Source/Credit: Neighbor Newspapers
By Allisin Khan | February 12, 2011
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Georgia is in mourning this week, due to the murder of three members of the community in Indonesia. On February 6th, a mob of 700 to 1000 [1000 to 1500, JP news]attacked a home, dragged out the Ahmadis and butchered them in front of a cheering crowd. The onlookers applauded. The police stood by and watched.
It turned out that one of the men had been married for eight years. His wife finally conceived a child. When he was about to leave home, she asked him not to go. She said “Who will protect me? I am five months pregnant.” He left to protect his mosque. It was his turn to take his duty protecting their mosque.
When the jeering mob arrived, the Ahmadis did not leave their mosque, so the attackers dragged them outside. They attacked the three men with machetes, they hung him upside down. After he had died, they continued to disfigure the body. Afterwards, the news refused to display any photos because the pictures were too gruesome. They had never seen anything so grisly.
Horrified, I asked my husband, former head of the Ahmadi-Muslim Community in Georgia, to tell me which sect of Muslims could commit such a crime?
“All seventy two sects have agreed to attack the Ahmadi-Muslims, so it doesn’t matter which sect perpetrated the actual crime.”
Christians might well wonder at such violence. The caliph pointed out in his Friday sermon that the other seventy two sects are behaving like the non-Muslims in the time of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him.
The Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat said:
Whenever such attacks occur the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat both in Indonesia and worldwide always displays patience and seeks solace not in revenge or violence but through prayers to God Almighty and this will always remain the case. It is however certain that those who have inflicted these cruelties will be answerable to God Almighty and will have to face His punishment. In the meantime the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat will continue to bow down in front of the One God and seek His Protection and Help.”
On February 7th, Amnesty International comdemned the attack:
"This brutal attack on Ahmadiyya followers reflects the continued failure of the Indonesian government to protect religious minorities from harassment and attacks and to hold the perpetrators accountable," said Donna Guest, Asia-Pacific Deputy Director at Amnesty International.
What appalls me is that I don’t understand how anyone who calls themselves a Muslim can object to Ahmadis for believing in the peaceful teachings of the Promised Messiah.
The Promised Messiah came to elevate the people. One day, some young men came to the Promised Messiah and offered to carry his coach in Qadian, India. He refused this request, because he said his purpose was elevate man to his rightful position as the top of the chain—man is the purpose of the whole of creation. Consequently, he could not allow the young men to behave like animals and carry him.
The Promised Messiah required his followers to reform themselves, through prayer. He taught that there was no jihad left except for the jihad of the pen. Ahmadi-Muslims follow this tradition by setting up a website called Muslins For Peace, holding interfaith talks wherever Ahmadis gather and help the poor with the donations they collect from the zakat fund.
Only my prayers can satisfy the anguish in my heart when something like this happens. Only God can right such wrongs. My prayers are with the dead and with their families. Indonesia may seem far away, but to me, it feels as if my brother died. Ina lilahey wa innee layhey rajeoon. (From God they came and to God they return.)
Anmesty International requests that:
The government [of Indonesia] must repeal all laws and regulations that restrict the right to freedom of religion as guaranteed in Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and initiate an independent and impartial inquiry into all cases of intimidation and violence against religious minorities.
Let's hope they are heard.
Read original post here: Ahmadi-Muslims Mourn Brothers in Islam
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