No Ahmadi would hang the picture of the Messiah in the direction of Qibla, where he stands to say his prayers. If he does so, he is totally wrong, he should cease to do so. Because this will be extremely detrimental to the Ahmadiyya faith and Ahmadiyya practice and ultimately it may end up into wrong things. This is why Hazrat Masih Maud A.S. generally discouraged hanging of his pictures over the walls. It was generally discouraged by Hazrat Masih Maud A.S. So in my house for instance, I had no picture of Hazrat Masih Maud A.S. hanging on any wall. But later on, when I once noticed that my girls were not fully aware of Hazrat Masih Maud A.S. who he was in her, you know, because the picture was not there.
So I understood my mistake and then I put a picture but on the mantel, on a side of the room where nobody ever faced during prayer. So that is a precaution which must be taken by Ahmadis and they must stick to this precaution. Secondly, there is again a fundamental difference between the picture of Vishnu or a picture of Krishna being put before the Hindus and a picture of Hazrat Masih Maud A.S. accidentally hanging on a wall facing Qibla. Because if somebody looks at that picture of Hazrat Masih Maud A.S. during prayer, he would never think, even remotely so, of asking anything from him or attributing to him in the remotest manner any attribute of God. He may be reminded of that, praying for him, but he would never pray for him. He would pray for him maybe.
But in the case of Krishna, they beg from him. And that picture is a reminder to them that this is God. That picture to them is a symbol of God. And according to Hindu philosophy, this idol is kept before them to remind them that there is a God of this nature and this shape somewhere. And to visualize him completely, that idol and picture helps them.
So that they come into a direct contact with that God and their ideas do not go astray in different directions. If they focus their attention, this idol is kept. This is what the Hindus have been telling me when I discussed this matter with them. But in the case of Hazrat Masih Maud A.S. picture, this does not apply in the farthest way.
