the Israelite
Messiah. It cannot be urged that
the Promised Messiah could not
have been named Jesus if he was
to appear from among the
Muslims themselves, for it is a
Divine law that the names of
foregone men are spiritually or
metaphorically applied to those
who come after them. Thus the
Holy Prophet(saw) gave to Abu Jahl
the name of Pharaoh, and to
 The Future of Islam – Part One
Noah(as), the name of Adam.
Similarly in the Holy Books of
God, John the Baptist was named
Elijah. This is a law which no one
can gainsay.
The Promised Messiah bears
another resemblance to Jesus
Christ(as). Jesus(as) was not fully of
an Israelite descent, but he was
called an Israelite only because
his mother was of that race.
Similar is my case; some of my
grandmothers too were Sayyids,
though none of my ancestors was
himself a Sayyid. The secret
which underlay the birth of
Jesus(as) was this that Almighty
God was in great wrath against
the Israelites, because of their
transgressions, and the birth of a
prophet, from among them who
had no Israelite father, was a sign
to them and a warning that the
office of prophet was about to be
taken away from the house of
Israel. The birth of a child who
did not partake of the blood of
an Israelite father indicated that
Israel had forfeited half its claim
to Divine favour and would
forfeit the other half on further
transgressions, and that the next
prophet would be from a totally
The Review of Religions – February 2009
different nation. As the world is
now coming to an end, therefore
in my descent from a tribe other
than the Quraish, there is an
indication that the end of the
world would cut off all claims of
the Quraish to khilafat. In short,
to complete the resemblance
between the Mosaic and the
Islamic systems, it was necessary
that a Messiah should have
appeared after the Holy
Prophet(saw), bearing resemblance
in all important particulars to the
Israelite Messiah. As the Muslim
system began with the like of
Moses(as), so it ended with the like
of Jesus(as). This is another
argument in support of the truth
of my claim, but it can benefit
those who fear God and are
guided in their enquiry by a
search after truth.
God have mercy on the Muslims
that the beliefs of most of them
are based upon errors and
injustice. They read in the Holy
Qur’an that Jesus(as) is dead, but
still they consider him to be alive.
They also read that successors to
the Holy Prophet(saw) must be
from among the Muslims, and
still believe that the Promised
15
 The Future of Islam – Part One
Messiah would be from among
the Israelites. In Bukhari and
Muslim, the two authentic works
on tradition, they find that the
Messiah who would appear in
the last ages would be from
among themselves, and still want
to bring Jesus(as) back to this
world. They read in the Holy
Qur’an that Jesus(as) would not
come back to the world and
notwithstanding this, believe that
Jesus(as) himself would come back.
They read further that no mortal
can with this body of clay go up
to heaven and make there his
abode, and still entertain the
belief that Jesus(as) with this
physical body was taken up into
heaven where he has been
residing for nineteen hundred
years. And holding all these
beliefs against the Holy Qur’an
they still call themselves Muslims.
But why was Jesus(as) taken up to
heaven in his body, and why has
the Holy Qur’an not mentioned
this event if it ever happened?
The statement in the Holy
Qur’an if understood to mean an
ascension of the body could not
be meant as a refutation of the
Jews. Their contention was
16 The Review of Religions – February 2009
simply as to the rising of the soul
of Jesus(as) to heaven and not his
body. They thought that they had
caused the death of Jesus(as) by
crucifixion and accordingly held
that he was under the curse of
God, and that his soul could not
rise upward. This was the quarrel
which the Holy Qur’an had to
decide, for it claims to be a judge
in all points of disagreement
between the Jews and the
Christians and an exposer of
their errors. Now the contention
of the Jews was that Jesus
Christ(as) was not a righteous
servant of God, and that
accordingly he did not obtain
salvation and his soul did not rise
up to God, and, therefore, these
were the very matters at issue and
the question to be decided was
whether the soul of Jesus(as) did
rise to God like the souls of His
righteous servants. But if the
verse ‘But Almighty God raised him to
Himself ’ (Ch.4:V.159) which is the
only verse bearing upon the
subject in debate, speaks of Jesus’
ascension to the second heaven
with this body of clay, the facts at
issue remain as undecided as
before.
 The Future of Islam – Part One
Such an assertion is blasphemous
for it amounts to the statement
that Almighty God was unable to
comprehend the point in dispute
and gave a judgment which was
wholly irrelevant. Again the verse
speaks of Jesus(as) rising to God
and not to the second heaven
where he is supposed to be. The
verse does not speak of heaven at
all and the second heaven cannot
be supposed to be the seat of the
Almighty, and so the assertion
falls to the ground. Moreover the
rising of the body to heaven was
never considered to be a
condition of salvation. If Jesus(as)
went to God, did not Abraham(as),
Isaac(as), Ishmael(as), Jacob(as),
Moses(as) and our Holy Prophet(saw)
go to Him, or did they all (God
forbid) go elsewhere? I assert
emphatically that to consider
rafa’, i.e., rising to God, a
peculiarity of Jesus(as), and to
believe that the other prophets
were not granted this favour, is
the veriest unbelief and a denial
of the truth of every prophet,
while the Holy Prophet(saw) bears
witness to their rafa’.
It should be clearly understood
that Jesus’ rafa’ (rising) to God has
The Review of Religions – February 2009
been adverted to in the Holy
Qur’an only with the object of
the refutation of the Jews and to
warn them of their error in
ascribing to Jesus(as) an accursed
death. As a matter of fact rafa’ is
granted to all the prophets and
the faithful servants of God and
their souls rise to God after
death. It is to this rising that the
following verse refers: ‘This is a
reminder. And the righteous will surely
have excellent retreat: Gardens of
Eternity, with their gates thrown open
to them’ (Ch.38:Vs.50-51)
indicating that the gates of
heaven shall be opened for the
souls of the righteous to rise after
their death. Of the unbelievers
the Holy Qur’an says:
…The gates of heaven shall not
be opened for them…
(Ch.7:V.41)
Those who fell into this error
before I came are excusable. To
them it is pardoned for they were
not informed of the truth and
were not made to understand the
true meaning of the Word of
God. But such is not your case.
To you everything has been
explained and for you light has
17
 The Future of Islam – Part One
been thrown on every side of the
question. Therefore you cannot
bring forward any excuse for
sticking to this error.
As for my truth, heaven has
borne witness to it and the earth
has offered its testimony. There is
also the evidence of Muslim
saints in support of my claim,
some of whom described me so
minutely as to give even my
name and the name of my
village. They died long before my
appearance, but still gave
evidence that I was the Promised
Messiah. All this will be found
published in my books. More
recently some of the spiritual
leaders of Muslim people with
hundreds of thousands of
followers, being inspired by God
or informed by the Holy
Prophet(saw) in a vision, have
borne witness to the truth of my
claim. Besides this, thousands of
heavenly signs have been shown
by me, and the holy prophets of
God predicted the exact time of
my appearance. If you reflect,
even your hands and feet and
your hearts will bear witness to
the truth of my claim. Too many
are your weaknesses and most of
18 The Review of Religions – February 2009
you are strangers to the sweetness
of faith. The weakness and
errors, the love of this world and
the darkness in which the
Muslims are involved naturally
call for one who, being inspired
from heaven, should rise and take
them by the hand.
Still I am called a dajjal
(Antichrist). How deplorable
must be the condition of a people
to whom at the critical moment
in their life a dajjal is sent! How
unfortunate the nation which
when standing at the brink of
destruction, is visited by another
destruction from heaven! They
call me accursed and a heretic,
but there is nothing new in that.
The same epithets were given to
Jesus Christ(as) and are still given
to him by the Jews. But those who
will be punished in hell for their
evils, will say:
Why see we not the men whom we
numbered among the wicked?
(Ch.38:V.63)
The world has ever been an
enemy to the messengers of God,
for the love of the world and the
love of God’s righteous prophets
 The Future of Islam – Part One
cannot go together. Had you too
not loved the world, you could
have seen me, but now you
cannot. If it is true that the verse
‘But Almighty God raised him to
Himself ’ (Ch.4:V.159) refers to the
physical ascension of Jesus(as),
where has then the Holy Qur’an
decided the matter in dispute?
The Jews, whom the verse plainly
refutes, denied the rafa’ of Jesus(as)
(i.e., his rising to God) only in the
sense that he was an impostor
and not a truthful and righteous
servant of God and that
accordingly his soul did not rise
to heaven. They have never
contended that a man’s death on
the Crossrenders impossible his
bodily ascension to heaven. What
they say is only this that in
accordance with the Word of
God, the man who dies upon the
Crossremains under the curse of
God and his soul cannot rise to
heaven. Now if we read the Holy
Qur’an, we will see that its object
is to deny the death of Jesus(as)
upon the Crossand thus, to assert
his rafa’ or the rising of his soul to
heaven. Thus the verse in dispute
is preceded by the verse:
And their saying, ‘We did kill the
The Review of Religions – February 2009
Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the
Messenger of Allah;’ whereas
they slew him not, nor crucified
him, but he was made to appear to
them like one crucified; and
those who differ therein are
certainly in a state of doubt
about it; they have no definite
knowledge therof, but only follow
a conjecture; and they did not
convert this conjecture into a
certainty.
(Ch.4:V.158)
Here the words which mean that
they did not crucify him, are
coupled with the words ‘and they
did not murder him’, thus
indicating that being nailed to
the Crossdid not by itself bring a
man under the curse of God
unless death was caused by this
process; or by the attendant
process of breaking the legs
which in such cases is resorted to,
to make death sure. In these
words, the Holy Qur’an,
therefore, tells us that none of
these events, took place in the
case of Jesus, i.e., neither he died
upon the Crossnor were his legs
broken.
History bears witness to the truth
19
 The Future of Islam – Part One
of this assertion, and we learn
even from the Gospels that
Jesus(as) did not die upon the
Crossnor were his legs broken.
He was nailed to the Cross, but
was taken off so soon that he
could not die within the short
interval that he remained
thereon. But he became senseless
and thus was taken by the Jews
for a dead man. The Christians
also laboured under this
delusion, though they thought
that he rose after his death. This
state of senselessness which made
him resemble a dead man is
described in the Holy Qur’an in
the words: ‘They were thrown into a
doubt,’ which follow immediately
the denial of his death by means
of the Cross. The historical
evidence furnished by the
Marham-i-Isa, i.e., the Ointment
of Jesus, is conclusive on this
point. The prescription of this
ointment is given in the Materia
Medicas of the Hebrews, the
Romans, the Grecians, and the
Muslims, and dates from a very
old period. This prescription is
stated to have been prepared
originally for Jesus Christ(as) by his
apostles. In short, the very idea is
disgraceful that Jesus(as) was taken
20 The Review of Religions – February 2009
up to heaven because the
Almighty feared that He could
not save him from the hands of
the Jews so long as he was upon
earth.
Such ideas involve a derogation
of the dignity of our Holy
Prophet(saw) too, for when the
unbelievers of Makkah demand-
ed of him the miracle that he
should rise to heaven and come
back from there with a book,
making this a condition of their
belief in him, the Holy
Prophet(saw) was commanded to
reply: ‘I am only a mortal, and holy is
my Lord: (to Him cannot be
ascribed the fault that He should
do aught against His own
promise)’ (Ch.17:V.94). Almighty
God has said plainly that the
earth is made a resting-place for
men and that they shall not live
and die except on this earth, as is
indicated in the verse:
In this earth you shall live and in
it you shall die, and from it you
shall be brought forth.
(Ch.7:V.26)
Some people think that they do
not stand in need of the
 The Future of Islam – Part One
Promised Messiah, nor is it
necessary to believe in him. They
argue that admitting that Jesus(as)
is dead, still as they are Muslims,
and pray and fast and follow the
Islamic injunctions, they do not
need any one else to make them
better. But this is a fatal error. In
the first place, how can such
people call themselves Muslims
when they do not obey Almighty
God and His Prophet(saw).
The command given to them
respecting the Promised Messiah
was that when he should make
his appearance, they should run
to him; and that though they
should have to walk on ice upon
their knees still they should reach
him. But how are these orders
carried out? By saying, ‘We do
not need the Messiah, nor do we
care for him.’ And those who are
not satisfied with indifference go
a step further and hurl at me the
most scurrilous abuses. They call
me a heresiarch and a dajjal.
Anyone who injures me in any
way thinks that he has done a
deed of great merit, and the one
who calls me a liar believes that
he has thereby pleased Almighty
God. O ye people who were
The Review of Religions – February 2009
commanded to be patient and
God fearing and to walk in
probity and righteousness! Who
taught you to be so hasty in
rejecting a messenger of God
and to take in an evil light all his
doings and words?
What sign is there which God has
not manifested, and what
argument which has not been
appealed to, but you rejected
every sign and every proof, and
with boldness treated the
commandments of God as
naught. To whom should I liken
this cunning generation. It is like
the crafty man who in open
daylight shuts his eyes and says
‘where is the sun.’ Thou self-
deceived man open thine own
eyes first and then thou wilt see
the sun. It is easy to call a
messenger of God a heretic, but
difficult to follow him in the
subtle ways of faith, easy to call
him a Dajjal but hard to enter the
strait gate of his teaching.
Everyone who says that he does
not care for the Promised
Messiah does not care for his
faith, and sets at naught the true
purity of life, real salvation and
living faith. If such men could
21
 The Future of Islam – Part One
take a just view of things, they
would find that without the living
and perfect certainty which is
granted from heaven through the
holy prophets and messengers of
God, their prayers are only
lifeless ceremonies and their
fasting mere starvation.
The truth is that no one can
actually obtain a release from the
bondage of sin or love God
perfectly or fear Him as he ought
to fear, unless and until he is
granted power from above and
Divine knowledge through the
grace and mercy of God. It is
self-evident that love or fear of a
thing is generated in the heart
only by knowledge of it. If we
were to consider the reason
which makes a man love a thing
or fear it, we would find that
these states of mind are con-
sequent only upon knowledge of
the thing loved or feared. It is
true, however, that the knowledge
of God cannot be attained but
through His grace, and with its
attainment is the way opened for
a man to see the truth. It is,
therefore, grace only which
opens and re-opens the gate of
truth, and had it not been for the
22 The Review of Religions – February 2009
grace of God, we could not have
attained His knowledge. Grace
clears and brightens knowledge
and removes all intervening veils.
It brushes away the dust cast by
the disobedient spirit and gives a
power and life to the spirit. It
takes the spirit of man by the
hand and draws it out of the pit
of disobedience, purifies it of the
dross of evil desires and saves it
from being swept off before the
flood of passions. A trans-
formation is then brought about
within a man and he hates the
impure life of sinfulness.
The first movement to which
Divine grace leads the soul is
prayer. Do not think that I mean
by prayer the ordinary prayers
that you say daily. The prayer to
which the soul is led after it has
attained Divine knowledge
through Divine grace has quite a
different nature. It is a thing
which brings about annihilation,
a fire which melts the soul, a
magnetic power which draws
mercy, a death which gives life, a
raging flood which afterwards
becomes the life-boat. It mends
all deteriorations and impair-
ments, and makes every poison
 The Future of Islam – Part One
ultimately a panacea. Blessed are
the prisoners who are not tired of
praying, for they shall one day be
released. Blessed are the blind
who are not remiss in praying, for
they shall one day see. Blessed
are they who lying in their graves
seek the assistance of God with
prayer, for they shall one day be
made to rise from their graves.
Blessed are you when you are not
wearied with praying, and your
soul melts for prayer and your
eye sheds tears, when prayer
kindles a bright fire in your heart
and takes you into dark closets
and solitary deserts to make you
taste of the pleasures of
loneliness and makes you almost
mad in love, for you shall at last
receive the grace and mercy of
God.
The God to whom I invite you is
a very gracious and merciful
God, kind and modest, true and
faithful and compassionate to the
weak and the poor. Be you also
then true and faithful to Him and
pray to Him with sincerity and
constancy, and He shall have
mercy upon you. Keep yourselves
apart from the hubbub of society
and remain aloof from worldly
The Review of Religions – February 2009
contentions. Let not your reli-
gious controversies assume the
character of your own quarrels,
but choose to be called the
defeated party so that you may be
made heirs to great victories. To
those who pray, Almighty God
will show a miracle, and to those
who seek, He will grant
extraordinary blessings.
It is from God that prayer comes
and to Him that it returns. With
prayer God comes so near to you
as your own soul. The very first
blessing which it brings is that a
holy transformation is brought
about within a man, along with
which God also changes His
attributes. But do not think that
His attributes are changing, nay,
they are constant and unchange-
able, but for the transformed one
there is a different manifestation
of which the world is quite
ignorant. For him He becomes a
new God, although beside Him
there is no other God. It is the
new manifestation of His glory
that reveals Him. Then in a new
light, and in this manifestation
He does the wonderful deeds and
shows the marvels of power
which He does not do or show for
23
 The Future of Islam – Part One
the sake of others. This is the
origin of miracles or heavenly
signs.
In short, prayer is the grand elixir
which transmutes a handful of
dust into the purest and finest
gold, and it is a water which
washes off all impurities of the
heart. With prayer the soul melts
and flowing like water falls down
on the threshold of Divine
majesty. It stands like a
worshipper in the presence of
God, and bows down before His
majesty and prostrates itself
before His grandeur.
The namaz, or the five daily
prayers of Islam, are an image of
the true prayer of the soul. By the
standing of the soul in the Divine
presence, it is meant that it shows
its readiness in obeying the
commandments of God and in
suffering every adversity and
trial. By its bowing, it is meant
that cutting off every tie of love
and severing every connection it
bends wholly to God and devotes
itself entirely to Him. By its
prostration, it is meant that
falling down on the Divine
threshold, it loses its own self
24 The Review of Religions – February 2009
entirely and annihilates every
trace of self. This is the prayer
which brings about the union of
man with God, and a picture of
this has been drawn by the
Muslim Law in the ordinary
daily prayers, so that the form
may be the guide to the essence
and a mover towards its
attainment. Man has been so
created that his body and soul
mutually affect each other, and
this is a fact of our everyday
experience. It is for this reason
that the Muslim Law makes the
body partake with the soul in acts
of the worship of the Divine
Being, so that on account of the
very close connection between
the body and the soul, the form
of worship may lead the soul to
realise the essence which
underlies it, and as the body
stands or bows or prostrates itself,
the soul inwardly does the same
and thus gives a life to the form.
For advancement a man must
necessarily make exertions and
this is true no less in the spiritual
than in the material world. The
uniting of the soul and the body
in the worship of God is also a
kind of exertion for the spiritual
progress of man, for in this
 The Future of Islam – Part One
manner the one becomes an
incentive to the other. But the
mere physical standing and
bowing and prostration are
useless unless they are accom-
panied with the exertion that the
soul may also stand and bow and
prostrate itself before God.
It is a Divine law which can be
traced as far back as the history
of man that by the wonderful
working of His grace, He first
causes the holy spirit to descend
upon whomsoever He wills, and
then by the assistance of the holy
spirit instils His love into his
heart, grants him perseverance
and faithfulness, and strengthens
his knowledge and suppresses his
weaknesses with manifold signs
until the man is actually prepared
to sacrifice his life in the way of
God. His connection with God is
made so strong and undissolv-
able, that no trial or adversity can
break it and no sword can cut it
asunder. This love has no
temporary support, no transitory
motive. It is not called forth by
the desire of heaven or the fear of
hell, or by any longing for
worldly comfort or worldly gain.
It is indescribable and the nature
The Review of Religions – February 2009
of it is not known to anyone but
God, not even to the person who
loves. He does not know why he
loves and with what object, for
his soul is naturally drawn to it.
This connection is not produced
by knowledge, for knowledge
comes afterwards and illuminates
the connection which is already
existing. It is like the fire hidden
in flint, but to lighten which it is
necessary to strike it with steel.
The person so favoured possesses
on the one hand inherent love for
God, and on the other he is
granted a zeal for sympathy with
his fellow-beings. So, as he is
himself momently drawn
towards God, he draws all
capable hearts to himself. In
Muslim theologic terminology
such a person is called a prophet,
a messenger, or a reformer. The
prophets are the recipients of
Divine revelation and are spoken
to by God, and heavenly signs are
manifested at their hands. Their
prayers are accepted, and when
they pray to God, they receive an
answer from Him.
25
 Assalamu ‘Alaikum Warahmatullah to
VIP Reception in Honour of all the respected and honourable guests.
Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad

F
(Khalifatul Masih V) irst of all I would like to thank
all the distinguished guests,
who with an open heart and
kindness have joined us here
today. By doing so you have
Establishing fulfilled the humanly bond of
Peace, Love friendship and have shown that
you hold in high regard the
and Harmony sentiments of others. India is a
vast country where people
in Society belonging to different casts and
religions abide, and for the
survival of the nation it is
important to respect the feelings
The following is an address and sentiments of each other.
given at the Taj Residency
Hotel, Ernakulam, Kerala on Today the world consists of
people belonging to different
30 November 2008 religions and the founders of
those religions have all taught
their followers to worship the one
God and discharge the rights
owed to Him and His creation.
About 1400 years ago, God
Almighty sent the Holy
Prophet(saw) and the law revealed
to him in the form of the Holy
Qur’an. About this law-bearing
book, God Almighty has said in
the Holy Qur’an:

Verily We ourselves have sent

26 The Review of Religions – February 2009

 Establishing Peace, Love and Harmony in Society
down this exhortation and most
surely We will be its Guardian.
(Ch.15:V10)
Hence, to this day the Holy
Qur’an is still in its purest form
with no alteration to it. Several
Orientalists have also attested to
this fact. This book was revealed
to the Holy Prophet(saw) 1400
years ago, as I have said, and
upon reflection over it we come
to know that it comprehends a
wide range of subjects. Where it
confirms the coming of the
prophets in various nations, it
also verifies their true teachings.
It teaches man how to discharge
the rights owed to one another,
on what conditions war is
permitted, and to what extent
war should be fought. It also
informs us about the inventions
that are to be expected in the
future – that is, today’s inventions
- how trade should be done, and
so on just to name a few.
If one observes the Holy Qur’an
critically, its teachings can be
summarised into two main areas.
One, recognition of our Creator,
and secondly, discharging the
rights owed to His creation. Even
though some critics do not
The Review of Religions – February 2009
understand some teachings of
the Holy Qur’an, or do not
believe in them, they do,
however, admit to its originality.
To understand the Holy Qur’an
properly one needs determi-
nation and purity of heart. Since
the advent of Islam, the Holy
Qur’an has been explained to
people by the Holy Prophet(saw)
himself, who taught it to his
companions; then after him,
other pious people also studied,
understood and explained it to
others for decades.
We also believe that in every
century, God Almighty has sent
reformers amongst Muslims, and
these were responsible for
spreading the true teachings and
message of Islam to all, be it
Muslim or Non-Muslim. Some of
such reformers came to the
Indian sub-continent. Then in
1889, the founder of the
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community,
from Qadian in Indian, claimed
to be the reformer and the
Messiah and Mahdi who was to
appear in the fourteenth century,
as was prophesied by the Holy
Prophet(saw).
We Ahmadis, believing in his
27
 Establishing Peace, Love and Harmony in Society
claim, belong to his community
and accept him to be the Messiah
and Mahdi who was to unite all
people, both Muslims and Non-
Muslims, under the One God, so
that religious differences would
be removed from the world, and
so that people would start to
realise the purpose of their
creation as taught by all
prophets, and that is discharging
the rights owed to their Creator,
and discharging the rights owed
to one another.
The Founder of the Ahmadiyya
Muslim Community, Hadhrat
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani,
the Masih-e-Mau’ood(as), also
announced that the purpose of
his advent was to strengthen the
bond between man and his
Creator and secondly to draw
man’s attention towards
discharging the rights owed to
God’s creation. He taught that
man should come closer to his
Creator by worshipping Him and
must discharge the rights owed to
one another in order to remove
all grievances and religious
disputes that arise amongst
people. He also mentioned that
these were in accordance with
the Qur’anic teachings. Here one
28 The Review of Religions – February 2009
should note that God sometimes
speaks metaphorically, which
becomes difficult for people to
comprehend. Therefore God
sends messengers into the world
to explain and convey God’s
message to them which had been
revealed to the Prophets in the
past. According to our belief,
Hadhrat Masih-e-Mau’ood(as) is
that special reformer whom God
Almighty sent in this age to
convey God’s message to us.
I will now briefly elaborate on
what the Holy Qur’an teaches us
regarding the establishment of
peace in the society and the
discharging of each other’s
rights. We Ahmadis try to ensure
that we always abide by these
teachings and share it with others
so that the world becomes a
haven of peace, love and
harmony. Muslims have been
commanded to abstain from evil
and adopt virtue and righteous-
ness. To this effect it is stated in
the Holy Qur’an:
You are the best people raised for
the good of mankind. You enjoin
good and forbid evil and believe in
Allah.
(Ch.3:V.111)
 Establishing Peace, Love and Harmony in Society
Hence, people who believe in the
Holy Qur’an have been advised
to show integrity in all their
endeavours and work to promote
goodness and righteousness
within their societies. But before
one can counsel others towards
such ways, one must practice
what one preaches. You cannot
counsel others if you do not
follow the path of righteousness
yourself. If all people who claim
to be righteous abided by this
principal then their counsel would
be effective; they would be
considered valued members of
the society. Others would respect
them, give importance to what
they say, and obey them since they
understand that this person is
adopting such an approach not
for his own good but with the
welfare of others at heart. He
exercises extreme justice in his
dealings and when enjoining
others to abstain from evil and
adopt virtue, he also expects this
from his dear ones.
How (are we) to establish justice
and promote peace, love and
brotherhood in society? The Holy
Qur’an says:
And when you speak observe
The Review of Religions – February 2009
justice, even if the person concerned
be a relative, and fulfil the covenant
of Allah.
(Ch.6:V.153)
Justice requires that even if you
have to give evidence against your
dear ones then do so. Today, when
we take a closer look around us,
we observe that most of the
disputes and causes of dissention
amongst people are due to not
observing proper justice. We only
think of our vested interests, or
that of our dear ones, without
considering the fact that the
others might be hurt by our
actions; and once grievances
develop it becomes difficult to
eliminate them.
In terms of international rela-
tions, the level of justice we are
expected to show is commanded
by the following words in the Holy
Qur’an:
O ye who believe! Be steadfast in
the cause of Allah, bearing witness
in equity. And let not a people’s
enmity incite you to act otherwise
than with justice. Be always just,
that is nearer to righteousness. And
fear Allah; surely Allah is aware of
what you do. (Ch.5:V.9)
29
 Establishing Peace, Love and Harmony in Society
This is the high standard of
justice to be established in society.
To remove all enmities and
dissention from the world we
have to show justice to such an
extent that a people’s enmity
should not cause us to act
otherwise than with justice.
When God Almighty has said
that He is All-Knowing and All-
Hearing, then for the person with
the fear of God in his heart, this
is a grave matter, because one
can pull the wool over someone’s
eyes but cannot deceive God.
You can go against your
agreements with people and
deceive them, but God knows
what is apparent and what is
hidden in our hearts. So we
cannot act cleverly before Him.
God Almighty has commanded
us to always behave justly,
keeping the fear of Allah in
mind, and to discharge the rights
owed to one another with the
fear of God in one’s heart. When
you make agreements with your
enemies, do so with purity of
heart, and with the intention of
establishing justice in the world.
And one who believes in God
should remember that God is
watchful over all that one does.
30 The Review of Religions – February 2009
This beautiful teaching helps us
in removing all enmities from the
society.
I will now give an example of
how the Holy Prophet(saw)
practised justice in his everyday
life. It is narrated that once a Jew
came before the Holy Prophet(saw)
with the complaint that a
companion of the Holy
Prophet(saw) had failed to return
the four dirham, the currency of
that time, he owed the Jew, and
the time for settlement had been
exceeded. The Holy Prophet(saw)
called the companion and asked
him whether that was the case, to
which the companion answered
in the affirmative. The Holy
Prophet(saw) asked him to return
the money, to which the
companion said he had no
money at present and would
return it as soon as he had it. The
Holy Prophet(saw) again said,
return the money. The
companion again replied he did
not have it. This went on three
times, after which the companion
was forced by the Holy
Prophet(saw) to repay the money.
He then went to the market, sold
the clothes he was wearing for
four dirhams, placed his
 Establishing Peace, Love and Harmony in Society

“
In its history, if ever wars were fought then
they were because they were initiated by the
enemy. Even in such wars the Holy Prophet(saw)
always expected justice to be carried out. He
always ordered his companions that no child, no
woman, no old or weak one was to be harmed. No
religious leader belonging to any religion, living
peacefully in his house of worship was to be hurt.
Even trees were not to be felled in enmity.

headdress over his body, and

returned the money to the Jew.
This is how the Holy Prophet(saw)
guided his followers to fulfil their
agreements and show justice so
that peace and justice could
prevail in society.
This Qur’anic teaching, and the
Holy Prophet’s(saw) action has
shown Muslims the right path to
follow. Today, opponents of
Islam criticise it for using force
and say it is extremist in nature;
however, this allegation is totally
unfounded. Islam is a religion of
peace, love and harmony. In its
history, if ever wars were fought,
then they were because they were
initiated by the enemy. Even in
such wars, the Holy Prophet(saw)
always expected justice to be
”
carried out. He always ordered
his companions that no child, no
woman, and no old or weak one
were to be harmed. No religious
leader belonging to any religion,
living peacefully in his house of
worship was to be hurt. Even
trees were not to be felled in
enmity.
Wars were only between one
army and the other. What more
beautiful and virtuous action
shown like this by the Holy
Prophet(saw) can you expect from
someone? In comparison, when
you see wars fought today, it is
the innocent civilians and inha-
bitants of cities and towns who
are affected. It is the innocent
and weak members of society
who come under the fire of this

The Review of Religions – February 2009 31

 Establishing Peace, Love and Harmony in Society
cruel bombardment. Islam never
teaches such cruelty. Alas! Today
this beautiful teaching is being
ignored and misconstrued by
some Muslim groups,
consequently defaming the name
of Islam.
In this day and age we believe in
the Imam of this Age, the
Messiah and Mahdi, who taught
us that under the prevailing
circumstances Jihad must be with
the pen, by reforming yourself
and spreading the message of
peace, not the sword. The Jihad
of the sword is now not
permitted. We must only concen-
trate on drawing people towards
Islam’s beautiful teachings.
The Founder of the community
was then succeeded by the
institution of Khilafat, which has
been established to continue the
work of representing Islam’s true
teachings and ensuring that
people are guided towards the
right path through reformation
and moral training. According to
our belief, based on Qur’anic
teachings, there is no compulsion
in religion. Everyone is free to
profess the religion of his choice,
but one does not have the right to
32 The Review of Religions – February 2009
degrade other religions or their
founders. This is against the
teachings of the Holy Qur’an.
We have been commanded to
respect the feelings of others and
draw man towards the worship of
his Creator so as to spread peace,
love, and harmony in society.
Today, quite a number of people
are in the selfish pursuit of
seeking the fulfilment of their
vested interests, without giving a
thought towards discharging the
rights due to others. If we do not
recognise our Creator and
discharge the due rights to one
another, the world will be lead to
a terrible disaster the effects of
which will be seen for years to
come and the future generations
will blame us for this. It is my
fervent prayer that we safeguard
ourselves and our generation
from such destruction. Once
again, I thank you all for having
listened to me patiently, may
Allah bless you all. Thank you.
Forefathers of the (Adapted from
The Review of Religions,
April 1939, Vol.

Promised Messiah
(as)
XXXVIII, No. 4)

By Hadhrat Maulana Abdur Raheem Dard(ra)

Hadhrat Maulana Abdur Raheem Dard(ra) (1894-1955) was a companion

of the Promised Messiah(as) and a learned scholar of the Ahmadiyya Muslim
About the Author

Community. He was the first Imam of the London Mosque, the first Mosque
built in London in 1924, and also served as Private Secretary to Hadhrat
Khalifatul Masih II from 1920-1924. In 1933 he persuaded Muhammad
Ali Jinnah to return to India from London and resume leadership of Indian
Muslims, which ultimately led to the creation of Pakistan. Mr Jinnah said
‘The eloquent persuasion of the Imam left me no way of escape.’ (see The
Sunday Times, London, April 1933).

T he Promised Messiah(as)
belonged to a most distin-
guished family. He was a
Iranians. The word Samarkand
itself is of Iranian origin. The
word Barlas also is Iranian and
descendant of Haji Barlas who means ‘A brave man of noble
was the uncle of Amir Timur stock.’ Hence the Promised
(commonly known as Tamerlane Messiah(as) was Iranian by race
in the West). It is an established and not Mughal as is generally
fact of history that Timur supposed.
belonged to the famous tribe of
Barlas which had lived and ruled A member of the family, Mirza
in Kish for two hundred years. Hadi Beg, came to India from
This part of the world was known Samarkand with Babar, the great
in ancient times as Sogdiana of conqueror of India, or perhaps
Samarkand was the capital. The slightly later, on account of some
Encyclopaedia Britannica says that domestic dissentions or an
the Sogdians were a tribe of affliction. He brought with him

The Review of Religions – February 2009 33

 Forefathers of the Promised Messiah(as)
his followers and servants, the
party consisting of about 200
persons. He was treated by Babar
with great respect; and he
selected for settlement a place
about 70 miles from Lahore, and
founded a village on a flat piece
of ground below which, at a
distance of 9 miles to the North
East, flows the River Bias. The
village was named Islampur.
As he belonged to the ruling
family, a ‘jagir’ (a fief) consisting of
several hundred villages was
immediately granted to him by
the King, and he was also
appointed Qadhi (judge) of the
surrounding district. The name
of the village, therefore, became
Islampur Qadhi, signifying that it
was the seat of the Qadhi.
Gradually Islampur was dropped
and it was known only as Qadhi.
The letter: ‘dh’
is often popularly pronounced as
‘d’ and Qadi in the course of
time was converted into the
present form, Qadian. The vil-
lage continued to be the seat of
the family; and though they lived
far from the Imperial Capital
(Delhi), members of the family
34 The Review of Religions – February 2009
filled important offices under the
rule of the Mughals.
In the days of the decline of
Mughal rule, Mirza Faiz
Muhammad, the great grand-
father of the Promised Messiah(as)
took measures to suppress the
anarchy that prevailed in the
Punjab, whereupon, in the year
1716 A.D., Farrukhsiyar,
Emperor of Delhi, bestowed
upon him the rank of Haft-
Hazar, thereby authorising him
to keep a regular force of 7,000
soldiers. It may be mentioned
here that this rank was, till the
reign of Farrukhsiyar, restricted
to the members of the royal
family and was conferred only on
a very limited number of persons
outside the royal circle. In
addition to it the Emperor also
conferred on him the title of
‘Azadud Daulah’, i.e., strong arm of
the Government.
After the death of Mirza Faiz
Muhammad, his son Mirza Gul
Muhammad, was engaged in a
desperate struggle against the
forces of anarchy in the Punjab.
This happened during the reigns
of Muhammad Shah, Shah
Alam and Alamgir II, and from
 Forefathers of the Promised Messiah(as)
the Imperial despatches which
were addressed to him it appears
that he continually warned the
Emperors at Delhi of the coming
dangers. He, however, received
no actual support from Delhi
beyond verbal promises of help;
and, unaided by the Central
Government he continued his
struggle for the consolidation of
the Imperial authority. When the
power of the Mughals declined
and the Punjab was torn up by
petty Chiefs, the family remained
in quasi-independent possession
of Qadian and its surrounding
country – about 60 square miles
in area.
Mirza Gul Muhammad was a
very able man and he became an
The Review of Religions – February 2009
independent Chief of Qadian.
His army, consisting of infantry
and cavalry, numbered 1,000. He
had three guns. He ruled over 85
villages. He was a very righteous
and generous chief. Hundreds of
people ate at his table. He
patronised learning and paid
stipends to about 500 persons.
He was a holy man and loved the
company of the righteous.
Attracted by his righteousness
and the encouragement he gave
to learning, he was surrounded
by about 400 men given to the
pursuit of knowledge and virtue.
His purity and piety, his courage
and determination, his sympathy
and generosity are still well-
known in the neighbourhood. He
35
 Forefathers of the Promised Messiah(as)
was wise, sagacious and firm. It is
said that he sometimes fought
single-handed against 1000, and
routed them all. He was a brave
soldier during the day, and a
pious devotee at night. In those
days Qadian, because of its
religious atmosphere, was often
spoken of as ‘Makkah’.
It is said that Ghiyasud Daula, a
Minister of the Imperial
Government, once visited Qadian;
and, seeing the dignity of Mirza
Gul Muhammad and his little
court, he was deeply impressed
and remarked with regret, and
with tears in his eyes, that if he
had known that such a great and
noble member of the Mughliyya
dynasty was living in this jungle
he would have tried to save the
Muslim Empire by putting him
on the throne at Delhi. This
would have been by no means
impossible in those days. In the
beginning Ranjit Singh owned
only 9 villages, but in a very short
time he actually became the ruler
of the whole of the Punjab. The
Muslims, however, were passing
through evil times, and their
empire could not be saved.
During the last illness of Mirza
36 The Review of Religions – February 2009
Gul Muhammad, a physician
prescribed brandy as a medicine,
but he resolutely refused it and
preferred to die rather than find
himself placed in a situation
when he might appear to violate
the Qur’anic injunction against
alcohol. He died of hiccups in
about 1800 A.D.
Mirza Gul Muhammad was
succeeded by his son Mirza Ata
Muhammad. By this time the
Sikhs had risen to power and
those of Ramgarh entered into a
league with some of the
neighbouring families. The state
became so crippled that only the
capital was left. Qadian was like
a fortress, being surrounded by a
wall 22 feet high and about 18ft
wide. There were four towers in
which remained the army and a
few guns. At last, possibly in
1802, the Sikhs of Ramgarh,
Jassa Singh or his followers,
found their way into Qadian
through treachery, and the
members of the family were all
made prisoners. Everything was
looted. Mosques and buildings
were pulled down, and one of the
mosques was turned into a
Gurdawara, i.e., a Sikh temple,
which can be seen to this day.
 Forefathers of the Promised Messiah(as)
The whole of the library
containing a large number of
valuable books was burnt to
ashes. A number of people were
killed, but after a while the
members of the family were
spared, and on a cold wintry
night they were all expelled from
Qadian. They had to leave the
town by night, shivering with
cold and overcome with grief.
They repaired, shuddering and
exhausted, to a village called
Begowal, where, though they
begged no shelter, Sardar Fateh
Singh Ahluwalia, an ancestor of
the Raja of Kapurthala, treated
them with kindness, and showed
them a sympathy they had not
asked. In consideration of their
sad plight he granted them an
allowance for their maintenance,
which was, however, by no means
adequate for their needs.
The family remained there for
about 16 years. Jassa Singh died
in 1803, and was succeeded by
his nephew, Divan Singh, who
ruled over Qadian for about 15
years. Mirza Ata Muhammad
was poisoned in 1814 by his
enemies. His son Mirza Ghulam
Murtaza was quite young at that
time, but he brought his father’s
The Review of Religions – February 2009
body to Qadian, so that he might
be buried in the family cemetery
and thus the ancestral connec-
tion with Qadian and the claim
over the estate might remain
intact. The Sikhs opposed this;
but the local population,
consisting of humble people,
were very much excited and the
Sikhs, fearing an open rebellion,
had to give in.
Then followed the reign of
Ranjit Singh, who gradually
brought all the petty chiefs of the
country under his sway. In about
1818 he allowed Mirza Ghulam
Murtaza, the son of Mirza Ata
Muhammad, to return to
Qadian. Mirza Ghulam Murtaza
and his brothers thereupon
joined the Sikh army and
rendered excellent services in
several places, including the
frontier of Kashmir, which was
annexed by Ranjit Singh in 1819.
He took Peshawar in 1823.It was
during this period of military
service under Ranjit Singh that
Mirza Ghulam Murtaza’s days of
affliction and adversity were
brought to an end, but there is no
reason to suppose that the family
was by any means affluent.
37
 Forefathers of the Promised Messiah(as)
The Sikhs were still in power.
Mirza Ghulam Murtaza was very
worried, and his family remained
in straightened circumstances. It
is said that he travelled far and
wide but no ray of hope was yet
visible. In his moments of distress
and disappointment he even
thought of going to Kashmir and
settling there; for he had already
served there in the capacity of a
Subedar, a kind of Governor. He
devoted his time to study and
prayer. He tried his best at the
court of Ranjit Singh, but the
latter was selfish, avaricious,
drunken and immoral. At last,
the birth of the Saviour drew
near.
And Ranjit Singh was so
convinced of Mirza Ghulam
Murtaza’s goodness and nobility
that in the latter period of his
reign somewhere in 1834-1835,
he restored to him five villages of
the lost ancestral estate. Thus the
very birth of Ahmad, the illus-
trious reformer of the world,
blessed his parents and his family
in a wonderful manner. Light
came and darkness vanished.
The days of adversity were
turned into peace and prosperity.
They had a twofold reason for
gratification: they were restored
38 The Review of Religions – February 2009
to peace, and they came to enjoy
religious freedom.
The whole family felt the change
in its fortunes, and attributed it to
the happy birth of their blessed
son. And it proved to be a blessing
for the whole country as better
days were in store for all. The
Sikhs lost power in a few years.
Ranjit Singh died in 1839.
During the next ten years the
British rule extended throughout
the country, ushering in a most
peaceful and prosperous era in
the history of India. The Sikhs
made, in their last days, an
abortive effort to kill Mirza
Ghulam Murtaza and his brother
Mirza Ghulam Muhyud Din,
who were confined by them in
Basrawan near Qadian; but they
were soon rescued by their
younger brother Mirza Ghulam
Haidar.
It would not be out of place to
give here a quotation from The
Punjab Chiefs by Sir Lepel Griffin
and Colonel Massy, revised by
Mr. (now Sir) Henry Craik (1910):
‘In 1530, the last year of the
Emperor Babar’s reign,
Hadi Beg, a Mughal of
 Forefathers of the Promised Messiah(as)
Samarkand, emigrated to
the Punjab and settled in the
Gurdaspur district. He was
a man of some learning and
was appointed Qadhi or
Magistrate over 70 villages
in the neighbourhood of
Qadian, which town he is
said to have founded, nam-
ing it Islampur Qadhi, from
which Qadian has, by a
natural change, arisen. For
several generations the
family held offices of
respectability under the
Imperial Government, and
it was only when the Sikhs
became powerful that it fell
into poverty’.
‘Gul Muhammad and his
son, Ata Muhammad, were
engaged in perpetual
quarrels with the
Ramgarhia and Kanhaya
Misals, who held the
country in the neighbour-
hood of Qadian; and at last,
having lost all his estates,
Ata Muhammad retired to
Begowal, where, under the
protection of Sardar Fateh
Singh Ahluwalia (ancestor
of the present ruling chief
of the Kapurthala State) he
The Review of Religions – February 2009
lived quietly for twelve
years. On his death Ranjit
Singh, who had taken
possession of all the lands of
the Ramgarhia Misal,
invited Ghulam Murtaza to
return to Qadian and
restored to him a large
portion of his ancestral
estates.’
He then, with his brothers,
entered the army of the
Maharaja, and performed effi-
cient service on the Kashmir
Frontier and at other places.
“During the time of Nao Nihal
Singh, Sher Singh and the
Darbar, Ghulam Murtaza was
continually employed on active
service. In 1841 he was sent with
General Ventura to Mandi and
Kulu, and in 1843 to Peshawar in
command of an infantry regi-
ment. He distinguished himself
in Hazara at the time of the
insurrection there; and when the
rebellion of 1848 broke out, he
remained faithful to his
Government and fought on its
side. His brother Ghulam
Muhiy-ud-Din also did good
service at this time. When Bhai
Maharaj Singh was marching
with his force to Multan to the
39
 Forefathers of the Promised Messiah(as)
assistance of Diwan Mul Raj,
Ghulam Muhiy-ud-Din, with
other Jagirdars, Langer Khan
Sahiwal and Sahib Khan
Tiwana, raised the Muslim
population, and with the force of
Misra Sahib Dayal attacked the
rebels and completely defeated
them, driving them into the
Chenab, where upwards of 600
perished.
At annexation the jagirs of the
family were resumed, but a
pension of Rs. 700 was granted
to Ghulam Murtaza and his
brother, and they retained their
proprietary rights in Qadian and
the neighbouring villages. The
family did excellent service
during the Mutiny of 1857.
Ghulam Murtaza enlisted many
men, and his son, Ghulam Qadir,
was serving in the force of
General Nicholson when that
officer destroyed the mutineers of
the 46th Native Infantry, who
had fled from Sialkot, at
Trimughat.
General Nicholson gave Ghulam
Kadir a certificate, stating that in
1857 the Qadian family showed
greater loyalty than any other in
the district.’
40 The Review of Religions – February 2009
On June the 11th, 1849, Mr. J. M.
Wilson, Financial Commissioner,
Lahore, wrote from Lahore to
Mirza Ghulam Murtaza:
‘I have perused your
application reminding me of
you and your family’s past
services and rights. I am well
aware that since the
introduction of the British
Government you and your
family have certainly
remained devoted, faithful
and steady subjects and that
your rights are really worthy
of regard. In every respect
you may rest assured and
satisfied that the British
Government will never
forget your family’s rights
and services which will
receive due consideration
when a favourable oppor-
tunity offers itself. You must
continue to be faithful and
devoted subjects as in it lies
the satisfaction of the
Government as well as your
own welfare.’
Mr. Robert Cast, Commissioner
of Lahore, wrote to him on
September 20th, 1858:
 Forefathers of the Promised Messiah(as)
‘As you rendered great help
in enlisting sowars and
supplying horses to
Government in the Mutiny
of 1857 and maintained
loyalty since its beginning up
to date and thereby gained
the favour of Government, a
Khilat worth Rs. 200 is
presented to you in
recognition of your good
services and as a reward for
your loyalty. Moreover, in
accordance with the wishes of
Chief Commissioner as
conveyed in his letter No.
576, dated 10th August 1858,
this parwana is addressed to
you as a token of satisfaction
of Government for your
fidelity and repute.’
Sir Robert Egerton, Financial
Commissioner, Punjab, wrote to
Mirza Ghulam Qadir on 19th
June 1876:
‘I have perused your letter of
the 2nd instant, and deeply
regret the death of your
father Mirza Ghulam
Murtaza, who was a great
well-wisher and faithful chief
of Government. In consi-
deration of your family
The Review of Religions – February 2009
services I will esteem you
with the same respect as that
bestowed on your loyal
father. I will keep in mind
the restoration and welfare
of your family when a
favourable opportunity
occurs.’
The impression that the loyal and
active aid rendered by the family
made on the mind of General
Nicholson (of whom Sir
Lawrence writes in his Mutiny
report that ‘without General
Nicholson, Delhi could not have
fallen’) may be gathered from the
letter which he wrote in August
1857, only a month before his
death. It was addressed to the
elder brother of the Promised
Messiah(as), and ran as follows:
‘As you and your family have
helped the Government in
the suppression of the
Mutiny of 1857 at Trimmu
Ghat, Mir Thai, and other
places with the greatest
devotion and loyalty, and
have proved yourselves
entirely faithful to the British
Government, and have also
helped the Government at
your own expense with 50
41
 Forefathers of the Promised Messiah(as)
sowars and horses, therefore,
in recognition of your
loyalty and bravery, this
parwana is addressed to you,
which please keep with
yourself. The government
and its officials will always
have due regard for your
services and rights, and for
the devotion you have shown
to the government. After the
suppression of the insur-
gents I will look to the
welfare of your family. I have
also written to Mr. Nisbet,
Deputy Commissioner,
Gurdaspur, drawing his
attention to your service.’
It should be noted here that in
their early days the Qadian
family could not be expected to
show any sympathy towards the
British Government. The reason
for this was that they belonged to
the ruling family at Delhi. When
they saw, however, that the
Mughal rule had lost its
usefulness to the country and that
India now needed a new power
to regain its former glory, they set
themselves wholeheartedly to
support the British Government
to the best of their ability, even at
42 The Review of Religions – February 2009
the sacrifice of their private
sentiments and ambitions.
Mirza Ghulam Murtaza was a
very great physician. He had
studied medicine at Baghbanpura
under Roohulla and at Delhi
under the Sharif Khan family. He
treated people quite free of
charge expecting nothing in
return. He attended to rich and
poor alike. Raja Teja Singh of
Batala once offered him a large
amount of money and a Khilat
with two villages, Shitabkot and
Hasanpur, in return for his
medical services. The two
villages had once belonged to his
ancestral estate, but he refused to
accept them, saying that it was an
insult for him and his children to
take any fee.
Maharaja Sher Singh once came
to Kahnuwan on a shooting trip.
Mirza Sahib was also with him.
An attendant of the Maharaja
caught a severe chill. Mirza
Sahib cured him with an
ordinary cheap prescription.
Then Sher Singh himself caught
the same kind of chill. The Mirza
Sahib now prescribed for him a
very expensive medicine, upon
 Forefathers of the Promised Messiah(as)
which the Maharaja asked his
reason for this differential
treatment. Mirza Sahib answered
that he did not think the attendant
was equal in status to the
Maharaja. Sher Singh was greatly
pleased with this reply!
Mirza Sahib was magnanimous
towards his enemies. A Brahman
named Joti, who had gone to the
court against him, was treated
most sympathetically by him in his
illness. A man once congratulated
him on the death of one of his
enemies. The Mirza Sahib was
very much displeased, and turned
him out of his company.
He had a keen sense of self-
respect. Once he went to see Mr.
Robert Cast, Commissioner of
Lahore, on some business. In the
course of his conversation, Mr.
Cast asked him, in an official air,
as to the distance between
Srigobindpur and Qadian. The
Mirza Sahib said he was not there
as a peon to answer such
questions and rose to leave. The
Commissioner realised his
mistake and was much impressed
by this display of the spirit of
independence and dignity. One of
The Review of Religions – February 2009
Mirza Sahib’s sons, Mirza
Ghulam Qadir, was a Sub-
Inspector of Police, and Mr.
Nisbet, D. C, once suspended him
for some reason. The D. C, spoke
of it to the Mirza Sahib when he
came to Qadian, whereupon
Mirza Sahib said that if his son
was really guilty he should be
punished in such a manner that
his punishment should serve as an
example to the sons of all
respectable families. The D.C.
was very much pleased and
pardoned Mirza Ghulam Qadir,
saying that the son of such a
father needed no punishment.
People were filled with awe at the
sight of the Mirza Sahib. He had
an imposing appearance and
nobody dared look him in the
face. Mirza Imam Din, a nephew
of his, once appointed Sochet
Singh of Bhaini to kill the Mirza
Sahib. He says he went several
times over a wall with the
intention of killing him, but
whenever he looked at him he
shuddered and dared not
approach him.
Mirza Ghulam Murtaza was also
a poet and a great smoker. His
43
 Forefathers of the Promised Messiah(as)
speciality was Tahseen. Mirza
Sultan Ahmad says that once he
collected all Mirza Ghulam
Murtaza’s poems and sent them
to Hafiz Omar Daraz, the Editor
of the Panjabi Akhbar, but,
unfortunately, he died and the
poems were all lost. Mirza
Ghulam Qadir also was a poet.
The Masjid-e-Aqsa was built by
Mirza Ghulam Murtaza. The
piece of land on which it stands
belonged at that time to the
Sikhs, and he bought it at an
auction at the very high bid of
Rs. 700. He had made up his
mind to buy it at any cost, as he
wanted to make amends for the
worldly pursuits in which he had
spent his life. People taunted him
for building such a big mosque
while there were no worshippers
for it. Little did they know that it
was to be crowded with devotees,
and that the sincerity with which
it was built was to be reflected in
the necessity to extend it again
and again. He also tried to regain
possession of the mosque which
was converted into a temple; but
the legal proceedings he
instituted did not meet with any
success.
44 The Review of Religions – February 2009
Mirza Ghulam Murtaza tried all
his life to regain possession of his
ancestral estate. He spent about
Rs. 70,000 in all different suits
but did not gain much. No one in
the family helped him in these
efforts because they knew that all
efforts would prove vain. But the
little rights that he succeeded in
gaining were shared by the
relations as well. This was
because, through the stupidity of
his agent, the names of his
relatives were, along with that of
the Mirza Sahib, entered on the
papers as proprietors.
Once in a dream Mirza Ghulam
Murtaza saw the Holy
Prophet(saw) coming in state to his
house. He ran to receive the Holy
Prophet(saw) and thought of
offering Nazar, an Eastern form
of homage similar to the
oblation of gold, frank incense,
and myrrh, offered to Christ by
the Wise Men of the East. When,
however, he put his hand into his
pocket, he found that he had only
one rupee and that it was a
counterfeit coin. This brought
tears in his eyes and then he woke
up. This he interpreted to mean
that the love of God and His
 Forefathers of the Promised Messiah(as)
Prophet(saw), mixed with the love
of this world, is nothing better
than a false coin.
His disappointment with regard
to his worldly affairs was very
keen and he often regretted that
he had not served God with all
his means and powers. He wrote
in his will that he should be
buried in a corner of the Mosque
he had built in the centre of the
town, and that, perchance, God
would have mercy on him. He
fixed as the site for his own tomb
the spot where it still stands in
accordance with his wishes. It has
been enclosed by a brick wall
about four feet high. He died of
dysentery (June 1874) at the age
of 85 when the Mosque was
nearing completion.
Mirza Ghulam Murtaza was
married to Chiragh Bibi, the
sister of Mirza Jamiat Beg of
Aima, a village in Hoshiarpur
District. Chiragh Bibi was a
generous, hospitable, cheerful
and good-hearted lady of
exemplary piety. She looked after
the poor while they lived and,
when they died, provided them
with a decent burial. Through
The Review of Religions – February 2009
thick and thin she remained a
devoted wife and an excellent
companion to Mirza Ghulam
Murtaza, who had a deep respect
for her. He always sought her
advice on account of her
prudence, sagacity, and virtue.
She was a most loving mother.
She lavished her most tender
care upon her children. The
worldly members of the family
perhaps looked upon the holy-
minded Ahmad (peace be on
him), as a worthless young man,
but his other-worldliness
appealed most of all to his
mother. She died in 1868 and
was buried in the family
cemetery (known as Shah
Abdulla Ghazi) in the West of
Qadian. The Promised
Messiah(as) loved her intensely.
Whenever he spoke of her his
eyes filled with tears. He used to
go to her grave and there pray for
her. May she rest in peace forever
and ever.
45
 NO COMPULSION in Religion
A Qur’anic refutation of the traditionalist belief of use of force and a fitting
response to the Dutch MP, Geert Wilder’s, ‘Fitna’
By Syed Mir Mahmood Ahmed Nasir
Translated into English by Mrs Hamdah Sanori Farooqi

About the Author

(The author is the principal of
Jamia Ahmadiyya Rabwah,
Pakistan, a Missionary Training
Theosophical Institute of the
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
This is the first part of his
chapter-by-chapter exposition of
the peaceful and tolerant
teachings of Islam)

F rom an early age, people hear

certain ideas mentioned and
without reflecting over them or
verifying them in any way, they
begin to believe in them. These
oft-repeated ideas become part
and parcel of their faith. Some
such notions which have seeped
PART 1 into popular belief and hardened
Surah Al-Baqarah into dogma by repetition are, in
(Chapter. 2) effect, totally contradictory to the
teachings of the Holy Qur’an.
to
Surah Al-An’am One of the ideas which have
(Chapter. 6) crept into popular belief is that it

46 The Review of Religions – February 2009

 No Compulsion in Religion – Part 1
is permissible to use force against
opponents of Islam if they refuse
to accept Islam and remain
obdurate in their refusal.
When you read the Holy Qur’an,
a very different picture emerges.
In the following pages, we will
present the crystal-clear teaching
of the Holy Qur’an chapter by
chapter.
The tolerance taught by Islam
will be seen in crystal-clear light
of directives such as:
There should be no compulsion in
religion.
(Ch.2:V.257)
And if thy Lord had enforced
His will, surely, all who are on
the earth would have believed
together. Wilt thou, then, force
men to become believers?
(Ch.10:V.100)
and then the beautiful
admonishment:
Repel evil with that which is best.
(Ch.23:V.97)
The Review of Religions – February 2009
Chapter Two
(Surah Al-Baqarah)
Allah the Almighty says:
Many of the people of the book
wish out of sheer envy from their
own selves that, after you have
believed, they could turn you again
into disbelievers after the truth has
become manifest to them. [This
effort on their part is not based on
any piety, on the contrary it is due
to jealousy which they harbour in
their hearts]. But forgive and turn
away from them (let the matter
pass by turning away from them),
till Allah brings about His decree
[or till Allah makes manifest the
Divine Decree]. Surely Allah has
the power to do all that He wills.
(Ch.2:V.110)
This is the absolute declaration
of the Holy Qur’an. The so-
called scholars convey to the
public that if any non-Muslim
desires to turn from your faith,
you must raise the sword and
annihilate them, while the Holy
Qur’an clearly instructs us to
forgive, overlook, forbear and
wait for the Divine Decree to
manifest itself.
In the same Chapter, Allah the
47
 No Compulsion in Religion – Part 1
Almighty admonishes:
Say: Do you dispute with us
concerning Allah, while He is
our Lord and your Lord? And for
us are our works, and for you
your works; and to Him alone
we are sincerely devoted.
(Ch.2:V.140)
It is quite apparent here that the
Holy Qur’an teaches us to say –
we are working faithfully in
accordance with the directives of
Allah, as we understand them;
you too should continue with
your righteous deeds. This
injunction thus seeks to prevent
quarrel and dispute.
The popular and traditional
belief amongst the Muslims is
that opponents must not be
permitted to carry on with any
work. The cry is: raise the sword,
use force and compulsion to
change their creed and their
deed!
Concerning fighting against the
opponents of Islam, Allah the
Almighty says:
And fight in the cause of Allah
against those who fight against
48 The Review of Religions – February 2009
you, but do not transgress. Surely,
Allah loves not the transgressors.
(Ch.2:V.191)
You can see for yourself that the
Holy Qur’an states that it is
lawful only to fight those who
fight against you; it is not lawful
to initiate hostilities. Allah the
Almighty does not condone any
such action.
The commonly held view
amongst the Muslim masses is
that if the opponents do not
respond positively to the
invitation of faith, they must be
caught, beaten, imprisoned and
killed.
The Holy Qur’an states:
But if they desist, then surely
Allah is most Forgiving, Merciful.
(Ch.2:V.193)
According to the Holy Qur’an,
Allah is Forgiving and Merciful,
but according to the traditionally
held position, Allah is not
forgiving until the sword has
been swung and those who do
not believe should be compelled
to recite the Kalima.
 No Compulsion in Religion – Part 1
According to the Holy Qur’an, a
non-believer who is guilty of
transgression and hostility is to be
punished as befits the crime.
Allah the Almighty states:
…So, whoso transgresses against
you, punish him for his
transgression to the extent to which
he has transgressed against you…
(Ch.2:V.195)
Alas! Our traditionalist would
say, whether a non-believer is
guilty of any injustice or not,
whether he is guilty of any
aggression or not, you should
become the perpetrator of
hostility, raise the sword, attack
him with all your strength and
finish him for good.
The idea of compulsion has
infiltrated traditionally held
belief to a very great degree. As a
matter of fact, it is sometimes
said that just as it is an act of
kindness to force a sick person to
take medication, similarly it is an
act of mercy to force a person to
enter the fold of Islam. Does the
Holy Qur’an provide justification
for such an idea? The Holy
Qur’an states:
The Review of Religions – February 2009
There should be no compulsion in
religion...
(Ch.2:V.257)
Those who use the analogy of
forcibly administering medi-
cation do not consider that
medicine works in the body by a
physical mechanism of cause-
and-effect and will produce the
desired effect even if admin-
istered forcibly. Islam and faith
on the other hand, belong to the
realm of the heart and it is
essential for a person’s heart and
mind to be in accord. The heart
and mind cannot be forcibly
converted to any faith. Force is
not required for the heart to
accept faith. What is required
for the acceptance of faith is the
knowledge and realisation of the
difference between guidance
and misguidance. For this
reason, in the same verse of the
Holy Qur’an, Allah the
Almighty, draws attention to this
point:
...Surely, right has become
distinct from wrong...
(Ch.2:V.257)
That is to say, where is the need
for compulsion now that the
49
 No Compulsion in Religion – Part 1
distinction between right and
wrong is manifest?
Chapter 3:
(Surah Aal ‘Imran)
This Surah also clearly states that
our responsibility is only the clear
delivery of the message.
If those who receive the message
choose to believe, they have
acquired guidance and if not, we
have fulfilled our responsibility.
Allah the Almighty says:
But if they dispute with thee, say,
‘I have submitted myself to Allah,
and also those who follow me’.
And say to those who have been
given the Book and to the
unlearned, ‘Have you submitted’?
If they submit, [and accept
Islam], then they will surely be
guided; but if they turn back, then
thy duty is only to convey the
message. And Allah is Watchful
of His servants.
(Ch.3:V.21)
This verse clearly states that if
the opponents of Islam disagree
with us and turn away, we have
no further obligation. Our
responsibility is only to the extent
of conveying the message. Alas!
50 The Review of Religions – February 2009
Most people do not deem this
directive of the Holy Qur’an
sufficient, and maintain that if
there is disagreement, all power
and strength should be used to
force a conversion.
Verse 65 makes the subject
absolutely clear, and invites the
people of the Book towards
peaceful co-existence. Allah the
Almighty directs:
Say, ‘O people of the Book! come
to a word equal between us and
you [area where we agree], that
we worship none but Allah, and
that we associate no partner with
Him, [Your revealed book also
teaches you the unity of God,
negates association of partners
with God; our Holy Book also
teaches us unity of God, rejects
association of partners with God]
and that some of us take not
others for Lords besides Allah.’
But if they turn away, [from such
a reasonable and just offer of
peace, there is no need to compel
them to faith] then say, “Bear
witness that we have submitted to
God.’ [i.e. we have submitted to
God by making the offer of peace].
(Ch.3:V.65)
 No Compulsion in Religion – Part 1
Allah the Almighty has used the
word ‘Muslim’ in this verse,
which according to the lexicons,
has the connotation of peace and
amnesty.
The traditionally held beliefs in
this regard dictate that if the
opponents do not listen to us, we
must attack them, conquer their
lands and enslave and imprison
their men and women. The
Divine word of Allah the
Almighty clearly advises us that
even if the opponents refuse to
believe and turn away, we are
only to call them to witness that
we are Muslims and offer peace
and amnesty.
Verses 178 and 179 state that
Allah the Almighty has granted
respite to those who renounce
their faith and return to a state of
disbelief ! Contrary to the Divine
direction, the commonly held
views preach that whether or not
God has granted respite, we must
not give any respite to such non-
believers and we must seize them
from the clutches of disbelief
with the sword, lest they threaten
the world of Islam! As against
this, Allah the Almighty says:
The Review of Religions – February 2009
Surely, those who have purchased
[or acquired] disbelief at the price
of faith cannot harm Allah at all.
(Ch.3:V.178)
That is to say, if the world of
Islam faces any danger, it is from
the weakness and vice of the
Muslims themselves; the non-
Muslims cannot damage Islam.
Further commenting on those
who turn away from faith, Allah
the Almighty says in the same
and next verse:
And they shall have a grievous
punishment. And let not the
disbelievers think that Our
granting them respite is good for
them; the result of Our granting
them respite will only be that they
will increase in sin; and they shall
have a humiliating punishment.
(Ch.3:Vs.178-179)
It is to be observed that Allah the
Almighty declares in this verse:
‘We have granted respite to the
disbelievers’, whereas the zealots
would say that the disbelievers
should be given an ultimatum of
three days. If they do not accept
faith after that, the zealots would
demand that their heads be
separated from their bodies
51
 No Compulsion in Religion – Part 1
because their conduct is a source
of harm to the world of Islam,
while Allah the Almighty says:
Surely, they cannot harm Allah
[or His faith] in any way.
(Ch.3:V.177)
From an early age, the Muslim
masses of today have been
hearing the ‘scholars’ preaching
to them that if any non-Muslim
criticises their faith, hurts their
feelings or insults their revered
figures, it is their fundamental
duty and responsibility to kill
them immediately! Let us turn to
the Holy Qur’an for guidance.
Allah the Almighty says:
You shall surely be tried in
[through] your possessions and in
your persons and you shall surely
hear many hurtful things from
those who were given the Book
before you and from those who set
up equals to God. But if you
show fortitude and act righteously,
that indeed [your conduct is
worthy, as it] is a matter of
strong determination.
(Ch.3:V.187)
The Holy Qur’an has therefore
informed us that we will have to
52 The Review of Religions – February 2009
face up to the taunts and hurtful
criticisms of opponents from
among the disbelievers and the
people of the Book, and further
admonished us to remain patient
and steadfast in the face of such
attacks and to tread the paths of
righteousness. Such high levels of
conduct, the Qur’an tells us, will
require great resolve and
determination.
Alas, far from adopting this
beautiful teaching, many among
the Muslim masses have adopted
the position that in the face of
any slight or criticism it is
incumbent on the believer to
respond with the Jihad of the
Sword.
Chapter 4:
(Surah Al-Nisa)
In this Chapter, Allah the
Almighty mentions those who
falsely claim to be Muslims and
says:
These are they, the secrets of whose
hearts Allah knows well. So turn
away from them [display
forbearance] and admonish them
and speak to them an effective word
concerning their own selves [i.e.
their state]. (Ch.4:V.64)
 No Compulsion in Religion – Part 1
In this verse Allah the Almighty
has not directed you to murder
them! On the contrary, the
injunction is to display
forbearance and patience, and to
wisely admonish them in suitable
terms.
While granting permission to
fight, the clarification is given
that this war is against those who
have barred weak Muslim men,
women and children from living
peacefully and commit atrocities
against them; the permission to
fight is not granted on the basis
that these opponents have
refused to accept the peaceful
and tranquil message of Islam.
Allah the Almighty says:
And what is the matter with you
that you fight not in the cause of
Allah and of the weak – men,
women and children – who say,
‘Our Lord, take us out of this
town, whose people are oppressors,
and make for us some friend from
Thyself and make for us from
Thyself some helper?’
(Ch.4:V.76)
This verse demonstrates quite
clearly that the fight of the
Muslims against opponents is not
The Review of Religions – February 2009
to compel the opponents to enter
their faith; on the contrary, this
directive is a direct result of the
helpless cries of the weak women
and children suffering untold
atrocities at the hands of the
criminals and oppressors.
Regarding those who initially
convert to Islam and make a
pledge of obedience and then
revert to disbelief in private and
hatch plots against Islam, the
Holy Qur’an states:
And they say; ‘Obedience is our
guiding principle;’ but when
they go forth from thy presence, a
section of them spends the night
scheming against what thou
sayest. Allah records whatever
they scheme by night. So turn
away from them, and put thy trust
in Allah. And sufficient is Allah
as a Disposer of affairs.
(Ch.4:V.82)
The masses believe that a person
who converts to Islam and makes
a pledge of obedience, and then
goes elsewhere and preaches
against Islam is an apostate and
the punishment for such a person
is death. Allah the Almighty
admonishes us to show for-
53
 No Compulsion in Religion – Part 1
bearance and to turn away from
such a person and reassures us
that there is no cause for great
alarm or fear over such an
individual’s misdeeds. The
believers are advised to place
their trust in God as He is
Beneficent, Provider of all
provisions and has the power to
settle everything.
It has been pointed out in Verse
85 of Surah Al-Nisa that where
the Muslims have been urged to
fight, the aim is to weaken the
force of attack and also to
apprehend the enemy. The aim is
not the spread and publication of
faith. Allah the Almighty says:
Fight, therefore, in the cause of
Allah – thou art not made
responsible except for thyself –
and urge on the believers. It may
be that Allah will restrain the
might of those that disbelieve…
(Ch.4:V.85)
It is quite clear that for the
believers to take up arms, the aim
is to stop the aggression of the
enemy and nothing else. Hence,
it is stated categorically in Verse
91 that you have no permission
to attack those who do not attack
54 The Review of Religions – February 2009
you. Allah the Almighty says:
…So, if they keep aloof from you
and fight you not, and make you
an offer of peace, then remember
that Allah has allowed you no
way of aggression against them.
(Ch.4:V91)
In Verse 92, the clarification has
been made:
Therefore, if they do not keep
aloof from you nor offer you peace
nor restrain their hands, then seize
them [you have the full right] and
kill them, wherever you find them.
‘Punishment by death’ is
generally considered the
appropriate punishment for an
apostate. The Holy Qur’an has
made no mention of it. The Holy
Qur’an mentions this treachery
and warns of Divine punishment
but nowhere does it enjoin the
killing of an apostate. Allah the
Almighty says:
Those who believe, then
disbelieve, then again believe,
then disbelieve, and then increase
in disbelief, Allah will never
forgive them nor will He guide
them to the way. Give to the
 No Compulsion in Religion – Part 1
hypocrites the tidings that for them
is a grievous punishment.
(Ch.4:Vs.138-139)
These verses speak of those who
are converted to faith and then
backslide and turn away, after a
while they return to faith again,
only to again revert to their old
beliefs and to continue further
and further in their rejection of
faith. The result of this conduct
has been declared to be
deprivation of forgiveness and
guidance from God; furthermore
Muslims are enjoined to inform
such people of the wrath and
punishment of Allah which shall
surely befall them.
According to the traditionally
held beliefs, there would be no
question of repeated conversion
and back-sliding – the first time a
person gives up faith, he is to be
put to death! After that, what is
the meaning of relaying to him
the tidings of punishment from
Allah the Almighty?
While living in an Islamic society,
if the opponents of Islam ridicule
Allah and His signs and resort to
wickedness, it is a commonly held
belief that the tongues of such
The Review of Religions – February 2009
people should be cut out. Does
the Holy Qur’an provide any
justification for such a course of
action?
Allah the Almighty says:
And He has already revealed to
you, in the Book, that when you
hear the signs of Allah being
denied and mocked at, sit not with
them until they engage in a talk
other than that; for in that case
[sitting with them] you would
be like them. Surely, Allah will
assemble the hypocrites and the
disbelievers in Hell, all together.
(Ch.4:V.141)
It is said in this verse of the Holy
Qur’an that if in a gathering, the
signs of Allah are being rejected
and ridiculed, it is impermissible
to remain in such company until
the topic of conversation
changes. That is to say, if they
begin talking of something else, it
is permissible then to sit in their
company.
What about the question of
sitting with such people for the
traditionalists? At the first hint of
rejection and mockery of the
signs of Allah, they hold that our
55
 No Compulsion in Religion – Part 1
reaction should be to pounce on
the culprits immediately with
sword in hand to behead them.
No waiting for the topic of
conversation to change! Such an
opinion entirely disregards the
injunctions of Allah the
Almighty.
Some might claim that this verse
refers to those who, not living in
an Islamic society or under
Islamic government, are outside
the jurisdiction of Islamic law.
The next verse shows clearly that
the people described as mocking
and rejecting faith are indeed
those living within the purview of
Islamic government. Allah the
Almighty says:
[These people who mock are]
Those who wait for news
concerning you [of destruction]. If
you have a victory from Allah,
they say, ‘Were we not with
you?...’
(Ch.4:V.142)
It follows therefore, that those
mentioned in the first verse are
those living within the
jurisdiction of Islamic govern-
ment.
56 The Review of Religions – February 2009
Some of the opponents of Islam,
of the people of Madinah who
lived under an Islamic govern-
ment used to demand certain
things by way of mocking the
Holy Prophet Muhammad(saw), as
Allah the Almighty says:
The People of the Book ask thee to
cause a Book to descend on them
from heaven. They asked Moses a
greater thing than this: they said,
‘Show us Allah openly.’ Then a
destructive punishment overtook
them because of their
transgression. Then they took the
calf for worship after clear Signs
had come to them, but We
pardoned even that.
(Ch.4:V.154)
Allah the Almighty says that at
the time of Moses(as), punishment
was given by Allah the Almighty
and forgiveness was given by
Allah the Almighty – no
authority was given to Moses(as) to
punish the culprits. It is quite
clear that if Allah the Almighty
had kept the authority in His
own hand when the mockery and
ridicule was of a greater nature.
The same holds true now and
Allah the Almighty alone has the
authority to take punitive action.
 No Compulsion in Religion – Part 1
The nature of the crime is not
such that the punishment or
reward for it may be meted out
by human beings. In such
matters, punishment and reward
are in the hands of God.
Chapter 5:
(Surah Al-Maidah)
Leaving the masses aside, even
Muslim ‘scholars’ express the
view that the use of force may be
considered lawful, like force-
feeding medicine to a sick
person. According to these so
called scholars, forcibly conver-
ting non-Muslims to Islam is not
against the directive of Allah the
Almighty which states: ‘There
should be no compulsion in
religion.’
In such a case, it is perplexing
that the Holy Qur’an gives
permission for social relations
with the people of the Book, who
are non-Muslims. Allah the
Almighty says:
This day all good things have been
made lawful for you. And the food
of the People of the Book is
lawful for you; your food is lawful
for them. And lawful for you are
chaste believing women and chaste
The Review of Religions – February 2009
women from among those who
were given the Book before you.
(Ch.5:V.6)
Now it is to be noted that the
Holy Qur’an declares the food of
the People of the Book lawful for
the believers and declares that
the chaste women of the people
of the Book are also lawful for
you to marry. Alas, some of the
Muslim ‘scholars’ do not
consider it lawful for the People
of the Book to be permitted even
to live without accepting Islam!
Their animosity against the
People of the Book directs them
to ignore all requirements of
fairness and justice. The Holy
Qur’an on the contrary, instructs:
O ye who believe! Be steadfast in
the cause of Allah, bearing
witness in equity; and let not a
people’s enmity incite you to act
otherwise than with justice. Be
always just, that is nearer to
righteousness.
(Ch.5:V.9)
You can well observe that the
Holy Qur’an admonishes fair-
ness and justice for even those
who hold animosity against
Islam. The traditionalists would
57
 No Compulsion in Religion – Part 1
preach a sentence of death for
the ‘crime’ of difference of faith.
Who is not aware of the grudge
held by the people of the Book
against Islam? After recording all
their malicious activities, what
does the Holy Qur’an direct?
Allah the Almighty says:
So, because of their breaking their
covenant, We have cursed them,
and have hardened their hearts.
They pervert the words from their
proper places and have forgotten a
good part of that with which they
were exhorted. And thou wilt not
cease to discover treachery on their
part, except in a few of them.
(Ch.5:V.14)
After mentioning all the above
activities of the Jews, Allah the
Almighty says:
So pardon them, and show
forbearance. Allah loves those
who do good.
(Ch.5:V.14)
This is the Qur’anic directive
regarding those who sow seeds of
discord and the People of the
Book! But the ‘scholars’ continue
to preach to the masses that
58 The Review of Religions – February 2009
whether the People of the Book
act treacherously or not, it is our
duty to employ the sword.
The teachings of the Holy
Qur’an are based on fairness and
justice and for the establishment
of justice the Holy Qur’an
emphasises most clearly that
those who cause harm to life,
property and honour should be
punished severely and appre-
hended with full force. This is
exactly in accordance with the
principles of justice and fairness
and is essential for the safe-
guarding of innocent people’s
life, property and honour. A
clarification is thus also provided
in Verse 35 where Allah the
Almighty says:
Except those who repent before
you have them in your power;
[about them the guiding principle
is to] know that Allah is Most
Forgiving, Merciful. [Therefore
you should also accord for-
giveness and mercy to them].
(Ch.5:V.35)
Alas, since the thirteenth cen-
tury, the ideology adopted by the
zealots has been not to resort to
forgiveness and mercy!
 No Compulsion in Religion – Part 1
In Chapter 5, the presence of
the People of the Book is
accepted, despite their misdoings
and tyranny. Allah the Almighty
says:
They are habitual listeners to
falsehood, devourers of things
forbidden. If, then, they come to
thee for judgement, judge between
them or turn aside from them.
And if thou turn aside from them,
they cannot harm thee at all. And
if thou judge, judge between them
with justice. Surely, Allah loves
those who are just.
(Ch.5:43)
In this verse, within the sphere of
Islamic jurisdiction, the presence
of the people of the Book is
accepted. Even those people of
the Book who are ridden with
vice – who love falsehood and
the forbidden, who devour
unlawful things, usurp property
or possessions not rightfully
theirs – the presence of even
such people is not only tolerated
but accepted! Moreover, such
people can even have their
disputes resolved according to
Islamic law if they so wish,
otherwise they can resolve their
disputes through their own
The Review of Religions – February 2009
system of jurisprudence, as is
mentioned in the next verse:
And how will they make you their
judge, when they have with them
the Torah wherein is Allah’s
judgement…
(Ch.5:V.44)
Does this ideology of the Holy
Qur’an find any parallel in the
line of thought adopted by the
Muslims in the last two centuries?
Amongst the Muslims’
commonly held views, it is taken
as dogma that the punishment
for apostasy is death. In Verse 45
of Chapter 5, apostasy is men-
tioned, but without mention of
punishment. Mention is made of
the innumerable blessings which
the Muslims will receive, in the
face of one person renouncing
his faith. Allah the Almighty
declares:
O ye who believe! Whoso among
you turns back from his religion,
then let it be known that in
his stead Allah will soon bring a
people whom He will love and
who will love Him.
(Ch.5:V.55)
59
 No Compulsion in Religion – Part 1
Neither at this juncture, nor in
any other verse in which the
Holy Qur’an speaks of apostasy,
has it been suggested that the
punishment for apostasy is death.
As a matter of fact, it can be
clearly inferred from verse 62 of
this Surah that the belief in the
death sentence for apostasy is
utterly mistaken. Allah the
Almighty says:
And when they come to you they
say ‘we believe,’ while they enter
with disbelief and go out
therewith; and Allah knows best
what they conceal.
(Ch.5:V.62)
In this verse Allah the Almighty
has made clear to the Holy
Prophet(saw) that when these
people come to see you, they say
‘we believe,’ they make a
declaration of faith, however,
when they leave your presence,
they are in the same state of
disbelief with which they
entered.
If the punishment for apostasy
had been death, then after
receiving clear indication
through Divine revelation that
these people who make declara-
60 The Review of Religions – February 2009
tions of faith, are in fact
disbelievers like before, then such
people would be manifestly
deserving of the death sentence!
Is there a single example of such
an incident taking place?
No one should think that the
Holy Prophet(saw) had no
knowledge of their apostasy. The
next verse makes it very clear that
the Holy Prophet(saw) was fully
aware of the sinfulness and evil of
many of them. Allah the
Almighty says:
And thou seest many of them
hastening towards sin and
transgression and the eating of
things forbidden…
(Ch.5:V.63)
These people who in the
presence of the Holy Prophet(saw)
declared ‘We believe,’ left their
meeting in a state of disbelief,
manifestly visible to the Holy
Prophet(saw) in their continued
indulgence in vices and excesses.
In spite of this, they were not put
to death.
It is quite clear that according to
Holy Qur’an, the punishment for
apostasy is not death. Nor did
 No Compulsion in Religion – Part 1
the Holy Prophet(saw) punish
apostates with death, because in
the same Surah, a clear
injunction to the contrary is
present:
On the Messenger lies only the
conveying of the Message [to
punish or not to punish is up to
Allah the Almighty, as is said
here]. And Allah knows what you
reveal and what you hide
(Ch.5:V.100)
Chapter 6
Surah Al-An’am
In spite of living within Islamic
society and under the jurisdiction
of Islamic government, a group
of people continuously indulge in
vain arguments against the signs
of Allah the Almighty. Regarding
such people, Allah the Almighty
says:
And when you see those who trifle
with Our Signs then turn you
away from them [it is not directed
here that you use force against
them, and the verse continues]:
until they engage in a discourse
other than that [then, in that case,
you are allowed to resume their
company]. And if Satan should
cause thee to forget, then sit not,
The Review of Religions – February 2009
after recollection, with the unjust
people.
(Ch.6:V.69)
In this verse there is no
instruction to put to death those
who ridicule the signs of Allah;
on the contrary, the directive is to
turn away from them and not to
sit in their company.
In Verse 71, emphasis has been
placed on the injunction not to
participate in the activities of
those who are Muslims in name
alone, and who have reduced
their religion to a sport and
pastime. We are directed to
continue to admonish them
through the Holy Qur’an. Allah
the Almighty says:
And let alone those who take their
religion for a sport and a pastime,
[here it is to be noted that the
directive is to leave these
miscreants alone, not that you kill
them!] and whom worldly life has
beguiled. And admonish people
thereby [i.e. by means of the Holy
Qur’an] lest a soul be consigned to
perdition for what it has wrought.
(Ch.6:V.71)
The idea of forcibly converting
61
 No Compulsion in Religion – Part 1
the non-believers with the sword,
is a concept given common
currency. Allah the Almighty
says:
And if Allah had enforced His
will, they would not have set up
gods with Him. And We have
not made thee a keeper over them
nor art thou over them a
guardian’. (Ch.6:V.108)
Thus these scholars seek to place
on every Muslim a responsibility
which Allah the Almighty, in His
Wisdom, did not place even upon
the Holy Prophet(saw)!
The exemplary Islamic teachings
regarding forbearance and
gracious tolerance vouchsafed to
the Muslims in verse 109 of this
Chapter have been more or less
forgotten by society. Allah the
Almighty says:
And revile not those whom they
call upon besides Allah, lest they,
out of spite, revile Allah in their
ignorance. Thus unto every people
have we caused their doing to seem
fair. Then unto their Lord is their
return; and He will inform them
of what they used to do.
(Ch.6:V.109)
62 The Review of Religions – February 2009
In this verse, there is a directive
not to abuse the false gods which
others may worship. Moreover, it
is stated that as a reaction to such
abuse, people might become
guilty of abusing Allah the
Almighty. In spite of this, the
traditionally held belief of
Muslims seems to be that they
themselves can revile their
opponents in any terms but if
any opponent should respond in
kind, he should be set upon with
knives and daggers.
If the opponents reject the Holy
Prophet(saw) as false, the scholars
preach that the tongue which
made such an exclamation
should be cut out, while in Verse
14, the Divine directive to the
Holy Prophet(saw) states:
But if they accuse thee of
falsehood, say, ‘Your Lord is
possessed of all-embracing mercy,
[that is to say that in spite of your
rejection and disbelief your Lord
is Merciful, but you should also
remember that] His wrath shall
not be turned back from the guilty
people’.
(Ch.6:V.148)
The opponents of Islam used to
 No Compulsion in Religion – Part 1
demand all manner of miracles
and signs, with the intention of
ridiculing Islam. What should be
the reaction of the Muslims
when faced with this kind of
attitude and slander?
The answer to this is found in
Verse 159 where Allah the
Almighty says:
Do they expect aught but that
angels should come to them or that
thy Lord should come or that some
of the Signs of thy Lord should
come? The day when some of the
Signs of thy Lord shall come, to
believe in them shall not profit a
soul which believed not before, nor
earned any good by its faith…
(Ch.6:V.159)
Now in the face of such
opponents and demands that
angels should descend, that God
should descend, that Divine signs
should appear and so on, what
should be the reaction of the
Muslims? The raising of the
sword for violence, bloodshed
and murder? No! Allah the
Almighty admonishes thus:
…Say, ‘Wait ye, We too are
waiting’ [to see what Allah the
The Review of Religions – February 2009
Almighty’s judgement will be].
(Ch.6:V.159)
The traditionally held views have
placed the responsibility of doing
away with sectarian and
factionary elements in society
upon the warriors of Islam. Thus
these so-called warriors of Islam
manufacture and appropriate for
themselves, a responsibility which
is specifically not given to the
Holy Prophet(saw) according to
Verse 160 of Surah Al-An’am.
Allah the Almighty says:
As for those who split up their
religion and became divided into
sects, thou hast no concern at all
with them. Surely their case will
come before Allah. [It evidently
states that Allah the Almighty has
reserved that judgment for
Himself, as He continues to say]
Then will He inform them of
what they used to do.
(Ch.6:V.160)
(To be continued in
the next edition)
63
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