My faith, My crime.

I remember clearly the moment when I realized for the first time that I was a criminal.

It was the autumn of 1993 in Rawalpindi, where I went to college. It was the living room of a friend of mine. We must have been having our usual contests of who can impress the other with the best trivia and unusual facts as teenager do, when my friend triumphantly stated

'If an Ahmadi says Azan (the Muslim call to prayers) he can be jailed for three years'.

I must have left a long gap between his trivia and whatever astonishing fact he expected me to return.

'Its in a book in my father's library'. He said. Obviously thinking that I didn't believe him. 'Its in the Pakistan Penal Code.'

I changed the subject. I must have thought of something to say. I can't remember much from that day, apart from a sense of anxiety that I usually felt in certain situations.

My friend did not know that I was an Ahmadi.

I told him about my faith a few months later. Surprisingly enough, he was OK with it. He was one of the rare few who remained my friends after knowing about my faith.

Such situations came way too often in my life. My family had to move from town to town due to my father's job. And each new move brought with it new classmates, new neighbours and new friends. All of whom would start wondering why I don't go to the nearest mosque for prayers. I suppose the grown-ups soon figured out the reason. It was however far too tricky for us children.

Most of my friend found out about my faith through gossip. I seldom had to volunteer the information and not many asked me directly. Being an Ahmadi in the post-Islamization Pakistan was dangerous. You could get beaten up or bullied in schools, by both the teachers and your classmates. I remember a classmate who would just casually walk up to me and punch me in the back saying that it was an act of 'sawab' (to be rewarded by God) to hit a 'kafir' (infidel). It was of course done as a crude joke, so I did my best to avoid him.

In another school, our science teacher would spend a whole hour explaining to us that Qadianis (Ahmadis) are kafirs. He knew fully well that there was a Qadiani 12 year old in his class. Fortunately, not many in my class knew that it was me. Funny thing is, that I liked that teacher because I like science and he was good at teaching it.

I knew that the dictator, General Zia had passed laws against us Ahmadis, and due to these laws, our 'Huzoor', the Khalifatul Masih had to leave Pakistan. We used to listen to his sermons through audio-tapes which were played at various prayer centers and Mosques that we used to attend for our Friday prayers.

But I was not aware of the real implications of these laws until I heard my friend pronounce the three year jail term for reciting the Azan.

I must have recited the call to prayers hundreds of times in my childhood. It is one of the first things we Ahmadis are taught as children. A Muslim must know the words as without the Azan, a congregation cannot offer any of their five daily prayers. I also learnt how to read the Quran, even memorizing some long passages. I offered my prayers in the manner no different to my Sunni friends. I went to the Ahmadiyya Mosque which looked no different than the Sunni Mosques. Our Imams read the same Arabic prayers before and after their sermons. We had two Eid celebrations, a month of fasting which started and finished with all the other Muslim sects.

But according to the Pakistan Penal Code, I was a criminal since April, 1984. I was a non-Muslim for the purposes of the Constitution by birth, thanks to Bhutto's 2nd amendment in 1974.

It would only require one police report to ensure I was thrown in Jail. At 17 years of age, I was a habitual criminal. I broke the Pakistani law on a daily basis. This realization dawned upon me on an autumn day while I was having a cup of tea in my friend's living room. This realization did not leave my mind for the next decade or so. I finally got free of its burden by leaving Pakistan.

You can understand that I was never a fan of General Zia, The architect of Afghan 'jihad' and the benefactor of the monstrosity that we now call the Taliban. He took it upon himself to rid the country of this 'cancer' of Qadianiyat which was a threat to both his version of Islam and his idea of Pakistan. The 2nd amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan had already paved the way for his ordinance XX. His aim was to decapitate the Ahmadiyya organization by going after the office of the Khalifatul Masih, the worldwide spiritual leader of the Ahmadi Muslims. The verbage used in the law was obviously aimed to target the Khalifatul Masih. His plans were foiled when Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV, Mirza Tahir Ahmad left the country before a reason could be created for his arrest.

Zia died in a plane crash in 1988. But his laws survived the plane crash and the democracy which followed. No one dared touch any Islamic laws that Zia had enacted, including the notorious blasphemy and the Hudood laws. Even the liberal dictator, General Musharraf left these laws well alone. A dictator can suspend the constitution as many times as he likes, but its Islamic clauses remain valid at all times.




Some so-called liberal Pakistanis think that these laws have no real impact on the majority of the Ahmadis living in Pakistan. How wrong they are!





Since 1984, no new Mosques have been allowed to be built by the Ahmadis, hundreds of criminal cases brought against them for using the Islamic greetings or other Quranic texts in speech or in writing. Many more cases have been registered against Ahmadis for 'hurting the feelings' of the Muslims. Hundreds of Ahmadis have been murdered and their murderers walk free in most cases. These laws have made it impossible for Ahmadis to seek or even expect Justice in the courts of law.



In addition to this, Ahmadis are fair game for the notorious blasphemy laws too. An Ahmadi, just by being an Ahmadi is automatically guilty of blasphemy. How dare they believe in a prophet after the Last Prophet? How dare they believe in revelation after the Quran?

 Ordinance XX bars me from defending myself when such allegations were thrown at me. Any attempt to explain my beliefs were to be taken as proselytisation, which is a crime.

We cannot print books or sell and distribute them to non-Ahmadis. We cannot hold debates or seminars to share our ideas with others. We cannot print advertisements in newspapers or even expect them to print unbiased news regarding us. Even when we are massacred in our hundreds, the press struggles to report it as a human tragedy. But all care is taken to ensure that our mosques are not referred to as mosques in their reports.

Ahmadis have been relegated to a sub-human category of creatures in Pakistan.

I often think what will it take for Pakistanis to take a decisive step in correcting this grave injustice in their name? I think of all my non-Ahmadi friends I left behind in Pakistan and wonder what they thought about these laws really. Not many had the courage to condemn these laws. They thought that this was a religious matter and should never be discussed between good friends.

But this is not a religious matter at all. These laws were the menifestation of demagoguery of the clergy and arrogance of a ruthless dictator. If anything, these laws are an insult to the religion of Islam.


To help repeal these unjust laws, I urge you to sign this petition.

میں یہ کس کے نام لکھّوں

میں یہ کس کے نام لکھّوں جو الم گزر رہے ہیں
مرے شہر جل رہے ہیں مرے لوگ مر رہے ہیں

کوئی غنچہ ہو کہ گُل ہو کوئی شاخ ہو شجر ہو
وہ ہوائے گُلستاں ہے کہ سبھی بکھر رہے ہیں

کبھی رحمتیں تھیں نازل اسی خطّہء زمیں پر
وہی خطہء زمیں ہے کہ عذاب اتر رہے ہیں

وہی طائروں کے جھرمٹ جو ہَوا میں جھولتے تھے
وہ فضا کو دیکھتے ہیں تو اب آہ بھر رہے ہیں

بڑی آرزو تھی ہم کو نئے خواب دیکھنے کی
سو اب اپنی زندگی میں نئے خواب بھر رہے ہیں

کوئی اور تو نہیں ہے پس ِ خنجر آزمائی
ہمیں قتل ہو رہے ہیں، ہمیں قتل کر رہے ہیں

عبید اللہ علیم

Not Forgotten. Abdul Haleem and Abdullah Khan- Martyrs of Kabul:

Alfazl, 17 Dec, 1926 published this article.

Hadhrat Maulvi Abdul Haleem Sahib and Hadhrat Maulvi Abdullah Khan Sahib; Eye witness account of Stoning of the Prisoners of Kabul (1925)- As told to Fazl Kareem

“The person who narrated to me the event related to Hazrat Maulana Abdul Haleem Sahib and Maulvi Abdullah Khan Sahib, had me promise him not to divulge his name. He has narrated the events after swearing to God Almighty, and as far as it is possible, I will reproduce his words accurately. I and a relative of mine were listening to this story. We had our emotions under control. But the narration was of such nature that Ahmadi or not, even the most cold hearted person would have shivered after listening to it. There was a lady, a relative of the narrator sitting close by. He eyes welled up and she started crying Mercy, Mercy and asking forgiveness from God. She said “Only God knows why these Kabulis are so cruel and stone hearted- Will they not be punished for this? Did they not feel a little bit of mercy that they slaughtered men like sheep and goat?” She started cursing the Kabulis and for many hours she stayed in the same state crying for forgiveness.”
From near my shop, ten or fifteen policemen were escorting two prisoners to some place. One of them was a youth, of about 30 years of age. And the other was a middle-aged man of more than 50 years. Both had chains around their feet. Both had turbans on their heads and were wearing trousers and coats with shoes on their feet. Behind them was a great procession of people which kept swelling as they walked through the market. People were chatting and laughing like they were going to watch an entertaining show.

A town crier was announcing that these two Qadianis will be stoned to death according to the decision of the Qazi after Asr (afternoon) prayers. Both criminals were silent, with ashen faces. The older man (Abdul Haleem) had a prayer bead and he was reciting something. We knew that the stoning will take place at Asiya Bai, so I arrived there with some of my friends. Then we were told that it will be done at Sherpur instead. So we went to Sherpur. We saw a huge crowd there and many people were still arriving. After a while, the Qazi arrived on a carriage. As soon as he arrived, he ordered the chains to be broken and the condemned were told that they can now pray salat or nafls as they wished. Both of them prayed two or four raka’ats each (I don’t remember exactly). People were standing on high spots around the ground where the condemned were standing. After prayers, both had their turbans and coats removed, leaving only their shirts and trousers on them. Then they were pushed towards the lower ground. I did not hear it myself, but people said that both of them were saying that it will be decided on the day of judgement about who is right.

Finally the Qazi picked up a stone and threw it at them. As soon as he did that, people who were already standing with stones gathered in the fronts of their shirts started raining stones at them. They were about 15-20 yards from them.

Here I asked the narrator if the condemned cried or shrieked at all. He said that I was very near them, but did not hear anything from them. Then he said that the old man (Abdul Haleem) was being hit by the stones, he placed both his hands on his face and kneeled to the ground; until he was buried half under the stones. Then a stone hit his head and as with immense pain he sat up with his hands still on his face, as one sits in prayer. His face and head were dripping with blood and in the same state he passed away.

The other criminal who was younger (Maulvi Abdullah Khan) kept standing. Every time when a stone hit him, he fell, but then stood up again; fell again and stood up again; he kept struggling to get up every time, but could not keep standing. And this is how he died too. Both had so many stones thrown at them that they were buried under the stones and we could not see anything but stones after some time.

When asked if he also thew stones, the narrator said that yes, I threw 20-25 stones. I asked, how big were the stones thrown by the people? He said that they were about 2-3 kilos each. It was a hill and whatever one could find was thrown. When asked what was he thinking when he threw the stones, he did not answer directly and said that at that time his thoughts were very different.

In this context, I (Fazl Kareem) should also narrate another incidence that Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih (Mirza Basheerudeen Mahmood) also mentioned in one of his speeches. A man belonging to Rawalpindi wrote to a friend from Kabul that those two Qadianis whose stoning you were waiting so eagerly and were postponing your departure to India for the very same reason were finally stoned to death recently. I have also thrown a few stones on your behalf so that you may also partake of the blessings of the event. Congratulations to you! When this man read the news he shared it with much happiness and glee with his friends and also mentioned this to Ahmadis as a gesture of mockery. We were not aware of this news in Qadian yet. As if this was a great victory to these people. Alas these people do not understand that this was no great victory, but a humiliating defeat. Victory went to those who attained eternal life and whose name will be remembered for days to come and generations will be praying for them. And the same land of Kabul will bear fruit from this blessed blood.

(The above has been translated from Urdu to keep the memory of the two Martyrs alive, 85 years after the event took place in Kabul, Afghanistan)

A Letter to Abbas Ather. Daily Express Pakistan.

Dear Abbas Ather sahib,

AssalamoAlykum,

I saw you on Point Blank where Ahmadiyya spokesman was invited for the first time in the history of Pakistan media to speak for our community. I thank you for taking part in such an historic programme and congratulate you on your bravery and honesty. May Allah protect you and all those who are supporting the Ahmadi right to citizenship of Pakistan.

While reading your Urdu column Ahmadiyon ka masla, I was disappointed to see that you considered Ahmadiyya spokesman's effort to answer Shami sahib as Tabligh (proselytizing). Mujeebur Rehman Shami is a known anti-ahmadi who published a whole issue of Urdu digest against the Jamaat, and his questions (rather comments) were loaded with prejudice. When confronted with such questions, neither I, nor any ahmadi can leave them without answers because the ordinary listener takes the impression that we indeed ridicule Islam or consider them "kafirs".

I have no problems with your assertions that there can be no punjabi nabi. My problem starts when it is implied that Ahmadis do not love or respect the Holy Prophet (saw) like other Muslims. This misconception has been exploited by the mullah to stir hatred against us in Pakistan and I urge you not to fall prey to such fallacies. Attaulla shah Bukhari used to repeat the same trick in every speech, so did all his colleagues in Ahrar, which resulted in murders and agitation across the country. May I also remind you that barelvis say that wahabis and deobandis are disrespectful of Holy Prophet (saw) and vice versa. In fact, I believe that it is only Ahmadis who know and believe in the true status of Holy Prophet (saw), and follow his example in the truest manner.

Ahmadis believe that Tabligh is the Jihad of our times and thus, this email is also a form of Jihad. I also don't mind if you think that Ahmadis take every opportunity to do tabligh. I may disagree with some anecdotal evidence you provided in your articles as I am personally not aware of "a house in paradise" for those who become Ahmadis. Yes, I do know that their lives in Pakistan become hell if they accept Ahmadiyyat.

I also know that many Pakistanis and Bangladeshis who claim asylum in the West are not Ahmadis but claim to have been converted and now face death. Infact, it is believed that a majority of asylum applications in these countries are from those who pretend to have converted. You will understand that any ideological movement can not accept "fake" members who have been lured into becoming members. This simply doesn't work and you may have seen from the reaction by the Jamaat in Pakistan, that Ahmadis are Ahmadis by conviction and not due to promise of a better life in Europe or North America.

You have mentioned the "prophecies" about the death of Bhutto and Zia. If these prophecies are tabligh, then I am afraid this tabligh continues. Our Khalifatul Masih has prayed that all the enemies of Ahmadiyyat will be punished by the truth of Kalima we recite. InshaAllah. Lets be witnesses of this in the coming days.

May Allah protect ordinary Pakistanis from the punishment that these extremists are bringing on to themselves. Maybe it is people like you who can spread tolerance which may save Pakistan one day.

wassalam,

Lutf ul Islam.