From: nahmed@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Nawaz Ahmed)
Subject: AHMADIYYA HEAD'S  RESPONSE ON  BABRI  MOSQUE
Followup-To: soc.culture.indian
Organization: Northwestern University
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 21:52:05 GMT

Dear Friends!

Below is the reaction/response from Supreme Head of the worldwide Islamic
sect "Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam". Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmed is fourth
successor of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmed who claimed to be Mahdi and Promised
Messiah of this age as foretold to Muslims and to all followers of Every
Faith. Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmed is known as Khalifat-ul-Masih IV and
commonly called Hazoor by his followers. He resides in London UK and his
friday sermons (addresses) are watched/heard via settelite every friday in
four continents of the world. At present only he enjoys this distinction of
his address reaches every week arround the globe.

This address has been translated from Urdu into English by Mr.Nadeem Ahmed.
Mr Nadeem Ahmed can be reached on this E.Mail address.

(Nadeem Malik <nadeem@p.igp.ethz.ch>)
=========================================================================
	  Khutba-Jumma (Friday Sermon) 11th Decmeber 1992

			                    	by

	 Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, The Khalifat-ul Masih IV,
	   Supreme Head of the Ahmadiyya Movement In Islam.

			                      	at

		The Al-Fazal (London) Mosque, England.


	(Reported by Dr. Nadeem Ahmad Malik, ETH Zurich.)


(This is a summary of Huzur's Sermon, which I am writing from memory --
I saw it live via satellite at 1.30pm GMT. Any inaccuracies or errors
are mine. I have added some explanatory comments of my own which are
enclosed 
within  square brackets, [ ], for the sake of those who may not be familiar
to some of the concepts mentioned. Those who wish to hear the origininal
are 
invited to contact me, and I can arrange for video/audio cassette to be
sent. 
The original is in Urdu.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------

After Sura al-Fatiah:

In The Name of Allah The Gracious, The Merciful.

When we look at the present situation of the Muslim world, and see that
they are suffering a catalog of hardships, pains and humiliations. 

[The humiliation of 1000 million Muslims by a few million Jews in Israel;
the senseless carnage of the Iran-Iraq War; the destruction of Afghanistan;
The recent Gulf War; famines in Somalia and Ethiopia; the genocide of
Muslims
in Bosnia while Muslims and the rest of the world stands by; Muslims 
permanantly against each other; and now the Babri Mosque in India].

The question naturally arises as what is the meaning behind all of this
-- Is 
Allah trying to tell Muslims something?

When we study the Quran, we see that persecutions and hardships are of two 
kinds; (1) upon the fortunate ones as a means of trial and (2) upon the 
unfortunate ones as a punishment or as a warning. 

The destinction between the two lies chiefly in the response of those who
are oppressed. 

The righteous, inspite of the immediate suffering and sorrow, rally
togteher
and become stronger in unity. They see hadship as a opportunity to renew 
and strengthen their faith. They remain cheerful and trust in Allah. Most
importantly, Allah provides means for their survival and ultimately 
they are the ones who end up as the victors and masters. 

[The persecution of Ahmadi Muslims is a perfect example; the Muslims world
over have been trying for a century to silence them in every way; but by
the Grace of Allah, this sermon is reaching every part of the world, even
in Pakistan it is carried live. Ahmadis are the first, and only so far,
Muslim Movement to broadcast live Friday Sermons Worldwide. One wonders why
the staunchly Islamic Republics of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have not
thought about it. May be Muslims can not decide and may will never be able
to decide that which religious leader/king/president/head should be heard
worldwide. This is a clear victory for Allah and his true community i.e
Ahmadi Muslims.]

For the wicked and rebellious, disasters repeatedly visit them. At every
disaster they are left smarting, non-plussed and confused. Rather than
rally together, they break apart even further. Every disaster weakens them
further, and they become subject to ridicule and humiliation. Allah does
not
destroy them at once because He is Merciful and maybe some people from
among them will finally be enlightened, like the people of Prophet Jonah.

The recent history of the World of Islam makes it clear that Muslims are
subject to the second kind of disasters and that they are being warned
by Allah to change their ways and behave in a better way. What is really
lamentable about the situation is that whereas the rest of the world has at
least some political intelligence, if not faith and sincerity, to 
recognise their own interests and protect their peolpe, Muslims seem to be 
totally blind to this also. They shout and scream the most extreme messages
of hate, without stopping to think how other people will react against 
Muslims in their countries.

[Every catastrophy upon the Muslim world has served only to highlight the
hypocracy, disunity and animosity between Muslims. During the Gulf war,
most
Muslim countries invited Western powers to destroy a fellow Muslim power.]

So what should Muslims do?

Quran says that God does not change a people until they themselves change. 
This means that Muslims will have to first show signs of repentance, good
will,tolerance and love for mankind in general. If they display these
qualities then Allah will help them and bring a change also in their
circumstances at every level; politcal, economic, social, moral and
spiritual. 

But until Muslims change, more disaster and humiliation will continue to
visit them and at each stage they will become weaker and more disunited. 

Turning to the Babri Mosque incidence. Why does Allah allow Mosques to fall

into ruin and idolatory? Look at the Kabba, the frist House of Allah, even
it was not spared. So the Babri Mosque is not an unprecedented situation.
So long as the Muslims are sincere worshippers of Allah, Allah protects
their 
Mosques from decay and misuse. If they repent, as when the Holy Prophet 
came in Mecca, even impossible odds can be overcome -- bigger odds than
what
Muslims face in India. The Muslims evetually became masters of Arabia. But 
opposite is true in this situation now. Muslims, while forming more than
11% of the population, are totally helpless to say anything. And as for the

response of Muslims, it deserves every bit as much condemnation as the 
fanatical Hindus who destroyed the Mosque. 

Islam does not give permission for revenge to be extacted upon other
individuals under any circumstances. The revenge can be exacted
only upon those individuals who perpertrated the crime. The Sunna of the 
Holy Prophet shows that he did not ever punish a whole people just because
some individuals from them committed some crime. The reaction of Muslims in
the Indian Subcontinent only exposes their hypocracy and how far they are
from Islam. Their action, in fact, shows that you cannot simply label the
Babri Mosque insidence as an example of 'Hindu' hatred against Muslims,
because Muslims themselves are doing the same things against Hindus. What
was the crime of the Hindu women and children who were burnt in Pakistan
and Bangladesh?

In this respect, at least the Arab countries have shown greater sense -- 
although their motives are not clear, whether it was out of genuine faith 
or a political gesture to keep strong ties with India. All Arab countries
with Hindu minorities have made a firm stand against any destruction of
Temples or harm to Hindus.

Similarly, The Indian Government has displayed more level headedness --
although even their motives are not entirely clear. At least these poeple
have shown greater intelligence and sense. But Muslims in India -- none of
it.
They are openly calling for Jehad upon all Hindus without any basis, even
when it is clear that most Hindus themselves are against the destruction 
and most newspapers have condemned it. The Indian Government has even
promised to rebuild the Mosque.

Meanwhile Muslims have lost an opportunity to display tollerance,
intelligence and love for humanity and, especially, their love for Islam.

Do not these Muslims consider that when they kill a Hindu or destroy a
Temple, how many Muslims will be killed and Mosques destroyed in India?
This shows that they really do not even care much about Muslims. More
Muslims are killed simply because Hindus are there in much larger numbers;
but the basic evil driving both the communities is the same. You cannot
distinguish bewteen the two.

Comparing this situation with the destruction of Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques
in Pakistan and Bangladesh shows the depth of hypocracy of Muslims. They
claim that they have destroyed the Hindu Temples as reprisal for the Babri
Mosque, because they love Islam and Allah. And yet these were the same
people who have, by law, destroyed Ahmadi Mosques -- these are also places
of worship. 10 Ahmadi Mosques  have been destroyed and looted so far, and
Sunnis have taken over some of them and now say their paryers in those
Ahmadi Mosques. This shows that this incidence is not about religious
sentiments at all. It is purely about national rivalry and hatred between
sections of peoples.

The Muslims scream against India, for world condemnation. They point out
that 
the local police and soldiers were helping the fanatical Hindus to destroy
the Babri Mosque. But exactly the same was true when Ahmadi Mosques were
being detroyed and looted, and Qurans were being burnt. Newspapers and
politicians didn't raise a cry. Only in Bangladesh, most newspapers did
strongly condemnn the destruction of Ahmadi Mosque in Dacca. The Government
of India has acted more honorably in this situation. They have strongly
condemned the bestruction, dissolved the provincial government, and
promised to rebuild the Mosque. 

What have the Sunni Muslims promised to Ahmadi Muslims?

All of this is a sign and a warning to Muslims the world over -- Allah is
telling them that they are far from the right path and that they should 
repent. Muslims should reform themselves and change their ways. They should

love humanity, uphold the rights of all people. Learn from this lesson what

is to be learnt. Only then will Allah love you and change your
circumstances.
Inshallah.

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I have just reposted this response as an effort to bring better
understanding of the issues involved. I considered it fit as I did not see
it in various Cultural groups of Muslims. I intend to post it in S.R.I and
other related news groups as a service to humanity at this most needed time
to bring about some rationality in reactions by Muslims and Hindus world
over. 

Nawaz Ahmed
nahmed@casbah.acns.nwu.edu
[standard disclaimer]

Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian,soc.culture.tamil,soc.culture.indian.telugu