Contents July 2003, Vol.98, No.7

Editorial – Introducing the centenary of a noble man of great understanding who stood up for truth and made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan: Fazal Ahmad – UK ...... 2 Notes and Comment – Resiliance of children: Nature has endowed children with survivability but parents must address their spiritual needs as well. Fazal Ahmad – UK ...... 3 Martyrs of Afghanistan – Our lead article is an account of the life and times of Sahibzada Abdul Latif, his martyrdom a hundred years ago, and the prophecy made by the Promised Messiah(as): ‘the land of Afghanistan will see what consequences the shedding of his blood will entail: Muhammad Zafrulla Khan – UK) ...... 8 100 Years of Divine Retribution – The unfortunate land of Afghanistan contnues to pay a heavy price for the innocent lives lost there: Latif Ahmad Qureshi – UK)...... 17 Efficacy of Repentance – Part 1 – When people forget God, God Almighty also becomes indifferent towards such people Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) ...... 21 QUESTION & ANSWER – Belief and Guidance – Is there room for a theocratic state; have more peopel been killed by religion?; why do we need prophets? Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad(ru)...... 30 Europe’s Debt to the Islamic World – The renaissance of Europe arose form the legacy of Islam; the contribution of Baghdad. Zakaria Virk – Canada ...... 36 Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan: An Analysis Under International Law and International Relations: Continuing a detailed review of the background to the persecution of Ahmadis. Amjad Mahmood Khan – USA ...... 53

Chief Editor and Manager Chairman of the Management Board Mansoor Ahmed Shah Naseer Ahmad Qamar Basit Ahmad Special contributors: All correspondence should be forwarded directly to: Bockarie Tommy Kallon Amatul-Hadi Ahmad Farina Qureshi Daud Mahmood Khan The Editor The Review of Religions Fareed Ahmad Proof-reader: Fazal Ahmad. The London Mosque Shaukia Mir 16 Gressenhall Road Fauzia Bajwa London, SW18 5QL Mansoor Saqi Design and layout: United Kingdom Mahmood Hanif Tanveer Khokhar Mansoora Hyder-Muneeb © Islamic Publications, 2002 Publisher: ISSN No: 0034-6721 Navida Shahid Al Shirkatul Islamiyyah Sarah Waseem Saleem Ahmad Malik Distribution: Tanveer Khokhar Muhammad Hanif

Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily the opinions of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. 1 cerated, taken through a mock trial and then stoned to death, he Editorial never shirked from his mission to make the ultimate sacrifice for the July 2003 marks a century since sake of peace and love. Sahibzada Abdul Latif was martyred in Afghanistan for his Nowadays there are so many beliefs. myths about Jihad played out by the world’s media, and the view The brief account of his life of sacrifice is to take the lives of presented in this issue can barely others in a violent form for the do justice to the true spirit of sake of one’s faith. But this is sacrifice and martyrdom, and contrary not just to Islam but to all cannot be compared with pale true faiths. Abdul Latif’s sacrifice imitations that we see today. was as an individual standing up for truth and making the ultimate He was a man of great standing in sacrifice as a sign for others rather Afghanistan, respected by his than to hurt others. It was the type own people and by the British of inspirational account that we rulers. He was wealthy and could read in the case of Abraham(as) have lived a life of ease. However, when he was prepared to sacrifice when he was enthused by a his son for God. spiritual guide in the form of the P romised Messiah( a s ), he was Modern Afganistan is still going p re p a red to stand up for his through turmoil. Two years ago, beliefs. the same people destro y e d Buddhist statues, and have since He returned to his native land in been in conflict. May God give the sure knowledge that his belief them the wisdom to turn to the in the Promised Messiah(as), the truth, and may God be pleased true destiny of Jesus(as) and the with the soul of Sahibzada Latif. philosophy behind the Islamic Amen! teaching of Jihad would make him deeply unpopular in Afghanistan. Fazal Ahmad He knew that these ideas were better for his people and for his religion, and despite being incar-

2 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Notes & Comments

Resilience of Children Even in our homes, we have seen Young children are dependent ch i l d r en do the most dangerou s upon their parents for their food, things. They fall down the stairs, security and development, and they push furniture on to yet, when faced with challenges, themselves, and yet, more often they have been blessed with than not, they get up, dust amazing resilience. themselves off and carry on playing. An adult in a similar In a recent tragedy, a plane was incident would have ended up taking off for Khartoum in an with broken bones and internal internal flight in Sudan. Soon bleeding. Children also seem after take-off, the plane m o re resilient emotionally experienced difficulties and t h rough marital breakups and crashed. All of the 116 passengers other issues. They suffe r , and yet, and crew on board were killed they find a way to cope. except for a solitary 2 year old child which survived, and God In contrast, when we look at Willing, is making a good adults and the elderly, we get recovery. stuck in our ways and find it hard to cope with change. We suffer In other natural disasters, we have emotionally and our bodies are seen that after terrible earthquakes less able to recover fro m in Japan, Algeria or Tur k e y , often traumatic events. the survivors pulled out of wr ecked buildings after a few days So what can we learn from this? ar e small children. They strug g l e d Parents spend a lot of time and sometimes for days without food e n e rgy trying to train and and water, and under extre m e develop children in their ability trauma, and yet somehow they to walk and talk, and in their found the mental strength and will ability to fit into modern life. to survive and rec o v e r . Parents worry about their child’s need to ride a bike, use a

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c o m p u t e r, play sports, make purpose of its creation beyond friends, learn well at school, get the need to eat and survive. good grades ..... and yet they also need to be given a strong spiritual Too often, this side is neglected, platform! and when the child has grown into an adult chasing a successful This is the one area which is often career, not caring about family, neglected. If a child is falling friends and community, then it is behind in its physical devel- already too late. opment, we worry straight away that it is too thin/ fat, too short, As we have seen several times, not walking properly, not talking children are resilient, and that is or reading early enough. There the time to give them guidance to are elaborate charts from which help them cope with the trials to compare the progress of a child that they will face in later life. against norms. These are all facets They need skills and attributes of a child that are visible both in the physical and spiritual externally. Also, when a child is domain to survive and thrive. A at school, we get pointers if the deficiency in either side upsets child is failing to keep up with its the balance. class. The child that cheated death on Is spiritual development as the flight in Sudan will no doubt important? It is the guidance that be pampered by its extended we provide in this area that helps family. God has given the child a the child to become balanced. It second chance. Let us hope that helps the child understand its its guardians give it the best role in society, responsibilities to possible development both its friends and family, neighbours physically and mentally, but also and the community in general. It spiritually to recover from this helps the child understand the ordeal and to live a fulfilled life. universe and creation, and Ameen. basically provides a framework in which it understands the goals Fazal Ahmad– UK of life. It sets a balance for the child in which it considers the

4 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Martyrs of Afghanistan

By Muhammad Zafrulla Khan – UK A century ago in July 1903, Sahibzada Abdul Latif(as) became one of the most significant martyrs in the history of Ahmadiyyat. Just two years earlier, Maulvi Abdur Rahman(as) had become the first Ahmadi martyr. This is an account of the martyrdom of Sahibzada Abdul Latif(as) taken from the authors book ‘Ahmadiyyat - Renaissance of Islam’ published in 1978.

Sahibzada Syed Abdul Latif was a Afghanistan and British India, descendant of the well-known which came to be known as the saint Hadhrat Sheikh Abul Hasan Durand Commission, after Sir Al Hajveri, who is generally Mortimer Durand who was the known as Data Ganj Bakhsh and senior British re p resentative on is buried in Lahore. Sahibzada the Commission. Abdul Latif's home was Sayyadgah in the Province of Sahibzada Abdul Latif had Khost in Afghanistan. He was a become aware fairly early of the very learned divine, a gre a t advent of the Pro m i s e d religious leader and a man of Me s s i a h (a s ) . During the sittings of saintly life. He was a recipient of the Commission one of the revelation, and had fre q u e n t members of the staff of the British experience of true visions. He was rep r esentatives presented a copy a spiritual preceptor of note, and of the Promised Messiah’s(as) bo o k had a large number of disciples Ayena Kamalat Islam to Sahibzada and followers in Afghanistan. He Abdul Latif, who was deeply possessed large properties in i m p ressed by its perusal and Khost as well as in adjoining conceived great respect and British territory. He had a high af fection for its author. standing at court and was nominated one of the two After the Commission had representatives of Afghanistan on concluded its work Sahibzada the Boundary Commission Abdul Latif established contact appointed in 1894 to demarcate with the Promised Messiah( a s ) the boundary between t h rough some of his disciples,

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whom he sent from time to time to them on his return to Kabul. This Qadian and who reported back to was brought to the notice of Amir him and brought back with them Abdur Rahman, the then ruler of the latest books, pamphlets and Afghanistan, who was gre a t l y announcements of the Promised incensed and directed the arres t Messiah(as). and incarceration of Maulvi Abdur Ra h m a n (r a ) . In the middle of 1901 Among these disciples of Maulvi Abdur Rahman( r a ) w a s Sahibzada Abdul Latif ( r a ) w a s strangled to death in his cell at the Maulvi Abdur Rahman( r a ) w h o instance of the Amir. He thus visited Qadian several times as his became the first martyr fro m emissary. In December 1900 the among the followers of the Sahibzada despatched his Pr omised Messiah(a s ) . Through his covenant of Ba'iat to the Promised m a r t y rdom a portion of the M e s s i a h( a s ), together with some revelation 'T wo goats would be robes through Maulvi Abdur s l a u g h t e re d ', which had been R a h m a n( r a ) and some other vouchsafed to the Pro m i s e d disciples. M e s s i a h( a s ) several years earlier, was fulfilled. At that time in view of the agitation that had been set afoot in A few weeks after the the Frontier areas against the assassination of Maulvi Abdur British and which was described Rahman(ra), on 10 September 1901, by the Mullas as Jihad, in Amir Abdur Rahman suffered a consequence of which several s e v e re paralytic stroke which British officers had been made him bed-ridden and to t re a c h e rously murd e red, the which he succumbed on 3 October Promised Messiah (as) issued some 1901. pamphlets condemning such activities and set forth the correct To w a rds the end of 1902 teachings of Islam on the question Sahibzada Abdul Latif(ra) set out of Jihad. f rom his home, with the permission of Amir Habibullah Maulvi Abdur Rahman(r a ) st u d i e d Khan, with the intention of the pamphlets and, having fully proceeding on pilgrimage by way grasped their import, gave of Lahore, accompanied by two of ex p r ession to the views set forth in his disciples and another divine.

6 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Martyrs of Afghanistan

He had also in mind to pay a visit Sahib himself had experience of to Qadian so that he could have an visions and revelation. He was, opportunity of meeting the t h e re f o re, able to appre c i a t e P romised Messiah( a s ) in person. deeply and appraise accurately Thus he arrived in Qadian and the spiritual status of the was received by the Pro m i s e d Promised Messiah(as), and was so M e s s i a h( a s ), who re c o rded the much overcome that he could not impression that he conceived of tear himself away from him. him in the following words: When in the end he asked for permission to return to ‘I call God Almighty, in Whose Afghanistan and was granted it, hand is my life, to witness that the Promised Messiah(as) accom- when I met him I found him so panied him for two or three miles completely committed and on his way. The moment of devoted to my obedience and separation proved deeply the confirmation of my claim affecting for both, and particularly that it is not possible to painful for Sahibzada Abdul conceive more of it in respect Latif(ra). By the time he departed of any person. I perceived that from Qadian he was convinced he was as full of love for me as that on his return home he would a crystal vial filled with have to lay down his life in the perfume. It seemed to me that cause of truth. He told some of his his heart was as illuminated as friends that during the last few was his countenance.’ days of his stay he had repeatedly received the revelation: 'Offer your He had intended to stop at Qadian head! Offer your head!' He also for only a few days, but his received the revelation: 'Go to meeting with the Pro m i s e d Pharaoh.' Messiah(as) and the members of the Movement at that time present While the Sahibzada Sahib was still in Qadian affected him so in British territory he wrote a letter powerfully that he postponed his to Brigadier Muhammad Husain, p roceeding on pilgrimage and Commissioner of Police, Kabul, stayed on in Qadian for several explaining why he had not been months. able to go on pilgrimage and requested that the Brigadier should As has been mentioned Sahibzada submit his explanation to Amir

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Habibullah Khan and ascertain the reply that he was an intelligent whether the Amir would permit and knowledgable person who him to proceed to Kabul to pay his was equipped by God with the respects to him. The Amir sent back faculty of distinguishing between wo r d that he should proceed to t ruth and falsehood. He was Kabul by all means and personally convinced after full study and explain everything to the Amir to investigation that Hadhrat Mirza enable him to decide whether the Ghulam Ahmad( a s ) was the claim of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Pr omised Messiah. He realised that Ah m a d (a s ) was true, in which case in making this affirmation he was he himself would also accept him. putting his life in jeopardy and was Sahibzada Abdul Latif( r a ) p ro - inviting the ruin of his family, but ceeded to his home in Khost, and he held his faith above every shortly after was summoned to worldly comfort and consideration. Kabul under guard. On his arrival th e r e he found that the Amir was The Sahibzada Sahib had held a much incensed against him. very high position in the country Without any inquiry from him, the and had up to then passed his life Amir directed that he should be in great comfort. committed to a cell in the citadel in which the Amir himself was He had a large family and a great residing and should be kept in number of followers. The con- durance vile pending the pleasure ditions of his imprisonment were of the Amir. His person was se c u re d painful in the extreme, but all the with heavy chains and fetters. He privations and pains and passed fo u r months in a wret c h e d discomfort that he suffered over condition in this cell. On several this long period did not in the occasions it was intimated to him least shake his determination to that if he would repudiate the adhere firmly to his faith. claim of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ah m a d (a s ) that he was the Prom i s e d It appears that the Amir himself Messiah, he would be set at liberty, did not consider that the and would be res t o r ed to all the Sahibzada Sahib had been guilty privileges, dignities and honour of any serious offence and was that he had previously enjoyed. But anxious to find, if possible, some the Sahibzada Sahib remained firm excuse to deal gently with him, in his belief and each time sent back but was afraid of a head-on

8 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Martyrs of Afghanistan collision with the orthodox Sahib into his presence and divines to whom the Sahibzada ad j u r ed him publicly that if he Sahib's newly accepted doctrine would repudiate the claim of the was anathema and who were Qadiani pretender and his determined to bring about his teachings, his life would be spared ruin. The Amir had directed the and he would be set at liberty with i n c a rceration of the Sahibzada h o n o u r. The Sahibzada Sahib Sahib in the citadel in which he replied that it was not possible for himself resided so that he should him to resile from the truth and have no difficulty in approaching that the torment that a gov- the Sahibzada Sahib himself, or ernment could inflict upon him t h rough his emissaries, for the would end with his death, but purpose of persuading him to that he could not offend Him Whose repudiate his erroneous doctrine. torment would be everlasting. He His continuous efforts in that urged, however, that the divines behalf did not, however, have the who were opposed to his belief least effect upon the Sahibzada should enter into a discussion Sahib. with him on the question of the c o r rectness of the doctrines to One matter that must have upset which they objected, and that if the Amir was that the Sahibzada the arguments in support of his Sahib during his imprisonment belief were effectively refuted he did not hesitate to affirm that there could be condemned and pun- was no justification in the pres e n t ished. The Amir approved of his time to carry on Jihad with the suggestion and Khan Mulla Khan sw o r d and that the teaching of the and eight Muftis were selected to P romised Messiah ( a s ) in this enter into discussion with the context was that this was the time Sahibzada Sahib. A doctor from of propagating Islam thro u g h the Punjab, of the name of Abdul reason and argument and that the Ghani, who was bitterly opposed concept of Jihad by the sword that to the Promised Messiah’s(a s ) claim was current among the Muslims and teachings was appointed as was not in accord with the umpire. teachings of Islam. The discussion started at 2 a.m. After the expiry of four months the and continued till 3.00 p.m. There Amir summoned the Sahibzada was a large gathering in the

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mosque where the discussion was of the Muftis passed the sentence of being held, but the exchange of death on him. views was carried on in writing and nothing was said orally. At This was a most irre s p o n s i b l e the end of the written discussion action for which the Amir laid the Sahibzada Sahib was asked himself open to serious blame. that if this Qadiani was the Indeed the whole procedure was Promised Messiah(as), what did he most unjust and tyrannical. think about the second coming of J e s u s( a s )? The Sahibzada Sahib T h e re was not the slightest affirmed stoutly that Jesus(as) had justification for subjecting the died and would not appear again, Sahibzada Sahib to the torment of and that the Holy Qur'an the most painful kind of durance proclaimed his death and stood in for a period of four months the way of his coming again. without charging him with an Upon this the Muftis burst out in o ffence and aff o rding him an abuse against him and proclaimed opportunity of clearing himself. that no doubt was left of his When at long last such an infidelity; and they prepared and opportunity was granted, he was subscribed to the formal decla- brought to the trial, if it can be so ration of his apostacy. Thereafter described, loaded with his heavy Sahibzada Sahib was returned to chains and fetters and eight his cell burdened with his heavy guards with drawn swords kept chains and fetters. Throughout the watch over him, so that he might course of the discussion eight be overawed and handicapped in guards with drawn swords had replying to the charges preferred stood around the Sahibzada against him. Sahib. The Amir realised that the The declaration of the Muftis was discussion might lead to the loss submitted to the Amir at night of the life of an innocent person, without the re c o rd of the he should, therefore, have been discussion, which is a stro n g present himself in the course of indication that the Muftis had not the discussion; but not having been able to refute the argu m e n t s done so he should have insisted of Sahibzada Sahib. The Amir that the written re c o rd of the acting solely upon the declaration discussion should be submitted to

10 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Martyrs of Afghanistan him. Indeed, not only should he d e c l a red an apostate. Will you have himself perused the record now repent, or will you submit to of the discussion to satisfy himself the penalty?' He replied that he of the guilt of the accused person, could not repent of the truth and he should have directed the would not subscribe to falsehood publication of the entire record to to save his life. The Amir urged show that the Sahibzada Sahib him again to repent and promised had failed to set forth any proof in to let him go free if he would support of the claim of the recant. The Sahibzada Sahib Qadiani Promised Messiah(as), or firmly declined and said that he in support of the prohibition of would never give up the truth. The Jihad by the sword, or in support Amir then wrote out an order in of the death of Jesus(as). He should his own hand, and basing himself at least have inquired from the on the declaration of the Muftis Muftis on what was their condemned Sahibzada Sahib to condemnation of the Sahibzada death by stoning. This document based, and whether, in view of the was suspended round Sahibzada d i ff e rences that divided the Sahib’s neck and the Amir directed various sects of Muslims, all of that a hole should be bored through them, except one, should be his nose and a rope should be run similarly condemned. t h rough it and he should in this manner be led to the place of The next morning the Sahibzada execution. This painful operation Sahib was summoned to the was carried out and Sahibzada Salam Khana where a large crowd Sahib was led outside the town to was gathered. The Amir left the the place appointed for his citadel and on his way to the execution, through the re v i l i n g Salam Khana noticed the and cursing crowd. The Amir also Sahibzada Sahib at one place and p roceeded to the place of asked him what had been decided execution accompanied by his in the discussion. He returned no courtiers, Qazis, Muftis and other answer to the Amir's query, but high officials. one of the guards said that he had been condemned. When the Amir At the place of execution a pit had arrived in the Salam Khana he been dug and Sahibzada Sahib called for Sahibzada Sahib and was made to stand in it and it was said to him: 'You have been then filled up to his waist. The

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A m i r, his brother Sard a r up above him. The day of execution N a s rullah Khan and the Chief was 14 July 1903. Qazi and commandant Abdul Ahad were mounted on their The Promised Messiah( a s ) horses, and everyone else was on expressed himself in the following foot. The Amir again approached terms about this tragic event: Sahibzada Sahib and told him that if he repudiated the Qadiani ‘The martyrdom that was Promised Messiah(as) even now, he appointed for Sahibzada Abdul would be delivered from death. La t i f (r a ) was thus accomplished. He adjured him to have mercy on The recompense of the tyrant is himself and the members of his now awaited: “The portion of family and comply with the him who comes to his Lord a Amir's suggestion. The Sahibzada sinner is hell; he shall neither Sahib affirmed he could in no wi s e die therein nor live” [20:75]. deny the truth and could not abjure The Amir placed himself his faith to save his own life and to within the operation of the s a f e g u a rd the members of his verse: “Whoso kills a believer fa m i l y . Thereupon the Qazis and de l i b e r a t e l y , his rew a r d shall be jurists raised a clamour that he was hell, wherein he shall abide and an infidel and should be destroy e d Allah will be wroth with him forthwith. Thereupon the Amir and cast him away and will di r ected the Chief Qazi to throw p re p a re for him a gre a t the first stone. The Qazi said that punishment.” The Amir cast the Amir should do so, as he was aside the fear of God and the sovereign. The Amir rej o i n e d became guilty of killing a that the Qazi was the repository of believer who had no equal in the law and that it was his sentence the whole of Afghanistan. He that was to be carried out. The Qazi was one of those who laid then dismounted and aimed a down their lives with full stone at Sahibzada Sahib which sincerity in the cause of faith st r uck him with great force and and truth and have no care for made him lower his head. The wife and children . Amir then aimed another stone at him and thereupon stones began to ‘I call down a thousand be hurled at him from every blessings on you, O Abdul di r ection till a mound of stones ros e Latif, that you proved your

12 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Martyrs of Afghanistan

Map of Afghanistan and surrounding territories

sincerity in my lifetime, for I do Afghanistan will see what not know how those of my consequences the shedding of Community will behave who his blood will entail. His blood will survive me.’ will not go waste. Before this, [Tadhkaratush Shahadatain, poor Abdur Rahman ( r a ), a pp . 4 7 - 5 8 1 ] member of my Community, was unjustly killed, and God The Promised Messiah(as) further took no action. But after this observed: tragedy He will not re m a i n silent, and grave conse- ‘The merciless killing of quences will manifest Sahibzada Abdul Latif(ra) is a themselves. It is understood most grievous event; but it is that soon after the martyrdom also full of blessings that will of the Sahibzada a severe epi- be manifested with the demic of cholera broke out in passage of time and the land of Kabul and many notable

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people, including some near The assassination of Sahibzada relatives of the Amir, passed Abdul Latif(ra) was followed by a out of this world. This was a number of significant events. On most merciless killing which the day of his execution a fierce has no match in this age. What storm of extraordinary violence folly has this Amir committed passed over certain parts of the that he has ruined himself by country, a little after sunset. On his merciless killing of such an the following day a severe innocent person. O land of epidemic of cholera broke out in Afghanistan, bear witness that the city of Kabul and its environs a grave offence has been which carried away larg e committed in thee. O numbers of people everyday over unfortunate land, thou hast a period of weeks. The wife of fallen in the estimation of God Sardar Nasrullah Khan and one of in that this great tragedy was his sons and several members of enacted in thee.’ the royal family died of cholera, [Tadhkaratush Shahadatain, and also some of the Muftis who p.72] had condemned the Sahibzada Sahib. Sahibzada Abdul Latif ( r a ) l e f t behind his widow and five sons. The Punjabis who had been They were all subjected to severe i n s t rumental in inciting the persecution and torment at the Afghan Mullas against the instance and under the direction Sahibzada Sahib were thre e of the government of Afghanistan b rothers, Dr. Abdul Ghani, for nearly a quarter of a century, Maulvi Najaf Ali and Muhammad yet they all remained steadfast in Charagh. Amir Habibullah Khan their faith. Two of his sons died of condemned them to 11 years' fever in jail in Afghanistan. imprisonment for treason. Dr. Eventually his widow, three sons, Abdul Ghani had been the umpire a sister and some of his in the discussion between g r a n d c h i l d ren moved out of Sahibzada Abdul Latif(ra) and the Afghanistan on 2 February 1926, Muftis. He was still in prison and came to Bannu, in British when his wife died in Landi Kotal Indian territory, where there was and his grown up son was some property belonging to the m u rd e red in broad daylight in family. Kabul. After he had served out his

14 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Martyrs of Afghanistan sentence he was expelled from the execution. He was later suspected country. His brother Maulvi Najaf of treason and was brought to Ali was declared an infidel and an Kabul in chains by the order of apostate in the time of Nadir Shah Amir Amanullah Khan and was and was sentenced to be stoned to committed to prison. The shock death, but was permitted to return upset his mind and sometime to India through the intervention later he was killed in his cell by of the British Ambassador in suffocation. One of his sons had Kabul. His brother Muhammad died of cholera which followed on Charagh was also expelled along the martrydom of Sahibzada with him. Sahib and another son was assassinated after his father ’ s The condemnation of Sahibzada death. Amir Habibullah Khan Sahib had been certified by Qazi himself was shot dead by some Abdur Razzaq and Qazi Abdur person unknown on 20 February Rauf, of whom the former was the 1919 at night in his camp near superintendent of schools and was Jalalabad and was buried there. the Mullah in attendance upon the The rebels of Shinwar raided A m i r. He was subsequently Jalalabad and stoned his grave. charged with some offence and His son Sardar Hayatullah Khan having been found guilty forfeited was subsequently secretly hanged all his pro p e r t y, and his limbs under the order of Bacha Saquao. were cut off bit by bit in public till in great torment only his torso The Promised Messiah(as) set out was left. It was then skinned and in some detail the particulars of he finally perished. Qazi Abdur the two martyrdoms of Maulvi Rauf left Kabul and his son, Qazi Abdur Rahman(ra) and Sahibzada Abdul Wase, who was appointed Abdul Latif ( r a ) in his book his successor, was cru e l l y Tadhkaratush Shahadatain which murdered in 1929. was published in 1903. In this book he admonished the members Sardar Nasrullah Khan, brother of of his Community in the Amir Habibullah Khan, had following terms: behind the scenes taken keen interest in the incarceration and ‘If you will adhere to truth and condemnation of Sahibzada faith, angels will instruct you, Sahib. He was also present at his heavenly comfort will descend

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upon you, you will be helped J e s u s( a s ) son of Mary( a s ) by the Holy Spirit, God will be descending from heaven. Then with you at every step and no their next generation will pass one will be able to overcome away and no one of them will you. Await the grace of God see this spectacle. Then the s t e a d f a s t l y. Listen to abuse generation next after that will and keep silent. Endure being pass away without seeing the beaten and be steadfast. As far son of Mary (as) descending from as possible do not resist evil, heaven. Then God will make so that you may be accounted them anxious that though the acceptable in heaven.’ time of the supremacy of the cross had passed away and the At the end of the book he world had undergone gre a t announced: changes, yet the son of Mary(as) had not descended fro m ‘Harken, all ye people. This is a heaven. Then the wise people p rophecy of Him Who had will suddenly discard this created heaven and earth. He belief. The third century after will spread this Community of today will not yet have come to His in all countries and will a close when those who hold make it supreme over all, this belief, whether Muslims or through reason and arguments. Christians, will lose all hope The days are coming, indeed and will give up this belief in they are near, when this will be disgust. There will then be only the only religion which will be one religion that will prevail in held in honour. God will the world and only one leader. I bestow extraordinary blessings have come only to sow the seed, on this religion and Movement. which has been sown by my He will frustrate everyone who hand. Now it will sprout and seeks to destroy it. This grow and flourish and no one s u p remacy will last till the can arrest its growth. Judgment Day. [Tadhkaratush Shadatain, pp.54- 61]. R e m e m b e r, that no one will descend from heaven. All our opponents who are alive today will die and no one will see

16 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Hundred Years of Divine Retribution

By Latif Ahmad Qureshi – UK

On 14th July 1903, a man was p rovided routes of invasion and executed in Kabul by stoning. His conquest in the past. Although crime was that he proclaimed that a Afghan historians refer to this land person claiming to be the Promised as Aryana, the name ‘Afghanistan’ Messiah(as) was a truthful person dates from the middle of the 18th and he believed in him. The century when Ahmad Shah Abdali execution was ordered by the Ruler (Durarani) restored national unity. of Afghanistan, Amir Habibullah Great Britain and France had their Khan, after a decision made by the eyes fixed on India and the Persian religious Muslim leaders of his Gulf and the forces of Russia were court.1 pushing southwards. After the death of Ahmad Shah in 1773, His name was Hadhrat Sahibzada constant internal revolts followed. Syed Abdul Latif. The Afghans lost Sind and Peshawar to the Sikhs. In 1838, a The Prophecy: British mission was established in Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) Kabul to halt Russian influence. of Qadian (1835-1908) wrote in Two Anglo-Afghan wars followed Tadhkaratush Shahadaitain: ‘Alas with puppet rulers being installed. what has this unwise ruler done by In 1842, out of 16,500 soldiers only executing an innocent person with one survivor reached the fort in such fierce barbarianism! He hsas Jalalabad on a stumbling pony. L a t e r, a newly arrived British completely destroyed himself. O land of Afghanistan, bear witness resident at Kabul was murdered. that a grave offence has been Dost Muhammad’s grandson, committed in thee. O unfortunate Abder Rahman Khan, was land, thou hast fallen in the recognised as the Amir in 1880 by estimation of God in that this great the British who had marched on tragedy was enacted in thee.’2 Kandahar. Abder Rahman consol- idated his hold by taking Herat, The Early History: Hadharajat and Kafiristan and Lying between the fertile lands of entering into agreements with Iran and India, Afghanistan Britain and Russia. Habibullah

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Khan succeeded to the Afghan to assist him escape with his family. t h rone on the death of Abder Mahmud Tarzai sought asylum in Rahman in 1901 and slowed down Turkey and died there his heart full steps to take Afghanistan into the of sorrow and despair in 1933. The 20th century. Since 1903, the history country has been hit by anarchy of Afghanistan can as best be since. Fighting and killing has gone described as chequered. on amongst various warlords who have control over different parts of The Retribution the country. In the evening of 14th July 1903 an unusually fierce thunder- s t o r m Bacahai Saqao assumed the name of st r uck the site of execution. Next day Habibullah Ghazi and set himself an epidemic of cholera broke out in up as the Amir but was executed the city and a large number of people when Gen. Nadir Khan took control including close members of the of Kabul. His tribal army looted ruling family died. A member of his government buildings and the st a f f assassinated Amir Habibdullah houses of wealthy. In 1930, a pro- Khan in 1919; his young son was Amanullah uprising was put down. hanged to death while his other son, In November 1933, when King Amanullah, succeeded him. Nadir was about to present a trophy to a victorious football team, a In 1921, the Third Anglo-Afghan college student stepped from the War erupted. In 1923, Amanullah ranks of spectators and assassinated changed his title from Amir to Nadir Khan. Nadir Khan’s son, Badshah (King). Upon his return Muhammad Zahir Shah, inherited from Europe, he made it illegal for the throne. In 1939, there was a new the Mullahs (clerics) to have any pro-Amanullah uprising. contact with the armed forces. In 1929 this ruling family finally lost In July 1947 when the British hold of the country and the last government was about to grant ruler, Amir Amanullah Khan, had independence to India, Afghanistan to escape and seek refuge in Italy.3 sent a note requesting that the Habibullah Kalakani, known as people of the Northwest Frontier Bachai Saqao (son of the water- P rovince, once controlled by carrier), a ruthless brigand had Afghanistan, be allowed to decide. stormed the city of Kabul. A plebiscite in the same month was Amanullah was provided cover by over-whelmingly, not surprisingly, British planes flown from Peshawar in favour of Pakistan. Bord e r attacks and skirmishes since have

18 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Hundred Years of Divine Retribution led to hot and cold re l a t i o n s In the 1980’s the country was between Pakistan and Afghanistan. invaded by USSR and a massive They almost came to a war in 1961. massacre and dis-placement of the people of Kabul followed. Dr In 1954, when the United States Najibullah was brought back from rejected Afghanistan’s request to USSR to run the secret police. This update its military hard w a re , fighting went on for about a decade. Prince Mohammad Daoud, then In 1984, the UN sent its Prime Minister, turned to the Soviet investigators to examine human Union and under Kruschev and rights violations. Najibullah pro- Bulgaria, Afghanistan began to lean posed a ceasefire in 1987 but the to the Eastern Bloc. In 1963, Zahir Mujahideen refused to deal. Having Shah demanded the resignation of lost some 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers, Daoud and replaced him with Dr the Soviet Union ultimately pulled Mohammad Yusaf. Babruk Karmal, out on 15 February 1989 leaving a communist, who had been elected behind land mines and craters as to Parliament, later instigated riots. the joint legacy of the Mujhahideen Muhammad Moussa became Prime and Soviet era in this war- t o r n Minister in 1972. On 17 July 1973, t e r r i t o r y. On 15 April 1992, the while Zahir Shah was on vacation Mujahideen took Kabul and formed in Europe, his government was the Islamic Jihad Council to govern overthrown in a coup headed by the country. More fighting from Daoud Khan and the Afghan Iranian and Pakistani led groups Communist Party. followed. Professor Burh a n n u d i n Rabbani was elected President. In 1978, there was another communist coup when Daoud was In 1994, the Taliban militia came into killed and tensions began to rise. existence and advanced rapidly Mass arrests and tortures became a against the Rabbani government. daily occurrence. Taraki was named Dostum and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, as the President. In June, the Head of Hizbe Islami, clashed Mujahideen group was born to carry against Rabbani and as a conse- out a guerilla war, sponsored by the quence, Kabul was reduced to West and funded by the Middle East rubble. In 1996, the Taliban took over oil states. In 1979, the US Kabul and executed Najibullah. Ambassador and later Taraki were Taliban oppression of women mani- killed and Hafizullah Amin who had fested itself with women fully veiled, temporarily taken the Pre s i d e n c y not allowed to go out alone, or wear was executed. white socks; men must wear beards .

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Mass graves of between 1,500 to Kabul today is a deserted, ruined, 2,000 Taliban soldiers pres u m a b l y dangerous and destitute place to c a p t u red in Mazar-i-Sharif were live, one hundred years after what di s c o v e r ed in 1997. In Februa r y happened in July 1903 as was 1998, an earthquake struck North foretold at that time by Hadhrat Eastern Afghanistan killing 4,000 A h m a d( a s ), the Promised Messiah people, destroying villages and and Reformer of this age. leaving thousands of people homeless. To compound this, the Taliban finally retook Mazar-i - S h a r i f in August and massacred thousands Bibliography: of Hazaras. That same month, the US 1. Shahid Dost Muhammad. launched cruise missiles to shoot Ta re e k h - i - A h m a d i y y a t ( U rd u ) down Osama bin Laden and destroy Edition 2. Vol. 2. p.325. his terrorist bases and training facilities. In February 1999, another 2. Ahmad Mirza Ghulam. earthquake hit eastern Afghanistan Tadhkaratush Shahadatain killing 60-70 people and leaving (Urdu) Edition 2, p.2. 30,000 affe c t e d . 3. Shahid Dost Muhammad. In May 2000, the Taliban tortured and killed civilians in Robatak Pass. Ta re e k h - i - A h m a d i y y a t ( U rd u ) In December, the UN Security Edition 2 Vol 2 pp.335-337. Council passed Resolution 1331 to supplement its Resolution 1267 imposing additional sanctions against Taliban for their continuing support of terrorism and cultivation of narcotics. The Taliban response in January 2001 was further torture and killing of Hazaras in Yakaolong. In March the Ta l i b a n blew up the giant Bamiyan Budhas from the 5th century.

Then followed the US led UN action in the country following the events of September 11, 2001 in New York. This story is now very well known.

20 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Efficacy of Repentance – part 1 Presented below, in translation, is Part 1 of the address of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) of Qadian, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi delivered in Qadian on 21 February 1904. The Urdu text of the speech is taken from Malfoozat, Volume 6, and pp.345-350. Malfoozat is the title of the ten volumes that contain the collection of discourses, speeches and addresses of Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) of Qadian, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi.

[Translator’s Note: All references to the verses of the Holy Qur’an are given in Arabic as they occur in the text. The English translation, presented in Italics, is taken from the translation of the Holy Qur’an by Hadhrat Maulvi Sher Ali Sahib(ra). Where the Promised Messiah(as) has himself stated a certain inter- pretation of the Arabic verse, this is incorporated in the main body of the text]. Translated by Amatul Hadi Ahmad

The founder of the Ahmadiyya [Following a discussion on the Muslim Community was Hadhrat spread of seasonal epidemics, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as). the Promised Messiah( a s ) In 1891, he claimed, on the basis of stated:] When sinfulness and Divine revelation, that he was the wickedness spread in the P romised Messiah and Mahdi world then such epidemics whose advent had been foretold by Muhammad, the Holy Prophet spread. When people become of Islam (peace be upon him) and i n d i ff e rent and care l e s s by the scriptures of other faiths. towards God, God Almighty His claim constitutes the basis of also becomes indiff e re n t the beliefs of the Ahmadiyya towards such people. I can see Muslim Community. that even now there is no

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abatement in their mischief and it would soon reach Punjab. At wickedness despite the fact that this many who did not fear for the plague is spreading like an their own end, laughed and all consuming fire that appears mocked but now you can see to be ready to eat up all that how widespread this plague is comes in its path. In spite of this – there is now no place where it th e r e is the same dishonesty, has not reached. If there is any fraud and wicked behaviour. place that has not yet been Rather than lessening, mis- actually affected then know conduct seems to be on the that it is surrounded by the i n c rease. This gives an ‘fire’ of this plague and it too indication of what may the Wil l will be engulfed shortly. of God Almighty be. [People should know that] God does not In reality now is a time for t i re. In earlier times when careful consideration and for people did not desist from evil deep anxiety at the fact that be h a v i o u r , the earth was turned there has not been found a cure ‘upside down’ [i.e. great nations or remedy for this plague nor we r e destroyed] and great cities has there been detected any we r e wiped out. practical action that may be taken as being effective against When the plague first started to it. Hence the need for serious s p read [in India], people thought as to why this thought it was just an illness pestilence has come when it like many others, illness that has and what might be a cure just happened to spread at this for it? The reality is as God has time and that it would soon informed me that unless disappear. However, God had people turn to God with true informed me of it at a time repentance and desist fro m when there was no sign of this mocking and abusing God’s epidemic that this disease is w o rd, until that time there about to spread. When this would not be any re p r i e v e . terrible epidemic re a c h e d H o w e v e r, when people turn Bombay, God informed me that t o w a rds repentance and

22 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Efficacy of Repentance – Part 2

WHEN THE ‘ILL WIND’ OF PREVALENCE OF SINS BLOWS, SOME ARE DESTROYED COMPLETELY BUT THE SPIRITUAL HEALTH OF THOSE WHO SURVIVE ALSO SUFFERS TO SOME EXTENT AND THIS IS HAPPENING NOW...... – IT IS SU C H TH A T TH E I R AC T I O N S AR E DI S TA N T FR O M TH E BOO K AN D TH E SU N N A H , [I.E. TH E TR A D I T I O N S OF TH E HOL Y PRO P H E T (SA )]. t o w a rds seeking forg i v e n e s s Remember this well that when from God Almighty as well as the poisonous air of meanness manifesting an internal change, and jealousy, of dishonesty and then God too would look down evil behaviour starts to blow, with mercy. However, I see that then it is the case that the love to date there has been no for God becomes cold and noticeable change. It seems to mankind does not display any be the same hothouse of fear of God as it should. This ‘ill mischief and wickedness and wind’ is similar to the air that numerous sins of all descrip- sp r eads diseases such as cholera tion are being committed. From and it destroys wherever it this it appears that ‘pre - goes. At such a time some fall parations’ are in hand for pr ey to the illness and die but God’s punishment. There are those who survive, they too are prophecies regarding this even left feeling poorly and they do in the earlier Books that at the not enjoy good health. They time close to the ‘latter days’, su f fer from ailments such as t h e re would be a general indigestion and other similar spread of epidemics that would illnesses that emerge affected by take a great number of lives. the air of the epidemic. Such days are close at hand and there has now broken out a Similar is the case with fatal epidemic of pestilence spiritual ailments. When the ‘ill which tells us that these are the wind’ of prevalence of sins ‘latter days’. blows, some are destro y e d completely but the spiritual

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health of those who survive deteriorated. There is so much also suffers to some extent and st r ess on incorrect beliefs that this is happening now. There the situation has now rea c h e d are many that openly commit ex t r eme proportions. Observe evil deeds and are engulfed in all the diffe r ent nations who debauched behaviour and they we r e silent [reg a r ding Islam] for are a long distance away from the past thirteen hundred years righteousness and fear of God. even though, from time to time, The condition of those who are they were at war with Islam but customarily re f e r red to as they were still quiet [as reg a rd s ‘r eligious’ has also deteriorated p ropaganda against Islam]. – it is such that their actions are They did not indulge in the distant from the Book and the calculated wickedness that they Sunnah, [i.e. the traditions of the now manifest for the total Holy Pro p h e t( s a )]. They do de s t r uction and eradication of whatever they think is right. Islam. They did not then possess They have abandoned the the religious poison that they reality and spirit [of Islam] and now display. Fifty years ago if a d h e re, instead, to the outer we were to look for a book shell and bones. That is why against Islam, very possibly we God Almighty has, according to would not find a single copy. His practice, sent a punishment. Nowadays, however, there is In such situations, God such an abundance of this type Almighty turns this very world of literature that if these were into an example of Qayamah, collected up in one place they that is ‘Dooms Day’, and such would form a mountain. Some terrifying situations unfold that Christian publications are life itself appears like an published in hundreds of example of Dooms Day. At thousands in one go. They pr esent we are facing such days pr oduce literature in which a because I can see that instead of humble mortal has been turned love of truth there is an into a god. At the same time the animosity towards the truth and Reformer and Rejuvenator, the the standard of behaviour has Holy Prophet of Islam, (peace

24 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Efficacy of Repentance – Part 2 and blessings of God be upon himself what example of purity him) who came at a time when and piety it offers! the world was full of impurity and impiety and who cleansed [ T h e re is yet another gro u p ] and purified the world and gave who consider themselves to be life to a world that was dead – in very sophisticated. They are respect of such a pure and grea t totally bent upon this world person these people use such and they are so immersed in the foul language the like of which world that they have in fact has never been used prev i o u s l y made the world their god. It is for any one of the one hundred c o n s i d e red laughable before and twenty four thousand this group to utter such words Pr ophets that have gone before. as ‘God willing’, and to suggest turning towards God and trus t I am amazed that these in God seem to them foolish wretched people felt that they and laughable acts. Yet the had to target the Holy Prophet influence of this group is [so of Islam (may the peace and pervasive] that it is destroy i n g blessings of Allah be upon h u n d reds of thousands of him). and yet have turned a people. Despite the fact [that weak son of Adam into a god they consider reliance upon and they carry out their ill God a foolish thing to do] yet deeds fearlessly with much for the eradication of Islam they glaring boldness. They them- think nothing of spending selves consume alcohol like money like water - thousands water and yet dare to attack a upon thousands of Rupees are pure and holy personage such given to this cause. Remember, as that of the Holy Pro p h e t ho w e v e r , that Islam will not be (peace and blessings of Allah eradicated despite all efforts for be upon him). If any one its eradication – its Protector is wishes to see the effect of the God Almighty Himself. salvation off e red by the Christians, he should travel to Turning to the internal state of European countries and see for Islam [as is being practised by

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the Muslims], we see that the e ffect related to that is also fountain of all knowledge and limited to the world. However, blessings used to be the when a matter relates to the religious scholars. However, he re a f t e r , laxity in relation to their condition has become so that could lead to the abyss. downgraded and pitiable that one feels a sense of shame to At times I am so surprised at even speak of it. It appears to be the behviour of such people the case that whatever error is that the thought goes through committed by one of them, it is my mind that they do not have ad h e r ed to with such force that a belief in God; otherwise I do it is impossible for them to let not understand how it is that go of it. More o v e r, should they see signs and manifes- someone point out their tations and I present to them mistakes, they pounce on such a argument after argument but person, giving him such titles as without any effect. On the ‘K a f i r ’ and ‘Dajjal’, [meaning c o n t r a r y, before those who ‘non believer’ and ‘anti-Christ’] truly believe if we as much as - such is their practice. The recite God’s verses, they are practise of the truthful and filled with the fear of God and righteous person, on the do not dare to falsify it or dare c o n t r a r y, is such that fro m to open their lips against it. The whichever direction he is other group, however, are in a informed of his error he strange state. First of all, I put abandons it there and then - he before them this point that God does not persist in his error . The has appointed me and then in existence and persistence of support of my claim I present di ff e r ent sects, the hurling of to them verses from the Holy insults amongst the diffe re n t Q u r’an but they refuse to sects, lack of awareness of the accept either of these. knowledge of the Qur’an and of Thereafter, when I present to Islam point to their condition. them the witness of the Holy That which affects only the Prophet of Islam (peace and world, punishment and the blessings of Allah be upon

26 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Efficacy of Repentance – Part 2 him)., they become fearful but even that has no effect. They We are living through an age in see the signs of God but they which human beings have refute them, nor do any completely forgotten the intellectual arguments have purpose for which they were any effect. In short, whatever c reated, [as stated in the means can be employed for the following verse of the Holy recognition of a truthful person Qur’an]. are presented to them but they do not accept any of these.

Th e r e is a story about Jesus(a s ) (in Mathnawi of Maulana Rum) that once Jesus was running and And I have not created the Jinn someone enquired as to why he and the men but that they may was running. He said I am worship Me. running from the ignorant. (Ch.51;V.57) Someone said why do you not blow upon them Ism-e-Azam H o w e v e r, these days foolish [the most effective name of man wishes to come out of the God]. He said even Ism-e-Azam state of being a servant of God does not have any effect on and seeks to become God them. In rea l i t y , ignorance, too, Himself and truthfulness and is a dangerous death. Here , sincerity and faithfulness that ho w e v e r , it is beyond under- God desires [from human standing as to what kind of beings] is non existent in such ignorance this is. These people people. Should one stand in read the Qur’an, make the bazaar, one would see commentaries on it, they have thousands of people coming the Hadith as a check but when f rom one end and going to the we present [the same by way of other but their purpose is p roof] they refute it. They nothing more than the material neither believe themselves nor world. allow others to believe.

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God has not stopped man from upholding the ways of Islam. undertaking work of this world – he should not, however, do so for the world. He should do it for his faith and doing so And make us a model for the would make the work blessed. righteous. For instance, God commands (Ch.25:V.75) that Muslims should be kind to their wives: When there is such a noble d e s i re, God who is All Omnipotent, can grant progeny even as He granted to And consort with them in Zakariah. However, I see that kindness. people do not seem to look (Ch.4: V.20) beyond ‘this is my garden, and these are my possessions’, in However, if a person does so order that he should keep them on the basis of one’s own in his own possession and selfish feelings then it is of no takes care that no one else consequence. However, if the should take them away from same treatment is done for the him. Such people do not even sake of obedience to the divine think that when they die, for teaching then it becomes them friend and foe would be blessed. I see that people carry alike. I have heard many out their worldly chores for the people who ask for prayers sake of the world. It is the love that they may have an heir for for the world that makes them their estate lest some other do things – they do not do it for family may become their heirs. the sake of God. For instance, if They do not care if the children they wish for pro g e n y, they they have are good or bad or should pray that God may very bad as long as they have grant them a child who would, progeny. This would appear to under the following Quranic be all the knowledge of Islam verse, be the cause of that they have. In contrast, if

28 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Efficacy of Repentance – Part 2 you take a true believer, he may give cause for objections. would place his religion before There are many matters that an all else – should he build a ignorant person considers house, he would think of the objectionable but in the sight of religious aspect first. His God these are considered to be clothing and eating, all are for worship of God. However, if the sake of his faith. He eats, there is no sincerity of intention not for the sake of getting fit, then even Salat [an act of but for being fit for the sake of worship] becomes a curse. performing his duty by his To be continued faith, just as the owner of a horse that is used in earning his keep feeds the horse, keeps it w a t e red and generally takes good care of it in order that he can benefit well from it. Similar is the case of a person - his own NOTE: self has rights that he needs to In this journal, for the information of non-Muslim attend to, and the family has readers, ‘(sa)’ or ‘sa’ after the rights that he has to fulfil and words, ‘Holy Prophet’, or the there is also the right of God. name ‘Muhammad’, are used. Should he not attend to the They stand for ‘Salallahu alaihi rights of his own self or person, wassalam’ meaning ‘Peace and then he would die and that Blessings of Allah be upon would be something for which him’. Likewise, the letters ‘(as)’ or ‘as’ after the name of all he would be answerable. other prophets is an abbreviation meaning ‘Peace In short, remember that a true be upon him’ derived from believer in fact worships God Alaih salato wassalam’ for the [in all his worldly concerns] - respect a Muslim reader utters. his every word and every act, Also ru or (ru) for his state of rest or comfort, all Rahemahullahu Ta ’ a l a m e a n s the Mercy of Allah the Exalted are in reality worship of God be upon him even though apparently these

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Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the Fourth Head of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, (God’s Mercy be upon him), o ff e red to people of all nationalities, faiths and beliefs the opportunity of raising questions and discuss issues that were of interest to them. Presented below are answers to some questions that were raised in two sessions held in London. Compiled by Amatul Hadi Ahmad

and this will be for him, and QUESTIONER against him is what he does by Where is the line drawn way of wrong doings. This is a between those who go to very important principle. When paradise and those who go to we talk of misbehaviour or he l l ? wrongdoing we forget that this should be judged and under- Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad: stood as a relative act, The Holy Qur’an draws this dependent upon the diff e re n t line very conspicuously for c i rcumstances from which mankind and yet invisibly. I deeds arise. The misbehaviour shall explain this - it is not a of a child who has been brought paradox, it is a situation of up in an impoverished compulsion. environment should be judged a c c o rdingly and diff e re n t l y The Holy Qur’an states that from that of a child who faces man would not be burd e n e d m o re fortunate circ u m s t a n c e s . beyond his capacity, (Ch.2: For example, should the more v.287). This is an overriding law. fortunate child steal, it is in a A person will have ‘earned’ his scenario where he is not reward [by way of good deeds] compelled to steal for food and

30 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Belief and Guidance such like. [One can include verses of the Qur’an in which many other crimes in this this has been clearly and category]. These days, some repeatedly mentioned. These judges have already started to verses command that one must take note of circ u m s t a n c e s discharge one’s responsibilities, b e f o re passing a sentence. as members of government, H o w e v e r, it is impossible for with the principle of absolute man to clearly see the line that justice – re g a rdless of the di ff e r entiates between a tru l y religion, colour or creed of the committed criminal and the one people over whom one rules. who may have some The only known system of justification. dispensation of government in Islam is that based on absolute The Holy Qur’an tells us it is justice. only God who would see these lines and he would re w a rd QUESTIONER mankind justly according to the situation in which one behaved Religion was needed at times in a certain manner. when humanity was not cultured or civilised. Do you agree that religion is making QUESTIONER mankind uncivilized today? Should state and religion be More killings have been done kept separate, in other words, in the name of religion. is there a place in the modern world for a theocratic state? Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad: First of all I beg to differ with Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad: the statement that more killings Certainly not - according to the have happened in the name of Holy Qur’an there is no room religion. I think the killings that for a theocratic state. Islam is a w e re caused by the second religion that emphasizes the world war were far more than role of secularism in govern- all the killings in the whole ment. I have recited to you human history done in the [during the speech] many name of religion. If you look at

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the killings that have been politicians that is res p o n s i b l e , attributed to religion more (with due apologies to the closely, you would be horrified politicians present today)! to learn that it is politics that is exploiting religion to spre a d QUESTIONER h a t red and to encourage the killing of others. Why is it essential for human beings to have the help of The people who move the pawns Prophets and why do Prophets have invisible hands and it is the have certain names and move of ‘pawns’ that you denominations attached to observe. What we understand by them? religious madness is that it has been employed to disturb the Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad: peace of mankind re p e a t e d l y. The question raises the issue Ho w e v e r , it is not because of that if a Prophet is born religion itself. No religion at its amongst the Muslims, why s o u rce when it is pure ever should Christians change their advocates hatred in the name of religion to accept that message? love and murder in the name of The same is true of Hindus, of God. Confucianists, of Zoro a s t r i a n s and of so many others. Why Always at the source, when should man be put to such a religion is at its purest, religion trial, not only to change his way is at the receiving end of of life but also to change the c ruelties. It admonishes name of the religion in which he patience, it admonishes love in is born. This, in fact, is the return for cruelty and hatred. It fundamental obstruction in the is not true religion that is way of acceptance of other responsible for bloodshed - it is P rophets. However, the either the misconceived or question is automatically corrupted and distorted concept resolved if the way in which the of religion or exploitation of Holy Qur’an explains the office religion when it has become of Prophethood is understood. c o r rupted at the hands of

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According to the Qur’an, the What is important for man is to theory of Prophethood is that decide whether someone has God always makes Himself been sent by his Creator or not. known by manifesting Himself That is the only thing that man t h rough the agency of those should judge. If he worries whom He chooses to speak to about labels, then he is dictating and He chooses only such to his Lord. He attaches a people who are well suited to condition to God and says that serve His cause. For example, in whoever comes must have this a society in which most people tag with him or he would not, are not truthful - even if they for instance, accept Christ if he don’t lie directly but imagine came with a diff e rent tag. things and exaggerate – if God S i m i l a r l y, Muslims naturally chooses a certain person who is would not believe in a Prophet given to these vices, consciously f rom among the Christians. or unconsciously, what would They would say that the name be the result? Would God not be of the religion that is true is misrepresented to the people? If Islam and so they will only He chooses someone who is accept God’s messengers under weak of heart and who cannot the condition that He sends go through the stress of them with the tags of their opposition, will he not lose the choosing and not any other. message half way? So, God has This means that one is dictating to be selective. He has to select terms to God. All that God is only such a person who is interested in is that He wants to highly capable, mentally as well see loyalty towards Him with as in the quality of heart, to be no other loyalty standing in the perfectly suited to the office of way. That is the only test He Prophethood. This is how He, puts mankind through and according to the philosophy of whenever He sends a mes- Islam, chooses His messengers. senger, man is always put to the same test. At such times some The second part is that people adhere to the religion of whatever name He gives to a the people they are born religion is just a transient thing. amongst. They say: ‘How can

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we accept such and such a that he does not stand in need of person when he has come from any outside help or any super- a diff e rent country, from a natural interference. Only then d i ff e rent race, from among a does God send Prophets to cut d i ff e rent people and in the man back to size with the name of a diff e rent re l i g i o n message that either he turns to when we were expecting his Lord and submits to him or somebody to come from within else be destroyed as a civil- our own religion’. These are the isation - and that is exactly what hindrances created in the way of has happened in previous ages. man’s acceptance of the truth. Hence, only those people accept There is a fallacy from which the a divine message whose present day man is suffering. loyalties lie with their Creator We consider that we are the alone and not with some most advanced people on earth denomination or name of a and a person belonging to religion. This is why we are previous generations and ages duty bound to seek out a was backward. Since he was not P rophet wherever he comes. mature, he could not see things Why, however, is this so? as wisely as we can and could not make choices because he The reason why we need was so far behind in history. Prophets is that Prophets come This fallacy from which man is only during an age that is suffering is entirely deceptive distorted. A prophet appears at because if one looks at the a time when mankind has, as a march of humanity and takes a whole, gone astray, with the c ross section at any stage in exception of a few; when man h i s t o r y, the man of that age has turned his back to his Lord would be the most advanced. and begun to feel the pride of He would be going through the knowledge; when he considers same psychological complex of himself not dependent on any superiority because to him we o u t w a rd source and believes are not visible. To the man of himself to have gained maturity previous ages, the only visible and majority; when he thinks trace is of the man behind him.

34 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Belief and Guidance

This is the situation of man question is this that however whether he lived 4000 years ago advanced man is, in relation to or 6000 years ago. He would his Creator he stands at the have the same haughty attitude same place of ignorance. As and would be thinking that he is Einstein once beautifully put it at the summit of things – the that in a way you cannot be first in the procession of closer to God because He is manhood. He thinks he belongs unlimited in His powers and to people who have attained His attributes. The ratio that, maturity in terms of human a c c o rding to Einstein, a thought and so he is fre e . knowledgeable or a wise person According to the Holy Qur’an, has with his Cre a t o r, is the same question was raised by mathematically the same ratio Pharaoh some 3000 or so years as an ignorant person will have ago. ‘Why do we need a God or with his Creator because man is Moses? Are we not adult zero as compared to the infinity enough? We know what is of God. Hence, the relationship wrong and what is right. We will always remain unchanged. alone are our gods and we don’t However much pro g ress you need any other god’. Exactly the make in this age with respect to same question was raised by your Creator and His wisdom, people before the Pharaohs, the you remain ignorant and an people of Noah and by yet ignorant person always stands others before them. In short, this in need of guidance from a is a question that has been asked wiser person - that relationship again and again. However, if we cannot be changed. accept that man needs an outside agency, that is, a Messenger of Allah to guide him – he needs it today as much as he needed it in the past.

The second aspect from which we should look at this very important and philosophical

The Review of Religions – June 2003 35 Europe’s Debt to the Islamic World – How Arabic translations brought about the Renaissance

By Zakaria Virk – Canada

‘It was under the influence of the torch of culture and Arabian and Moorish revival civilisation in the world. of culture and not in the 15th Ancient science and philosophy c e n t u r y, that the re a l p reserved in the Sanskrit, renaissance took place. ’ Pahlavi, Syriac, and Gre e k Robert Briffault in T h e languages would have been lost Making of Humanity. f o rever had Muslim scholars not translated them into Arabic. Introduction These works were later to be In recent years, Baghdad has re c o v e red, and supplemented been the focus of world news by European scholars in the for the wrong reasons, yet 15th century paving the way for ironically, the progress achieved Western Europe’s renaissance. by the industrialised world is due in large part to this very Baghdad was built by Caliph al- city. We will show in this essay Mansur (754-775) in 762 on the how Baghdad saved the Greek west bank of the river Tigris. He intellectual heritage by tran- employed 100,000 arc h i t e c t s , lating old rare manuscripts into craftsmen and laboure r s . Arabic; later these Arabic Because of its shape it was versions became the source of referred to as the Round City, E u ropean re-birth and although the builder had awakening. officially titled it Dar as-Salam (the abode of peace). The new Between the middle of the 8th city comprised of the Caliph’s century and the beginning of palace, mosque and residences the 13th, the Arabic speaking for his children and government people were the main bearers of buildings. There were offices for

36 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Europe’s Debt to the Islamic World s e c retaries, halls for the nent poets, scholars, musicians ambassadors, scholars and and dancers. Science and art other visitors. was patronised by the Caliph as well as by his learned viziers The buildings had green domes, like Khalid and Yahya Barmaki. some as high as 130 feet. There A special bureau of poetry was was a double wall around the established which bestowed city 90 feet high with four gates large sums of money on worthy in the wall each adorned with poets. The intellectual activity an iron door. A new class of of Baghdad passed through two businessman, craftsmen, mer- stages, translation fro m chants, theologians and scholars Sanskrit, Pahlavi, Syriac, and a rose due to the sudden G reek in the 9th and 10th prosperity of the city. Trade was centuries and later original carried on throughout the works produced by eminent caliphate, with fresh fruits and scientists like Ibn Sena (d.1037) new products finding their way and al-Tusi. The translation in the markets of the city. work started under the Business, industry and trade Umayyad rule. Khalid ibn Yazid made great strides. Basra and (d.704), an Umayyad prince is Siraf were the busiest ports of reported to have translated the world. The Abbasid coins works on chemistry, medicine recently unearthed in and astrology. The translation Scandinavia testify to the fact movement received impetus that trade activity was under caliph al-Mansur and worldwide. On Caliph Harun reached its apogee under caliph al-Rashid’s death, it is said, the al-Mamun. The translation state treasury contained 900 work was all but complete million dinars. during the caliphate of al- Mutawakil (847-861). Intellectual activity The real glory of Baghdad was During the reign of Caliph al- not in wealth but in her Mansur (754-775) the trans- intellectual creativity. Harun al- lation work was backed by the Rashid’s court attracted emi- government, unlocking the

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treasures of Greek knowledge. the Hindu numerals from India He founded a department in to Islam later reaching Europe which classical and scientific in its modified form as Arabic works were translated fro m Numerals. various languages into Arabic. People of high rank also took In literature a book Kalila wa- part in this endeavour. The Dimna was translated fro m translation work started with Pahlavi into Arabic by Ibn al- two manuscripts, one on Muqaffa (d758) which was the mathematics and the other on first literary work in Arabic. He astronomy that were brought to is mainly known for his two his court. The works of Greek translations, one Siyar al-Muluk mathematicians, which were al-Ajam (History of the Persian translated during the Abbasid Kings) and Hazar Afsana (Alif Caliphate and served as the Laila wa Laila), translated into starting point for Arab English as Thousand and One mathematics were those of Nights. Al-Hajaj ibn Yousuf ibn Euclid, Ptolemy, Autolyscus, Mater was the first translator A r i s t a rchos and Arc h i m e d e s . (829) of Ptolemy’s astronomical Without these Arabic trans- t reatise, Megale Syntaxis, into lations, the philosophical, Arabic under the title al-Majisti. mathematical and scientific He was also the first to make an works of Greek masters would Arabic translation of Euclid’s have been lost in Greek Imperial Elements (830), which became a Palaces. s o u rce for Geometry worldwide. Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al- Fazari (d.796) translated into Abu Yahya ibn Al-Bitriq (d758) Arabic in 772 the Sanskrit was commissioned by al- a s t ronomical work of Mansur to translate numerous Brahmagupta called S i d d h a n t a medical works. He was one of (Arabic Sindhind) by order of the pioneer translators of Greek Caliph al-Mansur. This into Arabic. He translated translation was possibly the Galen's S i m p l i c i a; the D e vehicle for the transmission of Prohibenda Sepultura and the De

38 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Europe’s Debt to the Islamic World

Cura Icteri of the pseudo-Galen. region or culture was free to He also translated Hippocrates: carry out his re s e a rch here . De Alimento (Kitab al-gida), De Mathematicians such as al- Septimanis, (Kitab al-asabi), and Kindi, al-Khawrizmi, al-Hajjaj, Ptolemy’s Quadripartitum (Kitab Hunayn ibn Ishaq, Sabit ibn al-Arabi'a). Qurra, al-Jawhari and the Banu Musa brothers were appointed Sa’id ibn al-Bitriq, was Patriarch by al-Ma'mun to the House of of Alexandria from 933 to 940 Wisdom. Works on astronomy, whose works put him on an mathematics, geography, philo- equal footing with Qusta ibn s o p h y, and medicine w e re Luqa. In the field of medicine he re n d e red into Arabic. The w rote Kitab fi tibb (lost), in g roundwork done by these hi s t o r y , Kitab at-Tar i k h al - M a j m u ’ scholars provided the foun- a l - Tahqiq wa al-Ta s d i q, more dation by which the stately commonly known under the edifice of Islamic learning was name, Nazam al-Gawahar. As an built. The caliphate of al- apologist, he wrote in defence of Mamun, undoubtedly consti- Ch r i s t i a n i t y , Kitab al-gadal bain al- tutes the most glorious epoch in muhalef wa al-nasrani. Islam.

Institute of Advance Study Abu Zakariya Yuhanna Ibn During the Caliphate of al- Masawayh (d.857) a physician, Mamun al-Rashid (813-33) the was its first dire c t o r. He translation work reached its translated various Gre e k zenith. Al-Mamun established a medical works into Arabic. The scientific academy in Baghdad, Academy of Wisdom was a Bayt al-Hikmah in 830. It centre of practical and specu- comprised a large library, an lative studies and encouraged observatory near Shamsiyya not only translations fro m gate, houses for scientists, a Syriac, Pahlavi, Greek, and b u reau of translation, several Sanskrit, but also the diffusion copyists, and some basic of translated works. His book scientific instruments. Any was translated into Latin as scientist belonging to any faith, Liber de simplicibus.

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Hunain Ibn Ishaq (809-873) was Two methods were employed the second director of the for translations, one of them A c a d e m y. As an outstanding was that the translator studied translator he re n d e red into each Greek word and its Arabic the complete medical meaning, chose an Arabic word and philosophical works of with corresponding meaning Galen as well as Aristotle’s and used it. Then he turned to physics & the Old Te s t a m e n t the next word until he had f rom Greek. He travelled to re n d e red the whole text into Asia Minor to search for rare Arabic. The second method was medical manuscripts and that of Hunayn who considered b rought these to Iraq. In his the whole sentence, understood translation work, Hunayn was its full meaning and expressed it assisted by his able son Ishaq, in Arabic without any regard and nephew Hubaish ibn al- for the individual word. With Hassan. His many students respect to technical terminology, completed the trans-lation of the process of trial and error Plato, Hippocrates, Ptolemy, was used. It was a diff i c u l t Euclid, and Pythagoras into process to express many foreign Arabic, and made great original ideas, hence making trans- discoveries in arithmetic, lations was not an easy task. particularly in integral calculus Gradually the Arabic language and spherical astronomy. Caliph developed the technical termi- al-Mamun (813-833) is said to nology it needed to express new have paid him in gold for his thoughts, ideas and concepts. translations, weight for weight. Hunayn also composed a Ishaq Ibn Hunayn (d.910) was number of original medical trained under his father’ s writings, including the supervision in Greek sciences influential Questions on Medicine and the discipline of translation. for Beginners, Summaries & His first language was Syriac, c o m m e n t a r i e s on Galen’s 16 but his knowledge of Arabic was books, On the Method of Healing far superior to his father’s. He and On the Type of fevers. found special favour with Caliph al-Mutamid (870-892) and al-

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Mutadid (892-902). His original in t r oduced this new science to works in medicine are On the the West. His astronomical tables Simple Medicine, Outline of w e re also translated into M e d i c i n e, and History of Eu r opean languages and later Ph y s i c i a n s . As one of the ablest into Chinese. Several of his translators, he translated various books were translated into other works of Plato, Porphyry, languages, and served as Alexander of Aphro d i s i a s , university textbooks till the 16th Ammonious, Autolycus, Galen, ce n t u r y . Euclid, Aristotle, Ptolemy and Hy p s i c l e s. The three Banu Musa brothers devoted most of their wealth to Musa Al-Khawrizmi (d.780) was the acquisition of Gre e k one of the earliest scientists who manuscripts, and their trans- did his re s e a rch at Bayt al- lations into Arabic. Hunayn and Hikma. Al-Khwarizmi started Sabit ibn Qurra were two of the his res e a r ch by translating and most famous translators they writing a commentary on employed. Si d d h a n t a . He prep a r ed an atlas of the maps of heaven which has It should be emphasised that been preserved. On request from the translations into Arabic at his patron al-Mamun he wrote a this time were made by book on algebraic calculations and physicians, scientists and eq u a t i o n s translated into Latin in mathematicians, not by lan- 1143. Several of his books were guage experts ignorant of translated into Latin in the early mathematics, and the need for 12th century. In fact, his book on the translations was stimulated arithmetic, Kitab al-Jam'a wal- by the most advanced research Taf r eeq bil Hisab al-Hindi, was lost of the time. It is important to in Arabic but survived in a Latin realise that the translating was translation. His book on algebra, done as part of the curre n t Al-Maqala fi Hisab-al Jabr wa-al- re s e a rch effort. Arabic trans- Mu q a b i l a h , was also translated lations of mathematical works into Latin in the 12th century, of those times gave the Arabs and it was this translation which the sources to develop the

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science of mathematics to an in Baghdad, and one speaker admirably high degree and attributed 281 titles to him. Most modern scientists owe much to of his works have survived in Arab genius. Latin rather than Arabic. He polished the translations made Sabit ibn Qurra (836-901) by others and also wro t e founded a school of translation commentaries. He was known as that included his son, two Alkindus in Latin. grandsons, and a gre a t - grandson. He revised old Ahmad ibn Yousuf al-Misri (835- translations such as Euclid, and 912) wrote a work on ratio and made new ones covering the pr oportion, a book On similar bulk of Greek astronomical and ar cs, a commentary on Ptolemy’s mathematical works. Caliph al- Centiloquium and a book about Mutadid (892-902) was his the astrolabe. Ahmad's work on patron. His revision of Euclid’s ratio and proportion was a Elements formed the basis of ca r efully constructed work that later Arabic versions. influenced early Euro p e a n mathematicians such as Yaqoob Al-Kindi (801-873) was Fibonacci. among the galaxy of intellectuals who occupied the science Qusta ibn Luqa (835-912) was a academy of al-Mamun. His prominent figure in the Graeco- major task was the translation of Arabic translation movement Aristotle’s Theology into Arabic. that reached its peak in the 9th He was a physician, a musician, century. He made, revised, or a mathematician and an supervised translations of six as t ro l o g e r . He served as court G reek masters Diophantus, physician to al-Mutasim (833- Theodosius, Autolycus, Heron , 842). His book on optics (Kitab Hypsciles and Aristarchus into al-Manazir) was translated into Arabic. He also produced more Latin and was used by Roger than 60 works of his own. He Bacon (1214-1294). He wrote 36 w rote mainly on medical books on medicine. In 1962 his subjects, but also on mathe- millenary anniversary was held matics and astro n o m y. There

42 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Europe’s Debt to the Islamic World was also Mankah the Indian, Islamic Spain who translated from Sanskrit Al-Hakam, the ninth Caliph of into Arabic, and translated a Islamic Spain (961-976) was the treatise on poisons written by most scholarly ruler of Islam. A the Indian physician Shanaq. g reat patron of sciences, he Al-Farabi (d.870) studied in encouraged the study of Baghdad, his commentaries on mathematics, astronomy and Aristotle’s logic, physics, and medicine. Cordoba was one of metaphysics earned him the the greatest cities of the world at title of al-Muallim al-thani (the the time. Its university housed second teacher). He introduced in the great mosque, embraced Plato into Islam, having been among its departments theol- inspired by his book Republic. ogy, jurisprudence, astro-nomy, mathematics, and medicine. Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201-74) C o rdoba’s workshops were wr ote many commentaries on producing some 60,000 bound G reek texts including re v i s e d volumes each year. Students Arabic versions of works by from many European countries Autolycus, Aristarchus, Euclid, flocked to Cordoba, To l e d o , Apollonius, Arc h i m e d e s , Granada and Seville to study Hypsicles, Ptolemy, Theodosius, sciences and other disciplines. and Memelaus. In 1247 al-Tus i When European rulers needed w rote Tahrir al-Majisti (Com- an artist, a physician, or a mentary on the Almagest) in technologist, they invariably which he introduced various turned to the Cord o b a n trigonometrical techniques to government. A Saxon nun calculate tables of sines. Many ( H rositha) styled Cordoba as historians claim that Copernicus ‘The Jewel of the World’. used Tusi's work. One of his pupils Qutab ad-Din al-Shirazi According to Philip K, Hitti, gave the first satisfactory mathematical explanation of the ‘Al-Hakam was a ra i n b o w . bibliophile; his agents ransacked the book-shops of Alexandria, Damascus and

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Baghdad with a view to and astronomy. A good number buying or copying manu- of the translators were Syrians, scripts. The books thus Persians and Nestorian g a t h e red are said to have Christians. Jewish translators n u m b e red 400,000, their did participate only later and titles filling a catalogue of 44 made translations from Arabic volumes, in each one of into Latin. which 20 sheets were devoted to poetical works The contributions by Arab alone.’ rulers were significant, (Capital Cities of Islam, p.320) consisting mainly in the patronage of translation work Al-Hakam, himself being an and securing Greek manu- outstanding scholar, personally scripts. The golden age of used a large number of these translations was the ninth books and wrote marginal notes c e n t u r y. Muslims became on most of the manuscripts standard bearers of civilisation. which made them very valuable Translation work was the to later scholars. The celebrated driving force for Islam, as soon Caliph paid extraord i n a r y as it dried up the march of Islam prices for the rare manuscripts. came to a halt. The age of According to Ibn Khaldun he translations lasted for 150 years p u rchased the first copy of (750-900), and paved the way Kitab al-Aghani, written by al- for the age of composition and Isfahani for one thousand pure innovation. The latter half of the gold dinars. ninth and the tenth centuries form the most creative period in Translations in Europe the history of Islamic science The knowledge translated into and learning. Arabic was from Sanskrit, Pahlavi, Syriac and Gre e k In Western Europe the sources. Most of the translators translation work from Arabic w e re physicians. The first into Latin started in the 12th manuscripts to be translated c e n t u r y. Spain in this re s p e c t were in medicine, mathematics, played the leading role in

44 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Europe’s Debt to the Islamic World transmitting Islamic learning to Toledo had been in Muslim Western Europe. There were hands from 712 to 1085, and towering intellectual figure s soon became the residence of like Av e m p a c e of Saragossa, the King of Castile. The ancient Abubacer (Ibn To f a i l), and city was the natural place for Av e r roes (Ibn Rushd), the the exchange of Christian and astronomers al-Bitrogi, and Ibn Muslim learning. There was a Aflah, Maslama al-Majriti, wealth of Arabic books, and a instrument maker and designer number of local scholars were Arzachel (al-Zarqali), the great masters of two tongues. The surgeon Albucasis (Abul Qasim- translations here started around d.936), the great physician 1135 and continued until the Avenzoar (Ibn Zuhr), Avicebron time of King Alfonso X (1252- (Ibn Gabirol), and Maimonides 84). A large part of the (Ibn Maimoon d.1204) who population used Arabic as their enriched every field of own language. Consequently it knowledge. became the main channel for transmitting the tre a s u res of Within Europe men of diverse Islamic erudition to Europe. learning traveled to Islamic Spain to study; chief among The translators worked in pairs. them were Gerbert of Aurillac, A scholar would translate the Adelard of Bath, Plato of Tavoli, original Arabic into Romance Robert of Chester, Herman of (garbled Latin) and another Carinthia, Rudolph of Bruges, would make the Latin version. Gerard of Cremona and Michael Many European scholars like Scott. Most of them were Michael Scott travelled to Spain engaged in translations fro m and Sicily to learn Arabic and to Arabic into Latin. The make direct translation into translation work was carried on Latin. Churchmen took an active at Barcelona, Tarazona, Leon, role as patrons or translators. Pamplona, Toulouse, Narbonne, A rchbishop Raymond (11 2 5 - Marseilles, and later To l e d o 1151) took the first initiative and became the chief centre. established a school of translation on the pattern of

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Baghdad’s Bayt al-Hikma. Then c u l t u re. The transmission of a rchdeacon of Segovia, Arabic knowledge helped pave Dominicus Gondisalvi (112 6 - 5 1 ) the way for the founding of made several translations of E u ropean universities in Arabic philosophy (including Bologna (founded 1113), and K u l l i y a t of Ibn Rushd), the Salerno in Italy, Paris and Me t a p h y s i c s and other works of Montpellier (founded 1181) in Ibn Sena, Yanboo al-Hayat (t h e France, Oxford and Cambridge Fons Vitae) of Ibn Gabirol, Ih s a l in England. The internal a l - U l o o m of al-Farabi, and or ganisation of these Europ e a n philosophy of al-Ghazzali. His colleges was strikingly similar to classification of the sciences can the Islamic ones, for example the be traced to al-Farabi. idea of Graduate (S a h i b) and u n d e rgraduate (m u t a f a q q i h) is Translators of 12th century derived directly from Islamic Some of the outstanding terms. translators of the 12th century w e re: Adelard of Bath (111 6 - The library of the Montpellier 1142) John of Seville (1126-51), University contained all the Gundisalvo (1126-51), Herman translations of the Arab writers. the Dalmatian (1138-45), Hugh In the 14th century Montpellier of Santala (1119-51), Robert of was the principle center for the Chester (1141-50), Plato of teaching of Arabian medicine Tavoli (1133-50), Stephen of and astronomy. In 953 Otto the Antioch (1128), Abraham ben Great, King of Germans, sent as Ezra (1092-1167), Abraham bar envoy a monk, John, who Hayya (1133-50) and Gerard of resided in Cordoba for thre e Cremona (1114-87). years, learned Arabic and took back with him numero u s The twelfth century was a period scientific manuscripts. in which translations fro m Arabic into Latin dominated all The teachings and influences of other achievements. The impact the Arabs, according to C. of this activity was enormous. Elgood, spread thro u g h Toledo became a world centre of Montpellier and Bologna to

46 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Europe’s Debt to the Islamic World every medical school in Western book. He wrote a scientific Europe. In Paris at one time the encyclopedia resembling in whole faculty of medicine many ways Avicenna’s al-Shifa. consisted of books by Al-Razi (Jewish Encyclopedia, vol 6, page and Ibn Sena, to this day their 570). Thomas Aquinas was led portraits hang in the hall of the to write his Summas by Arabic Faculty of Medicine in the translations of Aristotle. University of Paris. Ibn-Sena and al-Razi’s textbooks were Adelard of Bath (1075-1160) was taught at Montpellier until 1555, one of earliest translators who while at the University of made the wholesome con- Loraine up to the middle of the version of Arab-Greek learning 17th century, and lectures on f rom Arabic into Latin. He Ibn Sena continued at Brussels made Latin translations of University in Belgium until Euclid’s Elements from Arabic 1909. The curricula of Padua s o u rces which were for (founded in 1222), Palermo centuries the chief geometry (founded in 1110) and of Oxford textbooks in the West. His in England (founded in 1167), translation of al-Khwarizmi’s consisted largely of Arab astronomical tables became the medical textbooks. Al- first Latin astronomical tables of Zahrawi’s medical masterpiece, the Arabic type with their Greek al-Tasrif, was used for centuries influences and Indian symbols. as the manual of surgery in Abraham bar Hayya (1070-1136) Salerno, Montpellier and other spent most of his life in schools of medicine. Barcelona, an area of both Arab and Christian learning, and was Roger Bacon himself founded active in translating the his monumental Optics on the masterpieces of Arab science. basis of Ibn-Haytham's work He deplored the lack of Kitab al-Manazir, in fact part V knowledge of Arab science and of his Opus Majus which is language among the people and devoted to ‘perspective’ is helped translate works into virtually an exact copy of Ibn al- Latin. He had also studied some Haisham’s afore m e n t i o n e d of the important works on

The Review of Religions – June 2003 47 Europe’s Debt to the Islamic World

algebra by Arab mathe- algebra, Ptolemy’s treatise on maticians, in particular al- as t r olabe and also did the first Khwarizimi and al-Karaji. Latin translation of the Holy Abraham ben Ezra (1092-1167) Qu r ’an. translated al-Biruni’s commen- tary on al-Khwarizmi’s tables Plato of Tivoli (11 3 3 - 5 0 ) and made interesting comments translated Ptolemy’s first work on the introduction of Indian into Latin, i.e. a treatise on mathematics into Arabic science astrology from Arabic. He also in the 8th century. He was the translated works of al-Mansur first to translate Islamic writings (aphorisms), al-Khaiyat, al- into Hebrew. F a rg h a n i (Elements of A s t ronomy), and ibn Saffar G e r a rd of Cremona (111 4 - 8 7 ) ( a s t rolabe). Marc of To l e d o arrived in Toledo from Italy in (1190-1200) translated the Holy 1165. He was impressed by the Q u r’an into Latin, Hunain’s wealth of the city’s Arabic translations of Galenic treatises, l i t e r a t u re in science and and several original works of p h i l o s o p h y. He spent the Hunain. remaining years of his life in translating the best of the Arabic Thirteenth century books into Latin. All in all he Some of the pro m i n e n t made seventy-one translations. translators of this century were The two most important Michael Scott, Samuel ibn translations he made were Tibbon, Ibn Hasdai, Arnold of A l m a g e s t and the first Latin Villanova, Bonacost, Faraj ben translation of the gigantic a l - Salim, Herman the German, Qa n u n ; the most widely studied Alfonso X, Judah ben Moses, medical work ever penned. Abraham of Toledo, Solomon ibn Ayyub and Moses ibn Robert of Chester (1141-50) an Tibbon. Englishman, translated al-Kindi (Ahkam al-Najum), Khalid ibn Michael Scott (1200-35) is the Yazid’s alchemical treatise, first second most important trans- translation of al-Khwarizmi’s lator of the Arabic literary

48 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Europe’s Debt to the Islamic World t re a s u re for Europe. By his The King had the translations translations he intro d u c e d made into the Castilian Europe to three new things of language rather than Latin. The great consequence - Aristotelian best known of such translations z o o l o g y, al-Bitruji’s (d.1204) were the Alfonsine Tables, based astronomy, and the philosophy on the astro n o m i c a l of ibn Rushd (1198). His efforts observations made by al-Zarqali made it possible for ibn-Rushd’s (Azarquiel) in Toledo in the 11th philosophy to reach and c e n t u r y. Copernicus later influence Europe immensely at employed these Tables in a time when most Muslims evolving a new astro n o m i c a l were unaware of him. Scott did system centering on the sun his best translations while in instead of the earth. Toledo. Later he moved to Sicily to work as royal translator for Abraham of Toledo translated the Holy Roman Empero r ibn al-Haytham’s (d.1040) Frederick II. treatise on the configuration of the universe, al-Zarq a l i ’ s King Alfonso X (1252-84) treatise on the construction and o rganised an institute of use of astrolabe, and the 70th translation where pro m i n e n t chapter (Surat al-Muarij) of the scholars like Judah ben Moses Holy Qur’an. Shem Tob ben and Abraham of Toledo did the Isaac translated important work. He ord e red the medical works, thus Muslim translation of works such as: Al- medicine became available to B a t t a n i (Canons), Ibn al- Jewish physicians who did not Haytham (Kitab al-Bari fee know Arabic. Nathan Hameati, Ahkam al-Nujum, fee Haiyat al- an Italian known as the prince Alam), Abdur al-Rahman al-Sufi of translators, made translations (Kitab al-Kawakib), Qusta ibn from Arabic into Hebrew. Luqa (Kitab al-Amal Bilkurra al- Fulkiyya), al-Zarqali (two books It is noteworthy that ibn Sena’s on armilery sphere and a l - masterpiece al-Qanun fee al-tibb S a f i h a), five books on clocks, (Lat. Canon) was translated 57 Ubaid Allah (Book of the crosses). times, and was first published in

The Review of Religions – June 2003 49 Europe’s Debt to the Islamic World

1473 and by 1500, sixteen in Majorca was founded at his editions had been published. It request in 1276 by Pope John was published for the last time in XXI. 1593. In the works of Ferrari da Grado, who was steeped in 14th century translators Islamic medicine, Ibn Sena is During the fourteenth century cited more than 3000 times, al- there was a gradual decline in Razi and Galen 1000 times, and translations from Arabic into Hippocrates only a hundre d Latin. By the end of the century ti m e s . they had almost ceased. Arabic into Hebrew replaced these The French surgeon Guy de translations. The Jews enjoyed Chauliac in his Great Surgery, complete freedom in Islamic completed in about 1363, Spain. Arabic being the medium quoted At-Tasrif over 200 times. of education in Spain, they took Jacques Delechamps (1513- a leading part in the translations 1588), another French surgeon, of Arabic works into Hebrew. made extensive use of At-Tasrif Jews were the great exponents in his elaborate commentary. of Islamic learning. In Italy they Abu Mashar (Lat. Albumasar) founded schools along the line held the belief that astral of the Andalusian schools in influence controlled life and Bari, Salerno and Tarentum as death. He communicated to well as others in France and Europe the fact that the laws of England. tides were based of the relation to the moon’s rising and setting. The period of translation was (Hitti, p. 252). Raymond Lull followed by a period when was a great Arabic scholar. He Arabic learning was classified wrote several works in Arabic and assimilated. The gro u n d which he later translated into was now ready for the Catalan, Latin or both. In his Europeans to produce their own Compendium of al-Ghazzali’s logic, creative works. This paved the he made a summary of way for the intellectual growth Ghazzali’s logic and translated and re-birth of Western Europe. it into Latin. The Arabic college Some of the outstanding

50 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Europe’s Debt to the Islamic World translators of 14th century Bonacosa translated the Kulliyat include Moses ben Solomon, of Ibn Rushd at Padua in 1255, Qalonymos, Samuel ben Judah, Paravisius translated in 1290 Samuel ibn Motot, Abraham Ab-Taysir of Ibn Zuhr in Venice, A b i g d o r, Solomon ben David and Andrea Alphago of Baluno and Stephen son of Arnold. (1520) translated the biograph- ical dictionary of Ibn al-Kifti as Role of Sicily well as works of Ibn Sena and Another place where Ibn Rushd. Mention must be translations were made was the made of Constantanus island of Sicily. After the Africanus (1010-87) who was conquest of Islamic Sicily by the born in Carthage, but moved to Normans in 1091, the Norman Salerno, before retiring in 1076 Kings exercised tolerance to Monte Cassino. There he towards their Muslim subjects. spent his remaining years in Roger (d.1101), the first King of great activity; among the 30-odd Sicily, calling himself al-Malik al- medical works attributed to him Muazzam al-Qidees, was accused are translations of Hippocrates, of being more Muslim than Galen, Isaac Judaeus, and Ali Christian. Kaiser Frederick II Abbas (Haly Abbas). ( 1194-1250), the enlightened ruler adopted Islamic customs Impact of translations and did more than others in the Some of the pro m i n e n t diffusion of Islamic learning. E u ropean scholars influenced by Islamic learning include Jews played a vital role in the A d e l a rd of Bath, St. Thomas t r a n s l a t i o n s f rom Arabic. Faraj Aquinas, Roger Bacon, Dante ben Salem translated al-Razi’s Algheri, Pascal, Copernicus and Kitab al-Hawi, (Latin L i b e r Newton. The effect of these C o n t i n e n s) in Sicily. Mese of translations on Western Europe Palermo translated astro - was revolutionary. The influx of nomical and medical works new books stirred the world of f rom Arabic into Latin. scholarship, compelled new Southern Italy also assisted in developments in grammar, d i ffusing the Islamic culture . p h i l o l o g y, and above all

The Review of Religions – June 2003 51 Europe’s Debt to the Islamic World

provided curriculum for schools 9. Studies in the History of and universities. Theory and Medieval Science, by C.H. practise of medicine along with Haskins, 1924. other disciplines was advanced 10. How Greek Science passed to by these translations. A whole A r a b s, by De Lacy O’Leary, new range of ideas provided a 1979. new stimulus. In a nutshell these translations were a catalyst for the European mind and brought about the dawn of the Renaissance in the 15th century.

References 1. Capital Cities of Islam by Phillip K. Hitti. 2. Arabic Thought and its Place in History by De Lacy O’Leary.

3. Jewish Encyclopedia, 17 volumes. 4. The Arabic language by Anwer Chejne, 1969. 5. Renaissance of the 12th Century by C.H. Haskins. 6. Arabic Thought and the Western World by E.A. Myers, NY. 7. Dictionary of Scientific B i o g r a p h y. 16 volumes, NY, 1970. 8. The Classical Heritage in Islam, by F Rosenthal, 1975

52 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan: An Analysis Under International Law and International Relations – part 2

This is the second part of an article looking at the illegitimacy of the position of Pakistan in the way that it deals with minorities such as the Ahmadiyya Community. By Amjad Mahmood Khan

III. THE ANTI-BLASPHEMY PROVISIONS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW A. The U.N. Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Given Pakistan’s once staunch advocacy of Article 55(c) of the U.N. Charter and Article 18 of the UDHR, it is striking that it should so clearly c i rcumvent them in its promulgation and constitutionalisation of Ordinance XX and the Criminal Law Act of 1986. Where Article 18 guarantees the right to ‘freedom of thought . . . and to manifest this [thought] in . . . community with others and in public or private, in teaching, practice, worship and observance,’ Ordinance XX subjects one who thinks critically about the Holy Prophet Muhammad and manifests this thought ‘by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation,’ or “any person . . . who calls himself or herself Ahmadi . . . and calls or refers to his faith as Islam, or preaches or propagates his faith, or invites others to accept his faith, by words either spoken or written, or by visible representations in any manner whatsoever that outrages the religious feelings of Muslims” to ‘imprisonment . . . and fine.’ Moreover, Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, in its 1986 amended form, undermines completely the crucial right to manifest one’s beliefs and goes so far as to punish the exercise of this right with capital punishment, particularly as it relates to Ahmadis.

Pakistan’s state practice establishing the hegemony of a strict interpretation of the Shari’a makes such a glaring circumvention of an international declaration it formerly supported less surprising, though no less disturbing. As one of only a few Muslim countries to accept fully

The Review of Religions – June 2003 53 Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan

the provisions of the UDHR, it is ironic that Pakistan would endorse a p roposition, advanced by Saudi Arabia, that it once condemned vociferously: that freedom of conscience is antithetical to the Shari’a. The irony is both tragic and fatal, for under a less strict interpretation of the Shari’a, Pakistan’s state practice holds no logic. Pakistan attaches a temporal penalty to apostasy, something the Qur’an, the primary informant of the Shari’a, labels a spiritual offence.50 The presumption that the state should assess the truthfulness of a believer is equally contrary to Qur’anic injunction.51

B. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Article 18 of the UDHR arguably became a peremptory norm of international law in 1966 with the passing of Articles 18, 19, 20, and 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (‘ICCPR’). The covenant concretised the basic freedoms of religion and conscience articulated in the UDHR and made its signatories legally bound by it. In addition to prohibiting state coercion that would impair a person’s freedom to practice or adopt a religion or belief of one’s choice, the ICCPR also prohibits states from denying religious minorities the right, in community with other group members, to enjoy their own culture, profess or practice their own religion, or to use their own language.52 These rights are non-derogable except if the interests of public safety, order, health or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others, if prescribed by law, justifies their limitation.

Though Article 18 of the UDHR was a resounding declaration of religious freedom, without the backing of the ICCPR it lacked the force of a binding legal instrument. The ICCPRs long drafting period encompassed eighteen years of wrestling with issues the UDHR did not expound upon, including religious conversion, proselytism, and the tension between universal human rights and cultural relativism.53 The durability and universalisability of the precepts of the ICCPR were evident in its implementation ten years after its formulation in 1976. One hundred and twenty-five countries, including 23 Muslim states, ratified the Covenant.54

54 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan

Twenty-seven years after the Covenant’s introduction, the U.N. Human Rights Committee issued a General Comment describing the state of international norms of religious freedom at that time.55 The Comment described how international law recognised twelve non-derogable core rights, including the right to freedom of religion and prohibition of discrimination on the basis of religion. Even the key right of the freedom to manifest one’s religion, which customary international human rights law recognises as derogable, has adequate safeguards built around it.

In 1984, thirty-one international law experts from seventeen countries met in Siracusa, Italy, to consider the ICCPR’s Article IV limitation and derogation provisions.56 The Siracusa Principles on the Limitations and Derogation in the ICCPR clarify that any limitation imposed on one’s freedom to manifest one’s religion, or on other derogable rights in the Covenant, must be justifiably necessary and must constitute a response to a pressing public or social need, pursue a legitimate governmental purpose, and be appropriate to that purpose.57 States face a number of restrictions if they choose to place a domestic legal limitation on a right protected in the ICCPR, including prohibitions against laws that are vague, arbitrary, or unreasonable in content or application, and laws that discriminate expressly on the basis of religion. Fundamentally, domestic legal systems must grant protections at least equal to those specified under international law.58

Pakistan is not a signatory to the ICCPR; in particular, it could not endorse Articles 18, 19, 20, and 27. Pakistan’s state practice, as mentioned above, involved the ascendancy of the S h a r i ’ a a n d devolution from its fundamental acceptance of religious freedom in its founding era. Ironically, Pakistan’s distinguished jurists contributed to the opinio juris in Pakistan that regards the ICCPR as an affirmation of international human rights norms. Commenting on the relevance of international human rights law to common law jurisdiction in Pakistan, Justice Muhammad Haleem, then Chief Justice of Pakistan, at the Bangalore Colloquium in 1988,59 exclaimed:

All rules of general international law created for humanitarian purposes constitute jus cogens. A valid domestic jurisdiction defense can no

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longer be founded on the proposition that the manner in which the state treats its own national is ipso facto a matter within its domestic jurisdiction . . . because a matter is essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of the state only if it is not regulated by international law. In the modern age of economic and political interdependence, most questions which, on the face of it, appear to be essentially domestic ones are, in fact, essentially international. . . . The international human rights norms are in fact part of the constitutional expression of the liberties guaranteed at the national level. The domestic courts can assume the task of expanding these liberties. . . . The present thinking at the international level supports an expanded role of domestic courts for the observance of international human rights norms. This re a p p r a i s a l enables domestic courts to extend to citizens via state constitutions, greater protection of internationally recognised rights.60

That the Supreme Court of Pakistan would declare Ordinance XX constitutional only five years later in Zaheerudin is troubling because in so doing, Pakistan violated Article 18 of the ICCPR. To mar the consciences of Ahmadis by foreclosing their right to profess and practise their interpretation of Islam is a breach of Article 18’s instruction that ‘no one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his own choice.’ 61 Though the Court in Z a h e e r u d i n did not directly invoke the Article IV limitations to derogable rights, the majority justices used a public order argument akin to these limitations in their justification for upholding the constitutionality of Pakistan’s anti-blasphemy provisions. By witnessing their faiths, the Court argued, Ahmadis inherently blasphemed Islam; if the government allowed the public declaration of their faiths, each Ahmadi would become a ‘state-crafted Salman Rushdie.’62 Thus, the anti-blasphemy provisions were not only constitutional, but also fully consistent with the limitations to the rights enumerated in the ICCPR, insofar as they restricted Ahmadi activities for the sake of protecting public morals, maintaining public order, and preserving the integrity of Islam as Pakistan’s official state religion.63

For the Supreme Court of Pakistan to analogise the Ahmadi population to Salman Rushdie is to suggest that Ahmadis pose a threat to national

56 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan security (more specifically, the security of the Shari’a), which the General Comment to the ICCPR specifically forecloses as a legitimate exception to a non-derogable right.64 The fact that Ahmadis consistently invoke principles of non-retaliation even in the face of persecution is further indication of the absurdity of the national security argument. Moreover, Section 9 of the U.N. General Comment specifies: ‘The fact that a religion is recognised as a state religion or that it is established as official or traditional or that its following comprise the majority of the population, shall not result in any impairment of the enjoyment of any of the rights under the Covenant, including Articles 18 and 27, nor in any discrimination against adherents of other religion or non- believers.’65 Thus, the court’s law and order justification is not in accordance with the express provisions of the ICCPR, the official comments, or Pakistan’s opinio juris regarding the Covenant.

C. The U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Religious Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief With the passage of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Religious Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief on November 25, 1981, the U.N. further alerted Pakistan to emerging customary international human rights law concerning re l i g i o u s freedom.66 The U.N. Declaration of 1981, unlike the ICCPR, addressed restrictions on freedom of religion for religious minorities as they relate to conflicting interpretations of a single religion (i.e., intra-state and intra-religious discrimination). While affirming the basic principles of freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief, the Declaration of 1981 also separates ‘intolerance based on religion or belief’ fro m ‘discrimination based on religion or belief,’ so that religious minorities gain virtually exhaustive protection from systemic cruelty fro m members of another religion, from members of a particular sect or division of the same religion, and from a state (or state religion). Thus, the six Articles in the Declaration of 1981 offer arguably the most expansive annunciation of freedom of religion. The Declaration itself was adopted without a vote in the U.N.: it is a ‘soft law’ designed to further the international norms the ICCPR espoused.

The Review of Religions – June 2003 57 Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan

By circumscribing the freedom of Ahmadis to manifest their faith in Islam through written and verbal means, including the use of the K a l i m a, the A d h a n (or call for prayer), and A s s a l a m o - o - A l a i k u m (standard greeting of a Muslim, Arabic for ‘peace be upon you’), Pakistan, in its promulgation of the anti-blasphemy provisions, violated Article 6 of the Declaration of 1981. Section (c) guarantees the freedom “to make, acquire and use to an adequate extent the necessary articles and materials related to the rites or customs of a religion or belief,”67 which for an Ahmadi, as it would be for any Muslim, includes the public display of the Kalima, the use of a loudspeaker or microphone for the Adhan, and the use of stationary with the phrase Assalamo-e-Alaikum as a basic Islamic greeting. Yet these very ‘articles and materials’ have been the subject of formal criminal charges levelled against Ahmadis.

Even more compelling than Article 6 of the Declaration of 1981 is Article 7, which sets forth a patent obligation that ‘the rights and freedoms set forth in the Declaration shall be accorded in national legislations in such a manner that everyone shall be able to avail himself of such rights and freedoms in practice.’68 Because the creation of parliament was to come years later, President Zia-ul-Haq was effectively Pakistan’s originator of ‘national legislation’ at this time. It was highly unlikely that Pakistan could meet the obligation of Article 7 of the Declaration of 1981 while still maintaining the supremacy of the Shari’a. Thus, the passage of Ordinance XX and the Criminal Law Act of 1986, only a few years after the Declaration of 1981, can be seen as Pakistan’s way of asserting, with a clenched fist, the place of the Shari’a in the international community and its own adherence to the Shari’a in its national legislation.

D . Report of the U.N. Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities on its Thirty-Eighth Session In 1985, the U.N. Sub-Commission issued a formal statement against Pakistan’s promulgation of Ordinance XX, calling for its immediate repeal and the creation of protections to prevent the mass exodus of Ahmadis.69 Resolution 1985/21 was a succinct and powerful affirmation

58 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan of the crucial principles of the UN Charter, the UDHR, and the U.N. Declaration of 1981. Its first paragraph expressly proclaims that the Sub- Commission’s reports are ‘guided’”7 0 by the principles of these international instruments. The report condemns Ordinance XX as a ‘prima facie violation . . . of the right of religious minorities to profess and practice their own religion.’71 It ‘expresses grave concern’ at the O rdinance’s subjection of Ahmadis to ‘various punishments and confiscation of personal property . . . discrimination in employment and education . . . and to the defacement of their religious property.’72 P e rhaps most importantly, Resolution 1985/21 rejects Pakistan’s justification for Ordinance XX’s restrictions on Ahmadis as a public safety regulation.73

Resolution 1985/21 was a sweeping reminder to Pakistan to live up to its commitment to international human rights. This commitment was not an implied one, but rather was clearly manifested by Pakistan’s membership in the U.N. Sub-Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, a privilege Pakistan will hold at least until 2006.74 That Pakistan turned a blind eye to Resolution 1985/21 is yet another powerful example of its failure to honour commitments under international human rights norms. (to be continued)

References 50 A primary verse of the Qur’an that proponents of Pakistan’s anti- blasphemy provisions cite is Chapter 3, Verse 86: ‘And who so seeks a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the life to come he shall be among the losers.’ THE HOLY QUR’AN, Ch.3:V.86, translated by Maulawi Sher Ali. Even a strict and literal interpretation of the above verse places any sort of punishment for apostasy squarely in the ‘life to come’ or hereafter, that is, it is a spiritual offence punished by God alone and not an offence that requires physical punishment. For a detailed discussion of the significance of blasphemy under Islamic Law, see Donna E. Arzt, Heroes or Heretics: Religious Dissidents Under Islamic Law, 14 WIS. INT’L L.J. 349 (1996). 51 Though doctrinally difficult to grasp, the concept of separation of

The Review of Religions – June 2003 59 Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan

religion and state is not fundamentally antithetical to Islam. It suffices here to mention that the Qur’an stresses that an individual’s spiritual destiny is strictly between God and that person, without interference from an outside person or state. That is to say, true religious belief requires both intense personal commitment and individual consent. In reference to the Muslims’ treatment of non-believing Arabs during the Prophet Muhammad’s time, Chapter 6, Verse 108 of the Qur’an reads: “And if Allah had enforced His Will, they [the non-believing Arabs] would not have set up gods with Him. And We have not made thee a keeper over them, nor art thou over them a guardian.” THE HOLY QUR’AN, Ch.6: V.108, translated by Maulawi Sher Ali. Chapter 10, Verse 100 reads: “And if thy Lord had enforced His will, surely, all who are on the earth would have believed together. Wilt thou, then, force men to become believers?” THE HOLY QUR’AN, Ch.10: V.100, translated by Maulawi Sher Ali. From the verses, one can see how the case of the non-believing Arabs was not with humankind, but with God. They w e re immune from punishment, compulsion, and other civil disabilities in relation to their religion and practices. In pure Islamic teaching, it is irrational for an outside person or state to determine the fate of non-Muslims because it is tantamount to associating partners with God, which for a Muslim is the most egregious sin man can commit. See THE HOLY QUR’AN, Ch.4: V.49 translated by Maulawi Sher Ali. Pakistan’s legal persecution of Ahmadis, understood in this light, is contrary to these verses of the Qur’an. 52 See International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, arts. 18, 27, G.A. Res. 2200A (XXI), U.N. GAOR 21st Sess., Supp. No. 16, at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171 (entered into force 1976), reprinted in DOCUMENT SUPPLEMENT, supra note 20, at 440, 441. 53 See Natan Lerner, The Nature and Minimum Standards of Freedom of Religion or Belief, 2000 B.Y.U. L. REV. 905, 914 (2000). 54 See Arzt, supra note 50, at 358. Though considered one of the most important human rights instruments in the world, the ICCPR has not yet reached the status of customary law. Makau Wa Mutua argues, for example, that the ICCPR is “mainly a repetition and elaboration of the rights and processes that liberal democracies have evolved” and an “attempt[] to universalise civil and political rights accepted or aspired to in Western liberal democracies.” See Makau Wa Mutua, The Ideology

60 The Review of Religions – June 2003 Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan

of Human Rights, 36 VA. J. INT’L L. 589, 604n.39, 606 (1996). 55 See the U.N. Human Rights Committee, General Comment adopted under art. 40, para. 4, of the ICCPR, U.N. DOC. CCPR/C/21/Rev. 1/Add. 4 (1993). 56 See The Siracusa Principles on the Limitation and Dero g a t i o n Provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, reprinted in 7 HUM. RTS. Q. 1, 1 (1985). 57 Id. at 4. 58 Id. at 5, 9 - 10. The Siracusa Principles define “public safety” as protection “against danger to the safety of persons . . . or their physical integrity, or serious damage to their property” and define “public order” as the “sum of rules which ensure the functioning of society or the set of fundamental principles on which society is founded.” A limitation for the protection of “public morals” must be “essential to the maintenance of respect for the fundamental values of the community.” Id. at 5 - 6. 59 In 1988, the British Commonwealth Secretariat initiated a series of judicial colloquia to promote the domestic application of international and regional human rights norms. The first colloquium took placed in Bangalore, India, from which emerged the Bangalore Principles, which called for the creative and consistent development of human rights j u r i s p rudence throughout the British Commonwealth. S e e h t t p : / / w w w. t h e c o m m o n w e a l t h . o rg / g e n d e r / w h a t w e d o / a c t i v i t i e s / h umanrights/regjudcoll.htm (last visited Feb. 12, 2003). 60 Muhammad Haleem, Domestic Application Of Human Rights Norms, in IV DE V E L O P I N G HU M A N RI G H T S JU R I S P R U D E N C E: A FOU RT H JU D I C I A L COLLOQUIUM ON THE DOMESTIC APPLICATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS NORMS 101 (Judicial Colloquium in Abuja, 1991). 61 ICCPR, supra note 52, art. 18. 62 Zaheerudin v. State, supra note 42, at 1778. 63 The Pakistani government’s justification here is contrary to international norms. According to a 1993 resolution by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, governments should be obligated to provide effective remedies for redress for religious groups suffering intolerance. See, e.g., U.N. Commission on Human Rights, Res.

The Review of Religions – June 2003 61 Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan

1993/25, paras. 3,5,6, U.N. Doc. E/1993/23, (1993) at 111, 112 in KAREN PARKER, RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION IN PAKISTAN: THE AHMADI CASE AT THE SU P R E M E CO U RT fn. 20 (1993), available at: http://www.webcom.com/hrin/parker/ahmadi.html. 64 See Lerner, supra note 53, at 915. 65 See General Comment, supra note 55, P9 at 4. 66 See Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, G.A. Res. 36/55, U.N. GAOR, 36th Sess., Supp. No. 51, at 171, U.N. Doc. A/36/684 (1981). 67 Id. art. 6(c). 68 Id. art. 7. 69 See The Situation in Pakistan, E.S.C. Res. 1985/21, reported in Report of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities on its Thirty-Eighth Session, U.N. ESCOR, 38th Sess., at 102, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/1986/5 (1986). 70 Id. 71 Id. 72 Id. 73 See Siddiq, supra note 4, at 326 - 27. 74 Mr. Abdul Sattar currently serves as Pakistan’s delegate to the U.N. Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. His alternate is Mr. Khalid Aziz Babar. S e e http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/2/subcmem.htm.

62 The Review of Religions – June 2003 January 2002 February 2002 March 2002

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