Obedience to the British government is a part of Islam?
Introduction
Non-Ahmadis allege that the Promised Messiah (AS) was a British agent and changed Islam due to the following excerpt:
Hence, my faith, which I make clear again and again, is that Islam consists of two parts: first, that we should obey God Almighty, and secondly, that we obey the kingdom that has established peace and given us shelter under its protection against the atrocities of the tyrants; and that kingdom is the British Government.
[Testimony of the Holy Quran, pg. 130]
Refutation
Firstly, there is nothing wrong with the above statement. It is the ignorance of those who find issues with it as they don’t know the basics of Islam.
Secondly, Promised Messiah (AS) has expounded on this and explained the concept of Huqullah (Rights of Allah) and Huququl Ibad (Rights of Mankind) throughout his books. This is one such example:
This also is worthy of submission that according to the teachings of Islam, there are only two aspects of Islamic faith. Or, we can say that this teaching consists of two main purposes. First, to recognize the One God as He in reality exists. To love Him and to put oneself in His true obedience as is the requirement of obedience and love. The second purpose is to engage all capabilities in the service and well-wishing of his people and to treat gratefully and beneficially everyone—from a king down to an ordinary person—who has done us any favour. That is why a true Muslim, who in reality is aware of his faith, always has a demeanour of sincerity and obedience towards the government under whose shadow of security he lives peacefully
[A Gift for the Queen, pg. 27-28]
In short, obeying the government which has granted full religious freedom and saved the Muslims from the persecution of Sikhs, is one way to fulfill the rights of mankind.
“Sunni” Muslims and the British
- Deobandis and the British