Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity

by Qureshi, Nabeel

  The celebration was held in the English countryside at Tilford, where massive marquees served as meeting halls and trodden grass as paths. There were tents for praying, serving food, broadcasting by satellite, and selling memorabilia. Diplomats and other honored guests had been invited from all across the world to attend the sessions, and many came bearing messages of tolerance and multiculturalism.

  The female diplomats were the only women allowed in the men’s area. The women’s area duplicated almost all of the men’s venues, but the two were separated. I was still young enough that I could get into the women’s section without raising any eyebrows, and I often did. It was far livelier than the men’s area. The women wore colorful clothing, laughed loudly, and talked incessantly, completely ignoring the speeches being televised from the men’s section. There, the atmosphere was always solemn, and as a six-year-old, solemn meant boring.

  During one of the main sessions, I intended to go from the women’s meeting hall to the men’s bazaar, where they were selling specially designed centenary badges. On my way over, an elderly man firmly grabbed my shoulder as I tried to pass by him. That was never a good sign. He physically turned me around, placed his hand between my shoulder blades, and guided me to the men’s main hall. He sat me down, very close to the front and too close to himself. He did all this without saying a word, but he gave me a very stern look that said all he needed to say: “Sit down and listen to the speech.” To this day, I have no idea who he was, but I knew better than to disobey an elder at a jamaat gathering, so I turned my attention to the speaker. The badge had to wait.

  The speaker was a missionary from Pakistan whose accent made him exceedingly difficult to understand. His native tongue was Punjabi, a language related to Urdu and spoken in rural Pakistani villages. He was importing his Punjabi accent and inflections, unabated, into the English language. The result was not pleasant. Fortunately, his message was a staple of high-profile gatherings in our jamaat that I had heard many times before.

  He was defending the fact that we were Muslims.

  “The other Muslims say we are not Muslim, but who are they to cast us out of Islam? According to Anas ibn Malik, Muhammad said, ‘Anyone who proclaims the shahada is Muslim.’ And the shahada is clear: ‘There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger.’ Even today, all you have to do is recite the shahada and you will be accepted into the fold of Islam.”

  Shahada: The central proclamation of Islam: “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger”

  He seemed to say this directly to the diplomats, who shifted in their seats.

  “Every person must recite the shahada to become a Muslim, and that is all he must do to be Muslim, according to this beautiful hadith of our beloved prophet Muhammad .”

  The missionary was becoming more and more animated by the moment. Years later, I found out that he had seen his loved ones suffer terrible persecution at the hands of other Muslims. Some members of his congregation had even been killed. His rhetoric was cathartic, fire expelled directly from his heart.

  “Neglecting the shahada makes you non-Muslim; reciting the shahada makes you Muslim; and we recite the shahada. That’s it. We are Muslim! But why do I bother to clarify this, as if we are teetering on the border of Islam? Do we reject any of our Islamic obligations? No!”

  In rapid-fire fashion, the missionary enumerated the fundamental practices required of all Muslims, the Five Pillars of Islam.

  “We recite the shahada; we pray the salaat; we pay zakat to the poor; we fast during Ramadhan; and we make pilgrimage to the Ka’ba to perform Hajj! These are the things we are commanded to do by Allah in the Quran, and we do all of them. Who can deny we are Muslim?

  Five Pillars of Islam: The fundamental practices required of all Muslims

  Zakat: Obligatory alms

  Hajj: The annual pilgrimage to Mecca

  Six Articles of Faith: The fundamental Muslim beliefs

  “And we explain this to them with clear proofs from the Quran and hadith, but they want to find a way against us, so they change their objections! They say to us, ‘You pretend to be Muslims with your actions, but you do not believe what Muhammad taught!’ Tell me, what did he teach that we do not believe?”

  The missionary transitioned from the fundamental practices to the fundamental beliefs, called the Six Articles of Faith.

  “We believe in the one God Allah; we believe in the unseen spiritual beings; we believe that Allah sent prophets into this world; we believe that He gave sacred scriptures to His prophets; we believe that there will be a day of judgment; and we believe that Allah’s decree is sovereign over the universe! What don’t we believe?

  “What we don’t believe is falsehood! We don’t believe, like the Shia do, that Allah made a mistake by allowing Abu Bakr to become khalifa! We don’t believe, like the Sunnis do, that we can murder people in the name of Allah, let alone murder other Muslims! These are egregious beliefs, and were we to believe them, our ejection from Islam would be justified!”

  Ahmadi missionaries were not known for cautious treatment of sensitive matters in moments of passion. His word choice was provocative, but there was some truth in it. He was referring to the main division among Muslims, the division between Shia and Sunni. There are three major branches of Shia Islam, and together the Shia make up approximately 10 – 15 percent of the world’s Muslims. They believe that authority in early Islam passed through Muhammad’s bloodline, so that when Muhammad died, his male next of kin ought to have borne the mantle of Islamic leadership. That would have been Ali. However, when Muhammad died, there was no appointed successor. The Muslims elected Abu Bakr as the first khalifa. For the most part, those that recognize Abu Bakr’s caliphate follow one of the four schools of Sunni Islam, and they make up about 80 percent of the world’s Muslims.

  The remaining 5 – 10 percent are those who fit comfortably in neither category. That’s where we stood.

  “Muhammad proclaimed that if we recite the shahada, we are Muslim. We do that. The Quran tells us we must perform the Five Pillars. We do that. Islam teaches us that we must believe the Six Articles of Faith. We do that! So why do they call us kafir?”

  “They have the audacity to call us kafir because we do not interpret two words in the Quran the way they do. Two words! ‘Khatam an-nabiyeen, the seal of the prophets.’ In the minds of these violent and uneducated Muslims, disagreement over these words justifies murdering their brothers in Islam, astaghfirullah!”

  Kafir: Infidel, non-Muslim

  The imam was referring to the controversial claim made by the founder of our sect, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, that he was a subordinate prophet under Muhammad. Most Muslims argue that 33:40 precludes any prophethood after Muhammad, thereby making Mirza Ghulam Ahmad a false prophet and his followers non-Muslim. Because of this, hundreds, if not thousands, of Ahmadi Muslims have been murdered in countries like Pakistan and Indonesia at the hands of orthodox Muslims.

  “They have taken the religion of peace and turned it into a religion of bloodshed and violence. But inshallah, Allah will restore Islam through Ahmadiyyat. He has already sent the imam of our time, the Promised Messiah, and his successors are divinely appointed khalifas!”

  Inshallah: A very common Muslim formula meaning “if Allah wills it”

  Here was even more offense in Ahmad’s claims. After claiming to be a prophet and running into the khatam an-nabiyeen argument, Ahmad partially defended himself by saying he was no new prophet at all. He argued that people of many faiths are waiting for their prophets to come back. Jews are waiting for Elijah, Hindus are waiting for Krishna, Buddhists are waiting for Buddha, and Christians are waiting for Jesus. Ahmad claimed to be all these figures wrapped up in one. To top it off, his successors claimed to have established a new caliphate, a claim that is very offensive to the Muslims around the world who are still waiting for a final caliphate.

  “Who can outwit Allah? He is the best of planners, and He will revitalize the world thro
ugh Islam and Ahmadiyyat! This inevitability not even Satan can alter!”

  When the missionary said this, sporadic yells were emitted from the congregation, all calling the same proclamation: “Takbir!” The thousands of men gathered in the tent responded in one accord “Allah-hu-akbar!” The strongest voice won out and boomed again “Takbir!” With emboldened passion, the entire host of men erupted “Allah-hu-akbar!” Ahmadis tend not to clap in agreement, instead marshaling one another to praise Allah and invoke His blessings.

  The man who had yelled “Takbir!” continued to rally the gathered Muslims, bellowing “Islam!” which was received by “Zindabad,” long may it live. “Islam!” “Zindabad!” “Ahmadiyyat!” “Zindabad!” Time seemed to hang in the air as the unknown voice thundered call after call, leading an army of Muslims in praising Allah. That the army was made up of pacifist Muslims would do nothing to allay the trepidation of an uninitiated observer. The roar of thousands was heart-stopping.

  With nothing further to add, the missionary thanked the assembly and concluded the speech. Considering it today, I realize that the issue of orthodoxy and heresy is multifaceted and complicated. It is true that many Muslims call each other non-Muslim at the slightest provocation. The label of infidel is all too readily doled out over minor disagreements. I doubt whether any of the dozens of sects in Islam have ever escaped the accusation of heresy.

  That said, the founder of Ahmadiyyat made some very bold claims, offensive to many parties. Claiming to be the second coming of Jesus offends both Christians and Muslims. Demanding the veneration due to a prophet is no small claim for Muslims, and it is not difficult to see why some of the orthodox consider Ahmadiyyat a cult.

  But to me, many things weigh in favor of Ahmadis being Muslims. As the missionary said, Ahmadis adhere to the central doctrines and practices of Islam. Based on their daily lives and applied beliefs, Ahmadis are virtually indistinguishable from Sunnis. Along a similar vein, when I was an Ahmadi, I saw myself tied to Islam far more than Ahmadiyyat. But perhaps most important, Muhammad himself would consider Ahmadis Muslim: “Do not excommunicate anyone who declares that there is no God but Allah.”12

  The lesson to be learned is that there is much division in Islam. The best determination of whether a man is Muslim is if he exclusively declares that Allah is God and Muhammad is Allah’s messenger. Beyond this point, there is great diversity in Islam.

  Chapter Eight

  THE PATH OF SHARIA

  WHEN IT COMES to sharia, the diversity in Islam can lead to widely disparate views. Sharia is not a field that the average Muslim knows well. When I first heard the term, I was at an ijtema, a tournament that our jamaat held once a year.

  Sharia: Islamic law

  The tournament events were both religious and physical in nature. The religious competitions included Quran memorization, Quran recitation, adhan poetry recitation, speech competitions, hadith performance, Islamic poetry recitation, speech competitions, hadith memorization, and general religious knowledge tests. I’m not too sure what the physical competitions included because Ammi had me tied up with the religious ones, especially the speech competition.

  Ammi was very thorough in preparing me for my speech. Not only did she write the whole script, she trained me to deliver it. During the nights before the competition, after isha salaat, Ammi would have me stand up and do practice runs. She stood behind me while I was speaking and moved my arms and hands at the appropriate times to make emphatic gestures, as if I were her marionette. She directed me where to pause for dramatic effect, when to turn my head, and how to raise my tempo and volume for maximum impact. I found out later that she had been the captain of her debate team in Pakistan, which explained the course of her conversations with Abba.

  On the day of the ijtema, I competed in the six-to eight-year-old bracket. The topic of my speech was, “always tell the truth, no matter what the consequences may be.” I won an award for my speech, along with a few other awards. Ammi and Abba also competed, but the adult competitions always seemed much more lighthearted than the youth sessions. The tournament as a whole seemed centered on propagating Islam to the younger generation. To this end, the adult events were staggered and finished after the youth competitions so that the young participants could be in attendance.

  I decided to sit in on the men’s extemporaneous speech competition. The prompts in this competition tested a wide array of topics, such as, “Outline the history of Ahmadi jamaat,” “What must we do to raise our children in the Islamic way?” and, “How do we know Jesus is not the Son of God?”

  A man that I called Uncle Faizan, a fluent English speaker in his early forties, drew the prompt, “Explain sharia, including its sources and application.” He stood up and began his speech by greeting the audience with a formal salutation.

  “Respected imam, revered elders, honored guests, and dear brothers, Assalaamo alaikum wa rahmutallah wa barakaathu.”

  The room responded in unison, “wa alaikum salaam.”

  Assalaamo alaikum wa rahmutallah wa barakaathu: An extended Muslim greeting meaning, “The peace of Allah and His mercy and blessings be upon you”

  Fiqh: Islamic jurisprudence

  Glancing down at his prompt, Uncle Faizan began. “The topic I have been given today is sharia. Sharia is Islamic law. The word sharia means ‘the path,’ as in the correct path we must walk according to Allah’s will.”

  The elders who were judging the event looked impressed. For non-Arab Muslims, being able to accurately define Arabic terms was always worth bonus points, tournament or not.

  Emboldened by their reaction, he continued. “There is no book of sharia. We must derive the law from a hierarchy of sources using a process of jurisprudence called fiqh. The first and greatest source is the Quran. Nothing can supersede the Quran because it is the word of Allah. But the Quran is not comprehensive. As Muslims, there is much we must do and believe that is not found in the Quran. For this, we go to the second source, hadith.”

  Some of us in the crowd were taken aback by the blunt comment that the Quran was insufficient. Though technically true, it ought not to have been stated so crudely. It sounded almost shameful, as if the Quran were somehow less than it should be. But Uncle Faizan’s eyes were set on the elders, who did not display any reaction, so he proceeded.

  “The hadith elaborate and clarify what is found in the Quran, but they never contradict. There is no contradiction in Islam. If a hadith is found in any way to contradict the Quran, then it is inauthentic and must be disregarded. If no hadith can be found to clarify an issue, then we must turn to the third source of sharia: the ulema, Muslim scholars who are wise and experienced in Islam.” Uncle Faizan smiled courteously at the imam, on whom the flattery was not lost.

  Ulema: Muslim religious scholars

  Mufti: A Muslim legal expert

  “That is where sharia comes from, but where can we see it? We see it everywhere in a devout Muslim’s life. It is how we pray, when to fast, whom to marry, what foods to avoid. All these basic matters are issues of sharia. There are also far more detailed matters, like whether we must pay zakat on appreciated home values.” The elders chuckled and gave Uncle Faizan the signal to wrap up.

  “That is a brief explanation of sharia, its sources, and its application. Shukria, thank you.” With that, he sat back down on the ground as the elders nodded their approval.

  As I would come to know later, it was a solid answer to the question, at least from an Ahmadi perspective. Ahmadis have very little choice in their authority structure, and so the jamaat leaders have full say in interpreting sharia for them. What the leaders say goes. This is not the case for most Muslims.

  Other Muslims have options. For example, if a Sunni woman wants to obtain a divorce from her husband, she has to receive approval from an authority. This must be from a mufti, someone trained in at least the basics of sharia. If she were to present her case before a mufti, he would provide her with his decision, called a fatwa. Fatwas
are nonbinding, though, and if she were to dislike it, she could decide to go to another mufti and see if he provides a more favorable fatwa.

  Fatwa: A decision or ruling by a Muslim authority

  Muftis from different schools of thought have different precedents and therefore provide different fatwas. For example, some schools of Sunni thought insist on a woman’s consent before she is given in marriage. Other schools do not, requiring that the woman abide by her family’s wishes. Since no one is bound to any specific school, some women choose schools of thought based on the fatwas they prefer. Even though this practice of “fatwa shopping” is discouraged by Sunni scholars, it serves as a perfect example of the kind of thing Ahmadis cannot do because of their very strict authority structure.

  There is another dimension to the complexity: each denomination differs on what hadith they consider accurate. Since the hadith are the second rung of sharia, these differences of opinion have real consequences. Many of the differences between the ways Sunnis and Shias practice Islam are over this very matter. Their books of hadith are disparate. This difference, combined with the Shia position regarding the authority of imams, results in a significantly different view of sharia.

  Differences aside, it is worth noting that a great deal of overlap exists between the majorities of Muslims. For example, all four major schools of Sunni thought and all three major schools of Shia thought teach that people who leave Islam must be killed for their apostasy, disagreeing only on the details of qualifying circumstances and implementation. Only outlying groups, such as liberal Muslims and Ahmadis, disagree with this time-honored practice.