September 2013

Editors:

Shahid Aziz Mustaq Ali

Contents: Page

The Call of the Messiah 1 Islam is Way More English than the EDL by Tim Stanley 3 The Origin and Growth of Hadith Literature by Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ali 3 Revival of the Faith by Maulana Abdul Haq Vidyarthi 4 Mujaddids and Armed Jihad translated by Shahid Aziz 7

م می

حالر

ن

م

ح اہلل الر

م س

ب

Call of the Messiah

by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi

The four fountains It should by now be evident that in Surah Fati-hah after ل

لل

د

م

ح

ل ,God Most High , ا

having cited these four attributes

as the four founts of good and

grace, has directed in the verses

that follow that one should seek

benefit from each of these sources. From the phrase ل

لل

د

م

ح

ل ا

down to نی مل الدل

و

کل ی لل

these م

obviously constitute five different

things –

ل لل

د

م

ح

ل

ا

نی مل الل

ع

ال

ب

ر

نل

م

ح

لر ا

می حل

الر

نی مل الدل

و

کل ی لل

م

- and the five phrases that follow

stand in a complementary relationship with

them as superbly expressed elaborations. The statement د

ب

ع

ن

اک

ی ل relates to ال

لل

د

م

ح

ل

indicating , ا

that only that Being with perfect attributes

Whose name is Allah is wor thy of worship and adoration; the statement ین عل

ت

س

ن

لاک

ی relates to ال

ب

ر

نی مل الل

ع

pointing to the fact that we seek help , ال

from the mighty fount of God’s Ru‍bubiyyat,

which is the most extensive and comprehensive

source of good, since without the benefit of

God’s Rububiyyat it is absolutely impossible to

make any progress or grow externally as well

as internally, or have any unimpaired change of

condition, or have a share in spiritual renewal; the words

م

ی قل

ت

س

م

ال

اط

ر

ا الص

ن دل

ھ correspond to ال نل

م

ح

لر

ا

in that the person who recites and repeats

می قل

ت

س

م

ال

اط

ر

seeks benefit from the الص

fountainhead of نل

م

ح

لر for no one has any right , ا

or entitlement to guidance, but rather this

treasure is to be had only through God’s Rah-maniyyat; the term

م ھل

ی

ل

ع

ت

م

ع

ن ا

ن

ی ذل

ال

اط

ر stands صل

in relationship with می حل

in that the man who الر

recites and repeats

م ھلی

ل

ع

ت

م

ع

ن

ا

ن

ی ذل

ال

اط

ر seeks صل

benefit from the fountainhead of می حل

for it , الر

September

2013

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means “O Thou Who answerest

prayers out of thy mercy and

grace! Show us the path of the

apostles and the truthful and

the faithful who, having thrown

themselves deeply in supplica-

tion and striving, received from

Thee the favour of various

forms of knowledge, truths,

vi sions and revelations, and at-

tained to and reached the stage

of perfect knowledge and wis-

dom by means of their perpet-

ual prayer, humility and noble deeds”; the phrase بل

و

ض

غ

م

یرل ال

غ

ناللی

الض

ل

و

م ھل

ی

ل

مل answers to ع

و

کل ی لل

م

نی in that one who recites الدل

and repeats

م ھلی

ل

بل ع

و

ض

غ

م

یرل ال

غ

نی الل

الض

ل

seeks benefit from the و

fountainhead of نی مل الدل

و

کل ی لل

and م

it means “O! Thou Master of the

day of Requital! Save us from

the calamity that, on account of thy displeasure,

we be smitten in this world like the Jews with

afflictions such as plague, etc., or that, having

gone astray like the Christians from the path of

salvation, be held deserving of punishment in

the next world.” In this verse, the Christians have been called ن

ی الل

for the reason that no الض

visitation of Divine displeasure has come upon

them in this world, and this community has only

fallen away from the path to the next world’s

salvation and are, therefore, liable to be pun-

ished in the Hereafter. But the Jews have been given the name of م ھل

ی

ل

بل ع

و

ض

غ

م

for the reason ال

that, even in this world, great calamities and

chastisements befell them and afflicted them on

account of their wrongdoing, plague being one

of those instruments of punishment. Since the

Jews not only accused the prophets of God and

righteous persons of falsehood and rejected

them, but also put many of them to death, con-

spired against their lives and tormented and

troubled them with foul and filthy speech, God’s

indignation, being provoked from time to time

by their wicked behaviour, afflicted them with

various chastisements. Many a time hundreds of

thousands of Jews were annihilated by plague,

and many a time thousands of them were either

put to the sword or taken to

other lands as prisoners. The

final result was that after the

death of Jesus (peace be on

him), they remained perpetu-ally م ھل

ی

ل

بل ع

و

ض

غ

م

those upon‘) ال

whom wrath is brought down’).

Since it was known to God Most

High that they were a perverse

people, they had accordingly

been threatened in the Torah

for the most part with the pun-

ishments of this world. Many a

time Divine wrath descended

upon them in a horrible form,

since they used to oppress the

righteous servants of God with

their hands and tongues, and

this is why heaven’s wrath

waxed hot against them in this

very world so that they might

serve as a warning to those people who, in time

to come, would oppose the apostles of God and

His righteous servants in the same way and tor-

ment them, or hatch dark plots to have them put

them to death or held in disrepute.

A warning

In the teaching of this prayer, therefore, there is

an implicit suggestion that you should eschew

and avoid the temperament and attitude of the

Jews and that, if an apostle of God should ap-

pear among you, you should not, like the Jews,

play a rash and reckless game, and subject him

to torment or anguish, accusing him of false-

hood, that it may not be that by calling a truthful

man a liar and subjecting him to a variety of

agonies and speaking ill of and slandering him,

you might also, like the Jews, become the target

of Divine wrath. But it is regrettable indeed that

the people of this ummah, too, have always

stumbled and fallen and have learnt no lesson

from the history of the Jews. What a warning it

was, of which heed should have been taken, that

the Jews had been given the promise of the re-

turn of the prophet Elias, and it was written in

the scripture that until Elias returned to this

earth a second time, Jesus would not make his

appearance. The Jews, then, putting their own

Yellowstone National Park

September 2013

3

followers to cherish their families, to venerate

women, to treat strangers kindly, to obey the law

of any country they are in (yes, yes, it really does),

and to give generously. One recent poll found that

British Muslims donate more money to charity

than any other religious group. Much is written

about the need for Muslims to integrate better into

English society, although

I’m sure 99 per cent of

them already do. But I

hope they retain as

much of their religious

identity as possible – it

is vastly superior to the

materialist, secular

mess that they’re being

compelled to become a

part of.

I’m not one of those

New Labour metropoli-

tan types who wants to

create a rainbow nation

of hippies – I’m a cultural conservative, a Catholic

chauvinist and a defender of everything worth

venerating. But it’s precisely because I’m a tradi-

tionalist that I look at Islam and see much to ad-

mire – ordered, sensitive to the sacred, civi lised….

(Editor’s Note: The above is a short extract from

Tim Stanley’s original online article on the blogs

pages of The Telegraph. For the full article see

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/

timstanley/100230090/islam-is-way-more-english-

than-the-edf/.)

The Origin and Growth

of Hadith Literature

by Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Ali

Sunnah or Hadith is admittedly the second source

– and undoubtedly a secondary one – from which

the teachings of Islam are drawn. Sunnah literally

means a way or rule or manner of acting or mode of

life, and Hadith literally means a saying conveyed

to man either through hearing or through revela-

tion.1 In its original sense, therefore, Sunnah indi-

cates the practice, and Hadith the sayings, of the

Holy Prophet; but practically both cover the same

literal interpretation on the sacred text, unani-

mously adopted the doctrine that the return of the

prophet Elias to this earth was absolutely neces-

sary and essential; and it was in accordance with

this belief that they could not accept Jesus (peace

be on him), and queried how Jesus could come

when Elias had not as yet returned to this earth a

second time as prom-

ised. This literalism

landed them in great

trouble. It was, in reality,

the root-cause of all

their misfortune and

adversity that they im-

posed a literal interpre-

tation on a metaphorical

statement of the Sacred

Scripture, and that all

their divines subscribed

with one voice to the

view that before the ad-

vent of the Messiah the

coming of Elias to this world for a second visit was

absolutely necessary, and laughed at and ridiculed

the interpretation that by Elias was meant John the

Baptist (whom the Muslims call Yahya), who had

come in the spirit and power of Elias, and queried

why, if it was meant that not Elias himself but his

likeness would return to this world, God Most High

did not say so in the prophecy that the likeness of

Elias would appear prior to the advent of the Mes-

siah. In this way, their hearts became hardened

and obdurate, and they branded a righteous man a

heretic and a liar.

Islam is Way More English

Than the EDL

by Tim Stanley

…. Today our meetings with foreign cultures are

awkward precisely because we lack a solid sense

of who we are. A lot of the fear shown towards

Is lam comes from the death of the Christian soul –

we see a people who actually believe in something

and we are intimidated.

By contrast, most Muslims cling on to values

that were once definitively English and that we

could do with rediscovering. Islam instructs its

Hamilton Pool, Texas, USA

4

September 2013

ground and are applicable to his

actions, practices, and sayings,

Hadith being the narration and re-

cord of the Sunnah, but containing

in addition some prophetical and

historical elements. Sunnah is di-

vided into three kinds. It may be a

qaul, i.e., an utterance or a saying of

the Holy Prophet which has a bear-

ing on a religious question; a fi‘l, i.e.,

his action or practice; or a taqrir,

i.e., his silent approval of the action

or practice of another. Anyone who

studies the Qur’an will see that the

Holy Book generally deals with the

broad principles or essentials of

religion, going into details in very

rare cases. The details were gener-

ally supplied by the Holy Prophet,

by either showing in his practice

how an injunction was to be carried out or by

giving an explanation in words. The Sunnah or

Hadith of the Holy Prophet was not a thing of

which the need may have been felt after his

death, as is generally supposed; it was as much

needed in his lifetime. The two most important

religious institutions of Islam, for instance, are

salat (prayer) and zakat (compulsory charity).

Yet when the injunctions relating to them were

given, and they are repeatedly met with both in

Mecca and Medina revelations, no details were

given. Aqimu al-salata (or keep up prayers) is

the Qur’anic injunction, and it was the Prophet

who by his action gave the details of the service.

Atuz al-zakah (or pay the zakat) is again an in-

junction frequently repeated in the Holy Qur’an,

yet it was the Holy Prophet who gave the rules

and regulations for its payment and collection.

These are only two examples. As Islam covers

the whole sphere of human activities, hundreds

of points had to be explained by the Holy

Prophet by his example, action and word. On the

moral side, he was the exemplar whom every

Muslim was required to follow (33:21). The man

who embraced Islam, therefore, stood in need of

both the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah,

(From: Maulana Muhammad Ali, Introduction to

the Study of Hadith, Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at

Islam, Lahore, Pakistan, n.d., pp. 1 – 2.)

Revival of the Faith

by Maulana Abdul Haq Vidyarthi

(This article – reproduced here with minor

amendments – has been translated by Dr Zahid

Aziz from the Urdu original, written in 1968 on

the 60th anniversary of the demise of Hazrat

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and published in Paigham-i

Sulh,‍ the‍Urdu‍ journal‍of‍ the‍Lahore‍Ahmadiyya‍

Move‍ment. It may be read online at:

http://www.abdulhaq.info/english/revival.pdf.)

The Sūra Yā Sīn (ch. 36 of the Holy Quran) is

cus tomarily read before a Muslim on his death-

bed, in order to turn his mind away from this

world and to the next. The idea is good, but not

A view of the earth from the moon – the beauty that man is destroying in his arrogance

1. Hence the Holy Qur’an is also spoken of as Hadith

(18:6; 39:23). The word sunnah is used in the Holy

Qur’an in a general sense meaning a way or rule. Thus

sunnat-ul-awwalin (8:38; 15:13; 18:55; 35:43) means

the way or example of the former people and is fre-

quently used in the Holy Qur’an as signifying God’s way

of dealing with people, which is also spoken of as sunnat

-ullah or God’s way. Once, however, the plural sunan is

used as indicating the ways in which men ought to walk:

“God desires to explain to you, and to guide you into the

ways (Ar. Sunan) of those before you” (4:26).

September 2013

5

as beneficial as it is thought to be. If a man

ne glected the Quran all his life, what can he gain

by listening to it when dying? We are reminded

of a story that a Nawab (aristocratic ruler) in the

Muslim state of Hyderabad Deccan, India, heard

that there was an old woman who recited the

Quran melodiously. So he engaged her to live in

his mansion and recite the Quran day and night.

One day, as the Nawab passed by her, hearing

her recitation he asked her what she was read-

ing. “Sūra Yā Sīn,” she replied. The Nawab was

struck with terror: “You are reading Yā Sīn!” he

exclaimed; “You accursed woman! You are going

to cause someone to die.” With these words, he

expelled her from his house!

The Sūra Yā Sīn does not deliver the mes-

sage of death to the living; on the contrary, it

gives life to the dead and revives decayed bones.

At the close of this chapter, there occur the

words:

“Says he (man): Who will give life to

the bones, when they are rotten? Say:

He will give life to them Who brought

them into existence at first, and He is

Knower of all creation, Who made for

you fire from the green tree, so that

from it you kindle.” (36:78–80)

Many scientific truths are conveyed in

this verse. The basis of life on earth is

the green matter contained in plants.

Discoveries in biological science tell

us that life on earth began with

plants. At that time there was only

water and salt available, which could

support plant life of a primitive kind,

like algae on the sea-bed. Gradually,

plants evolved and became more ad-

vanced. This is what is meant by the

words:

“And We made from water everything

living.” (21:30)

Life did not reach the animal stage

from algae in a single step, but passed

through numerous stages in evolu-

tion. No one knows how many stages

had to be passed through from the

algae to flowering plants and magnifi-

cent trees. Just as from the dim light of the glow-

worm to the brightly shining sun, there are in-

numerable grades of light and heat, similarly

there are countless stages in the evolution of

plant life. “He is Knower of all creation” means

that He knows not only all kinds of creation, but

is the creator and knower of all these stages as

well.

Animal life from ‘green matter’

Commentators of the Quran have taken the “fire

from the green tree” to refer to certain trees

whose branches produce sparks by friction

when they rub against one another. But these

words do not refer to any accidental production

of fire or any particular type of tree. Scientists

tell us that in almost every type of tree there is a

green substance called chlorophyll which not

only provides the basis of supporting the life of

the tree but all animal life is dependent on its

action as well. This green substance, within

6

September 2013

which exists the fuel of life of all animals, pro-

duces the ‘fire’ of life (oxygen), upon which de-

pends all plant and animal life.

However, chlorophyll by itself is not suffi-

cient. In fact, it is in a sense a burden on the tree.

So when the tree can no longer make use of it, it

sheds it. In the autumn when heat and light

from the sun start to diminish, and the leaves

cannot perform their function, nature causes

trees to shed the burden of leaves.

The sun That great sea of fire and heat, by those help

chlorophyll does its wonderful work, is the sun.

It is rightly said: “Without the sun there would

be no life at all upon this earth, no light and no

life”. The chapter Yā Sīn is a grand exposition of

the power and the blessings of the sun, which

brings life to earth after its death. In Arabic, He-

brew, and in fact all Semitic languages, the

words sīn (where s is the letter sīn) and ṣīn

(where ṣ is the letter ṣād) are used with the

meaning of ‘the rising sun in the east’. The Arabs

call China aṣ-ṣīn (ṣ being ṣād here) because for

them it lies in the direction from where the sun

rises. In Semitic languages, the word for a year

is sana (s being the letter sīn) because the sun is

the basis for measuring the year.

The purpose of the Holy Quran is not to

teach astronomy but to convey, in

the words “Yā Sīn! By the Quran

full of wisdom. You are certainly

one of the messengers” (36:1–3)

that the spiritual sun of the world

is the Holy Prophet Muhammad,

who is elsewhere called “a light-

giving sun” (33:46). Jesus is called

“the morning star” (Revelation,

22:16) because he came to deliver

the good news of the coming of

this sun, the Holy Prophet Muham-

mad. The mention of the Quran

shows that it is due to the Quran

that the Holy Prophet became a

light-giving sun.

The working of chlorophyll

Although the source of life is the sun, it is the

green matter in plant life which, taking the light

from the sun, becomes the source of life for both

plant life and other life. Just as chlorophyll, with the

help of the sun’s light and heat, breaks up carbon

dioxide into its life-giving constituents, so does the

spiritual tree, by receiving light from the Holy

Quran, separate good and evil, and give life to the

Ummah.

The words which follow, “so that from it you

kindle”, do not refer to burning wood but to man

kindling the fire of spiritual life within himself.

Chlorophyll is a wonder of nature because it is ex-

tremely difficult to break down the carbon dioxide

in the air into carbon and oxygen. To do this in a

scientific laboratory requires creating high tem-

peratures of thousands of degrees with expensive

equipment and noisy machinery. Yet the leaf of a

green tree, with the aid of sunlight, and without any

expense or noise, can separate carbon and oxygen

from ordinary air and support the life of countless

animals. Is this not a strong proof of the existence

of God, that only a Knowing and Wise Power can

bring this about?

Rising of the sun of Islam throughout the whole world

The sun whose blessings are mentioned in the

chapter Yā Sīn bears a perfect analogy to the Holy

Prophet Muhammad. This sun is to rise twice, once

upon the eastern world and once upon the western

world. This is the meaning of the Quranic verse

“Lord of the two Easts and the two Wests” (55:17),

The power of nature: a lightning strike

September 2013

7

i.e. this spiritual sun will be the nourisher of

both the east and the west, and his religion will

illuminate the whole world. But when shall this

come to pass? It will happen when centres of the

propagation of Islam are established in the

western world, and the Holy Quran is translated

into European languages, so that the “light-

giving sun” rises upon those lands.

It is no secret who in this present age laid

the foundations of this grand work. In his first

book, Barāhīn Aḥmadiyya, the proofs of the truth

of the Holy Prophet Muhammad that Hazrat

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad has presented from the

Holy Quran constitute a brilliant introduction to

the Quran. However, his aim that 300 such argu-

ments will be presented could not be fulfilled

for some Divinely ordained reason. After read-

ing the four parts of this excellent book, you

wish that you could enjoy some more of this

fruit of knowledge. But if Hazrat Mirza sahib

had exhausted all the Quranic knowledge and

the proofs of the truth of the Holy Prophet, he

would have deprived us of the pleasure of work

and research, and barred the way for us to show

our love for the Holy Prophet. But these “green

trees” do not come to make man’s reason and

intellect redundant; on the contrary, they make

it sharper and clearer.

In our age, according to Dr Sir Muhammad

Iqbal, it was only Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

who showed love for the Holy Quran, this being

his way of showing love for the Holy Prophet

Muhammad since the Holy Prophet’s own be-

loved was the Quran.

Hazrat Mirza raises tone of discussion

There was a time when the Ulama debated and discussed issues such as the following: whether in prayer one should raise hands when rising from the ruku position to the standing posture; how āmīn should be uttered, loudly or silently;

whether the flesh of the crow was allowed or not; was the ‘arsh of Allah made of wood, creak-ing under the burden it was supporting?; could Allah tell a lie?; did a person become a believer or disbeliever through his own faith and actions, or had Allah since eternity fixed the number of believers and disbelievers? These questions were considered to be the fundamentals in de-termining faith. Who was it who, in this atmos-

phere and environment, performed life-giving work like a green tree? If Islam is a living relig-ion, and the branches of this faith are green, full of chlorophyll, then spirit-reviving flowers will grow on this tree. The green tree and the sun (the Holy Quran) have the miraculous power, by acting together, to raise the dead to life.

Mujaddids and Armed Jihad:

a Translation from

an Urdu Source

(Editor’s Note: Qutb-ud-Dīn‍ Ahmad‍ ibn‍ ‘Abdul‍

Rahīm,‍ better‍ known‍as‍ Shāh‍Wal‍īullāh, was an

Islamic scholar, reformer and founder of modern

Islamic thought who attempted to reassess Is-

lamic theology in the light of modern changes. He

was the mujaddid of the 12th century AH. The

most‍ important‍ of‍ Shah‍ Waliullah’s‍ works‍ is‍

Ḥujjat Allāh al-Bāligha,‍ in‍ which‍ he‍ made‍ an‍

The Milky Way: a view from earth

8

September 2013

Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at Islam Lahore (UK)

The first Islamic Mission in the UK, established 1913 as the Woking Muslim Mission

Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, UK, HA0 4JQ

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Donations: www.virtualmosque.co.uk/donations

at‍tempt‍ to‍ present‍ the‍ teachings‍ of‍ Is‍lam‍ in‍ a‍

spirit of scientific objectivity. What follows is an

extract‍from‍the‍Introduction‍to‍its‍Urdu‍transla-

tion‍ which‍ has‍ been‍ rendered‍ into‍ English‍ by‍

Sha‍hid‍Aziz‍and‍is‍taken‍from‍pages‍29–31 of the

Urdu book.)

Some short-sighted people raise this objection

regarding Shah sahib (r): “Why did he not con-

duct a jihad?” The answer to it is this, that:

1. First, this point is not credible that, for a

Divinely raised scholar and mujaddid,

it is essential to take the sword in

hand and engage disbelief and shirk

[Footnote:‍ ‘Associating others with

God’] or those who are heretics. A Di-

vinely raised scholar or mujaddid is

obedient to the Prophet. The question

is: From among the prophets and great

personalities how many, not content

with the propagation of the true relig-

ion, took up the sword for jihad? Is the

life of the Holy Prophet himself at

Makkah not an example for us? Is it

not jihad to raise the pen to eliminate

disbelief and shirk and heresy? And is

this glorious deed not included in the

meaning of jihad that a Divinely raised

scholar, by the power of his pen, cuts

through all those veils on account of

which the shining face of the true religion is hid-

den from the eyes of the people and shows its

true beauty to the public, unveils its truths and

high moral teaching and makes known to every

section of the nation of Islam their errors and

mistakes that they had been making for centu-

ries. If the answer to this question is not in the

negative, and certainly it is not, then I have no

hesitation in saying that Hazrat Shah sahib (r)

was a great Divinely-raised scholar, a great

mu‍jaddid and a great warrior….

…. If, after this, there is still anxiety in some-

one’s heart as to why Hazrat Shah sahib (r) did

not conduct armed jihad then we have no an-

swer for them except silence.

Now as promised, I briefly sketch the

achievements of Hazrat Shah sahib’s (r) jihad

with the pen….

[Comment: Hazrat Shah Walliullah was not

unique in conducting his mission in this manner.

Only when Muslims faced persecution, for exam-

ple at the hands of the Sikh rulers of the Panjab,

did the mujaddid of the age, Syed Ahmad

Shah eed, conduct armed jihad. Sadly, the Sunnis

betrayed his hideout for a bribe and he was

martyred. Interestingly, he crossed the territory

ruled by the British but did not conduct armed

jihad against them because there was no reli-

gious persecution. Almost all other mujaddids

conducted their jihad with the pen.

— Translator]

Havasu Falls, Grand Canyon, USA