Peer-e-Kamil: An Urdu Novel with Hate Speech

Someone on twitter informed me that apparently there is an Urdu novel written by Umaira Ahmad in which the story revolves around the conversion of the main character from Ahmadiyya “faith” to Islam.



Title of Peer-e-Kamil, a novel by Umaira Ahmad



So I searched the internet and found the book called “Peer-e-Kamil” (The perfect teacher). After going through the ordeal of reading it, I regret to inform you that it is rubbish!

OK, the review is over.

But keep reading...

Below I write a brief synopsis of the religious content of the novel. It will show how bigoted, dishonest and unprofessional Ms. Ahmad has been while producing this garbage. And yes, even such an exalted title to the book cannot change this fact.

Story: Imama is an Ahmadi girl studying in a medical college. She abandons her wrong faith to become Muslim. Finds that there more to life than just being alive; discovers the love of Holy Prophet (saw); finds her soul-mate who was a way-ward, tortured, drug-addled genius turned saint. The end.

But first, something about the author; Ms. Ahmad is a young writer. Seemingly middles class , holding a Masters in English literature, with the penchant of writing romance fiction,; the kind common in women’s monthly digests. She has apparently written TV serials and is very popular amongst the female readership of Urdu fiction. And yes, she has taught in a reputable school in Sialkot attended by the progeny of the rich and the influential of Pakistan.

Umaira Ahmad -From her Facebook page

In chapter one, Imama is told by her friend that her family are Ahmadis because they are given wealth and economic progression as a reward from their community. Imama offers no refutation, so it must be true. In this chapter and the rest, I could not find any evidence that the author had made any effort to check if Ahmadis and Ahmadi families in Pakistan think and speak the way her characters do. There are no mentions of the words 'Ahmadiyyat', 'Promised Messiah' and her Ahmadi characters are made to speak the language of the hushed non-ahmadi conversations. The kind you can overhear in the corridors of universities when they discuss their Ahmadi colleagues. The pardah-observing, seemingly religious Ahmadis aren't described as people who can pray five times a day or recite Quran or keep fasts. Something that we are constantly reminded of when our so-called true Muslim characters are mentioned.

In chapter two, in her earliest confrontation with her friends in high school, Imama refers to her faith as Islam, but then also refers to the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat as a new prophet after the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Her parents seem to hold the same belief. After having a heated discussing at school with her ‘Syed’ friends in which she was given a long lecture about the finality of Prophethood and her shady family history Imama goes home with many questions in her mind. Her father confirms that he took money from the community which was earned in overseas missions and through NGOs. He is also considerate enough to share the ‘Qadiani’ conspiracy of overtaking the country one day and returning the favour to the kafirs who declared them kafirs.

Anti-Ahmadi Hate Posters common in all major towns of Pakistan. This novel is conveying the same message; but in a longer version.  

Chapter two bares the real mentality of the author who knows nothing about the Ahmadiyya community. She repeats what is already talked about in the drawing rooms of the social circles she frequents. i.e., they (Qadianis) are rich because they are given wealth by their community, their women are well educated, they are brainwashed and know nothing about their literature etc.

Imama’s character is also subjected to inquisitions in her house where frequent references are made to ‘our prophet’. Also, she purchases a Tafsir of Quran written by some big scholar which when discovered by her family causes a huge stir. Her research clearly proves that the copy of the Quran she has been reading all her life has been amended to fit her religious beliefs. Her faith already in tatters, she debates with her brother and father with such conviction that can only be found in anti-ahmadiyya propaganda. She now believes that ‘their prophet’ was an impostor, who desecrated Islam by his claims of being Jesus re-incarnate. Her ‘firqa’ believed that foul language could be used because one can get angry sometimes.

Ahmadiyya Beliefs

Back at university, she has now made a new friend who belongs to the student wing of a religious outfit. She is invited to their meetings and given a lecture on khatm-e-nabuwwat. This apparently was enough for her complete conversion, and our heroine becomes a bona fide Muslim by reciting the Kalma, as if for the first time in her life.

Truth about the Ahmadi Kalima - Video Courtesy thehumaityrules

Imama’s spiritual transition is not yet over. Imagine her luck when she overhears the moving poetry of a well known ‘naat’ which acquaints her with the ‘ishq’e’Rusool (saw)’ for the first time.

In the next few chapters, the author turns to her bread and butter stuff to fill out some pages. The story line could have been lifted out of any standard (rather sub-standard) TV drama script. Will A marry B while breaking the heart of C; and will their parents agree or disagree etc etc. Although scattered within these pages are the author’s impressions of the evils western culture and the experiences of born-again Muslims which could not have been more superficial and crass. Her hero get educated at Yale and finds high flying jobs as only the privileged imaginary characters can. Such fodder is plenty to make her readership imagine and yearn for the joys of wealth and adventure. But her readers need to feel pious as well, hence the religious zeal of her character grows by each page.

Enter the Sufi-Cleric-Professor; Ms. Ahmed’s Wasif Ali Wasif equivalent. One of those religious mentors who find easy following amongst the guilty-filthy-rich of Lahore and Islamabad. The type right out of a Qurdrutullah Shahab or Zaid Hamid fantasy.

By chapter seven, our author has done justice to the soap-opera stuff. Her Sufi needs to deliver the final blow to her hero to make him understand who the Rahbar-e-Kamil is? His words are standard Sufi material which should work if applied as specified. The soul-mates are still apart, driven by the uncertain paths they have chosen. But they are destined to meet; out of all places in the Holiest of the Holy, the Kaa’ba. Her readers have no way to escape. The sermons, the symbology, the coincidence of their crossing paths- It must be fate!

WARNING: This video may wash your brain (of all misconceptions)

But wait. There is a twist. Ms Ahmed kills the hero, and then brings him back. Our saintly professor becomes the guardian of the converted Muslimah to make sure her dastardly parents do not coerce her back. And then as if by soap-opera miracle, they are joined in holy matrimony. The ex-Qadiani girl is now a true believer and her husband a true Ashiq-e-Rusool as she had unknowingly made him ponder nine years ago.

I feel sorry for the readers of Ms. Ahmed’s work. They are truly reading a piece of cheap literature. But I hear that the book has been translated into English. There is a gap in the market or Islamic romantic fiction in English, so this book should do well also considering the fact that it deals with ‘that firqa’ and their misguided ways.

Now some words for the author. Dear Ms. Ahmed, I belong to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, and have for some part of my life inhabited the world you have tried to write about. I can tell you for a FACT that you could not be more wrong. An Ahmadi’s faith revolves around the path of the Rahbar-e-Kamil Muhammad (pbuh). The founder of our community, the Imam Mahdi not only declared himself to be the perfect servant of his exalted Master (pbuh), he also proved it through his own life. A life devoted to the service of Islam and its defense. You obviously have not read any of the thousands of poetic verses he had written in the love of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). I have heard most of the popular naa’ts in Urdu language, from classics to the modern day ‘musical’ numbers, and I can assure you that none can match in devotion, sincerity and total immersive love, a single couplet from the pen of Mirza Ghulam Ahamd (a.s.).

I can also confirm that to be an Ahmadi Muslim, one must sacrifice their wealth, not receive it from the Jamaa’t. Next time you see an Ahmadi (a real one), please ask them to show you their receipts of monthly donations. And while you are at it, also check if they have any literature answering the slanderous pamphlets you have quoted in this book.



Ishtiaq Ahmad- Urdu writer of popular children's fiction and a purveyor of hate speech.



Religion sells in Pakistan, so religious-romance fiction will also sell. Just like Ishtiaq Ahmad’s religious-detective stories for children sell. Just like the charlatan anchors on TV shows, Mullah’s on the streets, Makhdooms and Peers in their shrines and their pet politicians in their offices sell religion; I can see good business sense in this book. But just like all the afore mentioned classes, you are also contributing to the slow, painful death of Pakistan. But in your case, you are also telling poor stories- Do better next time.