Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohammad Sayyed Tantawi

By Subhy Mojahid, IOL Staff

CAIRO, December 16 (IslamOnline.net) – Al-Azhar's Islamic Research Academy on Monday, December 15, renewed assertion that whosoever believes in the so-called Baha'iyyah or Qadyaniyyah is an apostate.

The academy said in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net, that Bahaites do not believe in Prophet Muhammad  as the seal of the all prophets.

It cited the Qur'anic verse, which reads: "Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets: and Allah has full knowledge of all things."

The affirmation as a response to a letter received by the academy from the Baha'iyyah society in Madagascar, an island in the Indian Ocean, east of Mozambique, southern Africa.

The society members wanted to know what Muslim scholars say about their sect.

The academy statement stressed that Baha'iyyah is "totally rejected" and "a heresy that runs counter to all principles of Islam".

It came to underline a similar ruling issued by late Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Gad Al-Haq Ali Gad Al-Haq, who said that Baha'iyyah  "is a mixture of various religions, sects and philosophies that is good for nothing".

The late prominent scholar said that the man-made belief served best Zionism and colonialism and "a set of ideas aimed at waging war on Islam in the name of religion".

According to Sheikh `Atiyyah Saqr, former head of Al-Azhar Fatwa Committee, "Baha'iyyah first started at the hands of Ahmad Al-Ahsani, who was notable among scholars in Karbila’, An-Najaf, and Iran.

"He has authored some books based on which he was accused of worshipping `Ali ibn Abi Talib. He was also accused of denying the resurrection of humans’ bodies, claiming that it would be merely a spiritual resurrection."

Some of the Baha'iyyah beliefs are Incarnation - that Allah was personified in the sect leader - the denial of the Day of Judgment and denial of Prophet Muhammad’s miracles and interpreting them as immaterial things.

There are many branches of their belief, foremost among which are the following:
a- The divine nature of the number "19" which is a Jewish concept. To them, the year consists of 19 months, the month consists of 19 days.

It is similar to masonry in that both of them are anti-religion by using deceiving slogans, such as the service to humanity.