Luncheon talk by Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmed in Beverely Hills

It was a pleasure to attend the peace lunch in Beverly Hills California on Saturday, May 11, 2013.  Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the Khalifa of Ahmadiyya Muslim community delivered a perfect message to an audience of about 300, included were Lt. Governor, Controller, Several Police Chiefs, City Council Members, Judges, congresspersons, and several interfaithers and dignitaries from around the country.  His message was clear - Islam teaches building a peaceful world through justice, and that there must be a separation of state and Mosque. A percentage of Muslims do wrong things, but that they do it on their own and not authorized by Islam, Qur'an or Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). 

I believe in one God, one Ummah, and one World for doing collective good for one humanity, and I do my best to match my talk with my acts. Hence, I go to every mosque of every Muslim denomination and take turns to attend Juma prayers in different mosques. I exclude none; the world is one under one Rabbul Aalameen by the grace of Rahmatul Aalameen.

During the lunch, I was honored to have a small conversation with the Khalifa, he is a graceful man, and I also got to pray Maghrib and Isha on Friday Night under his Imamat in Chino Hills California Mosque. 

 I see Ahmadiyya as a reformed movement in Islam. Of course, there is a respectful disagreement over the role of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the movement as the Promised Messiah.

Other than this major singular difference, I have found no difference between the Sunni and Ahmadiyya practices in terms of Shahadah, Salat, Fasting, Zakat and Hajj – with the same words and same priorities. I clarified the silent part of the prayer – in the Tashahhud position; they recite word for word what the Sunnis recite; Attahiyat, the two Daroods and the Duwa.  God advises us not to prejudge others, or let our bias make us unjust towards others. 

If you also talk and dream of one Ummah, please do your own researches, visit their mosque, and listen to them.  By the way no one has ever made an attempt to sell me their version of the religion and my faith in Qur’an, Prophet, Islam and Allah is perhaps stronger than even some of the Imams, I have nothing to gain and no one to please but do the right thing. If we can learn to respect the otherness of others and accept our uniqueness, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge. Alhamdu Lillah, I free from bias towards any one of Allah’s creation, let alone fellow Muslims.

Insha Allah, I will write a few more details as an article in a few weeks.

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam,Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building aCohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day atwww.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes his work through many links.

Bias against Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad; is he a Khalifa, Pope or what?

Bias against Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad; is he a Khalifa, Pope or what?

As an individual, my intention is to stand up for every one's right, every one's right to be who he or she wants to be,  and as an individual, I  stand against those who want to deny and oppress those basic humans rights to any one, yes anyone, and that makes me a stronger Muslim.   

I call on you to think critically by dropping your bias against Ahmadiyya Muslims. I am writing this particular note, and hope you will take the time to understand the depth of it.

Didn't the Prophet say something to this effect, that if you are un-just to a Jew or a Christian, he will stand up for him against you on the Day of Judgment? Did he not say that? Isn’t he the Rahmatul Aalameen?

Western World is familiar with Dalai Lama for over 40 years now, his case has been made by major movie stars, and he has been invited all over the world. He is Dalai Lama. The western media is scrambling to find a title for the Ahmadiyya Khalifa; POPE is a description that they understand to describe the head of a religious institution, hence they have called Hazrat Mirza Masroor the POPE. You may consider writing to Wall Street journal and offer them the alternatives.

 In contrast Ahmadiyya Muslim Khalifa Mirza Masroor Ahmed is relatively unknown in the western world. He can legitimately make the case in the western world about the denial of voting rights to the Ahmadiyya in Pakistan, the humiliation they have to undergo to apply for the passport or visa and violation of basic human rights to have their name as a Muslim on their graves. If he does, he will eventually be known as the Khalifa - with whatever prefixes or suffixes suits his community. 

Just as Martin Luther King Jr., freed the American people from the eternal burden of prejudice, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad can free the people of Pakistan from drowning in the cess pool of prejudice. What is shameful is a majority of Pakistanis are free people without prejudices and bias, but held hostage by a few, and someone needs to speak up for them. A majority of Republicans are great people, but a few are giving us an ugly name, and we need to speak up. A majority of Muslims are great people, a few of them give us the bad name, and we need to speak up. 

Alhamdu Lillah, I am doing my personal share of speaking up as a Republican as well as a Muslim. If ten of us in each city can muster the courage to write and speak in every major city in the world, people will switch gears toward where the wind seems to be blowing. The right wing Christians, Muslims, Jews and Hindus effectively practice this technique.  I have experimented in Dallas Morning News and Washington post and a few forums – if three ugly comments are made, experiment overwhelming them with six people writing goodness notes – they will shut up and run. Guaranteed!

You may want to consider listening to the Message of Hazrat Masroor Ahmed in Los Angeles. You will appreciate him. When the media is hitting negative images of Islam, he is giving a positive image of Islam. We should be thanking him and not criticizing him.  Indeed, the three hundred plus men and women who attended the event walked away thinking positively about Islam. I appreciate and thank Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad for the same.

Recently, I received an email with picture and audio clips, where a man and a woman comments on each one of the statements by the Hazrat in Southern California. I could not find the link although I spent time searching for it. As a Muslim when we see something wrong, it is our duty to spend the time to share the right information, it is up to the recipient to receive the message. To me, my time is worth doing and talking what is right, even if one person gets it. Here is an alternate link. http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2013/05/ahmadiyyat-true-islam/head-of-ahmadiyya-muslim-community-delivers-historic-address-in-southern-california . If I find the right one, I will plug it in here.

Shame on our bias, if Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad was a Jew, Hindu or a Christian saying the exact same words, word for word, we will be so excited and start sharing the link with everyone we know with a note, “see this Jewish man speaks the truth about Islam, or see this Hindu woman speaks the truth about Islam”... what is wrong with us in appreciating a fellow Muslim saying the same thing. 


As a Muslim I cannot conclusively say, my method of praying, or admiring the prophet is the right way, there are at least 10 different ways even among Sunnis and Shias. Homogeneity can reasonably be expected among smaller branches of Islam, like Ahmadiyya, Ismaili, Bohra, Wahhabi or WD Muhammad denominations. Let’s be respectful of each other; it restores sanity within. Hate and bias eats our psyche, whereas repentance, forgiveness and acceptance make us a healthy human.

.......

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace,Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity showon Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly atHuffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes his work through many links.