Every now and then, the opponents of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas, the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi, raise this objection that if Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya is the rightful faith, then why is it that some of its followers abandon the Jamaat and renounce their faith.
The truth is that examples of apostasy are found in the early Islamic era as well. When the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, claimed to be the Messenger of God, fortunate people among the Quraish of Mecca accepted him and converted to Islam. They were beaten day and night and they endured the atrocities of the idolaters, but the brutalities of disbelievers could not compel them to abandon Islam.
Some of the Companionsra migrated from Mecca to Abyssinia. Ubaidullah ibn Jahsh was also among those who migrated from Mecca and settled in Abyssinia to save themselves from the cruelties of Meccan idol worshipers. After a period of peace in Abyssinia, he fell prey to the instigation and conspiracies of the Christian clergy and converted to Christianity. (Allama Nur-ud-Din Halabi, Al-Sirat al-Halabiyyah)
Likewise, in the time of the Holy Prophetsa, Abdullah bin Saad bin Abi Sarah, who was one of the scribes of the Holy Quran, at the time of the revelation of the following verse left Islam:
فَتَبٰرَکَ اللّٰہُ اَحۡسَنُ الۡخٰلِقِیۡنَ
“So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators” (Surah al-Muminun, Ch.23: V.15).
However, Allah the Almighty gave him the opportunity to repent and accepted his repentance and again, he converted to Islam and died in a state of faith. Hence, learning a lesson from these two incidents, we must first pray for ourselves:
رَبَّنَا لَا تُزِغۡ قُلُوۡبَنَا بَعۡدَ اِذۡ ہَدَیۡتَنَا وَ ہَبۡ لَنَا مِنۡ لَّدُنۡکَ رَحۡمَۃً ۚ اِنَّکَ اَنۡتَ الۡوَہَّابُ
“Our Lord, let not our hearts become perverse after Thou hast guided us; and bestow on us mercy from Thyself; surely, Thou alone art the Bestower.” (Surah Al-e-Imran, Ch.3: V.9)
Secondly, we must never despair of the mercy of Allah. We should also pray to God from the depth of our hearts for those who abandon our Jamaat, as He showed mercy to Abdullah bin Saad bin Abi Sarah, that may Allah shower His mercy on them and help them to repent and accept His Messiahas again so that eventually, they pass away in a state of faith.
As far as articles written by those who leave the Jamaat are concerned, they can do no harm to the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam because Allah the Almighty says:
وَ مَنۡ یَّنۡقَلِبۡ عَلٰی عَقِبَیۡہِ فَلَنۡ یَّضُرَّ اللّٰہَ شَیۡئًا
“And he who turns back on his heels shall not harm Allah at all. And Allah will certainly reward the grateful.” (Surah Al-e-Imran, Ch.3: V.145)
Here, the words, “shall not harm Allah” imply that they can do no harm to Allah’s religion. Otherwise, it is physically impossible to benefit, harm, help or hate Allah Almighty. God Almighty gives the following promise to the believers in the Holy Quran:
یٰۤاَیُّہَا الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا مَنۡ یَّرۡتَدَّ مِنۡکُمۡ عَنۡ دِیۡنِہٖ فَسَوۡفَ یَاۡتِی اللّٰہُ بِقَوۡمٍ یُّحِبُّہُمۡ وَ یُحِبُّوۡنَہٗۤ
“O ye who believe! Whoso among you turns back from his religion, then let it be known that in his stead, Allah will soon bring a people whom He will love and who will love Him.” (Surah al-Maidah, Ch.5: V.55)
Hence, we should pray that Allah Almighty continues to fulfill this glad tiding and allow us to witness it with our very own eyes, and in exchange for the handful of apostates, may Allah continue to bless us with a Jamaat of believers who love God. On the other hand, it is by no means reasonable for the apostates to repeat the same worn-out objections of the opponents which have been going on for the last one and a half century.
The most rational thing to do is to ponder over the claim of the Promised Messiahas, which was that the Holy Prophetsa had prophesied the advent of a messiah in the latter days to revive Islam. Apart from Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya, all those sects who believe in this prophecy say that Jesusas of Nazareth is mentioned in it, who is alive in heaven and will come down in the last days and serve Islam.
The Ahmadiyya Jamaat disagrees from other sects in the interpretation of this prophecy and while other sects consider the Messiah of the Israelites to be alive in heaven and await his descent, the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat says that Jesusas of Nazareth is dead and according to the prophecy of the Holy Prophetsa, he appeared as an embodiment of Prophet Jesusas.
Hence, it is appropriate for those who abandon the Jamaat to enlighten the public that this claim of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat’s founder was wrong. They ought to quote verses of the Holy Quran and ahadith to support their belief that Jesusas did not die. The Promised Messiahas states:
“Remember that the death and life of Jesusas is to test the truth and lies uttered between us and our opponents. If Jesusas is really alive, then all our claims are false and all our arguments come to naught. However, if he is in fact dead according to the Holy Quran, then our opponents are mistaken. Now that the Quran is the mediator, ponder over it!” (Tohfah-e-Golarhviyyah, Ruhani Khazain, Vol. 17, p. 264)
Likewise, in Lecture Sialkot, which was published under the title, Islam, the Promised Messiahas said:
“None can come to us but he whom God draws towards us. Indeed, He is drawing many and shall continue to do so and shall break many a barrier. The death of Jesusas is the root of my claim and this root is watered by God’s own Hand and the Prophetsa looks after it.” (Lecture Sialkot, p. 65)
When God Almighty informed the Promised Messiahas in a revelation that Jesusas, son of Mary had passed away and that he had come in accordance with His promise, he went to Delhi to announce this claim and for itmam al-hujjah (to completely clarify the truth) before the general public. There, Maulvi Nazir Hussain Sahib Dehlvi – a great scholar of that time, Imam of the Jamey Masjid of Delhi, also known as Sheikh-ul-Kul – was also present. He had taught the subject of hadith for more than half a century there and at that time, almost all the leading scholars of India were either his students or students of his adherents. Addressing him, the Promised Messiahas said:
“I had also promised that if I was mistaken with respect to this revelation of mine and you proved with clear, reasonable and irrefutable injunctions that Jesusas, son of Mary was physically alive, then the whole world should bear witness that I would give up my claim; I would revert from my word; I would declare my revelation as confused dreams and I would burn my books carrying this subject. Also, I swore by Allah that I would certainly do this if I found any evidence.” (Majmua Ishtiharat, Vol. 1, p. 236)
In another announcement, the Promised Messiahas stated:
“I solemnly declare that if you, Your Hazrat [Excellency], by setting up a debate, refute my arguments that I shall present from the Holy Quran and sahih [authentic] ahadith and submit better arguments about the life of Jesusas, son of Mary and prove with clear, reasonable and irrefutable verses and sahih, marfu [narrations made by a companion attributed specifically to the Holy Prophetsa] and muttasil [continuous chain of narration in which each narrator has heard that narration from the former] ahadith that Jesusas, son of Mary is physically alive, I will repent at your hands. Moreover, I will burn all the books present in my house that I have written on this subject and I will publically announce through newspapers about my repentance and recourse.” (Majmua Ishtiharat, Vol. 1, p. 223)
Referring to the above announcement, the Promised Messiahas said:
“Debate with me about the life and death of Jesusas and if you are incapable of having a discussion, then swear in light of the aforesaid announcement that in your view, the bodily ascension of Jesusas, son of Mary towards heaven is proven by clear, reasonable and irrefutable injunctions of the Holy Quran and hadith. Thereafter, if you remain safe from the effects of this false oath for one year, I will repent at your hands. Moreover, I will burn all the books on this subject. However, Sheikh-ul-Kul Sahib did not approve of either of these methods. Time and again, I repeatedly urged him that he should debate or swear on oath as per the conditions outlined in the announcement so that God Almighty may show a sign for seekers of truth.” (Majmua Ishtiharat, Vol. 1, p. 230)
The Promised Messiahas reiterated:
“Just to be clear, the point of contention that I wish to discuss is simply that the claim that Jesusas, son of Mary was raised to the heavens with his physical body is not valid in my view. In the injunctions of the Holy Quran and hadith, not a single verse that is clear proof and definite evidence or a single hadith, which is sahih, marfu and muttasil, can be found to prove the life of Jesusas.
“On the contrary, the death [of Jesusas] is conclusively proven through various clear verses of the Holy Quran and sahih, marfu and muttasil ahadith.
“Now, I solemnly declare that if Hazrat Syed Maulvi Muhammad Nazir Hussain Sahib proves, with clear and irrefutable verses and sahih, marfu and muttasil ahadith, that Jesusas is physically alive, I will give up my claim of being the second Messiah [who was] promised, and I will repent before Maulvi Sahib. Moreover, I will burn all books on this subject.” (Majmua Ishtiharat, Vol. 1, p. 232)
Hence, the deserters of Islam Ahmadiyyat leave aside the basic claim of the Promised Messiahas and indulge in raising tired, false allegations. They do so because they are unable to find any verse or hadith to refute the claim of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat’s Founder. Their actions clearly testify that the claim of the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmadas was true and in complete accordance with the Holy Quran and hadith.