Ahmadiyya in Egypt

This article is about the movement originating in theIndian subcontinent.For the EgyptianSufi orderofAhmad al-Badawi,seeBadawiyya.

TheAhmadiyyais an Islamic movement inEgyptwith origins in theIndian subcontinent.Although the earliest contact between Egyptians and the Ahmadiyya movement was during the lifetime ofMirza Ghulam Ahmad,its founder, the movement in Egypt was formally established in 1922 under the leadership of itssecond CaliphOpposition to the Ahmadiyya grew particularly in the latter part the 20th century and Ahmadis have seen increased hostility in Egypt more recently. There are up to 50,000 Ahmadi Muslims in Egypt.

History

Early contact

According to Ahmadi historical literature, the earliest contact between Egyptian people and Ahmadi Muslims ofBritish Indiadates back to the lifetime ofMirza Ghulam Ahmadwhose writings, by the turn of the 20th century, were distributed among the religious elite in the Arab world and whose bookI'jāz al-masīḥ(Miracle of the Messiah) was reviewed in several Egyptian periodicals.One such review which was critical of the work was reproduced and amplified in an Indian magazine by his detractors in response to which Ghulam Ahmad wrote the bookAl-hudā wa al-tabṣiratu limań yarā(Guidance for Perceiving Minds).When, in 1902, Ghulam Ahmad instructed his followers to abstain from inoculating themselves againstthe plague,the move was criticised by the Egyptian nationalist and journalistMustafa Kamil Pasha,editor of the newspaperal-Liwā(The Standard), in response to which Ghulam Ahmad authored the bookMawāhib al-raḥmān(Gifts of the Gracious [God]).

Interwar period

Cairo 1938: A group of early Egyptian Ahmadis with Maulana Abu᾽l-῾Ata Jalandhari (seated center, turbuned) andMirza Nasir Ahmadto his right.

Organised activity within the country, however, did not begin until the early 1920s when several Ahmadi missionaries such as Sayyid Zayn al-῾Abidin Waliullah Shah, Jalal al-Din Shams and Abu᾽l-῾Ata Jalandhari were dispatched to the Middle East byMirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad,the secondCaliphwithin the movement. These missionaries travelled to major towns and cities throughout the region, includingCairo,to spread Ahmadi teachings.A missionary arrived in Cairo in 1922 from where he reported a number of conversions some time later.By this time, news about the success of Ahmadi missionary work in Europe had reached the Muslim world and caused notable controversies particularly among earlySalaficircles in Egypt whose response to the Ahmadiyya vacillated between their uncompromising ideological differences with the movement and a desire to welcome its pioneering missionary efforts in Europe during the interwar period.Despite their adamant rejection of Ghulam Ahmad's theology, Salafi writers associated withRashid Ridaand his journalal-Manār(The Lighthouse) wrote appreciatively of the role of the Ahmadiyya movement in Europe and the conversion of many Europeans to Islam.These writers were aware of the split within the movement and that most of the Ahmadi activity in Europe at this time aligned itself with the splinter groupLahore Ahmadiyya Movement.This group's affirmation of Ghulam Ahmad merely as a reformer and its attempts to downplay sectarian differences made it less controversial among some Salafi groups than the main branch under the Caliph at Qadian.Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din,the leader of the Lahore group at theWoking mosquein England, was considered by Rida a "moderate" follower of the Ahmadiyya and he generally agreed with his supporters in Egypt.

In 1923, Kamal-ud-Din; Abdul Mohye, theMuftiof the Woking mosque; andBaron Lord Headley,a prominent British convert to Islam also associated with the Woking mosque, visited Egypt on their way to theHajjpilgrimage and were welcomed with much fanfare. Reception committees were organised inPort Said,CairoandAlexandria,large gatherings appeared at train stations to receive them and prayers and speeches were made afterFriday prayerat theAl-Hussein Mosquein honour of the "British Muslims".The visit was also favourably covered in the Islamic press in Egypt, includingal-Manār,although Rida, its editor, was unable to meet the group himself.On the whole, Rida's attitude towards the Ahmadiyya movement was inconsistent between its creed and its religious work in India and Europe. Although he concluded that Ahmadis of both branches were "followers of falsehood", he eulogised Kamal-ud-Din upon his death and considered him "the greatest missionary to Islam" at that time.

Relative to Rida's intellectual Salafism, by the late 1920s, theal-Fath(The Opening) magazine, under its editorMuhib al-Din al-Khatib,began to represent a more populist strand of Salafism and adopted a more decidedly anti-Ahmadi stance.As part of an effort to combat Ahmadi proselytising among Muslims, heated articles against the Ahmadiyya began to appear inal-Fathand ceremonies were held in Cairo in 1932 celebrating former Ahmadis who wished to publicly renounce their affiliation to the movement.In 1933, the official organ ofAl-Azhar Universitypublished a few articles in refutation of Ahmadi beliefs,and in the late 1930s twoAlbanianstudents belonging to the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement were expulsed from Al-Azhar because of their Ahmadi affiliation.The anti-Ahmadi campaign was continued byHassan al-Banna,the founder of theMuslim Brotherhood,when he took the editorship ofal-Manārin 1940.Though by 1939 an Ahmadi source had placed the number of Ahmadis in Egypt at 100.

Doctrinal controversies

As evinced by Abu᾽l-῾Ata Jalandhari’s foreword to his 1933 tractThe Cairo Debate,Ahmadi activity in the Arab world during this period was primarily concerned with counteracting Christian missionary efforts against Islam and regenerating what the movement believed was the true Islamic spirit among Muslims.In this context, Ahmadi teachings, specifically regarding thedeath of Jesusand his status within Islam, concurred, in principle, with the views of key Salafi (or proto-Salafi) figures such asMuhammad AbduhandRashid Rida,both of whom rejected the bodily ascension of Jesus and accepted the view that he escaped crucifixion, died a natural death and will not be coming again.These views were expressed in a comprehensive Qur'anic commentary published serially inal-Manār,although in contrast to the Ahmadi view which maintained that Jesussurvivedcrucifixion, they held that he was not crucified at all. Rida also discussed the Ahmadi theory of Jesus’burial in Kashmirin a positive tone—as did the Egyptian literary figure‘Abbas Mahmud al-‘Aqqad.Similarly,Mustafa al-Maraghi,the rector of Al-Azhar University, too believed that Jesus had died a natural death and interpreted his ascension and return metaphorically.

In response to a question put forward by an Indian Ahmadi toMahmud Shaltut,a teacher (later shaykh) of Al-Azhar, as to whether, according to theQuranandsunnah,Jesus was alive or dead, and whether or not he will return at the end of time, Shaltut issued afatwain 1942 stating that according to the Quran, Jesus had died and that it contained no indication that he lives on in heaven. As to thehadithmaterial concerning his return, Shaltut questioned their soundness and concluded that a good Muslim did not have to believe in Jesus' return.Although the fatwa—and the ensuing discussion surrounding it—has been seen, in the Egyptian context, as indicating that Ahmadi interpretations were not necessarily ruled out as heretical during this period,scholarly opinion on this issue was far from consensual and the fatwa met with immediate resistance from other teachers at Al-Azhar such as Siddiq al-Ghumari who issued a statement strongly upholding the traditional Muslim belief in Jesus' physical ascension, arguing for the soundness ofhadithliterature concerning his return and declaring it among the fundamentals of Islam.Other scholars at Al-Azhar took a neutral position and declared that both views were "thoroughly Islamic".

Late 20th century– present

In 1962 Al-Azhar released a fatwa declaring that Ahmadis had deviated from Islam excepting the separatist Lahore group.However, beyond the sphere of purely scholarly disputes, more public opposition to the Ahmadiyya movement has historically been championed by theMuslim Brotherhoodwho placed the Ahmadis with denominations they believed "posed a threat to Islam", actively deterring other Muslims from joining them and refusing them burial in Muslim cemeteries.As of the 21st century, there has been an upsurge of hostility towards the Ahmadiyya in Egypt. In 2008, the Ahmadiyya satellite television channelMTA 3 Al Arabiya,which had been transmitting to the Arab regions for almost a year via the Egyptian-owned companyNilesat,was shut down by the government without prior notice.The channel now runs via the European-basedEutelsat-Atlantic Bird 4with a much broader coverage across theMiddle East and North Africa.Ahmadis, along with other Muslim groups deemed to be deviant have been hounded by police under Egypt's defamation laws and governments that seek to outdo the Muslim Brotherhood in championingSunniorthodoxy.

Eleven Ahmadis were arrested in Egypt on 15 March 2010 and nine detained under Egypt's emergency law—a law ostensibly restricted to addressing crimes involving terrorism or drug trafficking—on charges of 'contempt of religions' and 'undermining national stability'.These Ahmadis were held by the State Security Investigation inCairo,Qalyubia,MinyaandSohaggovernates and interrogated specifically about their religious beliefs for two months without being brought to court or indicted.According to theEgyptian Initiative for Personal Rights(EIPR), the arrests and interrogations were in violation of both Egypt's constitution, which protected the freedom of belief and expression, as well as its international obligations.

Demographics

According to ProfessorBruce Lawrence(2013), Ahmadis in Egypt number "less than 50,000", a figure based upon his contacts within the country.A 2012 report in the Egyptian dailyAl-Masry Al-Youm,stated that the number of "Qadiyanis" —a pejorative for Ahmadis—in Egypt was increasing and reaching the thousands, attracting over 10,000 registered visitors to their sites despite the otherwise discreet presence of Ahmadis within Egypt.

See also

• Ahmadiyya in Algeria
• Ahmadiyya in Morocco
• Shia Islam in Egypt

References

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