Ahmadiyyas: The Untouchables of Pakistan

Islamic zealots attack Ahmadiyya mosque in Bangladesh

By Amar Khan

Islam says that there will come a messiah before the end of time to lead the Islamic community. Qadyanis, aka Ahmadis (Ahamdiyyas), are a Muslim sect, who think that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908) was their messiah. This sect was founded by Ghulam Ahmad in Qadiyan, a place in India, towards the end of the 19th century. They are now divided into two groups: Lahori and international Ahamdi group. Qadyanis preach that the Jihad of the sword, initiated by the duo of Allah and Muhammad in the 7th century Arabia, is now abrogated. They aim to Islamize the world by dawa.

According to Pakistan Ordinance XX, the Ahmadiyya Muslims are not allowed to call themselves "Muslim" or "pose as Muslim"; it is punishable by three years in prison. This Ordinance and the 1974 Amendment in the constitution effectively gave the Pakistani state the copyrights to the term, "Muslim".

This is ridiculous in the extreme that Muslims waste more energy in giving fatwas to make Muslims non-Muslims than giving “dawah” to invite non-Muslims to Islam. Perhaps, dawah is a difficult task nowadays. Read more ...

Source: Islam Watch

Pakistani TV denounces Ahmadis as infidels, not Muslims

Also in Indonesia: Anti-Ahmadi "Demonstrations"

By Priya Abraham

Members of the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan who routinely experience persecution and now being subjected to a new wave of violence. Contrary to mainstream Islam, the Ahmadiyya community believe that their 19th century founder was a prophet. Most Muslims believe that Muhammad was Islam’s final prophet and there shall be no prophet after him. In countries such as Pakistan, such theological differences are not settled through civil debate. Instead, most Muslims view Ahmadis as heretics worthy of harassment, or even open murder.

Ahmadi fears of violence spiked again this month when a popular satellite channel, GEO TV, ran a September 7th program commemorating the 1974 decision by Pakistan’s parliament declaring Ahmadis as “non-Muslims.” On the show, moderated by Dr. Aamer Liaqat Hussain, some participants argued that the murder of Ahmadis is sanctioned as a religious duty.

Only a day after the broadcast, unidentified gunmen shot and killed Abdul Manan Siddiqui, an American doctor, in Sindh Province as he saw patients in his medical clinic. He was a regional Ahmadi leader, and a humanitarian. Only a day after the doctor’s murder, gunmen killed another Ahmadi leader in Sindh.

The Ahmadi community suffers persecution around the world, but is subject to particular discrimination under Pakistani blasphemy law. For example, Ahmadis who call themselves Muslims or name their sons Muhammad face imprisonment. Read more ...

Source: The Cutting Edge
H/T: Jihad Watch

Indonesian Muslims urge Ahmadiyya sect disbanded

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Several hundred Indonesian Muslims rallied on Monday in Jakarta and Surabaya, urging the government to disband the Ahmadiyya sect which many followers of Islam consider heretical.

The government of the world's most populous Muslim country has come under increasing pressure from hard-line groups in recent months to ban Ahmadiyya, whose followers refuse to accept the Prophet Mohammad as Islam's final prophet.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government issued a ministerial decree in June that stopped short of banning the sect, but warned that followers could face five years in jail for tarnishing religion.

Radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir addressed supporters of the hard-line organization Muslim Forum (FUI), including women and children, at a rally near the presidential palace in Jakarta on Monday.Read more ...

Source: Reuters
H/T: Dhimmi Watch

Publisher draws criticism from MuslimsCoverage of sect by Urdu weekly is an insult to faith, some residents say

Sheikh Najam Ali has faced death threats
and cancellations from advertisers since
publishing an Ahmadiyya ad

By Purva Patel

Pakistan Times publisher Sheikh Najam Ali has been looking over his shoulder every day for a month since running an ad that proved controversial in the local Muslim community.

The ad, announcing a local Ahmadiyya celebration and describing the faith as Muslim, prompted death threats from anonymous callers, cancellations from advertisers and the removal of his papers in bulk from various distribution sites, he said.

The ad and subsequent coverage of the event has drawn criticism from some Muslims who say Ali has insulted them by giving authenticity to a sect that they consider non-Muslim.

"I had no idea there would be this kind of reaction" said Ali, whose free Urdu weekly has a circulation of 15,000 in the Houston area. Read more ...

Source: Houston ChronicleSheikh Najam Ali
Latest recipient of The MASH Award

Indonesia to ban Ahmadiyya Muslim sect

Indonesia is drafting a decree that will ban a Muslim sect that has been branded heretical by most Muslims.

The Ahmadiyya sect views itself as Muslim but it has been branded a heretical group by the Indonesian Ulema Council, the secular country's highest Muslim authority, which has issued a fatwa against it.

A team with officials from two government ministries and the attorney general's office has recommended the government ban the sect because its teachings deviate from the central tenets of Islam. Read more ...

Source: ABC Australia