by Sam Westrop
The jihad against Ahmadiyya Muslims
On November 18, clerics and congregants from Islam's Deobandi movement met in Alexandria, VA, to denounce and threaten Ahmadiyya Muslims, a peaceful and much-persecuted Islamic group.
The conference, which was livestreamed,
featured Pakistani, American and Canadian clerics from the Deobandi
sect, an Islamic movement first established in South Asia. An American
Deobandi imam from the Noor Mosque in Springfield, VA, told the
conference that Ahmadis had conspired to stop Muslims from "fighting
Jihad and committing bloodshed." For most audiences, this would be an
endorsement. But not at this conference.
Undercover footage taken by Ehsan Rehan, editor of the Rawbah Times, reveals speakers claiming
that Ahmadi Muslims are "infidels," condemning America as "land of
infidels" and stating: "They are ignorant and there is no need for
dialogue with them. God has given them two options: one is the holy book
and one is the stick, and if one does not accept the holy book they
have to be forced."
Literature at the conference urged supporters not to vote in elections for non-Muslim candidates, including those Muslims "declared as non-Muslim by scholars."
The conference was organized by two Virginia institutions, both of which enjoy tax-exempt status: Idara Dawat-O-Irshad and the Khatme Nubuwwat Center. Both organizations openly incite
hatred against Ahmadi Muslims. And as the name of the latter
illustrates, both mosques are affiliated with Khatme Nubuwwat (KN), an
international organization headquartered in Pakistan, which exists
solely to incite hatred against Ahmadi Muslims.
"Khatme Nubuwwat" means "Finality of the Prophecy" – referring to the tenet
held by most Islamic sects that there can be no prophet after Muhammad.
Ahmadi Muslims, however, believe there was in fact another prophet
after Muhammad. This belief, the KN conference was told by Canadian imam Usman Ahsan, is "enough to wage war" against them.
Photo by Ehsan Rehan of the Rabwah Times
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The conference in Virginia took place just a day after Pakistan's National Assembly voted to restore laws requiring
Ahmadi Muslims to "sign a declaration stating [their belief], failing
which their name shall be deleted from the joint electoral rolls and
added to a supplementary list of voters in the same electoral area as
non-Muslim." The law is known as the "Khatme Nabuwwat declaration."
KN
is run by clerics and followers of two South Asian Islamic sects: the
Deobandis and the Barelvis. The Deobandis are a hardline sect from which
the Taliban spawned. According
to research conducted by Ejaz Hussain at the University of
Pennsylvania, although it is estimated only about 20% of Muslims in
Pakistan are Deobandi, an astonishing 90% of terrorist operatives are
from Deobandi backgrounds. The Barelvis, meanwhile, are generally (and
perhaps mistakenly)
considered to be more moderate. They are vehemently opposed to
Deobandis, and a great deal of Pakistani politics revolves around the violent enmity between the two sects.
Despite
these internecine hatreds, however, both the Deobandis and Barelvis put
aside their differences for one cause: inciting violence against
Ahmadis. KN is the product of this unholy alliance.
Across
the world, Ahmadis have been attacked, forced out of their homes and
subjected to oppressive laws targeting them for their beliefs. KN is
behind much of this. In Pakistan, simply to be an Ahmadi is to be guilty
of blasphemy – a crime that, partly because of the continued lobbying
by KN, remains a capital offence. Since the 1950s, in fact, KN has
continuously organized anti-Ahmadi riots and attacks and lodged blasphemy charges against Ahmadi activists. Today, KN distributes leaflets in both Pakistan and Britain advocating that Ahmadis should be killed.
Extremists listen to this invective. In 2010, Deobandi terrorists murdered
over 90 Ahmadis in simultaneous attacks against two Ahmadi mosques in
Pakistan. In 2016, an Ahmadi shopkeeper named Asad Shah was stabbed to
death in the Scottish city of Glasgow. Just hours before he was
murdered, Shah wrote "Happy Easter" on his Facebook account to his
"beloved Christian nation." The murderer, Tanveer Ahmed, belonged to Dawat-e-Islami, an extreme Barelvi group that has endorsed KN. In response to Shah's killing, the British branch of KN applauded the crime and stated: "Congratulations to all Muslims."
This violent international network has found a home in the United States. Other KN mosques include Darul Ifta Khatm-e-Nubuwwat in Queens, NY; Masjid Khatm e Nubuwwat in Brooklyn; and Aalami Majlise Tahafuze Khatme Nubuwwat
in San Gabriel, CA. These are just the ones we know about. There may be
many more. How long will it be before, just as in Scotland, an American
Ahmadi Muslim is murdered for his beliefs?
Journalists, politicians and faith leaders in America are endlessly searching for Muslim partners. Often,
they turn to Islamists who deceptively present themselves as the
leaders of American Muslims, from whom they have no actual mandate.
The
truth is that Islam is incredibly diverse. It comprises many dozens of
competing political groups and religious sects. American Muslims can be
represented by no single group or movement. And just as American Islam
includes extreme movements such as the Deobandis and KN, there are also
moderate and tolerant groups, such as the Ahmadiyya.
In
the fight against Islamist terror and the lawful extremism that
underpins it, America needs Muslim allies. What better way for our
policymakers to promote a moderate Islamic sect and disempower the
extremists than by embracing Ahmadi Muslims? They may be a minority
within American Islam, but they are no less unrepresentative than the
Islamists.
Sam Westrop is the Director of Islamist Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum.
Source: http://www.islamist-watch.org/27810/deobandis-meet-in-virginia-to-incite-violence
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Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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