Question:
[I a]m 25 year of age. I am sunni alhamdullah. I am unmarried and love an Ahmadi girl who is 21 year of age and loves me too much. She does not belong to that group of Ahmadies who do not consider Mohammad (PBUH) the last prophet. That group of Ahmadies belive that Mohammad (PBUH) is the last prophet. They ha[ve] same Quran as we have.
Each and everything is same except that they believe that Imam Mehdi is appeared and Jesus will not come back again. Does that believe make them non-Muslim ?
Second thing is that i talk to my parents and they are agreed to do myrishta (merriage) with her just for my happiness. That girl is very nice. Do hijab, say prayers, and everything that a Muslim woman do. […]
I love this girl so much and i see nothing that makes them non-Muslim. I just take it as a difference in Beliefs and believes are different for Shia community too but thay are not said to be non-Muslim. I am not agreed with her that Jesus will not come. But does that make them Mushrik or Kafir. […] I wish Allah can tell me what to do because i dont
believe what people say about Ahmadies as thay are not like that and i heard everything from that Group of Ahmadies knows as Lahoriates.
Please help me out with this coz i believe we are made for each other.
Answer:
Wa `alaykum as-Salam,
There are three main issues in the above questions: (I) the status of a Muslim who denies the descent of `Isa, upon our Prophet and upon him blessings and peace; (II) the status of so-called Lahori Ahmadis as opposed to Qadyanis; (III) the status of a Muslim who denies that `Isa, upon him peace, is presently alive. I document these three issues then conclude with advice for the questioner.
(I) The status of a Muslim who denies `Isa’s descent, upon him peace:
The status of a Muslim who denies that `Isa, upon him peace, shall descend at the end of times is that of apostasy.(1) Furthermore, there is Consensus over his descent.(2) This Consensus is illustrated by the fact that the reports of his descent are mass-transmitted(3) with over one hundred reports to that effect.(4) It is explicitly transmitted as an integral foundation of the Muslim Creed by the Four Imams as well as Imam al-Ash`ari.(5)
(II) The status of so-called Lahori Ahmadis as opposed to Qadyanis:
Both so-called Lahori Ahmadis and their mother group, the Qadyanis, are followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadyan who declared himself a prophet and manufactured a religion in the early 1900s along with the Babis, the Bahais, and others.
There is consensus that whoever believes that after the last Prophet, our liege-lord Muhammad – blessings and peace be upon him – there is a new Prophet, is a disbeliever and an apostate. This is stated in Qadi `Iyad’s al-Shifa and Imam Muslim’s Sharh Sahih Muslim, Allah have mercy on them, among many others.
By following an apostate, these groups are themselves apostates. Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad, Allah have mercy on him, wrote: “The Muslims of today are of the unanimous view that the Qadiani sectaries are kafirs and apostates who have no connection of any kind with Islam. Verdicts to this effect have been issued against them which are clearer than the sun in the noonday sky.”(6)
This means that all followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad are apostates, no matter what they call themselves afterwards. Indeed, as far as I know, the language of the constitutional amendments of 7 September 1974 passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan and its Senate clearly includes both “persons of the Qadiani group or the Lahori group” in the status of non-Muslims.
Repentance from such a state entails a formal declaration of the Shahada which must necessarily be preceded by a formal renouncement and denunciation of that man’s teachings.
(III) The status of a Muslim who denies that `Isa, upon him peace, is presently alive:
This was the very last fatwa given by the distinguished Imam Ahmad Rida Khan, Allah have mercy on him, according to its editor and translator from Urdu to Arabic, Muhammad Jalal Rida, entitled al-Juraz al-Dayyani `ala al-Murtadd al-Qadyani “The Trenchant Sword of Reckoning on the Apostate of Qadyan”) where he said:
“It is no secret that a Qadyani denies numerous aspects of what one is obliged to know in the Religion, perhaps more than hundreds of such aspects. Then he will stir up the issue of the life and death of our liege-lord `Isa the Messenger of Allah – upon our noble Prophet and upon him the Divine blessings and greetings. He camouflages himself with it from his accursed beliefs which are nevertheless plain to see, whereas it is a banal, secondary matter over which there is a sort of difference of opinion among the Muslims themselves. No misguidance whatsoever results from affirming or denying it, not to mention disbelief.
“But the question of the death of `Isa, upon him peace, would not benefit those apostates in the least, supposing Allah Most High had caused him to die back then! What we ask ourselves here is: why would this in any way hamper his descent?? Prophets only die temporarily, in conformity with the promise of Allah Most High, “Every soul shall taste death” (3:185), then that life is returned to them – literal, worldly, bodily life as they were before their death. How then can the return of the living be impossible? The Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, said: ‘Prophets are alive in their graves, praying.’
“Let us concede that the deviants will say that his death is like the death of everyone else. Even then, what is it that prevents his return? Allah Most High said of our liege-lord `Uzayr, upon him blessings and peace: “Allah made him die a hundred years, then brought him back to life” (2:259). …
“The Ulema of old and those of later times differed as to the life or death of `Isa, upon him blessings and peace, but as for the matter of his descent at the end of time and his killing of the accursed arch-Liar, not one of the people of the Sunna and the Congregation differed over it.(7) Truly it is a doctrine that gained the foundation of Consensus. So we ask again here: What would the death of `Isa benefit the Qadyani? And is it conceivable that the Mongolian (for he descends from the Mongols) be the Messenger of Allah, the son of Maryam the virgin, `Isa, who was created without a father??”
The above discussion reveals in plain sight that the issue of the life or death of `Isa, upon him blessings and peace, is an irrelevant diversion were it not that it cloaks the Qadyani agenda of attributing the status of `Isa to the false messiah of Qadyan himself, who has died!
Hence his followers say: `Isa is dead and shall not descend,’ because they mean their leader. In the same way, others of their denominations also mean the same leader, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, not as the Messiah, but as the Mahdi (“they believe that Imam Mehdi has appeared”), while still others mean him as a renewer – and all this only reveals ignorance on top of ignorance of the attributes of Renewers and of the Mahdi in Islam.
Conclusion: Advice for the questioner
The Christians consider one of the Prophets of Allah to be an impostor and the Jews consider two of the Prophets of Allah Most High to be impostors. Yet, despite this despicable trait of theirs, the Shari`a contains an allowance for a Muslim man’s marriage with a Christian or a Jewish woman, even if they are astray, because they are originally followers of a Divinely-revealed Scripture. However, the Shari`a does not allow in any way for Muslims to marry followers of a self-appointed prophet and adherents of a man-made religion. Such are not only misguided non-Muslims but, in addition, unmarriageable apostates.
The Muslim who asked the question whether he can marry a person of Ahmadi beliefs, states that his parents approved him only to please him.
So he himself shows understanding that neither he nor his parents are trying first and foremost to please Allah or obey Him. Even though he himself approves, and his parents approve of his union with an Ahmadi person, he understands there is a problem, hence he asks this question on a religious forum. Perhaps he also understands that even if all of humanity approves, it would mean nothing if such approval goes against Allah Most High! Allah Most High said:
“You will not find folk who believe in Allah and the Last Day loving those who oppose Allah and His messenger, even though they be their fathers or their sons or their brethren or their clan” (58:22).
The questioner must ask himself reasonable questions that every pious parent and brother would ask their son or brother in a similar situation: is it worth pleasing your ego at the cost of displeasing Allah Most High? Do you find nothing better to bring into your life and raise your children than someone who hails from a group that have no connection of any kind with Islam? Someone who did not even repent but rather continues to share in their betrayal of Allah and His Prophet, upon him blessings and peace by claiming lies against `Isa the son of Maryam, upon them peace? Is this the measure of your love for Allah and His Prophets? Would you not rather be on the side of the believers and those who defend the name of `Isa against his enemies and the Dajjal?
If you stand for truth even if it hurts your feelings, Allah Most High will support you, as He said:
“You will not find folk who believe in Allah and the Last Day loving those who oppose Allah and His messenger: even though they be their fathers or, their sons or their brethren or their clan. As for those who truly believe, He has written faith upon their hearts and has strengthened them with a Spirit from Him, and He will bring them into Gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide. Allah is well pleased with them, and they are well pleased with Him. They are the party of Allah. Lo! is it not the party of Allah who are the successful” (58:22).
On the other hand, He also said:
“Whoso opposes the Messenger after the guidance (of Allah) has been manifested unto him, and follows other than the way of the believers, We appoint for him that unto which he himself has turned, and expose him unto hell. A hapless journey’s end!”(4:115).
Notes:
(1) `Allama al-Alusi in his Tafsir (7:60) and `Allama al-Saffarini in Lawami` al-Anwar al-Bahiyya (2:94-95).
(2) Imam Abu Hayyan’s two Tafsirs al-Bahr al-Muhit (2:473) and al-Nahr al-Madd (same page) and al-Saffarani (op. cit.).
(3) As explicitly stated by:
– al-Tabari, Tafsir, verse 3:55,
– Ibn `Atiyya as cited by Abu Hayyan in al-Bahr al-Muhit (2:473),
– Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari (6:358),
– Ibn Rushd as cited by al-Ubbi in Sharh Sahih Muslim (1:265),
– Ibn Kathir in his Tafsir (1:582, 4:132),
– al-Shawkani in al-Tawdih fi Tawaturi ma Ja’a bil-Muntazar wal-Dajjal wal-Masih as cited by `Abd Allah al-Ghumari in `Aqidat Ahl al-Islam fi Nuzul `Isa `alayhi as-Salam (p. 11),
– al-Qinnawji (Siddiq Hasan Khan Bhopali) in al-Idha`a lima Kana wa-Yakunu bayna Yaday al-Sa`a, in al-Ghumari (op. cit.),
– al-`Azim Abadi in `Awn al-Ma`bud cf. al-Ghumari (p. 12)
– al-Kattani in Nazm al-Mutanathir (p. 147),
– al-Kawthari in Nazratun `Abiratun fi Maza`imi man Yunkiru Nuzula `Isa `alayh al-Salam qabl al-Akhira (p. 36, 49),
– Anwar Shah Kashmiri in al-Tasrih bi-ma Tawatara fi Nuzul al-Masih (p. 56),
– and his Ikfar al-Mulhidin fi Daruriyyat al-Din. Allah have mercy on them.
(4) By by the count of `Allama Anwar Shah Kashmiri alone, to which Shaykh `Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda added twenty more.
(5) Imam Abu Hanifa and his companions according to Imam al-Tahawi in his `Aqida Tahawiyya; Imam Malik in the `Utbiyya and elsewhere; Imam al-Shafi`i per al-Aburri in Manaqib al-Shafi`i; Imam Ahmad in his `Aqida per the narration of Musaddad ibn Musarhad in Ibn Abi Ya`la’s Tabaqat al-Hanabila, Ibn al-Jawzi’s Manaqib Ahmad, and elsewhere; Imam al-Ash`ari in Maqalat al-Islamiyyin, Risalat Ahl al-Thughar, al-Shahrastani’s Milal, and elsewhere, Allah be well-pleased with them.
(6) Key to the Garden, Quilliam Press, London, 1990.
(7) Even the Shi`is and the Mu`tazilis believe `Isa shall descend at the end of times cf. al-Ghumari, op. cit. (p. 23) – not to mention the Christians.
And Allah knows best.
Was-Salam.
Hajj Gibril
