After reciting the Tashahhud, the Ta’uz and the first chapter of Al Fatiha Imam Zafrullah Domun read the following verses of the Holy Quran:

Wa man azlamon mim mam mana’a masaajedallahé an yuzkara fihasmohou wa sa’a fi kharaabeha Oulaaeka maa kaana lahoum an yadkholouha illa khaefeen’ lahoum fiddunya khizyoune wa lahoum fil aakherate azaboune azim.(2:115)

Last week just after Jummah Prayer I received a phone call. I was told that terrorists have attacked two Ahmadiyya Mosques in Lahore, Pakistan. Immediately I checked my emails and searched on the net and BBC News to know more about what had happened. The news received was that terrorists have really attacked two of our mosques in Lahore, namely the Darul Zikr in Garhi Shahu  and the Baitoun Noor Mosque in Model town. The result of these two simultaneous attacks on defenseless, innocent and unarmed Ahmadis was that at least 99 Ahmadis have been martyred and about 150 have been injured. The attackers used hand grenades and machineguns and they wore the usual terrorist vest laden with dynamites. The Amirs of both these places have also been slain in the attack. According to some reports some young men in a display of rare courage overpowered one of the terrorists and disarmed him and prevented him from blowing himself by removing his dynamite laden vest. Apparently two of the terrorists were able to blow themselves up and two were arrested and the rest were killed by the police.

During the night the khuddam dig about 90 graves in Rabwah. Most of the bodies were brought there as from after Fajr prayer on Saturday 29^th May.  The bodies were laid in rows in the hall of Ansarullah where Ahmadi brothers passed by to pay their last respects to the shaheeds. The Nazir Ala and Amir of Rabwah Mirza Khurshid Ahmad sahib led the funeral prayers of several groups of martyrs. By midday at least Janaza prayers had already been offered for about fifty martyrs. By Monday 31^st May more than 70 namaz Janaza had been read.

I have been able to watch some television footage of these events. To begin with you can imagine the shock of the poor Ahmadis who witnessed these events in the mosque where they had assembled for Jummah prayer. They saw their dear ones being killed in seconds and they stayed under siege watching the police taking control of the situation for about two hours. No one would have liked to go through such a traumatic event. Furthermore it is a really heartrending scene to see all these Janazas lined up in the hall. The amount of blood splattered on the floor and the ceiling and walls of the mosque is indeed a very sad scene. The amount of shoes or sandals left outside the mosque was a grim reminder of the number of people who came to the mosque but were not able to go out alive.

Some prominent leaders who spearheaded the anti-Ahmadiyya campaign in Pakistan have also condemned these attacks. How far they are sincere, only Allah knows. One of them has said that Islam protects the rights of minorities. Since Ahmadis are minorities, so their rights have to be protected. But the truth of the matter is that in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan where illiteracy is rampant, maybe the highest in the Muslim World on radio and television, on banners and posters, on judges doors people can hear and read that Ahmadis should be killed and whosoever kills them will be greeted in Paradise with the Holy Prophet ^saw and Imam Hussein without forgetting the bevy of hours. There are many madrassas in Pakistan who are preparing many young people to commit such heinous acts in the name of Islam. In that country they have amended their constitution in 1974 to declare Ahmadis a minority and later on in 1984 they passed an ordinance with a view to prevent us from practicing our faith, Islam. Consequently many Ahmadis have been imprisoned and are still in prison over there.

Since the creation of Jamaat Ahmadiyya in 1889 until 1984 according to Jamaat’s records 136 Ahmadis have been brutally murdered by other Muslims in India and then Pakistan. From 1984 until 27^th May 2010 the number of Ahmadis killed for their faith is 109. But the number of those brutally murdered on 28^th May 2010 in the two mosques is 99 at the time when I was preparing this sermon on Wednesday last. As if that was not enough on 31^st May 2010 another Ahmadi Mr Naimatullah of Narrowaal in Punjab was brutally murdered while he was sleeping in his house and his son was injured.

It is true that within Pakistan there have been many terrorist attacks on Shias and Sunnis mosques but this is the first time that such a horrible act has been committed against Ahmadis. According to a Reuters report more than 3000 persons have been killed in Lahore in the past three years by terrorist attacks.

According to one report on GEO Tv , the Tehrik Taliban of Punjab has claimed responsibility for this atrocious massacre and apparently in sms messages they have warned the Ahmadis that “This is a final warning to the [Ahmadis],“ “Leave Pakistan or prepare for death at the hands of Muhammad’s devotees.” How far all this is true, is difficult to say. But there are some of these mullahs who have also said that these attacks have been perpetrated by dissident Ahmadis. Other Mullahs have said that these attacks have been perpetrated in order to create sympathy for the Ahmadis and those appeals may be made so that their infamous blasphemy laws may be removed.

Pakistan was created with noble ideals where all Muslims could live like brothers. But that is not the case. A group of fanatics, totally ignorant of basic Islamic teachings are indoctrinating themselves to launch a jihad that will rid the world of all those who do not subscribe to their Islam. They do not speak of the Islam brought and practiced by our beloved prophet Mohammad saw. They speak of an Islam that they have perverted and they want to spread it around the world with force and violence. They are the people responsible for what happened in America on 11^th September 2001. They are the people responsible for what happened in Bali Indonesia in October 2002. They are the mastermind of the Madrid bombing of March 2004. They are those who perpetrated the London bombings of 2005. And now unfortunately for us they have struck the Ahmadis on 28^th May 2010.  All these murders are being committed in the name of the Holy Prophet Mohammad and Allah. Whereas the Holy Prophet ^saw told us that “A Muslim is someone from the harm of whose tongue and hands others are safe.” Moreover there are several verses of the Holy Quran which condemns wanton killing and creating disorder in mosques or places of worship. One of the verses that I just recited is translated as follows:

“And who is more unjust than he who prohibits the name of Allah being glorified in Allah’s temples and seeks to ruin them? It was not proper for such men to enter therein except in fear. For them is disgrace in this world; and theirs shall be a great punishment in the next”

This verse definitely condemns the terrorists but it also condemns all those who prevent others from praying in mosques or in places of worship. All the laws passed in Pakistan preventing Ahmadis from calling azan or from greeting others with Salam fall under the purview of this verse. According to this verse one should enter a place of worship only in fear let alone desecrate it as has been done. Such people will be disgraced in this world. Look at Pakistan despite its wealth it is one of the most backward countries in the world. Its illiteracy rate is about 45.5%. Can you imagine an Islamic country with so much wealth and yet so backward. This is the disgrace that accompanies them. If they ever achieved any distinction in the world it was Professor Abdul Salaam who won the Nobel Physics prize in 1979 with two of his other colleagues. And the irony is that even this distinction could not redound to their glory because they consider Professor Abdus Salam a non Muslim because he is an Ahmadi. Imagine whatever criteria one might think to say that a country is modern and glorious and compare Pakistan with these criteria and you will see that it is quite backward. They cannot maintain even peace and order in the country. Their citizens live in fear of being blown up. Their politicians are corrupt. Their judges have myopic visions and they cannot mete out justice. Many of their people are poor and they do not have enough to eat. They practice injustice against their own people but especially against minorities whether they are Christians, Shias or Ahmadis but particularly against the latter.

Since they are Muslims they believe in the hereafter. These fanatics deceive the young ones into believing that by killing Ahmadis they will be greeted by Hours in Paradise. But in the verse under discussion Allah says that they will have a very severe punishment in the hereafter. After speaking about the event whereon one of the son of Hazrat Adam killed his brother Allah says:

“On account of this, We prescribed for the children of Israel that whosoever killed a person — unless it be for killing a person or for creating disorder in the land — it shall be as if he had killed all mankind; and whoso gave life to one, it shall be as if he had given life to all mankind. And Our Messengers came to them with clear Signs, yet even after that, many of them commit excesses in the land.”(5:33)

This verse shows how horrible the killing of an innocent person is in the sight of Allah. Now imagine how horrible all the atrocious murders committed in the name of Islam should be in the sight of Allah. Should we be surprised tomorrow if Pakistan were to receive punishment from Allah after all the innumerable crimes that are being perpetrated on its soil and which are being left unpunished?

Every day in the world there are thousands of people who die. Most of us have become more or less immune to the emotional distress that such deaths may cause. However whenever there is a special calamity we become concerned. For example what happened after the Tsunami in Indonesia in 2004 or what happened in Haiti in January this year forces us to pay attention. Similarly whenever a close member of our family dies we become concerned because it affects us emotionally. What happened on 28^th May last affects all Ahmadis around the world because it was an event out of the ordinary. It forces us to focus our attention. When we think about these events we are bound to reflect how ephemeral life is. In fact it hangs only on one breath. It forces us to think how we should really live “with peace and love” with everyone and not just adopt this as a slogan. Every Muslim whether he is an Ahmadi or not should be an ambassador of peace. If he harms others deliberately he is far from being the Muslim as described by our Holy Prophet Mohammad ^saw. In Islam there is no place for any type of hatred especially in matters of differences in belief.