Challenge to ex-Ahmadis by Maarij R.

It is an interesting time to be an exAhmadi. A few days ago, Ahmadi apologist, blogger at [http://beforeyouleaveislam.wordpress.com] and co-host of The Conviction Project [ https://soundcloud.com/the-conviction-project-849627899] challenged the ex-Ahmadi community at large, saying: " Here’s my challenge to ex-Ahmadis. Show me what cooperation between your group looks like. Show me that your way is different from other groups. Pick a name for your group. Simple exercise." [tweet at: https://twitter.com/maarij_r/status/1267839338676736000]

He then went on a weird long rant on Twitter about how that can be done. The details can be viewed here: https://twitter.com/maarij_r/status/1267841719707537411 . It made little sense to me, but maybe someone can help me realize if there was some meaning/reason behind this challenge.

As a final step I guess, Maarij is now starting to taunt exAhmadis with his own suggested names: https://twitter.com/maarij_r/status/1267736121678745600

As I said, I don't know what could possibly be a reason to present this challenge. However, here are some interesting observations which might be relevant to this challenge:

1. AntiAhmadis regularly ask Ahmadis to acknowledge themselves as something other than Ahmadi. One of the reasons they give is that Ahmadis have various sects now: those who follow Mirza Masroor, those who follow an Anjuman, those who follow Abdul Ghaffar Janba, etcetera. Ahmadis claim this is persecution. I say Maarij's challenge is ironic.

2. AntiAhmadis often use names like Qadiyani/Mirzaee to refer to Ahmadis that follow Mirza Masroor Ahmed. Their logic is that those who supported the Ahmadiyya system in Qadiyan and supported the Mirza family as leaders should be called Qadiyani/Mirzaee. Ahmadis dislike these terms most passionately. This is mindboggling for Muslim AntiAhmadis who would love to be called Muhammad/Muhammadi [related to their Prophet's name] and Makki/Madni [related to their holy cities].

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3. Unlike Ahmadi sects, exAhmadis do not have a uniform ideology, set of beliefs or rituals. ExAhmadis come from varied faith and faithless backgrounds. Their commonality being one, that they were Ahmadis at some point in their life. Hence, christening themselves ex-Ahmadi. Some of us write blogs, some of us tweet, some of us write reddit posts/comments, some of us read and consume the content. None of this means that it is a religious obligation for any of us to agree with any of our views.