2017 06 The Light June 2017

ِ ی م م الرَّح 

ن 

ِ 

سب ا ہللِ‏ الرَّْحم ٰ 

ْ م ِ 

The Light 

International Organ of the Centre for the Worldwide 

Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam 

2017 

June 

April 

2016 

The only Islamic organisation upholding the finality of prophethood. 

Webcasting on the world’s first real-time Islamic service at 

www.virtualmosque.co.uk 

Editors 

Shahid Aziz & Mustaq Ali – UK; 

Zainib Ahmad – USA; 

Gowsia Selim - India 

Contents 

The Call of the Messiah 2 

Revision of the English Translation 

of Holy Quran by Dr Zahid Aziz 2 

Identity Theft – I 

By Iain Dixon 6 

Female Circumcision 

By Shahid Aziz 8 

Broadcasts (UK time) 

1. Skype Urdu lecture: Sunday 09:00 

2. Live on www.virtualmosque.co.uk 

‣ Friday Sermon 13:00 

‣ First Sunday of month lecture 15:00. 

3. Radio Virtual Mosque 

During Ramadan – Daily English 

Lectures at 13:00 (Prof Tariq Ramadan) 

and 20:30 (Shahid Aziz). 

Websites 

1. International HQ 

2. Research and History 

3. The Woking Mosque and Mission 

4. The Berlin Mosque and Mission 

5. Quran search 

6. Blog 

We Wish All our Brothers and 

Sisters a Blessed and Fulfilling 

Ramadan. 

Our Recent English Broadcasts 

‣ Cutting off of hands in the Holy Quran. - 

Part 1 

‣ Cutting off of hands in the Holy Quran. - 

Part 2. 

‣ Hypocrisy of Free Speech 

‣ The Holy Quran, the News, the Bankers and 

the Boat People. 

Interesting external links 

‣ Biblical Translation changed to Take 

Account of Scientific Evidence 

‣ Christians and the Holy Prophet Muhammad 

(s) 

‣ Non-Muslims in a Muslim Country. 

External Links 

The Light is not responsible for the content 

of external sites. The inclusion of a link to an external 

website should not be understood to be 

an endorsement of that website, the views it expresses 

or the site's owners (or their products/services). 

Some links may have research, which disagrees 

with our beliefs. It is for us to consider such material 

and provide a rebuttal. Ignoring it will not 

make it go away. 

I Shall Love All Mankind.

June 2017 The 

Light 2 

The Call of the Messiah 

by 

Hazrat Mirza Ghulam 

Ahmad, 

The Promised Messiah and 

Mahdi 

Religious leaders of the country 

Similarly, the hereditary heads of the socalled 

spiritual orders and the pirs (religious 

leaders) of this country are so far removed from 

Islam and so engrossed day and night in their 

pernicious innovations, that they have no idea 

of the difficult times through which Islam is 

passing. If you attend their assemblies, instead 

of the Holy Quran and the Hadith, you will find 

them bending and swaying to the tune of musical 

instruments and qawwali (songs) with numerous 

innovations in evidence. But, in spite of 

all this, they claim to be religious leaders and 

followers of the Holy Prophet (s). 

Indeed, anybody can claim that he loves Allah, 

but only he truly loves Allah to whose love 

heaven itself should bear witness. Everybody 

claims that he is a follower of the true religion, 

but true is the religion of that man alone who 

obtains light in this very life itself. And everybody 

says that he will get salvation, but only he 

who is given light in this earthly life itself is justified 

in making this claim 

This is the time for rendering service 

to the cause of religion. 

My dear people! This is the time for serving 

the cause of the religion you claim to profess. 

Realise the value of this rare opportunity, for if 

you let it slip, it will not offer itself to you a second 

time. 

You are the followers of an incomparably 

great and exalted Prophet, so why do you lose 

heart? Be firm of faith, and set an example that 

even the angels in heaven should wonder at 

your strength and steadfastness, and should 

pray for blessings on you. 

With this I conclude, and pray that this 

teaching of mine will be fruitful and beneficial 

to you and will generate a change in your hearts. 

(Kishti-i Nuh — Noah’s Ark, concluded) 

I Shall Love All Mankind. 

Maulana Muhammad Ali 

completes the revision of his 

English Translation of the Holy 

Quran for the 1951 edition 

Compiled by 

Dr Zahid Aziz 

Compiler’s Note: 

In June 1947 Maulana 

Muhammad Ali 

embarked upon his 

last major literary 

project, the revision of his English translation 

and commentary of the Holy Quran which had 

been first published in 1917. The revised edition 

was published in 1951, shortly after the 

death of Maulana Muhammad Ali on 13 October 

1951. 

The main part of the revision work was 

completed in two years. Maulana Muhammad 

Ali announced the completion in a Friday sermon 

(khutba) in Karachi on 19th August 1949, 

delivered in Urdu. The khutba was published a 

few days later in the Lahore Ahmadiyya Urdu 

periodical Paigham Sulh, 7 September 1949, p. 

5–6, under the heading ‘The second important 

occasion of happiness in my life’. The following 

English translation of this sermon has been 

done by Dr Zahid Aziz. The headings are as in 

the original publication. 

The second important occasion of 

happiness in my life 

We acquired knowledge of the Quran 

by sitting at the feet of the Promised 

Messiah. 

You must benefit from this inherited 

knowledge and take the Quran to the 

world 

Friday khutba by Maulana Muhammad Ali, Karachi, 

19 August 1949 

After reciting the Sura Fatiha, the Maulana 

said: 

Faith in Allah bestows tranquillity and 

solace 

It is, in any case, usual for us to praise Allah



and thank Him five times a day, or even more 

frequently. Even when we are facing difficulties, 

and trials and tribulations, or suffering from illness, 

we are taught to say: Al-hamdu li-llahi 

Rabb-il-‘alamin (“Praise be to Allah, the Lord of 

the worlds”). It is greatly consoling to be reminded 

by this, that within our problems and 

difficulties Allah has placed the means of our 

betterment. There is nothing else that can bring 

as much solace and comfort to the heart as does 

faith in God. He who believes and is convinced 

that the suffering which is upon him contains 

the means of his welfare and improvement truly 

finds peace in his heart, and the pains and afflictions 

which make life intolerable are, to him, a 

source of contentment. 

Success in life 

If there is a secret of success in this world, it 

is just this, that man must not panic at the time 

of difficulty and trials. He who believes and is 

certain that God brings us difficulties for our 

own good will definitely lead a successful life. 

The teachings given by God seek to create such 

a belief and conviction within us, which is why 

we are required to praise Allah in prayers five 

times a day even in the midst of suffering and 

affliction. 

Praising Allah with real feeling 

However, some events take place which lead 

a man to say: Al-hamdu li-llahi Rabb-il-‘alamin 

with greater emotion and passion. Each person 

fixes some aims in life, and he attains pleasure 

by achieving them, according to what they are. 

The person who has high aims receives pleasure 

from attaining high things. The one who has 

low aims is pleased at the attainment of inferior 

things. 

The second occasion of happiness in 

my life 

The verse I have recited today, Al-hamdu lillahi 

Rabb-il-‘alamin, I have recited on a specially 

joyous occasion. In my life there have been 

many other happy moments but this is the second 

occasion of special happiness. The first occasion 

was when I completed the English translation 

of the Holy Quran, and today it is the second 

when I have completed the revision of the 


translation. I have come after finishing it at 

about 1.45 pm today. The reason for happiness 

is that man’s life is very uncertain. Many a time, 

he faces circumstances in which he could lose 

his life. 

Starting such a monumental task and taking 

it to completion depended entirely on the grace 

and favour of God. Many friends had been asking 

me for several years for this revision, but at 

my age I could not muster the strength required 

for this stupendous hard work. It was a task 

both huge and difficult. My earlier experience 

was there, when I had worked day and night for 

seven years. But those days were different. 

Then I had much more physical strength and 

energy than I have now. I used to work twelve 

or even fourteen hours daily. When I got tired 

sitting down, I would work standing up. Now 

due to my age on the one hand, and the magnitude 

of the revision work on the other, I did not 

feel I had the strength to do it. But Allah’s grace 

and mercy knows no bounds, and with His help 

and enablement this work has been completed 

today. 

How the resolve for revision came to 

me 

By coincidence, when I wrote Living 

Thoughts of the Prophet Muhammad, the gist of 

the teachings of the Quran on most subjects appeared 

in this book, and many points were included 

in it which had not occurred to me when 

I was doing the translation and commentary of 

the Holy Quran. This new light that thus illuminated 

my mind created a renewed strength 

within me, and a determination arose in my 

heart that, whatever the difficulties, I should 

begin the work of revision. As to how much 

change I have made in this revision, you can find 

out from three friends who are at this time doing 

the typing as honorary work only for the 

sake of Allah, namely, Chaudhry Khushi Muhammad, 

Muhammad Hasan Khan and 

Chaudhry Ghulam Rasul, or you will see after 

the translation is published. 

Difficulties and obstacles faced during 

work 

I started this work on 25th June 1947 when 

I was staying at Dalhousie. Hardly had I worked



for a month and a half when calamity befell. 1 For 

those who were residing far from large populations, 

as the handful of us were, as we were living 

three miles away from the centre of Dalhousie, 

escaping safely was only by the grace of God. 

Merely three or four men, that is, myself, Mian 

Ghulam Rasul, Shaikh Mian Muhammad, Khan 

Bahadur Mian Afzal Husain, were living cut off 

from the world in a place like a wilderness. The 

jealous opponents of the Muslims had us 

marked as targets, so much so that their first action 

after we left was to burn down the residences 

of myself, Mian Muhammad and Mian 

Maula Bakhsh. They had this in mind since long 

before. Some men came to me, about whom I 

suspected that they had ulterior motives. 

So, such was the disaster that was faced just 

a month and a half after starting this work that 

it had to be postponed for a long time. Then I 

took it up again and continued it in Quetta [during 

the summer] last year. There I went through 

another ordeal [of illness] but I was granted a 

new lease of life by the grace of God. Having 

passed through these two difficult phases, completing 

the revision of the translation of the 

Quran is a source of tremendous joy for me. 

Service of the Quran is the best service 

of humanity 

On this joyous occasion I have read the 

words: Al-hamdu li-llahi Rabb-il-‘alamin. The 

service of the Holy Quran is the work by which 

we can best serve mankind. It must be remembered, 

with the fullest faith in the heart, that the 

welfare and betterment of the world lies nowhere 

but in the Word of God which He revealed 

to his last Messenger. Nothing can rescue the 

world from its present troubles except the 

Quran. It is absolutely true that the reason for 

my happiness is not that Allah has granted me 

some further knowledge of the Quran, but that 

with His help I had the opportunity to place the 

Holy Quran before the world in a way which 

shows that it contains a solution for its present 

problems. Perhaps this may serve as a source of 

guidance for the world and illumine the hearts 

of people with the light of God. 

Treasures of Quranic knowledge lie 

within the depth of meaning of its 

words 

Reading the Quran illuminates your heart, 

but this depends on the concentration with 

which you read this word of God. The more you 

concentrate on it, and the deeper you go into it, 

the more it will enter your heart. This can be 

made clearer by the following example. Just as 

pearls are found in the depths of the oceans, 

likewise the boundless treasures of knowledge 

contained in the Quran, which will continue to 

be unfolded till the Day of Judgment, are to be 

found in the depths of the meanings of its 

words. It is an ocean that no one is denied access 

to, but to obtain those valuable pearls from 

it, which give us light to solve our problems, is 

dependent on how much effort and exertion we 

put in for their acquisition. 

Try to solve the problems of the world 

from the Quran 

Therefore, I advise my friends to try to find 

solutions to the problems of the world from the 

Holy Quran. Apply thought to these problems 

and then ponder over the Quran. Remember 

this principle that the solution of the problems 

of the world lies in developing faith in God, and 

nothing else can create as much faith in God as 

can the Holy Quran. But to develop faith requires 

a struggle. Faith and striving have a reciprocal 

relationship. Faith creates the desire to 

strive, as a result of which a person sees the 

truth and can shed light upon it for others. 

Knowledge of the Quran is an inheritance 

of the Lahore Jama‘at from the 

Mujaddid 

I must tell you that the true knowledge of 

the Holy Quran has in this age been disclosed 

particularly to your Jama‘at, and this blessing is 

in reality due to that man at whose feet we 

gained this knowledge. He set us on the right 

path. To gain true knowledge, a balanced mind 

1 

The events mentioned here occurred at the partition 

of India. Many Muslims from the Punjab used to 

spend the summer in Dalhousie, a salubrious place in 

the mountains. It was in an area which at partition 


was awarded to India, and many Muslims had to flee 

from it, as from many other such places, to the new 

state of Pakistan.



is required, and it is the blessing of God that this 

Jama‘at has maintained its mental equilibrium. 

This is why the Promised Messiah’s intellectual 

heritage has passed to this small Jama‘at. 

Why didn’t the Qadiani Jama‘at inherit 

sufficiently? 

The larger, Qadiani Jama‘at has not been 

able to benefit from it sufficiently because, on 

the one hand, through exaggeration it elevated 

a Mujaddid to the rank of prophethood, and on 

the other hand due to its system of blind obedience 

by the followers to the leader, it lost its 

mental balance. Its own leader complains that 

his Jama‘at has lost its mental equilibrium. Followers 

come under complete control of their 

spiritual leader just as animals are under the 

control of man. Their potential for development, 

placed in human nature by God, is suppressed 

and their development comes to a halt. 

You will observe that the circumstance which 

deprived the Muslims of knowledge, and reduced 

them to a stagnant, static state, was just 

this blind following of religious leaders which 

paralysed the human brain and darkened the 

light of their intellect, making them incapable of 

further progress. 

Differing with the Promised Messiah in 

secondary matters 

It is perfectly true that we accepted Hazrat 

Mirza sahib as Mujaddid, as Mahdi and as the 

Messiah. However, we never accepted him as 

one to be followed blindly. We used to differ 

with him sometimes. The Nawab of Mongrol felt 

much attraction and love for this Movement. To 

a large extent he believed the Ahmadiyya Movement 

to be true. When once we were with him, 

a Maulvi tried to incite him against us and said 

to him: ‘These people whom you respect and 

honour so much, who believe Mirza sahib to be 

the Promised Messiah, they have differences 

with their own Promised Messiah; he did not 

believe that Jesus was born of a father, but these 

people believe he had a father.’ 

Messiah has declared the Holy Quran to be supreme 

over everything. So, if we see something 

clearly in the Quran, then in a secondary matter 

we consider it permissible to hold a different interpretation 

from the Promised Messiah, provided 

it is supported by strong arguments. We 

have learnt the Quran from the Promised Messiah 

but he did not shut the doors of knowledge 

upon us; rather, he opened them. The words of 

Hazrat Umar deserve to be written in letters of 

gold which he uttered when a woman drew his 

attention to a verse of the Quran according to 

which there can be no limit to the amount of 

mahr that a wife is given by the husband. Hazrat 

Umar said: “The women of Madina have more 

understanding of religion than Umar”. 

After the founder of the religion, difference 

with anyone is allowed 

Therefore, it is no sin to differ, even with the 

greatest of persons. Of course, one cannot differ 

with the founder of the religion, the Holy 

Prophet Muhammad. After him, one can differ 

with anyone from Hazrat Abu Bakr to Hazrat 

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. The concept that such 

differences are not allowed caused Muslims to 

become stagnant. Prior to that, the Muslims 

were racing on the path of progress, in terms of 

both knowledge and deeds. They led the world 

in all aspects of life. But when this nation got 

stuck in the mire of taking religious leaders “for 

lords besides Allah” (the Quran, 9:31), it went 

into decline. 

Read the Quran with understanding 

You must read the Holy Quran, and read it 

with thought and concentration. Only God 

knows to whom He will grant knowledge for the 

benefit of His creatures. Allah has given a brain 

to everyone and placed a light within each person 

as well. As you take more and more interest 

in the Quran, and make your connection with it 

stronger, the things in it which appear remote 

and distant will seem to be emerging from your 

own heart. 

The Nawab sahib put this question to me. I 

replied that this just shows that we have not accepted 

the Promised Messiah without thinking, 

but after thinking and understanding, with 

open eyes, which are still open. The Promised 


After revision, the stage of printing 

and publication 

I have related to you my experience, that Al-



lah accepted my effort and enabled me to complete 

this work. There remains another stage, 

which is the crucial one. There is not only the 

question of printing, for which the manuscript 

has yet to be prepared, but there is the question 

of its dissemination in the world. The Holy 

Quran is already in our homes. If, after translation, 

it remains confined to our homes, will it 

reach the world? The real objective is its propagation. 

Idea of translation occurs to a recluse 

of Qadian 

I look with amazement as to how the idea 

occurred to a recluse living in Qadian, occurring 

at the same time as he made his claim, that the 

Quran should be translated and sent to the peoples 

of Europe and America. Perhaps the second 

resurgence of Islam would take place by their 

hands. It would not be surprising if Islam 

spreads among them and makes them the more 

capable of serving the Quran. 

Serve the Quran along with your other 

work or business 

So, the other task is to spread the Holy 

Quran. In this, every one of you can participate, 

whether you are great or small. You can do 

whatever work you wish to, but make this task 

the aim of your life. There are some people who 

devoted their lives entirely to the service of Islam 

and the Quran. There are others who carry 

on their own business or employment, and 

along with that they serve the faith. Dr Basharat 

Ahmad, although he was in employment, devoted 

his life to the service of the Quran, and the 

light of the Quran had brightly illuminated his 

heart. Anyone who reads his commentary on 

two parts of the Quran can feel that. It brings 

such enjoyment and contentment that one’s 

faith in God is revived. 

Try to acquire and pass on knowledge 

of the Quran 

Those people who are employed in jobs can 

follow whatever profession they wish. But each 

one, according to his aptitude, can also perform 

service of the Quran at the same time. Try to acquire 

knowledge of the Quran and pass it on. Allah 

never wastes anyone’s effort and struggle. 


The brains of all human beings have more or 

less the same capability. The difference is in 

man’s effort. The person of average intelligence 

can achieve through effort what a highly intelligent 

man cannot achieve without effort. 

(From the Paigham Sulh, 7 September 1949, 5– 

6) 

Identity Theft! 

(Part 1) 

By Iain Dixon 

Asaalamu alaikum! 

May the peace of Allah be 

upon you! 

I have been told that the expression Allahu 

Akbar means ‘God is great’, or more accurately 

‘God is greater than anything, His greatness is 

beyond and above anything and everything’. 

Wow! What praise for God! Surely these are 

beautiful words that should only be reserved for 

the beautiful Creator of heaven and earth! The 

words Allahu Akbar provide an eternity of contemplation 

for the believer, majestic praise that 

is higher than the highest mountain, a source of 

joy that is deeper than the deepest mountain, 

praise that is more radiant than the brightness 

of all the stars of the universe put together! And 

yet, something has gone horribly wrong in the 

world today. Rather that, Allahu Akbar being a 

refrain of praise, or a symphony of love and adoration 

for the greatness of God, something sinister 

has occurred. The hearing of these words 

has sent, and is continuing to send, a chill of fear 

in the hearts and minds of its hearers around 

the world. For many, Allahu Akbar has become a 

death cry, and are words that are uttered just 

before a bomb is set off, or innocent people are 

shot down, slaughtered in an instant. As a candle’s 

gentle flame is snuffed out in a moment, so 

those uttering Allahu Akbar are extinguishing 

light and love in the lives of those who are loved 

and treasured by Allah. Somewhere, somehow, 

people have traded in love for God and mankind, 

with pure hatred. Allahu Akbar has become 

a death sentence, and a label that has ‘rebranded’ 

the Creator of the universe as a God of 

hate, who delights in destruction. I call this – 

Identity Theft. 

In this, and further articles, I want to share



with you what I have learnt from my own personal 

reflections on the character of Allah that I 

have discovered in reading the pages of the 

Honoured Quran. I am a follower of Jesus, and 

do not ‘belong to the Islamic faith’ as text books 

would define a ‘Muslim’. But I am someone who 

thinks, reflects, and has an incredible love and 

respect for my Muslim brothers and sisters. I 

know the great promises and prophecies in the 

Bible scriptures which foretold the growth and 

spread of Islam, and how God promised to protect 

and bless them, and use them mightily in 

the unfolding of his purposes. I am also aware 

of the bad press Islam has received in the hands 

of the media, and also in the hands of those who 

have been guilty of the Identity Theft. May the 

words that I write restore honour to Allah, the 

Lord of the worlds, and ‘take back’ the beauty 

that belongs only to Him, a beauty that has been 

stolen by those supposedly acting in His name 

— a beauty that has been tarnished and vandalised 

like a beautiful painting that has been ruined 

by graffiti and spray paint. 

Those that are guilty of Identity Theft have 

not noticed how often the pages of the Honoured 

Quran refer to Allah as most Gracious, 

most Merciful! Each chapter of the Quran (except 

one) begins with the words In the name of 

Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful. Does 

this sound like the character of the God represented 

by suicide bombers around the world, or 

those brandishing machine guns, gunning down 

other Muslims in mosques because they believe 

in a slightly different doctrine? Surely the qualities 

of mercy and grace should abound in the 

hearts and lives of those who openly declare to 

be worshippers of the one true God. We are told 

in the pages of the Quran: kind words and covering 

of faults are better than charity followed by 

injury. 2 Those who have committed Identity 

Theft have forgotten to follow Allah’s advice in 

abounding in kindness and in the covering of 

faults of others. Instead, they have traded these 

noble qualities for intolerance and abusive 

words, condemning hearts and fault finding in 

others. Anyone who disagrees with them is to 

be exterminated! Should we not rather treat all 

people kindly, especially towards those who do 

not see things the way we do? 

The Quran instructs us to clothe ourselves 

with kindness, forgiveness and mercy towards 

others, even if they do not see things the way we 

do. The chapter with the title “Those who disagree” 

3 is a direct challenge to those who have 

committed Identity Theft. Rather than exterminating 

those who disagree with us in religious 

belief, we are told "Say: O ye that reject 

faith, I worship not that which ye worship, nor 

will ye worship that which I worship, and I will 

not worship that which ye have been wont to 

worship, nor will ye worship that which I will 

worship. To you your way, and to me mine." 4 

People have different beliefs. We are also all 

at different stages in grasping spiritual truth. 

How tragic it would be to destroy a beautiful 

flower before it has come into full bloom! Imagine 

crushing what appears to be a lifeless seed, 

or cutting down an unimpressive green stem 

because we don’t see yet a beautiful flower! 

Those who commit Identity Theft do not allow 

people to change or give them time to come into 

full bloom of all that Allah intended them to become. 

Instead they are impatient and intolerant 

of others. How different this is to the way of Allah! 

In the Bible, we are told “But the path of the 

just is as the shining light, that shineth more 

and more unto the perfect day.” 5 . Just as the sun 

rises gradually each day, and moment by moment 

more light is unfolded, so too does our 

spiritual light and understanding take time to 

grow and mature. We don’t believe it all, get it 

all, or know it all — all at once. How sad, that 

those who commit Identity Theft have taken 

upon themselves to judge others and to take 

away the precious gift of life from others — all 

in the name of Allahu Akbar. Those who misrepresent 

the character of God have never truly recognised 

the greatness of God, and His merciful 

purposes. 

(To be continued in the next issue) 

2 Surah Al-Baqarah 2:263. 

3 Surah Al-Kafirun 109:1-6 

4 The Arabic word deen, translated here as worship, has 

a wider significance. It means the way you live and includes 

all aspects of life. Thus, this chapter may be 

translated as: “O you who disagree with me, I will not 


live the way you do and you do not want to live the way 

I teach. So, let each one of us live the way we want to 

and we will see the result.” — Editor 

5 Proverbs 4:18



Female 

Circumcision 

Is it prescribed by 

Islam? 

By Shahid Aziz 

Introduction 

Female circumcision is known in the West 

as FGM, which stands for Female Genital Mutilation. 

It is an ancient practice where parts of a 

girl’s genitalia are removed to eliminate sexual 

desire and pleasure in a woman. Although, people 

usually just talk about FGM, there are four 

categories. 

Type I: Partial or total removal of the clitoris 

and/or the prepuce (clitoridectomy). 

Type II: Partial or total removal of the clitoris 

and the labia minora, with or without excision 

of the labia majora (excision). 

Type III: Narrowing of the vaginal orifice 

with creation of a covering seal by cutting and 

positioning the labia minora and/or the labia 

majora, with or without excision of the clitoris 

(infibulation). 

Type IV: All other harmful procedures to the 

female genitalia for non-medical purposes, for 

example: pricking, piercing, incising, scraping 

and cauterization. 

It originated in pre-Islamic Africa and was 

referenced by the Greek geographer Strabo during 

a visit to Egypt around 25 BCE. 

UNICEF estimates that 200 million 

women are violated by FGM and that 

every ten seconds a woman or girl is 

subjected to it. It is a common practice 

in some countries in Africa and the 

Middle East. Inhabitants of those 

countries practice FGM regardless of 

their faith. For example, Ethiopia is a 

predominantly Christian country and 

yet FGM is a common practice. Somalia 

is a predominantly Muslim country 

and FGM is practiced there. In Nigeria, 

Muslims and Christians are almost equal in 

numbers and both practice FGM. Those who 

practice it and those who oppose it both say that 

it is prescribed by Islam. This paper is based on 

two Friday sermons delivered at the UK headquarters 

of the Lahore-Ahmadiyya Movement, 

which showed that female circumcision or FGM 

is against Islamic teaching. 

We find that not only is female circumcision 

not practiced in most of Muslim majority countries 

such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh etc. In 

fact, it is not even known in those countries and 

when mentioned, people express astonishment. 

In these countries, it is only the small community 

of Bohras who practices FGM. In Saudi Arabia 

itself, it is only on the Southern tip around 

Yemen where FGM is practised by Saudis. Others 

who practice FGM in Saudi Arabia are immigrants 

from countries such as Egypt. 

The Hanafi and Malaki schools of jurisprudence 

regard female circumcision as permitted 

and the Shaafi and Hanbali schools regard it as 

obligatory. Saudis follow the Hanbali school of 

jurisprudence, yet we find that it is only a small 

minority that indulges in this practice. 6 However, 

the fatwahs of these schools are human interpretations 

of what they believe to be the 

Commands of the Holy Quran and the Prophet 

Muhammad (s). Therefore, these opinions are 

not binding upon Muslims. Here, we are not 

concerned with their interpretation. We are going 

to look at the Holy Quran, the Sunnah and 

Hadith of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (s), to 

determine whether, just like male circumcision, 

female circumcision is also a part of Islam. 

6 http://www.arabnews.com/node/263988 


ر 

ٌۭ 



The Holy Quran 

The Holy Quran states: “Then We revealed 

to thee: Follow the faith of Abraham, the upright 

one; and he was not of the polytheists.” 7 This 

shows that the Divine Command to the Holy 

Prophet Muhammad (s) was to follow the faith 

of Abraham. Therefore, we must look at the 

practice of the Jews in this regard. We know that 

the Prophet Abraham was circumcised and that 

it is Jewish tradition to circumcise males. We 

have no evidence to show that any female related 

to the Prophet Abraham himself or among 

the Jewish people is circumcised. Thus, if Muslims 

are to follow the faith of Abraham, then 

males are to be circumcised and females are not 

to be circumcised. 

This is supported by the Holy Quran where 

it is said: “And certainly I will lead them astray 

and excite in them vain desires and bid them so 

that they will slit the ears of the cattle, and bid 

them so that they will alter Allah’s creation. And 

whoever takes the devil for a friend, forsaking 

Allah, he indeed suffers a manifest loss.” 8 

Here Satan is saying that he will lead astray 

Allah’s creation. One of the ways in which he 

will do so is to “bid them so that they will alter 

Allah’s creation”. This shows that mutilation of 

living things, whether human or animal is forbidden 

by Islam – it is the devil’s work. This is 

one reason, among others, that Muslims oppose 

post-mortems. It may be asked: why are operations 

allowed? The answer is the same as in ordinary 

law in the West. Grievous body harm is a 

criminal offence. Yet, what a surgeon, during an 

operation, subjects a patient to is grievous body 

harm. But, even if the surgeon kills the patient, 

the surgeon will not be charged with any criminal 

offence unless a lack of care in carrying out 

the operation can be shown. Thus, if there is a 

medical reason then the surgeon is safe because 

the surgeon is subjecting his patient to the 

trauma of being cut open to save the patient’s 

life or relieve him of some illness. Recently, a 

surgeon who carried out operations without 

any medical reason was charged with criminal 

wounding and sent to prison. 

The same reasoning applies to the Islamic 

injunctions. This principle is derived from the 

Quran, which states emphatically that injuring a 

human without justification is punishable by a 

similar act to deter others. It says, “. . .and we 

have ordained therein for them that a life for a 

life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear 

for an ear, a tooth for a tooth and a wound is 

punishable equal for equal.” 9 

It may be said the male circumcision does 

not fall into this category because the children 

are perfectly healthy and they are being subjected 

to the trauma of an operation. It may be 

added that medical benefits of male circumcision 

may apply to only a few children and the 

rest go through un-necessary pain. This logic 

can be applied to any vaccination programme. 

Not all the children are going to get smallpox or 

TB or whatever other disease they are being 

vaccinated against. But, all the children are vaccinated 

to remove the danger of any of them 

contracting the illness. The same applies to 

male circumcision — all the Muslim male children 

are circumcised to eliminate the danger to 

some. So, male circumcision does not violate 

this injunction of the Holy Quran. But there is no 

medical reason for female circumcision. On the 

contrary, female circumcision leads to physical 

and psychological problems. This has been conclusively 

established, making female circumcision 

not just un-Islamic but also a criminal offence. 

The Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (s) 

This refers to the actions of the Holy 

Prophet Muhammad (s). The Holy Quran says: 

“Indeed in the Messenger of Allah you have a 

good example to follow. . .” 10 

7 

ثُمََّ‏ أ وْ‏ ح يْن اَ‏ إِل يْك َ أ نَِ‏ ٱتَّبِعَْ‏ مِ‏ لَّةَ‏ إِبْر هِيم َ ح نِيفًۭ‏ ا ۖ َ و م ا ك ان َ مِن َ ) النحل)‏ 

chapter 16, verse 123 ‏;ٱلْمُشْرِ‏ كِ‏ ين َ 

و ‏ْل ‏ُضِ‏ لَّنَّهُمْ‏ َ و ‏ْل ‏ُم ن ‏ِي نَّهُمَْ‏ و ل ء امُر نَّهُمَْ‏ ف ل يُب تِكُنََّ‏ ء اذ ان َ ٱْلْ‏ نْع مَِ‏ ‏(النساء )8 

ٱّللََِّ‏ َ 

و ل ء امُر نَّهُمَْ‏ ف ل يُغ ي ‏ِرُنََّ‏ خ لْق َ ٱّللَّ‏ َِ ۖ َ 

و م ن ي تَّخِ‏ ذَِ‏ ٱلشَّيْط ن َ و لِيًۭا مِن 

دُونَِ‏ 

ف ق دْ‏ خ سِ‏ ر َ 

Chapter 4, verse 119 خُسْر انًۭا مُّبِينًۭا 

و ك ت بْن ا ع ل يْهِمَْ‏ فِيه اَ‏ أ نََّ‏ ٱلنَّفْس َ بِٱلنَّفْسِ‏ َ و ٱلْع يْن َ بِٱلْع يْنَِ‏ و ٱْلْ‏ نف َ ) المائدہ ( 9 


بِٱْلْ‏ نفَِ‏ و ٱْلْ‏ ‏ُذُن َ بِٱْلْ‏ ‏ُذُنَِ‏ و ٱلسِنََّ‏ بِٱلسِن َِ و ٱلْجُرُوح َ قِص اصًۭ‏ َ ۖ َ ف م ن ت ص دَّق َ بِهِۦ ف هُو َ 

ك فَّار ةًَۭ‏ ۥ لَّهُۖ‏ َ و م ن لَّمْ‏ ي حْكُم بِم اَ‏ أ نز ل َ ف أُو۟‏ ل ئِك َ هُمُ‏ 

َ ٱّللََُّ‏ َ ٱلظَّلِمُون َ 

Chapter 5, verse 

45 

َ ) االحزاب ( 10 

‏َّوْ‏ مَّ‏ ٱلْ‏ ء ى ‏َّاخ رَّ‏ وَّ‏ ذ ‏َّكَّرَّ‏ ٱّللََّ‏ َّ 

ي ‏َّرْ‏ جُ‏ وا۟‏ ٱّللََّ‏ َّ وَّٱل ‏ْي 

‏َّن ك ‏َّانَّ‏ 

ل ‏ََّق ‏َّدْ‏ ك ‏َّانَّ‏ ل ‏َّكُ‏ مْ‏ ‏ِفى رَّ‏ سُ‏ ولى ٱ ‏ّللََّ‏ ى أُسْ‏ وَّةٌ‏ حَّ‏ سَّ‏ ن ٌۭ ‏َّةٌ‏ ‏َّلى 

Chapter 33, verse 21 كَّثىي ا



If female circumcision is an obligatory Islamic 

practice then there must be evidence that 

the Holy Prophet Muhammad engaged in it. We 

know that there were girls in the Holy Prophet’s 

(s) family. Hazrat Fatima (r) was his daughter. 

There is no evidence that any woman in the 

family of the Holy Prophet (s) was circumcised. 

However, in a Hadith Aisha (r), one of the wives 

of Prophet Muhammad (s), said, “The Prophet 

circumcised Al-Hassan and Al-Hussein on the 

seventh day after their birth.” 11 Further, there is 

evidence that adult males were circumcised 

when they embraced Islam. In a Hadith, Abu 

Hureira (r) related: “the Prophet (s) said, 

“whenever a man becomes a Muslim he must be 

circumcised.” 12 But there is no evidence that an 

adult female was circumcised upon embracing 

Islam. 

Hadith 

Words of the Holy Prophet (s) through inspiration 

from Allah and with religious implications, 

known as wahy khiffi, form part of the 

Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (s). And, many religious 

practices were established through his 

sayings. This is based on verses of the Holy 

Quran, such as: “. . . Nor does he speak out of (his 

own) desire.” 13 Those who claim that female 

circumcision is obligatory in Islam use such 

verses and rely on some reports of sayings of 

the Holy Prophet (s). 

But the difficulty is that the hadith or what 

the Holy Prophet (s) said was not written down 

for a long time after the Holy Prophet’s demise. 

The first collection of his sayings was produced 

about a century after the demise of the Holy 

Prophet. The most well-known collections of 

his sayings appeared after, approximately, another 

century. The report of what the Holy 

Prophet (s) is supposed to have said are in two 

parts; one sanad or a chain of narrators and the 

second, matan or the text. When considering 

the authenticity of a hadith both parts are considered. 

For example, the reliability of the reporters 

is considered. If a reporter’s evidence 

would not be acceptable to a court of law then 

what he reported is weak or unreliable. Similarly, 

if the text of a report contradicts the Holy 

Quran or natural law then the hadith is not considered 

reliable. We now evaluate the sayings of 

the Holy Prophet (s) used to support FGM, in 

this light. 

Five ahadith are used to support this practice. 

Each of these five ahadith is analysed to see 

if female circumcision can be justified on the authority 

of any of these reports. 

The First Hadith 

In this hadith, reported on the authority of 

Abdullah bin Umar, it is said that the women of 

the Ansar 14 were enjoined to practice FGM by 

the Holy Prophet (s). This is very strange, even 

if the hadith is correct. Why is it that only the 

women of Madinah are being asked to practice 

female circumcision? This alone is enough to 

cast doubt on its authenticity. 

The main objection to this hadith is that it is 

regarded as being weak because of the weakness 

of the chain of narrators. “Ash-Shawkany 

has said that it is related by Abu Naim with a 

chain of transmitters that contains Mindal ibn 

Ali who is deemed weak in narration. Ash- 

Shawkany also adds that such a hadith is related 

by Ibn Àddiy with a chain of transmission having 

Khalid ibn Amr Al-Qurashi, who is deemed 

weaker than Mindal.” 15 From this it can be 

safely concluded that we can reject this hadith. 

Second Hadith 

Reported in Siha Sitta 16 , on the authority of 

Hazrat Abu Hurairah (r), it is said: “"Acts of natural 

disposition are five: circumcision, removing 

the pubic hair, shaving the moustache, cutting 

the fingernails, and plucking the armpit 

hair.” 

11 Al-Baihaqqy in his book Sunan-al-kubra (The Major 

Traditions) vol. 9 pg 299 and pg 303. 

12 Al-Hafidh, At-talkhis – The Summary 

Chapter 53, verse 3 وَ‏ مَآٰيَنطِقُٰٓعَنِٰٓٱلْهَوَ‏ ى ٰٓ ) النجم ( 13 

14 Ansar literally means Helpers. The word became synonymous 

with people of Madinah who helped the Holy 

Prophet Muhammad (s) and his companions (r) when 

they arrived there. 


15 Female Circumcision from an Islamic perspective, 

page 6. 

16 Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, Nasai, Ahmad 

and Tirmidhi



Although this is an authentic hadith it does 

not mean that all acts mentioned here apply to 

both men and women. Women do not have a 

moustache, so they cannot be required to trim 

it. 

Further, the word used here for circumcision 

is khitaan, which means male circumcision. 

In Arabic, khitaan is not used for female circumcision. 

Thus, we can safely say that circumcision 

mentioned here does not apply to both men and 

women but only to males. 

Third Hadith 

The Prophet (s) was reported to have said: 

“Circumcision is an act of Sunnah for men and 

an honourable act for women.” In his commentary 

on the book The Revival of the Religious Sciences, 

AL Hafiz Al-Iraqi has judged the concerned 

Hadith as weak, which is the same judgment 

of Al-Bayhaqy, Ibn Abu Hatim, and Ibn Abdul-Barr. 

Further, all the narrations of this Hadith 

are traced back to Al-Hajjaj Ibn Arta’ah 

whose narrations are not to be taken as a proof 

of a legal ruling for being dishonest in his narration. 

In his book Talkhis Al-Habir fi Takhrij 

Ahadith Ar-Rafi`y Al-Kabir, AlHafiz Ibn Hajar has 

spoken of the weakness of such a Hadith citing 

the saying of Al-Bayhaqy that it is weak and disconnected. 

Ibn Àbdul Barr has also stated in his 

work At-Tamhid Lima fi Al-Muwatta' min Al- 

Maàni wa Al-Asanid that the narrations of the 

Hadith in question are taken from an unreliable 

narrator. Ibn Àbdul-Barr has maintained in the 

same book, “Such a Hadith is taken as a proof of 

the permissibility of circumcision by those 

deeming such an act as one of Sunnah despite 

that this Hadith is originally received from Al- 

Hajja j Ibn Arta’ah whose reports are not to be 

taken as a proof in case he is the only narrator 

of such reports; that is to say such reports . . .” 17 

A further problem with this hadith is that 

the word khitaanu is used, which, as has been 

pointed out means male circumcision. In addition, 

the construction of the sentence is such 

that even by stretching the imagination one 

cannot say that it includes female circumcision. 

Why not just say that circumcision is obligatory 

on both the male and female, rather than adopting 

the convoluted instruction. 

The Fourth Hadith 

The most common saying of the Holy 

Prophet Muhammad (s) used as justification is 

what he said to a woman called Umm ‛Attiyyah 

who used to circumcise females in EL Medina El 

Menora: “O Umm ‛Attiyyah, take a little part and 

do not exaggerate; doing so will preserve the 

fairness of the woman’s face and satisfy the husband” 

“This Hadith has been narrated by Al-Hakim, 

Al-Bayhaqy and Abu Dawood with similar 

wording but through weak chains of transmitters. 

Al-Hafiz Zayn Ed-Din Al-Iraqi in his Commentary 

on Al-Ghazali's book The Revival of the 

Religious Sciences agrees with this. Abu 

Dawood, whose narration of this Hadith is different 

in wording, comments on the Hadith saying, 

“It is reported with the same meaning and 

the same chain of transmitters by Ubaydullah 

ibn Amr on the authority of Abdul Malak; moreover, 

it is not of a strong chain of transmitters as 

one of its narrations is Mursal (i.e., has no companion 

in its chain of transmitters). Above all, 

Muhammad Ibn Hassan, the narrator of this 

Hadith, is anonymous and the Hadith itself has 

been categorized as a daìf (weak) Hadith.” 

Imam Shams Ed-Din Al-Haqq Al-Azim Abady 

comments on the saying of Abu Dawood, “This 

Hadith is not strong because of the weakness of 

the narrator ‘Muhammad Ibn Hassan Al-Kufi . . 

.’”. Ibn Aidyy and Al-Bayhaqy have attested to 

the anonymity of Muhammad ibn Hassan, the 

narrator, while Al-Hafiz Abdul-Ghany Ibn Said 

disagrees with them about the narrator saying, 

“He is Muhammad ibn Said who was crucified 

for being an atheist. He is a weak and an unreliable 

narrator.” Whether being Muhammad Ibn 

Hassan or Muhammad ibn Said, the narrator is 

a liar as scholars maintain that he fabricated 

four thousand Hadiths and attributed them to 

the Prophet (s). About him, Imam Ahmad says, 

“Al Mansur killed and then crucified him as a 

punishment for atheism.” In addition, some of 

the contemporaries have compiled all narrations 

of this Hadith and concluded that all the 


page 4. 




ways through which this Hadith is transmitted 

are weak and cannot be considered a proof of a 

legal ruling. In his thesis on female circumcision, 

Muhammad Lutfy As-Sabbagh, Professor 

in Islamic Studies in Riyadh University, says, 

“See, may Allah guide you, how the two great 

Imams, Abu Dawood and Al-Iraqi, have judged 

this Hadith to be da‛if. The da‛if hadith is the one 

lacking authenticity criteria.” 18 

Fifth Hadith 

It is reported on the authority of Hazrat 

Ayesah (r) that the Prophet (s) said: “if the two 

organs to be removed by circumcision are met, 

then performing Ghusl (ritual bath) is obligatory.” 

19 

Although this is regarded as an authentic 

hadith, the objections to it are the same as discussed 

above. It uses the khitaanani as the dualplural. 

It has been pointed out already that this 

means male circumcision. So, it is not saying 

when these “circumcised” organs of both the 

male and female meet then they should take a 

bath. Also, the hadith is found in the chapters 

related to purification. 

The idea that this hadith shows female circumcision 

is allowed is based on a misunderstanding. 

Such dual-plurals are applied in Arabic 

to two things which, though different, share 

some attribute. Here are some examples. 

i. Al-umareyn - (the two Umars) referring to 

two close companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad 

(s) (Abu bakar and Umar (r)). The 

Prophet (s) called these two companions 

“Umareyn,” yet they were two different individuals. 

ii. Al-Bahreyn - (two seas) referring to the 

sea (bahr) and river (nahr) 

iii. Al-qamareyn - (the two moons), referring 

to the sun (al-Shams) and the moon (al- qamar). 

iv. Al-ishaeyn - (the two ishas) referring to 

Isha and Maghrib prayers. 

v. Al-aswadeyn - (the two black things) referring 

to water and dates. 20 

Recent Scholars 

In several Muslim countries, the government 

has legislated to try and outlaw FGM. In 

the 1950s, the Egyptian government tried to 

stop midwives from performing the custom, 

while allowing doctors to do so — fearing that 

otherwise the daughters of the families who insisted 

on circumcising would have the operation 

carried out in unsafe conditions. But in 

1996, the health minister imposed a total ban 

on the practice. 

Religious authorities have also given decrees 

against this practice. Egypt's two top Islamic 

clerics, Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, the 

Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar, the foremost theological 

institute in the Sunni Muslim world, and 

Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, attended a conference 

to discuss this issue, which drew scholars from 

as far afield as Russia. 21 They both spoke 

against FGM. 

From the above discussion, it can be concluded 

that female circumcision, or FGM, is not 

sanctioned by the Holy Quran or the actions of 

the Holy Prophet. The ahadith on which supporters 

of FGM rely are unreliable or they have 

been mistranslated. Indeed, one can go further 

and argue that the Holy Quran forbids FGM. 

(end) 

Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at Islam Lahore (UK) 

Founders of the first Islamic Mission in the UK, established 1913 as the Woking Muslim Mission. 

Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, UK, HA0 4JQ 

Centre: 020 8903 2689 ∙ President: 01793 740670 ∙ Secretary: 07737 240777 ∙ Treasurer: 01932 348283 

E-mail: info@aaiil.uk 

Websites: www.aaiil.org/uk | www.ahmadiyya.org | www.virtualmosque.co.uk 

Donations: https://www.cafonline.org/charityprofile/aaiiluk 

ٰٓ 


from Islam by USAID, page 11 

page 3. 

21 http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/muslim- 

19 Malik, Muslim, At-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah and others 

20 Delinking Female Genital Mutilation/ Cutting 

scholars-rule-female-circumcision-unis- 

lamic/2006/11/24/1163871589618.html

2017 06 The Light June 2017

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?