I wish to address Liam Egan’s recent letter (15 December 2011), in which he stated that the Ahmadiyya Muslim community was not Muslim, and that any reference to them being Muslim is hurtful to the sentiments of the broader Muslim community in Ireland and elsewhere.
I would like to state that the only difference between us Ahmadi Muslims and our Sunni brothers (although we are also Sunni) is that we believe that the Imam Mahdi and Messiah of the latter days has already come, while other Muslims are still awaiting his advent.
We believe that that very person that the world has been waiting for is Hadhret Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani, the founder of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim community which continues to grow and prosper through his successors, or Khalifas.
As an Ahmadi Muslim, I would like to pose the question to Mr Egan: does he consider our Shia brothers to be Muslim, or for that matter also those of the Sufi interpretation? It can be said that they have certain doctrinal beliefs that differ from mainstream Sunni Islam. In fact there are many in the Ummah who consider Wahabis/Salafis to hold deviant beliefs also, so may we say that they are also non-Muslim? Whose criteria should we apply? Should it be the Shia? Salafi? Sufi? Al Qurani? Deobond, Beralvi, Aly Hadit? I could go on.
Surely the best criterion is that of the Seal of the Prophets, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW). He was asked the very pertinent question, ‘Who’s Islam is best?’ He replied: ‘That followed by one who avoids harming other Muslims with his hands or tongue’ (Abu Musa – Sahi Bukhari). I think that we can leave it at that.
Yusuf Christopher Pender
Address with editor
