It’s been a year since the US-led occupation of Afghanistan ended and the world saw the Taliban sweep across the country. A dismal show of Western failure was broadcast to the world on television as the Taliban seized American equipment left behind and started controlling the streets of Kabul once again.
The Western world’s attempt to “reform” Afghanistan proved to be futile and now Afghans have to face severe oppression and immensely un-Islamic laws that the Taliban continue to impose.
It seems Afghanistan needs a miracle for any chance of improvement.
The occupation of Afghanistan (and other Muslim countries) in the name of eradicating terrorism has only produced more extremists. Carpet bombing and “collateral damage” in the shape of innocent lives have created vicious cycles where organisations like Al Qaeda have enough convincing power to continue their recruitment and grow. This is coupled with the continuous misrepresentation of Islamic teachings by extremists and so-called scholars, including a false picture of jihad – another sword’s edge in the perpetuation of extremists that countries like Afghanistan are witnessing.
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiahas, during the colonial era, warned of the influence of Western propaganda coupled with the inaccurate preaching of Islamic concepts by scholars and how this would continue to destroy lands, in particular Afghanistan. In his monumental treatise, The British Government and Jihad, Hazrat Ahmadas wrote:
“It should be remembered that today’s Islamic scholars (who are called maulavis) completely misunderstand jihad and misrepresent it to the general public. The public’s violent instincts are inflamed as a result and they are stripped of all noble human virtues. This is in fact what has happened […].
“O Muslim scholars and maulavis! Listen to me. I tell you truly that this is not the time for jihad. Do not disobey God’s Holy Prophet.
“At this point, I must with great regret say that although ignorant maulavis have instructed the ordinary public in plunder and killing by calling these actions jihad, Christian clerics have also done something similar. They have, in Urdu, Pashto and other languages, produced thousands of publications, journals and flyers alleging that Islam was spread by the sword. This literature has been distributed by them in India, Punjab and the Frontier Region, wrongly claims that Islam is synonymous with violence. The people’s penchant for violence has increased as a result of the combined testimony of the maulavis and Christian clerics. The dangerous lies of the Christian clerics create unrest and rebellion and, in my view, it is essential that our government prohibit them.” (The British Government and Jihad, pp. 10-11)
These warnings fell on deaf ears and ever since, the situation in Afghanistan has only got worse – whether the attempts of invasion by the Soviet Union and the subsequent creation of the “Mujahideen” or the invasion of the USA and allied forces for the better part of twenty years.
Western forces have not acted on justice and neither have so-called “Islamic” extremist organisations like the Taliban upheld and represented the unadulterated teachings of Islam – whether in Afghanistan or elsewhere.
It is worthy to note that a great and dear companion of the Promised Messiahas, Hazrat Sahibzada Abdul Latifra was brutally martyred in Afghanistan following the edicts and pressure of the Muslim clergy, despite him being a senior adviser to the Amir of Kabul and a renowned alim of Afghanistan. The persecution of Ahmadis in Afghanistan (and other Muslim majority countries) continues to this day and is growing. In a virtual meeting with Hazrat Khalifatul Masih Vaa, an Afghani Ahmadi living in Australia asked Huzooraa about the future of Islam Ahmadiyyat in Afghanistan. Huzoor’s answer covered not only the possibilities of freedom for Ahmadis in Afghanistan but covered how peace could be established in the long run.
Huzooraa said that for every nation, where there was progress, there was also a point of decline. When it reached a certain stage of decline, then Allah could change its condition. It was possible that when Afghanistan reached a further point of decline and fell close to destruction, then perhaps there might be someone among them who takes over again and establishes religious freedom – in turn enabling Ahmadiyyat to be well established with a prosperous future. Until such a situation arose, there was no viable future, Huzooraa emphasised. (www.alhakam.org/khuddam-melbourne-meet-huzoor/)
The injustices in Afghanistan are not merely a year old but span a long time. The Messiahas of Prophet Muhammadsa gave the roadmap to lasting peace and true justice and his Khulafa have continued his message over decades. It is only when these words are heeded that Afghanistan, and the world, will see lasting peace and justice, insha-Allah.
