“RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM HAS NO PLACE IN SOCIETY†– Ahmadiyya Supreme Head
Posted on October 12th, 2010
AHMADIYYA MUSLIM JAMAƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢AT – SRI LANKA 619/4, Baseline Road, Colombo 9, Sri Lanka.
The Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim JamaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢at, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad has repeated his call for Muslims the world over to show loyalty to their respective countries. In a recent speech delivered before thousands of Ahmadi Muslims in London he said that love and loyalty to oneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s country was a fundamental principle of Islam. His Holiness also spoke with regret about the widespread problems faced by Pakistan. He said the fundamental cause for its current state was a failure to maintain a separation of religion and State. In particular, extremist elements had permeated all segments of society.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Speaking about the current situation in Pakistan, His Holiness said that every day there was news of killings, protests and strife. The entire country had become engulfed in discord. He said that the Ahmadiyya Muslim JamaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢at had always counselled the Pakistani leaders to maintain a distance from extremist elements. However out of a fear of losing their grip on power the majority of leaders had failed to heed such warnings and had involved themselves with various forms of negotiation and deals with the extremist religious right. He said that any system that bowed down to such religious elements was bound to fail and lead to turmoil and despair.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It was the duty of every Ahmadi Muslim to profess love to his chosen country. Each Ahmadi Muslim had an obligation towards working for a better future for his country and his fellow citizens. Citing Pakistan as an example he said Ahmadis were treated as inferior citizens and had suffered the most barbaric cruelty, however this had never stopped them from being utterly loyal to the nation. He said that Pakistan had been founded upon the sacrifice of thousands of lives and the Ahmadiyya Muslim JamaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢at would always do its utmost to make sure that those lost lives were not taken in vain.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ He said:ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-As citizens of any country, we Ahmadi Muslims, will always show absolute love and loyalty to the State. Every Ahmadi Muslim has a desire for his chosen country to excel and should always endeavour towards this objective. Whenever a country requires its citizens to make sacrifices the Ahmadiyya Muslim Communityt will always be ready to bear such sacrifices for the sake of the nation.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ His Holiness continued:
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-We feel pain and distress when any nation suffers and we share the grief and pain of others. Thus whenever any country faces difficulty we try our utmost to alleviate their suffering. That is what the founder of Islam, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, taught us. It was the Holy Prophet who counselled that you should put your own pain to one side in an effort to alleviate the suffering of all of mankind. It is thus that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat is involved in spreading humility, love and kindness.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
October 13th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
I admire Ahmadi Muslims for their loyalty and love for the country of their residence. I wish other Muslims to learn to do the same instead of murdering and terrorising others. The world can become much more harmoneous if others will copy the same practice.
October 15th, 2010 at 11:02 am
I admire what Aslam Says. This is a wish I hope will prevail in Sri Lanka. I also wish the other religions in Sri Lanka will follow the same example, especially the Christians. I will not even mention the Buddhists as most of them are loyal to their mother country Sri Lanka, except for a few politicians who will even stoop to selling their mothers for small political gains. However I am sad to say that most Christians do not follow this principle. They act like they are citizens of some other foreign country and their allegiance is not to their mother country Sri Lanka. I am a Catholic, but I am ashamed to call myself one after seeing the Sri Lankan Catholic Bishops call for the release of Sarath Fonseka who was sentenced according to the law of the land. They have forgotton that even Jesus Christ said “Give to Ceaser what is Ceaser’s and to God what is his”. It is a shame that these Bishops have to dabble in politics and side with a National Traitor.
October 15th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
Ditto.
October 17th, 2010 at 3:57 am
Siri,
I cannot understand from where you got the notion that most Christians “act like they are citizens of some other foreign country and their allegiance is not to their mother country Sri Lanka”. (I suppose we are to take it that you, however, belong to that blessed minority of Christians who are different!). You are certainly not talking of the Sri Lankan Christians I know, all of whom are every bit as patriotic as the next person.
You take the Sri Lankan Catholic Bishops to task because of what you say is their “call for the release of Sarath Fonseka”, and have sought scriptural support citing the well known saying of Jesus Christ to “Give to Ceaser(sic) what is Ceaser’s(sic) and to God what is his”. There was another well know saying that came to my mind when I read your piece – you know, the saying that even the devil can quote the Scriptures.
I remember someone once saying that the ‘trouble’ with the scriptures is that, like with Shakespeare, it is so comprehensive in extent that if you are resourceful enough, you can find in it, a quotation to support any position – even find quotations to support both sides of an argument!
You say you are a Catholic and as such you are also no doubt aware of how Jesus told a crowd that was planning to stone a woman taken in adultery, “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone”. Are you going to argue, on the basis of that saying, that as fallible people we should take no action against wrongdoers? Is that not where the statement should logically take us? And by the way, is not Christianity also about mercy and forgiveness and compassion?
If the Catholic Bishops asked for the release of Sarath Fonseka, it does not make them unpatriotic as a result. They are no less patriotic than others who have made a similar plea.
Many may well feel, based on his reported statements, that Sarath Fonseka has not helped his own cause; indeed, sometimes he looks like his own worst enemy. That said, however, there are enough good, decent people who feel for him in his present plight. Sri Lankans are a fair minded people and, understandably, feel there is something that is ‘not quite right’ when the former Army Commander who played such a crucial role in defeating the Tigers, should be languishing in a jail while the likes of Karuna, Pillayan and KP are living very comfortably and have not even been brought before the courts, despite their active involvement with the LTTE and being, indirectly at least, complicit in the killing of so many service personnel and innocent civilians.
October 17th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
cassandra,
There you go again – the compassion to Fonseka but not to KP and Pilliayan and no “Karuna” to Karuna , only to Fonseka.
But the problem is Fonseka refuses compassion, or, if not, sympathy. He refuces love. He wants all. By doing only killing he wants to be respected. No religion respects killers ( even if the killers themselves were criminals).
I have given you ample time to think about this. What can MR do, when this greedy man ( and more than him , his wife), just because he had a Raja Yoga, wants to be Raja by selling the country. He simply refuses peace.
I agree with you that there are plenty of other nutral people who wants his release- but this is pure ignorance. The problem is Catholic priest have always been supportive of western values more than Sinhala values. Whatever Americans say, they repeat. This was the same during the war.
October 19th, 2010 at 12:35 am
Nanda,
And there you go again (if I may quote your own words) suggesting that I am biased towards Sarath Fonseka and lacking in compassion towards the likes of KP. But surely you could not but have noted that I did say that sometimes Fonseka seems like his own worst enemy. So, I am under no illusions in that regard.
But there is not only compassion to consider. There is also a matter of justice. And what we have is a situation where one man has been tried and sent to jail for his offences whilst KP and the others have not even been brought to account for their actions but been given immunity from prosecution. Where is the justice? Where is the fairness?
By the way, let me say, I am not impressed with your remark “I have given you ample time to think about this”. The sheer cheek of it!
October 19th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
cassandra,
I am not sure what made you so illusioned.
Karuna hepled the government and did not betray Lanka.
KP is providing information at the moment , not released yet and may end up in jail.
This man betryed lanka for money and power and keep on doing it.
What justice then ?
Say you release him, what will happen ?
I gave you ample time to think on this line. What is worng in that ? People have some opinion and it can change. My opinion may change tommorow.
October 19th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Nanda,
Thanks. Yes, our opinions can change. This has been a useful exchange of views with you, and I think such discussion is good; otherwise we can be stubbornly locked into our own way of thinking without considering or being open to a different viewpoint.