True Teachings Of Islam

Azam Ali, An Ahmadi Moslem

Chapter 09 – An Illustration

The Holy Qor-aan states many rules of universal application. Illustrations of the applications keep showing all around us. Some of them materialize on personal levels of individuals.  Some of them occur on much wider scale on community and national levels.  One of them Pakistani people saw with their own eyes is the following example.

Zulifqar Ali Bhutto ruled Pakistan as an absolute dictator with an iron-fist dressed up to look like a genuine democracy by greasing, coercing and bribing the cooperation of thoroughly corrupted clergy and perpetually hungry politicians.  Father had a clear, candid and convincing opinion about politicians’ political motives and actions.  He lamented about the alliance between Bhutto and clergy and atrocities they committed in the name of the government.  In the High Court Bar Association he expressed his resentment against Bhutto’s government’s misdeeds.

Law recognizes a process known as the eminent domain.  It allows the government to acquire private property for public good by paying a fair market value to the private owner.  There are three essential elements of the process.

• Firstly, for the legal process to get triggered the property is generally undeveloped land.
• Secondly, the property is needed for the larger good of the public.
• Thirdly, a fair market value is paid to the property-owner which usually is the land-owner.

Corrupt governments in several uncivilized countries abuse this process to usurp developed properties.  They snatch away income-producing, productive or developed property from its owner to benefit one of their cronies as if a hired employee to run, operate and control it.  Bhutto was a law graduate who knew well what the law was and how to abuse that process by dressing it to look like ‘in accordance with the law.’  He labeled his high-handedness ‘Nationalization’ whereby his crooks arbitrarily took over properties and businesses without compensating their owners and operators.

Bhutto’s dictatorial regime nationalized many Rice Husking factories and installed one of his cronies to loot it under the ownership of government without paying a penny to factories’ owners.  My younger brother after years of hard work had bought a small tract of land.  He set up on it one piece of machinery after another until he could operate his small business as a rice husking factory.  His factory was also nationalized with no compensation. One day he was a self-made businessman who owned his own business raising his family and paying his bills but next day he was left with no job, no work and no money.

Father was a Judge who all his life had fairly provided justice to others and judicially struck down injustices of all kinds knew the law of eminent domain very well.  He was highly disturbed by the brazen day-light robbery by Bhutto regime which totally outlawed all judicial remedies that a citizen ordinarily had in such situations.  The abuse of the process of law that damaged his son hurt Father beyond words.  He often said, “What can the people do when the government itself becomes the oppressor.”

On December 26, 1974 Father and I were in Rabwah at the end of the Annual Conference. Father took me with him in a meeting with the Head of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, Hafiz Mirza Nasir Ahmad, Khaleefatool-Massih III r.a.  The above occurrence was on Father’s mind and during the meeting Father mentioned it and said that such grave injustices generated Bud Doaa (invoking curses) from the core of citizens’ hearts against their own government.  The Khaleefa knew the effectiveness of Father’s prayers and quickly remarked, “Chaudhry Sahib, don’t wish bad for Bhutto. He needs our prayers.”  Father bowed to his spiritual leader.

But Bhutto regime on September 7/8, 1974 had already amended the Pakistan Constitution and declared Ahmadis as non-Muslim.  Millions of them were legally reduced to worse than a third-class minority for whom speaking the words of greeting us-sa-laa-mo-aai-koom (peace on you) was made a crime punishable with three years imprisonment under the Pakistan Penal Code. Other examples of such harsh legislations are detailed elsewhere on this site.

The deep-rooted hurts in the hearts of so many God-fearing people are not dissolved by the mere words, even when spoken by their leaders.  Bhutto regime for years had crushed its own citizenry.  Someone somewhere saw it all.

It was no surprise to us when later on Father saw in a dream that a pig climbed a few steps up on a ladder and then fell on the ground and lay on his back with its all four legs raised like a stray dead dog.  Father right away interpreted this dream to mean that Bhutto’s end had come near and in death he would be disowned, discarded and dishonored like a pig or stray dog.

Not too long after that dream, this formidable dictator of Pakistan was imprisoned, tried, convicted and eventually ‘hung by the neck till dead’ for scheming and causing the premeditated first degree murder.

The Judicial records show that Attorney Ahmed Raza’s car was sprayed with a machine-gun burst.  He was the intended victim, but due to a change in the front seat passenger he got saved.  Instead his father Nawab Ahmed Khan who at that time drove the car got murdered.  Military commander Col Rafiuddin who supervised Bhutto’s execution wrote in his book Last 323 Days https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1993/10/04/bhuttos-fateful-moment and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3BrhlvS2aMthat Bhutto was alert in good health when he feigned faintness as a last maneuver to avoid execution.  He was carried by the guards by head, hands and feet to the execution chamber where he was finally executed by hanging. Reading the story of Bhutto’s execution brings to mind the following description of such fate sketched in the Holy Qor-aan.                                                                 “Yoe-ra-fool -mooj-ray-moo-na-bay-see-maa-hoom Fa -yoe-kha-zo -bin-na-waa-see-wul-uq-daam.”                                   — Soora-toor Rahmaan, Chapter 55, verse 42 

Translation

The criminals would be recognized by their markings. Then they will be caught by the forelocks and feet – 055:042                          

The one who got credit for inflicting on Bhutto such a humiliating death was his own favorite army General Zia-ul-Haq whom Bhutto had brought forward and promoted – allegedly out of line, seniority and merit – with the sole qualification that the General used army’s muscle to implement all nefarious designs that Bhutto’s scheming mind used to conjure up.

Travelogue – 17 – Immigration to USA

Some realities are observations eye-witnessed while others are the happenings experienced. The prayers in the Holy Qor-aan that my father spoke in the method he believed showed results. The silences of my wife practiced in her own manner bore fruits. But I have experienced event in my life that appeared extraordinarily out of the apparently ordinary situations. Whether or not one is to call those results a miracle is one’s choice but I am a proof that they had occurred.

In September 1975 I flew in NY Kennedy Airport. The Immigration staff gave me 90 days to set up my business and told me that I could apply for an Extension. My brother Majid Ali got me at the Airport and wanted me to stay with him a few days at least. I insisted to keep travelling. One reason was that the Greyhound bus ticket I had bought in London was to travel anywhere in USA for a period of thirty days starting the day I entered US. So the same night I got the bus and continued my journey onward.

Next day I reached my first stop in St Louis, Missouri. Mrs. Sylvia Ahmad got me at the bus. The reason was that from Pakistan I had written 35 letters to people in USA about my move. I got only one reply that was from Dr Bashir Ahmad who tried dissuading me from moving to US. He wrote that I won’t have a chauffeur to drive us around, my wife would have to cook and wash herself and we won’t have amenities as we then had. I wrote back that the road to the market place is all I needed to find. He was at his work when I reached St Louis; so his wife had come for me.

Thursday night I passed in our mosque. Friday prayer at the mosque was attended by Dr Bashir who asked me to accompany him home that day and see his farm the next day. Saturday breakfast was joined by Realtor Clarence who went on to show us farms and houses all day long. At dusk we reached a house that I refused to even see for I knew I could not afford to buy. Back at the farm and the dinner Clarence kept talking until we returned to inspect the house around 11 pm. Back at the farm Clarence still kept on selling the house to me until past midnight he got me sign an offer to buy the house. Sunday he brought back a counter-offer which I accepted. Tuesday he telephoned me that the bank had approved financing.

Credit goes to Dr Bashir that within the very first week of coming to USA I got our house when I had no job, no credit history and no established business. Quality home, distressed seller a widow who had to move, persistent agent who sold for nearly sixteen hours straight, bank ready to finance and a captive audience provided by the host was the ideal set up of several conducive factors that merged to make the sale. It looked like a miracle. This was our house in Rosebud, Mo.

During that week I had AAB Oriental Carpets and Garments registered as a d/b/a. For the next ten weeks I carried the samples of hand-embroidered garments to all kinds of stores. Repeat orders came in from some retailers including a Department Store. My Receipt Book was also my Order Book that showed the Advance Orders and the cash I received for the goods delivered.

Around 20th December I visited St Louis Immigration Office on Market Street. I went to know the procedure for Visa Extension I needed to visit Pakistan to fill the orders I had received. The lady officer asked me what I had done in the 11 weeks I had been in the country and I showed her my Receipt/Order Book. She looked at it and asked me to wait as she went back into an office that perhaps was of her boss. She returned with some papers that I filled. She took the papers and again asked me to wait as she went back. Soon she returned with an Order – not with an Extension but of approval as a Permanent Resident of USA. Surprised I blurred out, “When can I bring my wife and children?” She told me again to wait as she get some more papers. I filled the paper-work right there and gave it to her and she said that I would be notified by mail. In a couple of days I got the letter allowing me to bring my wife and children. This surely looked like a miracle.

A couple of days later on the 1975 Christmas Day I flew to London. I spent two days with my in-laws and then flew to Pakistan. Next day I visited US Consulate to issue visas to my family. Tom Dowling who I believe was the Vice-Consul reviewed the matter and told me I had to supply a Police Clearance. I visited the local Police Station same day and I applied for the Clearance.

For the next four weeks while the shipment of carpets and garments was getting ready I visited the Police Station nearly every day to get the Clearance. Every visit began with a cordial welcome to me by the top brass of the Station and ended with his smiling assurance to me that the Clearance would be issued in a day or two. Seeing my nearly daily visits to the Police Station a young officer one day introduced himself. He was an old friend’s younger brother who had seen me with his older brother when we were in College. I told him my dilemma and he took me to his room. He asked me to wait as he left and in a few minutes returned with the Clearance. He told me that the Clearance was on the desk of his boss ready for his signatures. He had shoved the paper in front of him for signatures while he was giving his usual meaningless smiley lip-service to some other VIP. I believe if my friend’s younger brother was not there, I would still be visiting Police Station daily getting smiles but not the Clearance that would have stayed unfinished on that desk.

I supplied the Clearance to the Consulate. I was told that the forwarding of papers-work to Washington DC, allocation of visas and issuing visas normally took six months. “But I have to fill the orders I obtained in St Louis within four weeks after getting the garments ready” I entreated.

We talked of my experiences in the USA as we sipped tea. A few minutes before closing time Tom suddenly asked if I had 48 Rupees on me. I pulled out a 50-Rupee bill as he pressed bell summoning his assistant. He told his assistant to pick up the bill, buy some dollars and return the remaining 2 rupees to me. The assistant went to do the needful and Tom said with a smirk that I must have thought the 48 Rupees he asked was as the bukhsheesh – the Urdu word for a tip. We had a good laugh. When the bought dollars were brought, Tom clipped them to my paper and told  his assistant to immediately forward them to Washington DC in the diplomatic bag.

Next morning we were still asleep when our phone rang. Tom told me that DC had sent overnight the approval to issue visas to my family which I could pick up that day. It was hard to believe that something that ordinarily took six months had happened overnight. The family that needed pulling out of Quotas from 3 countries because of two births in India, one in Pakistan and three in England, the family from a known persecuted group, the family of a Permanent Resident  for whom the request for visas had came in the diplomatic bag definitely had that Urgency under the Immigration Law which merited speediest possible processing. This issuance of visas surely looked like a miracle. And we left Pakistan the same week

Travelogue – 16 – Transition to being a Trader

It was the month of Ramadhan in 1972 or 1973. I lived in 72-C Model Town, Lahore. The street-drums awoke us to eat Sehree before commencing fast that day. I was dreaming that I was in USA. The place was where two Rivers met. The name of the place had three syllables. But on being up all I could remember was the two syllables of the place that began with the letter M.

After keeping fast and the Fajar (morning) prayer in the mosque I went for a walk with Chaudhry Bashir Ahmed who was of my father’s age, profession and spiritual life-style. During the walk I recalled my dream and narrated it to him. The gist of his interpretation was as follows.                                                                                                                                           “Have you been to USA?” he asked. “No” I answered.                                                                       He told me that many States where two rivers met started their names with M.                      Then he asked, “Do you know any such place?” “No” I replied.                                                      “Do you want to move to USA?” he asked again.                                                                              “Why should I?” was my answer since he knew that I was a successful Attorney.                      “Forget the dream” he remarked. And the matter ended.

A few days later I had another dream. I was travelling in a train with my younger brother Majid Ali who by then was a known Physician in USA. We moved from the West to East over a bridge. The view out of the window on my left was a huge expanse of water like a lake with a big island in it. On arrival in an empty house that I was going to live in I was making a list of things.

In summer 1973 my brother Majid visited us. Soon his and my wives and my sister were going to export oriental rugs. I incorporated Dachi Inc for them as three Directors. The husband of one Director lived in USA. The husband of my sister was Riaz Ahmad at a job that prevented his running Dachi Inc. So the husband of the third Director was me and as an independent person had to run the show. We shipped rugs from Pakistan. I flew to NY and sold three rugs. Later Riaz flew to NY to sell rugs. But lack of consistent sales brought the business to a standstill.

My father at one time expressed his feelings that I neglected my law practice in order to do most of the work to the trading work. But he believed in the prayers and especially those quoted in the Holy Qor-aan. Those prayers invariably show the best results even when they appear to be not exactly as requested. After all God Almighty is not man’s servant to fulfill every prayer but being the Wisest He always does the best and a prayer is just another factor to accentuate the best result.

In June 1974 Lahore High Court closed for the summer vacation and I took my wife and our three children for a vacation in England where my in-laws lived. In September 1974 we were still there when Pakistan amended its Constitution and declares Ahmadis a Non-Muslim minority. Saudi Arab and Uganda announced similarly that week. Moslem governments and public went on a rampage to persecute fellow-Moslems by maliciously calling them a non-Moslem minority sect. It was like that the Christians following Pope did to the Greek Orthodox Christians centuries ago.

We anticipated religious riots in Pakistan like the anti-Ahmadiyya riots of 1953 which had caused my in-laws to leave Pakistan and migrate to England. My mother-in-law decided to keep her daughter (my wife) and family in UK till the dust had settled. I returned to Pakistan alone on Sep 8, 1974. On a visit to my sister I was locked in the bathroom by her husband who refused to open the door until I had shaved my beard and stopped my appearance as an Ahmadi because he had four daughters and the fervor to crush Ahmadis was spreading all around like wild fire.

The case of Ahmadi boys’ admission to KE Medical College was the first major litigation. The 3 of the top 10 out of 1000’s of boys who proved merit in the qualifying exam were Ahmadi. The High Court on a writ petition declared that the merit of boys entitled them to their admission. The High Court in the Contempt proceedings against the University which had refused to comply with Court’s prior order reiterated its order that the boys be admitted in the school of their choice. The High Court in the third round ordered that the boys be admitted in the KE Medical College. The time loss was to the students who had lost a full academic year. Litigation expense was high. The discrimination by the University against Ahmadi boys and not girls was like Pharaoh Nimrod ordering to slay Israeli sons and spare their daughters as stated in the Holy Qor-aan (014:007).

The deprivation of Ahmadi students in the Medical field was duplicated in other schools of higher studies like the Biology and Sciences in Punjab University. Most religious zealots used mosques and madras’s to blow higher the hate in order to justify their accumulation of wealth. The politicians used legislatures and speeches in order to solidify their cunning gave-and-takes. The Government and public persecution of Ahmadi Moslems spread by leaps and bounds.

All our sons were born in England. All four of our children deserved acquiring maximum knowledge. The thought that gradually grew and got rooted deep in my mind was that the rampant persecution was sure to cut down the scope of higher education for our children. What would be my reply when One Day God would ask me, “I gave you kids born in land of unlimited education. Then why did you confine them to an environment that denied full development of the potential?”

One of my prayers has been that that the Almighty Allah gave me a life that covered a lot of distance and moved fast like a non-stop train that got green at every signal without ever getting stopped or slowed by a red. And this prayer I saw fulfilled in many ways like a series of miracles.

So in 1975 I applied for Business Visa in USA and it was issued.

Meanwhile 1975 World Peace Through Law Conference in Washington, DC invited me. On the eve of flying out of Pakistan I received a l letter from the Government’s Home Secretary that I could not leave the country. I showed the letter to Sheikh Shaukat Ali who was the President of Bar Association. He knew my father’s career in the Judiciary. I had also appeared before him as a Judge of the High Court. He also knew me since his launching the Lawyers Benevolent Fund to which I was one of the ten (10) Founders and Contributors. He asked if Government financed my attending the Conference. I said, “No.” And with a smirk he said, “You go. We will hold the fort.”