Two ships were intercepted by the authorities, laden with almost 2000 illegal immigrants.
Both ships were barely seaworthy, and it was a miracle that they made it to their destination in one piece.
Those on board had escaped violence, racism, religious discrimination in their country of birth. They had surely been incarcerated and made to live in abject poverty by their tormentors.
But the authorities at their port of arrival did not let them disembark. 'We've had too many of your lot here already. We can't afford to have more of you here.'
There were widespread protests against such unkind attitude of the government. Finally it was decided that rather than letting these people disembark here, they would be taken to a tropical Island, and kept there as refugees until the situation improved back home.
The decision was an unpopular one when announced on board the ships. The persecuted thousands had not escaped from a despotic regime to be incarcerated by a benevolent one. They wanted to live free.
They were ordered to move to the larger of the two ships to be taken to the refugee Island. But many of these passengers had barely set foot on the ship when alarm was sounded. Everyone off the ship! Danger! Danger!
They all jumped into the water just before a loud explosion was heard. The ship sank right there in the docks, taking along with it 300 people.
Those who survived were granted asylum in the country of their choice.
It was in fact some of the passengers who blew up the ship. They could not bear to live another day in confinement, no matter how open their next prison was promised to be.
This incident happened in Palestine, in November 1940. The ships were carrying Jewish immigrants escaping Nazi atrocities in Europe.
The British had tried to stop the influx of hundreds of thousands of illegal Jewish immigrants into Palestine, which resulted in acts of violence by the Zionist movement against the British authorities.
70 years on, the very same immigrants have created another concentration camp in which to confine their host nation. And if acts of resistance were committed by the Palestinians, no different in nature than those perpetrated by their immigrant grandfathers, they would be punished by unprecedented and seemingly unmeasured brutal force.
The state of Israel has demonized the Palestinian so much that now its citizens cheer on while the military sends deadly missiles and rockets into the most densely populated urban areas in the world.
Whatever Mr. Nethanyahu is trying to achieve, it surely is not peace. He has successfully run the best recruitment drive for Hamas and its likes. And by defending Israel's right to 'self-defence', and by not condemning and trying to stop the loss of civilian lives, Europe and USA have more to worry about than just the middle-east.
Another crop of wannabe western jihadis must surely be ready.
Tony Blair says that we should get ready for a battle between the open-minded West and the closed-minded Middle East. Its the same-old modern day cursades narrative which has claimed millions of lives so far and counting. Not long ago, he participated in the worst military adventure the west has ever embarked upon in its history. Thanks to a misguided, malicious and greed-driven war in the Middle East, we are on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe. But, Mr. Blair refuses to learn a lesson. He wants more!
He says that the Muslim societies have been over-run by a supremicist ideology which have put them in direct conflict with the West. But it takes two to tango, so there must be a supremicist mindset at work in the West too which encourages the hubris of military conquest of the Middle East.
Blair must be very aware of his role in psychologically mauling a whole generation of young Muslims who grew up in the post 9/11 world. Social media has awakened this generation to the horrific attrocities of war. Those images and video clips, real or fakes, are constantly making the rounds on the internet, adding fuel to fire already lit by their local hate preachers.
You simply cannot force this genie back in the bottle by more war. This will not only compromise the already struggling moderate voices in the Muslim countries but also embolden the extremists even more.
There is a growing network of various groups, increasingly inter-connecting and unifying across the Islamic world calling for a global caliphate/Khilafah. Some groups are more open about the idea of a global Jihad to bring about this revolution. Many agree with each other on principle and are increasing their influence among the young Sunni men and women living in the west. The traditional strands of Sufi, riualistic Islam focused on persoanl piety have been sidelined as weak and unambitious.
Although various Khilafah movements may pose a threat to the Arab royals, the transition from a non-political Sunni/Wahabi to a political one seems to be very easy and frequent. It is very difficult to contain or control this phenomenon through policing, even if you are Saudi Arabia.
Doomsday cults are thought to be fringe groups of conspiracy theorists, but think again. The state of Israel and its Zionist zealots are a doomsday cult. There are countless Christians who believe that the US and its allies must protect the Holy Land as it is the promised site for the return of Jesus. Sunni preachers have been warming up their congregations for the imminent appearance of the Mahdi, and the latest interpretations of hadith literature promises Syria to be of vital import in this respect. Then there are those skeptics who feel that Mahdi has to be created through war and consensus of Muslims, and to add to the mix, there seems to be unlimited hatred for the Shia by thousands of Jihadis converging in Syria. Shia Muslims themselves are being told about the re-emergence of the Mahdi is a certainty and the present day conflict was foretold in many prophecies before.
This may sound far-fetched for some of you. But American diplomats were advising their government not to enter into any negotiations with a 'Messianic' regime in Iran, a leaked diplomatic cable (via Wikileaks) reveals. How come eschatological beliefs of some are causing so much suffering in this day and age? This is after all, the age of reason and science. Many clergymen, Christians, Jewish and Muslims alike, seem to have resigned to the fact that Messiah's do not float down from the heavens. But consider how Ahmedinijad started his speech at the UN General Assembly a few years ago. He prayed for the immediate appearance of the Mahdi, a warrior leader who will rid the world of all evil. Think again about why Bush and Blair consulted God before launching an attack on Iraq and Afghanistan. Behind the seemingly secular political rhetoric, humanitarian concerns and an agenda for democracy, the west is turning a blind eye to the absurdities of literalistic religious zealots in all camps.
Mr. Blair has said one thing that I agree with. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are nurturing a venomous generation of violent preachers which needs to be checked. While Saudi royals are happy to preach peaceful interpretations of Islam to their own citizens, they are recruiting anti-shia paramilitary forces from Pakistan and Jihadi fighters from other Sunni nations to fight in Syria. Saudi puritanical influence of the Muslim youth living in the UK is also increasingly visible.
Exclusion of the moderates and the reformists through 'Takfir' (Edicts of heresy) is the most potent instrument in the hands of these hate preachers. Takfir means exclusion, and according to some puritans, loss of right to life. This is exactly what is driving the Jihadi machine in Syria at the moment. Bashar and his allies are kafirs, worthy of death. Glimpses of this takfir are also visible in the UK, which only shows how easy it can be to recruit fighters from this country. Muslims have to combat this menace themselves first.
It is also essential for the Muslims living in the UK to create their own identity, free of the burdens and strains of dictatorships and theocracies of their ancestral countries. In fact, Muslims in the West are closer to the real Islamic ideals of logic, reason and sciences then their brethren in the Middle East. We must export our new, enlightened and rational worldview to them instead of importing antiquated, literalistic and medievalist ideas to us. Currently we are only exporting gap-year Jihadis and openly partisan statesmanship in the form of Tony Blair.
I suggest that Mr. Blair should seriously consider education, both at home and in the Muslim world as his top priority, not war. I will leave his religious views alone. Afterall, It is a matter between a megalomaniac and his own ego.
The whole nation of Pakistan, including those who took up arms in exchange of petro-dollars are now eligible targets for collateral damage. In short, those who follow the “kuffar”, or help them, assist them, give them safe passage for military supplies are not worthy of being Muslims, and can be killed. The whole nation is in a state of constant denial.
'No Muslim can commit such attrocities'!
There is a 'foriegn hand', a conspiracy to destroy Islam and Pakistan!
But dear Pakistanis, do have a look at the events of 1974. The so-called fathers of Taliban represented the nation in the Parliament and started the rot which is eating away at the very soul of Pakistan.
Readers of the 1974 in-camera proceedings will find that the members of Parliament were under the impression that the Ahmadiyya delegation chose to be subjected to this cross examination. Fact is, that the delegations had no option but give evidence due to the obscene and slanderous nature of the resolutions presented in the Parliament.
Mufti Mahmood tabled the resolution which clearly states that Ahmadis are conspiring against Islam and the Ummah by pretending to be Muslims (pages 1883-1884);Whereas Mualana Ghulam Ghaus Hazarvi echoed the same sentiments and more in his 'Bill' which also contained demands of removing Ahmadis from key posts and effectively evicting them from Rabwah. (page 2587)
It was also the total lack of competence on part of the Government. They had formed a steering committee to obtain witness statements to
'decide the status of a person who does not believe that the Holy Prophet (saw) was the last prophet.'
So the party being accused of the 'crime' had to present the evidence voluntarily or otherwise.
These proceedings are also a snapshot of the collective psychology of the nation. A nation recently broken apart, a country recovering from a heavy military defeat; a nation which was introverted, deeply suspicious and paranoid. Mr. Bhutto at times was the architect of this mindset as he proved it by blaming foreign hand for the unrest. No wonder that the committee was churning out conspiracy theories on an industrial scale against Ahmadiyya Muslims.
Members of National Assembly frequently remarked that the record of these proceedings was to become part of history, not only for Pakistan, but for the whole of Muslim Ummah. (page 1028, 2712-2714) Reading the document 38 years later, it makes complete sense; the lies, ignorance and hatred of the 'honorable' members could not be shared with the general public. We are introduced to a group of people who pretended to represent the aspirations of the people of Pakistan; some were Mullahs, some were typical landowners with little interest in welfare of the country and only a few were educated enough to understand the gravity of the situation. If we remove the Ahmadiyya witness statements away, you could easily imagine them as a bunch of schizophrenics believing in every wild theory they were presenting. No wonder that generation of leaders lost half the country and then invited the worst military dictatorship on the country ever in the same decade!
Here are a few examples of what was presented as a fact in that committee room:
Ahmadis are the enemies of Pakistan:
The original resolution presented by Mufti Mahmood: (Pages 2077-2080)
Ahmadis conspired against Pakistan during partition, which caused Gurdaspur to remain in India. This led to India having access to land routes into Kashmir and so on.
The Attorney General also paid special attention to this issue during is aggressive cross examination. He kept on returning to the issue pretending not to understand the reasons behind Jamaa't's efforts to help Pakistan in gaining Gurdaspur through separate representation by Ahmadis.
Justice Munir who was also a colleague of Sir. Zafrulla Khan observed in his famous enquiry report:
'Apprehensions about the final location of Qadian, therefore, began to be felt, and since they could obviously not ask for its inclusion in India, the only course left for them now was to fight for its inclusion in Pakistan. Vile and unfounded charges have been levelled against the Ahmadis that the district of Gurdaspur was assigned to India by the Award of the Boundary Commission because of the attitude adopted by the Ahmadis and the arguments addressed by Chaudhri Zafrullah Khan who had been selected by the Quaid-i-Azam to present the case of the Muslim League before that Commission. But the President of this Court, who was a Member of that Commission, considers it his duty to record his gratitude to Chaudhri Zafrullah Khan for the valiant fight he put up for Gurdaspur. This is apparent from the record of the Boundary Commission which anyone who is interested may see. For the selfless services rendered by him to the Muslim community, it is shameless ingratitude for anyone to refer to Chaudhri Zafrullah Khan in the manner in which he has been referred to by certain parties before the Court of Inquiry.
One can also find frequent references made to 'akhand bharat' by most of the speakers. Again reflecting the paranoia and recent humiliation caused by the fall of Dhaka. There was no evidence to support this theory, only a partial statement from Khalifatul Masih II which was taken out of context.
Ghulam Ghaus Hazarvi, once an informant for the British CID in Peshawar, and a staunch Congress supporter before Partition, also claimed that Ahmadis spy for India under the guise of visiting Qadian (Page 2835).
Ahmadis are deniers of Jihad:
On Page 2094, Mufti Mahmood said that Ahmadis don't even believe in Jihad, but they started gaining influence in the armed forces. That is why they have always failed to fulfil their responsibilities during Indo-Pak wars. I am sure Pakistani nation would like to know more details - Such 'facts' have been succesfully hidden for so long that people who used them are now deceased; unaware that a simple google search will prove them liars.
On the same page, the father of Taliban (its still Mufti Mahmood) says that due to 'Mirzai' conspiracies, the nation had to suffer the curse of Martial law. Mufti and his Mullah friends demonstrated this to be a lie by getting rid of Mr. Bhutto in 1977 through another military coup.
The Attorney General questioned Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih III (a.r.) on this topic in detail. (pages 1067-1165). Although it becomes abundantly clear that Ahmadiyya opinion on Jihad of sword (qitaal) is logical and the most reasonable, Mr. Bakhtiyar kept implying that the real Islamic Jihad means revolting against any non-Muslim ruler. Something that none of the Assembly members and their fathers could demonstrate during the British raj.
Ahmadis are British/Zionist agents:
The question of British patronage for Jamaa't Ahmadiyya is probably the most common misconception among the mainstream Muslims. Mufti Mahmood's speech had a sizable portion dedicated to this conspiracy theory. Here he quotes an official document 'The Arrival of British Empire in India' which alleges that a delegation of British journalists and clergymen visited India in 1860s and concluded that Muslim unity can only be broken through an 'apostolic prophet'. The Mufti was careful not to provide a direct reference to this document, but quoted Agha Shorish Kashmiri's work 'Ajami Israel'. Kashmiri was not known for speaking the truth and some even found evidence of fabricated interviews that he published to support his right-wing conspiracy theories.
The document 'Arrival of British Empire in India' does not exist in any library or public record. This is obviously a hoax to strengthen a lie.The fact that this was presented as the evidence speaks volumes of the character and truthfulness of the speaker. Also, this question was not raised during the cross-examination, but presented as a fact during concluding speeches to avoid humiliation.
Another member of Parliament Maulana Abdul Hakeem (on behalf of Maulana Ghulam Ghaus Hazarvi) spoke on this matter and presented his opinion on Tuhfa-e-Qaisariya (a book of Promised Messiah addressing Queen Victoria). He interpreted the respectful tone of writing as not suitable for 'prophetic majesty'. Maybe he would have preferred his Imam Mahdi to be devoid of the high moral teachings of Islam. e.g., courtesy, loyalty and honesty. What none of the Mullahs mention about Tuhfa-e-Qaisariya is that this book was written as an invitation to Queen Victoria to accept Islam.
Mufti Mahmood also stated that Ahmadis of Qadian celebrated the British victory in Iraq during WW-1. On page 1232, Hadhrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad (a.r.) also addressed this during the cross-examination. Mufti sahib forgot to mention the fact that a large majority of Muslims, their elders and leaders celebrated the British victory.
Religious leaders of all major sects ignore the fact that large number of British-Indian Muslims fought in the British Army during both world wars. All major Ahrari leaders supported the British cause and published articles and letters to show their allegiance to the Empire. It was when the Indian National Congress started to openly rebel against the government that their paid Ahraris also participated in those agitations.
The fact is that if the British actively sponsored anyone, it was the Deoband and Ahl-Hadith leaders in India. Please see the video below.
Not only this, Barelvi school of thought was also very close to the British. One can find plenty of evidence on the internet.
1970s was a time of extreme anti-Zionist sentiments everywhere. Arab nations had recently lost a war against Israel and conspiracy theorists were busy finding the reasons for the Arab defeat. Mullahs of Pakistan found an easy target in Ahmadis. Mufti Mahmood collected some random references and tried to weave them in his story on how Ahmadis are the agents of Israel. The only fact in his speech was that some native Arab Ahmadis live in a town called Kababeer which was occupied by Israel in 1948. The Mufti forgot to mention the fact that apart from these few hundred Arab Ahmadis, many hundreds of thousands of Arab Muslims live in Israel as well.
Mullah Abdul Hakeem (Ghulam Ghaus Hazarvi et al) also made reference to the Arab defeats and Israeli aggression (page 2486-87) and somehow linked it with Ahmadis. A detailed response to these allegations was given by Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih III (a.r) during Friday 23rd of August proceedings. (page 1230 onwards).
As a community, Ahmadiyya Jamaa't has always been critical of the state of Israel* and its creation through violence and occupation. Sir. Zafrullah Khan was hailed as a hero of the Arab cause when he defended the Arab nations in United Nations against Israeli aggression.
These are only a few examples from these two speeches which were the Deobandi (JUI) response to Ahmadiyya Muslim Mahzarnama.
'Qadiani' Kalima
One MNA, Inayat-ur-Rahman Abbasi spoke about the Kalima written on the entrance of a Mosque in Africa. Due to the poor picture quality and the unusual calligraphy (Kufi), Maulvis found the evidence that Ahmadis read Ahmadur Rusoolullah instead of Muhammadur Rusoolullah.
People have seen better UFO evidnece than this!
When Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih III (ar) was asked about this by Yahya Bakhtiyar,(pages 312-315) he pointed to 'tashdeed' on the letter Ma in the word they wanted to read as Ahmad. There is extra emphasis on the second letter Ma in Muhammad. It was also pointed out to the committee that Rabita-e-Alame-Islami's official publications printed the same picture in an Anti-Ahmadiyya article but did not object to the Kalima. i.e, they understood it to be the same Kalima written on all the mosques around the world.
After the delegation left for the day, Maulana Zafar Ansari had a look at the magazine handed over to the committee as evidence. He tried his best to prove that the article was critical of 'subversive' Qadiani activities in Africa in the hope that people would also accept the lie about the Kalima (pages 340-345) This was indeed a sign of their frustration on being caught out lying. One of many to come during the proceedings.
Sir Zafrullah Khan; Jurist, lawyer, statesman, writer, historian, scholar, Judge of ICJ. But still of 'sub-standard intellect' for some.
A couple of non-Mullah MNAs exposed their mental state and of that committee on the 2nd of September.
M. Afzal Randhawa wanted the government to investigate the secret funding Ahmadis receive from Israel. He also expressed the opinion that as Ahmadis are not Muslims, they can't even be good Pakistanis. (page 2797-2800)
Chaudhary Mumtaz Ahmad had the decency to accept at least on historic fact that the Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) defeated christian missionaries in debates. (page 2803), but he repeated the same story of British sponsorship and the intent to divide the Muslims.
Makhdoom Noor Muhammad revealed that Sir Zafrulla and M.M. Ahmad both were of inferior intellect; (an opinion that the whole world disagrees with) he then proceeds to quote Shaikh Mujeeb-ur-Rahman who blamed a 'syndicate of Qadiani Generals' behind the East Pakistan situation and threw in a few Tel Aviv references too for good measure. This honorable member also disclosed that Ahmadis also tried to sabotaged the Independence of Indonesia (pages 2820-2822), something that will even surprise the Indonesian historians.
* In 1939, Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) wrote a tract against the scheme to settle Jews from around the world in Palestine. This was widely published and very well received by many leading Arab newspapers. Reference to this was made by Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih III on 1247-1250 of the documents.
Group's Israeli leader says aim was to show different face of Islam.
By Revital Hovel
Aug.28, 2012
2:08 AM Courtesy: Haaretz.com
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community leader Muhammad Sharif Odeh with the Yiddish text in Haifa in August 2012. 'We had to make sure our neighbors could read the Koran too.'Photo by Haggai Frid
Members of a Muslim sect that translated parts of the Koran into Yiddish are marking 25 years since that translation was published.
The president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Israel, Muhammad Sharif Odeh, said the group translated select parts of the Koran into Yiddish in order to present a different face of Islam. In addition, said Odeh, "We decided we had to make sure that our neighbors could also read the Koran."
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the only Islamic community that believes the Messiah has come. Adherents believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, born in 1835, was the "metaphorical second coming of Jesus ... whose advent was foretold by the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad," according to the website. "God sent Ahmad, like Jesus, to end religious wars, condemn bloodshed and reinstitute morality, justice and peace," say believers.
There are some 2,000 Ahmadiyya Muslims in Israel; most of them reside in Haifa's Kababir neighborhood. The sect says it has tens of millions of followers in more than 200 countries.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community translated parts of the Koran into Yiddish in 1987. The sect chose Yiddish, one of 100 languages into which it has translated parts of the sacred book of Islam, so that "Yiddish speakers who wanted to know about us would be able to do so without language being an obstacle," Odeh explained.
The decision to translate the Koran into Yiddish was made by the community's religious leader at the time, the fourth Caliph, Mirza Tahir Ahmad, who was living then in Pakistan. The current Caliph, the fifth, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, resides in the United Kingdom.
Odeh said the particular selections that were translated show that Islam is "not the way it is presented in Afghanistan." He noted, for example, "Before the Koran, women did not have rights. The Koran gives women full protection on the spiritual level and gives her an independent status." Odeh has been head of the local Ahmadiyya community for 13 years.
Most Israelis know little about the sect, which is considered peaceful and non-proselytizing. Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav has gone so far as to call them "Reform Arabs." The community's motto is "Love for all, hatred for none."
"You don't hear about us because we don't throw rocks at buses," Odeh said. "We believe that nothing can be achieved through hatred and hostility." He said he is very worried about the talk of a possible war with Iran, and that the Caliph recently appealed to all world leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to avoid a war. "Netanyahu didn't respond, Queen Elizabeth actually did," Odeh reported.
Odeh said the concept of secularism is foreign to the Ahmadiyya community. "Everyone prays, some come to the mosque and others pray at home." Believers express their faith in concrete ways as well. Wealthier members tithe at least 10 percent of their monthly income to the community; everyone else gives six percent. The sect does not accept government funds, on principle. One quarter of the money collected from local members is passed on to fund the sect's international activities.
Kababir is considered a mixed neighborhood, with a significant minority of Jews in addition to the Ahmadiyya majority, and city officials view it as a model of coexistence.
"Haifa is an example par excellence of living together," Odeh said, adding, "It's not coexistence, it's monoexistence, as it were. What is coexistence? In my view it's when everyone keeps their distinctiveness and does not seek to assimilate. Residents of the neighborhood don't feel different, it's a matter of education, that's the idea of Ahmadiyya." According to Odeh, there is a growing trend of West Bank Palestinians joining the Ahmadiyya community.
"Ideology is not fought with weapons," he said. "Even if you're under occupation Islam does not allow you to hurt others. Nothing can be solved with hatred."
