ِ 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
August
April
2016
UK
Germany
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The only Islamic organisation upholding the finality of prophethood.
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Editors
Shahid Aziz & Mustaq Ali
Amir Aziz
Gowsia Saleem & Prof. Shahab
Shabbir
Kaleem Ahmed
Zainib Ahmad
Contents
The Call of the Messiah 2
Centenary of Hazrat Maulana Muham-
mad Ali’s English translation the Holy
Quran by Dr Zahid Aziz 2
Identity Theft – Final Part by Iain Dixon 5
The Patch to Success by E. Mohamed 7
Killing Children by Alisha Shah 11
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The Light.
I Shall Love All Mankind.
August 2017 The
Light 2
The Call of the
Messiah
by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad
The Promised Messiah and Mahdi
Indisputable knowledge of God a prerequisite
to righteous life
It is a truly sound tenet that, to be saved
from sins, man requires a certain knowledge of
God and not any redemption. I say to you sincerely
that if the people of Noah had the perfect
knowledge which generates the fear of (losing
the love of) God, they would not have been
drowned, and if the people of Lot had fully recognised
their Lord, they would not have been
stoned to death. And if the people of this country
had been granted the true knowledge of God
which makes one tremble at the idea of a transgression
of His Commandments, it would not
have been thus destroyed with the plague. But,
inadequate knowledge cannot benefit in the
least because imperfect love, fear, and faith
knowledge is worthless. If you do not take sufficient
food, it will not sustain you, or if the full
dose of medicine is not administered, it would
not do any good. One grain cannot satisfy your
hunger, nor one drop of water quench your
thirst. How can you of little courage and slow in
the search of truth, hope to be the recipients of
the vast blessings and un-measured grace of
God by a little knowledge and a little love and a
little fear? It is for Him to purify you from sins
and to fill your hearts with His love and awe. He
has established the law that all this is granted to
a man after he has attained to certainty in His
knowledge, for knowledge is the root from
which love and fear spring. He who is given a
perfect knowledge is also granted perfect love
and perfect fear, and he who is granted these,
has attained to salvation, because he is purified
from sin. For this salvation, therefore, we do not
stand in need of the shedding of blood, or of crucifixion
or of atonement. What we require for its
attainment is only a sacrifice, and that a sacrifice
of our own self. This is a requirement of our
very nature and this is the true significance of
Islam. Islam means the laying down of the head
I Shall Love All Mankind.
for being slaughtered and to bow down with entire
submission at the Divine threshold. The beloved
name of Islam is the soul of the whole of
Law and the essence of all the commandments.
To lay down one's self willingly and with a joyful
heart for being slain which is the true significance
of Islam, means a perfect love, while perfect
love indicates perfect knowledge. The word
the sacrifice that God accepts
from you is that you should
fear Him and walk in righteousness
for His sake.
Islam therefore, clearly signifies that true sacrifice,
which is necessary for the salvation of man,
requires perfect love and perfect knowledge
and not anything else. Referring to this Almighty
God says in the Holy Quran “The flesh of
these, (i.e. the animals slaughtered) does not
reach God, nor their blood, but the sacrifice that
God accepts from you is that you should fear
Him and walk in righteousness for His sake".
(Essence of Islam, pages 7 to 9)
Centenary of the appearance
of Maulana Muhammad Ali’s
English translation and
Commentary of the Quran
Compiled by Zahid Aziz
In September this year, it will be a hundred
years since the English translation of the Holy
Quran with commentary by Maulana Muhammad
Ali was first published in 1917, right here in
England.
In April 1916 Maulana Muhammad Ali, after
a labour of about seven years, completed work
on the translation and commentary. In his Friday
sermon on 28 April he gave the good news to the
Lahore Ahmadiyya community:
“Today is a day of happiness for me. For
years, I have been busy in the work of translating
the Holy Quran into English. By the
grace of Allah, I have completed it today. I am
not happy like a student who, at the end of his
examination, feels that now he will have free
time and can rest for a few days. I am happy
because all the time that I was involved in this
August 2017 The
Light 3
work I was worried that life is so fickle and it
may be that this work would be left incomplete.
Of course, Allah is not short of men and
it was His work which would have been completed
somehow; if He has given strength to a
weak person like me to start this work, there
is no reason why He could not get it done by
someone else. But it gives great pleasure to a
person to complete by his own hand in his
own life the work that he had started.…
This work is now before you. All of it has been
sent to the press. I have received proofs of
eight parts (up to this time proofs of 19 parts
have arrived — Editor Paigham Sulh). We
need very soon to think about the printing expenses.
This is not our only work; there are
many others that you have to do. Complete
this first. It is a service to Islam; rather, it is
purely a service to the Quran. So, be concerned
about it and prepare resources for it.
May Allah grant this to be done. Ameen.” (Lahore
Ahmadiyya Urdu organ Paigham Sulh,
28 May 1916, p. 6–8)
It was decided to have it
printed in England because
the printing machines that
were required for the high
quality, fine paper, to be used
to produce it in one volume, were not available
in India. At that time Maulana Sadr-ud-Din (d.
1981), who later succeeded Maulana Muhammad
Ali as Head of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Anjuman
in 1951, was Imam of the Mosque at Woking,
and he was entrusted with the arrangements
for its printing, a task which he accomplished
extremely well.
History of the first popular
English translation of
the Holy Quran by a Muslim.
In the Islamic Review, the monthly magazine
of the Woking Muslim Mission, the following
progress report was published in the issue for
June 1916 on the first page:
“As was expected, the announcement of the
publication of an English translation of the
Holy Quran, with elaborate notes and the Arabic
text, aroused world-wide interest, and
we have been doing our best to hurry the publication.
But unavoidable circumstances have
delayed it, for which the gigantic war is
greatly responsible. In fact, if we had not already
announced the publication, and if we
had not found that there is general impatience
to read the translation, we would have
postponed the publication till the end of the
war. Prices of all the materials required for
printing that voluminous Book have gone up.
We found it sometimes difficult even to get
the material wanted. Delays have been
caused in post, and so forth. Then we found
that the bulk of the Book would be much more
than we had first thought; so it was considered
necessary to use India paper, the most
expensive thin paper,
and to enlarge the size
of the book in order to
reduce the bulk and
make it handy. The
pages will now run to about thirteen hundred.
The English portion is almost finished, and
would have reached the hands of the public if
the Arabic text had not been considered necessary
to go with the translation of the uncorrupted
and incorruptible Last Testament —
the final Gospel.
Maulana Muhammad Ali spent the whole of
the year 1916 preparing the index and the preface
and introduction, and at the same time going
through the first proofs which came from England.
These proofs were initially read by Maulana
Sadr-ud-Din in England, and then read and
corrected by Maulana Muhammad Ali in his own
hand in Lahore. After that stage, the reading of
the second proofs, the correction of the Arabic
text, and all the other tasks in connection with
the printing were done by Maulana Sadr-ud-Din.
Because of this war it was found not practicable
to use type for the Arabic text. So now
an expert copyist in India has been engaged
to write out the text on the English pages sent
from here. That writing is sent back to our engravers,
who photograph it and obtain zincos
thereof. Then the printing of the text is done
in the space left for that purpose in the English
translation. As is obvious, this makes the
process very elaborate, and has increased the
price of the work; but because the calligraphy
I Shall Love All Mankind.
August 2017 The
Light 4
of the text will be very handsome, those readers
who know Arabic will be much pleased
with Arabic writing all done by hand. The
Book, besides its precious and holy contents,
will form an ornament to any library, and will
be a unique work of its description. In the
next number of the REVIEW we shall be able to
give the specimen pages, which will be exactly
as in the Book when ready. The price of
the Book cannot now be lower than One
Pound, which, considering the increased expenses
and the expensive material used, will
be nothing. We have no doubt that when the
compilation reaches the hands of the public
they will fully appreciate the labour of love
done over it by our esteemed brother Maulvi
Muhammad Ali, M.A., LL.B.”
The following year this much-awaited book
was out of the press by September. In the Islamic
Review, September 1917 (p. 393), its announcement
appeared under the heading:
The First English Translation and commentary
of the Holy Quran by a Muslim
Theologian
It ran as follows:
“THE Maulvi Muhammad Ali, M.A., LL.B., has
prepared, after a labour of about nine years,
an English translation, with necessary notes
and commentary, of the Holy Quran, which
has been printed in England and has just
come out after unavoidable delays caused by
the war. Each copy contains about 1,400
pages, and includes a
comprehensive preface
showing the special
features of Islam
as preached in the
Holy Book, and an exhaustive
discussion of the authenticity of the
Holy Book, its original purity and incorruptibility,
in which the Maulvi definitely proves
that the Holy Book as it stands today is exactly
as it was arranged by the Holy Prophet
Muhammad himself. Elaborate indexes are
also given. The whole cost has come up to
£1,500. The price of a leather-bound, giltedged
copy on good India paper is 20s., to be
had of the ISLAMIC REVIEW Office, The Mosque,
Woking, Surrey.
To those who know the learned
translator his very name would
be a guarantee to them that the
translation is scholarly . . .
I Shall Love All Mankind.
Although it has increased the expense
greatly, it was thought very necessary that
the original text in Arabic, written by expert
calligraphists in India, should also accompany
the translation of each verse, as can be seen
on the sample pages.
The translation is very faithful. The notes
and commentary are fully comprehensive
and explanatory, and every objection of
Western critics has been met and answered.
The mistakes of European translators and
commentators have been corrected on the
authority of old commentators as well as expert
Arabic scholars. The relation of one
chapter to the other and the connected context
of the verses of each chapter have been
fully established. An abstract of both chapters
and sections is also given.
To those who know the learned translator
his very name would be a guarantee to
them that the translation is scholarly, and the
commentary is based on the authentic traditions
of the Great Prophet as interpreted by
the authentic Muslim savants. For the benefit
of strangers the selection of the sample pages
has been such as to give out the characteristics
of the translation of the whole, so that the
reader of these pages should be able to form
some idea of the nature of the whole volume.
It would but be superfluous to dilate
upon the need of an English translation by a
person who has not only
a command over the
English language but
also over the original
(i.e. Arabic) text of a
book which holds the most unique position in
the world of literature.”
The price of the book, in top quality and
leather bound, is given above as 20 shillings,
which is £1 (one UK Pound). We can get an idea
of what £1 would be in the year 1917 by noticing
that the price of the above issue of the Islamic Review
was 7 old pence. This means that the price
of the book is about 35 times the price of one issue
of this magazine (as £1 consisted of 240 old
August 2017 The
Light 5
pence). In the same issue of the Islamic Review,
sixteen consecutive pages from this translation
are reproduced in facsimile form, starting at the
beginning of chapter 1 of the Quran.
As being the “first” English translation by a
Muslim
The heading of the above announcement describes
this translation and commentary as “the
first by a Muslim theologian”. Before this translation,
three English translations of the Quran by
Muslims had been published. These were by Abdul
Hakim Khan (1905), Mirza Abul Fazl (1911),
and Mirza Hairat of Delhi (1912), and were all
published in India. They were, however, of limited
circulation and little known. In a book The
Student’s Quran, published in India in 1961, the
author Hashim Amir Ali has listed several English
translations of the Quran in chronological
order, including those by Abdul Hakim Khan and
Mirza Abul Fazl as numbers 5 and 6 in his list.
Maulana Muhammad Ali’s is at number 7 and he
writes of it as follows:
“7 MUHAMMAD ALI
The first work published by any Muslim with
the thoroughness worthy of Quranic scholarship
and achieving the standards of modern
publications.”
The author of a review of English translations
of the Quran, written around 1999, entitled
Translating the Holy Quran: Is There An Ultimate
Translation Of The Quran?, Dr. A. Nihamathullah
of Tamil Nadu, India, has listed some criteria for
determining which of the numerous English
translations of the Quran are worthy of a detailed
review, comparison and examination. On
that basis, he eliminates the English translation
attempts by Muslims before Maulana Muhammad
Ali as being “of just historical interest” and
“inconsequential translations”.
The description in the Islamic Review announcement
quoted above, that Maulana Muhammad
Ali’s work is the “first … by a Muslim
theologian” is also accurate as the three preceding
Muslim translators were not Islamic scholars
or theologians. Moreover, it is a fact that the
I Shall Love All Mankind.
A moth gladly flutters towards
a lightbulb but cockroaches
will flee from the
light emanating from the
same bulb!
Maulana’s English translation of the Quran was
the first by a Muslim to be published in the West,
as it was printed at the famous Gresham Press of
Unwin Brothers Ltd. in Woking, England, and
published in 1917 from the Islamic Review Office
at the Woking Mosque in a quantity of 5000
copies. It was thus the first by a Muslim to be
available in the world generally. (End)
Identity Theft- final part
By Iain Dixon
In this short series of articles, I have tried to
convey my frustration that people have misrepresented
the beautiful character of Allah, hijacking
his loving nature, and turning it instead into
something repulsive. A moth gladly flutters towards
a lightbulb but cockroaches will flee from
the light emanating from the same bulb! How
has the Creator of Heaven and Earth been represented
to a watching world? Has Allah been
painted as loving, compassionate, full of tender
mercy towards His creation? Are we drawn to
Him as a moth is drawn to the light? Or have we
in the same breath said: “Allahu Akbar” and represented
Allah as pure evil, desiring to crush,
kill and destroy? Just as cockroaches run from
the light, have we portrayed Allah in such a way
that people want to flee from Him, rather than
run to Him? We are reminded in the Honoured
Quran that “those who believe and work deeds
of righteousness, will Allah most Gracious bestow
love.”- Surah 19:96. We are also told: “He
forbids all shameful deeds, and injustice and rebellion.”-
Surah 16:90. Much that is done in the
name of ‘Islam’ makes a mockery of much that
is written in the Quranic scriptures. Allah is
looking for a people who will represent His
character — a people who will reflect His love,
compassion and mercy. Just as a fingerprint reveals
the unique identity of its possessor, so too
we are to be ‘the fingerprints’ of Allah, bearing
His beautiful image to a broken world.
People have dishonoured Allah and His law
August 2017 The
Light 6
through their actions. Pride for status, selfishness,
and a disregard for his righteousness has
caused havoc in the world. It is pure rebellion
towards the Creator of Heaven and Earth. A rebellion
that drives people away from encountering
the beauty of Allah — a rebellion that
leads people into darkness and captivity. As the
Bible expresses it: “the heart is deceitful above
all things.”- Jeremiah 17:9, “All we like sheep
have gone astray, we have turned everyone to
his own way.”- Isaiah 53:6. Have we followed
the way of Iblis and become rebellious, defiant?
“He refused and was haughty, he was of those
who reject faith.”- Surah 2:34. Unfortunately,
the way of true Islam, true submission to Allah,
is hard to find today. But it exists! Don't be
fooled by looking to great organisations, sects
or religions. Begin by turning your own face to
Allah. When I hear the Azaan (the call to
prayer), I am reminded of a compass point
pointing north, in that it brings direction and focus
in all the chaos we call ‘the map of life’ - a
life filled with changes and turnings, dead ends
and roadblocks. The compass points ‘true
north’ and helps us recalibrate our lives. The
Azaan challenges all the distractions of life, and
there is a call to come
out of the world, and
point our hearts in the
direction of Allah. In
the Bible, we are told
of a worldwide
‘Azaan’. Although people
have misrepresented
the character
of Allah there is a worldwide call to return to the
true God, a call that leads us to worship him in
submission and truth. “And I saw another angel
fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting
gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the
earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and
tongue and people saying with a loud voice
‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of
His judgement has come, and worship Him that
made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the
fountains of waters.”- Revelation 14:6-7. Did
you notice that? “The hour of His judgement has
come”. I wonder if that phrase could be interpreted
in two ways. Sure, Allah's eyes are upon
us now, and He sees our thoughts and actions.
We are being judged. But have you ever thought
I Shall Love All Mankind.
that Allah Himself is being judged by an unbelieving
and sceptical world? Has the misrepresentation
of His character resulted in Allah being
laughed at, scorned, hated? Not taken seriously?
Is this worldwide Azaan a challenge for
us to so love God, so obey him, so serve him . . .
that people would begin to recognise the magnificence
of our Creator? I find it interesting that
Jesus himself lived to give glory to Allah. When
Jesus was nailed to the cross, beaten and
scarred, it was not as a defeated person. He
lived and breathed integrity to Allah. The DNA
of Jesus’ life was “Your will be done.”- Matthew
6:10. He was the embodiment of true Islam.
Many centuries before he was born into this
world, it was said that “He will magnify the Law,
and make it honourable.”- Isaiah 42:21. Jesus
did everything to bring honour to Allah despite
being misunderstood and mistreated. We are
given his example to follow. “Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example, that you should
follow in his steps, who did no sin, neither was
guile found in his mouth.”- 1 Peter 2:21-22.
It is well known that during wartime road
signposts are turned-round to point people in
the wrong direction and to confuse them. As we
What I see in the Lahore Ahmadiyya
community, is a people who are constantly
examining themselves, constantly
reaching out for more, constantly
trying to be a better people,
a people longing for a raiment of
righteousness.
watch the media,
and read reports
of violence
and
shameful things
done in the
name of Allah,
may we take up
the challenge to be a genuine signpost, pointing
others to the true worship of Allah, and not follow
those who have committed ‘identity theft’.
These people have twisted signposts of Allah's
character, and have pointed people in the wrong
direction! We can choose to be different. And Allah
can help us change. We are told in the Honoured
Qur’an that “it is He who created you
from clay.”- Surah 6:2. Allah is a master potter!
Not only did He make and fashion each one of
us, but He can ‘re-shape’ our hearts too. Will we
ask Him to? Wearing long beards, niqab, and
praying in a correct manner may look good to
an outsider; but Allah sees the hearts of all. With
far too many, obedience to Allah's word is only
on the lips. They have obedience [merely]on
August 2017 The
Light 7
their lips. Surah 4:81. Jesus rightly put it when
he said: “This people draws nigh unto me with
their mouth and honoureth me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me.”- Matthew 15:8.
What I see in the
Lahore Ahmadiyya
community, is a people
who are constantly
examining
themselves, constantly
reaching out
for more, constantly trying to be a better people,
a people longing for a raiment of righteousness.
“But the raiment of righteousness, that is the
best. Such are among the signs of Allah.”- Surah
7:26. This reaching up, this longing for righteousness
is a beautiful longing. So different
from those who have committed ‘identity theft’.
(End)
The Path to Success
Eid ul Fitr Message
By Ebrahim Mohamed
President AAII Lahore (South Africa)
Almighty God be praised and thanked abundantly
for granting us this day of Eid ul Fitr (a
day of ever-recurring joy) to celebrate that inner
joy that culminates after a month of fasting
for the sake of God; a month of intense prayers
and supplications, and charity for the poor and
indigent out of love for Him. Despite all the
grimness in the world, Ramadan (the month of
fasting observed by Muslims throughout the
world) has shown that the Muslim fraternity
can rise above their own selfish and self-centred
tendencies — on the one hand having been
afforded the opportunity of engaging in serious
introspection to improve themselves whilst at
the same time reaching out for the less fortunate
with love and compassion in a manner that
drew the admiration of many outsiders.
The joys and exhilaration that we experience
this day are like the joy and gratification
that a farmer feels when harvesting a luxuriant
crop after long periods of cultivation of the land,
followed by planting of the seeds with careful
precision, watering it, and guarding it with the
our whole life should be about
ensuring the proper growth to
perfection of those latent seeds
of morality and spirituality that
Almighty God had placed inside us
I Shall Love All Mankind.
utmost vigilance and care against harmful elements
until the crops grow to maturity and bear
fruit.
This allegory of the farmer and his lush
crops illustrates what
we undergo during
the month of fasting to
reap the spiritual
fruits that bring joy
and contentment of
the heart. We are thus
reminded that our whole life should be about
ensuring the proper growth to perfection of
those latent seeds of morality and spirituality
that Almighty God had placed inside us so that
we may enjoy the bliss and well-being when
those seeds reach fruition. This happens when
we reach a state of complete God-Consciousness,
that state of being that brings us closer to
God and complete surrender to His Will. This
state is what the Holy Quran repeatedly refers
to as our falah or success and therefore the
Holy Quran says:
“He indeed is successful who causes it (the
soul) to grow.” — 91:9
The word ‘successful’ in the Holy Quran
comes from the root word falah which also
means ‘self-improvement’, or the ‘unfoldment’
of hidden qualities that evolve into a
state of happiness and well-being. In the rich,
comprehensive Arabic language it is interesting
to note that ‘a farmer’ is often referred to as falah
because a farmer is the one who works hard
to till the land in order to grow successful crops
of delicious fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers
etc. Such crops that give recurring delight to the
beholder and the harvester. This is the meaning
of Eid— an ever-recurring happiness and joy,
accompanied by well-deserved festivities.
The same principle on which the harvesting
of a successful crop by a farmer is based, applies
to our relationship with the Holy Quran which
often stands for the spiritual rain that enlivens
our souls and causes it to grow into super God-
Consciousness that knows no end. The Holy
Quran alludes to this, metaphorically, when it
says:
“And He it is Who sends down water from
the clouds, then We bring forth with it buds of
August 2017 The
Light 8
all (plants), then We bring forth from it green
(foliage), from which We produce clustered
grain; and of the date-palm, of the sheaths of it,
come forth clusters (of dates) within reach; and
gardens of grapes and the olive and the pomegranate,
alike and unlike. Look at the fruit of it
when it bears fruit and the ripening of it. Surely
there are signs in this for a people who believe!”
— 6:99
fruits of our falah i.e. ‘the success of both this
world and the next.’
In the next life this crop, built up from our
good deeds here, will, by the Mercy of Almighty
God, manifest itself as the most beautiful
Garden of bliss unimaginable to our physical
senses here, as promised repeatedly in the Holy
Quran to the steadfast.
So, what are the signs or lessons for us in
this beautiful picture of a luxuriant garden, the
soil of which was given life to by salubrious rain
from the heavens? The month of Ramadan has
highlighted this principle in a spiritual sense.
We watered the garden of our souls through
reading, reciting and studying the Holy Quran
more intensely; we engaged in additional prayers
sometimes in the middle of the night; we
fasted to gain the pleasure of Almighty Allah; we
gave charity out of compassion and concern for
the poor and less fortunate. In this manner we
worked hard to transform the raw seeds of ‘lust,
anger and greed’ in us into useful moral qualities
that are beneficial and not destructive to
ourselves and humankind at large. We were afforded
the opportunity to collectively put a
check on our lusts and turned it into ‘love and
compassion’ that extended beyond our own
families to the less fortunate in particular. We
worked on our ‘anger and egotistic natures’
by turning it into ‘wellplaced
bravery and patience’
that developed further
into the moral qualities
of being ‘firm and principled’
in the face of injustice
and cruelty. The seeds of
greed in us were transformed
into moral qualities of being ‘up and
doing’ against all forms of injustice, forbidding
what is wrong and enjoining what is good -
not being insolent and lethargic, and an idle
‘fence-sitter’, yet at all times avoiding extremities.
These are but some basic examples of how
the Ramadan taught us to cultivate our own
souls for it to grow into moral and spiritual
fruits. In the Holy month of Ramadan, we did all
this like a farmer, so that we could reap the
I Shall Love All Mankind.
But like anything else in life, we need expert
guidance as to the best methods to adopt to enhance
the growth of our souls. We need to know
what is useful and what should be avoided. This
guidance comes in the form of the Holy Quran:
“So, He reveals to it its way of evil and its
way of good.” — 91:8
The Holy Quran tells us what is harmful for
us and what is good for us. It is the most up to
date and authentic guide for humankind. The
Holy Quran is clear on Who its Author is. Thus,
we are told at the very beginning:
“I Allah am the Best Knower.
This Book, there is no doubt in it, is a guide
to those who keep their duty” — 2:1-2
Therefore, in order for the falah — ‘unfoldment’
of our souls to develop from a state of
‘low, uncontrolled
animal passions’ to a
highly civilized,
moral status — we
must turn to the Holy
Quran for our guidance.
If our approach
to the Holy Book is
anything other than
this, and that is, when it is merely recited at special
occasions such as weddings and funerals
etc; or treated as an object for debate to sport
some academic prowess, then all our efforts will
be futile like the ‘chaff’ of the failed crop mentioned
in the Holy Quran; which says:
this world’s life is only
sport and play and gaiety
and boasting among yourselves
and a vying in the multiplication
of wealth and
children.
“Know that this world’s life is only sport and
play and gaiety and boasting among yourselves
and a vying in the multiplication of wealth and
August 2017 The
Light 9
children. It is as rain, whose causing the vegetation
to grow pleases the farmer, then it withers
away so that you see it turning yellow, then
it becomes chaff” — 57:20
The peaceful teachings of Islam explained to
visitors to our Berlin Mosque
This tells us that success according to Islam
is not measured in terms of material possessions
which tend to occupy a bigger part of our
lives. Nay! Instead it will lead to a failure of the
‘spiritual crop’ even though it might be seemingly
pleasing to us.
Our duty is to bring ourselves to the point of
true morality that makes us competent of building
a civilization based on ‘righteousness, compassion
and justice’ for all. A civilization where
we find comfort in being principled and stand
firm by truth and justice at all costs avoiding hypocrisy
and duplicity — typical weaknesses of
modern day leadership across the political and
religious spectra that are ruining the moral fabric
of society in the world. To use the metaphor
of the farmer in the Holy Quran above, these are
the ‘weeds’ that we do not want in our ‘garden’
for it will retard our growth and turn our crops
i.e. the fruits of all our hard labour into useless
‘chaff’.
Who, these days, can deny the fact that due
to the infiltration of such ‘weeds’ into the ‘Garden
of Islam’, Muslims in general and Muslim
nations still find themselves so divided? There
appears to be no empathy along the lines of a
common brotherhood. Religious scholars cannot
agree even on simple mundane issues such
as when is the day of Eid or when does the fast
begin. When a leading nation in the Muslim
world can spend billions of dollars on arms and
use it with impunity on a virtually defenceless,
ill-equipped Muslim neighbour, mercilessly killing
thousands and rendering millions of them,
women and children, destitute in the process,
then we know there is something very, very seriously
wrong somewhere.
Even the holy month of Ramadan was not
spared for such barbaric behaviour nor did it
bring about a change of heart nor a vestige of
the moral transformation highlighted above.
Whilst it is encouraging these days to see
many video clips circulating on social media
I Shall Love All Mankind.
condemning such behaviour as well as clips extolling
the beauty of the Holy Quran — these
postings are of short-lived admiration and no
sooner everyone reverts to the same humdrum
state of life. This sorry state prevails despite the
fact that nowadays religious clerics are churned
out like produce off a conveyor belt in a factory
without any quality checks or screening done
before they are set loose on an indifferent,
‘couldn’t - care - less’ society. These clerics are
blindly admired for their packaged education to
the extent that their lacking in wisdom and integrity
is often over looked! Nowadays, we also
find people flocking to Mecca in droves yet with
all these well-intentioned efforts there is still no
visible transformation of note. Instead of those
noble moral qualities of ‘love, compassion,
empathy, relentless thirst for justice, etc’, referred
to above, flourishing and becoming a
dominant feature of note in our communities,
we still see too much of the low raw qualities of
‘lust, anger and greed’ prevail.
There now seems to be a growing general
consensus from a ‘forward thinking sector’ with
seemingly genuine concern that at the root of all
this chaos lies a serious ideological disease.
The Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement
in Islam, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, 19 th Century
Muslim Reformer, diagnosed and identified
this disease accurately 100 years ago and actively
set about in treating its root causes — not
just the peripheral, superficial symptoms of the
disease. Since the disease set in as a result of
gross distortions of the teachings of Islam by
misguided clerics largely influenced by anti-Islamic
propaganda, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
made it very clear that the only solution was to
provide quality literature that gives the correct,
unadulterated teachings of Islam as a cure for
the disease. The Woking Muslim Mission in
August 2017 The
Light 10
England and the establishment of the Berlin
Mission in Germany at the turn of the 20 th century
by the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement were
the first of their kind in the West to carry out
this noble work.
The Lahore based Ahmadiyya Movement,
despite opposition from mainstream Muslims
plagued by sectarian strife, has over a century
successfully produced widely acclaimed, top
quality literature geared at improving the overall
moral condition of the Muslims; not such
that leaves sincere seekers in a constant state of
confusion and misguidance; nor such that breed
militant jihadists and suicide bombers; nor
such that perpetuate sectarian strife where
even something as simple as ‘how do you define
who is a Muslim’ cannot be determined with
clarity by ‘so called’ leading scholars boasting
fancy theological degrees.
In Pakistan, a country where acts of terror
are still much out of control, members of the Ahmadiyya
Movement, by law, are not allowed to
practice Islam and propagate its peaceful message
in that
The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, despite
opposition from Muslims
plagued by sectarian strife, has
over a century successfully produced
widely acclaimed, literature
geared at improving the overall
moral condition of the Muslims . . .
country. This is
the cruellest
piece of legislation
existing anywhere
in the
world today
that should be
condemned
with the contempt that it deserves by any decent,
fair-minded person. This grossly inhumane
Pakistani legislation is an abuse of a most
basic human right and that is the freedom of
worship afforded to humankind by none other
than Almighty God Himself, Who has declared:
“There is no compulsion in religion.” –
2:256.
Nevertheless, under these most oppressive
circumstances, the Central Body in Pakistan
have not given up serving humanity. These days
the work of the organization is focussed on
providing free humanitarian support to the
poor and indigent – which at least they are not
prohibited from doing under Pakistani law. Last
year they
• provided more than fifty thousand patients
I Shall Love All Mankind.
with free medical treatment and medicines
from the Maulana Muhammad Ali dispensary.
• Seventeen hundred patients were provided
with free ultra-sounds, and more than five
hundred with free x-rays.
• Fifty-six widows receive financial support
and more than seventy students receive
free education.
In Europe, our Berlin Mosque has been designated
monumental status by the German Government
and is seen as a favourite tourist attraction
with a constant flow of visitors from all
parts of the world, Muslim and non-Muslim. In
this way, our renowned peaceful propagation
efforts of Islam in a part of the world blinded by
prejudice, is most effective and vital in countering
anti-Islamic propaganda.
From our organization in the United States
we hear the good news of the tremendous
strides being made in the translation and publication
of our literature into Arabic. This is a
phenomenal achievement, considering the
smouldering situation
in the Middle East
where extremist ideologies
are rife.
In South Africa, our
National Outreach Program
in the dissemination
of the Holy Quran
and other free literature
is continuing. Hundreds of libraries across the
country have benefitted from this initiative thus
far.
At an Eid ul Fitr celebration in Johannesburg,
South Africa, the guest of honour, the deputy
President of South Africa, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa,
remarked:
“As you (Muslims) performed service and
acts of goodwill and charity for the poor and
needy members of our communities, you reminded
us that Islam is a faith founded on compassion,
justice and universal brotherhood. It is
about giving, not taking. It is about generosity,
not greed. It is about love, peace, truth, and tolerance.
Not hatred, violence, dishonesty and
bigotry. And these are universal human values
upon which we need to anchor our new
August 2017 The
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society.” (End)
Killing Children
by Alisha Shah, Trinidad
“And kill not your children for fear of poverty
– We provide for them and for you. Surely
the killing of them is a great wrong.” ch. 17, v. 31
Glory to Thee, O Allah and Thine is the
praise, and blessed is Thy name, and exalted is
Thy Majesty and there is none to be served besides
Thee. I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed
devil. In the name of Allah, the Beneficent,
the Merciful.
The intentional killing of infants is known
as infanticide. In the Pre-Islamic Arabia, infanticide
was a common practice but more specifically
it was female infants who were killed,
sometimes buried alive as soon as she was born.
In chapter 16, v 58 & 59, it states: “And when
the birth of a daughter is announced to one of
them, his face becomes black and he is full of
wrath. He hides himself from the people because
of the evil of what is announced to him.
Shall he keep it with disgrace or bury it alive in
the dust? Now surely evil is what they judge.”
Can you imagine what
kind of person would
have had these
thoughts? But this
was a barbarous custom
of the Arab people,
especially among
the Chiefs of the clans.
However, the word of
Allah swept through
Arabia and this practice
was abolished.
But generally, in history the practice of infanticide
has taken many forms. In the ancient
world, it was known as child sacrifice where a
child was sacrificed to a supernatural figure or
forces. In ancient Europe and Asia, they simply
abandoned the infant, leaving it to die from exposure
that is from hypothermia, hunger, thirst
or animal attack. In ancient Oceania, they practiced
infanticide by suffocating the infant and in
other countries and tribes, infanticide was practiced
in order to control their numbers so that
I Shall Love All Mankind.
their lands could support them. Many carried
out this horrible act due to the ability of a male
child carrying on the family name until he dies
as opposed to the female who will leave to join
her husband’s family most of the time after a
burdensome dowry is paid.
“And when the birth of a daughter is announced
to one of them, his face becomes
black and he is full of wrath. He hides
himself from the people because of the
evil of what is announced to him. Shall
he keep it with disgrace or bury it alive
in the dust? Now surely evil is what they
judge.” — The Quran, 16:58–59
Another reason infanticide was practiced
has been related to economic necessity, or the
inability to provide for the child. However, the
Quran clearly states in Ch 6, Section 19 (Guiding
rules of Life), v. 151: “Say: Come! I will recite
what your Lord has forbidden to you: Associate
naught with him and do good to parents and
slay not your children for fear of poverty — We
provide for you and for them.” and again in Ch
17, v. 31: “And kill not your children for fear of
poverty — We provide for them and for you,
Surely the killing of them is a great wrong.” Now
this verse may not necessarily be speaking of
actually ending your child’s life. The verse can
be interpreted to mean not giving your children
a proper education, or intellectual death. History
has shown that females were not given an
education, that males were educated, for they
were to be the breadwinners in a family and it
was commonly accepted that women needed
only to be prepared to be effective wives and
mothers; consequently,
their education
was most
often confined to
emulating their
mothers and
obeying their fathers
within the
home.
Today thankfully
that has changed; there is gender equality
in almost every sector of the world. Women are
rising up in the workplace and becoming leaders.
For this we should be happy; however, a
small question is now raised, when both parents
leave for the workplace, going there to earn
a living, to ensure that the bills are paid and the
family lives a comfortable life, where does that
leave the children? Don’t get me wrong, women
were built strong, we can do everything men
can do and sometimes even better, however
there is one thing that only a woman could do
and that is being a mother. So, I ask a question
August 2017 The
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now, is this another form of “killing your children”
by leaving them with a care giver rather
than being there for them yourselves? What are
they learning when you are not around to teach
them? Who are they emulating? Every society is
made up of blocks of family units. The stronger
each block is, the stronger the structure of the
society. Families are thus the building blocks
upon which rests the fate of society.
For the development of good families, the
mother plays a vital role. Chapter 46 V 15 of the
holy Quran says “And we have enjoined on man
the doing of good to his parents. His mother
bears him with trouble and she brings him forth
in pain. And the bearing of him and the weaning
of him is thirty months.” In today’s workplace,
maternity leave is 14 weeks which is 3.5 months
while the Quran says 30 months which is 2.5
years. That is a hard decision right there but we
need to make good decisions that are based on
caring in the best possible way for our children.
Allah has said “fear not, we will provide for
them and for you”. So, then what do we do?
When my husband and I made the decision for
me to take a break from work to be with our
kids, someone said to me: “You’re lucky, you’re
on a permanent vacation.” Because now, society
has fashioned working mothers, so that it is taboo
or looked down on to be a full-time mother.
When I was working I would get a lunch hour, I
would get time to have a cup of coffee and
snacks, I would get bathroom breaks by myself,
and when I had to travel I would get some “me”
time while sitting in a taxi to just listen to music
or whatever, or when my husband would pick
me up we had some alone time together; but being
a mother means you don’t get any of that,
not until they fall asleep and most of the times
you’re falling asleep along with them. It is not a
bed of roses all the time, but it is a bed I chose
and one that I have been blessed with. Therefore,
we must always try to give our children
every opportunity that presents itself, help
them to grow and develop into wonderful, educated
people. Do not stifle their growth by limiting
their intellectual and spiritual education
because that in itself would be a form of killing
your children.
When we were children, our parents would
send us outside to play. We would run and play
hide and seek, or gun shooting or pretend to be
a princess or a firefighter. But the point is, we
would be outside playing and most of the times
the neighbours’ kids there playing with us. But
today we don’t see that. Kids today sit for hours
on end watching television or playing on a Playstation
or Xbox or their tablets or cell phones.
This cannot be right! Our parents would always
ensure we had a good home cooked meal ready
and waiting for us but now it’s KFC and McDonalds.
These fast food organizations use so much
chemicals and steroids in their foods. Are we
“killing” our children? Are we doing something
wrong here?
It is hard being a parent, we make so many
mistakes, we have so many decisions to make
that can affect not only us but those young precious
lives that Allah has entrusted us with.
Lives that we have to nurture and love and discipline
and sometimes scream at for them to listen,
but nonetheless, lives that we love with
every atom of our being, with every beat of our
heart. Those little fingers and toes that we have
to care for, we were given such a gift from Almighty
Allah that we sometimes doubt that we
are doing the right thing, that the decisions that
we make are the right ones, but again Allah has
said “Fear not, we will provide for them and
you.” So, we now have to take comfort in that
and believe that we are doing our best to help
our children flourish and grow emotionally,
physically, intellectually and spiritually and
trust that Allah will guide us and provide for us
so that we can present into our society strong,
happy, educated, religious, kind and humble human
beings. (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
I Shall Love All Mankind.
Donations: https://www.cafonline.org/charityprofile/aaiiluk
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