What's in a Name?

The entire humanity is but one nation and for the entire world there is but one religion. Love the Lord, call him Bhagwan, call him Ram, call him Siva, call him God or call him Allah, just love him. Whether you wish to worship him in the temple or church or mosque, love and serve him. Does not matter what name you call upon, the Lord is One. If you have two glasses of water and both have an equal amount of water. You could say the glass is half full or you could say the glass is half empty. It’s just a different point of view, it doesn’t change the reality. Likewise calling upon God with any name will not change the reality.

Press-Release from the CEO of MFI

On behalf of Messiah Foundation International I would like to condemn the deplorable, shameful and lowered act of  some Pakistanis today whereby they were taking out processions of protests against the controversial film ‘Innocence of Muslims’.  Unfortunately what they have depicted under the label of protests against this controversial film is fake, full of hypocrisy and this act shows how insincere they are. Their only aim is to loot and plunder and label it as a protest in the name of the Holy Prophet; the Prophet of Islam, Prophet Mohammad. I would like to convey this message to all Muslims all around the world that the government of the United States of America is not involved with this film. Carrying out arsenal attacks on US embassies, is absolutely wrong, deplorable and an unjustifiable act. These are the elements of mischief who are carrying out such things and it is very strongly discouraged. I would like to request all those individuals who have a great amount of love for the Prophet not to do such things in the name of the Prophet. If you continue to do so, you will be degrading the teachings of the Prophet and the teachings of the religion of Islam. 

I would like to convey this message to all the countries of the West that a Universal Law should be legislated in all countries of the world and this law should be implemented by the United Nations, whereby derogation, defamation of any religion, of any Messenger of God and of any Prophet of God should be declared as a highly criminal act. Individuals who do defame and derogate any Messenger, not just the Prophet of Islam but any Messenger or any Prophet of any religion, should be tried in the court of law and should be punished in whichever country they are living in or are the citizens of. 

On one hand some of the countries in the West are trying to curb terrorism and terrorist elements from the face of the world but at the same time they have left a mighty door open for people to get united and become even more prone to committing terrorism and universal atrocities. This gateway to terrorism must immediately be closed and the only way of doing so is by legislating a law that can protect the Prophets and Messengers of all the religions whether or not you believe in them. There are thousands and thousands of people in the world who believe in one or another religion, who practise one or another religion. You do not have to respect any Prophet but at the same time you do not have the right to hurt somebody else's emotions. This law is not going to be imposed upon everybody to love and respect the Prophet. Every individual has the right to choose to practise a religion, to choose to respect a religion or a Prophet or not to choose to respect a religion or not to choose to respect a Prophet. This is your own life you can live your life the way you want to but because you are also living in the same society, there are millions of people who do practise a religion, who do have emotions for their Prophets, for their Messengers  and you do have to respect the emotions of others. 

If acts of sacrilege like this do not stop, then I am afraid it is going to be very, very difficult to tackle terrorism in this world. The global society is on the brink of falling into an eternal unrest if attempts are not made to take care of this burning issue. We have seen now and then sometimes cartoons are made in Danish newspapers and sometimes individuals like Terry Jones from Florida promote such hilarious and bundle of lies in order to defame and derogate the Prophet of Islam. Such acts must be discouraged and if we do not readdress this issue then we are paving our way to a hell on this earth. I would also like to mention that there are elements whom from time to time pass derogatory, defamatory remarks about Lord Jesus Christ and about other Prophets as well and about other religions as well. All such acts should be very strongly discouraged and cut off. 

It is now time for all the leaders of the world to sit together and combine with unanimous decision, reach a unanimous decision and legislate this law that should be practised in all countries of the world. This law will not mean that people who do not want to practise a religion will be forced to practise a religion, or people who do not want to respect a Prophet will be forced to respect a Prophet. It’s not about making people respect Prophets and Messengers forcibly, it’s not about you being forced to practise a religion or to love or respect a Prophet. It is about protecting emotions of others because there are millions of people who either are Christian or Muslim or Hindu or Sikh. A religion is a very delicate matter and anything carelessly said can spark a flame of hatred and that flame of hatred can gut the entire humanity down if steps are not taken today.

Messiah Foundation International represents the Goharian Philosophy of Divine Love and Global Peace. Our message is love and peace. The love of God is the gist of all religions. We do not represent any particular faith or particular religion. However we have been taught and trained by His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi to respect all the religion of the world and to respect all the Prophets and Messengers of God and to respect all the Saints of God whether these Saints of God are Hindus, Sikhs, Jews, Christians or Muslims. It is now time that we allow ourselves to live in peace and let others live in peace. Live and let live.

I would like to quote Prophet Mohammad as saying, ‘If you defame somebody’s false God, you are paving way for them to offend your true God.’ 

So my friend, it doesn’t really matter whether you are a Christian or you are a Jew or you are a Muslim or you are Hindu or you are Sikh because the religions that you are following or the religion that you believe were established by Messengers sent by the same God. At the end of the day we are all creation of one God. Judaism, Christianity and Islam, all three are Abrahamic faiths. You are religious cousins you shouldn’t be fighting. You should be respecting each other’s space. Being Muslims, you cannot become a Muslim until and unless you love all the Messengers and Prophets sent by God starting from Adam and ending on Prophet Mohammad. One who says I respect all the Prophets and Messengers but I do not respect one of them, then that person does not qualify to become a Muslim, according to the Muslim faith. But unfortunately today what Islam teaches is not to be practised by Muslims of this contemporary time. It is a pity and what the Pakistanis have depicted under the banner and label of a protest against that controversial film does not really suggest to me that these people sincerely respect Prophet Mohammad. They do not respect Islam. They do not respect Prophet Mohammad. They are opportunists. They are seeking for an opportunity to loot and plunder and it is very sad. Thank you very much.


The Representative of Imam Mehdi,

                                                                                Younus AlGohar

Reply to ‘Innocence of Muslims’: The Reality of Prophet Mohammad

This film has recently come to the attention of Muslims in the Arab world when scenes from the film were translated into Arabic and uploaded onto YouTube. Consequently, in the Libyan city of Benghazi a group of people set the American embassy on fire, killing the American Ambassador along with three other diplomats, who died as a result of suffocation caused by the fire. In addition the American embassies in Yemen and Egypt were attacked. Protests are also being held in Pakistan, Bangladesh and other countries. These types of issues come up from time to time. Sometimes a Danish newspaper prints cartoons with the intent to mock Prophet Mohammad and now this new issue is a very blasphemous act. 

The producer of the film has shown that Prophet Mohammad was born two years after the demise of Abdullah therefore they are saying the Prophet does not have a father. Unfortunately Muslims cannot answer this question but I, being Representative of Imam Mehdi Gohar Shahi, would like to answer this question and I would like the whole word to take a note of this answer.

The producer may be very happy in his heart that he has ignited an unanswerable debate and no Muslim can answer on this subject. But His Divine Eminence Gohar Shahi is here, Imam Mehdi is here and Imam Mehdi is going to do the justice. 

Prophet Mohammad is as holy as the Messenger in Judaism, as the Messenger in Christianity or any other Messenger who may have been sent by God to establish any other religion. Other religions may not believe that Prophet Mohammad is the Leader of the Prophets but they will have to believe the fact that Prophet Mohammad is a true Messenger from God and is the founder of the latest religion, Islam. Islam is a religion of peace, a religion of love, a religion of cleanliness, but this is the first time somebody has come up and presented, projected some contradictory points. 

This is a very blasphemous act. Blasphemy is of two types, one is to accuse somebody wrongly, disrespect them and one is character assassination, to distort the reality, slander, place allegations and to attribute somebody wrongly to that Personality. In my opinion this is an ideological attack. 

This film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ is not merely intended to blaspheme the Prophet of Islam but at the same time it is aimed at distorting the image of the Prophet Mohammad and the image of the religion of Islam and the goodwill of Islam and the authenticity of the religion. This film is not a proper film. This film was shot and initially the story was about ancient Egypt and then with some mischievous mastermind, dubbing was done on the film. It is said the film is a $5 million budgeted movie. That is not true; it appears to be a home production. The quality of the film suggests that this movie was not created by Hollywood. Had it been created by Hollywood it would have gone to the Toronto Film Festival, which never happened. It is also learned through different sources available on the internet like Reuters and other news agencies that the priest in Florida who burned the Quran in Florida and then went to Michigan and did the same in Michigan, is actively involved and he is being the centre of motivation behind this film. A hate crime can go to any extreme. 

Many questions are raised in the film and many points have been slandered about and allegations and the image that the producer has depicted of Islam and distortion of the image of Prophet Mohammad is strongly deplored and it is vehemently deplorable. Such an act cannot be attempted by any religious person no matter what religion does he belong to. As far as my understanding is concerned, this is a conspiracy to provoke Muslims and disturb the global peace at least one more time and to stir up the restful minds of the citizens of the world. 

Now, the producer said in the film as he depicted that Prophet Mohammad was born two years later than the demise of Abdullah therefore the Prophet does not have a father and they used a b-word. It is true Prophet Mohammad was born two years after the demise of the husband of the Prophet’s mother. So what? Jesus Christ doesn’t have a father at all, what does it mean? I totally understand and I agree that Prophet Mohammad was born two years later than the demise of Abdullah but what does it suggest? A filthy dirty mind can think of one thing only. That is his problem and it has nothing to do with reality. The problem is even the Muslims cannot comment on this particular subject because their knowledge is very limited and if it is not available in the Hadith (Prophetic Traditions) and in the Quran then they are really helpless. They cannot say anything on this topic. 

But I would like to convey this piece of truth to the world and I would like to tell them that His Divine Grace the Awaited Imam Mehdi, Gohar Shahi declares that Prophet Mohammad is not a son of man. Prophet Mohammad is not son of Abdullah so it doesn’t matter whether he is born after his demise or before his demise because it has nothing to do with Abdullah. Prophet Mohammad is NOT the son of Abdullah and it should be clear in the minds of everybody today.

Who is Mohammad?

You see sometimes God says something which keeps your heart restive and keeps your mind wandering about seeking for reality. When God is exhibiting his powers and his unknown intelligence, maybe he forgets that what he is doing might appear to the world as a contradiction. But unfortunately God is carefree and humanity has to pay for his carefreeness. Now Prophet Mohammad was born two years after the demise of Abdullah and then in Quran you hear a different story. The Quran says, ‘Say I am a man like you.’ 

If you go into the depth and you have the Spiritual Insight and you are spiritually connected with God and the Prophet himself then you will find out what is the real story. But if you are dependent upon what you read in the book it is not just possible to reach the reality without being assisted by the Prophet himself or by God. 

The Awaited One, Imam Mehdi Gohar Shahi said Gabriel came to visit the mother of the Prophet, Amina (the same angel who appeared to Sara the wife of Abraham). Sara was barren and she was not able to produce children. There was something wrong with her ovaries and she was not able to conceive a child. As a result of this incapacity of Sara, God advised Abraham to find a concubine and produce a child. Therefore an Egyptian named Hagar was approached and turned into a concubine and a child was conceived in the womb of that concubine from Egypt, Ismael. Later on God wanted to test Abraham, so when the child was still in his infancy, God commanded Abraham to leave the child and the mother in the mountains of Mecca. So he did. Then a series of miracles emerged. The little child was thirsty and he was running his legs upside down on the mountain and water erupted from underneath his feet which is now called ‘zam zam’. After God commanded Abraham to quit Ismael, his son, and his concubine Hager, Abraham returned to Sara and sometime later the Archangel Gabriel appeared and said to Abraham, ‘God is going to give you a child from your barren wife.’ Look at the mysterious ways of God. He could have done it before but he didn’t do it. Abraham said but she is a barren woman how can she conceive a child? Gabriel said, ‘What God wishes, it happens.’ Abraham was left with no other words but to say yes you are right and Gabriel ran his palm over the backbone of Sara and this is how she conceived Isaac. Is there anybody in the entire western, eastern, northern, southern world who could say with authority and authenticity that Isaac is a son of man and his father is unknown? Abraham’s wife Sara was barren woman. She was not able to conceive a child but then she conceived a child who later on became the leader of Bani Israel, Isaac. His father is unknown. If Prophet Mohammad’s father is unknown today I do not see anything wrong with that. It doesn’t surprise me; it shouldn’t surprise you either as long as you have some common sense in your brain. 

Now the father of Jesus not known, the father of Isaac is not known. The leader of Christianity, the father of Jesus is not known. The most authentic Prophet in the Abrahamic faith, the father religion, Judaism is Isaac, the father of Bani Israel (Children of Israel) and his father is not known. If Prophet Mohammad’s father is not known it shouldn’t surprise you because your Prophetic ancestral system does not have a father. But is it a bad thing not to have a father? If it is a bad thing not to have a father then the entire humanity is bastard because Adam doesn’t have a father. If not having a father is bad then the entire humanity is a bastard because Adam doesn’t have a father and we are all children of Adam. Whether it is from England, America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, all come from one progeny, the progeny of Adam and Adam doesn’t have a father. If he doesn’t have a father does it mean Adam is a bastard? [Freedom of Speech] Why? Is it because he is Adam? He was created by God in the paradise. 

I agree Prophet Mohammad doesn’t have a father. That is true. This is not a disputed matter. Prophet Mohammad doesn’t have a father but then how was he conceived? How was he born? Who is Prophet Mohammad? Who is his father? We know how Adam was created. It makes sense because we all believe whether according to the Quran or Bible or Torah or Talmud or Psalms of David, God is able to do anything. God can do anything and not just the Muslims but also Christians and Jews believe it. God can really do anything, even things that you cannot expect him to do. 

His Divine Grace Imam Mehdi Gohar Shahi explains, ‘The same Archangel Gabriel who appeared to Abraham and ran his palm over Sara’s backbone and Isaac was conceived, the same Archangel Gabriel appeared to the mother of Prophet Mohammad.’ 

What did he do? He brought a white liquid with him and then he mixed a special Seed of Light which he brought with him from the Higher Realms (Alam-e-Jabrout) and that seed is called Shajarah tul Noor (Seed of Light). He gave it to the mother of Prophet Mohammad, Amina. She drank it and with that drink she became pregnant. This is how Prophet Mohammad was conceived. 

Jesus Christ was conceived after God used his power of Command Be. In the Bible Jesus said I am the light of the heavens and the worlds. In the Quran God said, 

قَدْ جَاءَكُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ نُورٌ وَكِتَابٌ مُبِينٌ

[5:15]

Surely Noor (Divine Light), light from God has reached you and the Holy Quran. Two things are mentioned in this verse, the light from God and the Holy Quran. ‘Kitab un Mubeen’ is referred to the Quran but what about this Noor? What is this Noor referred to? This Noor is referred to Prophet Mohammad. This is Prophet Mohammad’s personal introduction to himself.

Prophet Mohammad said that himself, ‘In the first instance when God initiated the act of creation, the first thing he created was my Noor.’ (اول خلق اللہ ما نوری)

Then Prophet Mohammad said, ‘I am from the light of God (Noor) and Momineen were created with my Noor.’ (انا من نور اللہ والمومنین من نوری)

Prophet Mohammad also said, ‘One who has seen me he has surely seen God.’ 

The reality of Prophet Mohammad is Noor. Prophet Mohammad doesn’t have a father, Isaac doesn’t have a father, Jesus doesn’t have a father because these Personalities are special creations of God and it is up to God what method of creation does he use, to produce such Spiritual Dignitaries. It is entirely up to God. Sexual reproduction is not the only way of production. There are many types of reproduction. For example a female peacock drinks the teardrops of the male peacock and this is how the female peacock becomes pregnant. This is not sexual reproduction, is it? There are more than one ways of production so it is entirely up to God what method of reproduction does he want to use. He is able to do anything and from time to time he gives examples to let people know that he is using different methods. 

Prophet Mohammad, in reality is not a human being but the Light of God in the form of a human being. For example, two angels, Harut and Marut were sent to Egypt and they taught somebody magical words as a result of which they were punished by God and still they are hanging upside down in a water-well in a city of Egypt, Babylon. They came in the guise of a man but just because they came in the guise of a man does it change their reality? It doesn’t change their reality.

To makes things simple, these actors and actresses who appear in the movies, when they are playing a character in the movie does it change their reality? It doesn’t change their reality. In a similar way God has sent many different types of human beings. Some human beings were made of fire and some human beings were made of clay. Some human beings were made of clay from the Higher Realms, heaven, while most of the humans were made with the clay of this earth. 

Prophet Mohammad in reality is an image of God. The Bible said God created man in his own image and Prophet Mohammad said, ‘God said I created Adam in my own image.’ But as we understand Adam is not the first creation. The first creation is the soul of Prophet Mohammad. He created Prophet Mohammad in his own image. Jesus is also the image of God. Abraham is also the image of God. If you disgrace, derogate, defame or blaspheme these Holy Dignitaries you are only pushing yourself to hellfire. Not only the fact that you are pushing yourself into hellfire by doing such indecent, immoral acts but also it announces to the world how filthy, how dirty and how immoral you are. 

Indeed Prophet Mohammad does not have a father but the Prophet Isaac and Jesus Christ also do not have a father. The Prophet Isaac was conceived after the Archangel Gabriel touched his palm on Sara's backbone and Jesus Christ was conceived after God used his power of Command Be and the Prophet Mohammad was conceived after the Archangel Gabriel gave Amina a white liquid mixed with a Seed of Light which she drank and conceived Prophet Mohammad. If not having a father concludes to being a bastard then the entire humanity is bastard because Adam too does not have a father.

Persuasive Ignorance of Freedom of Speech

The controversial film, ‘Innocence of Muslims’ is said to have fueled the fatal attack on the American Consulate in Libya resulting in the death of the American Ambassador and three other diplomats. The trailer of the movie was posted on YouTube by an independent film-maker by the name of ‘Sam Bacile’ sometime in July however the recent translation of the trailer into Arabic has outraged Muslims especially in the Middle East. The film not only ridicules Islam but blasphemes the Prophet of Islam. It assassinates the character of Prophet Mohammad, who is one of the 5 Grand Messengers sent by God. Islam like the other Abrahamic faiths (i.e. Christianity and Judaism) teaches its followers to respect all religions and prophets. Those who are associated with the production of the film claim to be Coptic Christians. Is this what religion teaches us to ridicule and blaspheme the prophets and Holy Scriptures of other religions? It is obvious the director has no insight whatsoever into the religion of Islam nor does he have any knowledge about the character of Prophet Mohammad. It is evident this is a mischievous attempt to incite violence. 

As if the trailer was not enough, the director claims to be an Israeli-born American and claims the film cost $5 million (low picture quality, amateur acting and errors in dubbing suggest otherwise) which in turn was funded by 100 Jews. But Israel confirms nobody by that name is a citizen of Israel and Israel has no part in the production of this film. There is no property, phone, licenses or court records of a ‘Sam Bacile’. However ‘Sam Bacile’s’ cell phone was tracked down by the Associated Press to an address in California aligned with the cell phone number. They found a man named Nakoula Basseley Nakoula who said he was not the director ‘Sam Bacile’ however he was the manager for the production company and claims to be a Coptic Christian (native Egyptian Christian). Strange enough he is a convicted criminal and has a history of bank fraud and based on his middle name ‘Basseley’ has used multiple names to commit fraud. Another Christian activist involved in the project named Steve Klein (profiled as a right-wing Christian extremist) said that Bacile was in fact a pseudonym and neither was he Jewish or Israeli. He further added that Bacile fears for his family’s life back in Egypt. How odd. He is Israeli lives in America and his family is back in Egypt? There are too many loopholes in this story and it appears that nobody wants to take the credit for this film, possibly out of fear for their life as it is quite evident the maker of this film was aware of the strong reaction and potential consequences this film would bring from the Muslim World, hence he chose to hide his identity and is now in hiding. 

What is more unsettling, the actors claim to have been manipulated and taken advantage of. They claim the film was based on life in Egypt some 2000 years ago and was to be called ‘Desert Warrior’. Their dialogues in the film had no religious reference to Islam or Prophet Mohammad. During the post-production however these references were dubbed into the film by other actors to alter the dialogues. A joint statement released by the cast and crew stated that they had been ‘grossly misled about its [the film’s] intent and purpose. Hollywood has no record of this particular project nor had it passed a Hollywood screening. The film had only been released in one American theatre several months ago. 

Now the question is had this movie really cost $5 million to make, would its screening and release go uncelebrated? If this film was indeed the true face of Islam and portrayed the character of the Prophet, why is the film maker in hiding and afraid to reveal his identity? Why is he not openly promoting his film? Instead he contacted the most controversial pastor, Terry Jones, who caused fury amongst Muslims by burning a copy of the Quran (Muslim Holy Scripture) to help promote this film, further adding fuel to the fire. 

One can’t help but notice that all those involved from the production to the promotion of this film seem to have be extremist, anti-Islamic, and have a rather hostile approach towards Islam and Prophet Mohammad, calling Islam a ‘cancer’, etc.

The film maker claims to have obtained fact about Prophet Mohammad and Islam directly out of the Quran and Hadith (Prophetic Traditions). How can you be so sure that the text of these particular references has not been altered? In 1400 years many versions of the Quran have been printed. What is the guarantee that the version you have used is 100% authentic, unaltered and the exact word of God? Today no celestial book has this guarantee. Look at the Bible. There are over 4000 versions of the Bible, Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Mark, etc. and each is different than the other. In addition the Quran was revealed upon the heart of Prophet Mohammad and the words he spoke were written by scribes and after the Prophet left this world, those texts were compiled into a book form known as the Quran. Furthermore many words in the Quran are in the language of ‘Suryani’ and this is the language that God speaks. Because the people of Arab did not understand Suryani they used to ask Prophet Mohammad what those particular words meant. The Prophet would give an explanation and those became known as Hadith. Even people who speak Arabic fluently do not understand every word in the Quran and with so many individual translations now available there is no guarantee of authenticity. 

Those who have taken the time to study Islam know that Islam is a peaceful religion and this film nowhere near depicts the character of Prophet Mohammad who was known to be ‘Sadiq’, the most honest and ‘Amin’ meaning people would entrust him with their belongings including the enemies. His character is what compelled people to believe that he was indeed a prophet from God. It is a shame that those who claim to be followers of God find it humorous to mock and assassinate the character of one of his beloved prophets. 

As far as the promotion of violence in Islam, this is the mischief of so-called Muslim clerics and scholars. In no way does Islam promote the killing of Christians, Jews, etc. In fact all true Muslims are required to have faith in all the celestial books (Quran, Bible, Torah, Talmud) and in all prophets and messengers sent forth by God. True Islam promotes brother-hood among the followers of the Abrahamic faith. The image of Islam today has been distorted courtesy of a handful of extremist groups who have manipulated people in the name of religion and in the name of God. People today do not understand the true meaning of the Quran and these extremists groups have imposed their own version of the Quran upon people and misguided them into committing horrific acts. That is not to say that all Muslim terrorists are innocent or are being forced to do so. As in every religion there are fanatics and extremists, same is the case in Islam. The difference is these radical groups have accumulated power and ammunition and the support of a few very powerful governments because of which they have been able to take control in some parts of the world and impose their thoughts brainwashing a large number. The result: the world assumes ALL Muslims to be fanatics and terrorists which is NOT the case. Most Muslims are peace-loving law-abiding citizens but thanks to a few their good name has been tarnished.

All in all this film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ was an act of mischief by a couple of extremists to provoke hatred and violence and possibly channel an inner grudge. The truth is whether it is Christians, Muslims or Jews, neither know enough truth about the others' religion. Based on the acts of a few lunatics we perceive the entire nation to be the same. As no two fingers are the same, not all followers of Islam, Christianity or Judaism are the same.

We all speak about freedom of speech and the right to voice our opinions. Fair enough it is a free country however that does not give us the right to violate this freedom. Character assassination, devaluing immorality is not anybody’s personal right or anybody’s personal freedom. Distorting the image of a Holy Personality is in no way a freedom of speech. It is one thing to criticise as criticism can bring about a positive change but to degrade and mock somebody’s belief system is by no means a valiant act. 

The Majestic Lord Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi