I had always fought to defend the well, in the spirit of my forefathers. With my person and with my wealth. Through the efforts of people like me, the well was overflowing. The well was in a desert. Others were jealous of it, but the well of wealth remained safe, guarded by Mirza Sahib and maintained by his loyal followers.

I could see the water, I could see that some of it had been protected by me, and with my efforts, there was more water than ever before. I asked humbly. Mirza Tahir Ahmad replied “Pray. Buy some Premium Bonds, you never know, you might get lucky”. And then he sent me away.

That’s pretty much a true story. I visited Mirza Tahir Ahmad in the late 1980s when I was heavily in debt, after years of contributing chanda regularly and generously. I was unwell and I had nowhere else to turn. The advice he gave me when I asked for help was exactly as above. Then he sent me on my way.

Recently, out of curiosity, I searched the UK Charity Commission web site for the word Ahmadiyya and found this:

Extract from the Central Register of Charities maintained by the Charity Commission for England and Wales

Objects

A) THE PROPOGATION OF ISLAM AS EXPOUNDED BY MIRZA GHULAM AHMED OF QADIAN, THE FOUNDER OF THE AHMADIYYA MOVEMENT AND THE KHALIFATUL MASIH AND GENERALLY TO PROMOTE THE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RELIGION B) THE ADVANCEMENT OF EDUCATION AMONG THE MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATION AND SUCH OTHER PERSONS AS THE MANAGING COMMITTEE OF THE ASSOCIATION MAY FROM TIME TO TIME DETERMINE. C) THE PROVISION, AS FAR AS POSSIBLE, OF MAINTENANCE OF INDIGENT PERSONS, ORPHANS AND WIDOWS AND FOR SUCH OTHER PERSONS AS ARE UNABLE BY REASON OF SOME PHYSICAL OR OTHER INFIRMITY OR HANDICAP TO MAINTAIN THEMSELVES. D) THE RELIEF OF POVERTY AMONGST MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION.

Do you notice object D) ?? Let’s highlight it, shall we?

D) THE RELIEF OF POVERTY AMONGST MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION.

Are you laughing? i can assure you that I was. Heartily. I contributed countless thousands of pounds. I asked, but was never told where this money was going. And when I was in poverty, the jamaat failed to act, and indeed, continued to insist on chanda payments. I was told that despite my unemployment, the only way I would get relief on my obligation to pay was if I wrote a begging letter to the Khalifa. How utterly humiliating and degrading. And this after being the top chanda payer in my region year after year after year.

My last memory of jamaat Ahmadiyya was the constant chasing to make a promise for Tehrik-e-Jedeed, during a period in which jamaat knew that my means were straitened and that I was unemployed. And I was charged �6 for a Qur’an despite my inability to provide for my children, never mind myself.

The funny thing is, nobody ever told me a thing about Zakat, a pillar of Islam.

Here is the reality my brothers and sisters. If I had paid Zakat and observed my prayers and kept my fasts and gone to Hajj, I would not be able to take an office-bearer’s position in jamaat. Had I been a thief and a vagabond, failed to observe my prayers, beat my wife and children, yet been a member of the higher-tax-bracket Wassiyat scheme, I would have walked into any office-bearing position.

No ordinary Ahmadi can draw water from the well. And if those Ahmadis genuinely think that the water is used entirely to propogate Islam, then there are former Ahmadis all over the world who are waking up – and we will help you smell the coffee.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani wrote:

” . . . I brought the attention of my Jama’at that all people should pray from the bottom of their hearts for their magnanimous government that Allah the Exalted should give it a Great Victory in the war that is going on in the Transvaal . . . so wherever the members of my Jama’at are, they should give “chanda” according to their means for the injured (soldiers) of the British Government who have sustained injury in the Transvaal War . . . this “chanda” should be collected and the lists sent to Mirza Khuda Baksh in Qadian (who has been appointed for this duty) by 1 March 1900 . . . my Jama’at should consider this work important and carry it out urgently.”

(Feb 10, 1900 Advertisement, Majmooa Ishtiharat vol.3, p.219)

The above announcement was made near the beginning of the British offensive in the second Boer War, from January 1900 to September 1900.

The British had set up “concentration camps” to contain the refugees, mostly farmers who had lost their land during the fighting. The emotive term did not originally have the negative connotations that the Nazis brought to it. Nonetheless, conditions were inhumane and once the full extent of the suffering was revealed, there was uproar and outrage expressed in Britain. Estimates after the war revealed that as much as a quarter of the inmates, of which the vast majority were children under 16, died due to the inhumane conditions. Dysentery, typhoid and measles had been endemic and starvation claimed many. It is fair to conclude that this was a humanitarian disaster.

Mirza Sahib said:

“From my early age till now when I am 65 years of age, I have been engaged, with my pen and tongue, in an important task to turn the hearts of muslims towards the true love & goodwill & sympathy for the British Government and to obliterate the idea of jehad from the hearts of stupid (muslims).”

(Kitab-ul-Bariyah, Roohani Khazain vol 13 p.350)

There’s nothing wrong with being loyal to your government. In fact, I believe it’s the duty of Muslims to be model citizens, as long as they have the freedom to worship. A self-claimed prophet though, must have higher standards. He must say what needs to be said. Even if it hurts. He must speak the truth, and against oppression. Most notably, prophets hate oppression.

It’s clear that the Boer inmates were oppressed. A prophet with a hotline to God would know this and would have boldly declared the goings-on inhumane and worthy of condemnation. This didn’t happen. It behoves a decent person, never mind a claimant of prophethood, to vocally condemn such inhumanity. This is not to be mistaken for disloyalty. As a British citizen, I love Britain and respect its laws. However, I don’t have to like what we’re doing in Iraq and I am permitted to speak up against it. Mirza Sahib didn’t have 24-hour news or the Internet, but he claimed to have constant revelation from God. He should have known and he should have spoken up.

Asking for contributions to help your country’s war effort without understanding the ins and outs of the morality of the conflict seems shortsighted. A seer is not meant to be shortsighted. Let’s just say he was naive. Mirza Sahib could have dropped the requests for “chanda” (how much of it got to the intended recipients anyway?) and merely asked his community to pray for all victims of the war, whilst speaking up about the need for fair treatment of all parties. If he had a clue about what was really going on, then his unilateral support without outright condemnation of the humanitarian disaster perpetrated by the British negligence at the time was hypocritical.

If he didn’t have a clue, well, the conclusion is straightforward. Mirza Sahib did not receive knowledge of the Unseen. He was not a prophet.

Why are there so few native Arab speakers in jamaat Ahmadiyya?

I guess it’s hard to sell fake diamonds to a jeweller.

If you want to debate, Ahmedi.org is the place, this is not. Feel free to drop comments though. Another more formal platform for discussion is the Yahoo group moderated by the Imam from Irshad.

This blog is better suited to lurkers. Especially those who are still Ahmadi and are either curious as to why I left or on the brink themselves. All the opinions expressed here are my own. I do not speak for all Muslims, though I align myself with them.

I find that many Ahmadis who leave, become bitter and angry. When the full depth of what they discover becomes apparent to them, they are rightly indignant and will not tolerate any further ingress into their mind. They will not tolerate fools. They assume an almost evangelical zeal.

I am not immune to this phenomenon myself, but I recognise a greater need: the need to display empathy – to show that I understand the position of the entrenched Ahmadi who has doubts, but sees no good reason why they should leave their social circle, estrange their parents, siblings, children and friends. They also have an entrenched position on the rationality of their belief, which is the most dangerous of all the positions to take.

Islam is beautiful. It is not in need of reform. Reformers create schims and sects. This is bad.

Assalamoalaikum warahmatullah wabarakatohu.

In November 2004, I left the Ahmadiyya Movement and became a Muslim. Those who know me will be surprised at this statement; they considered me a Muslim. That’s because I masqueraded as one without knowing what I really represented.

My life had been in turmoil for some years. After a particularly bad period in my life, I realised that something basic was very wrong. I started to pray for guidance. I begged for guidance. Every day for 18 months, I was on a spiritual, emotional, physical and mental rollercoaster that threatened to take my life, and probably my soul.

During Ramadan in 2004, I decided that it was about time I stopped taking my religion as a hobby and undertook an intense period of study, contemplation, research and prayer. Not long after, I realised that I was on the wrong path. I found it ironic that with a journey that began with a will to defend Ahmadiyyat to the hilt – a jihad of the pen if you like – I emerged rejecting Ahmadiyyat.

In this blog, I will share with you my ideas, my motives and my journey. It will be bumpy, uncomfortable, but ultimately, inshaAllah, rewarding.