Foreword

From the earliest days till now Islam and the world of Islam have not been harmed so severely by any external enemy as by some simple-minded Muslim ulema themselves. In fact, the enemies of Islam have utilized the unwise religious edicts of these naive ulema as a basis to attack Islam.

The wrong trend among the ulema took place when, under the influence of changing socio-political environment, they preferred to adopt some politically coloured Islamic interpretations and ignored the clear teachings of the Quran and the noble precedence set by the Holy Prophet (sas).

Killing of apostate is one of such erroneous trends and baseless convictions. In fact, this menacing tenet is based neither on the Quran nor on the practice of the Prophet (sas) of Islam. It was merely a political idea invented with the help of some biased ulema, and used by Abbasid caliphs and other rulers to grind their political axe. Later it took such momentum that even the unbiased ulema were influenced by this wrong trend. Unfortunately, the later generation of ulema, who followed the old schools of thought, adopted this unIslamic view uncritically without further research.

This dangerous and untenable belief produced very grave consequences. On minor differences some eminent scholars of Islam were declared apostates by the ulema who opposed them. The rulers and some politically powerful ulema used this weapon against their opponents. These agonizing chapters in the history of Islam remind us of the Christian rule of Spain when Christians upholding similar views, most savagely punished, for minor differences, their own Christian brothers.

Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (rta), the fourth successor of the Promised Messiah (as) in a lecture delivered at Jalsa Salana (the Annual Gathering) UK on 27th July, 1986 analysed in depth all aspects of this heinous tenet. He showed it to be an utterly false and unfounded belief and smashed once for all the so-called arguments of the ulema in support of this claim. He has proved it to be a false belief. His arguments are based on the Holy Quran, the Sunna and Ahadith of the Holy Prophet (sas) and the historical events that took place in the eras of the Righteous Caliphs (ra). He informs us that this dreadful tenet has been used through a conspiracy to taint the beautiful face of Islam. Thus, this false tenet is the most dangerous weapon that the enemies of Islam have used against Islam. Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad deals with the subject extensively and it is earnestly hoped that the address will help unbiased researchers to fully understand the true teachings of Islam on the subject. It is also hoped that it will go a long way to creating a new spirit in which Islamic teachings are appreciated in their real essence and true nature and prejudice against Islam is eradicated.

The name of Muhammad (sas), the Holy Prophet of Islam, has been followed by the symbol (sas), which is an abbreviation for the salutation Sallallahu ‘Alaihi Wasallam (may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The names of other prophets and messengers are followed by the symbol (as), an abbreviation for ‘Alaihis-salam/‘Alaihimis-salam (on whom be peace). The actual salutations have not generally been set out in full, but they should nevertheless, be understood as being repeated in full in each case. The symbol (ra) is used with the name of the disciples of the Holy Prophet (sas) and those of the Promised Messiah (as). It stands for Radi Allahu ‘anhu/‘anha/‘anhum (May Allah be pleased with him/with her/with them). (rta) stands for Rahimahullahu Ta‘ala (may Allah’s blessing be on him). (aba) stands for Ayyadahullahu Ta‘ala (May Allah, the Mighty help him).

In transliterating Arabic words we have followed the system adopted by the Royal Asiatic Society.

We have not transliterated Arabic words which have become part of English language, e.g., Islam, Mahdi, Quran1, Hijra, Ramadan, Hadith, ulema, umma, sunna, kafir, pukka etc.

Curved commas have been used in the system of transliteration, ‘ for , ’ for . Commas as punctuation marks are used according to the normal usage. Similarly for apostrophe, normal usage is followed.

Please note that Ahadith from Ashah Sitta [the six Books of Ahadith regarded as most authentic—Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Da’ud, Tirmadhi, Nas’i and Ibni Maja] are all taken from one volume collected edition of these books, published by Darussalam, Riyad, Saudi Arabia.

When the author gives an explanatory translation of a verse of the Holy Quran its literal translation is given in a footnote under the verse.

At the end I must express my gratitude to Allah that I had the great honour to have ample opportunities to sit at the feet of Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih, the fourth when he was revising and polishing this lecture for the publication. I express my deep gratitude to Mr. Saleemur Rahman of Canada who translated a portion of the first part of the lecture from Urdu into English as well as to Mr. Mubashar Ahmad of USA who did the rest of the translation into English. I am also grateful to Habibullah Zirwi who did initial pasting of the verses of the Quran and other Arabic excerpts.

Finally I thank Mirza Anas Ahmad, M.A. M. Litt. (OXON), Wakilul Isha‘at, Tahrik Jadid, Rabwah, for revising the translation and editing the manuscript to make it ready for publication. Mirza Anas Ahmad was ably assisted by his team, especially by Shaikh Naseer Ahmad who was mainly responsible for pasting and desktop publishing of the manuscript.

Munirud Din Shams
Additional Wakilut-Tasnif
London