Dreaming, Islam and the Ahmadiyya Muslims in the UK

Abstract

The Ahmadi Muslim movement, founded in the nineteenth century by a charismatic leader, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, has been since then one of the most controversial movements within Islam, yet Ahmadis remain the least known of all Muslim communities and in many Islamic countries they have been defined as heretics and subjected to persecution.

Despite hostility from other Muslim groups, the Ahmadis have been able to establish resilient communities whose survival depends on the development of bureaucratically sophisticated organizational structures which sustain local communities and incorporate these into an integrated global media network. These structures, however, are ultimately dependent on their charismatic foundations and on the institution of the Ahmadi Khalifat. This paper explores the role played by Ahmadiyya interpretations of dreams in sustaining these structures at personal and community levels. Dreams may lead to personal life‐changing events and may also institute new organizational structures and offices in this global new religious movement. For example, the institution of Waqf‐e‐Nau established by the fourth Ahmadi Khalifa is based on a dream he had for the future of his community. This institution encourages parents to “sacrifice” a child to the cause of Ahmadiyyat, often before the child is born. The children born into Waqf‐e‐Nau are selected for special training, knowing that their lives are given over to community needs. Parents of such children may not make plans for them as they would for their other children.

Examples of dreams and their interpretations as understood within Ahmadiyya Islam are developed from both historical and contemporary ethnographic data.

Keywords:

• Ahmadi Muslim
• Dream Interpretation

Notes

[1] In Quadian village, Punjab, 1889.

[2] See discussion on the meaning of “seal of the prophet” in Friedmann 1989. Lamoreaux (2002: 57) referring to the work of Qayrawani (fl. early fifth century AH) cites the Qur’anic verse generally taken to refer to the granting of prophetic dreams as follows: “Those who believe and are pious have glad tidings (al‐bushra) in this world and the next” (Q 10.63–64) and goes on to mention the traditions justifying the legitimacy of dream interpretation by noting, among other matters, that Muhammad’s revelation came through true dreams.

[3] Friedmann (1989, Chapter 5. Cf.), also the founder’s statement that he was an avatar of Krishna as well as the spiritual incarnation of Jesus—neither claim facilitated good relations with Hindus and Christians.

[4] Friedman (1989: xi) writes: “To say that the works of Ghulam Ahmad alone exceed fifteen thousand printed pages is to put a rather conservative estimate on his literary output.”

[5] Friedman (1989: 76) shows how this inspiration may have made possible alternative understandings of “khatam al‐nubuwwa” meaning “sealing of prophecy” to mean the authenticating/authenticity of prophecy rather than the contemporary orthodox interpretation of the end of prophecy. Friedmann (1989: 142–146) outlines the sufi thought of Ibn al‐Arabi as found in the work of Ghulam Ahmad concluding with the statement: “We can thus say that the essential elements of Ghulam Ahmad’s prophetology were not unknown among medieval Sufi thinkers. There is no doubt that medieval Sufi thought is an important source of inspiration for the Ahmadi movement and that the prophetology of Ghulam Ahmad is not substantially different from that of the Sufi thinkers mentioned above.”

[6] Friedmann 1989: 3.

[7] In Pakistan, the constitution was amended in 1973 in order to make it impossible for an Ahmadi Muslim ever to hold the highest offices of state (Munir 1973). Attacks on Ahmadi persons and property followed and continue to this day. Ahmadis have been denied employment opportunities and many of those in employment have been dismissed or refused promotion because of their faith. e.g. Amnesty International (2001). See also, http://www.thepersecution.org. See, for example, Idara Dawat‐O‐Irshad. (n.d.) for a few anti‐Ahmadi positions and for the past the “Report of the Court of Inquiry constituted under Punjab Act II of 1954 to enquire into the Punjab disturbances of 1953”, which has become known as the Munir report, outlines violence against the Ahmadis in 1953 in the Punjab.

[8] “While commentators have long debated the significance of this exact number, the general sense of the passage is clear: dreams are a legitimate source of divine knowledge” (Bulkeley 2002: 8). In footnote no. 8 Bulkeley states: “One common explanation is that the number 1/46^th involves a doubling of the number of years (23) between the beginning of Muhammad’s revelation and his death” (2002: 13).

[9] See, for example, Hermansen 1997 for ways in which this divinatory mode of experience worked, also Katz 1997.

[10] Classifications of dreams tend to fall into three categories: true dreams from God, false ones from the devil and confused ones that arise from the physiology and psychology of the individual. The latter two are not worthy of interpretation and indeed, dreams from the devil should be dealt with through apotropaic means including prayer and the refusal to recount such a dream lest the telling of it should make it come into being (Bausani 1985).

[11] See also, Kinberg 1985.

[12] For example, Ewing 1994, Kilborne 1981, Hoffman 1997, Edgar 2007 and also in this volume.

[13] As, for example, noted in the work of Corbin (1966) on Sufi traditions and practices.

[14] In the Ahmadi children’s religious curriculum text, Hadi 1997: 185, the procedure to be followed for Istikhara prayer is set out as follows:

 When a serious and important matter is pending, it is recommended that after the Ishaa’ Prayer [evening prayer] and just before retiring, two raka ‘aat [a whole series of postures which starts from standing and ends with prostration] of voluntary Prayer should be said, to seek guidance and blessings from Allah. The following supplication should be made during these two raka’aat:

 O Allah! I seek good from You out of Your knowledge and seek power from You out of Your power, and beg of You out of your boundless Grace, for You have power and I have no power; and You have knowledge and I have no Knowledge; and you have the best knowledge of all Unseen.

 O Allah! If it be within Your knowledge that this project is to my good in the matter of spiritual affairs, and in respect of my ultimate end, then make it possible for me and grant me facility concerning it; and bless it for me, but if it be within Your knowledge that this project is harmful in my spiritual and worldly affairs, and in respect of my ultimate end, then cause it to move away from me and cause me to move away from it, and designate for me good, wherever [sic] it may be, and then make me pleased with it.

 The prayer is printed in English on the left‐hand side of the page and in Arabic on the right‐hand side.

[15] For an example of this latter situation, see Ahmad 2004: 56.

[16] The Arya Samaj is a Hindu revivalist movement established by Swami Dayanand Saraswati in the late nineteenth century.

[17] C.f. also, for example, in Douglas 1966 where the water in which a holy woman has washed her feet is drunk by her devotees as imbued with her saintliness. Compare this with the Hindu restrictions on eating food that is polluted by the saliva of others or even of oneself.

[18] For example, Krenkow 1912: 77.

[19] See also Faruqui 1999.

[20] My copy is a truly global text. The work is said to be that of Imam Muhammad Bin Sirin as edited by M. A. Shahid, the Amir Ahmadiyya Jamaat Nigeria, and published at the Fazl‐I‐Umar press, Athens, Ohio, USA.

[21] The first successor to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was Nur‐ud‐Din (not a relative) and he led the community for six years. The second successor was Hadrat Mirza Bahiruddin Mahmud Ahmad, a son of Ghulam Ahmad (r.1914–1965) and the third Khalifa Mirza Nasir Ahmad was a son of the second Khalifa (r.1965–1982). The fourth Khalifa Mirza Tahir Ahmad was the younger brother of the third Khalifa (r.1982–2003) and the current fifth Khalifa Hadrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad b.1950 (r.2003–) is the great‐grandson of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. In Islam the khalifas were the direct descendents of the prophet and as such embodied both temporal and religious power, theoretically ensuring the legitimacy of government.

[22] In this respect, compare with Satya Sai Baba and his global organization in the work of Taylor 1987. The key difference between the Ahmadi Muslims and the followers of Satya Sai Baba is that the former respect their khalifa as god’s chosen representative while the followers of Satya Sai Baba consider him to be the universal godhead.

[23] Published in Urdu in December 2005 in the Ahmadi journal Badr, and electronically in English at www.alislam.org/topics/khilafat/dreams.pdf

[24] For example, in Hoffman 1997: 48.

[25] Dream of Mr Ikram Cheema of Germany as written to Hazoor and found as dream no. 2 in Dreams Foretelling the Fifth Khilafat (seen before the elections).

[26] Published Friday 15 August 2008: 18–19 found at http://www.alislam.org/egazette/eGazette-Aug2008.pdf

[27] Ahmadis have told me that he was disturbed by dreams he had prior to the events of 9/11 and that their import only became clear to him after the attacks on the twin towers in New York. The Ahmadi response has been to work to improve the well‐being of Muslims and non‐Muslims alike, focusing particularly on West Africa. C.f. the 9/11 dreams of Muslims in Edgar (2007).

[28] A collection of these sermons is available as an electronic document with the title “The initiative of Waqf‐e‐nau: a collection of Friday sermons by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV (in Urdu language)”. The only page in English in this document states:

 On 13^th April 1987 Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV explained that very powerful divine inspiration suggests that with the dawn of the second century of Ahmadiyyat numberless venues will be opened for the domination of Islam and Ahmadiyyat for which a large number of upright devotees, well versed in spiritual and secular knowledge will be needed to cause a revolution in the field of preaching. To achieve this purpose Huzur announced a splendid initiative. The initiative is known as Waqf‐e‐nau. In response many people hastened to offer their children and the initiative was well taken by the Community. Such children are the asset of the Jamaat, who are destined to play an unprecedented role in spreading the name and the faith of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) all over the world. (http://www.alislam.org/books then Tehrik‐e‐waqf‐e‐nau‐2008033NW.pdf)

At age 16 the children who have been dedicated are invited for an interview at the mosque and the children are asked if they themselves wish to be waqf‐e‐nau. If they do not, then the mosque wishes them well with their lives and they are free to live as they wish; if they do, then they are given guidelines about appropriate career paths to follow and are expected to devote a period of study to religious training.

The parents of waqf‐e‐nau children are given guidelines on how to raise them. These should apply to all children irrespective of whether or not they are waqf‐e‐nau but especially to these latter children. Parents are not to speak to the children rudely, nor to be overly affectionate (because the children might be too close to their parents and when a parent died, they might not be able to cope and then would not be able to fulfil their role as missionaries – and anyway these children are raised to leave their families and countries of birth to work wherever the mosque decides to send them). The children are to be raised calmly and temperately; they are to be treated gently but firmly. They should be disciplined but without any hitting or smacking.

The two women who gave this information in an informal interview with me said that their two waqf‐e‐nau daughters (one each) were raised this way but that they had raised all their children this way anyhow so it was not a change for them.

Waqf‐e‐nau children were not to be kept in the nude and must always be covered and modest in appearance. They were also to be generous and giving (children were encouraged to give away their material possessions without being promised any compensation in order to teach them that these things were not of any real importance in life). There was no emphasis on the value of money. All children are encouraged to donate some of their money to good causes. See also, Hadi 1997: 288–289 for more information on this.

[29] See Faruqui 1999.

[30] In 2006, according to the concluding Jalsa (convention gathering) speech USA delivered by the Head of the Ahmadiyya Community on 3 September there were 534 Waqifeen‐e‐Nau in the United States and in a press release of 1 August 2004 it is stated that the Waqf‐e‐Nau scheme had 28,300 members (http://alislam.org/jalsa/usa/2006/JSUSA20060903-EN.html). On sacrifice, in a Friday sermon 22 September 2006 delivered by the Head of the Ahmadiyya Community, it was said that such children have “offered themselves on the precept of Ishmael (on whom be peace) therefore these fathers [the fathers of the Waqfeen‐e‐Nau] need to demonstrate the model of Ibrahim (on whom be peace).” It should be noted that the command of God to Abraham to sacrifice his son is, for Muslims, said to have come in a dream (see, for example, Bulkeley 2002: 6).

[31] In the ethnographic context there are cases where the dreams of potential charismatic leaders are institutionally subverted precisely to ensure that such dreamers do not become religious, social and political leaders on the basis of dream inspiration. In these situations the reverse of the case outlined in my paper appears to be what takes place and reveals that charismatic dreams do not constitute the basis for any determinative predictions for their impact on the social order. For one such case in Papua New Guinea, see, for example, Robbins 2003. In yet other cases dreams can form the basis for the development of a theory of dreaming that encompasses elements of the charismatic, as in the work of Fabian 1966. In this latter case, however, Fabian was working with a Christian community which did not have an already established and available history of legitimate dream lore to draw upon. It is possible, although I have not fully researched this matter as yet, that the early Christian church eliminated dream interpretation as a valid and legitimate means of accessing divine knowledge in order to prevent any challenge to its authority from charismatics who might question the rulings and institutions of the church.