kashifmd.com: Ahmadiyya Islam: Status of non-Ahmadi Muslims?

Can non-Ahmadi Muslims identify themselves as Muslims according to Ahmadiyya Islam? The simple and ONLY answer is: YES! Everyone has the right to self-identity.

Do Ahmadi Muslims identify non-Ahmadi Muslims as Muslims? Another YES!

Recently, I have come across some critics of Islam who allege that Ahmadi Muslims consider non-Ahmadi Muslims “non-Muslim.” To make this argument, they present a couple of quotes from the numerous books of the Promised Messiah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) and the second Khalifa of the community, Mirza Bashir-ud-din Mahmud Ahmad (ra).

First of all, as stated above, it should be clear that Ahmadi Muslims consider everyone and anyone who considers themselves Muslim, a Muslim. Ahmadi Muslims identify every human being the way they chose to be identified – Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims, Catholics, Atheists etc. etc. 

1) Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) never declared anyone non-Muslim. Here is the line that is often quoted (misrepresented and misinterpreted) on this issue: “God has made it apparent to me that every single person who has heard my claim of prophethood and has not accepted me, that person is not a Muslim and in front of God, is subject to prosecution.”

But even after this revelation, he continued to use the word Muslim to identify other non-Ahmadi Muslims. He used phrases like “My dear Muslim brethren…” “O beloved Muslims..” etc. etc. in all his 86 books. If indeed he understood this revelation to mean a “declaration of heresy” for the non-Ahmadi Muslims, why did he not desist from using the word “Muslim?”

The words of the revelation were God’s,  and did not give authority to the Promised Messiah to make such a declaration. He did not use this revelation to hold prejudice against non-Ahmadi Muslims and consider them outside the community of Muslims. If he did so, he would have asked his community to desist from using “Muslim” for non-Ahmadis. However, we do not find a single place in his writings where he refuses to identify Muslims as such.

“It is possible that he changed his view on Muslims after a few years, and stopped identifying them as Muslim at a later point,” I was asked.

Well, the last book he wrote is the “Message of Peace.” This book is about interfaith harmony in general and Hindu-Muslim unity in particular. It mentions the Muslims about 25 times. I present a few quotes from the book. 

“The Hindus and the Muslims are two great nations inhabiting this country. It is hard to believe that either of the two, for instance the Hindus, would one day gain total domination over the Muslims, and turn them out of this country altogether. Likewise, it is not possible for Muslims to expel the Hindus from their homeland. It should always be borne in mind that Hindus and Muslims are indispensable to each other in this country. If one is beset with a calamity, the other will inescapably share it.”

“The Muslims made the blunder of not joining this campaign of Hindus out of fear that they were small in numbers. They were afraid that whatever benefit was to be had from such campaigns would be drawn by the majority Hindu community and not the Muslims.”

At every mention of the Muslims, the term used for identification is… thats right: “Muslims.” So, what did God’s revelation mean? Didn’t God say those who were not Ahmadis were not Muslims? Why did Mirza Ahmad (as) not preach that then? 

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