ahmadiyyafactcheckblog

Intro
Qasim Rashid is a fanatical Ahmadi who is the son of an Ahmadi mullah.  He recently tried to take credit wherein some Sunni-Muslims helped to secure a Jewish cemetary.  A sunni-Muslim who was involved in the situation tells us as follows:

“””Even though Sikhs are getting killed due to being mistaken for Muslims, they have never said, “Hey! We’re not Muslims!” Instead they have spoken out against Islamophobia. The Sikhs are a brave and principled people. They did not make this about them.

Then there is the issue of the Ahmadis. JK Rowling, author of Harry Potter, recently tweeted about Muslims rallying to help the vandalized Jewish cemeteries. And Qasim Rashid, an Ahmadi leader, tried to take credit for the Ahmadis saying that the cause was championed by THEM. So leaving it at Muslims rallying to help Jews stuck in his craw. So he had to hijack it for himself. It is true that one of people cited in the Independent’s article who said he wanted to stand guard over the cemetery was an Ahmadi. Perhaps, there were many more. Those Ahmadis should be praised for that. But this cause was championed by Celebrate Mercy and LaunchGood who are both orthodox SUNNI affiliated and raised nearly $160,000 of their $20,000 goal! Rashid then went on at length about how Sunni Muslims are so terrible to Ahmadis. He made this all about them. And now, due to his misrepresentation, Islamophobes are FALSELY claiming that the efforts to help the Jewish cemeteries are NOT Muslim, they are Ahmadi, and, therefore, Muslims should NOT be credited for helping their Jewish brethren in humanity. Good job (sarcasm).

I am absolutely against the marginalization and social injustices that happen to Ahmadis (primarily in Pakistan where they are most concentrated). But according to conservative estimates, there are only 10 million Ahmadis WORLDWIDE. There are 5 million Muslims in North America ALONE. Don’t hijack the very imminent crisis that North American Muslims face regarding Islamophobia right now. All Muslims are facing discrimination and very real hate crimes right now. Don’t you dare hijack the outrage against that for your own purposes.

Yes, Muslim orthodoxy has to do more to protest the injustices that Ahmadis face (primarily in Pakistan). So, I’m all for social justice for Ahmadis, but IN THAT CONTEXT. Let the point also not be lost that there’s a problem with injustice, corruption and violence in Pakistan IN GENERAL. What are the Shi`ah facing in Pakistan? Should someone hijack outrage against Shi`as being persecuted saying “Well, Ahmadis…”? That’s disingenuous. Each matter must be addressed independently and, if coalesced, must not be at the EXPENSE OF ANY OTHER GROUP. That is precisely what was wrong with #AllLivesMatter and even #MuslimLivesMatter.

And it is also important to add that Sunni Muslim orthodoxy does not accept Ismailis as being Muslim. Yet, they are largely untouched (with very few exceptions such as the bus attack in 2015) in Pakistan. Ismailis are actually rich, affluent and privileged in Pakistani society. So citing a direct relationship between Muslim orthodoxy rejecting a sect and persecuting it is NOT necessarily valid.

The Sunni and Shi`ah Muslim orthodoxy will NEVER accept Ahmadiyyah as a correct and valid form of Islam, just as the Protestants will NEVER accept the Mormons as a correct and valid form of Christianity. The Ahmadis believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be a Prophet after Muhammad (‎ﷺ) just as the Mormons believe Joseph Smith to be a prophet after Jesus (‎ﷺ). That is the best analogy. Protestants have every right to believe that Mormons are not real Christians but they have absolutely no right to persecute them because of it. Orthodox Muslims (Sunni and Shi`ah) have every right to believe that Ahmadis are not real Muslims but they have absolutely no right to persecute them because of it.

But imagine if Mormons went on a campaign to force Protestants to believe that they were true Christians? I hope anyone of any religion would call that out for the nonsense that it is.

Now to the Muslim orthodoxy who do not believe that Ahmadis are Muslims: When the Islamophobes come for you, they aren’t going to ask if you’re Sunni, Shi`i, Ismaili, Ahmadi or whatever. They’re going to see what you look like, and even the Sikh, Hindu, Middle Eastern Christian or Sephardic Jew are going to be attacked (even killed) for being “Muslim”. Anyone “brown” is automatically “Muslim”. So based on our shared phenotypes and physical characteristics and appearances, WE ARE ALL IN THIS STRUGGLE TOGETHER, whether we like it or not. So this is not a time to divide and, thereby, detract from our collective and mutually shared pursuits of SOCIAL JUSTICE due to our THEOLOGICAL differences. You can politely point out that you don’t believe Ahmadis are Muslims —and you arguably should— but you better make sure you’re not stating that in a hostile, prejudicial or discriminatory manner, and you better make sure you’re doing it in a context, time and place that is A) Constructive and informative, and B) Doesn’t marginalize Ahmadis and their human rights.

Islamophobia is at a fever pitch. Everyone, KNOCK IT OFF and find ways to respect each other and work together for social justice. If you want to combat Islamophobia then you must fight social injustice that impacts Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus, Ahmadis, and people of all races and creeds. Bigotry is a cancer that spreads to all cells indiscriminately. If you discriminate in favor of your liver for your pancreas, cancer won’t.

May God protect us all and bring peace to all of planet earth. Amin.”””””