Ahmadiyya Muslim community bow their heads at his funeral
Written By: Robina Ahmad
A Glasgow shopkeeper is murdered by an extremist who accused him of “insulting the Prophet and disrespecting Islam.” Tanveer Ahmed is now under custody for the attack after openly admitting to the murder of 40 year old shopkeeper Asad Shah and releasing a statement to the press for the purpose of his crime saying, “This all happened for one reason and no other issues and no other intentions. Asad Shah disrespected the messenger of Islam the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. Mr. Shah claimed to be a prophet.”
What was the crime, you ask? A single tweet Asad Shah had sent on a Friday wishing all of his fellow Christian friends a Happy Easter. The full tweet said, “Good Friday and a very Happy Easter, especially to my beloved Christian nation.”
Asad Shah was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community that is a fast-growing restoration society of the religion of Islam founded in 1889. It is the only Islamic organization to believe in the metaphorical second coming of Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah in the form of a man named Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian. The Ahmadiyya Community is taught to unconditionally reject all forms of terrorism and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had declared a century ago that the “jihad of the sword” has no place in Islam. In other words, the use of a weapon and forcing a religion on someone who has no desire of it is not Islam but is terrorism and actions of an extremist. Instead, the “jihad of the pen” is put in its place which means to defend Islam through education, communication, and raising awareness and love of all religions with one another through peace and unity.
Due to this sect of Islam being the only one to believe in the coming of a Messiah, it has been shunned away by other Islamic groups who have labeled them as ‘wajib-ul-qatl’ – infidels deserving of death infidels and non-Muslim. This has led to many fatal attacks on Ahmadi communities – sometimes better known as “honor killings.” Even dead relatives are never left alone in their graves the moment their laid to rest; their tombstones are always discovered destroyed and vandalized.
The death of Mr. Asad Shah had raised much attention from the communities of different faiths of Christianity, Judaism and Sikh’s in Glasgow along with his own whom have raised a two-week campaign in Glasgow – “United Against Extremism.” They have all joined in to raise awareness of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community along with their motto, “Love for All, Hatred for None.”
It is true there has been a huge amount of support and love by the community and from people around the country, yet it does not help with the problem of another certain hate group who intervened on an even worse note the murder of Ahmadi Asad Shah. A headline claimed hate-preachers praising Asad Shah’s murderer for, “sending a blasphemer to hell.” Rather than paying tribute to the murdered, they praise the killer instead and set up a Facebook page in paying a tribute to Tanveer Ahmed for “protecting” (as they like to call it) the honor of Islam. The Facebook page also showed a side-by-side picture of Asad Shah with a red X marked on his photo and “ASAD KAZZAB” on the bottom. Kazzab is an Arabic word for liar. On the left is a picture of Tanveer Ahmed with Arabic words written over-praising his actions and praying for this so called hero with his name written as “GHAZI TANVEER ATTARI.” This is translated to a “Muslim-fighter and medicine.” In other words, he is referred to as a cure to humanity, truly a sad state of mind.
Extremists only value what they believe in and will condemn and oppress anyone to think otherwise. Attacking a community believing in a peaceful ‘jihad’ should be least concerning than the group of ISIS who are beheading and raping their own fellow Muslims in the defense of Islam, not sure where this is taught in Muslim scripture?!
When it comes to the utter mindlessness of extremist groups like these, it should most definitely be taken as a serious case – but, the difference lies in how we react and channel our emotional reactions. They should be channeled into raising awareness the correct way, not beating drums of hate and retaliation. The word and religion of Islam, or any religion at all should never be taken into account when extremism is defacing the word of humanity.
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Asad Shah: Ahmadi Muslim Persecution
May 10, 2016
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