Khatm-e-Nubuwwat Academy
Encyclopedia
Khatm-e-Nubuwwat Academy (English:Finality of Prophethood Academy) claims to be simply an Ahmadiyya
-awareness organisation located in Forest Gate
, London
, United Kingdom. It has been the subject of the 2010 controversy in the United Kingdom regarding an alleged hate campaign against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
. Akber Choudhry, a political analyst and the founding member of the Muslim Identity Group, is the spokesperson for the Khatm-e-Nubuwwat Academy.
A number of Members of Parliaments commented on the alleged hate campaign and the Academy in a Parliamentary debate on October 20, 2010.
and has put a Western face on the controversial Khatm-e-Nubuwwat
movement that started in India in the 1930s and is flourishing in Pakistan. Not a religious scholar, he uses the argument of 'new binding teacher' to distinguish the Ahmadiyya from Islam, comparing them to Mormons and Jehovah's witnesses and setting the debate over the Ahmadiyya
in a more Western and Christian perspective.
His position on the Pakistan blasphemy and Pakistani "Anti-Ahmadiyya" laws is that their scope falls well within Article 9(2) of The European Convention on Human Rights, but that the problem lies in the prosecutorial threshold and process of these deterrent laws. He condemned the assassination of Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab, Pakistan, who had also spoken out on behalf of Asia Bibi
mentioned the Khatme Nubuwwat Academy for allegedly being behind a hatred campaign against the Ahmadis. The website belonging to the Academy describes Ahmadis as nothing but a gang of traitors, apostates and infidels. With reference to this, Akber Choudhry, a spokesman for the Academy stated, The words 'apostates' and 'infidels' are understood differently in English than in their Islamic theological sense, especially within the Urdu-speaking Muslims, and can be replaced by terms more sensitive to the current climate in which the connotations of these words have changed quite rapidly in the past few years
. With reference to the anti-Ahmadiyya laws
in Pakistan, Imam Suhail Bawa, a leading Khatm e Nubuwwat preacher stated that then the 1953 Lahore agitation against the Qadianis will be repeated in the streets once more. The streets and roads of Lahore were filled with blood in that agitation. The term Wajib-ul Qatal (liable to be killed) has not been used although it is commonly used by similar Khatme Nubuwwat organizations and preachers in Pakistan.
However, according to the Crown Prosecution Service
, no crimes were committed and no laws was broken in the United Kingdom. The CPS has been crticized for not prosecuting alleged hate crimes. Human rights activist Eric Avebury
called for an investigation into why the CPS had only brought one case against incitement to religious hatred since the law came into being in 2006.
Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious revivalist movement founded in India near the end of the 19th century, originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad , who claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies about the world reformer of the end times, who was to herald the Eschaton as...
-awareness organisation located in Forest Gate
Forest Gate
Forest Gate is a residential area in the London Borough of Newham, 7 miles northeast of Charing Cross. It is bordered by Manor Park to the east and and to the west lies Stratford town centre. The northern half of the busy Green Street runs through it.-History:...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, United Kingdom. It has been the subject of the 2010 controversy in the United Kingdom regarding an alleged hate campaign against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the larger of two communities that arose from the Ahmadiyya movement founded in 1889 in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian . The original movement split into two factions soon after the death of the founder...
. Akber Choudhry, a political analyst and the founding member of the Muslim Identity Group, is the spokesperson for the Khatm-e-Nubuwwat Academy.
A number of Members of Parliaments commented on the alleged hate campaign and the Academy in a Parliamentary debate on October 20, 2010.
Stated Goals
- To provide information about the Ahmadiyya in the United Kingdom to local mosques, on demand.
- To help those who leave the Ahmadiyya to re-integrated into Muslim society in the United Kingdom.
Views
Akber Choudhry, the spokesperson for the Academy, while liberal and non-sectarian about Muslim Identity, has argued for a clear distinction for the AhmadiyyaAhmadiyya
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious revivalist movement founded in India near the end of the 19th century, originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad , who claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies about the world reformer of the end times, who was to herald the Eschaton as...
and has put a Western face on the controversial Khatm-e-Nubuwwat
Tehreek-e-Khatme Nabuwwat
The Tehrik-e-Khatme Nabuwwat or Tehrik-e-Tahafuz-e-Khatm-e-Nabuwat was a religious movement in Pakistan aiming to protect the finality of prophethood and to refute the repudiators of the belief in the finality of prophethood of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.-History of Movement:The roots of...
movement that started in India in the 1930s and is flourishing in Pakistan. Not a religious scholar, he uses the argument of 'new binding teacher' to distinguish the Ahmadiyya from Islam, comparing them to Mormons and Jehovah's witnesses and setting the debate over the Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious revivalist movement founded in India near the end of the 19th century, originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad , who claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies about the world reformer of the end times, who was to herald the Eschaton as...
in a more Western and Christian perspective.
His position on the Pakistan blasphemy and Pakistani "Anti-Ahmadiyya" laws is that their scope falls well within Article 9(2) of The European Convention on Human Rights, but that the problem lies in the prosecutorial threshold and process of these deterrent laws. He condemned the assassination of Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab, Pakistan, who had also spoken out on behalf of Asia Bibi
Asia Bibi
Asia Noreen is a Pakistani Christian woman who was convicted of blasphemy by a Pakistani court, receiving a sentence of death by hanging. The verdict, which would need to be upheld by a superior court, has received worldwide attention...
Criticism
The IndependentThe Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
mentioned the Khatme Nubuwwat Academy for allegedly being behind a hatred campaign against the Ahmadis. The website belonging to the Academy describes Ahmadis as nothing but a gang of traitors, apostates and infidels. With reference to this, Akber Choudhry, a spokesman for the Academy stated, The words 'apostates' and 'infidels' are understood differently in English than in their Islamic theological sense, especially within the Urdu-speaking Muslims, and can be replaced by terms more sensitive to the current climate in which the connotations of these words have changed quite rapidly in the past few years
. With reference to the anti-Ahmadiyya laws
Ordinance XX
Ordinance XX is an legal ordinance of the Government of Pakistan that was promulgated under the regime of General Zia-ul-Haq and is meant to restrict members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community from applying certain Islamic terms to their own religious practices and beliefs.-Precedent:Ordinance XLIV...
in Pakistan, Imam Suhail Bawa, a leading Khatm e Nubuwwat preacher stated that then the 1953 Lahore agitation against the Qadianis will be repeated in the streets once more. The streets and roads of Lahore were filled with blood in that agitation. The term Wajib-ul Qatal (liable to be killed) has not been used although it is commonly used by similar Khatme Nubuwwat organizations and preachers in Pakistan.
However, according to the Crown Prosecution Service
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
, no crimes were committed and no laws was broken in the United Kingdom. The CPS has been crticized for not prosecuting alleged hate crimes. Human rights activist Eric Avebury
Eric Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury
Eric Reginald Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury, PC is an English politician. A Liberal Member of Parliament from 1962 to 1970, he succeeded as Baron Avebury in 1971...
called for an investigation into why the CPS had only brought one case against incitement to religious hatred since the law came into being in 2006.