Why Ahmadis do not say their prayer behind others? Without understanding this, you cannot answer this question. Is it because they persecute you? No, not at all. It has no meaning. No relationship with persecution at all. The fundamental thing to be understood is this, that we believe that that imam who was prophesied by Abdul Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam has come at a period. And this is now the common belief in every sect, that once Allah has sent an imam from himself, it is he who has the right to lead a religion. He is a leader sent from God. And every other leadership disappears the moment he appears.
Only those will be leaders whom he appoints or who believe in him. This is a fundamental which is accepted by every sect of Islam. Ask anybody. Now they do not believe in such imams when they bifurcated except for Shias. The rest of the Sunnis did not believe that there was one imam sent by Allah and their following, so they have no justification for not saying prayers after others. But anyone who does believe that Allah has appointed an imam, he cannot say his prayers behind those who do not accept his imams.
Because they reject the imam appointed by Allah and you follow the imam made by people. Is that the situation you are leading me into? Just a minute. If he does not reject, then he is an Ahmadi. There is no half way. I fully understand your question but you try to understand my answer. The question is that you first of all project yourself into such a person, if he says that Hazrat Masih Maud A.S. was not a liar and not an imposter, that is as I understand by the word not rejecting. Is that what you understand? By lack of rejection?
Ok. So anybody who says Hazrat Masih Maud A.S. was not a liar and not an imposter, he has to believe what he claims. Because it is impossible for you to say you are alright, you are truthful, you do not tell lies but at the same time excuse yourself and say yet all you are saying is hocus pocus and I do not believe in it. Can these two things coexist? No. So if your friends or family members believe that Hazrat Masih Maud A.S. was not an imposter, was not a liar, there and then they become Ahmadis. Active Ahmadis or non-active, that is different. Having initiated or not initiated, that is also different. But the moment they say that Hazrat Masih Maud A.S. was not an imposter, he was a truthful person. He did not invent things from himself. The moment they say, you can say your prayer behind them. But then why shouldn’t they do behind you? Because the fact is that you are one step ahead of them, closer to the Imam.
They only believe that he may be alright but you also follow him and act according to his dictates. So you are more worthy to be Imam of that person than he is of you. But as far as Shariat goes, there is absolutely no objection. Behind such a person, an Ahmadi can say his prayer because he does not reject Hazrat Masih Maud A.S. But those who say verbally that we are alright, we are not against you, but when you probe into them, they come with the answer that yes, we do not believe in him. And this is a factual position. Had they really believed, how could they miss him? It’s impossible.
For 14 centuries, Muslims have waited for that one to come who was awaited by generation after generation with the hope that he would come and transform the entire shape of Islam. He would come and turn it into a victorious movement instead of a defeated movement. When he comes, you believe he has come and you don’t follow him. I can’t believe that this can happen. While Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. has painted a completely different picture, he says and when he says it, he knows what he is saying and we must follow him. He says that when you hear that Imam Mahdi has appeared, go to him.
Even if you can’t walk straight and you have to hop on your knees, kneeling down, you have to hop on your knees over glaciers, even then go to him and say Assalamu Alaikum to him from me. This is the injunction of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. That is the Imam whom you have accepted and you innocently believe that a person who truly believes such a one has come is completely disinterested. If he is disinterested, he does not only believe in him, he also rejects positively the dictates of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. He says you must go to him, that is you must accept him and convey Assalamu Alaikum from me.
Now, there are only two persons whom Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. sent Assalamu Alaikum in absentia. One was Owais Karani and the other was Hazrat Imam Mahdi. Because both loved him extremely and yet people say that it doesn’t make any difference, he may be right, he may be wrong. That means truly they do not believe. And what fun they will get by making us following them in prayer. It is just a sentimental thing, does not make any difference. If somebody doesn’t want to say prayer behind us in our mosque, we say alright go ahead and say your prayer as you please. Why can’t they take that attitude? Why can’t they understand?
Because prayer is always behind an Imam. That is the congregation prayer. And an Imam who does not believe in the Imam sent by Allah, forfeits his right to be Imam. So the Shia attitude is much more sensible in this regard. They honestly and truly believe in their Imam and they don’t say their prayers behind the Sunni Imams because they believe that their Imams are not appointed by Allah and our Imam is appointed by Allah. Yet they are not singled out and we are singled out for this. And if you read their Fatawa, that is their verdict, what happens is that each sect in Islam has prohibited its followers from saying prayers against other sects. And much more strongly than Ahmadis have ever done.
They even go to the extent, all other sects, that if you say your prayer behind, for instance the Brelvi would tell you, that if you say your prayer behind non-Brelvi, Ahle Hadith, that is those who are now in control of Kaaba, then do you know what would happen? Your wife would be divorced whether you like it or not. Immediately. Now what relationship prayer has with divorce, we don’t understand. We don’t understand that. But somehow they know that the moment somebody, some Brelvi says his prayer behind a Devbandi or Ahle Hadith, his wife would become divorced and would be haram, forbidden for him. And if he again goes to her without repentance and without remarrying her, the children which she bears, or she bears for him, would be illegitimate. And not only that, they say that if somebody does not believe in this, exactly the same thing will happen to him.
Whoever says that I can’t believe in this, it’s impossible, how could it happen that somebody has said his prayer behind someone else and his wife is divorced. So the Brelvi Imams tell us that this fatwa would be applicable to that suspector, the one in doubt. And they say this is unlimited, it has an unlimited influence. If somebody doubts about the second step either, this will apply upon him as well. So this is the extreme to which they have gone. They are shutting their eyes to all this nonsense. And they single us out. Why? The reason is only this that we act according to our beliefs. They don’t.
They believe in different things and have not the manliness and courage to act according to their beliefs. There is discord between their beliefs and their acts. All these Brelvis who are under this fatwa, they come annually to Hajj and say their prayers behind these Ahle Hadith Imams and their wives are not divorced. Or if they truly believe and they believe in their Imams, according to that Imam their wives have already been divorced. So this is a discord between belief and action which has made them inconspicuous. They have become one common lot, their beliefs lie elsewhere and their actions lie in a different direction. We act according to our beliefs so immediately we stand out.
For instance, Imam Hazrat Qaid-e-Azam was a Shia. According to the fatwa of all these sects which are non-Shia, namaz-e-janaza of a Shia cannot be said by any other sect. The moment he does, all this will apply to him. And they said it. So the Fulaq Khan was a consistent man. He loved Qaid-e-Azam much more than these people. But he was not a dissembler. He was an honest person. So he said, I loved him so much, he is my benefactor. Yet in principle you can’t deviate. So he prayed for him, that is permitted. He cried for him, that was natural for him because he loved him so much. But he didn’t say his janaza. Because he acted according to his belief.
So that is what hurts them. Not saying janaza, but acting according to our belief, this is what is the problem. Once I told them, there were some mullahs who came to Rabwah. Most often they came every other day, in large groups, asking questions. So once somebody asked me, I said, look here, you call us non-Muslims, you believe we are wrong totally, we are followers of an imposter and everything, and yet you are so angry at us not saying your janaza. What ails you so? If we are that bad, you should be happy, you should be grateful that we are not saying your janaza.
Because a filthy, dishonest, corrupt person would be saying your janaza. But inside perhaps you believe that we are the righteous people, you are so angry that we are not saying your janaza. The only thing is that in fact we are consistent, and that is what is hurting them, nothing else. No, I didn’t say that. If he says that he does not believe Hazrat Masih Maud A.S. to be an imposter, if he says that, if he believes that according to him he was a truthful and pious man, and he was a Muslim. If he says that, officially speaking, you can say your prayer behind him.
Even if he has not accepted Ahmadiyyat, officially speaking, because he is saying that is enough. We cannot go into hearts, we cannot probe what is within them. If such a person has the courage to say that before everybody, only then, not in private into your ears. If in public he says that he believes that Hazrat Masih Maud A.S. was truthful in his claims, and he was not a liar, and he was not an imposter, virtually he becomes an Ahmadi. Whether he has got initiated or not. So if such a person dies, you can say his janaza prayer, and this is the verdict of Hazrat Masih Maud A.S. himself. But if he does not have the courage to say that in public, then he himself is a liar, untrustworthy person. He is inconsistent. His public life is different, his private life is different, how can you believe in him?
So anybody who can make this declaration in public is liable to be treated, I mean is worthy of being treated as a believer in Hazrat Masih Maud A.S. though at the very initial stage. How do you characterize someone who is in the process of finding out? Thank you.
