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Rabwah Times

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• Persecuted Ahmadiyya Muslims worship freely in the US
• Malala, Salam and Zafrullah
• President Mahama of Ghana wishes Muslims a successful ramadan
• July 4 And The Ahmadiyya – OpEd By Katrina Lantos Swett

Persecuted Ahmadiyya Muslims worship freely in the US Posted: 23 Jul 2013 02:30 AM PDT Inside the Bait-ul Qadir mosque on Fond du Lac Ave., a small group of men gathers before the midday prayer. They speak of the weather, their families, the inanities of daily affairs — but also the great mysteries of life and the path to salvation. “We are what we do. And in the next life, we will be judged by our actions,” said Rashid Ahmad, an imam, who at 90 commands the quiet respect of his fellow worshippers. “You cannot judge a body that has been in the ground; it is dust. But your actions…,” said Ahmad, waving his hand as if to cast a fine powder into the ether. “Your actions are still here.” Assembled in this way during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, discussing the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed and their sect’s founder Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, could amount to a death sentence in some parts of the world. But the Masjid Bait-ul Qadir is on Milwaukee’s north side, where members of the local Ahmadiyya Muslim community — one of the oldest in the country — are free to worship as they please. “We are just like other Muslims in that we follow the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed, the way we worship and the five basic pillars of the faith,” said Rizwan Ahmad of New Berlin, one of the leaders of the local mosque. “The only difference is we believe that the messiah who is awaited by most of the major religions — other Muslims, Christians and Jews — has come in the person of our founder.” For many mainstream Muslims, who are predominantly Sunni or Shiite, the small Ahmadiyya sect is one of heretics. Ahmadi are persecuted, even killed, in places such as Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. And while there has been isolated violence in the United States — an Ahmadi man was murdered and a mosque torched in Detroit in the 1980s — difficulties locally have been described mostly as minor tensions, a heated debate among college students, or a personal slight at a gathering. An offshoot of the Sunnis, the Ahmadiyya movement was founded in India in 1889 by Ghulam Ahmad, who declared himself the second coming of Jesus and the divine guide foretold in the Qur’an. Led by the now London-based Khalifa Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the Ahmadi stress tolerance and nonviolence, preferring — as they like to say — the “jihad of the pen to the jihad of the sword.” Though worldwide numbers are difficult to come by because of their persecution, the sect is estimated to have as many as 20 million adherents in 200 countries, said Qasim Rashid of the Washington-based Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA. The American community, founded in Chicago in the 1920s, has more than 15,000 members, he said. Milwaukee’s Bait-ul Qadir mosque — in the former corporate headquarters of AAA Wisconsin — is a reflection of the Ahmadis’ global scope and their nearly 100 years of history in urban America. Its 300-plus members include those born to the faith, in families that emigrated from such places as Pakistan, India and Indonesia, but also many converts, mostly African-Americans. “We’re a very diverse group,” said Rizwan Ahmad. About 80 members gathered for Friday prayers, many bringing food for the poor, and fasting as the Qur’an requires during Ramadan. “It’s such a spiritual experience; I look forward to it every year,” said 71-year-old Aziza Ahmad. Each night during Ramadan, after they’ve gone to bed, Ahmad and husband Rashid rise to recite the tahajjud, or night prayer. “You have to put your whole soul and being into it…to please your creator,” she said. “You really have to pour your heart out and be grateful for what he’s done for you.” Rashid, of the national Ahmadiyya organization and author of the book “The Wrong Kind of Muslim,” testified last week before the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom about the persecution of the Ahmadiyya in Pakistan. There, he said, the Ahmadi faithful are blocked from voting, discriminated against in most aspects of society and targeted for murder by extremists. Local adherents know it all too well. The brother-in-law of Rizwana Imran, who emigrated to the United States 14 years ago, witnessed the carnage when Taliban gunmen slaughtered 86 people in a Lahore mosque in 2010, she said. Qudrat Ullah Ayaz, who came in 2003, recalled his degrading treatment once colleagues at a tech firm in Pakistan learned he was Ahmadi. “I was told I could not eat with them. My food, my water, my glass, everything had to be separate,” he said. “That time, I felt that I was an animal, that I am not a human being.” It is not the Ahmadi way, members said, to retaliate. In fact, since the terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists in the United States 2001, the American Ahmadiyya community, including the Milwaukee branch, has campaigned to promote the faith’s emphasis on peace. Ahmadi in Milwaukee and around the country contributed thousands of pints of blood in recent years in the Muslims for Life campaign, which takes place again in September. They’ve taken out ads declaring there is no conflict between loyalty to Islam and loyalty to the United States. They’ve made a concerted effort to reach out to other Muslims and the interfaith community, and plan soon to launch a new campaign titled: “Mohammad Messenger of Peace.” “Our goal is to find a way to build bridges, not pick fights,” said Qasim Rashid of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA. “You do that by connecting with people on a human level and helping them understand that we have more in common than we have differences.”

Malala, Salam and Zafrullah Posted: 22 Jul 2013 07:52 PM PDT As I looked at Dr Salam’s tombstone, I felt a pang of guilt and shame at what we have done to the Ahmadis in Pakistan. We have abolished their religious freedom and in the process our own The disgusting manner in which Malala Yousafzai has been targeted by a section of our society recently is upsetting but unsurprising. It is a bit of a local tradition, it seems, to abuse those who do something for the hapless people in this country. The narrow-minded fanatics had a lot to be scared about. Malala’s speech to the United Nations was extraordinary in the sense that it was a grand unifying message at once cognizant of Malala’s Pakistani heritage, Pashtun ethnicity, Muslim faith and global citizenship. Not many people can pull it off. Hats off to the 16-year-old for having done this! As a Pakistani I was particularly glad to hear her mention Jinnah, not just because he is our founding father but because Jinnah’s immense contribution as a legislator to women’s equality, education and empowerment in India and Pakistan has been forgotten like much else in our history. Of particular significance were his efforts in putting an end to underage marriages in the subcontinent through legislation. He had also famously said that no nation could rise to heights of glory unless its women were side by side its men and that women were mightier than both pen and the sword, something which this brilliant daughter of Pakistan, Malala, has proved in a substantial manner. Yet in Jinnah’s Pakistan, today these gangs of thugs, these Taliban and their apologists, are attacking women for educating themselves. Jinnah had been called Kafir-e-Azam by the same people and had survived assassination attempts by them. Indeed Malala should take heart from the fact that many of the iconic figures she listed — Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Prophet Jesus (PBUH), Lord Buddha, Dr King, Jinnah, Gandhi — were attacked by extremists of her own society. As for the disgraceful manner in which some of her compatriots have attacked her, Malala will do well to remember two great Pakistanis, Muhammad Zafrullah Khan and Dr Abdus Salam, who have been wiped out of our national memory by extremists. Like her they were celebrated internationally but abused at home. Two days after Malala’s landmark address, this author had the opportunity of paying his respects at the graves of these two great men in Rabwa, which have been desecrated by the state authorities. Zafrullah’s contributions to the creation of Pakistan were second only to Jinnah. He had been instrumental as a Muslim Leaguer as early as the 1930s in fighting for the rights of the Muslim minority in India. The Lahore Resolution was based on his constitutional scheme. In 1946 he along with the Ahmadi leader, Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood, rallied Punjab’s Ahmadis to the League’s cause at a time when all the religious parties were busy denouncing Muslim Leaguers as kafirs (infidels). When partition became a certainty, it was Zafrullah who Jinnah chose for the task of putting Pakistan’s case before the boundary commission, which he did eloquently and brilliantly. As Pakistan’s first foreign minister, Zafrullah managed to outwit the Indians by getting UN resolutions on self-determination in Kashmir passed. His contributions to the Palestinian cause and to freedom movements in the Arab world and Africa are widely recognised in all places but his own country. The world honoured him by making him a judge at the International Court of Justice and then the president of the UN General Assembly. In Pakistan though, which owes its existence to him, there is not even a single road named after him. The sham and fraud called the ‘Nazaria-e-Pakistan Trust’ in Lahore honours all kinds of Maharajas and Nawabs whose contributions were zilch as founding fathers of Pakistan but has no mention or picture of Zafrullah. People who had called Pakistan ‘Kafiristan’ once have now ensured that no one remembers the real history of this country. Then there is Dr Abdus Salam, that great son of Pakistan who refused to give up his association with Pakistan even after Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and General Ziaul Haq made life hell for his community in Pakistan. He has, to date, been the sole Nobel Prize winner in this country. His contributions to humanity in the field of Physics will be remembered long after all of his detractors and haters have died. This is why a road in CERN has been named after him, as a tribute to both him and his country. Unfortunately, like Zafrullah Khan there is not even a single road named after him in this country of ours. Even in the field of science we recognise fake scientists like Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan but ignore those who actually made a contribution. As I looked at Dr Salam’s tombstone, I felt a pang of guilt and shame at what we have done to the Ahmadis in Pakistan. We have abolished their religious freedom and in the process our own. Uneducated bands of brigands, misusing the holy name of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), have made life hell not just for Ahmadis but for all Pakistanis. In doing so we have hurt ourselves grievously. The ongoing violence against the Shia community as well religious extremism is all rooted in the terrible decisions imposed on us by Bhutto and Zia. Malala Yousafzai is more than just a 16-year-old girl who dared to light a flame in the pitch dark. She is our future, the future of our children and their children. This is a future where Pakistan will honour all its citizens and treat all its children with the respect and care that they deserve. Malala Zindabad. Pakistan Paindabad. The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore and the author of the book Jinnah: Myth and Reality. He can be contacted via twitter @therealylh and through his email address yasser....@gmail.com

President Mahama of Ghana wishes Muslims a successful ramadan Posted: 22 Jul 2013 05:08 PM PDT President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday expressed his best wishes to leaders of the Muslim faith, as well as Ghanaian Muslims on the commencement of the Holy month of Ramadan. His aspirations were extended to leaders such as the National Chief Imam, the Ameer and Missionary of the Ahmadiya Muslim Mission and the Chief Imam of Ahlusunna wal’ jamaa. A statement signed by Dr Raymond Atuguba, Executive Secretary to the president and copied to Ghana News Agency noted that it is once again time for Muslims to embark on the fast associated with the Holy month of Ramadan “which allows the faithful to reflect on their relationship with Allah the Creator, show remorse for any sins committed in the past year and purify themselves to become worthy of appearing before Allah the Almighty”. Maulvi Wahab Adam, the Ameer and Missionary in charge of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, Ghana. The statement said: “By requiring the faithful to willingly deny themselves of food over the Ramadan month, Allah seeks to make all men equal by exposing the rich and well to do in society to the pangs of hunger, and the plight and fate of the poor downtrodden. It said in the process: “Ramadan becomes a schooling period that teaches and engenders empathy, love and fellow feelings.” The statement said the whole nation is in solidarity with the Muslim community and promised that Government would do everything to ensure a conducive atmosphere for a successful fast. The president asked all Ghanaian Muslims to remember Ghana in their prayers to ensure that the peace and prosperity the Almighty Allah has bestowed on the country continues to prevail.

July 4 And The Ahmadiyya – OpEd By Katrina Lantos Swett Posted: 03 Jul 2013 06:41 PM PDT Last Saturday, on June 29, I was honored to speak in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to the Ahmadiyya Muslim American Community’s 65th Annual Convention. For the past several years, the Ahmadiyya have chosen Harrisburg for their convention, just days before America’s July 4 celebration. Two hours east of Harrisburg is Philadelphia, where our Declaration of Independence was signed on that date. Less than an hour south is Gettysburg, where 150 years ago, in the days leading up to July 4, a crucial Civil War battle was raging. Philadelphia is where America, through its Declaration, proclaimed that people are born equal and free. Gettysburg is where the nation, through an otherwise terrible war, began to turn those words more fully into deeds, leading to a new birth of freedom upon the abolition slavery. And last Saturday, Harrisburg was where we reaffirmed America’s declaration that freedom — including freedom of religion or belief — is not just for Americans, but for everyone, including Ahmadiyya Muslims and others. Founded in India in 1889, the Ahmadiyya community is known for its respect for tolerance and freedom. Claiming tens of millions of adherents worldwide, its members have lived in our country for nearly a century. Following 9/11, America’s Ahmadiyya community literally gave its blood for our nation, eventually donating over 25,000 live-saving units in memory of those who fell that day. While in many ways, Ahmadiyya precepts mirror our values, these values continue to come under harsh assault globally. Nearly three-fourths of the world’s people live in nations where freedom of religion and related human rights are under brutal siege. That includes millions of Ahmadiyya members. For nearly four decades, the constitution of Pakistan has deemed all Ahmadiyya “non- Muslims.” For more than a quarter century, its government has barred them from calling their worship centers “mosques,” publicly uttering the traditional Islamic greeting or quoting from the Qur’an, and displaying Islam’s basic affirmation. Ahmadiyya are prohibited from sharing their beliefs with others or disseminating their material. They are restricted from building houses of worship and holding public gatherings. And since they must register as non-Muslims to vote, Ahmadiyyas effectively are disenfranchised. Coupled with Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, these statutes have helped foster a climate of intimidation and violence against Ahmadiyya members. In Indonesia, since June 2008, the government has restricted Ahmadiyya activity to private worship and prohibited members from sharing their faith. In parts of East and West Java and elsewhere, extremist religious groups press local officials to close places of worship or ban Ahmadiyya activity altogether. In Saudi Arabia, Ahmadiyya members have been deported for their beliefs. In Egypt, they have been charged under its blasphemy laws. In Kazakhstan, the government’s application of its Religion Law has denied their legal legitimacy. The same societies that violate the religious freedom of Ahmadiyya abuse the rights of others. As USCIRF has documented, where Ahmadiyya suffer, Hindus and Christians, Sikhs and Baha’is, Shi’a and other Muslims, often are persecuted as well. In order to protect the rights of all, including the Ahmadiyya, and foster peaceful, stable societies, Washington needs to make religious freedom a key foreign policy priority. The U.S. government also should confront nations which single out the Ahmadiyya for persecution. For example, it should press Pakistan to amend its constitution and rescind all anti-Ahmadiyya laws. It should urge Indonesia to overturn its 2008 decree and all provincial bans against Ahmadiyya religious practice. It should press both governments to investigate acts of violence thoroughly and prosecute perpetrators vigorously. And until Pakistan proves itself serious about reform, USCIRF believes that it qualifies as a “country of particular concern.” Today, we honor our founding Declaration. We remember that freedoms are not privileges for rulers to bestow or withhold, but unalienable rights ordained by a just and merciful Creator, which no person or government can abuse without surrendering moral authority and legitimacy. As we remember our Declaration, let us continue to stand with the Ahmadiyya and others for human rights and religious freedom. Katrina Lantos Swett is the Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

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