WAXEN WINGS

 

 

GULZAR ANWAR

 

 

Desire grows naturally in a man and is acceptable because it is a part of human nature.  I think the life, in itself, is a struggle and there will be no struggle unless there is a desire.  Until the life reaches its terminus, the desire will keep its company.  The state of desirelessness is a matter for saints to ponder over and not for the ordinary persons like me who cannot suppress their desires or keep them in check.  For example there is a desire to succeed.  Success is of two kinds:  (1) To succeed through one’s sweat and toil, and (2) To succeed through some favourable circumstances, support and condescension of others.  I think, in case (1), the man is satisfied with his success because it has come the hard way and he thinks it a just outcome of his struggle.  His desire, also, remains within limits and does not become inordinate inasmuch as he treats his success, with reserve, as the reward of his sincere efforts.  He has no misgivings about himself and takes his life as a routine. In case (2), the success comes not through one’s efforts but via the favours of others.  In this case the efforts are only symbolic.  It is from here where the trouble emanates.  The man becomes self-conceited because of his easy success and his desire becomes overweening.  He wants then to fly higher and higher in the horizon of success but unaware of how to levitate he, like Icarus, grows waxen wings and takes off without knowing that the utility of the waxen wings is limited and one cannot go beyond a certain limit where their effectiveness ends.  Unaware of this, he continues soaring up and up and then, as soon as he crosses the danger zone, his waxen wings begin to liquefy and he comes down faster than he went up.

 

Icarus was young and stupid.  He failed to heed the advice of his father and the result was his fall into the abyss of ocean.  He had the desire of achieving something remarkable and grew over-ambitious.  He went up and up  without considering the danger of rising too high.  The youth exuberance, as you know, has its own downside.  Despite knowing that haste makes waste, he was impetuous and inconsiderate to his own safety and that of his father and therefore paid the price. 

 

Man is a creative artist as he himself creates a desire and then goes in its hot pursuit and, by his very nature, tries to accomplish his desire rather hastily and, in the process, sets his foot on the soil without making sure it is stable and often is caught in quicksands which not only hamper the pace of his progress but, in the end, bring out results other than those he had foreseen.

 

Having dug their feet in Europe and elsewhere through the good offices of the host countries my Qadiani friends have grown over-ambitious and want to conquer everything in one sweep.  I was browsing through the internet, last week, when I read the proposal of one Mr. Abubakr Ben Ishmael Salahuddin, a staff member of the “The Tomb of Jesus Christ Website”.  This is a unique proposal and, for the benefit of my readers, I quote him:

 

            “  I also believe we Ahmadi Muslims should look into the possibility of purchasing ABC from its current owner--whoever that might be.  Now, these are not the words of a young ‘unrealistic’ idealist.  I am an older Ahmadi (middle-aged).  Allah can do anything.  ABC is nothing to Allah--absolutely nothing. “

 

Here is a case of a surging desire, overpowering a man, which is a direct result of over-ambition and which, in turn, grows out of misgivings.   Misgivings are a result of self-conceit and, generally, lead to disaster as in the case of Icarus.  The idea is not however bad nor is it vile to think of purchasing such a network.   Surely, if you have the resources sky is the limit.  It is also not impossible, to go into such a venture, if you have the right kind of money and support.  The question is, do the Qadianis have amassed the wealth good enough to bid for such an enormous network.  Of course, they have otherwise how their imagination will get so wild?  To this, Mr. Salahuddin answers himself:

 

            “  Now, I am told that there are a bunch of Ahmadi millionaires all over the place--in the U.S., Canada, Europe, etc.  But more importantly than that, we have within our community some of the most highly intelligent and brilliant people on earth--experts in finance, law, etc.  Naturally, we would ask Hazoor about this, but in my opinion this is just a business matter, and anyone  should simply start looking into this and/or forming an Ahmadi think tank for the express purpose of figuring out how to purchase ABC. “

 

I think their stocks are very high and they can clinch this deal with a bit of luck if they are serious.  In fact, they will be given preference.  All they have to do is to sit down, think, decide and gear up their efforts to go for it.  Once they have made up their mind, and are determined, in my guess-estimate, there is no way their desire is going to go haywire.  They are not only diligent, they are downright lucky.  When good luck combines with diligence, success is not only achievable, it comes easy.  Why should it not, diligence is after all the mother of good luck.

 

Hoping against hope, I wish my Qadiani friends the best of luck.  They should launch themselves into this and I am sure they are going to make it in the end.  They have the money and the support and, above all, the God is on their side because most of them are directly inspired by the Almighty as I have seen them talking.   It appears that the God has established a helpline for them and they are free to call on Him and enlist His support at will and manage the results of their liking.  After this, they will be able to work their way to the desired ends.  In the olden days, the divine message was very difficult to disseminate but the arrival of high-tech media, in our times, has changed the entire complexion of the means of communication.  Through the mighty media their task will be made lot easier and the kingdom of Birlas Mughals will spread far and wide.  Whether they were invested with a prophethood or not, I don’t know, but certainly a dynasty has been founded?  It began by throwing dust in the eyes of the followers by selecting the first successor to the “Promised Messiah” from without the family and after that it became a family affair and now there is tremendous scope for it to prosper.  Next in line came the “Promised Reformer” and, God knows, how many more healers of human afflictions will follow with different titles.

 

When the circle of followers is docile, their task of submission without question is cut-out for them and they have to give their allegiance with filial obedience.  At the ceremony of the coronation of a new caliph all those, who are away from the place of this ceremonial occasion, can quietly take the oath with no questions asked.  They will be duly rewarded for this  as “Blessed are those who have not seen yet believe”.

 

Election of the successor to the apostolic throne takes place through show of hands (Eik Mard-e-Khuda, Page 190) which is not a very ideal way of “adult franchise” if there is, in fact, the restriction of some age limit to vote in their system.  A secret ballot will be more in consonance with the practice of the time but why to take even a calculated risk lest it becomes inimical to family interests in the end.

 

With a network of their own, they intend to spiritually conquer the world.  Again an inordinate desire!  There is no bar on nursing a desire, however extravagant and immoderate it may be.  Who will be the main beneficiaries if their desire of owning a TV network comes to fruition?  Of course, the sponsors, the aiders and abettors because having caused conflagration in the already existing divisions of Islam, the Qadianis will be directly drawn against the mainstream Muslims, will prove even more handful than Israel and therefore will be more acceptable.  Look at the Dalai Lama.  How well is he received everywhere and taken care of.  These sponsors have a definite purpose to serve through all this hassle of coddling such people who have some following in the third world countries but are not, generally, well received at home because they are suspected as emissaries of some vested interests.

 

By associating with them, you will see that the Qadianis have a very cut and dried opinion about themselves in that they emphatically claim that they have been entrusted with the divine task of making sure the salvation of mankind.  In the new millennium a good network is the desideratum of spreading good news to bring people nearer to God.  According to Mirza Tahir Ahmad Sahib: 

 

            “  Jammat-e-Ahmadia has to convert the entire world to Islam in the next 200 years and remember that, according to the prophesy of the Promised Messiah, this will not fail to come about (Eik Mard-e-Khuda, Pages 255-256). “

 

Even if we accept their statistics, their total following stands at the moment at 10 million after 100 years.  This was revealed at their recent centennial celebrations.  At this rate, their total number should not exceed 30 millions in the next 2 centuries which will barely make 1/3rd of the current Pakistan’s population.  However, no harm in having such a wondrous idea and for such a massive task, a giant TV network of the size of ABC becomes automatically essential to acquire.

 

The plight of Muslims has been that they have always been sabotaged from within.

 

Qadianis are the proverbial albatross around the neck of Muslims who will have to carry it now for an indefinite period of time and I cannot predict when they will be able to throw it off.  Right now it looks very unlikely that they are likely to succeed that soon and may well have to live with it for the rest of their life.

I was going through a book “Eik Mard-e-Khuda” the other day which is a biography of Mirza Tahir Ahmad Sahib written or compiled by a Chirstian, Ian Adamson.  That is one way the western media gives hype to the personages from the under-developed countries whom they consider of considerable value to them.  They are masters at exploiting people from the third world.  I fail to understand why should a Christian be interested in writing the biography of a person least accepted among Muslims, at large, unless there are specific motives behind it.  However, they have a right to do so because they have the pelf and power.  They use their pelf to entice and play up people of interest to them and use their power to suppress those who are intransigent.  All the references hereinafter are from this book and they will carry only the related page numbers.  While reading about the early life of the 4th Caliph of the Qadiani apostolic order, the book says (translation is mine):

 

            “  …… I was neither a bookworm nor was I capable of memorising pages after pages by rote.  I just went skimming through the pages (Page 35) ……….  As for the exams …….. sometime I was given a place alongside those who were passing with grace marks.  Had I sometime needed more than the grace marks, I could have easily failed.  I very well remember ………… that in English I secured 3 marks out of 150.  Although, I was not a good student yet I felt sorry because I fell below the expectations of my beloved mother.  It is apparent that as a result of this, she was shocked  (Pages 36-37). “

 

About his studies in UK, Mirza Tahir Ahmad Sahib says:

 

            “  My educational record was not very encouraging.  Therefore, admission in London University, according to rules, was difficult but fortunately Sir Ralph Turner, who was director of the School of African & Oriental Studies, was a friend of my father.  He, relaxing the terms of admission, enrolled me.  In this way, I became a student of London University (Page 107). “

           

The readers can easily see that the present Imam of Qadianis had all the facilities of guidance and tuition at home and, despite all this, he was carefree and not a very serious person who would have all the qualities of wearing the mantle of as high profile an office of divine ordination as theirs.  This writer was, also, in his early life not a very good student but then I had no guidance at home and tuition facilities simply because we could not afford it and I cannot therefore be blamed for being an average student.  Yet, inspite of all this, I was especially good at English.  It came naturally to me, although I had no such background.  While in the High School in 1955, in the December test which was actually a run-up to the final high school exams in March 1956, I secured 186 out of a total of 200 marks in English which was the highest score among the 6 sections of the 10th class (A to F) that year.  Even on the crux of this achievement, the only desire I was embodying in myself was to get through the exams on first attempt and find a job to earn my living.  That was very important for the families who were finding it extremely difficult to educate their children because the facilities were scarce those days.  In the remote areas as ours the college education was unthinkable.  Conversely, Mirza Tahir Ahmad Sahib, despite failing to set high standards for himself in the field of education,  must have been having a deep-seated desire to ascend the apostolic throne in due course of time, no matter what the educational achievements because everything was to come to him naturally as the situation was tailor made for him to reach the highest office of authority in his community with all its trappings.  It is under these conditions of easy success that you are bound to grow waxen wings, begin to foster misgivings about yourself, set about soaring to the heights which are beyond your reach and then after your supporting wings have served their guarantee limit, the journey begins homewards and to utter disaster which in turn sends you into oblivion.

 

Now, from the ground work I have done for my discussion, the readers can easily understand that when success comes to you without much efforts, or with no efforts at all, you will just like to take off to unprecedented heights without taking into consideration the danger of rising beyond the reasonable limits.  What is the end result then?  The same which Icarus was destined to.

 

Trivia:  The name of the book fails to inspire as some of the details hold little relevance to it.  This is my opinion with no pride, no prejudice.  But then I am an outsider and my Qadiani friends need not agree with me.

 

Back to TV Network:  To buy a giant TV network will offer a cut and thrust competition but money can fetch you anything because money speaks the language which all nations understand.  I have no doubt in my mind that my Qadiani friends can muster the right type of money to purchase ABC TV Network.  Only they can do it because they will get a special consideration.  Suppose they buy the network, what will they do with it?  Just to propagate the end of Jesus in Kashmir and elevating their replica to the throne of “Saviour”, “Vicar” and “Promised Messiah” vacated by the former.  That is flying too high, after growing the waxen wings following the self-created misgivings, and is not without the danger of coming down at twice the pace of going up once the waxen wings fail to sustain beyond the limit of their warranty.  If any other group of Muslims is invited to bid for this media project, they will not even touch it because they will have no money and like moneyless people will quickly pass through the market.

 

I have often heard them boasting about some crucial verses from our Holy Book which point towards the demise of Jesus.  Even though if you grant them their wish that Jesus did die and was buried in Kashmir, yet, in the same token, they cannot fail to show their inability about citing a single verse in favour of the advent of their replica for Jesus  and the logic they use is not only reprehensible, it is also not prehensile and does not carry any impact to any one.  Unfortunately, they deal out a raw deal to people on this account but are always adamant that they are right.  I don’t know what Moulvi Noor-ud-Din had in his mind when he suggested Mirza Sahib to come out with the pronouncement that he was a God-ordained replica of Jesus and that the dictum of our Holy Prophet (PBUH) regarding descension of Jesus in Damascus could best be set aside.  Mirza Sahib did well to disagree with it, at first, but I don’t know what prompted him to go ahead with it later.  May be his journey to Kashmir was decisive and all important and the impact of Moulvi Noor-ud-Din’s philosophy was too tremendous to avoid and Mirza Sahib made the fateful decision of using the waxen wings to fly high - in fact, very high!

 

In summary, their thought process is very strange and they will appear to be living in another world while talking.  For personal experience, you can talk to them and you will see the flight of their imagination which will be beyond your comprehension.  In short, when you are talking to them, you will see them flapping their waxen wings and ready to take off to the other end of the firmament.  They keep rotating themselves within the expanse of heavens.  I have strong apprehensions about their safety because the waxen wings, as I have said, cannot be relied upon for an indefinite period of time and only fools will persist with them for longer periods in view of their limited utility.

 

At the slightest provocation they will threaten you with dire consequences as a result of the divine wrath.  Mirza Tahir Sahib claims that when Zia was busy with his evil designs about Ahmedis, he was able to hear the counter measures being taken in the heavens to twist the General’s tail and the result was that the General, within days, ended up in flames in the air alongside another 8 Generals of the Pakistan army, American Ambassador, Arnold L. Raphael, the head of the American Military Mission (General Wassom), the pilot and the flight crew on board.  Zia was obviously sinning against the party of God and the reward of sins is always death.  Even if we agree to their logic,  what was the fault of other Generals, the pilot, the flight crew  and the two distinguished guests from USA?  They will never answer this because they are already flying high and how can they answer unless they come back to earth again which they are not going to do any soon unless their waxen wings desert them.  Just see their explanation:

 

            “  The auspicious moment arrived when he (Hazoor) was told through a divine revelation in which directions to proceed.  A massive crowd was waiting on the Imam of Jamaat-e-Ahmadia when he came out of his residence …………., it looked as though people were certain that something important and crucial was going to happen (Page 378). “

 

               The above was happening in the UK office of the Imamate about the time the air crash took place at Bahawalpur.  Now the rejoicing:

           

            “  …… This is a sure sign of divine help …… Our future generations will remember this incident with pride that how God descended to earth to help their forefathers (Page 384).  “

 

When reading the above book, you will see that the Qadianis present their fellowship with God in such a way that one feels as though the God is occupied full time in listening to and answering their prayers, providing succour every now and then, that He has little time for the rest of His people and in between all this He has, also, to come down to earth, at short notice, to deliver them and annihilate their enemies as He did in the case of Zia.  This is why I say that they are flying too high with their waxen wings and that their disaster time, probably, is close at hand which they are very unwilling to realise.  Every time they are in trouble, they have an inspiration or revelation, as I have noticed, but strangely enough when Mirza Tahir Ahmad Sahib was planning his flight from Rabwah, during the time of Zia, and was very disturbed, no divine revelation or inspiration came as to which course of action to take and he had perforce to fall back on his security advisors to sneak out to Karachi, by road, in order to get on board KLM carrier.  Being as wary as one would be, under these circumstances, only two confidantes were informed of this flight (Page 295).   Surpasses even the best of Hollywood thrilers!

 

After arrival in London, it was necessary to have official permission to stay in UK.  On the recommendations of Mr. David Mellor, an MP of Conservatives, it was granted (Page 318).  No surprise!  These favours will continue to be as commonly available as they were during the formative period of the prophethood.

 

It is difficult for me to give them a counsel.  Even if I give them a piece of advice, they will reject it, out of hand, as mere dross gathering on the surface of melting metals and why should they in the presence of an army of intellectuals, they have, in all fields of social sciences.  They are not expected to welcome your suggestion either, as they are too occupied with themselves, are cheerless or dolorous and  busy with their extra-terrestrial activities of flying high.  At every stage, their workers are - in general - pretty cagey in sync with their pocket book teachings and are unwilling to see the currents, cross-currents and under-currents of the people’s feelings about them.  In my opinion, a Qadiani grows waxen wings immediately after he attains awareness and, while physically he may be on this earth, emotionally he will be flying somewhere beyond the space endangering his own safety because of continuously attaining heights and crossing the dangerous limits where the waxen wings will fail to carry him any further and the result will be the fatal fall. 

 

At the highest level they will never answer to anything from anyone.  They have the staff in their employ who are under instructions to reply but sparingly.  I have seen people complaining that the apostolic family does not explain their position on crucial questions.  Why should they?  Don’t they have people doing this job for them?  When you have a dog, why to bark yourself and that the dog is asked to bark sparingly is directly proportional to your instructions.

 

According to the above biography, Mirza Tahir Ahmad Sahib receives at least a 1000 letters daily, as a routine, from his followers around the globe and answers each one of them.  The secretariat of his Imamate is manned by skilled aides who open these letters and segregate them according to the categorised subject matter.  Then they give a summary of each letter on which Mirza Tahir Ahmad Sahib gives brief remarks and, accordingly, the reply is prepared and sent by the secretarial staff.  Likewise, if any books are involved to be read over, the aides prepare synopsis of important places of the book and the Imam Sahib accordingly reads them and forms his opinion.  Recently, I have seen 3 books attributed to the pen of the Head of the community, namely:  (1)  Eik Mard-e-Khuda (a biography compiled by Ian Adamson with the help of the secretarial staff), (2)  Islam’s response to Contemporary Issues, and (3) Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge and Truth.  The last named book is portly consisting of no less than 720 pages.  I seriously doubt if Mirza Tahir Ahmad Sahib had the time, out of his extremely tight schedule,  to author these books himself because in his biography he says that he gets barely 3 hours to sleep and the rest of the time goes on attending the Jamaat affairs like answering letters, making visits to different places and resolving the problems of his community.  I think for these books the same method has been used.  The aides and assistants have provided the right material on the topics and it has been collected in the form of books in the name of the 4th Caliph.  What an off-hand way of writing books.  Try to point out this anomaly to the Jamaat people, they won’t listen to you, and in fact will put you out with scorn, because they are busy flying high.

 

After an overall review of their functional activities and the way they operate, the office of the Qadiani Imamate will look too sanctimonious but who cares.

 

Conclusion:  Now the first fall of man, they say, was through the “original sin”.  In my opinion, the second fall of man will be through accepting and relying on false messiahs who cannot even sustain themselves, let alone atoning for the sins of others.  This is a hard task and requires the messiah to come out, challenge the evils, undergo sufferings and pass through the passions between the Last Supper and Crucifixion.  The modern time messiahs prefer to operate from their drawing rooms and a chance success of building up some following sets them on course to claiming all the divinity to themselves.  This gives rise to misgivings about one’s person and the mind immediately diverts to flying high for which it is necessary to acquire waxen wings.  Once these waxen wings are grown, the flight to astral areas above will start and will continue until the efficacy of these waxen wings lapses.

 

Islamabad

July 25, 2000