ِ ی م الرَّحم

ن

ِ

سب اہللِ‏ الرَّْحم ٰ

ْ م ِ

The Light

International Organ of the Centre for the Worldwide

Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam

2018

April

2016

Septeember

The only Islamic organisation which is upholding the finality of prophethood.

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

www.virtualmosque.co.uk

Germany

Guyana

India

Sweden

Suriname

Editors

- Amir Aziz

- Abd ul Muqtadir Gordon

- Gowsia Saleem & - Prof. Shahab

Shabbir

- Kaleem Ahmed

- Robbert Bipat M.D, PhD

South Africa- Ebrahim Mohamed

UK

The USA

- Shahid Aziz & - Mustaq Ali

- Zainab Ahmad

Contents

The Call of the Messiah 2

Why I Converted to Islam? 3

It was the Best of Ramadaans . . . 6

The Eid Controversary 7

What the Two Eids Mean 8

Hazrat Ameer's Eid Message 11

Babar's Secret Royal Decree 12

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

Our 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

Broadcasts from and about us

‣ www.virtualmosque.co.uk

‣ mixlr.com Radio Virtual Mosque

Interesting external links

‣ A menstrual pad may be a bomb!

‣ US Islamophobia

‣ No Amount of Alcohol is Safe says Science.

‣ Science Proves the Holy Quran - Again!

‣ Women's Demands in the UK.

‣ Muslim Women in the US.

‣ Boris and the Burqa

‣ A Lone Call for Understanding.

‣ The Taj Mahal is Dying.

‣ Ban the Burqa?

‣ Evolution - A Rethink.

‣ .Killing Children!

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.

We welcome all scholarly contributions to

The Light.

I Shall Love All Mankind.

---

September 2018 The

Light 2

The Call of the

Messiah

by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam

Ahmad

The Promised Messiah and Mahdi

(Editor’s note: Any quotations from the Quran

are translated from the author’s explanations

and are not literal translations of the verse

quoted. This extract is from the English translation

of a lecture he delivered in 1904 in Lahore,

now in Pakistan, taken from the Lahore Ahmadiyya

publication ‘Essence of Islam’, p. 56–62)

My Claim to being the Promised Messiah

Doubts would, perhaps, be entertained here

by some as to the existence of Satan and they

would wonder at the mention of Satan and his

hosts. Let them bear in mind that every man’s

heart has two attractions within it: the

attraction of good and the attraction of evil. The

first of these is attributed in Islam to the angel

or the spirit of goodness, and the second to

Satan or the spirit of evil. Man is inclined

sometimes to evil and sometimes to goodness,

and this is what is meant by the struggle between

good and evil. I think many men in this

gathering will, simply on hearing my claim to

Promised Messiahship and Divine revelation,

call me a liar and look down upon my claim. But

I do not condemn them, for so it has been from

the beginning. Every appointed one sent by God

had to hear words of abuse and contempt from

his people in the early stages of his mission.

And, truly it may be said that a prophet is not

without honour but in his early period. That the

Holy Prophet and Messenger of God to whom

was revealed the Holy Quran, who gave us a law

ending all laws, of being called whose followers

we are all proud, he was also received in the

same manner by his people. For thirteen years

he suffered persecution and tortures at the

hands of his enemies, alone and helpless. He

received their scoffing, insults, affronts and

outrages with the greatest patience and

forbearance. All these cruelties of his enemies

reached their climax in that unkindest cut of all,

I Shall Love All Mankind.

his expulsion from Makkah. Who knew at that

time that that helpless and forlorn man was

destined to become the guide and the leader of

millions of beings? Such is the Divine law that

the ones sent by God are laughed at and despised

at first. There are very few who recognise

them in the beginning and hence they must suffer

at the hands of the ignorant and bear all

manner of slanderous abuses and taunts until

the time comes when God should open the

hearts of men for their acceptance.

Such is my claim. But the work for which Almighty

God has appointed me, my function as

the Promised Messiah, is that I should remove

the separation between God and man and re-establish

man’s connection of purity and love with

his Divine Master. I have been raised so that I

should put a stop to religious wars and lay the

basis for peace, harmony and fellow-feeling

between men. That I should bring to light the

religious truths which have been hidden for

long from the mortal eye. That I may show the

true spirituality by dispelling the darkness of

passions from its face. That I may manifest the

working of the Divine powers within many by

prayer or by the concentration of attention. And

most important of all, that I should re-establish

the pure and glorious unity of God which is free

from all pollution of shirk, and which has

disappeared from the face of the earth. All this

will be effected not by my power, but by the

mighty power of Him Who rules in the heavens

and the earth. I see that on the one hand

Almighty God, having trained me in His deep

knowledge and having made me the recipient of

His revelation, has granted me a zeal for

bringing about these reforms. On the other, He

has Himself prepared hearts which are ready to

accept my words. I see that a mighty revolution

has taken place in the world since the Almighty

God appointed me to this heavenly office. While

in Europe and America the doctrine of the Divinity

of Jesus is being rejected by all sensible

thinkers, in India idol-worship is fast losing

ground. Though these people are yet ignorant of

the true spirituality and are content with a few

words which contain a formal expression of

their beliefs, they have broken apart many ties

which held them to unbelief. They are now, as it

were, standing on the threshold of unity. I hope

---

September 2018 The

Light 3

that shortly the grace of God would take many

of them by the hand and place them within the

stronghold of unity where there is also peace

and safety, and where a man is granted perfect

love and perfect fear and perfect knowledge.

This is a mere wish, but Almighty God gave me

the glad tidings which make me entertain this

hope. The manifestation of this heavenly ordinance

has been brought about in this country so

that different people may be sooner seen gathering

into one flock, and that the night of discord

and enmity may sooner be changed into

the bright morning of peace and concord.

The universal hope of all religious sects is

that the different people will be ultimately

made one nation. The Christians think that the

time is coming when all the nations of the earth

will accept the doctrine of the Divinity of Jesus.

The Jews entertain the fond hope that their

Messiah will soon appear and make them the inheritors

of the whole earth and bring the

Gentiles into the Jewish faith. The Islamic

prophecies also give the hope of the advent of a

Messiah who would make Islam the predominant

and universal religion of the world, and the

promised time of advent goes no further than

the commencement of the 14th century of Hijrah.

And at this very moment, the Pundits of the

Sanatan Dharm are anxiously waiting for the

advent of an avatar who would spread the true

faith in the whole world. The Aryas, though they

do not believe in any prophecy, share in these

universal views and are trying their best to

spread the Arya religion in the East as well as in

the West. Nor has the Buddhist religion remained

behind in this movement. It is also showing

signs of activity and reform. But what is most

wonderful of all, and may perhaps excite laughter,

is that in this competition of religions for superiority,

even the schedule caste is not quite

indifferent. It is also awake to the serious necessity

of protecting itself from hostile religions. In

short, the competition of religions has grown

hot, and every sect is inspired with the zeal to

make acquisitions from other faiths. There is a

commotion in the religious world more violent

than the commotion which is caused in the sea

by a storm, and as the billows roll down upon

one another, so do at present the different

religions.

The various movements described above

lead one at least to this conclusion that the time

has come at which Almighty God has willed to

gather all men into one fold. Regarding this very

وَ‏ نُف خَ‏ ف ي الصُّور time, He says in the Holy Quran 1

. Reading this verse along with the

preceding verses, its proper significance

appears to be that when there will be a hot

competition for victory among the various

religions, and they will be in a tumult like the

waves of the ocean, then will Almighty God

bring into existence a new dispensation which

will draw all capable hearts to itself. Then will

they know what religion is to them, and a new

life, the soul of true righteousness, will be

breathed into and they will be made to drink at

the fountain of true knowledge of God. It was

necessary that this world should not have come

to an end until this prophecy was fulfilled which

was announced by the Holy Quran 1300 years

ago.

(Return to contents)

جَمْعًا فَجَمَعْنَاهُمْ‏

Why I converted

to Islam

and, no, it wasn’t for

marriage

By Kaya Gravitter

“American Beauty” is a new series in

which Yahoo Lifestyle takes a virtual cross-country

journey to discover what beauty means —

reimagining the American flag through the diverse

group of faces that make up the United

States of America. For our first instalment, we’re

focusing on Muslim-American women, highlighting

what makes this group unique while showcasing

the common threads that bring us together.

In this first-person essay, Kaya Gravitter

clears up misconceptions about her journey to Islam.

1 . . . and the trumpet will be blown, then We shall gather

them all together . . . (18:99)

I Shall Love All Mankind.

---

September 2018 The

Light 4

While I was growing up as the granddaughter

of a Pentecostal preacher from Kentucky

who started a church in northern Wisconsin,

the teachings of the Church were drilled into my

brain. But from a young age, I had a lot of questions

that most Christians or the Bible could not

answer. I asked my Bible teacher at 7 years old,

“Why do we celebrate the birth of Jesus on Dec.

25?” (I recently learned that there is scientific

evidence Jesus was not born on Christmas.) I

also asked questions like, “Why was the Trinity

introduced after Jesus died?”

I later left the Pentecostal religion at 10 to

be a Lutheran. Aside from my discrepancies

with Christianity, I went to church every Sunday,

read the Bible (still do), taught vacation Bible

school, and sang at church. I even went to

leadership camp every summer during high

school, where we would focus on the Old and

New Testaments.

When I was 16, I had some inclination to

start praying directly to God. I was around family,

who would say in prayer, “Dear Jesus, thank

you …,” I would say under my breath, “Dear

God.” I felt upset that people were not praying

directly to God. (This is before I knew about Islam

or that Muslims don’t pray to Jesus, Mary,

or Mohammed but rather directly to God.)

Fast-forward to when I started college in

2011 and I had many Muslim friends. One of

them told me that “our religions have the same

prophets.” Then I started researching the similarities

between the Abrahamic religions. I

never told anyone about the research I was doing.

To be honest, I wanted to prove that Islam

was grotesque and that the media was right

about Muslims. My hope was that I would try to

get them to convert to Christianity.

In the fall of 2013, after studying the religion

for more than a year, I took an Introduction

to Religion class, and my teacher, an ordained

minister, taught us that the Bible had missing

books. It upset me because I had put all my faith

in the Bible, but it wasn’t even 100 percent

there. I learned that the Quran had never been

changed. So my trying to learn about the truth

of Islam to convert my Muslim friends ended up

I Shall Love All Mankind.

having the opposite effect. The more I studied

Islam, the more my questions about science,

God, Jesus (Muslims believe in Jesus as a

prophet, born of the virgin Mary) were answered.

One of those was “Could God really create

the world in six days or how was the world

created if there was nothing?” According to the

Quran, God created the earth in six days (Quran

41:9-12) and there’s no mention of rest or the

seventh day. Keep in mind one of God’s days is

an eon for humanity. (Quran 22:47). Islam

teaches that God created the universe out of

nothing. I don’t know if that’s the same as the

Big Bang.

During the holy month of Ramadan, in

which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, I decided

to read an actual Quran (not something

from the internet). I asked my convert friend,

who invited me to Iftar (breaking of the fast

during Ramadan), if I could borrow her religious

text. That night, I got home and started to

read. My heart became full of light as I read the

first sentence. I hid this feeling from everyone

because I was scared of how my friends and

family would react.

There was not just one thing that made me

want to convert to Islam but many things. But

the push I needed was when I first read the

Quran.

Reading the Quran in English was not

enough because to really understand the meaning

and its context, it is ideal to read and understand

it in Arabic. I decided to take Arabic in college

so I could read the untranslated Quran. I

can now read it in Arabic, though I cannot understand

it all.

I converted to Islam in January 2014, taking

the “shahada,” or declaring my faith in God only

and that Mohammed was his prophet. I felt like

I was doing the right thing by saying it, though

it didn’t feel all that different because I did it by

myself, in the privacy of my own home. It was

my own little secret between me and God.

I didn’t realize until years later that it was

life-changing because I didn’t change much after

becoming Muslim, but I did become a better,

---

September 2018 The

Light 5

more giving person. I donate to charities now

and do community services. My way of thinking

or values did not change. I was always religious.

My mom’s side of the family are Seventh Day

Adventist and do not eat pork. My parents never

drank when I was growing up. I still pray to the

same God (Allah is only the Arabic word for

God). The only thing that is different is I dress

more modestly. I used to dress in modest clothing

because it is mostly cold in Wisconsin. Now

I choose to dress modestly because I get to decide

what society sees of me, not based on everyone

else’s beauty standards.

When I converted, only a few people knew

about it. I confided in some of my Muslim

friends and my best friend Lindsey (she is

Christian). She was the only one who really supported

me. It was hard having to keep this secret

from the world, which I kept because I was

scared of how my family and friends would react.

With keeping this secret, I always felt I was

living a lie and not being who I truly wanted to

be. It was not until my last year in college that I

started to let more people know that I had converted.

The more that people would say bad

things about Islam, the more I would feel required

to speak up about it. That is also when I

chose to wear a hijab. My family in particular

didn’t like me putting on the hijab at all because

they wanted to “see my hair in public” and they

thought I was wearing it for someone, but I was

only wearing it for myself.

The most common question I get from Muslims

and non-Muslims is, “Did you convert for a

man?” No! I, like many other converts that I

know, did not convert because we fell in love

with a Muslim. Being asked this makes me feel

like they think less of me, or that I am stupid.

Why would I have risked all that bad treatment

I’ve received from my family (and society — I

live in the South now)? People stare at me with

disgusted looks on their face and mutter hateful

things like “Stupid Muslim” under their breath.

I get asked many of the same questions that

used to cross my mind before I met a Muslim.

“Why do you wear that thing on your head?” I

typically say the way I dress is between me and

God. I even say I wear a veil because, Mary, the

mother of Jesus did. I’m often worried that a

I Shall Love All Mankind.

white supremacist might attack me or tear off

my hijab, but that makes me all the more unapologetic

about my faith.

I tried to talk to my family about Islam before

converting, but they never had anything

nice to say about the religion. “Why do they

have arranged marriage?” This is one of many

popular misconceptions about Islam and Muslims.

Arranged marriages, in fact, are not Islamic.

Women and men have the right to say no

to whomever they want. Questions like this is

why I was scared to tell my parents about my

conversion and stopped talking about the religion

altogether. I never outright told my parents

to their face, though I would try to give them

hints. They eventually found out that I became

Muslim after I posted about it on YouTube. My

family’s initial reaction was to take the next

plane down to Florida to “take me home.” They

came and were disappointed to find out that my

religion and lifestyle were not scary.

Which leads me to another question I get

asked often: “How does your family feel about

you converting?” I feel non-Muslims ask me that

to smite me, by thinking I deserve to be treated

badly by my parents. Of course, my family was

not happy with my conversion, but becoming

Muslim made me love them more. I cannot

fathom the amount of times I’ve had hate-filled

conversations with my family. (Especially, my

Pentecostal dad’s side, who labeled me a “terrorist”

or “crazy” on their Facebook pages.) Unfortunately,

my family cannot see past my religion.

Even if we are no longer talking about my

religion, there is still a tension I feel in the room.

If you would have told me when I was 16

that I would one day convert to Islam, I would

never have believed you. Before college, I

thought all of the stereotypical things about

Muslims were true. I thought none of them were

nice. I thought they were hateful people and all

terrorists. I was an ignorant bigot who believed

everything the media said, since I’d never met a

Muslim or went searching for what I believe the

religion’s core values really are: peace, love, and

generosity.

(Return to contents)

---

September 2018 The

Light 6

It was the best of Ramadans

… it was the worst of

Ramadans!

By Iain Dixon

I love Ramadan! It is my favourite time of

year. But this Ramadan was different. It was full

of great joy … but also full of great sadness.

What was good this year was it was a great time

of reflection, and a wonderful opportunity to recharge

the ‘spiritual battery’. Just as we need to

constantly re-charge our mobile phones, so

(more importantly), we all need to ‘plug into the

power of our Creator’. Our spiritual energy often

drains away through the tiredness of life, or

even through our own inattentiveness to the

things that matter the most. Ramadan can become

our spiritual refuelling station!

I am a follower of Jesus. Actually, the Bible is

my Holy Book, but I have been ‘brave’ enough to

read the Honoured Quran, and I fast each Ramadan.

I fast at other times throughout the year,

but I particularly love to fast at Ramadan. This

Ramadan I have been looking at some of the attributes

and qualities of Allah contained in the

pages of the Quran. He is ‘As-Salam’, the giver

and source of peace. He is ‘Al-Quddus’, the Holy

one, He is ‘Al-Ghaffar’, the exceedingly forgiving.

These are just a few of his wonderful attributes.

I have particularly been reflecting this Ramadan

on Allah as ‘As-Salam’, the source of peace. We

are told in the Bible “you will keep him in perfect

peace, whose mind is fixed on you.”- Isaiah

26:3. The phrase ‘perfect peace’ in the Hebrew

text is ‘Shalom Shalom’. There is the sense here

of the magnification of this peace, a greatness,

an intense peace. Wow! How we all need this

peace in this troubled world we live in. But notice

that this peace comes from focusing on our

creator, not focusing on our problems.

Another thing I did this Ramadan was to

slow down and reflect by going for walks and

LOOKING around at what I can see. Allah is an

educator, and he has surrounded us with many

‘teachers’ contained in the natural world

around us. In the Quran we are told that Allah

“taught the Bee to build its cells in hills, on trees,

and in habitations.”- Surah 16:68. If Allah, the

Creator of the universe, can speak and instruct

humble bees … can we not have confidence that

this same Allah can speak to you and me, and

give us direction in life? “I will teach you and instruct

you in the way that you should go.” Psalm

32:8. The Bible constantly tells us to look at our

‘teachers’ in the natural world around us. “Go to

the ant . . . consider her ways, and be wise.”-

Proverbs 6:6. “ Ask the animals and they shall

teach you, and the birds of the air and they shall

explain things to you.”- Job 12:7. Some of the

lessons I learnt this Ramadan have included just

simply watching a tiny spider descending on an

almost invisible thread of its web. I thought to

myself, that just as a tiny, almost invisible

thread is supporting the spider, so our ‘invisible’

duas 1 and prayers have power to uphold and

sustain others. Never feel embarrassed to ask

others to pray for you, and never feel that your

humble duas are ineffective or powerless to aid

others. It is said that a spider web for its weight

and thickness, is proportionately stronger than

steel! Our prayers have power and strength to

aid people in their trials and difficulties. Let us

spin our webs and support others with our dua!

Over Ramadan I went on a boat trip and saw a

dolphin. The ‘tour guide’ told us that the dorsal

fin is different on every dolphin … each one is

unique. I praised Allah that he values uniqueness

in his creatures and is attentive to even in

the small details. I drew this lesson for myself

and rested in the contentment that I too am

unique, and that I don’t have to be jealous of

others or compete with others. Just as Allah has

shaped each dolphin in a unique way, so I am

uniquely designed too, with my personality, and

giftings. I just need to be the best ‘me’ that I can

be.

This has been the best of Ramadans. I have

learnt so much!

But this has been the worst of Ramadans

too. There have been many tears. Much pain. A

few months ago, a friend of mine passed away.

A Muslim who loved Allah. A Muslim who loved

1 Supplications to God.

I Shall Love All Mankind.

---

September 2018 The

Light 7

people. Full of laughter and great kindness. A

hole has been made that can never be filled by

anyone else. We are all unique. This Ramadan,

someone was missing. Even as I write this, tears

roll down my face. A young mother of four

sweet children. Died so suddenly. No time to say

goodbye. This Ramadan has been a sad time.

The greatest pakora-maker in the world is no

longer with us. The laughter that once filled her

house is gone. The sewing machine that made

so many dresses, is still in the corner of the back

room — switched off. Death is horrible. I

watched a Muslim funeral online the other day.

A young lady wanted to read a section of the

Quran out to the people in attendance. She

broke down in tears trying to say “Bismillah ar

Rahman ar Raheem.” The pain was incredible. I

cried too. Crying with her, feeling what she was

feeling. People came up to comfort her … and

she pushed on and was able eventually to complete

the reading. But the pain of losing a loved

one is crushing. This Ramadan I learnt a little

more compassion. To realise that so many people

are going through trials and struggles. That

many have lost loved ones. This Ramadan they

were not here to fast. This Ramadan they were

never able to have an iftaar.

We are told in the Honoured Quran that “the

best of planners is Allah.”- Surah 8:30. Looking

at the complexities of this universe, I can clearly

see the design and perfect workings of a master

architect. As Eid is a time of great joy and happiness

after coming out of the hardships and trials

of Ramadan, so too I hold on to the joy of the

great Eid to come. A time when suffering and

death are no more. The master planner has

promised something great to come. A new dawn

— a new age — a new chapter. Just as the stars

and planets work in clockwork precision, so too

Allah’s promises and plans know no haste, nor

do they know any delay. A time will come when

“God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes,

and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow

nor crying. Neither shall there be any more

pain. For the former things have passed away.

And he that sat on the throne said: Behold, I

make all things new.” Revelation 21:4-5. This

will truly be a time of great celebration. This

will be a time when the whole of creation declares

together — “Eid Mubarak!”

(Return to contents)

I Shall Love All Mankind.

The Eid Controversary

By Imaam Iqubal Hydal (B.Sc., Dip Ed.)

Imam AAII, Trinidad & Tobago

Once again there is controversy in the Muslim

community with respect to the date of Eid.

This time it is not the sighting of the moon for

Eid -ul-Fitr which is sighted the evening prior to

Eid-ul-Fitr, but rather the sighting of the moon

for Eid-ul-Adha, a festival which occurs ten days

after the moon has been sighted for the beginning

of the month of Zul Hijjah. To explain why

the controversy has arisen with some Mosques

contending that Eid-ul-Adha is on Wednesday

22nd August 2018 while others are following

Saudi Arabia’s pronouncement of Eid on Tuesday,

I refer to the post issued by Dar Uloom.

The Moon-sighting committee of Dar Uloom

sighted the moon (hilaal) on Sunday 12th August

2018. The new moon was born on Saturday

August 11th at 9.57 a.m. and sunset was at

6.27 p.m. The hilaal (crescent) was therefore 8h

30m old. Such a hilaal is too faint and near to the

horizon to sight it. The next day August 12th it

is 24 hours older and its age is now 32h 30m.

Such a hilaal is easily visible with the naked eye.

Dar Uloom therefore proclaimed Monday August

13th as the first day of Dhul Hijjah, making

the day of Arafah Tuesday 21st August and Eidul-Adha

Wednesday August 22nd.

In Makkah however, the new moon was

born on Saturday August 11th at 12.57 p.m.

(Makkah Time) and sunset was at 6.54 p.m. The

hilaal (crescent) was 7h 57m old. Such a crescent

cannot be seen either by the naked eye nor

with optical instruments as it is too faint and

low on the horizon. However, a crescent (hilaal)

was born and it set (moonset) at 7.06 (Makkah)

time. The fact that the crescent (7h 57m) set after

sunset, according to Makkah calendar,

makes the next day the first day of Dhul Hijjah.

This makes the day of Arafah Monday August

11th and `Eid-ul-Adha Tuesday 12th.

It is to be noted that Makkah uses calculation

rather than Moon sighting. Once a crescent

is born after new moon, regardless of its age,

---

September 2018 The

Light 8

and it sets after sunset, the new Islamic month

begins. This controversy will always arise since

there is no uniformity among Muslims with respect

to the determination of the lunar months.

Those who choose moon sighting follow the

hadith:

“Do not keep the fast until you see the hilaal

and do not discontinue the fast until you see it,

and if it be veiled to you, have it measured.” (Bukhari;

30:31).

Those who use calculation, follow the

Quran:

“He it is Who made the sun a shinning brightness,

and the moon a light, and ordained for it

stages that you might know the computation of

years and the reckoning. Allah created not this

but with truth. He makes the signs manifest for

people who know.” (Quran; 10:5).

The Ahmadiyya Anjuman (Trinidad & Tobago)

for more than thirty years has followed

both Quran and Hadith, using sighting and calculation

in the determination of its dates. The

youngest crescent that has been observed by us

was when it was 17 hours old. The Anjuman

therefore bases it calendar on the fact that once

a moon is at least 17 hours old, the crescent is

visible and the lunar month has started.

(Return_to content)

What Two Eids Mean to the

Muslims

Introduction:

By Jalal-ud-Din, Fiji

It is common knowledge that scientists

have assessed the age of this planet Earth to be

around 4.9 billion years old 1 . Once the planet

had reached ambient temperatures for configuration

of land, seas and clouds, the commencement

and then continuous reproduction of

plants and animals, Almighty God finally created

humanity commencing with Adam and

Eve. Adam (as) was the first of all prophets 2 and

also the first to believe in Oneness of Almighty

God. Many new religions 3 had developed over

thousands of years and changed the destinies of

several nations throughout the world.

Discussions

1. Almost all religions have developed certain

religious festivals, which in some ways reflect

their religious beliefs and practises. Islam

is the last and final of all revealed religions. In

addition to being the last and final revealed religion,

Islam has retained all the pristine purity

of past great religions. This fact has been most

succinctly stipulated in the Holy Quran at

HQ2:136 “Say: We believe in Allah and (in) what

has been revealed to us, and (in) what was revealed

to Abraham, and Ishmael and Isaac and

Jacob and the tribes, and (in) what was given to

Moses and Jesus, and (in) what was given to the

prophets from their Lord, we make no distinction

between any of them and to Him we submit.”

The Holy Quran states that Almighty God

does not make any quality distinction between

any of them and to Almighty God do all Muslims

submit. Muslims therefore, do not just believe in

Prophet Muhammad (s) but in all previous

Prophets, who were similarly ordained by divine

revelations. Whilst the past Prophets were

consistently true to their revelations, their subsequent

followers downstream, brought about

distortions; and these distortions are not in the

Holy Quran as rules of Islamic laws.

2. Religious festivals or important historical

events of religious significance in Islam are:

(1) Eid-ul-Adha (Pilgrimage and Sacrifice) and

(2) Eid-ul-Fitr (end part after fasting in Ramadan).

1 This dating is based on evidence from radiometric age-dating

of meteorite material and is consistent with the radiometric

ages of the oldest-known terrestrial and lunar samples.

2

There were over 124,000 prophets since creation of planet

Earth. Out of which, 313 were both Prophets and Messengers

(Nabi and Rasul respectively). This is given in Hadith, in

Musnad ibn Hanbal, Hadith No 21257. Prophet Muhammad (s)

I Shall Love All Mankind.

was both Prophet and Messenger and as the seal of prophets,

he was the Final Prophet ordained by divine revelation, who

brought the final revealed Holy Scripture as the Holy Qur’an

and the final revealed religion as Islam.

3

There are over 4,200 different religions in the world (UN

2015 census).

---

September 2018 The

Light 9

3. The common factor between both Muslim

festivals is the patriarch Prophet Abraham

(as), whose descendants branched out as Jews,

Christians and finally Muslims.

4. In the first festival, the festival of Eid-ul-

Adha (Pilgrimage and Sacrifice) is in honour of

two great historical events, which Almighty God

used to test the compliance and allegiance of

Prophet Abraham (as) to Him. Prophet Abraham’s

(as) first wife Sarah (aka Saira) was barren

and did not bear children. Prophet Abraham

(as) then married another wife, Hagar (aka

Hajira), with the anticipation of having a son as

his heir. However, Prophet Abraham (as) did not

lose his Faith in Almighty God and continued to

pray for a son.

5. In the first test, Almighty God ordered

Prophet Abraham (as) to abandon his second

wife Hagar together with his first-born child

(Ishmael) in the wilderness of Arabia, which he

obediently did. Some years later, Almighty God

made another Order to Prophet Abraham (as)

to go over and retrieve his second wife Hagar

and child (Ishmael) from Mecca and then bring

them back home.

6. In the second compliance and allegiance

test, Almighty God made yet another Order

to Prophet Abraham (as) to offer his only

and now 10 or 11 year-old, same first born son

(Ishmael) for human sacrifice 1 which he proceeded

to do in readiness.

7. An important point to note is that human

sacrifice by slaughter of the first-born child

as a son, was widespread practice amongst the

pagan idolaters and polytheists, thousands of

years previously. In addition to his preparedness

to sacrifice his only son, Prophet Abraham

(as) spoke to his son (Ishmael) and told him

about the Order. Ishmael agreed and he lay

down at the allocated spot to be blindfolded and

then slaughtered; but Almighty God stopped

Prophet Abraham (as) at the final moment before

slaughtering and made another Order that

a fattened lamb gets sacrificed instead. This historic

event has been recorded in the Holy Quran

as revealed verses at the Holy Quran 37:100-

110: “My Lord, grant me a doer of good deeds.

So, We gave him the good news of a forbearing

son. But when he became of age to work with

him, he said: My son, I have seen in a dream that

I should sacrifice you: so, consider what you

think. He said: My father, do as you are commanded;

if Allah please, you will find me patient.

So when they both submitted and he had

thrown him down upon his forehead, and We

called out to him saying, O Abraham, you have

indeed fulfilled the vision. Thus do We reward

the doers of good. Surely this is a manifest trial.

And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice.

And We granted him among the later generations

(the salutation): Peace be on Abraham!

Thus, do We reward the doers of good.”

8. Both of these tests have put an end to

the ancient pagan practice of offering the firstborn

son as human sacrifice. Different versions

of paganism were practised before the previous

prominent prophets abolished that out of paganism.

The act of sacrifice, by slaughtering a

prescribed animal, has become part of the Hajj

or pilgrimage performance by Muslims to

Mecca. This is stipulated in the Holy Quran at

2:158 “The Safa 2 and the Marwah are truly

among the signs of Allah; so whoever makes a

pilgrimage to the House or pays a visit (to it),

there is no blame on him if he goes round them.

And whoever does good spontaneously —

surely Allah is Bountiful in rewarding, Knowing.”

9. The second festival is Eid-ul-Fitr, celebrating

completion of fasting in the month of

Ramadan. All past prophets previous to Prophet

Muhammad (s) also fasted. Fasting in the month

1

Human sacrifice of the first born child as a son, was widely

practised amongst the pagan idolatrous and polytheistic communities.

If the first born child was a daughter and the son

came later, then the son was spared and not sacrificed. This

was widely practised amongst the Carthaginians and the Phoenicians,

who worshipped the idol of Molech. Molech was a pagan

god with a very large human body but head of a bull with

horns. The discovery by archaeologists of over 20,000 earthenware

urns containing fossilised skeletons of very young

boys was made in the caves of Carthage. That of course means

that at least 20,000 young boys were killed as sacrificed. Baal

I Shall Love All Mankind.

was another pagan god to whom human sacrifices of children

were made. The worshipping of Molech and Baal were practised

as both pre-Abrahamic and were spread throughout the

Indo-Iranian regions.

2

The Safa and Marwah are two hills, near the Ka’ba in Mecca,

which Muslim pilgrims must travel on foot, forth and back

seven times (anticlockwise). This is in memory of Prophet

Abraham’s second wife Hagar, who was desperately running

between the hills, searching for water for her infant son Ishmael

who was left unattended on the hot sand in the desert.

---

September 2018 The

Light 10

of Ramadan is also a compliance test, which Almighty

God has placed on healthy persons, to

follow all the religious obligations closely and

guarding against evil (sins). The boundaries of

tolerance and prescriptiveness of fasting by

Muslims has been stipulated in the Holy Quran

at 2:183-185: “O you who believe, fasting is prescribed

for you, as it was prescribed for those

before you, so that you may guard against evil.

For a certain number of days. But whoever

among you is sick or on a journey, (he shall fast)

a (like) number of other days. And those who

find it extremely hard may effect redemption by

feeding a poor one. So, whoever does good

spontaneously, it is better for him; and that you

fast is better for you if you know. The month of

Ramadan is that in which the Quran was revealed,

a guidance to people and clear proofs of

the guidance and the Criterion. So whoever of

you is present in the month, he shall fast in it,

and whoever is sick or on a journey, (he shall

fast) a (like) number of other days. Allah desires

ease for you, and He does not desire hardship

for you, and (He desires) that you should complete

the number and that you should exalt the

greatness of Allah for having guided you and

that you may give thanks.”

10. Eid-ul-Fitr (end of fasting) is the celebration

by all Muslims after their successful and

compliant month-long fasting for Ramadan.

11. The month of Ramadan is also the anniversary

of the first revelation of the Holy Quran,

which happened on one of the odd nights of

25th, 27th or 29th of Ramadan, in a cave given

the name of Hira, over 1,400 years ago. 1 As matter

of practical consistency, Prophet Muhammad

(s) directed that the selected event be settled

as the 27th night. This is in the Hadith and

called Lailat-al-Qadr 2 or the Night of Majesty.

This is also stipulated in the Holy Quran at 97:1-

5: “Surely We revealed it on the Night of Majesty

— And what will make you comprehend what

the Night of Majesty is? The Night of Majesty is

better than a thousand months. The angels and

the Spirit descend in it by the permission of

their Lord — for every affair — Peace! it is till

the rising of the morning.”

12. The Holy Quran was revealed to

Prophet Muhammad (s) in series of batch revelations

lasting a stretch of 23 years. 3

13. In response to questions, Prophet Muhammad

(s) encapsulated the answers, as given

in the Hadith. This is Hadith No. 1906, Book of

AsSaum, Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 3: A Bedouin with

unkempt hair came to Allah’s Messenger (s) and

said, “O Allah’s Messenger! Inform me what Allah

has made compulsory for me as regards the

prayers.” He replied: “You have to offer perfectly

the five compulsory prayers in a day and night

(24 hours), unless you want to pray Nawafil.”

The Bedouin further asked, “Inform me what Allah

has made compulsory for me as regards

fasting.” He replied, “You have to fast during the

whole month of Ramadan, unless you want to

fast more as Nawafil.” The Bedouin further

asked, “Tell me how much Zakat Allah has enjoined

on me.” Thus, Allah’s Messenger (s) informed

him about all the rules of Islam (about

Zakat). The Bedouin then said, “By Him Who

has honoured you, I will neither perform any

Nawafil nor will I decrease what Allah has enjoined

on me.” Allah’s Messenger (s) said, “If he

is saying the truth, he will succeed (or he will be

granted Paradise).”

14. All Muslims in whatsoever country

throughout the world must celebrate these two

festivals every year, to the extent without fail.

15. The goal for the faithful Muslims may

be fitted into a nutshell with the following quotation

in the Holy Quran as 6:161-163:

“Say: As for me, my Lord has guided me to the

right path — a right religion, the faith of Abraham,

the upright one, and he was not of those

who set up partners (with Allah). Say: My

prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my

death are surely for Allah, the Lord of the

worlds — no partner has He. And this am I commanded,

and I am the first of those who submit.”

1 Prophet Muhammad (s) was meditating in prayer inside a

cave called Hira, near Makkah, in year 610AD when he received

his first visitation and so to his first revelation from

Archangel Gabriel, who delivered to Prophet Muhammad (s)

the first 5 verses of what is Chapter 96 of the Holy Quran, 96:1-

5, “Read in the name of your Lord Who creates — creates man

from a clot (of blood) — read and your Lord is most Generous,

I Shall Love All Mankind.

Who taught by the pen, taught man what he did not know.” The

balance of 14 verses of this chapter were revealed later.

2 Hadith Sahih Bukhari 32:4

3

The Holy Quran was first revealed to Prophet Muhammad (s)

in 610AD when he was at age of 40 and completed in 632AD.

---

September 2018 The

Light 11

Synopsis

a) In Islam, the Muslim festival of Eid-ul-

Adha is directly linked to the patriarch Prophet

Abraham (as), who had twice received separate

Orders directly from Almighty God to sacrifice

his first born son.

b) The first Order was when his first-born

son was an infant and Almighty God ordered

Prophet Abraham to abandon wife and child in

the wilderness of Arabia.

c) The second Order was when the same son

was around 10-11 years old, Almighty God

again ordered Prophet Abraham (as) to sacrifice

the same son, as was the widespread ritual

practised amongst ancient pagans in those days,

many thousands of years ago.

d) Of course, upon direct Order from Almighty

God, the son was not sacrificed and

Prophet Abraham (as) was ordered to substitute

a fattened lamb in lieu of his son.

e) That Order from Almighty God put an end

to the ancient pagan practice of sacrificing the

first-born child as a son.

f) That event also forms the basis of pilgrimage

by Muslims to Makkah and sacrifice of

quadrupeds in that honour.

g) The festival of Eid-ul-Fitr is celebrated

immediately the next day after completion of

fasting in the month of Ramadan.

h) Fasting in Ramadan is the compliance

test fully well for Muslims with all Orders in the

Holy Quran and supported by appropriate

quotes from the book of Hadith, the book of

practices of Prophet Muhammad (s).

i) The month of fasting and Eid-ul-Adha are

also reminders for Muslims to pay up their obligations

to charity funding.

j) In addition, the month of Ramadan is also

the anniversary of the first series of revelations

of the Holy Quran over 1,400 years ago.

(Return_to content)

I Shall Love All Mankind.

Hazrat Ameer’s Eid-ul-Adha

Message

Dear Sisters and Brothers, As-salaamu

Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaato-hu.

The Holy Quran says: “Indeed, there is for you

a good example in Ibrahim and those with him”

(60:4).

As we celebrate the festival of Eid-ul-Adha, we

must keep in mind its spiritual significance. It is a

day to reflect upon the good example of Prophet

Ibrahim, blessings of Allah be upon him, and those

with him, blessings of Allah be upon them all. Hazrat

Ibrahim as well as Hazrat Ismael and Hazrat

Hajira exemplify for us models of complete submission

to the will of Allah, associating none other

with Him. All the major devotional acts of Hajj celebrate

the high example of sacrifice and submission

to the will of Allah demonstrated in their

lives.

The tawāf or circumambulations of the Kabah

remind us of its rebuilding by Hazrat Ibrahim and

Hazrat Ismail in seven stages as they went around

the structure laying the stones, moving in the anticlockwise

direction. Hazrat Hajira’s sacrifice and

desperation to find water for her infant son has

been honoured for all times in the form of sa‘y or

running between the two hills of Safā and

Marwah. The ramy al-jimār or the casting of

stones signifies Hazrat Ibrahim’s resistance to the

devil’s temptations as he was taking his son for

the sacrifice. Sacrificing an animal is a reminder to

us that Hazrat Ibrahim submitted to the will of Allah

in his readiness to sacrifice his son to fulfil the

command of Allah.

The son, on the other hand, was also willing to

be sacrificed as it was in accordance with the will

of Allah. The lesson to be learnt is to submit

wholly to the commands of Allah, to sacrifice the

animal within us and lead our lives to please Him

through not only our faith but also our actions.

I wish you a very happy Eid-ul-Adha and pray

that Allah grant us faith and fortitude of Hazrat Ibrahim

to submit in entirety to Him.

Aameen.

Professor Dr. Abdul Karim Saeed,

Ameer and President,

18 August 2018

Worldwide Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement

(Return_to content)

---

September 2018 The

Light 12

Secret Farman of a Moghul

Ruler

BY MR. N. C. MEHTA, I.C.S.

(Note: Contributor - Dr Zahid Aziz.

This article was first published in the Islamic Review,

in March 1938. I.C.S stands for Indian Civil

Service, used for a cadre of high flyers in that organisation

in British India.)

I spent three very pleasant days in Bhopal

recently. Apart from the unforgettable experience

of a visit to Sanchi — one of the great legacies

of ancient India and scrupulously treasured

by the Bhopal State — my stay there was

unexpectedly fruitful in another direction. His

Highness the Nawab is a graduate of the Allahabad

University and he was due to deliver the

Convocation Address at his old University. It

was therefore in the fitness of things that at a

dinner party the conversation should drift not

only to matters of agriculture or the immediate

present but also of the great past. Talking about

the tolerance of the Moghul Princes and the

number of Imperial farmans (royal decrees)

granted from the time of Hamida Begum, the

mother of Akbar, His Highness told me that he

possessed one given by Babar, the founder of

the dynasty itself. This farman was shown to me

the following day in the Hamidia Public Library.

The transliteration of the Persian text

(We have omitted here the transliteration which is given

in the original Islamic Review article.)

English translation

God be Praised

Secret testament of Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad

Babar Badshah Ghazi to Prince Nasir-ud-

Din Muhammad Humayun. May God prolong his

life.

For the stability of the Empire this is written.

O my soul! The realm of Hindustan is full of

diverse creeds. Praise be to God, the Righteous,

the Glorious, the Highest, that

He has granted you the Empire

of it. It is but proper that you,

with heart cleansed of all religious

bigotry, should dispense

justice according to the tenets

of each community. And in particular, refrain

from the sacrifice of cow, for that way lies the

conquest of the hearts of the people of Hindustan;

and the subjects of the realm will through

royal favours be devoted to you. And the temples

and abodes of worship of every community

under the Imperial sway, you should not damage.

Dispense justice so that the sovereign may

be happy with the subjects and likewise the

subjects with their sovereign. The progress of

Islam is better by the sword of kindness, not

by the sword of oppression (the bolding here

is ours in The Light). Ignore the disputations of

Shiahs and Sunnies; for therein is the weakness

of Islam. And bring together the subjects with

different beliefs in the manner of the Four Elements,

so that the body-politic may be immune

from the various ailments. And remember the

deeds of Hazrat Taimur Sahib-Qiran (lord of the

conjunction) so that you may become mature in

matters of government.

“And on us is but the duty to advise” (the

Quran 36:17). First Jamadi-ul-Awwal 935 H. —

11th January, 1529.

(Written in Lotus Garden)

Such is the secret testament of Babar to his

20 years old son and successor. It was not till

1526 that the transborder adventurer — Zahirud-Din

Muhammad Babar — was firmly seated

on the throne of Delhi. The Wasiyat, (the last

will and testament) as he calls it, was written

while he was camping in the Lotus Garden at

Dholpur near Agra (January 9th–20th, 1529).

The nature of the document—the fine paper, the

careful handwriting, the Royal Seal and the present

custody of the document—all go to establish

the genuineness of this very important historical

document.

(Return_to content)

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