An Ahmadiyya defence often consists of a statement along the lines of “We fast during Ramadan, how can you not call us Muslims?”
It’s a good question. Ahmadis do conduct most, if not all of the outward rituals conducted by Muslims. They pray like Muslims, they say the same kalima, they fast, some of them pay zakah, they even go to hajj, but none of these rituals constitute Islam in and of themselves.
For example, a hypocrite could observe these rituals, as the Meccan pagans did in order to spy on Muslims. This occurs with increasing frequency in the USA and to some extent in the UK, with some Muslims ensnared unwittingly into all kinds of absurd entrapment operations. Then there is the example of a Christian observing all of the rituals of a Jew, going so far as to call themselves the true Jews, all the while believing in Christ.
The fact that there is a normative tradition in Islam, massively outdating the arrival of the highly controversial figure of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, is actually lost on mainstream Qadiani Ahmadis, but not on the apologists, who with scant regard for the deep, studious methods adopted by Muslim scholars pick up a piece of knowledge here and there in an attempt to ensnare the unwary Muslim into another kind of entrapment altogether.
The facts are plain. The Ahmadiyya community sets itself apart from the Muslim community and is proud of that fact. Ahmadis are not allowed to pray behind Muslim imams, nor to pray for the Muslim dead, nor bury them, nor allow their women to marry Muslims. Of course, the converse is also true. Given that Ahmadiyya is outside the fold of Islam, Muslims shouldn’t be fooled by the outward appearances of the Ahmadiyya. Ahmadiyya is a non-Muslim sect.
So they can pray behind Qadiani imams, but that doesn’t make them Muslims.
They can pay zakah, even if their obligatory chanda payments are two orders of magnitude greater, but that doesn’t make them Muslims.
They can make hajj under false pretences, repeating their prayer in their hotel room after, having considered their prayer behind a Muslim imam invalid, but that doesn’t make them Muslims.
And they can fast during Ramadan, but that doesn’t make them Muslims either, because they believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a prophet after Muhammad (saaws)
Let’s remind ourselves about Mirza Ghulam Ahmad:
- A man who used filthy curse words against his opponents
- A man who asked for tonic wine to be bought for him
- A man who used alcohol and opium in his quack medicines, medicines so patently fake and dangerously deceptive, that they were pulled off the shelves by the British Courts in India
- A man who was banned from making death prophecies by the same court after making 121 of them, a man who chased a married woman in publications and adverts for a decade before giving up finally when his own wife became the object of a “marriage prophecy”
- A man who claimed to the second coming of Isa (as), and many other prophets, including Muhammad (saws), who even saw himself as God in his dream
- A man who saw a vision of God as a majestic Englishman
- A man whose prophecies failed so often that his own actions caused Muslims deep embarrassment
It’s very important to understand that prophets are held to very high standards by Muslims, and by Allah (SWT) Himself. It was the repeated goal of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to denigrate the achievements of real prophets so that opportunistically, he could claim that he too was on a platform as high as they.
Ramadan is a beautiful time for Muslims. I never understood how beautiful until I entered into Islam and left the wannabe cult that superficially dresses itself in some of the garb of Islam, whilst oblivious to the shining beauty of the body and soul underneath. Ahmadiyya is missing something. It is missing Islam.
During this beautiful month, I urge Ahmadis of Qadiani and Lahori persuasion to deeply study their founder’s and movement’s literature, as I did during Ramadan 8 years ago and come to the same conclusion that I did, that there is something wrong with this cult, and that the truth has been hidden from you, and that it is done to serve the interests of a small number of families; that the office bearers are on a power trip and you owe them nothing.
Come to Islam, it is your birthright.
Ramadan Kareem to all readers of this site. May Allah (SWT) bless us with hikmah and accept our du`as in this beautiful month, insha’Allah.
