Hayat-e-Saeed

The Decision of the National Assembly of Pakistan — September 7, 1974

An Account of the Proceedings

During the months of May and June in 1974, a prohibition imposed by the Government of Pakistan was in effect, completely blocking the transmission of news about the violent persecution of members of the Ahmadiyya Movement taking place in the country. Nonetheless, news of the unbridled atrocities directly targeting the Ahmadis—the cruelties being inflicted on them and the outright looting and murdering—could not be suppressed from reaching the Ahmadis living abroad. And when those Ahmadis abroad openly protested, questions regarding human rights began to circulate in those countries. In response, and to make a case for vindicating itself, the Government of Pakistan scrambled: It appointed Justice Khawaja Muhammad Ahmad Samdani of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to investigate the violent turmoil that had been given free rein by the Government to be perpetrated inside Pakistan. That exercise—the investigation into the atrocities targeting the Ahmadis—came to be eponymously known as the Samdani Commission. Justice Samdani submitted his findings to the Government by way of a report. That report, however, was kept secret; and the facts about the untrammeled trampling of fundamental human rights on a large scale were never shared with the public.

On the one hand was the Government’s superficial, white-washing exercise to look into the violent persecution—its so-called investigation—and on the other hand were the miscreant elements of society, which were busy as usual with carrying out their unscrupulous  agendas. And it is from their quarters that continuous pressure was being brought to bear on the Government to completely quash the Ahmadiyya issue: At the top of the list of the trouble fomentors’ demands was that the Ahmadiyya community ought to be declared a non-Muslim minority, and that a law needed to be promulgated and passed to prohibit Ahmadis from engaging in Islamic practices. The Government which was then in power clearly wanted to hang onto its power through any means available; it was, therefore, willing to take any steps to get the support of the troublemaking and fear-mongering elements of society, the ones which sought to severely circumscribe the religious freedoms of the Ahmadis. Thus, with the goal of solving this issue—one which he declared as “the 90-years-old issue”—Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto formed a Special Committee that was made up of the members of the National Assembly of Pakistan, and entrusted this task to it. 

That committee set to work and prepared a course of action: It gave directions to the Ahmadiyya Movement, which is the Lahore-based Ahmadiyya branch—aka the Ahmadiyya Movement (Lahore)—and the Rabwah Jamaat, which is the Rabwah-based Ahmadiyya branch, that a deputation each from the two parties (the Ahmadiyya Movement and the Rabwah Jamaat) was to meet face-to-face with the Special Committee at separately designated times and to elaborate their respective position in matters of religious beliefs.

The process, the committee decreed, would be as follows: First, the two parties would make their respective statements. Second, the deputation from each party would be asked questions by the committee. Third, and finally, a deliberation would take place.

In those days, Doctor Saeed Ahmad was residing in Kakul. His entire mental energy, his concern, his prayers, his beseeching Allah for help were focused on the future of the Ahmadiyya Movement. And Allah continued to comfort him through revelations and spiritual visions. On August 12, 1974, after the morning prayer and a walk, he was resting when the following words spontaneously came to his lips, words which included the phrase:

محمد ابن الجلا

ٰIs Allah not sufficient for His servant?

Prior to that, Doctor Saeed Ahmad had received a notification from the Ahmadiyya Movement’s headquarters in Lahore that he had been designated as a member of the eight-person deputation which was to present the position of the Ahmadiyya Movement before the Special Committee. The aforesaid revelation afforded him solace in that, during all conditions, Allah alone is sufficient for His servants. Therefore, he accepted the invitation to be a part of the deputation. The weakness and disarray of his jamaat was a source of worry for him; he also worried about the role he was to play in the future in this connection; and at all times he remained ready to make any kind of sacrifice to that end. On August 24, 1974, following the morning prayer he lay down to rest for a little while. In the initial state of drowsiness, he received the following revelation:

اَنَّهٗ یُحْیِ الْمَوْتٰی وَ اَنَّهٗ عَلٰی كُلِّ شَیْءٍ قَدِیْرٌ

…and He gives life to the dead, and He is Possessor of power over all things (Holy Quran—22:6)

Relying on Allah, Doctor Saeed Ahmad undertook a journey to Islamabad on August 24, 1974. He stayed at the home of Khalid Faruqui, the younger son of Mumtaz Ahmad Faruqui (who was living a retired life, and permanently residing at the home of his son.)

The deputation from the Rabwah Jamaat had been invited by the committee to be the first to present their position, and that entire process had been completed over the span of a few weeks. It was now the turn of the deputation from the Ahmadiyya Movement to meet the Special Committee face-to-face. The third Khalifa of the Rabwah Jamaat—Mirza Nasir Ahmad—had led their deputation. Since a prohibition had been placed on the communication to anyone outside of the proceedings, nothing at all was learned about those proceedings.

Among the individuals designated for the Ahmadiyya Movement deputation—in addition to the President, Maulana Sadr-ud-Din, and the General Secretary, Mirza Masud Baig—were Abdul Mannan Omar, and his helpers (Mirza Abdul Latif and Mirza Saleem Ahmad), Chaudhry Fateh Muhammad Aziz, Abdur Rahman Misri, Doctor Allah Baksh, and Doctor Saeed Ahmad.

With the exception of Doctor Saeed Ahmad, all members of the aforesaid deputation were staying as guests at the home of Farooq A. Shaikh. On the morning of August 25, 1974, Doctor Saeed Ahmad went there to meet the members of the deputation. During the consultations and discussions, he addressed the members with the following words:

Look! Two things are clear and absolute. There should not remain any doubt or conjecture in connection with them: Keep in mind the fact that the Promised Messiah’s claim was not one of prophethood. and the other thing is that anyone’s denial of his righteousness, does not result in that person becoming an unbeliever. These are the two things. Make these your foundation and present them with great steadfastness, and if they try to complicate things and ensnare you with [the trap of] conjectures, avoid falling into their trap—keep this principle foremost in your minds.

Doctor Saeed Ahmad has written the following:

What significance, really, do my words have? However, he said that, indeed, that was their principle as well. That was the whole reason they had come here.

On August 26, 1974, Doctor Saeed Ahmad again went to the house of Farooq A. Shaikh and learned from Mirza Masud Baig that the Special Committee was permitting only five members as part of their deputation. The petition had been made to allow eight members in the deputation, but the request had been turned down. However, they were told that if they wished, the remaining members could be seated in the antechamber, and that they could be consulted if the need was warranted.

So the matter of selecting five individuals out of the eight came under consideration. At that time, also present (in addition to the originally chosen eight members) were Arjumand Sadiq, Colonel Abdul Latif, and Muhammad Anwar. The suggestion came from those gathered that the President, the General Secretary, Abdul Mannan Omar (along with one of his helpers), and Doctor Saeed Ahmad should appear before the Special Committee as the members of the deputation. However, Abdul Mannan Omar said that, either he—along with both his helpers—would go, or none of them would go at all. In other words, he would not go without them: Evidently, he had come prepared with a strategy and a plan. As a result, no room was left to include Doctor Saeed Ahmad in the deputation. All the same, a final decision had not been made in that regard when he returned to Farooqui’s home, where he was staying. But before leaving, he had said this much:

I have come here for this explicit purpose. Now I will leave. But if the decision is made that I am to appear in the National Assembly before the Special Committee, then please inform me via telephone at Farooqui’s home: I will be ready early in the morning, but if the decision entails that I am not to go, then I will remain engaged in beseeching Allah. And I will have no objection to whatever the outcome happens to be regarding my inclusion.

August 27, 1974 was the first day of the proceedings for the deputation from the Ahmadiyya Movement. Prior to leaving for the proceedings, the general secretary informed Doctor Saeed Ahmad over the telephone that Abdul Mannan Omar had remained insistent that both of his helpers would accompany him. As a result, the president, the general secretary and those three individuals—Abdul Mannan Omar and his two associates—would comprise the deputation that was about to appear before the Special Committee. On hearing this, Doctor Saeed Ahmad said: “I will stay right here, and remain engaged in praying.” The General Secretary commented: “Abdur Rahman Misri and Doctor Allah Baksh had the same response as yours.”

Prior to this, on July 20, 1974, a five-member deputation in the leadership of the president had appeared, and Mirza Masud Baig had read out a statement regarding the beliefs of the Ahmadiyya Movement. That statement had been written by Nasir Farooqui and was exceptionally clear and comprehensive. It is surmised that, having listened to that statement, the opinion of the majority of the members of the Special Committee was that the members of the Ahmadiyya Movement could not be declared non-Muslim in any way whatsoever.

During the last several days of August 1974—the 27th, 28th, and the 29th—during the times of the proceedings of the Special Committee of the National Assembly, Mumtaz Ahmad Faruqui and Doctor Saeed Ahmad together diligently continue to offer voluntary prayers, and remain engaged in beseeching Allah for assistance. Doctor Saeed Ahmad firmly believed that the deprivation of the Ahmadiyya Movement would clearly articulate its position so as to leave no doubt or conjecture about the beliefs of the organization. But after the afternoon on August 29, 1974, when the proceedings of the committee had concluded, and when some individuals came to meet Doctor Saeed Ahmad to bring him up to date on the proceedings, they brought the news that the Ahmadiyya Movement deputation had been unable to present their position with clarity and absoluteness: In particular, the matters of the differences between the Ahmadiyya Movement and the Rabwah Jamaat. And the aspects related to who was a true Muslim, and who was not.

Mirza Masud Baig said regarding the proceedings of the Special Committee that, following the oath-taking, the President had stated that his hearing was not that good, and therefore he would be represented by Abdul Mannan Omar. In representing the President, he debated with excellence, but gave doubtful and unsatisfactory answers about the differences between the Ahmadiyya Movement and the Rabwah Jamaat. And in answering the committee’s specific question—Does an Ahmadi consider other Muslims as Muslims?—Abdul replied that a non-Ahmadi Muslim would be considered a Muslim but not a true Muslim.

At that juncture, Mirza Masud Baig sought permission to speak, and which he got: He then completely clarified the two matters, which were duly noted down. Nonetheless, the outcome at that point did not appear particularly encouraging for the Ahmadiyya Movement.

As such, it was pointless for Doctor Saeed Ahmad to prolong his stay in Islamabad. Therefore, on the morning of August 30, 1974—with a somber heart, one weighed down by an oppressive outcome on the horizon—he, along with his wife (the mother of Saeed, and who was accompanying him on the journey) bid farewell to Khalid Faruqui and his wife, Shaukat Faruqui, for their gracious hosting, their magnanimous hospitality: With those fond memories, and having thanked them from the depth of his heart, he returned to the Pakistan Military Academy, where he was residing at that time.

Now Doctor Saeed Ahmad awaited the decision from the National Assembly, and his routine—by day, and by night—was to pray for the continued life and sanctity of the Ahmadiyya Movement. Here, it would be appropriate to mention some of the revelations and spiritual visions that he received during those days, noting, though, that it is Allah the Most High, Who Alone is aware of the Unseen, Who knows the fulfillment and reality of those revelations and spiritual visions, and nobody else; Allah Alone has power over all things, knowing when, where, and in what form their fulfillment will unfold.

With that preamble in mind, let’s proceed to Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s noting the following revelation which he received on September 6, 1974:

[1] Rome was retaken.
He interpreted this revelation by way of pointing out the grandness and powerful life of his Ahmadiyya Movement, following a period of powerlessness and destitution.

[2] اِنَّ شَرَّ الدَّوَآبِّ عِنْدَ اللّٰهِ الَّذِیْنَ لَا یُصْلِحُوْنَ

Worse than animals—in the sight of Allah—are those who do not reform themselves.

This [revelation] appeared to be related to the supporters of the vehement maelstrom of opposition that was raging against the Ahmadis at that time—Allah Alone knows best.

[3] On September 6, 1974, during some part of the day, I was shown in a dream a small scrap of thick paper, one on which was written simply a single written line with an elegant shape. The scrap of paper—and the written line—were remarkably beautiful. And a little above them appeared in beautiful calligraphy the following phrase in Arabic:

اِنَّا لِلّٰهِ وَ اِنَّاۤ اِلَیْهِ رٰجِعُوْنَ

We belong to Allah and to Allah is our return.

[4] On September 7, 1974, early in the morning—sometime before dawn, and when I was awake—the following words of Arabic phrase spontaneously came to be uttered by my lips:

اِنَّا لِلّٰهِ وَ اِنَّاۤ اِلَیْهِ رٰجِعُوْنَ

We belong to Allah and to Allah is our return.

That same evening, and by way of news which was broadcast at 6:30 PM in the Pashto language, I learned that the National Assembly [of Pakistan] had declared Ahmadis as unbelievers and a non-Muslim minority. 

اِنَّا لِلّٰهِ وَ اِنَّاۤ اِلَیْهِ رٰجِعُوْنَ

We belong to Allah and to Allah is our return.

Following the conclusion of the proceedings of the Special Committee of the National Assembly of Pakistan, and in accordance with the custom of Pakistan, the following amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan was made in 1974:

A person who does not believe in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him) the last of the Prophets, or claims to be a prophet in any sense of the word or of any description whatsoever, after Muhammad (peace be upon him) or recognises [British spellings, as they appear in the Constitution of Pakistan itself] such a claimant as a Prophet or religious reformer is not a Muslim for the purpose of Constitution or law.

And through this amendment to the Pakistani constitution, members of the Ahmadiyya Movement and the Rabwah Jamaat were declared to be non-Muslims—and relegated to the ranks of other religious minorities in Pakistan such as Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, and Parsees.

Those who deemed themselves as the enlightened ones—the very individuals who had demonstrated their narrow vision—were, alas, unable to see just how meaningless their prejudiced decision was whereby they had declared as non-Muslims the hundreds of thousands who professed the kalimah. The impact that their decision had on the Ahmadiyya Movement stands for itself; Allah the Most High knows best. And Allah also knows who truly believes in the finality of prophethood, and who denies it. All the same, the Ahmadiyya Movement has never lost hope in the mercy of Allah, and it never will.

Following the announcement that the Ahmadis had been declared a religious minority, the traditional Pakistani sweet rice was cooked in large containers on a widespread scale and distributed among the masses. Sweets and confectionery were passed around, and celebrations took place. A week of national gratitude was observed to commemorate that the land of Pakistan (the word “Pakistan” translates literally into “land of the pure”) had been cleansed of the impurity of “unbelief.” That this land, the self proclaimed “land of the pure”—Pakistan—would from now on remain beautiful forever; that canals of milk and honey would now flow throughout its length and breadth.

In connection with the proceedings of the Special Committee of the National Assembly, its decision, and the statements made on behalf of the Ahmadiyya Movement, Doctor Saeed Ahmad expressed his opinion in writing as follows:

The statements made on behalf of our Ahmadiyya Movement—whosoever that individual was and under whatsoever circumstances he made those statements—portrayed our position with neither clarity nor absoluteness. Because of that, and because of those statements, the viewpoint of the National Assembly regarding us [i.e. the Ahmadiyya Movement] changed. To my mind, given the circumstances prevailing in the country at the time, no matter what turn things had taken—had we been given the most generous amount of time to explain our beliefs and our position; had the real facts emerged during the questioning and answering sessions so as to accurately portray reality; had an unlimited number of arguments and facts been presented from our quarters; and had even the utmost and humanly possible efforts been made to convince the Special Committee of the National Assembly of Pakistan—the outcome would have been the same. That is to say, the Rabwah Jamaat and the Ahmadiyya Movement would both have still been declared as non-Muslim communities: Had any decision been issued by the committee which would be lesser in severity than the one they had indeed issued, it simply would not have placated the mullahs and the maulvis.

According to reliable sources, the Pakistan People’s Party (aka PPP) earlier on had prepared a document to the effect that the members of our Ahmadiyya Movement would not be declared as non-Muslim: Our organization was going to be exempted from being branded as a non-Muslim entity. But the back-and-forth arguments between the committee and our deputation—and the review thereof by the committee beside—completely changed the complexion and thrust of the aforementioned document.

Moreover, the mufti had made a statement earlier in a public gathering to the effect that if the Ahmadiyya Movement got exempted from the branding of unbelief, they would renew their opposition. So Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto said that if that was going to be the case, then his Government was not prepared to take on further headaches: He asked his advisers to give him a figure on the number of members belonging to the Ahmadiyya Movement. He was told that the number was not more than a few thousand. Therefore, given the small number as well as the intense pressure on him, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto proceeded to declare the Ahmadiyya Movement, too, as a non-Muslim religious minority.

The Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan at that time made a statement that with regard to their faith, the Rabwah Jamaat members were merely non-Muslims; that with regard to their faith, however, the Ahmadiyya Movement members were hypocrites; and, the Speaker further opined, hypocrites are worse than unbelievers. Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s son Abdul Hayee Saeed happened to be a close friend of Pakistan’s Attorney General at that time: Yahya Bakhtiar. In those days, Yahya Bakhtiar told Abdul Hayee Saeed that the Ahmadiyya Movement had failed to present their true position to the National Assembly’s Special Committee: It appeared as if an anti-Ahmadiyya Movement pawn had been planted into their deputation, one who had effectively undermined their position by carrying out the work of the fifth column. (A “fifth column” is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation.)

The Decision on September 7, 1974, and Doctor Saeed Ahmad Saeed Ahmad’s Course of Action

The following is an excerpt from Doctor Saeed Ahmad’s own writings:

There was no change to our course of action in light of the decision against the Ahmadiyya Movement at the governmental level—the one that was announced on September 7, 1974—because there was nothing new or novel about it. We Ahmadis have in the past been the target of countless instances of being branded as unbelievers: Hazrat Mirza Sahib, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, had himself not expressed any strong course of action in response. On the contrary, in addition to his works of prose, he had in his verses of rhyme referred to similar instances of being expressly made the target of the public’s opprobrium. For example, he once intoned:

تم ہمیں دیتے ہو کافر کا خطاب         کیوں نہیں لوگو تمہیں خوفِ عِقاب

You brand us as unbelievers;

Why is it that you do not fear Divine retribution?

بعد از خدا بعشقِ محمد مخمرم             گر کفر ایں بود بخدا سخت کافرم

After the love of God, I am steeped in the love of Prophet Muhammad;

If this be unbelief, then I am an inveterate unbeliever.

Because the issuance of this type of verdict is an oft-practiced pastime of mullahs, there is none—be it an organization, colloquium, segment of society, or individual—that has been spared the fate of getting branded with unbelief. The aforementioned outcome, therefore, was not out of the ordinary for us. As such, we took it in stride. Moreover, we viewed the state of the nation with pity, and felt pangs of mercy in light of how the masses in Pakistan had fallen into the trap [set by mullahs and maulvis preying on their religious ignorance], and the prayer arose from one’s heart: O God, open the hearts of these people; enlighten their minds with understanding; and dispel their malice and rancor so they may become fit for realizing and embracing the truth. Moreover, the aforementioned pronouncement—the one which had relegated us Ahmadis to the ranks of the religious minority in Pakistan—did not create startle or worry among our community. Our hearts were free of grief and sadness. In fact, following the Prime Minister of Pakistan’s declaration of the Ahmadis as unbelievers and a non-Muslim, religious minority, Colonel Hafeez (along with his family) came to visit us as a show of their support and expressed his sympathy. On finding us unexpectedly at peace and ease, he was amazed: Evidently, he had been fully expecting us to be wallowing in grief and sorrow; instead, he found us sitting with ease of heart and peace of mind.

The State of my Heart

Doctor Saeed Ahmad writes:

As for the display of unfaithfulness and lack of recognition, which I had seen with my own eyes during this tribulation, it does not need any further elaboration: Life‘s severest trial came in the form of people’s lack of recognition and sympathy.

My medical clinic in Abbottabad, including all of its medical installations, the upper story of the house, my car, and various other furnishings were all burned down and took on the form of ruins. I was not saddened by all that because it is my belief that every house is built to eventually end in a state of degradation; every human is born to end in a state of death. And I believed—as I do now—that I am on the right path. All those unlawful actions which had targeted me were motivated simply because I have firmly held on to the cloth of one who is spiritually elevated in the eyes of Allah; one who is just; and one who is righteous. Allah is trying me. Therefore, if this be my trial, then all praise to Allah. I am not distressed or aggrieved in the least. This pain is no pain for me. But if this be the smiting by Divine wrath, then O Allah! Have mercy on me; forgive me my shortcomings; overlook my deviations and my shortcomings; pardon my mistakes; pardon my sins; and take me in Your protection.

So in those terrifying and dangerous circumstances which were imperiling our lives, more powerful and pronounced than the state of startle and worry were the strange feelings of peace and satisfaction that had been afforded to me. The Divine awards—ones unto which the doors were opened for me—became evident in the events which unfolded later. I was delivered from worldly entanglements; I was freed from the daily duties of earning a living; and the allures of worldly matters and their attractions became foreign and cold. Now He himself gives to me, and gives to me without constraint. Time is now afforded to me—in copious amounts—to work in His way. And in that alone do I now find satisfaction and pleasure; in that alone do I now find peace. Neither do I find myself fearful or saddened by the past nor am I anxious about the future. If there be any need that I now have, then that is exclusively the mercy of Allah the Most High, His forgiveness, and His blessings. I am needy at the threshold of His Divine Court, and needy there alone.

Now it may appear that we are friendless, without any means or wherewithal, finding ourselves in a situation where every single plan and strategy of the Government—and indeed of the entire country—is targeting us. We have been deprived of our rights to identify as Muslims, and of our rights to be known as Muslims. There is prohibition on us to be called Muslims, and on our calling ourselves Muslims. We have been barred from saying the kalimah. We have been constrained from performing the azan (i.e. the call to prayer.) An ordinance has been passed by the Government, one which has brought to an end our mosques from bearing any resemblance to a traditional mosque: Punishments have been designated for the violation of that ordinance. The large scale armament geared to induce fear and harassment [in our community] has been stacked against us Ahmadis. All possible schemes are hatched to inflict loss of life and property on us. Even in the face of these circumstances, however, we have not wavered or become fearful: All kingdoms and all governments are subservient to the God at whose threshold we beseech—like beggars—His Mercy and His Grace. He is the King of kings, and in His kingdom reigns justice, fairness, and munificence. Therein are reconciliation, awards, pardoning, mercy, and grace. And we are the ones who beseech that King; that may He have mercy on us; and that may He open the doors of guidance and the awareness of the righteousness upon our brothers whereby they are able to identify what is just and what is not so they may distance themselves from malice and from rancor. O Allah! Open their eyes, and make them understand.

اَلْمُلْکُ یَبْقٰی مَعَ الْکُفْرِ وَلَا یَبْقٰی مَعَ الظُّلْمِ

A country can remain standing in the face of unbelief and sins, but not in the face of tyranny.

A Writing by Doctor Saeed Ahmad Saeed Ahmad, Entitled A Bitter Reality

Doctor Saeed Ahmad writes:

My property had sustained damage during the tragic crisis of 1974. The clinic and the building had been arsoned, resulting in heavy financial loss for me. Whatever happened, though, happened according to the wisdom and Will of Allah the Most High. I was not aggrieved or resentful about the loss. Moreover, I find it distasteful to make mention of that loss. And seeking recompense or assistance in that connection goes against my temperament. But I am elaborating on that loss and attempted recompense thereof in the coming pages, the purpose of which is not at all to elicit sorrow or sympathy from readers. Rather, the goal is to make the reader aware of the bitter reality that—in the attempt to kill off the Ahmadiyya communities during the campaign of violence which had raged in 1974—it was not only the people at large who had participated in that campaign: The Government in power was squarely behind that campaign of violence and giving it its full backing. And the nationwide opposition within Pakistan—the fire of opposition that was raging throughout the nation—had the full acknowledgement as well as assistance at all levels of the Government. Both classes of the country—the general population and the Government—were bent upon inflicting harm on the Ahmadiyya communities in every way, targeting our property as well as our lives. In other words, they were the enemies of our lives and all that we owned. Readers are requested to peruse the following pages to gain an awareness of this reality. And Allah knows that which is in the hearts.

It was at the instigation of a certain other individual that I submitted a request in the relevant governmental office to seek recompense for the loss of my property. Requests were sent to the Deputy Commissioner, to the Chief Minister of the Frontier Province, to the Governor of the Frontier Province, and even to the Prime Minister himself. In those requests, I had listed in detail and inventory of all the damages done to my property. Those requests are attached here. On one occasion, the staff of the deputy commissioner of Hazara estimated an amount of six lakhs rupees as the compensation amount, providing this estimate as a token of their governmental processing. The report was then submitted to superior officials. On completing the process of my case, the deputy commissioner sent it onward to the Commissioner of the Peshawar division to secure the funds. The deputy commissioner then notified me of the same.

There was progress on my case at the local level—at the deputy commissioner and commissioner level—but somehow the case would end up getting lost at higher levels. From there onward, no kind of consideration would be given; no response was forthcoming either. Eventually, I expunged the entire matter from my mind. After a while, I completely forgot about it. And to this day, no governmental action has taken place.

After the Bhutto regime came the Government led by Zia [Pakistan’s Army Chief, General Zia-ul-Haq.] My son, Abdulla Saeed, was visiting Pakistan in connection with an official. In those days, I was living in Abbottabad. At the invitation of Muhammad Riaz Khan from Bhugarmang, the Governor of the Frontier Province came on an official tour, following which the Governor came to my home to pay a visit. He was a former colleague of Abdulla and his sincere friend. On account of his close friendship with Abdulla, he was used to addressing me as Janji—that being how members of my household address me. At any rate, the Governor stayed with us for a little while. Before departing, he invited us to come and stay at the Governor’s house in Nathiagali on a designated date. He insisted that I accompany Abdulla on that visit.

We took him up on his invitation: On the designated date, we went to Nathiagali. We stayed at the Governor’s house. I will add here that, just prior to our departure from Abbottabad, Abdulla had asked me to bring along with us the paperwork related to the request for getting compensated for the damage to my property. He said that we would make mention of it to the Governor. At first, I hesitated, and sought to avoid doing so: Abdulla was persistent, and insisted that we ought to bring those paperwork along with us. So I complied.

An occasion came up during our stay in Nathiagali for broaching the subject of compensation. I told the Governor about the loss to my property, and how, at different times, I had submitted requests for the compensation; that I had never received any response; that I had estimated the loss at five lakhs rupees, whereas the Government staff had put that estimate at six lakhs rupees; and that he wouldn’t know how the loss had taken place as part of the anti-Ahmadiyya movement. I added, however, that I was reconciled to what had happened, and I have no motivation [for a monetary compensation] in this regard; and neither did I plan on exerting any further effort in this connection. However, [I do wish to mention] one loss that we had suffered, and which is as follows: In my ancestral village (Debgaran) are present the landmarks of my ancestors. Our ancestral graveyards are located there. And an especially valuable heirloom [ancestors] is the mosque on whose floors our elders have prostrated their foreheads—in profusion—in the remembrance of Allah. As such, this mosque is a historical, sacred, and honorable place. And we find ourselves spontaneously drawn in that direction; we gravitate toward it; and our hearts yearn to bow down in prostration on the same location where our elders had done the same. Alas, we are unable to enter our mosque in any way: It is adjoined to the mosque of the opponents, and they have grabbed control of our mosque by demolishing the wall between our mosque and theirs, effectively making our mosque a part of theirs, and this is a source of great pain for us. We refrain from going to a court of law to resolve this issue: The residents of our village are even tempered and levelheaded. They listen to reason and are not troublemakers. If you wisely direct your influence and put pressure on our opponents, that they respect the preexisting boundary between their mosque and ours, it is eminently possible that our mosque—the place where our elders had bowed down and prostrated many a time—will come back into our custody again.

Having listened to my entire narrative, the Governor gave the matter some thought, and said that tackling this problem would be a bit difficult. But he would be able to be of service to me in helping secure compensation for the losses to my property. I replied that he should not trouble himself in the matter. However, he insisted that compensation should be sought.

It was the month of Ramadan. The Governor invited Abdulla Saeed to Peshawar and insisted that I should accompany him. So we went to Peshawar and stayed in the Governor’s House for two or three days. On the second day of our stay, when the Governor returned from his office after completing his duties for the day, he had in his hand some type-written paperwork. He asked me to sign it. When I read the paperwork, I saw that it was a request from the Governor—in my name—to the effect that the stated compensation amount should be provided to me to make up for the loss to my property. Following some back-and-forth in my mind—having mulled over it—I signed the paperwork. After issuing the necessary orders, the Governor forwarded the request to the Chief Secretary for further processing and action. But the very next day, the Governor’s request was returned to him, along with an objection note from the Chief Secretary: That note was to the effect that securing funds to compensate for damages caused as part of the anti-Ahmadiyya riots was against the orders of the central Government.

So this was the detailed explanation of the bitter reality with which I have troubled my honorable readers, having made them wade through copious details. The goal was to make it clear that, starting from the masses of Pakistan—and all the way up through the Government at every echelon—everyone was bent upon killing off the Ahmadiyya communities through their combined oppositional forces. In their seeking to leave us friendless, to leave us bereft of helpers, to ensure that we don’t get compensated in any way for the losses and damages we had suffered—and their caring only about pushing their own agendas—they found themselves compelled in that process to take up every type of un-Islamic action.

The Governor was evidently disappointed by this governmental action, and felt a sense of shame as well: He had been rebuked. And he wished to satisfy his desire to be of service to me; he was involuntarily feeling compelled to do so. On a later occasion, and through the agency of one of my relatives, he conveyed to me another approach for seeking compensation for the losses to my property. I asked my relative [who had conveyed to me the Governor’s new approach for seeking compensation] to forget the matter. And with the passage of time, the Governor, too, forgot about the matter, whereas I had forgotten about it a long time ago.