by Shabir Uddin

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh, and a warm welcome to all the brothers and sisters present today.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our respected brothers, Maulana Sohail Bawa Saab,-Ustadh Adnan Rashid and Declan Henry who have generously taken the time to help make this important event a reality also to join us via video link is brother Imtiaz and dr azar .

My name is Shabir Uddin.

For 44 years of my life, I was part of the Ahmadiyya community.

Today, I want to share a brief look into my personal journey and touch upon my family history.

My grandfather, Salah Uddin migrated to the UK from Pakistan in the 1950s following the partition.

He arrived alongside his brothers, being one of seven.

He was a born Ahmadi, a hardworking factory worker who simply tried to build a good life here in the UK for his family. Like his brothers, he was taught by his parents to believe in Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

My grandfather did not know the actual, deeper beliefs and claims written in those books. He was a simple, honest, clean-hearted, and hardworking man. He possessed a strong desire to please Allah (SWT) and did the best he could.

Though he was not a wealthy man, he selflessly gifted two of his own houses to the Ahmadiyya community to serve as their very first mosq in Huddersfield. At the time he innocently and firmly believed he was following Islam.

I grew up in this community alongside many of my family members and cousins. Just like generations before me, I followed the same path, unaware of the actual claims. All we were told was that he was the Promised Messiah and the Imam Mahdi The common explanation given to us was that the only difference between Ahmadis and mainstream Muslims was that Muslims were still waiting for Isa (Alayhi-Salam), while for Ahmadis, he had already come in the form of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

However, everything changed when I began to read, research, and investigate with an open, objective, and clean heart. I came to realize that the Ahmadiyya doctrine holds views that run completely parallel to, and conflict with, the true Islam taught to us by the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) over 1400 years ago.

After hours of rigorous research and finally understanding the core beliefs of the community, I knew I had no choice but to leave.

My only wish is that the Ahmadiyya Jamaat had been transparent about these actual texts and belief systems from the beginning.

The absolute turning point for me was discovering that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claimed to be the second coming of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in a literal and barooz (manifestation) sense.

I felt deeply deceived and heartbroken.The more I read and delved into his actual claims, the more I broke down in tears in front of my wife, overwhelmed by disbelief. When I showed the writing and claims to my wife, she was equally shocked.

Alhamdulillah, she too realized she could no longer remain in the Jamaat.

Choosing this path has come with immense personal regret and pain, specifically through the cutting of family ties. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad wrote in his books instructions not to pray behind, eat with, or say Salaam to those who do not believe in him.

To me, this is heartbreaking.

Why should differing views cause us to sever sacred family bonds?

This was never the practice of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), The Severe Warning: in hadith sahih al bukhari says

“The one who severs his family ties will not enter Paradise.” ([Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 5984)

Yet, with great sadness, both my wife and I have experienced this social boycott firsthand, simply for choosing a different spiritual path and in fact right up until this conference we were threatened with boycotting saying if we did this speech the only thing left would be death between us!

It is deeply frustrating to experience this from a community that publicly carries the slogan: “Love for all, hatred for none.”

Growing up, we were always warned: “Don’t go to other mosques, don’t listen to other scholars.” Today, I really beg of you to step outside of that mindset. Look at things from both sides with fairness.

I am not your enemy.

This is not a competition, and we hold absolutely no hatred in our hearts, only deep sympathy and a sincere call to bring you back to the original, unaltered teachings of our beloved Prophet (SAW).

Allah (SWT) reminds us that every soul will stand alone and be questioned on the Day of Judgment. I cannot, and will not, compromise my Akhirah knowing what I know now.

I have a humble request for every Ahmadi watching or listening today: please, put pen to paper. Open the original books, read the claims and the reported revelations for yourself, and judge with an independent mind.

Independent research, critical thinking, and protecting the purity of your faith are vital. If you search with a clean heart, Allah (SWT) will guide you through His infinite grace.

As Muslims, it is our collective duty to seek the truth and hold an unwavering love for the Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

As the Hadith states:

“None of you truly believes until I am more beloved to him than his parents, his children, and all of mankind.”

My final message to everyone listening is to protect and honor the Khatam-an-Nabiyyin: the Seal of Prophethood of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as the final messenger of God.

Jazakallah Khair.