(RNS) From East to West, this last week has seen some of the most extraordinary examples of unvarnished hypocrisy I have ever witnessed.
In the U.S., the CIA raised concerns that a foreign power may have manipulated the election in a bid to install a right-wing leader. The irony cannot possibly be lost on anyone. The CIA has a long and inglorious history of installing right-wing and pseudo-democratic leaders across the nations of the world. Indeed, a 1953 coup by the CIA deposed Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, as declassified documents attest.
This degree of brazen two-facedness, however, reached unprecedented clarity in the U.K. Boris Johnson, that master of gaffes, accused Saudi Arabia of being “puppeteers” and instigators of “proxy wars” through manipulating religion for political ends. Anyone should know Johnson was speaking the truth, but British Prime Minister Theresa May did not. Or rather, could not. British arms sales to Saudis for their bloodbath in Yemen are a major source of revenue for the government. Blood washes easily off the new five-pound notes, right?
Such hypocrisy however, is not confined to the Western world. The East has shown itself just as two-faced. Earlier this month, Pakistan’s anti-terrorist squad raided the headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
To give some background, Pakistan’s beleaguered Ahmadiyya Muslims are a peaceful community. They believe that their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was the second coming of Jesus and a Messiah for Muslims.
In 1974 this resulted in the declaration by the government of Pakistan that Ahmadis —contrary to their profession — are not Muslim. Specific anti-Ahmadiyya laws enacted in 1984 prevent Ahmadis from preaching their faith “in any manner whatsoever,” or referring to themselves as Muslim by word or deed. If they do, they can be subject to three years of imprisonment and a fine, or, death for blasphemy.
The state-sponsored persecution of Ahmadis means that to obtain a Pakistani passport as a Muslim, one must sign a declaration that the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was a liar. To vote as Muslims, Ahmadis are required to denounce whom they believe to be the Muslim Messiah. Even Pakistan’s first Nobel laureate, Abdus Salam — an Ahmadi Muslim — could not attain respite from persecution even in death, with the term “Muslim” effaced from his gravestone by the authorities.
The Dec. 5 raid was conducted under the allegation that the Ahmadiyya community was publishing hate literature. The allegation was as false as it was hypocritical; the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan has faced decades of hate directed at them, leading even to the murder of an Ahmadi in Glasgow, Scotland.
The hypocrisy — and irony — of raiding the headquarters of a community whose members are regularly gunned down on the trumped-up charge of publishing hate literature, seems to be utterly lost to the Pakistani government.
The effect of such hypocrisy in the East and the West has systemic effects. A week after this action by the government, an Ahmadi mosque in Chakwal was destroyed by a 1,000-strong mob, killing an Ahmadi Muslim in the process. How sad that while Islam teaches Muslims to protect the worship places of Jews, Christians and others, some Muslims cannot even tolerate the mosques of their coreligionists.
Hypocrisy is a quality universally denounced. It is no different in Islam. The opening of the first major chapter of the Quran, Al-Baqara, begins with a description of three classes of people: the believer, the disbeliever, and the hypocrite. These three are not defined how you might expect.
The believer is defined as one open to evidence and willing to follow God’s way through prayer, charity and firm faith in his promises. The disbeliever is described not as a non-Muslim, but as anyone who has made up his mind before seeing the evidence.
When it comes to the hypocrite, however, the Quran has some particularly strong words. “In their hearts was a disease,” states God. And while the disbeliever is assured of God’s displeasure for his closed-mindedness, it is the hypocrite who will be “in the lowest depths of the fire.”
Why? Because, having no regard for truth — the bedrock of justice according to the Quran — they “spread disorder” while claiming to be “promoters of peace.”
From East to West, I cannot think of a more fitting description for the world’s leaders today. My only fear is that in their geopolitical wrangling for resources and power, they will drag us all into the lowest depths of the fire — a nuclear war.
(Tahir Nasser is a physician, an Ahmadi Muslim and a regular contributor and commentator in British media. Find him on Twitter: )
Why Pakistan’s accusations against Ahmadi Muslims are the height of hypocrisy
(RNS) Hypocrisy is a quality universally denounced. It is no different in Islam.
(RNS) From East to West, this last week has seen some of the most extraordinary examples of unvarnished hypocrisy I have ever witnessed.
In the U.S., the CIA raised concerns that a foreign power may have manipulated the election in a bid to install a right-wing leader. The irony cannot possibly be lost on anyone. The CIA has a long and inglorious history of installing right-wing and pseudo-democratic leaders across the nations of the world. Indeed, a 1953 coup by the CIA deposed Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, as declassified documents attest.
This degree of brazen two-facedness, however, reached unprecedented clarity in the U.K. Boris Johnson, that master of gaffes, accused Saudi Arabia of being “puppeteers” and instigators of “proxy wars” through manipulating religion for political ends. Anyone should know Johnson was speaking the truth, but British Prime Minister Theresa May did not. Or rather, could not. British arms sales to Saudis for their bloodbath in Yemen are a major source of revenue for the government. Blood washes easily off the new five-pound notes, right?
Such hypocrisy however, is not confined to the Western world. The East has shown itself just as two-faced. Earlier this month, Pakistan’s anti-terrorist squad raided the headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
To give some background, Pakistan’s beleaguered Ahmadiyya Muslims are a peaceful community. They believe that their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was the second coming of Jesus and a Messiah for Muslims.
In 1974 this resulted in the declaration by the government of Pakistan that Ahmadis —contrary to their profession — are not Muslim. Specific anti-Ahmadiyya laws enacted in 1984 prevent Ahmadis from preaching their faith “in any manner whatsoever,” or referring to themselves as Muslim by word or deed. If they do, they can be subject to three years of imprisonment and a fine, or, death for blasphemy.
The state-sponsored persecution of Ahmadis means that to obtain a Pakistani passport as a Muslim, one must sign a declaration that the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was a liar. To vote as Muslims, Ahmadis are required to denounce whom they believe to be the Muslim Messiah. Even Pakistan’s first Nobel laureate, Abdus Salam — an Ahmadi Muslim — could not attain respite from persecution even in death, with the term “Muslim” effaced from his gravestone by the authorities.
The Dec. 5 raid was conducted under the allegation that the Ahmadiyya community was publishing hate literature. The allegation was as false as it was hypocritical; the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan has faced decades of hate directed at them, leading even to the murder of an Ahmadi in Glasgow, Scotland.
The hypocrisy — and irony — of raiding the headquarters of a community whose members are regularly gunned down on the trumped-up charge of publishing hate literature, seems to be utterly lost to the Pakistani government.
The effect of such hypocrisy in the East and the West has systemic effects. A week after this action by the government, an Ahmadi mosque in Chakwal was destroyed by a 1,000-strong mob, killing an Ahmadi Muslim in the process. How sad that while Islam teaches Muslims to protect the worship places of Jews, Christians and others, some Muslims cannot even tolerate the mosques of their coreligionists.
Hypocrisy is a quality universally denounced. It is no different in Islam. The opening of the first major chapter of the Quran, Al-Baqara, begins with a description of three classes of people: the believer, the disbeliever, and the hypocrite. These three are not defined how you might expect.
The believer is defined as one open to evidence and willing to follow God’s way through prayer, charity and firm faith in his promises. The disbeliever is described not as a non-Muslim, but as anyone who has made up his mind before seeing the evidence.
When it comes to the hypocrite, however, the Quran has some particularly strong words. “In their hearts was a disease,” states God. And while the disbeliever is assured of God’s displeasure for his closed-mindedness, it is the hypocrite who will be “in the lowest depths of the fire.”
Why? Because, having no regard for truth — the bedrock of justice according to the Quran — they “spread disorder” while claiming to be “promoters of peace.”
From East to West, I cannot think of a more fitting description for the world’s leaders today. My only fear is that in their geopolitical wrangling for resources and power, they will drag us all into the lowest depths of the fire — a nuclear war.
(Tahir Nasser is a physician, an Ahmadi Muslim and a regular contributor and commentator in British media. Find him on Twitter: @TahirNasser)
Donate to Support Independent Journalism!