Book Review, "The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement: The Truth Will Prevail"(2023) by Declan Henry

Intro
In this book, Declan Henry blunders extensively, hopefully, this book review will correct his errors. He starts off the book by mentioning the current President of the Lahori-Ahmadi, Dr. Abdul Karim Saeed Pasha (the fifth and current Emir of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement). Declan Henry seems to have met up with the top Lahori-Ahmadi’s in the UK (at Wembley), he mentions Shahid Aziz (brother of the famous Zahid Aziz)(check out the blog of Zahid Aziz herein), who was at that time working as the secretary of the Lahori-Ahmadi’s. Interestingly, Lahori-Ahmadi’s don’t have a single mosque-temple in the UK, they used to have the Woking Mosque, but lost that in the late 1960‘s. Henry confessed to only using English sources.

See the full review in the below:

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1—In the Introduction, he alleges that there are 100,000 Lahori-Ahmadi’s in the world and 12 million Qadiani-Ahmadi’s, however, he didn’t give any references. Thus, the book starts off with a blunder.

2—He starts off the book with another blunder, he writes that MGA was born in 1835, this is an egregious mistake.

3—Under the chapter, “Mirza Ghulam Ahmad a brief history”, he makes a huge blunder and alleges that MGA had 6 siblings, this is an egregious mistake, he doesn’t even mention Mirza Ghulam Qadir (MGA’s brother). Declan Henry alleges that MGA came from a middle-class background, that is erroneous, MGA’s father (Mirza Ghulam Murtaza) was like a General in the Sikh Army and then the British took over in 1849, they already owned lots of land in and around Qadian. After 1857, they were filthy rich and even earned a pension. They all served (MGA’s uncles and brothers) the British and killed the mutineers in the famous 1857 rebellion. He mentions the 40,000 roots of Arabic that MGA allegedly learned in one night (1897), however, he doesn’t mention that this alleged event happened after MGA made his wildest claims. He also doesn’t know that MGA was kicked out of his house and village for the 4 years that he spent in Sialkot and was only allowed to return after his mother died, as part of a Punjabi styled punishment. Henry then explains how MGA was always in the courts, working with father to get his lands back, this was only because of him stealing his father’s pension money in 1864. After he returned, he was forced to work. Henry doesn’t explain how MGA’ father (Mirza Ghulam Murtaza) died in 1876, and the pension money was gone and MGA needed to find a job. He then quotes 62:3 and the famous hadith and doesn’t explain how MGA lied about it. Henry then says that MGA was Persian, he also says that MGA was a Mughal (Mongolian), he doesn’t seem to see the contradiction. Henry then gives weird stories of how brainwashed Ahmadi’s saw MGA (via quoting Lahori-Ahmadi sources). Henry alleges that MGA challenged people of all religions to debate him via Mubahila, this is also inaccurate. Henry alleges that MGA divorced his first wife (Hurmat Bibi) because she kept going home (to a village called Aima) and kept leaving him alone (this is an absurd lie). Henry alleges that MGA divorced her in roughly 1881 (an egregious lie) and remarried in 1884 to Nusrat Jehan. Factually, MGA had 2 wives in 1884. He alleges that MGA claimed to be the Mujadid in this era too (1884), this is also inaccurate. He alleges that MGA had already written 300 arguments in favor of Islam being the best religion. However, he doesn’t mention how MGA only delivered 1 argument in the Barahin series, which ended abruptly in 1884 after 4 volumes (the 5th volume was published posthumously). Henry alleges that MGA claimed to be the Mahdi in 1889, this is a lie. Henry doesn’t mention how MGA claimed that Eisa (As) would physically return in the 1879-1884 era and then changed in 1891.
Henry gives the impression that MGA claimed that Eisa (as) died in India at age 120 in 1891, when he made his claims (this is lie). He mentions that MGA wrote a poem entitled, “the Death of Jesus of Nazareth”, he quotes Waheed Ahmad and the Lahori-Ahmadi collection of poems book. Henry mentions how MGA argued that the survival of Eisa (As) from the cross and his living another 90 years deals a death blow to Christianity. However, this is untrue, in 2024, there are more Christians in India than Ahmadi’s in the entire world. Henry keeps using the term “Promised Messiah” every time he mentions the second coming of Eisa (As). Henry then writes about the eclipses and connects it to the Messiah, this is a blunder, it’s a Shia hadith connected to the hidden Mahdi. He also blunders on the dates and etc. Henry alleges that MGA woke up Islam, this is another blunder, this is simply not the case, MGA caused communal strife and stole from Sir Syed and the Ahl-e-Hadith. Henry calls MGA a public speaker, this is total nonsense, MGA never even delivered a Friday Sermon and Ahmadi’s told lies about this and Khutbah ilhamiya. Henry alleges that MGA wrote books in various languages, this is another blunder, MGA’s right arm was broken in his youth and he never got surgery, he used lots of ghost writers. He says that MGA would fall asleep with people around, but he gives no references. He then talks about the “Barahin-i-Ahmadiyya” series and alleges that some Muslim theologians called MGA’s work as the “best defense” and “preservation of Islam”, however, this is also incorrect, only Muhammad Hussain Batalvi praised it and that only because he was a long-time friend of MGA and he did MGA a favor, technically, some Muslims called MGA a Kafir after reading it. He alleges that the word “Ahmadiyya” was chosen, however, he doesn’t give the year and gives off the impression that MGA did it in 1889, however, it was 1901, and Islam is against sects. He then talks about the plague and makes a few blunders. Henry then writes about the “Doomsday Earthquake” prophecy. Henry alleges that MGA predicted the Kangra earthquake, this is a total lie. Henry then presents MGA’s predictions in terms of Russia. Henry also covers MGA’s fake prophecies on Turkey, Afghanistan, Japan, Iran and WW-1. Henry mentions MGA vs. Athim and Dr. Clark too. The details of Athim are all wrong, Henry accuses Athim of calling Muhammad (saw) as Dajjal and how Athim got scared, Henry also says that MGA had a dream about Athim dying in 15 months, that is also a lie, MGA blurted it out at the end of the debate, and MGA lost so bad, his family members even left Ahmadiyya and MGA argued that even in the time of Muhammad (saw), many true Muslims left Islam. Henry mentions how MGA allegedly sent an Ahmadi to kill Dr. Clark, this was right after Lekh Ram was killed. Henry alleges that MGA paid 20k as a security, this is a lie. Henry accuses of Lekh Ram of essentially calling Muhammad (saw) a pedophile, however, the only evidence he gives is that of Lahori-Ahmadi’s told him. Henry alleges that the body of Lekh Ram was dismembered, this is a lie, furthermore, it is interesting that the Lahori-Ahmadi’s didn’t tell Henry that Lekh Ram died in-front of an Ahmadi doctor at the Mayo Hospital in Lahore. Henry then mentions the Dowie prophecy. Henry mentions MGA’s prophecy about the partition of Bengal. Henry then discusses the split in the Ahmadiyya Movement over prophethood and quotes the famous I’m only a “metaphoric prophet” argument from “Haqiqatul Wahy” (1907), however, he doesn’t mention how the Qadiani-Ahmadi purposely mis-translated it into English recently and thus proved that there is a huge contradiction herein. Henry mentions MGA’s beef with Pir Mehr Ali Shah of Golrah. Henry argues on behalf of the Lahori-Ahmadi’s and take the position that MGA was only being figurative with the usage of the words “Rasul” and “Nabi”. Henry alleges that MGA never claimed to be greater than anyone (this is lie), however, MGA clearly said he was better than Eisa (as)(naozobillah) and many others (like Yusuf [as}) and even Muhammad (saw)(naozobillah). Henry mentions MGA’s death story, however, he doesn’t give the proper references.

The chapter about the Split

Henry doesn’t mention how the son of MGA (who eventually became the 2nd Qadiani Khalifa) failed the matriculation exam, after being taught in his own father’s school at Qadian by multiple tutors. He rightly explains how the family of MGA was against the Anjuman and wanted MGA’s son to be the second Qadiani-Ahmadi Khalifa and even created the “Ansarullah” to organize propaganda that would help MGA’s son become the Khalifa. Henry mentions some of the wranglings of the split in the 1909-1914 era, he mentions Khwaja Kamaluddin and Sheikh Rahmatullah (both became Lahori-Ahmadi’s after 1914). Shockingly, Henry alleges that Noorudin fell from his horse/pony and died, this is totally inaccurate, he fell from his horse/pony in 1910 and died roughly 3.5 years later in 1914. Apparently, all of this was told to Henry by a Lahori-Ahmadi elder named Anwar (anonymous). Henry briefly touches on the Qadiani-Ahmadi and their Takfir, however, he thinks it changed after the 2nd Qadiani-Ahmadi Khalifa died (1965), this is not true, it changed in 1923 (to silent Takfir). Henry mentions the popularity of Maulvi Muhammad Ali’s English translation and commentary of the Quran (1917), however, he doesn’t know that it is a rough copy of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s famous Tafsir. Henry then alleges that the 2nd Qadiani-Ahmadi Khalifa wrote extensively (this is not true, he had a team that wrote on his behalf). Henry mentions the “Minaratul Masih” and that whole story.

The chapter about persecution

Interestingly, Henry has an entire chapter on persecution, however, he didn’t figure out that Qadiani-Ahmadi’s have gotten asylum to the west based on this persecution and Lahori-Ahmadi’s have not. We estimate that over 40k Ahmadi’s in Pakistan were given asylum abroad as a result of Ord-XX and not a single Lahori-Ahmadi was given the same.

Henry starts off the chapter calling Pakistani’s as ignorant people. He also alleges that it is the only country in the world that officially views Ahmadis as Non-Muslim (this is grossly inaccurate). Henry erroneously alleges that 7% of Pakistan are Ahmadi’s, and he gives no reference at all, he does mention a Pew study, but doesn’t give a proper reference. Henry alleges that there are 2.5 million Ahmadi’s in Pakistan, this is a total lie, he gives no references either. Again, he alleges that in 1974, Pakistan became the only country in the world to officially declare Ahmadi’s as non-Muslim, seems like he doesn’t know about Azad Kashmir. Henry indirectly admits that Ahmadi’s accept that they are non-Muslim in Pakistan when they apply for an ID card or passport. Henry mentions how Zia passed Ord-XX, however, he doesn’t know the role played by Mirza Tahir Ahmad in this and how MTA wanted this law to get passed so he could move his headquarters to London. Henry then presents stories of Lahori-Ahmadi persecution, however, not once does he mention if any of these Lahori-Ahmadi’s got asylum to the west like the Qadiani-Ahmadi’s.

Inside the Lahori-Ahmadi community

In this chapter, he explains how Lahori-Ahmadi’s are open to free mixing of men and women, unlike the Qadiani’s. Henry acknowledges that Lahori-Ahmadi’s are shrinking in Pakistan, however, he argues that they are expanding in West Africa (Chad, Ivory Coast, Mali and Cameroon), this is a lie, there is no such progress, Henry gives no references, does Henry even realize that these are old French colonies (still controlled by the French)? Henry also alleges that there is growth in the Netherlands and Germany (another lie). Henry then mentions the growth of the Lahori-Ahmadi’s in Suriname and alleges that there are 15 Lahori-Ahmadi’s temple-mosques (a total lie), my research shows 12 and 2 Qadiani-Ahmadi temple-mosques. Henry also alleges that the Lahori-Ahmadi’s are growing in the USA, however, he gives no references, and I can’t remember a single Lahori-Ahmadi temple-mosque in all of the USA, there are only mission houses. Henry connects this growth with the 1917 commentary of the Quran by Maulvi Muhammad Ali, however, he doesn’t know that it is pure Kufr and was finally called as such in the 1970’s-80’s. In fact, the NOI used it to create their dogma in the 1950’s. Henry closes out this chapter by stating that Lahori-Ahmadi’s are anti-jihad and really good people.

Conclusions
Henry then closes out his book by criticizing the Qadiani-Ahmadi’s and uplifting the plight of the Lahori-Ahmadi’s. Henry then talks about reconciliation of the Lahori’s and Qadiani’s. Henry also mentions that at one point, the 4th Qadiani-Ahmadi Khalifa seemed to be back-peddling on MGA’s prophethood. In the Appendix, Henry posted the 10 conditions of Bait to become an Ahmadi, which is shared by both Lahori’s and Qadiani’s, however, he doesn’t mention that #4 was changed by MGA, since it clearly said to obey the British Government.

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AAIIL – Personality

MRCP(UK), FRCP(London), FCPS(Pak)

5th Ameer/Head of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement

Leadership: 03/Nov/2002 –

Lifetime: 28/Feb/1945 –

Hazrat Ameer (Head) Prof. Dr. Abdul Karim Saeed Pasha was born on 28th February 1945, at Dadar, District Mansehra, in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. His grandfather, Hazrat Maulvi Muhammad Yahya, named him Abdul Karim. Hazrat Syed Asadullah Shah, who was very close to the family, lovingly called him “Pasha” when he was still a child. He is today more commonly known by that name in the Jamaat `Movement`. Hazrat Ameer attended Burn Hall School in Abbottabad, and Forman Christian College in Lahore before joining medical school. He graduated as a doctor from King Edward Medical College Lahore in 1968. Hazrat Ameer was inclined towards religion from early childhood. He benefited a lot from the Dars-i-Quran and Hadith `discourses on the Holy Quran and Hadith` and readings from the books of Hazrat Masih-i-Maoud `Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian` that his father, the late Hazrat Ameer Dr. Saeed Ahmad Khan, conducted almost on a daily basis. He was also very much influenced by lectures and Dars-i-Quran by the late Maulana Abdul Haq Vidyarthi, Naseer Ahmad Farooqi and Hafiz Sher Muhammad. As a student in a missionary school he engaged in interfaith dialogues with the Christian priests and would explain the reality of the claims of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian to fellow students and teachers. He has been continuously building on this firm foundation and is today considered one of the most learned members of the Jamaat. Hazrat Ameer started his medical career in Mayo Hospital Lahore and later moved to New Zealand, followed by the UK where he obtained Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) in 1979. He moved back to Pakistan in April 1981 and took up a teaching assignment in Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad. He was promoted as Professor of Medicine in 1987 and appointed Head of the Department of Medicine in 1991. In 2001, he was selected to become Principal of the College, but his appointment was cancelled by the Government under pressure from the religious lobby for obvious reasons. Hazrat Ameer also has the distinction of being conferred the Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Physicians (FRCP), London (1994) and Fellowship of the College of Physicians and Surgeons (FCPS), Pakistan in 2001. He is also serving as a member/chairman of a large number of professional committees and programmes. He has been a regular contributor to international and local professional publications and has travelled widely to attend conferences and conventions. He has remained a staunch member of the Jamaat, and has shown great patience and commitment to the Movement in times of adversity by the opponents of the Movement. His love for the Holy Quran is exemplary. Hazrat Ameer was elected a member of the Mujlis-e-Motemideen `General Council of Trustees` in 1992 and has retained this honour and served the Jamaat in that capacity ever since. He commands a lot of respect in the Jamaat for his piety and goodness. He has always made very positive contributions about the affairs of the Jamaat. He has been a regular speaker at the Annual Ahmadiyya Duaiyya `prayer gathering` for over 20 years. He is fond of poetry and has expressed, in his poems, deep sentiments relating to the Jamaat and the hard times it has been through. He has served as a trustee of the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore Missions International (AALMI) but resigned from this position when it became difficult for him to attend meetings of the Trust in London. He represented the Central Anjuman at the World Muslim Convention of Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat-i-Islam (Lahore) Fiji in April 1985. He also performed the dedication ceremony of Masjid-i-Noor in Suva on behalf of Hazrat Ameer Dr. Saeed Ahmad Khan. Hazrat Ameer is married and has three sons who are qualified medical doctors. On 3rd November 2002, Hazrat Ameer was unanimously elected as Ameer and President of Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore. Being at the pinnacle of his career, he has accepted this responsibility at a tremendous sacrifice. We request all readers to pray for his success in uplifting the Jamaat, and that may Allah give him the strength, wisdom and spiritual prowess to lead us to successfully spread the message of Islam to the corners of the world.

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Links and Related Essay’s

The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement: The truth will prevail: Henry, Declan: 9798870217932: Amazon.com: Books

Declan Henry & Shaykh Asrar Rashid discuss how the #Qadianis are afraid to debate from the books of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad – ahmadiyyafactcheckblog

The Persecution of Ahmadiyya Muslims Must Stop – The European Magazine (the-european.eu)

Kindle (amazon.com)

AAIIL – Personality

https://aaiil.org/Pages/Personality?ContentId=39&ID=6

Dr. Tahir Ijaz vs. Dr. Zahid Aziz, the famous debate from 2003-2004, Lahori-Ahmadi vs. Qadiani-Ahmadi – ahmadiyyafactcheckblog

Shahid Aziz Lahori Ahmadi – YouTube

The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement Blog

Did MGA learn 40,000 roots in one night? – ahmadiyyafactcheckblog

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was born in 1840, not 1835 – ahmadiyyafactcheckblog