Are Ahmadis Not True Muslims? — Page 59
? 59 corresponds exactly with the views of all other religious scholars about those who reject the Im a m Mahd i. We believe that the Im a m Mahd i has been commissioned by God in accordance with the divine prophecies; therefore, rejecting him necessarily amounts to kufr. These ulema, and in particular Maulav i Y u suf Ludhi a na vi , hold the exact same belief. All of them agree that, when the Im a m Mahd i appears, anyone who rejects him will be called a k a fir. The only difference between these ulema and Ahmadis is that, in spite of accepting this logical conclusion, we do not declare such a one to be non-Muslim. The accusations that these maulav i s make against us are absolutely false. It should be noted that in our literature, we always use the terms ‘non-Ahmadi Muslims’ or ‘other Muslims’; and whenever the word ‘non-Ahmadi’ appears, it only refers to other Muslims within the Muslim ummah who do not believe in the Im a m Mahd i. We do not regard anyone who believes in the prophethood of the Holy Prophet Muhammad saw to be outside the pale of Islam, even though he does not believe in Im a m Mahd i. We simply call him a ‘non-Ahmadi Muslim’. This denial falls short of disbelief; it only implies that such a denier is no longer a real and true Muslim, since he has rejected an Im a m sent by God. In spite of this, we accept that every Muslim has a right to declare himself a Muslim. Our belief is that it is a right granted by God and cannot be taken away by anyone. So much so that even if we were to consider the adherent of a certain sect to be non-Muslim, our belief would not mean that we can deprive him of the right to call himself a Muslim. This belief of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is not only reasonable, but is