Assalam mu alaikum wa rahmatulLah hi wa barokatuh,
The statement below is written by Dr. Syamsuddin Arif. It is posted in
insistnet.com. The fast changing political and religious situation in
Indonesia
is this: as stated eloquently by Prof. HAMKA in his capacity as the
Ketua MUI that Ahmadiah is no more an interpretational sect/ satu
aliran but in reality it is a NEW RELIGION.
Therefore, every
Muslim should recoznigent of this fact that Ahmadiah/Qadianism is a new
religion and every Muslim should deal and accept the Ahmadis/Qadianis
as a member of a religion just like the Muslim treat, deal and accept
the followers of Sikhism, Babism, Catholicism, Protestant, Hinduism and
Buddhism. Let we recognize Ahmadis/Qadianis as Ahmadis/qadianis and we
have respect them as Ahmadis/Qadianis. They are entitled to participate
in the nation building as rakyat and masyarakat Ahmadis/Qadianis. Let
join hands together to ensure material prosperity of
indonesia as well together declare
jihad against absolute poverty that has bedeviling this country for such a long time.
' ' I do not believe
that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is a prophet, nor do I accept him as a mujaddid
[religious reformer]," wrote the late Ir. Soekarno in his major book,
Under the Banner of Revolution (2nd imp. Jakarta, 1963, vol.1, p.345).
For the past three months, Indonesia has been deeply involved in an
endless debate on Ahmadiyah. Ir. Soekarno, the first Indonesian
President, was neither the first nor the sole Muslim figure to express
such unfavorable view.
Long before him, the celebrated thinker Sir Muhammad Iqbal when asked
by Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India, concerning Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad's propaganda, emphatically replied that "no Revelation the
denial of which entails heresy is possible after Muhammad. He who
claims such a revelation is a traitor to Islam" (Islam of And Ahmadism,
repr. Islamabad, 1990, p.8).
Iqbal saw striking similarities
between the Ahmadiyah movement in India and the Babism in Persia
(Iran), whose founder also claimed to be a prophet. Because their creed
was political servility, both movements were supported by the British
and the Russian as part of the colonial 'split and rule' program to
keep the Muslims fighting among themselves.
If the Russian
government allowed Babism to establish their own mosque in Ishqabad,
Turkmenistan, the British let the Ahmadiyah found their mission centre
in Woking, Surrey.
According to Iqbal, Ahmadism or Qadianism
--so he preferred to call it-- would only bring people back to
stupidity. Its chief mission is but "to carve out, from the Ummat of
the Arabian Prophet, a new ummat for the of Indian prophet." (page 2)
A prominent Indian scholar, Syed Abul Hasan Ali an-Nadwi, having made
an extensive study of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's life and "evolution" from a
simple student turning into a hero (1880), a "promised messiah" (1891)
and a self-proclaimed prophet (1910), concluded that the Ahmadiyah
movement has contributed nothing but adding burden to the Muslim
people, dividing them, and rendering their problems even more
complicated (See: Qadianism: A Critical Study, repr. Lucknow 1980, p.
155).
That the essence of Ahmadiyah lies in accepting Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad's claim to prophethood is attested by Yohanan Friedman of
Hebrew University of Jerusalem in his book, Prophecy Continuous:
Aspects of Ahmadi Religious Thought and Its Medieval Background,
(Berkeley, 1989, p.119, 181 & 191).
Ahmadiyah was first
brought into Indonesia sometime in 1925 by several students from
Sumatra who had been converted and trained in Qadian, India. To help
spread their dogma, the mission has published bulletins such as "Sinar
Islam" (The Light of Islam - sic!), "Studi Islam" and "Fathi Islam".
The resentment generated by the Ahmadi missionary activities used to
drag them several times into an open debate 1933 in Bandung and other
cities (See: Fawzy S. Thaha, Ahmadiyah Dalam Persoalan, Singapura,
1982).
Followers of Ahmadiyah had been declared aberrant and
infidel (murtad - apostate) by Muslim scholars at the Fifth Congress of
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in 1930 in Pekalongan as well as by the Ulama
Association of East Sumatra in 1935.
After a long period of
silence, the Ahmadiyah question resurfaced in late 1970s and early
1980s following the Pakistani parliament's resolution to treat the
Ahmadis as non-Muslim under the law.
In 1980 the Indonesian
Council of Ulama (MUI) under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Hamka issued a
fatwa stating that Ahmadiyah is outside the fold of Islam, and its
adherents apostate.
The decree was recently reaffirmed in an
official statement signed by MUI chairman Prof. Dr. H. Umar Shihab and
its secretary Prof. Dr. H.M. Din Syamsuddin. In addition, the Ministry
of Religious Affairs in 1984 had also warned the Muslims against the
danger of Ahmadiyah.
Finally, in April 16, 2008 the
Supervision Committee on Cults and Sects (Bakorpakem) , made known its
findings that the Jemaat Ahmadiyah Indonesia (JAI) has truly deviated
from Islam and so urged the Minister of Religious affairs, Attorney
General, and Minister of Home Affairs to take action against it.
Indeed, according to Atho Mudzhar, senior officer at the Religious
Ministry and chief of the investigation team, during three months
Bakorpakem had been observing 55 Ahmadiyah communites 33 districts. As
many as 35 members of the team met 277 members of Ahmadiyah. Nothing
has changed among them doctrinally, since they still affirm that Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad (MGA) is a prophet after Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon
him.
They also believe that Tadzkirah is a collection of revelation received by MGA.
Advocates and followers of Ahmadiyah often put forth three arguments to
support their position. First, an Ahmadi is also a Muslim because they
have the same syahadat (faith declaration) .
Try to compare
this with the statement that the "orang Ahmadiyah" (Ahmadi man) is no
different from "orangutan" because both are "orang" (human). Of course
such thing is unacceptable.
It is clear in this case what
matters is not their similarity, but rather their difference. What
distinguishes orangutan from an Ahmadi is not so much its being-'orang'
as its 'utan' characteristic. By the same token, what makes Ahmadiyah
followers differ from the Muslims is not their apparent similarity in
creed and rituals, but rather their belief in the prophethood of Mirza
Ghulam Ahmad.
Second, it has been argued that like all other
Indonesia citizens, the Ahmadiyah followers have the right to freedom
of thought, conscience and religion so that to ban Ahmadiyah is to
violate human rights and to act against the Constitution.
There is a logical twist here. To be sure, Article 29 of the very same
Universal Declaration of Human Rights unequivocally states that in the
exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject to such
limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing
due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and
of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the
general welfare in a democratic society.
This means that abuse
of freedom is not allowed which would disrupt order or bring damage to
religion. Now what MGA and his Ahmadiyah did is like "building a new
house inside someone's house" --that is to say, founding a religion
within religion.
Their affirmation of MGA's prophethood is
an insult to Islam. Consequently, as Dr Tony P. Chi points out in his
study (1973, p.134-5): "Ahmadiyya preaching and propagation have
instigated unrest and dissension in the Muslim world." Therefore, the
only solution to Ahmadiyah problem is to expell it from the House of
Islam and become a new religion like Mormonism in the United States.
Finally, to the suggestion that compassion should be preferred to
violence in dealing with the Ahmadiyah, we reply that this advice is
badly needed by the American and Israeli governments vis-a-vis the
people of Iraq and Palestine.
"Abu Bakr As-Siddiq is the most
compassionate among my folk (arhamu ummati)," said Prophet Muhammad,
peace be upon him. Yet when there arose a group of apostates, he did
not hesitate to take action against them.
Islam guarantees
one's freedom to embrace -- not to spoil, any religion. As for the
Quranic verses: "There is no compulsion in religion" (translation of
the Quran surah Al-Baqarah: 256) and "For you, your religion, and for
me, my religion" (surah Al-Kafirun:6) , these are referring to religions
outside Islam. Thus, Prophet Muhammad told the impostors to choose
either to repent or be punished to death (See: Imam Al-Mawardi, al-Hawi
al-Kabir, vol.13, p.109).
* The writer is an assistant professor at the International Islamic University Malaysia
Source:
http://www.bt.
com.bn/en/ friday_special/ 2008/05/16/ a_way_out_ for_ahmadiyah
