REPLY TO DR. T. AHMAD (ROOMI)’S LETTER FROM CANADA

GULZAR ANWAR

Dear Dr. T.  Ahmad (Roomi) Sahib:

Assalam-o-Alaikum Warahmatullah-e-Wabrakatuh

Thank u for your comments on my letter of May 27, 2000.  There was another letter I wrote to S. Ahmad Sahib on June 17 which was not posted to your website in UK nor acknowledged by the webmaster.  I do not blame them as they may have not done it through an oversight.  No regrets!  This letter, however, can be accessed on Dr. Rashid’s website “http://alhafeez.org/rashid/pervaiz.htm”.  On this website u will, also, find an article of mine on “Human Rights Abuse/Minority Persecution”.  Why not visit this site, read both of these write-ups, marshal your comments and send them to me?  I will answer them once and for all.

To avoid unnecessary delays why not we write directly to each other but this will be possible only if u agree and give me your email address?  Excuse me, if I say, that I do not find your people very forthcoming and they do not open up to the outside world.  I think they are either too shy or, may be, they find people somewhat difficult to handle or they are under instructions to avoid contacts.  I can assure you that you will find me a very decent person to talk to and very responsive, if u just care to write to me direct. You can rely on me.  What I will do is, I shall post your comments and my reply on Dr. Rashid’s website and u can post my reply and your comments on your website in UK.  Will that work?  Your permission is necessary to avoid any copyrights problems.  Your webmaster takes a long time to post the letters because of some procedural restraints.  I think, perhaps, it is a question of nihil obstat in your UK set-up in that all the incoming mail has to go to the Administration first and posted to the website only when approval is granted after a careful examination.  There is no harm in that, as every organisation has its own way of working.  I am drawing no parallels between your establishment and Vatican, though.  It is just the way I understand your people operate.  It is, however, perfectly alright if it is, in fact, like that.  You owe no answer to anyone on this account.

In your letter you have tried to put words in my mouth.  I think u did not understand me or, if I may say, u did not read my letter carefully.  Most of your comments are puerile, if u excuse me for this expression.  I have no reasons to be offensive or arrogant.  But u have been, as u bracketed me with Abu Lahab and Abu Jahal.  These are very welcome remarks and, coming from a friend as they do, I take them as a compliment.   As a fellow human being you deserve all my respect.  This applies to everybody else of any creed or colour.  That we think differently, is just besides the point.  Every body will have to account for himself.  You won’t share my burden and I won’t share yours.  We cannot bail each other out.  It will be between us and God and we won’t intercede on each other’s behalf.

As for the former dictator - Zia ul Haq - I can only say that I am no great admirer of him and, if u want me to be down-to-earth, u will not find a bigger hater of him than me. Enough?  I don’t want to dilate on it.

I hope u will accept my invitation to write to me direct and we can post our letters separately on 2 different websites.  I fear that your webmaster may soon become cramped for space and moreover I don’t really like the time they take to place the correspondence on the website.  They ignored my 2nd letter because, perhaps, they have plenty of other, and more important, work on their hands.  After all, they have a divine mission before them to accomplish which is not easy and time wasted on entertaining missives from people like me can better be spent on some constructive work like spreading the word of God, easing the hardships of mankind and ensuring their salvation.  I don’t want to add to their problems, they are already having their hands full.

You say “You made serious attempts to rid Mr.S. Ahmad of Lahore, of his beliefs”.  How do u feel that I tried to convert  Mr. S. Ahmad?  Why shud I?  I am not a preacher nor am I very educated.  You know, in Islam, we cannot ask anyone to convert.  Our responsibility is only to pass on the message and, in my case, I was not sermonising.  I was only answering his letter which was rather on the domineering side.  Mr. S. Ahmad is no mug with the art of discussing things. Do u think him so impressionable that he will fall to me by dint of just one letter?  Far from it.  A man who can flirt with Gen. Musharraf can easily take me on.  He should be a person of strong faith, and unimpeachable character, so why should you worry about him?  Even if he does convert, for any reasons, I am sure, your Jamaat can do without him.  No one is, after all, indispensable.  Dr. Sahib, cool down, u need have no anxiety on his behalf.  I can assure you he is firmly placed in his faith and will remain a strong votary and ardent supporter of your creed.  Don’t you trust your people?  If he falters, at any time, I guarantee, that you will find me there to steady him and, with a good piece of advice, will help him retrace his steps.  Just place your trust in me.  It’s not religion to win people over by deceiving them with one’s “gift of the gab”.  It’s only a question of “change of heart” and this change of heart takes place by itself.

Next you say “Mr. Ahmad seemed to argue…..Allah punished usually the manifest and the most rebellious and the leaders of transgressors of His Message and His Messengers”.  This is why I gave a full list of “rebellious and transgressors”  and they all escaped the divine punishment and died a peaceful natural death.  So, what was wrong in that?  When you, also, say “may not the nation be far from that”, u are brimming with overconfidence.  It is the divine task to judge, and send the divine wrath where necessary, and not yours or mine.  Do not guess or take anything for granted.  But if you think a disaster is close at hand for us, only because we have rejected the divine message of Mirza Sahib, then we will not run away.  Let it come, we will take it on.  You should have courage to face the consequences of your own making.  Why to make excuses?  Either don’t do anything but if you do, stand up and face the outcome.  The upshot is that we should not disown our deeds, good or bad, take full responsibility for them and accept the results.

I do not understand your point regarding Syed Ataullah Shah Bukhari and Abu Sufian and it falls in the category of puerile discussion.   The two have no similarities.  One was a contemporary of the Prophet and the other was not.  Remember, the later converted to Islam only when he was left with no escape hatch but still he was admitted honourably into the fold.  “Both seemed to oppose their prophets”, what a parallel you have drawn.  Brilliant, indeed!  One opposed the prophet, is well known.  The other also opposed the prophet, which prophet?  That is where the problem lies.   I never said that “unless Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib comes to Mecca, you will not accept him”  Where did I say this?  Read my letter again, I do not make unwarranted statements about people, much less about a man of the genius of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib.  However, you being my compeer, I invite you to come to Mecca, declare your prophethood and if you get away with it for 24 hours, I shall accept you as such.  However, in Canada you will have no problem because you will have a different backdrop.  I hereby declare that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Sahib descended from Barlas Mughlas and that his ancestry also included Syeds at some point in his lineage.  See, I did not jerk or hesitate to acknowledge the facts, taking Mirza Sahib on his words.  It is the question of a heart being big or small.  It requires courage to rise above an ordinary level.  I won’t flinch in admitting that Mirza Sahib was a very learned person and genius of his time and very distinguished among his contemporaries.  However, if a prophet is known by the number of books he writes then Pervez and Moudoodi stand a good chance for this office of God’s ministry.

Tell me one thing, dear Dr. T. Ahmad, why r u people so hesitant to use the proper appellation of “Syed” for Ataullah Shah Bukhari?  Ask your conscience.  I shall be interested to know, if u just relent to take my question seriously.  You know the fight he put up against the Raj.  What was the contribution of your community in the independence struggle?  When I say independence, I mean the struggle for liberation of united India then, a gigantic expanse of land from Peshawar to Calcutta.  Struggle for Pakistan was only a part of the whole lot.  Just an odd man, from the Viceroy Council, slipping into the ranks of Muslim League and other members of the community following suit.  What is so special about it?  Can you boast of anything else, substantive?  Mirza Sahib belonged to a Barlas Mughal family, fine.  Why to deny it?  Did the great orator of his time, Ataullah Shah Bukhari, not belong to a Syed family?  Any doubt about his dynasty?  Either u say he was not or if he was why do u avoid admitting it in print?  Look at the punishment he underwent, one after another, and every time he came back shouting:  “You did not hurt me.  Show me your best shot”.  Even his worst enemies will admit that he was not available for sale and that the entire wealth of the British empire was not enough to buy this man.  Hats off to him!  How many people can u show me of a similar indomitable spirit?

You say “True, there have been people in the past who did that like the Jews etc. but you bear no resemblance to them or do you feel proud to be”.  This is too sarcastic and amounts to personalising the discussion.  I would avoid giving any comments on this and save the future opportunity of having discussions with a better understanding.  Remember, an understanding is slowly built up - it always takes time and once an understanding is reached all the misgivings and mistrust vanish.  Am I right or am I trying to take u in?  When in doubt, just ask.  So, feel free to write anything and ask anything, I will not be disturbed.

No, I don’t believe that Jesus will come to Mecca and I never said that.  He will come to Damascus and the minaret is already there which goes concomitant with the traditions pointing to his 2nd advent.  Remember, we will not build the minaret in his post-arrival period.  Dr. T. Ahmad, please don’t imagine things because otherwise u will soon start tilting on the windmills and we have no Cervantes to write the whole story all over again.  Even if we manage to put one together, it may not prove the best seller yet again.

Sorry for that, don’t mind it -  it’s only on the lighter side.  Always, keep the discussions lively and avoid causing any envii with a discourse which is too flaccid.

For God’s sake, Dr. Sahib, do not guess.   Why do u say “You also mentioned that you come from the same village as is the first Khalifa of Ahmadies and this should be taken as a sign of Ahmadi falsehood”.  Watch out your words which I have underscored and show me where you found them in my letter?  You are doing my character assassination by accusing me for something I have not done.  You must be dreaming.  Any nightmares?  Where did I say this in my letter, read it again?  In fact, I am proud that Moulvi Noor-ud-Din Sahib was a native and scion of my hometown.  You should be, at least, grateful to us that we produced a distinguished member of the illuminati of his time who proved the real motivator of Hadhrat Mirza Sahib and a faithful adherent and companion to the last.  To testify to his eminent status it will be enough to say that the range of his disciples, also, includes a man of the calibre of Akbar Shah Najibabadi, the well known historian.

Mea culpa:  Yes, I want Jesus to fix everything for me but I never said in Mecca.  I don’t know where r u reading these things from?  He is the only person who possesses the right charisma to do it.  And, if it is not he then there is none at all as I will feel sorry for this great man, and his people, that despite all the hardships of getting transfixed with a spear, in the side, willingly going up the Cross to be impaled, carrying his own Cross and stumbling and falling on the way, shouts of “hossana” and “save us” giving way to shouts of “hang him”, he has been forsaken in favour of a person never tested, if we have to take the advent of the replica of messiah on its face value.  I shall lodge a strong protest to the Almighty at the appropriate time for this injustice.  Tell me, Mr. Ahmad, did Jesus ever flatter the Roman empire, calling upon his people to surrender to the will of the alien rulers unconditionally, and supporting them morally and materially.  He stood up to the Jewish clergy and Romans with courage.  He did not chicken out.  He was ready for everything and took everything with complete resignation.  I don’t know what kind of women his three grandmothers were but Jesus, himself, was a remarkable person of his time who was only a victim of contemporary jealousies of the vested interests.  He inspired people which his replica failed to do.  Anything else, u want to ask, my brother Dr. T. Ahmad, feel free to come back but, as I advised u, do visit Dr. Rashid’s website, read my 2nd letter of June 17 and my article on human rights, catalogue your comments and revert to me.  I assure you, Sir, you will find me there to accost u.

Now something personal:  You say  “It was a great pleasure going through your prolific work of literature” and “There are not words to describe my feelings when I read your letter.  You have a tremendous command over language and prolific mastery, the similitude of which reminds me of Moudoodi”.  I am flattered.  For God’s sake, don’t do it.  I will feel elated for nothing and may, possibly, lose the head off my shoulder and start kicking around and may well start even parading myself, calling people “hey, here is a genius of the time in my person, look at me”.  I am such an ordinary person - on the lowest possible rung of the social order- that if you see me, honestly speaking, Dr. T. Ahmad Sahib, you may not even like to talk to me because you will find it below your dignity and even insulting to give me any latitude.  That u decided to address me on the subject is, in itself, no less an honour and I feel right out of this world.

To sum up, all your questions or posers have arisen because u failed to read my letter in its true perspective.  I do not blame you.  Every body reads differently between the lines.  Otherwise, your question about Peter the Great would not have been there at all.  It was a matter of history and I quoted his remarks in the context of Indian politics.  Even during the time preceding Jesus, India was known as a land of wonders.  All the greedy eyes of hungry nations were fixed on India and the words of Peter the Great are only an ample testimony to this fact of the history.  That is why Columbus set out for India but ended up in the Americas by a mistake. I am sorry u did not follow me.  May be u precipitated because of the emotional reflex and just went ahead for the immediate kill.

Why not check with your own people, if there was anything wrong with my remarks about this builder of modern Russian?  Or, better still, why not read the British chronicles about him?  Or, may be, if I am not mistaken, you are confusing him with the biblical Peter, the rock on which the church was to be built according to Jesus or the great fisherman or the one who did lop off an ear of a soldier.  Do u get him or I need use some more pointers?  I hope u know, by now, the two different Peters with distinctly different characters.  I leave the other things for future and shall wait until I receive your detailed comments on my letter of June 17 and my article on “Human Rights” in Dr. Rashid’s website.

Until then, I wish u well.  Give my regards to each one of your family member, if u r not a loner.

I forgot to answer some of your queries, which I do now as follows:

About the apostate (murtad):  I think u were ridiculing the majority concept about apostasy.  Scholastics are sharply divided on this extremely sensitive issue.  Long ago, I had read the opinion of Pervez and Moudoodi on this and found the later more convincing the same way he was absolutely convincing in favour of Ali vs Mu’awiyya.  This is my opinion, u need not agree with it.  The very interpretation of “No compulsion in religion” has been remorselessly pulled apart by the contending factions.  I know which side of the divide u stand.  No harm in that, I don’t mind it.  Whatever way u believe will be fine with me.  Any negative reaction from me will be uncalled for and will automatically become absurd.

You, also, say “You will be stoned to death for renouncing your faith”.  If that is the price to pay for accepting the truth, I am ready but the “truth” has to convince me first about its legitimacy.  After all, Socrates willingly agreed to take the cup of hemlock as a price for siding with the truth.  Why to fear getting truncated for accepting the truth? The reward in the Hereafter is too great to avoid it.

You said “Even if our Islamic Government does succeed in killing the Prophet that comes to Mecca”.  Remember, the Jews firmly believed that messiah will not be killed and this is why they tried to kill Jesus.  So, don’t worry, any true messiah will survive in Mecca by the will of Almighty.  Did the Meccan aristocracy succeed in killing the Holy Prophet (PBUH) despite a carefully conceived plan?  No, because God has His own ways of defeating the designs of disbelievers.

“Next thing I know u will ask Allah to come out of clouds with Angles so u can believe”.  This is ridiculous and deserves no answer.  Let us talk sense.  Unless the discussions are confined within the bounds of decency, we are going to get nowhere.  I think, as I have said above, this requires understanding which takes time to come about.

“I thought Prophets were followed by the weak and lowly of the society”.   Yes, the weak and lowly like Ch. Muhammad Zafarullah Khan and M.M. Ahmad.  By the way, it was during the time of M.M. Ahmad that we offered an airbase to US in or around Peshawar which ended up in U-2 fiasco and Russia went berserk.  I do not see anything on record from a genius like M.M. Ahmad to have advised Ayub Khan not to commit this folly.  What’s up doc?  U are yourself neither weak nor lowly.  U know the weather in Pakistan.  It’s hot as hades and our tempers rise and fall with mercury.  Still I have been able to keep my cool whereas, sitting in as frigid a place as Canada u are showing signs of wilting under pressure.  I did not say anything which gives u a cause to complain.  Yet, u r sometime sarcastic sometime funny.  On the whole, it was a good letter and being the first between us, I think we will do better in our next attempt.

“Have u decided to spend all your energy to make the Ummah look like the Pagans and the Jews and the Christians”.  Please avoid getting personal.  This is no way of talking.  I admire u and respect u as a fellow human being and shall expect u to think likewise.

I think u also talked about “Russian Debacle”.  Yes, it is something for u to rejoice.  The victor, after all, is your greatest benefactor.

By the way, we have another Mahdi in the person of Riaz Ahmad Goharshahi.  He is operating his own website and is juxtaposed to your headquarters in UK.  His image has already begun appearing in celestial bodies like sun and moon, in Vishnu Mandir and other places of worship of different cults and creeds.  He is visiting every place of worship, delivering his sermons trying to bring all the people under one umbrella.  He is making a universal appeal.  Any clash of interests?  May be very soon, he will declare himself Krishna, replica of Jesus and Jang Bahadur, all rolled into one.  What will happen then?  He has a book “Deen-e-Elahi” placed on the internet for public reading.  So, what do we conclude now?  Why is it, Dr. Ahmad, that all the mavericks are taking to their heels and ending up in Europe where they are provided safe havens and all the facilities and escorts and they are satisfied that it is the God paving the way for them to ensure their future.

Moral:  Any one who sees an optical illusions declares himself a Mahdi.  How much Mahdis we have had already and how much more are waiting in the wing?  God help us, it will become difficult to make a choice when we receive them left, right and centre.  When someone has a personality disorder, he talks strange things and then, visualising the natural reaction of the people, automatically becomes paranoid and seeks refuge elsewhere.  Correct?

A question:  When, in Europe and America, you do not find a place for worship, they give you a part of their church to say your prayers.  Why?  I know, you don’t know.  They are out to prove that they are the most liberal and caring.  What are we there for?  Are we proving something except making money in quantum good enough to help us live nicely back home with a beautiful house, beautiful car and a beautiful wife.  They consider us a white man’s burden and they are carrying us.  How will we repay their favours?  We have, partially, returned these favours in Afghanistan, in Gulf War, in Bosnia, in Kosovo and in Chechnia but that is not enough.  Future may have something more in store for us to do in that direction.  We take pride in preaching there without any results.  Why do we not show the same zeal and zest for preaching in poor Asian countries?  Simply because, there is no money and other perks of easy life.  You know what is happening next door in India?  At the current pace of systematic missionary work and evangelisation campaign, India looks like the future Christian country.  Have you ever thought about it?  Man needs other things, also, besides religion like medicare, hygiene social welfare, etc.  We were in trouble then and we are in trouble now.  Arrival of the “Promised Messiah” has not made life any easier for us.  We were mendicants and we will ever remain mendicants.  Do some heart searching and let me know.

I have completed this letter now and it is ready to go.  If I overdid and said anything you don’t like, my sincere apologies for that as it was not intentional.

Thank you again for writing to me.

God bless.

Regards.  

Gulzar Anwar Islamabad

July 04, 2000  

P.S.  I am asking your webmaster to send this letter to u direct first before placing it on the website, if they want.  I don’t know if they do it but should they do it, and u receive my letter, please acknowledge.  I am sending this to Dr. Rashid for his website.  I hope I have your agreement.      

http://www.alhafeez.org/rashid/