source:http://thecult.info/blog/
What Problem Did Ahmadiyya Solve?
Posted on February 11, 2012 by Farhan
بسم الله المحد لله و صلاة و سلام على سيدنا محمد و على آله و سلم تسيما
Each break-away group is usually based on a single perceived problem that they attempt to solve. An example is the now defunct group al-Batiniyya. Al-Batiniyya was a 10th century Ismaili movement, who were the dominant Shi’a group for centuries. While they had many arguments, the central problem the Batiniyya wanted to solve was that the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم was no longer with us, and as such, we cannot receive direct guidance from him. Therefore, they believed a living Imam was necessary, who would communicate with Allah and the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم and report back immediate guidance. For the Batiniyya, this was the famous “Hidden Imam”.
One of the qualities of the sectarian mind Imam al-Ghazali detested was that it never followed its arguments to their full logical conclusions. Instead it would always stop at a certain point and refused to analyze any further. Al-Ghazali argued that the very problem the Batiniyya was attempting to solve was only made worse by their solution.
He responded, if the Prophet صلى الله عليه عليه و سلم is dead and therefore not reachable, the Imam is Hidden and also not reachable. Thus, their “Hidden Imam” did not solve the problem. The Batiniyya leaders responded that the scholars know the Hidden Imam’s recorded statements and use them as guidance in their time. This was no different than citing the recorded ahadith of the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم, while the Prophet himself was absent. The solution the Batiniyya presented seemed to make sense, but upon closer inspection, it did not solve their invented problem.
Compare this to Ahmadiyya. Lets put aside specific doctrinal differences for the moment and look at the model Ahmadiyya presents: Islam became corrupt, therefore, Allah sent a new prophet to refresh the religion and guide the Muslims. At firs glance this sems to make sense.
Everyone who is alive today never met Mirza Ghulam, never saw him, never even heard his voice, etc. How then does this alleged prophet help us if he is not even around in our time? What difference is there between the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم and this man, if we never met either? It is as if they are saying the immediate guidance of the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم does not apply to us because we are divorced from him by time and place, therefore, we need someone who we are also divorced from by time and place.
His followers would likely posit that the “khalifahs” are the inheritors of Mirza Ghulam. Therefore, if we follow the their “khalifahs”, we will be guided. This is the solution for the problem in their initial solution (Confusing, eh?). But if we are to follow religious leaders who take from Mirza Ghulam, how is that model different than the Muslim spiritual guides who already inherent from the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم? One group inherits from the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم and the other inherits from someone who claims to inherit from the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم. All that does is add an extraneous layer of complexity.
Do you see the parallel between the Batiniyya and Ahmadiyya? The solution the Batiniyya and Ahmadiyya present do not solve their problem. They both merely create clever arguments for why their specific doctrines are the solutions to non-existent problems.
For our Ahmadi readers, if you are told that Mirza Ghulam came to perform a certain task, follow that statement to its fullest conclusion. Check if he really solved a problem, or just created a clever rhetorical device. This applies to his “divine jama’at” he started, the volumes of unread books he composed, him being the Imam Mahdi, etc. And ask yourself, are these “problems” Ahmadiyya tries to solve really problems that torment the average Muslim, or merely questions they themselves create, for which they conveniently provide the solution?
These are the intellectual tools you need to help deconstruct Ahmadiyya’s alleged purposes. And when you are done, you will be left with a faith that offers no solutions, no purpose and no guidance.
May Allah guide us all to believe in the only Messiah, ‘Esa bin Maryam عليه السلام