LETTERS: READER PROVIDES AN EXPLANATION OF AHMADDIYA

To the editor:

In an April 28 article, "Survey of U.S. Muslims finds a growing faith," professor Ihsan Bagby of Shaw University said the statistics excluded the Ahmaddiya movement and other groups that mainstream Islam has regarded as heterodox.

Ahmaddiya is the divinely promised revival of Islam prophesied in the Holy Quran and by the Holy Prophet of Islam, peace and blessings of God be upon him. It sets forth the essence of Islam, shorn of all encrustations that have defaced and disfigured it. It does not depart from Islam in the least. It is a fresh presentation of Islam deriving entirely from the Holy Quran and the pronouncements and practice of the Holy Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him). It sets forth only that which has been inherent in Islam from the very beginning. Ahmaddiya, by the grace of God, is the only jamaat blessed with the institution of khalifat (a leader).

"A man may be convicted for what he declares with his mouth, not for what he holds in his heart. For who can say what is in a man's heart? If a person accuses another of saying one thing and disbelieving another ... he does that on the cost of faith and ... raises himself to the status of God. ... Who could know another man's heart better than he?" (Ahmad, pages 4-5).

My intention in writing this is to kindly clear any misconceptions of the Ahmaddiya movement of Islam that Bagby and others may have.

ANWAR and SUMMER CHAUDHARI

Cape Girardeau