I am married with two sons. My husband converted to the Qadianiyya sect. Is my marriage to him valid?

Who are the Qadianiyya?

The Qadianiyya is a [religious] sect named after Qadian, a village in the Punjab area, India. It was founded by Ghulam Ahmad Al-Qadiani.

Birth and lineage

Ghulam Ahmad was born in 1839 CE in the village of Qadian and died on 26 May 1908 in the city of Lahore. He is buried in Qadian. It was said that his parents came from Samarqand and his lineage can be traced back to Mogul or Persian descent.
Ghulam Ahmad was born into a family loyal to their British colonialists; his father, Ghulam Murtada, forged close relations with the British government and occupied a position in the imperialist British government in India. In 1851, his father helped the British government against his country and fellow Muslims by providing the colonialists with soldiers and horses.

Intellectual background and movement
Ghulam Ahmad read extensively both in Urdu and Arabic. He occupied a job in Sialcot.
In 1877, he embarked on his evil mission and published his book, Barahin Ahmadiyya in several volumes. In 1885 he claimed that he was the mujadid [divine reformer] and in 1891 claimed to be the Anticipated Mahdi and the Promised Messiah. He said: "I am the Messiah, I am the word of God and I am both Muhammad and Ahmad." He claimed to be the best of all prophets.

Ghulam Ahmad was cunning; he did not explicitly antagonize Islam but adopted the guise of reformation and development. He delivered his message in stages—first he claimed that he was the Anticipated Mahdi, then he claimed to have received divine revelations, not as a law-bearing prophet, but as a deputy prophet like Harun was to Musa. He distorted the meanings of the noble Quran to fulfill his ambitions.

His son and successor, Mahmud, continued to propagate his father's [fraudulent] claims and course of disbelief. He said: "We consider anyone who does not believe in Qadianiyya a disbeliever because the Quran says that whoever denies any of the messengers is a disbeliever. Based on this, whoever denies that Ghulam Ahmad is a prophet and messenger is a disbeliever!" His second son complicated matters even more by saying: "Whoever believes in Musa but not in Isa, or believes in Isa but not in Muhammad is a disbeliever. The same is true of those who do not believe in Ghulam Ahmad, they are disbelievers."

Qadiani books claim that God sent a revelation to Ghulam Ahmad saying: "Whoever loves Me [i.e. God], must follow and believe in you [i.e. Ghulam Ahmad]; otherwise, he will be My enemy. We will reward those who deny and harm you with a grievous penalty—the abode of hellfire."

Tenets and beliefs

- The Qadianiyya sect denies that Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the seal of prophets. The say: "We believe that God continues to send Messengers to reform this community and guide it whenever necessary." This claim is a declaration of disbelief in itself. It contradicts the words of God the Almighty Who says: “Muhammad is not the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allah and last of the prophets. And ever is Allah, of all things, Knowing” [33: 40]. Moreover, it contradicts the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who said: "There is no prophet after me" [Bukhari].
The Qadianiyya sect attacks and disrespects the lofty status of the prophets, messengers, the rightly guided Caliphs and the Prophet’s pure Companions. They dishonor the great Companions Al-Hassan and Al-Hussein. Ghulam Ahmad wrote: "They say that I claim that I am better than Al-Hassan and Al-Hussein. Indeed, I am better than them and God will manifest this virtue of mine."

Distortion of Quranic verses

Qadianis distorted the meanings of the Quran. These distortions are too numerous to mention. What follows are some examples illustrating their reprehensible distortion of the Holy Quran:

The first verse

“Exalted is He Who took His servant by night from al- Masjid al-Haram [sacred mosque in Mecca] to al-Masjid al-Aqsa [al-Aqsa mosque in Palestine], whose surrounds We have blessed, to show him of our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, The Seeing” [17: 1].

In their interpretation of this verse, Qadianis claim that the Masjid of Al-Aqsa mentioned in this verse does not refer to the Holy Mosque in Jerusalem as agreed by exegists and historians but refers to the Masjid of Qadian. To substantiate their claim, they cite [erroneous] evidences—namely, that the destination of Prophet Muhammad's night journey was their mosque which lies in east Qadian. Ghulam Ahmad compares this mosque to the Sacred mosque in Mecca and claims that the words of God "And whoever enters it shall be safe" [3: 97] refer to it.

The second verse

“Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; and those with him are forceful against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves” [48:29].

Ghulam Ahmad claimed to be the prophet mentioned in this verse. He said: "Muhammad here [in this verse] refers to me, because God referred to me, in this and many other places, as Muhammad and Messenger." He was not reluctant to write this in his book Tabligh Al-Risalah.

The third verse

He also claimed that the following verses were addressed to him:
“And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds” [21: 107] and “…and bringing the good tidings of a messenger to come after me [61: 6].

Introduction of new doctrines
- Qadianis turned their devotees away from God, the Ka'ba, and the Sacred Mosque in Mecca. Instead, they took the city of Qadian as their qiblah (direction of prayer). They claim that their annual conference in Qadian is a pilgrimage. Their leader, Ghulam Ahmad, said: "Coming to Qadian is pilgrimage."
- Qadianis established a small city "Rabwa" in Western Pakistan and made it the sacred center for their [false] call.
- They call themselves "Al-Ahmadiyyah" to falsely attribute themselves to the Messenger of God (peace and blessing be upon him)—Ahmad being the alternative name of prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). In fact, they attribute themselves to the liar "Ghulam Ahmad".
- Ghulam Ahmad claimed that it is impermissible to pray behind any Muslim. He said: "This is my well-known madhab; it is impermissible for you to pray behind anyone—whatever his status may be and no matter how much people praise him—besides a Qadiani. This is the ruling of God and His will. Those who are dubious or weak of faith are considered disbelievers. God wants to distinguish you from them."
- Qadianis portray deception as piety. They permit prayers behind a non-Qadiani only to serve their interests but stipulate the repetition of the prayer.

Books authored by Ghulam Ahmad
Ghulam Ahmad claimed that he received a Quran from God which he called Al-Kitab Al-Mubin and [revelations] exceeding the revelations of all the other prophets.
He published a number of condemnable books full of delusions and fabricated claims. These include Barahin Ahmadiyyah, Izalat Al-Awham, Haqiqat Al-Wahy, Safinat Nuh, Tabligh Al-Resalah, and Khutbah Ilhamiyyah.

Protagonist of imperialism and abrogation of jihad
Ghulam Ahmad collaborated extensively with the British colonialists. He issued a flagrant religious edict abrogating jihad [striving for the cause of God], effectively debilitating Muslims in the face of their British colonialists whom he claimed, are the vicegerents of God on earth. He proclaimed that jihad has been abrogated as of that time.

Quotations from his books on the abrogation of jihad
- "God gradually prohibited jihad in His cause. Infanticide was permissible during the time of Musa, but the killing of children, women, and the elderly was abolished during the time of Muhammad. God completely abolished jihad in my time."
- "As of today, there shall be no armed jihad. Whosoever shall take up arms against a disbeliever and calls himself a ghazi [combatant] will have disobeyed the Messenger of God who, 13 centuries earlier, proclaimed that jihad will be prohibited with the advent of the Promised Messiah. I am the Promised Messiah! There shall be no jihad in my time—we call for reconciliation and benevolence."
- "I have spent the greater part of my life supporting the British government and opposing jihad. I will persevere until Muslims become loyal to this government."

The Qadianiyya and Muslim scholars

- In the 1930's, the poet of Islam, Mohammed Iqbal, wrote a series of articles on the Qadianis exposing their falsehoods and deception. Scholars, researchers and preachers also criticized the movement but it persisted in its evil path and transgressions supported by imperialism. The Qadianiyya exploited the people’s prevailing ignorance of religion and found a congenial social setting which provided a fertile environment for accepting its myths, foolishness, and delusions.

- The Qadianiyya is nothing more than a vicious imperialistic ploy that falsely and deceitfully claimed to be an Islamic sect. Islam is innocent of their claims. The imperialists managed to utilize this aberrant sect to achieve its goals, mainly defaming Islam and debilitating Muslims. But Islam will remain firm despite its enemies; God the Almighty says: “And Allah has full power and control over His affairs” [12: 21].
- There is a consensus among Muslims that the Qadianiyya creed is not an Islamic doctrine and its followers are apostates. God the Almighty says: “And whoever of you reverts from his religion [to disbelief] and dies while he is a disbeliever-for those, their deeds have become worthless in their world and the Hereafter, and those are the companions of the fire, they will abode therein eternally” [2: 217].
- Muslim scholars have unanimously agreed that the marriage of an apostate, whether to a Muslim or non-Muslim, is invalid unless he repents and reverts to Islam.
- The Islamic Research Assembly of Al-Azhar issued a declaration during the tenure of Sheikh Gad Al-Haqq Ali Gad Al-Haqq (may God have mercy on him) stating that the Qadianiyya is among the sects that bear no connection whatsoever to Islam but only assumes the guise of Islam.
- In August 2007, the Islamic Research Assembly renewed its declaration on the Qadyianiyya and explicitly stated that its followers are non-Muslims and that it has nothing to do with Islam. The declaration maintained this opinion even with the new amendments introduced into the Qadyianiyya’s new publications expounding the differences between the Ahmadiyya and the Qadianiyya. The Islamic Research Assembly also indicated that some people [mistakenly] consider the Qadianiyya an Islamic sect—a claim that Qadianis strive to propagate to achieve their interests.
- The Ahmadiyya claim that the points of difference between them and Muslims concern only minor matters. This is false since the beliefs of the Ahmadiyya/Qadianiyya, as expounded in their books, contravene what is necessarily known in religion to be true.
- In its 2nd meeting held on 16-17 Rabee' Al-Akhar 1406 A.H/22-28 December 1985 in Jeddah, the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, a subsidiary organ of the Organization of The Islamic Conference issued, a statement on the ruling for the Qadianiyya and its off-shoot known as the Lahoriyya, and whether or not they should be counted as Muslims. They concluded that the claims of Ghulam Ahmad to prophethood or his claims to divine revelations are a manifest repudiation of what is known in religion as necessary concerning the established and definitive [proof] that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the seal of prophets and that no one will receive divine revelations after him. Ghulam Ahmad's claims put him and his followers beyond the pale of Islam and they are apostates.
- The ruling for the Lahoriyya is the same even though they describe Ghulam Ahmad as a shadow and manifestation of our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).

- The Islamic Jurisprudence Council, a subsidiary body of The Muslim World League, issued resolution no.3 of its first session stating that it is unanimously agreed upon that the Qadianiyyah—also known as the Ahmadiyya—totally contravenes Islam; its followers are disbelievers and apostates and only pretend to be Muslims to deceive and delude people. All Muslims—governments, scholars, authors, intellectuals, preachers and others—should strive against this deluding sect and its followers worldwide.

- The Permanent Committee for Scientific Research and Fatwa in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia issued a fatwa declaring Qadianis disbelievers.

The ruling
A person who converts to Qadianiyya or Ahmadiyya is an apostate. Therefore the following rulings must be observed:
- It is impermissible for the inquirer who is a Muslim, to continue her marriage to her husband who converted to this sect.
- The marriage contract is invalid.
- Conjugal relations are considered adultery.
- It is not permissible for the husband to take custody of his sons when they reach the legal age for it lest they follow his faith. God the Almighty says: “And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers” [3: 85].
And God the Almighty knows best.