بسم الله الحمد لله و صلاة و سلام على رسول الله و على آله و سلم
Recently, Sr. “Findings” released a secret internal document regarding the theft of £400,000 ($624,840) and the subsequent cover-up. Her blog post is here: Confessions of a Cult Girl.
£400,000 is a big deal, I am not denying it. But this itself does not make the Ahmadiyya faith false, nor is this unique to Ahmadiyya. Instead, this draws into question Chanda, a law invented by Mirza Ghulam mandating payments to the religious leadership.
Allow me to paint a scenario: Lets say you believe Mirza Ghulam was Imam Mahdi, metaphorically Maryam عليها السلام, the “second” Messiah عليه السلام, Krishna for the Hindus, a complete manifestation of Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم, et al in one. However, due to its mismanagement, dishonesty and its agenda, you lost trust in the people who run the Nizaam. To you, it has gone astray from the true path of Mirza.
live under this false notion of “The leaders of Ahmadiyya are men of God, they do no evil”. I guarantee you the governors of ‘Umar [bin Al-Khattab] were closer to Allah and yet were more open to public scrutiny.
But there’s a lingering question. What about Chanda? Can you refuse to pay? Or are you still obligated to pay no matter what? Can you refuse to pay until certian demands are met?
You are not in a position to organize a consciousnesses objection against Chanda until the practice of, say, public humiliations are ended. Why? Because payments are mandatory specifically to the Nizaam! So can you do anything?
There are a few main charities that I contribute to. I researched them to make sure there was no wide-scale abuse, etc. If I felt that one of them was mismanaging its funds through whatever means (ie, large overhead costs), I would simply refuse to donate to it. And I have exercised this right. Allah has made the practice of giving money a highly praised act, but he did not specify one specific organization, perhaps precisely for this reason!
‘Umar bin al-Khattab رضى الله عنه wanted his governors to live extremely austere lives. He used to take an account of his governor’s savings before and after they took office. Any additional savings were confiscated and redistributed to the treasury of the Muslims. He did not automatically assume that they were all righteous men (even though they were). This is the second khalifah being hard on the Sahaba! So how can some Ahmadis live under this false notion of “The leaders of Ahmadiyya are men of God, they do no evil”. I guarantee you the governors of ‘Umar were closer to Allah and yet were more open to public scrutiny.
If the Nizaam is corrupt, yet you are still required to fund its corruption, something is wrong. Seriously wrong. And as a low-ranking Ahmadi, there seems to be no way distance yourself and your money.
My solution: Chanda is said to also be given to help humanitarian causes around the world. If I was in your shoes, I would withhold my Chanda, cut out the middle man, and give directly to a cause I felt was best. But that’s just me. Then again, I believe Chanda is a Bid’ah.
May Allah guide us all to what is true.
و صلى الله على سيدنا محمد و على آله و سلم