Ghulam Ahmed Pervez

Who was Ghulam Ahmed Pervez?

Ghulam Ahmad Pervez was a prominent Islamic scholar from Pakistan, famous in the area around Lahore. He urged the Muslims to ponder deeply over the Message of the Quran. He considered Islam a din, a form of government, a system of government like democracy, autocracy, or socialism. He proclaimed that according to Islam all authority rests with "the law of God" as given in the Quran, whereby food and wealth are to be distributed equally to everybody. He preached that Islam was not a typical religion of rituals and superstitious beliefs but was a challenge to the very institution of organized religion.

His writings describe how Islam was treacherously transformed into a religion by kings who had perverted Islam for their vested interests. "The kings sponsored the creation and fabrication of hadith," he declared. Pervez denounced the Hadith which described Ayesha, the prophet's wife, as a nine-year-old girl. "These are fabricated stories written by the enemies of Islam," he said. He attempted to prove from historical record that Ayesha was much older when she married the prophet. Some contemporary Hadith Scholars declared Pervez a heretic for denying the authority and authenticity of the Hadiths. Pervez himself condemned the Mullahs for "always serving as agents of the rich people" and being "promoters of uncontrolled Capitalism." In 1951, Parvez criticized Jamaat-e-Islami through several articles in Tolu-e-Islam. "The mullahs have hijacked Islam," he said.