Darul Uloom Trinidad & Tobago

Question:

Dear Mufti Waseem.

Assalam O Alaikum.
I do hope you are well and recovering fully from your illness. May Allah help you.
I used to attend classes at your institution some years ago. so I still get mails from you. I read with interest the subject article in your recent publication. I called but was told that I should e-mail my questions to you.
I have Ahmadi friends and showed them the article and they told me some things that made a lot of sense. I am a bit confused now so I need some clarification.
The major point they made was that the Holy Quran lays down a clear criterion to test the truth of a Claimant to Devine Revelation and that is that a forger of lies against Almighty God, though he may achieve temporary success, ultimately perishes. Not only does the Holy Quran abounds with verses to this effect but immediately after, it greatly stresses that those who reject the truth or treat Allah’s signs as lies are the unjust and wrongdoers.
So as not to fall in the latter category, please tell me your explanation of this as a cursory look at their Claimant shows that he is prospering as their achievements and membership are growing. They showed me many things to this effect but the most impressive were the re-establishment of Khilafat as foretold by the Holy Prophet of Islam (saw) and that they have translated the Holy Quran in over 126 languages.
I look forward to your prompt response as I will be seeing them this weekend.
Wa Salaam

Answer:

Wa Alaikum As Salaam,

This is one of the tricks of the Qadiani movement. They use their so called advancement as a means to determine what the truth is and what it is not. If one uses this as a criterion to say what the truth is and what is, then one will be forced to say that Christianity is the best religion at present, since the advancement they have made in their religion are far above than what other religious sects have done. In fact, one can say that atheism is prospering since many people of the world today are becoming atheist. Does this mean that it is a sign that they are upon the truth? Or does it mean that the great achievements of the Christians show that they are upon the truth? How do we judge what is the truth. If it is upon numbers and advancement/ progress, then one can say that pharaoh was upon the truth while Moses was upon falsehood. Similarly, it can be said that the people of Noah was on the truth while Noah was on falsehood. Probably, the Qadianis may say that the sodomites at the time of Prophet Lut was on the truth while Lut was on falsehood, since they were in the majority and they were making a lot of progress and advancement in what they held to be good.
In history, there have been many people who came with an ideology to their people. Whether it was right or wrong, we saw that many people followed them. For example, we see that there are thousands of Buddhists, and millions of Hindus. Along with these, there are hundreds of cults and man-made religions, all of whom are making great progress in reaching their targets and goals in this world. Are we to say that they are all upon the truth? Obviously, no one will think in this manner, for this is opposing to the dictates of reason and intelligence. As such, there must be a solid criterion which can always be used as the yardstick for measuring the truth and falsehood. This yardstick however, cannot be wealth, fame, and education or material progress. If this is the case, then kings would be gods and the people would be slaves. In Islam, the criterion to determine the truth from falsehood is the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s). Those who do not follow these teachings are out of Islam, and those who adhere to these are in Islam. The claims made by Mirza Glulam Ahmad were totally weird and absurd, and were clear attacks on the holy Quran and the Prophet (s.a.s). He claimed to be a prophet after the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s), when it is the direct message of the Quran and the statements of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s) that there will be no prophet after him. Along with this, he made several other claims which amount to nothing but insanity. These claims are all recorded with the relevant references in the article which was circulated.
The Holy Quran and the Sunnah mentions about the punishment for a forger of lies, but these did not specify that the punishment must come on the face of the earth. It means therefore, that Allah’s punishment will certainly come as it has been promised, but this can take place in the hereafter and not necessarily in this earthly life. Let’s look at an example. Do you believe that Mr. Sai Baba was god, or an incarnate of god. I don’t think you will. In fact, you will say that he was a liar and a forger of lies. But was he punished in any way, or did he die a natural death? Everyone knows that he died a natural death. Seeing that he died a natural death, can someone say that his dying a natural death shows that he was upon the truth since he did not ultimately perish? Let’s look at another example. We know very well that kufr and shirk are grave sins, upon which severe punishments have been given. But how many times we see that these people die naturally and do not have a destructive end? Can it be said about them that they were on the right path seeing that they were not ultimately perished?
The gist of this is that the punishment which has been decreed by Allah will come to pass, whether it is in this world or in the hereafter.
As for the growth in membership and achievements, this occurs with all the other religions. Would you say that Christianity is the truth because it is growing very fast? If the fast growth of a sect makes one think that it is the truth, then one may have to change his religion every year. But as I said before, fast or slow progress is not the criterion to determine the truth. The Prophet Noah (a.s) preached for 950 years, and at the end of his mission he only had 80 followers. Would you say that he was not on the right path, hence, the reason for the slow growth? Obviously not.
As for the establishment of Khilafat, this is nothing unusual. Every day a sect is making the same claim that a certain person is the khalifah. In fact, many people have made the claim that the Mahdi is here. Besides the Qadianis, many other sects have coined for themselves their own khalifah. This is nothing new. If the name of a khalifah impresses you, you may probably need to look at all the other khalifahs of the different sects and chose the one you are impressed with!
The gist of this, is that a person’s claim of being a khalifah is not a sign of truth. From the time after the Prophet (s.a.s) until today, people have been making that claim in every era. But these are all false claims. This is nothing to be impressed about.
Similarly, the Sunni Muslims have translated the Holy Quran in almost every language that exists on the face of the earth. This is what you should really be impressed about.
From the time the Qadianis came about until today, they have been pronounced as non-Muslims by all scholars. Even the Supreme courts in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have officially considered them to be outside the pale of Islam.
As I said before, the truth is what the Quran and the Holy Prophet (SAS) have preached. Besides these, is everything falsehood.

And Allah knows best,

Mufti Waseem Khan