Op-Ed: Why Our Accusers Hide in the Shadows

There is an old Bedouin story about how to settle a dispute when there are no witnesses, your word against mine. A piece of metal is heated until it is glowing red. The one who speaks the truth places his hand on the burning metal and holds it there. The liar cannot. The belief is simple: truth gives a person a strength that defies human limits, while deceit makes the body shrink away.

It is the same principle behind the judgment of Solomon. Two women came before him, each claiming to be the mother of the same child. Solomon, to reveal the truth, commanded: “Cut the child in two, and give each woman half.” The false claimant was content to see the child die if she could not have it. The true mother, loving the child more than her own claim, yielded her rights to save its life.

This is the nature of truth. It sacrifices itself to preserve what it loves. Falsehood will burn the world if it means having its way.

Today, the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light is like that child, claimed by two voices. On one side, believers, led by Aba Al-Sadiq, are willing to risk everything for its survival, even their lives. On the other side, anonymous ex-member accusers seem willing to see the community destroyed if it will satisfy their grievance.

We see this distinction in history. Edward Snowden stood before the world, trading his homeland for exile. Chelsea Manning endured prison. Sherron Watkins risked her career exposing Enron’s lies. Journalists in oppressive regimes sign their real names to articles knowing they could be jailed or killed. Real whistleblowers walk into danger because the burden of truth is heavier than the fear of consequence.

And yet, when it comes to the so-called “ex-member testimonies” against our faith and our leader, there is not one single courageous voice among them. Not one. Every accusation in Vice, The Guardian, Be Scofield, and others like them has come from the shadows, faceless and nameless, without the courage to stand behind their words. Even Be Scofield herself is a mask, a manufactured persona, a false identity hiding in the dark while claiming to expose others. It is shadows speaking to shadows.

This saga is as old as the story of Adam. When Adam sinned, the first thing he did was hide from God among the trees. Sin drives a person into the shadows, away from the light of truth. Darkness has always been the dwelling place of demons, where secrecy, deceit, and betrayal thrive. Light has always been the realm of the angels, where purity, truth, and courage walk. The question is simple: in which realm do you choose to stand?

Aba Al-Sadiq is the ultimate whistleblower, a man who speaks out against entrenched corruption in religion and politics. He does so knowing full well that his enemies are not imaginary. They are governments and militias who control armies, sophisticated intelligence agencies, and networks of influence stretching across the globe, including the Iranian regime, Hezbollah, the Malaysian government, Muslim extremists, and even Western powers such as Sweden that have opposed us. Beyond these, there are hidden forces operating in the shadows whose reach we cannot fully see, and God knows, perhaps even the devil himself. These are not internet trolls. These are real-world, lethal adversaries with a history of carrying out assassinations, imprisonments, and disappearances against their opponents. And yet he still speaks. He could have chosen the safety of silence. Instead, he roars like a lion on a mountain.

And he is not alone. Believers in this path have proclaimed their faith openly in countries where doing so is dangerous, even deadly. In Egypt, our members were arrested for nothing more than their belief and remain locked away in Sisi’s dungeons, where no one can hear them scream. In Iran, believers have been imprisoned and tortured. In Malaysia, they have been criminalized. In Kenya and Somalia, they have been threatened and killed. These are men and women who risk their lives, their families, and their freedom, yet still stand in the light with their faces uncovered.

One of the tragedies of our age is how quickly the world will rush to believe a lie, especially if it is dressed in gossip and scandal, while ignoring the quiet, steady voice of truth. In the frenzy of public opinion, it is easier to feed on juicy accusations than to think rationally or even to listen to the other side.

We are told that these anonymous ex-members hide for fear of retaliation. But that excuse collapses under the simplest fact: we know who they are. We could name them today. We could publish the evidence of their hypocrisy, their hedonism, their greed, their lust, and the selfish behavior they displayed while living among us. We could drag their sins into the open for the world to see.

But we will not.

We do not fight fire with fire. We do not descend into the mud. We do not air the dirty laundry of those who once shared our homes, even though they have betrayed us. We refrain not because we lack proof, but because we have honor. We are oath keepers, and breaking bread is sacred to us, as it has always been sacred to all men and women of honor throughout history. We are the children of the Prophet Muhammad, and our conduct must reflect his nobility. Even when others break their trust with us, we will not break ours with them.

We carry with us the letter of appointment from the Prophet Muhammad. That alone should be enough for anyone truly seeking God. And even if every accusation hurled against us were true, it would not change that fact, nor alter the truth of the message we bear.

Being with the truth is like placing your hand on that burning metal. We live every day with the heat, risking loss of reputation, loss of life, opposition from family, enemies at our gates, and daily death threats. Perhaps this heat was too much for those who walked away. But those who remain have found that the same fire which burns also purifies.

There is a reason Cicero, the Roman statesman, warned: “No wise man ever thought that a traitor should be trusted.” Those who can break their oath to God can break any other trust, to friend, to family, to truth itself.

It is not wrong to disagree with our message. It is not wrong to choose another path. But it is wrong to swear loyalty and then betray it. And it is cowardly to attack from the shadows while others stand in the open, ready to face the fire.

Truth walks in the light. Lies hide in the shadows. And in the end, the heat of the metal reveals the truth.