Praying In Ahmadiyya Mosque
Pros: 1. I am giving due respect to a mosque 2. Even if it was just a place of worship it is still entitled to respect inferred from Surah Haj Ayat 40 3. I am promoting mutual tolerance. I would rather replace ‘tolerance’ with ‘disagree with respect ‘ 4. I am reaching out to those who might have questions I could answer or investigate 5. I teach myself ‘its all about Allah and his remembrance when I see a mosque Cons: 1. I might attract negative or hostile reaction as I assume its a close knit community 2. I will be exposed to their preaching, reasoning and persuasion. 3. I and my friends and family especially young people may develop soft corner for the belief I do not share with Ahmadiyya community, especially those who will never have discussion with me for my choice to go to this mosque. Or on the flip side get weirded out 4. Our children are already getting Ahmadiyya books from school libraries in the UK 5. Constantly feeling I am among those who have a belief which is obviously ‘kufria’ and the fact this community considers non-Ahmadis, less of a muslim. If I choose another mosque then every other mosque has some differeing views I may disagree; hence shying away from such a mosque I waver from the conviction that ‘mosques are for Allah the almighty’.
Thank you Umer You have alluded to the gist of the matter in the opening para of your reply. We need to discuss premise first. If I see the Ahmadiyyah opinion an effort to undermine mainstream beliefs, would it be justified to consider this mosque as ‘masjid e zarrar’? ‘masjid According to the Islamic tradition, Muhammad was asked to lead prayer there but received a revelation (mentioned in the Qur’anic verses 9:107 and 9:110) in consequence of which the mosque was destroyed by fire. Hencerforth, it was known as the Mosque of Opposition. وَالَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مَسْجِدًا ضِرَارًا وَكُفْرًا وَتَفْرِيقًا بَيْنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَإِرْصَادًا لِّمَنْ حَارَبَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ مِن قَبْلُ ۚ وَلَيَحْلِفُنَّ إِنْ أَرَدْنَا إِلَّا الْحُسْنَىٰ ۖ وَاللَّهُ يَشْهَدُ إِنَّهُمْ لَكَاذِبُونَ – 9:107 لَا تَقُمْ فِيهِ أَبَدًا ۚ لَّمَسْجِدٌ أُسِّسَ عَلَى التَّقْوَىٰ مِنْ أَوَّلِ يَوْمٍ أَحَقُّ أَن تَقُومَ فِيهِ ۚ فِيهِ رِجَالٌ يُحِبُّونَ أَن يَتَطَهَّرُوا ۚ وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُطَّهِّرِينَ – 9:108 أَفَمَنْ أَسَّسَ بُنْيَانَهُ عَلَىٰ تَقْوَىٰ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانٍ خَيْرٌ أَم مَّنْ أَسَّسَ بُنْيَانَهُ عَلَىٰ شَفَا جُرُفٍ هَارٍ فَانْهَارَ بِهِ فِي نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ – 9:109 لَا يَزَالُ بُنْيَانُهُمُ الَّذِي بَنَوْا رِيبَةً فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ إِلَّا أَن تَقَطَّعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ – 9:110 And [there are] those [hypocrites] who took for themselves a mosque for causing harm and disbelief and division among the believers and as a station for whoever had warred against Allah and His Messenger before. And they will surely swear, “We intended only the best.” And Allah testifies that indeed they are liars. Do not stand [for prayer] within it – ever. A mosque founded on righteousness from the first day is more worthy for you to stand in. Within it are men who love to purify themselves; and Allah loves those who purify themselves. Then is one who laid the foundation of his building on righteousness [with fear] from Allah and [seeking] His approval better or one who laid the foundation of his building on the edge of a bank about to collapse, so it collapsed with him into the fire of Hell? And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people. Their building which they built will not cease to be a [cause of] skepticism in their hearts until their hearts are stopped. And Allah is Knowing and Wise. q1. Is the context or these ayahs correct? q2. Who are being addressed? q3. Is this instruction limited to the time of the prophet as part of ongoing hide and seek of hypocrites or pretend believers? q4. Can we see this issue in the light of these verses?
Thank you Umer for a detailed low down; this leads me to following inquiry So we cannot apply this rule to any place of worship in our times. Hypocrites were hiding their true intentions vs a group having proven kufriah belief, which will clearly mislead some mainstream muslims, so how can their declared place of worship should not be seen in this light, as here divine revelation is obviously not needed. Is it because any group/sect/community who is not taking actions to mislead mainstream muslims or is it because muslims of our times are not burdened with anzaar in the style of a prophet? The group under discussion actively preach their kufriah faith. Related further query I have is why I can or can’t pray in a church. But lets further our discussion on a muslim sect first.
Thank you Iftikhar Sahab for initiating and engaging in this dialogue. It is helping me as well to further broaden my horizon of thinking. It’s a great learning opportunity for me as well. Coming to the issue at hand; “is it because muslims of our times are not burdened with anzaar in the style of a prophet?” , this is one important consideration. Dawah of Prophet (especially that of a Rasul) is different than Dawah responsibilities for an ordinary Muslim. In case of a Rasul, Prophet needs to complete proof of truth on His people and afterwards, God’s wrath (Azaab) is imposed on the ones who denied the truth intentionally. For us Muslims, who are not preachers / scholars, we are only burdened with the responsibility of urging people in our immediate sphere to do the right, to inform them what is right and to advice them with utmost sincerity as to refrain from the wrong [1] . Coming back to the question of intentions, w hat way do we have of knowing that people within Ahmediya community are intentionally denying the true message and it’s not a matter of understanding / inadvertent wrong understanding? Why are we limiting the application of hypocrites to Ahmediya people only? Why not be fair about it then, why not apply the same principles on major Muslim sects who are stern followers of Sufism and express those Kufria beliefs (some of them tantamount to Shirk) blatantly and openly? [2] If are to open this door of Takfeer on people who claim to be Muslim, chaos will ensue. Currently we are being unfair and dishonest to ourselves by marginalizing only Ahmediya community while a majority of us hold the same views, even worse at times under the blanket of Tasawwuf. Let’s be honest about it. As a principle, I believe, the ones who are claiming to be Muslims, we have no right to judge anyone’s intention and we have no right to declare anyone Kafir. We will discuss differing interpretations of understanding and point out the mistakes in their ideology. Both Sufism and Ahmediya beliefs are against the basic teachings of Islam and are kufria in their very nature, but they present their argument from Muslim scriptures, at least that’s what they try and claim, so only rational approach is to point toward mistakes of their interpretations with logical arguments from the very scriptures. This is the only way to achiever inter-sect harmony and toward removing impediments for true seekers of truth from every sect to easily search the truth. _____________________________ [1] وَالْعَصْرِ إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ (١٠٣: ١-٣) Time bears witness that these people shall definitely be in a state of loss. Yes! except those who accepted faith and did righteous deeds and exhorted one another to the truth and exhorted one another to remain steadfast on it. (103:1-3) It is evident from the nature and scope of this preaching as mentioned in these verses that the preacher and the preached are not distinct from another. Every person at all times acts as a preacher as well as an addressee to this preaching. The word used by the Quran in this regard is تَوَاصَوْا which means “to urge one another”. This responsibility should be discharged by a father towards his son and a son towards his father, a husband towards his wife and a wife towards her husband, a brother towards his sister and a sister towards her brother, a friend towards his friend and a neighbour towards his neighbour – in short, a person should discharge it towards every person who has an immediate relation with him. When he sees that someone among them has adopted an attitude which is contrary to the truth, he should try to urge him according to his knowledge, capacity and ability to mend his ways. It is quite possible that while at one time of the day we deliver some truth to a person, and at another time, he does this very service to us. Today, we may urge a person to the right way and tomorrow that person might urge us to the same. In short, a Muslim should keep discharging this duty in his immediate circle whenever he gets the opportunity. Urging one another to the truth and urging one another to remain steadfast on it has also been referred to as أَمَر بِالْمَعْرُوفِ and نهَِي عَنِ المُنْكَر i.e urging people to whatever sense and human nature call as good and forbidding them from what sense and human nature call as evil. These two expressions are only a positive and negative statement of what is referred to in Surah Asr’s last verse quoted above. The Quran says: وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاء بَعْضٍ يَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ (٧١:٩) And true believers, both men and women, are friends to one another. They urge one another to what is good and forbid what is evil. (9:71) The sphere of this preaching as is evident from the words “urging one another to the truth” is one’s immediate surroundings. A person is required to do this duty among his family, relatives and friends. It is his obligation towards people with whom he lives and spends time and works with and who come into his contact because of his various involvements that they be the addressees of this preaching. This obligation will only stand fulfilled if it is discharged in this sphere. It should not be the case that these rightful beneficiaries of his preaching be deprived of it, while people belonging to other areas and countries become its recipients. The Almighty and His Prophet (sws) have not required of him to leave his immediate surroundings and start this activity outside it. Moreover, it is also essential that his preaching be directed from the nearest to the next, and a person should foremost address his family members and try to save them from the Fire of Hell. He must be aware of the fact that if he went after others while leaving aside these immediate people who might be deep in evil, then in spite of all his efforts, he may end up at the losing end in the Hereafter: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا وَقُودُهَا النَّاسُ وَالْحِجَارَةُ عَلَيْهَا مَلَائِكَةٌ غِلَاظٌ شِدَادٌ لَا يَعْصُونَ اللَّهَ مَا أَمَرَهُمْ وَيَفْعَلُونَ مَا يُؤْمَرُونَ (٦:٦٦) Believers! protect yourselves and your kindred from a Fire fuelled with these men and these stones [they worshipped]. In charge of it will be stern and mighty angels who never disobey God’s directive and promptly do what they are told. (66:6) Here, this should also remain clear that within one’s immediate sphere there exists a sphere in which a person possesses authority. In a family system, a person often has two capacities: he is a father and he is a husband. As per the dictates of common sense and human nature, a person has authority in these two spheres. It is because of this authority that a person in his capacities of a husband and a father is responsible for the affairs of his wife and children respectively. [2] For details, you can refer to the following discussion thread: Discussion 4851