The

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

branch of Islam has been subject to various forms of religious persecution and discrimination since the movement's inception in 1889. The Ahmadiyya Muslim movement emerged from the Sunni tradition of Islam and its adherents believe in all the

five pillars Five Pillars or five pillars may refer to: *Five Pillars of Islam, often regarded as basic religious acts of Muslim life * Five pillars puzzle, a mechanical puzzle also known as ''Baguenaudier'' and ''five pillars problem'' *''Five Pillars'' of ...

and articles of faith required of Muslims."The Ahmadi Muslim Community. Who are the Ahmadi Muslims and what do they believe? Waqar Ahmad Ahmedi gives a brief introduction to the Ahmadi branch of Islam."
''Times Online''. 27 May 2008. Ahmadis are considered non-Muslims by many mainstream Muslims since they consider

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad (13 February 1835 – 26 May 1908) was an Indian religious leader and the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam. He claimed to have been divinely appointed as the promised Messiah and Mahdi—which is the metaphori ...

, the founder of the movement, to be the promised

Mahdi The Mahdi ( ar, ٱلْمَهْدِيّ, al-Mahdī, lit=the Guided) is a messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the end of times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad w ...

and

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

awaited by the Muslims. The Ahmadis are active translators of the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

and proselytizers for the faith. However, in a number of countries, Ahmadis have faced strong resistance. In many Muslim-majority nations, Ahmadis have been considered heretics and non-Muslim, and subjected to persecution and systematic, sometimes state-sanctioned, oppression. The Second Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, Ordinance XX and the Twelfth Amendment of AJ&K declare Ahmadis to be non-Muslims and further deprive them of religious rights. Hundreds of Ahmadis were killed in the 1953 Lahore riots and the 1974 Anti-Ahmadiyya riots. The May 2010 Attacks on Ahmadi mosques, infamously known as the

Lahore Massacre The May 2010 Lahore attacks, also referred to as the Lahore massacre, occurred on 28 May 2010, in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, during Friday prayers. 94 people were killed and more than 120 others were injured in nearly simultaneous attacks against t ...

, resulted in the murder of 84 Ahmadis by suicide attack. The 1974 riots resulted in the largest number of killings of Ahmadis.

Pakistan

Approximately 2–5 million Ahmadis live in Pakistan, which has the largest population of Ahmadis in the world. It is the only state to have officially declared the Ahmadis to be non-Muslims as they do not consider Muhammad to be the final prophet; and their freedom of religion has been curtailed by a series of ordinances, acts and constitutional amendments. In 1974,

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

's parliament adopted a law declaring Ahmadis to be non-Muslims; the country's constitution was amended to define a Muslim "as a person who believes in the finality of the Prophet Muhammad". In 1984,

General Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...

, the then military ruler of Pakistan, issued Ordinance XX. The ordinance, which was supposed to prevent "anti-Islamic activities", forbids Ahmadis to call themselves Muslim or to "pose as Muslims". This means that they are not allowed to profess the Islamic creed publicly or call their places of worship mosques. Although derogatory religious slurs, the terms '

Qadiani Qadiani or Qadiyani ( ur, قادیانی, hi, क़ादियानी, pa, ਕ਼ਾਦਿਆਨੀ; ) is a religious slur used to refer to Ahmadi Muslims, primarily in Pakistan. The term originates from Qadian, a small town in northern Ind ...

', 'Qadianism', 'Mirzai' and 'Mirzaian' are widely used in Pakistan to refer to Ahmadis and the term 'Qadiani' is also the term used by the government in its constitution. Ahmadis in Pakistan have often come under

religious discrimination Religious discrimination is treating a person or group differently because of the particular beliefs which they hold about a religion. This includes instances when adherents of different religions, denominations or non-religions are treated u ...

and persecution. Ahmadis in Pakistan are also barred by law from worshipping in non-Ahmadi mosques or public prayer rooms, performing the Muslim call to prayer, using the traditional Islamic greeting in public, publicly quoting from the Quran, preaching in public, seeking converts, or producing, publishing, and disseminating their religious materials. These acts are punishable by imprisonment of up to three years. In applying for a passport or a national ID card, all Pakistanis are required to sign an oath declaring Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be an impostor prophet and all Ahmadis to be non-Muslims. As a result of the laws and constitutional amendments regarding Ahmadis in Pakistan, persecution and hate-related incidents are constantly reported from different parts of the country. Ahmadis have been the target of many attacks led by various religious groups in Pakistan."Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan: An Analysis Under International Law and International Relations".
''Harvard Human Rights Journal'', Vol 16, September 2003."Eight die in Pakistan sect attack"
, BBC News"Sect offices closed in Pakistan"
, BBC News All religious seminaries and ''

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

s'' in Pakistan belonging to different sects of Islam have prescribed essential reading materials specifically targeted at refuting Ahmadiyya beliefs.Rahman, Tariq
"Denizens of Alien Worlds: A Survey of the Education System of Pakistan"
Contemporary South Asia, 2004. p. 15. In a recent survey, students from many private schools of Pakistan expressed their opinions on religious tolerance in the country. The figures assembled in the study reflect that even among the educated classes of Pakistan, Ahmadis are considered the least deserving minority in terms of equal opportunities and civil rights. The teachers from these elite schools showed lower levels of tolerance towards Ahmadis than their pupils. Another example is

Abdus Salam Mohammad Abdus Salam Salam adopted the forename "Mohammad" in 1974 in response to the anti-Ahmadiyya decrees in Pakistan, similarly he grew his beard. (; ; 29 January 192621 November 1996) was a Punjabi Pakistani theoretical physicist and a ...

, the only recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics who identified as a Muslim. For his mere allegiance to the Ahmadiyya sect, he had been ignored and excommunicated. There are no monuments or universities named after him. The word "Muslim" has been erased from his grave stone.

1953

In 1953 at the instigation of religious parties, anti-Ahmadiyya riots erupted in Pakistan, killing scores of Ahmadi Muslims and destroying their properties. There was severe agitations against the Ahmadis, including street protests, political rallies, and inflammatory articles. These agitations led to 200 Ahmadi deaths. Consequently, Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad implemented

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

and dismissed Pakistan's Federal Cabinet.

1974 riots and constitutional amendment

In 1974, a violent campaign, led mainly by the

Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam Majlis-e Ahrar-e Islam ( ur, مجلس احرارلأسلام), also known in short as Ahrar, is a religious Muslim political party in the Indian subcontinent that was formed during the British Raj (prior to the Partition of India) on 29 Dece ...

and Jamaat-e-Islami, began against the

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

in Pakistan, on the pretext of a clash between Ahmadis and non-Ahmadis at the railway station of Rabwah. This campaign resulted in several Ahmadi casualties and destruction of Ahmadiyya property, including the desecration of mosques and graves. As a result of pressure from this agitation, legislation and constitutional changes were enacted to criminalise the religious practises of Ahmadis by preventing them from claiming they are Muslim or from "behaving" as Muslims. These changes primarily came about due to the pressure of the Saudi King at the time, King Faisal bin As-Saud, according to Dr Mubashar Hassan, Prime Minister Bhutto's close confidant at the time. Pakistan's parliament adopted a law that declares Ahmadis non-Muslims. The country's constitution was amended to define a Muslim "...as a person who believes in the finality of the Prophet Muhammad." Constitution of Pakistanbr>Art. 260(3)
, added b

S. 3 and amended b

S. 6Cf. ''Abdur Rahman Mobashir vs. Syed Amir Ali Shah Bokhari''
PLD 1978 Lahore 113

Ordinance XX of 1984

On 26 April 1984,

General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...

, the President of Pakistan, issued the anti-Ahmadiyya Ordinance XX, PPCbr>Ss. 298-B and 298-C
, added b

which effectively prohibited Ahmadis from preaching or professing their beliefs.''Mujibur Rehman vs. Federal Government of Pakistan''
PLD 1985 FSC 8
, affirmed by ''Capt. (Retd.) Abdul Wajid vs. Federal Government of Pakistan''
PLD 1988 SC 167
''Zaheeruddin vs. The State''
1993 SCMR 1718
, affirmin
PLD 1988 Quetta 22
and ''Khurshid Ahmad vs. The State''
PLD 1992 Lahore 1
The ordinance, which was supposed to prevent "anti-Islamic activities", forbids Ahmadis to call themselves Muslim or to "pose as Muslims". This means that they are not allowed to profess the Islamic creed publicly or call their places of worship

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

s. Ahmadis in Pakistan are also barred by law from worshipping in non-Ahmadi mosques or public prayer rooms, performing the Muslim

call to prayer A call to prayer is a summons for participants of a faith to attend a group worship or to begin a required set of prayers. The call is one of the earliest forms of telecommunication, communicating to people across great distances. All religions ...

, using the traditional Islamic greeting in public, publicly quoting from the

, preaching in public, seeking converts, or producing, publishing, and disseminating their religious materials. These acts are punishable by imprisonment of up to three years."Ahmadiyya Islam."
GlobalSecurity.org. 26 April 2005. Retrieved 14 December 2009. Ordinance XX and the 1974 amendment to the constitution effectively gave the state the exclusive right to determine the meaning of the term "Muslim" within Pakistan. Many Ahmadis were arrested within days of the promulgation of this ordinance, and it gave way for widespread sanctioned as well as non-sanctioned persecution. In 1986 it was supplemented by a new blasphemy provision PPCbr>S. 295-C
, inserted b

also applied to Ahmadis.

Shab Qadar incident

The Shab Qadar incident was a public

stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. The Torah and Ta ...

of two members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the town of Shab Qadar, in the

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

, Pakistan in April 1995. Amnesty International 8 April 1995, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
page 82 of its Annual Report (1995)
Dr. Rashid Ahmad and his son-in law, Riaz Ahmad Khan, were attacked as they were about to attend a court hearing in Shab Qadar. As they entered the court premises, a violent mob incited by local clerics attacked the men with sticks and stones. Riaz Khan was

stoned to death Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. The Torah and Ta ...

and his dead body stripped and dragged through the town on a rope. Rashid Ahmad was taken to a hospital in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

with serious injuries. A third Ahmadi, advocate Bashir Ahmad, escaped unhurt. This murder took place in front of the police. Riaz Khan even asked a police officer for help, but instead of helping, the officer pushed him away. According to Amnesty International, the police "stood and watched", and "...later pleaded that they could not have intervened in a situation like that." No one was detained or criminally charged for the killing. The victims—senior Ahmadiyya community members from Peshawar—had come from the provincial capital to file a bail application for another Ahmadi Muslim, Daulat Khan. Daulat Khan had been harassed following his conversion to the sect. Local Muslim clergy reportedly called for his death. Daulat Khan had been arrested and imprisoned on 5 April 1995 under sections 107 (abetment) and 151 ( disturbing the peace by joining in

unlawful assembly Unlawful assembly is a legal term to describe a group of people with the mutual intent of deliberate disturbance of the peace. If the group is about to start an act of disturbance, it is termed a rout; if the disturbance is commenced, it is then ter ...

) of the Penal Code. After the lynching of Rashid Ahmad and Riaz Ahmad Khan, Daulat Khan remained in custody and was further charged with posing as a Muslim and preaching Ahmadiyyat (section 298 C of the Penal Code) and insulting the religious sentiments of Muslims (section 295 A).

2000

On 30 October 2000, gunmen opened fire at an Ahmadiyya prayer meeting in the Pakistani province of Punjab, killing at least five worshippers and wounding another seven.

2005

In a 2005 survey in Pakistan, pupils in private schools of Pakistan expressed their opinions on religious tolerance in the country. The figures assembled in the study reflect that even in the educated classes of Pakistan, Ahmadis are considered to be the least deserving minority in terms of equal opportunities and civil rights. In the same study, the teachers in these elite schools showed an even lower amount of tolerance towards Ahmadis than their pupils. Ahmadis are harassed by certain schools, universities and teachers in Pakistan's Punjab province. The harassment includes social boycott, expulsions, threats and violence against Ahmadi students by extremist students, teachers and principals of the majority sect. On 7 October 2005, masked gunmen with

Kalashnikov rifle A Kalashnikov (Калашников) rifle is any one of a series of automatic rifles based on the original design of Mikhail Kalashnikov. They are officially known in Russian as "Avtomát Kaláshnikova" ( rus, Автома́т Кала́шник� ...

s stormed a mosque belonging to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in a village called Mong in

Mandi Bahauddin Mandi Bahauddin (Urdu and pa, ) is a city in northern Punjab, Pakistan. It is also the capital of Mandi Bahauddin District. It is the 41st largest city of Pakistan by population according to the 2017 census. It has exellent agricultural land ...

, shooting dead eight people and wounding 14.

2008

Two prominent members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community were murdered on 8 and 9 September 2008 after a program by

Aamir Liaquat Hussain Aamir Liaquat Hussain ( ur, ; 5 July 1971 – 9 June 2022) was a Pakistani politician, columnist and television host. Hussain was a top ranking TV anchor and was listed three times in The 500 influential Muslims worldwide, and was among 100 ...

provoking people to kill Ahmadis was aired on a prominent Pakistani television channel

Geo TV Geo Television Network is a television channel based in Pakistan. It was established in May 2002 and is owned by the Jang Media Group. The channel began its test transmission on 14 August 2002, with regular transmission beginning on 1 October 2 ...

a day earlier on 7 September.

2009

During the year 2009, eleven Ahmadis were killed, while numerous others became victims of attempted killings, according to a report titled "Persecution of Ahmadis in Pakistan during the year 2009" published by Nazarat Umoor-e-Aama Sadr Anjuman Ahmadia Pakistan. The report claimed that the actions of "Ahmadi opponents" had been encouraged largely by the prejudiced attitude of the authorities, and alleged that the federal government had been in denial of the human rights and religious freedom of the Ahmadis, especially the governments of Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

2010

28 May 2010 saw the worst single incident of violence against Ahmadis to date (see May 2010 attacks on Ahmadi mosques in Lahore), when several members of an extremist religious group (allegedly Tehrik-i-Taliban Punjab) entered two Ahmadi mosques in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

and opened fire; three of them later detonated themselves. In total, the attacks claimed the lives of 86 people and injured well over 100. The members were gathered in the mosques attending Friday services. In response to the attacks, Pakistan minister for minorities Shahbaz Bhatti visited the Ahmadi community. ;April Around 10 pm on 1 April 2010, three Ahmadis were returning home in their vehicle from their jewellery and cloth shops situated in Rail Bazaar in Faisalabad. As their car approached the Canal Road near Faisal Hospital, four or five unidentified militants in a white car ambushed them. The three Ahmadis were seriously injured when the men opened fire at them. The attackers managed to flee from the scene. The three men died before they reached the hospital. ;May Lahore attacks On 28 May 2010, two mosques in

belonging to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community were attacked by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan Punjab Wing (Punjabi Taliban). The attacks were carried out nearly simultaneously at Mosque Darul Al Zikr, Garhi Shahu and Mosque Bait Al Noor

Lahore Model Town Model Town Society (Punjabi, ur, ) is a gated neighbourhood in Gulberg, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. History Model Town, established in 1921, is a fruition of Dewan Khem Chand's lifelong dream to see the establishment of what he called “ G ...

, 15 km apart. More than 90 people were killed and 108 were injured in the incident. One attacker was killed; another was captured by worshipers. Three days later militants attacked the Intensive Care Unit of Lahore's Jinnah Hospital, where victims and one of the alleged attackers were under treatment. Twelve people, mostly police officers and hospital staff, were killed in the shootout. The assailants escaped. The Pakistani government did nothing to prevent this; as of yet they have not set up protection for Ahmadis. As of 28 May 2013 the two attackers captured had not been prosecuted, but early in 2015 courts took up the case and proceeded with sentencing. On 31 May 2010, an Ahmadi was stabbed to death and his son seriously injured when an assailant climbed the wall of their house with a dagger and attacked them. The son later died in hospital from serious wounds. The attacker escaped. Residents say that the assailant threatened to not leave any Ahmadi alive after having found motivation to kill them through a sermon given by a local Sunni cleric. ;September On 3 September 2010, an Ahmadiyya Mosque in Mardan was attacked during Friday Prayers by a terrorist when he opened fire at the Ahmadi guards there on duty. The guards fired back, injuring him. He threw grenades inside the mosque and later detonated his suicidal vest. The attack left one Ahmadi dead and three injured.

2011

On 7 September 2011, the mainstream

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Daily Jang'' published a special edition against Ahmadis. Throughout the year, Ahmadi students and teachers in the Pakistan's Punjab province have been systematically persecuted by schools and universities. The harassment has included social boycott, expulsions, threats and violence by students, teachers and principals of the Muslim majority sect.

In education

Ahmadi students faced discrimination in Pakistan in 2011 because of their faith.

2012

Faisalabad Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur (Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Pakis ...

, Quranic verses were removed from Ahmadi graves by the police. On 3 December 2012, In Lahore over 100 tombstones at an Ahmadiyya graveyard in Lahore were desecrated in the wee hours of Monday by masked gunmen, who specifically targeted graves with Islamic inscriptions. They proclaimed themselves members of a banned organisation, and said the Ahmadiyyas had no right to use Quranic verses on their gravestones, as they "are not Muslims". The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) condemned the destruction of over 100 tombstones at an Ahmadi graveyard on Monday and demanded the arrests of those responsible.

Anti-Ahmadiyya sentiment in media

Islamic fundamentalism Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a puritanical, revivalist, and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. Islamic fundamentalists are of the view that Muslim-majority countries should return ...

and Islamic extremism existed in the

Pakistani media Mass media in Pakistan ( ur, ) provides information on television, radio, cinema, newspapers, and magazines in Pakistan. Pakistan has a vibrant media landscape; among the most dynamic in South Asia and world. Majority of media in Pakistan is p ...

, causing them to start a hate campaign against Ahmadis.

2013

7 January 2013: Four Ahmadi employees of Black Arrow Printing Press accused of publishing allegedly blasphemous books, were arrested as they loaded a small truck with thousands of books and CDs. 26 March 2013: Local clerics attacked a house belonging to an Ahmadi family in the Shamsabad, a village of Kasur district of Punjab on Tuesday and subjected the family members to violence allegedly over their religious belief. The five members of Mansoor's family tried to take refuge in a room but the mob broke into the room as well. Mansoor was severely

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

d, after which he lost consciousness, while his wife and his 70-year-old uncle were also beaten. Police personnel were reportedly present at the spot but took no action against the mob. International Human Rights Commission Punjab Director General Munawar Ali Shahid said, "Several people here have told me that the Ahmadis had been socially boycotted for long. Police have taken no action to stop violence against them.". 30 April 2013: In Lahore, Gulshan-i-Ravi police arrested seven members of the Ahmadi community on Monday without an FIR, after close to 300 people protested in front of what was described as a place of worship of the community. A woman and her 10-year-old son were also arrested No, although no female members of the police accompanied them. 8 May 2013: Members of the Khatm-e-Nabuwat Lawyers Forum (KNLF) (anti-Ahmadi activists) and police dragged five members of the Ahmadi community from an anti-terrorist court to a police station and detained them for several hours.

2014

May 2014: American-Canadian Doctor Mehdi Ali Qamar, was gunned down in

Rabwah Rabwah (Urdu, pnb, ), officially known as Chenab Nagar ( ur, ), is a city in Chiniot, Punjab, Pakistan on the bank of Chenab River. It was the headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community since September 20, 1948 when the community reloc ...

while visiting Punjab, Pakistan to help train local doctors. 100 Ahmadiyas took refuge in China after their lives were in danger in Pakistan. * Three members of the same family including one woman and two minors were killed and nine other people were injured when an angry mob set a house on fire in Arafat Colony, Gujranwala.

2015

On the Friday evening of 20 November 2015, a large mob, in an alleged case of blasphemy, torched down a chipboard factory, in Jhelum, Punjab, Pakistan. Ahmadi Muslim employees were accused of desecrating the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

. The following day, rioters gathered in

Kala Gujran Kala Gujran (in Punjabi کالا گُجراں) is a town and union council of Jhelum District in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. It is part of Jhelum Tehsil, and is located at 33°10'48N 72°57'59E with an altitude of 467 metres (1535 f ...

, a town bordering Jhelum, and burned an Ahmadiyya mosque and a number of homes belonging to Ahmadi Muslims. Although no casualties have been reported, Ahmadi Muslims have been arrested, against whom a blasphemy case has been registered.

2016

A mob of around 1,000 people besieged an Ahmadi place of worship in Chakwal and had to be dispersed by police. Deputy Commissioner Chakwal Mahmood Javed Bhatti said the mob hurled stones and bricks at the place of worship before storming the building, adding that gunmen opened fire on Ahmadis in the area. The DC said that police dispersed the crowd and secured the building.

2017

In an address to the National Assembly, Captain Safdar Awan, the son-in-law of deposed PM Nawaz Sharif, demanded strict restrictions against Ahmadis, calling for complete curbs on Ahmadis in government, army, and private employment. He similarly questioned whether Ahmadis could be loyal to Pakistan. On 12 October 2017, 3 Ahmadis were sentenced to death for blasphemy after tearing down posters that allegedly contained anti-Ahmadi slogans, though prosecutors argued the posters carried religious significance. On 20 October, an anti-Ahmadi rally attracted 10,000 people where Ahmadis were denounced as "infidels" and "enemies of the state". After a row regarding barriers to Ahmadi's participation in elections, the Pakistani government took out ads reaffirming a religious oath requiring elected officials to vow that they do not follow anyone claiming to be a prophet after Mohammad and "nor do I belong to the Qadiani group", using a common derogatory term for Ahmadis.

2018

Azad Jammu and Kashmir Twelfth Amendment

On 6 February 2018, the

Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, also known as AJK Legislative Assembly, is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani administered state of Azad Kashmir, which is located in Muzaffarabad, the capita ...

approved an amendment declaring Ahmadis to be non-Muslims.

February

On 8 March 2018, Islamabad's High Court issued a judgement against Ahmadi Muslims and minorities which resulted in four major incidents against Ahmadis in Pakistan. The High Court ordered all citizens applying for any type of government job to declare their religious beliefs. Western human rights organisations have stated that this order is an attack on persecuted minorities in Pakistan, as well as a method to intercept Ahmadi politicians.

May

On 24 May 2018, a mob of several hundred people in

Sialkot Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...

, Pakistan attacked and demolished a historic and culturally significant 100-year-old Ahmadi mosque. Reports of collusion between the mob and local government officials were published, but police denied such accusations. A video on social media showed a crowd cheering on a local cleric who stated "I want to thank the Sialkot administration, the DPO (District Police Officer), DC (District Commissioner), the TMA (Town Municipal Corporation), from the bottom of my heart". The US, UK and international community strongly condemned this attack.

June

On 27 June 2018, in a hate crime linked to the 8 March High Court judgement, an Ahmadi was killed in Nishtar Colony, Lahore.

July

On 9 July 2018, five Ahmadi Muslims in Karachi, Pakistan were shot in two incidents of hate crime. Three were injured and two were killed. In the first attack, an Ahmadi couple were attacked in their home, the wife was shot in the thigh by attackers. In the second attack, Mubeen Ahmed, 20, was killed by robbers entering his office, and two colleagues were injured.

August

On 24 August, the second day of Eid, an Ahmadi Mosque in Ghaseetpura,

was burnt down, resulting in 30 people being injured out of which 6 were Ahmadi. Reports suggest that the violence was initiated due to a "petty dispute" over roosters.

2019

On 25 October, parts of a historic 70-year-old Ahmadi Mosque in the Murad District of

Bahawalpur Bahawalpur () is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. With inhabitants as of 2017, it is Pakistan's 11th most populous city. Founded in 1748, Bahawalpur was the capital of the former princely state of Bahawalpur, ruled by the Abbasi fa ...

was demolished without notice and the Ahmadis who recorded it were charged by Police. The demolition was led by Mohammad Tayyab, Assistant Commissioner of

Hasilpur Hasilpur ( Punjabi and ur, ), is a city in Hasilpur Tehsil of Bahawalpur District in southern Punjab, Pakistan. The city is located between the Satluj River and the Indian border and lies east of the district Bahawalpur Bahawalpur () is ...

2020

July

On 1 July, an Ahmadi graveyard in Chak No-79 Nawa Kot, District Sheikhupura was vandalised where Ahmadi graves were desecrated. On 13 and 14 July, Ahmadi graves were desecrated by police following a protest by religious extremists in Tirigri village, Gujranwala.

August

In early August, a 61-year old man was murdered in

October

At the start of the month, on 5 October, an Ahmadi doctor was murdered in

by a gunman. In Mid October, a group of people, which included the head of the Youth State Parliament of Pakistan, desecrated a portrait of

in Gujranwala. Later on in the month, the Institute of Business Administration had decided to cancel an online lecture hosted by

Atif Mian Atif Rehman Mian ( ur, ; born 28 June 1975) is a Pakistani-American economist who serves as the John H. Laporte Jr. Class of 1967 Professor of Economics, Public Policy, and Finance at Princeton University, and as the Director of the Julis-Ra ...

due to threats received from extremists.

November

On November 9, an 82-year old man was killed by a gunman at a bus terminal. On November 20, a teenager in

Nankana Sahib Nankana Sahib () is a city and capital of Nankana Sahib District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is named after the first Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak, who was born in the city and first began preaching here. Nankana Sahib is the mos ...

opened fire on a family while they offering prayers resulting in the death of a doctor while injuring 3 other family members.

Persecution of Ahmadi students

Ahmadi students have faced extremist persecutions because of their faith in most popular universities and colleges of Pakistan including

University of Sargodha The Sargodha university (SU) is a public university based in Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. History The ''De'Montmorency College'' was established at Shahpur Sadar in 1929. Later, it was renamed to ''Government College Sargodha''. The college was s ...

. On September 23, 2022, a school in Punjab’s Attock district on Friday expelled four Ahmadi students over their confession.

Other countries

Afghanistan

Persecution of Ahmadis in Afghanistan began in the early 20th century within the lifetime of Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the movement. Abdur Rahman, a disciple of Sayyid Abdul Latif of

Khost Khōst ( ps, خوست) is the capital of Khost Province in Afghanistan. It is the largest city in the southeastern part of the country, and also the largest in the region of Loya Paktia. To the south and east of Khost lie Waziristan and Kurram ...

—a reputable religious scholar who was the tutor and adviser on religious affairs to the Prince (later Amir)

Habibullah Khan Habibullah Khan (Pashto/Dari: ; 3 June 1872 – 20 February 1919) was the Emir of Afghanistan from 1901 until his death in 1919. He was the eldest son of the Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, whom he succeeded by right of primogeniture in October 1901 ...

—visited

Qadian Qadian (; ; ) is a city and a municipal council in Gurdaspur district, north-east of Amritsar, situated north-east of Batala city in the state of Punjab, India. Qadian is the birthplace of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya m ...

upon the latter's instruction. Having stayed there in the company of Ghulam Ahmad for some time and having pledged allegiance to him he returned to Afghanistan where he began preaching against the common notion of Jihad as war. This information eventually reached the King, Amir

Abdur Rahman Khan Abdur Rahman Khan GCSI (Pashto/Dari: ) (between 1840 and 1844 – 1 October 1901) was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to his death in 1901. He is known for uniting the country after years of internal fighting and negotiation of the Durand Line Ag ...

, who had him arrested and he was later strangled to death while in prison. It is not clear however whether this was a state-sanctioned execution or simply murder. He is considered the first martyr of Ahmadiyya Islam. About two years later, Abdul Latif himself visited Qadian before starting on the hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) and stayed there for a few months also joining the Ahmadiyya movement before returning to Afghanistan in 1903 to proselytise to his King, Amir Habibullah Khan. Upon reaching Khost, he wrote to some courtiers who decided to have him arrested and brought to

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

. He was put to trial and examined, first by the Amir, then by Sirdar Nasrallah Khan, another leading cleric, and then by a jury of twelve religious clerics, only two of whom gave a verdict of apostasy against him which carried the death penalty in Afghanistan. The Amir thus charged him with apostasy. On 14 July 1903, after being repeatedly asked to renounce his beliefs and recant and refusing to do so, he was stoned to death before a large crowd. Frank A. Martin, the English Engineer-in-Chief to the government of Afghanistan at the time, who had witnessed the execution, giving an account of it in his book ''Under the Absolute Amir'', writes: Ahmadis see in the cholera epidemic that Kabul experienced within a month of the stoning, a sign of his and the movement's truth. By the 1920s, nearly ten Ahmadis were stoned to death in Afghanistan and it is reported that a total of about three Ahmadis had been executed in Kabul during this period. In the 1920s, King

Amanullah Khan Ghazi Amanullah Khan ( Pashto and Dari: ; 1 June 1892 – 25 April 1960) was the sovereign of Afghanistan from 1919, first as Emir and after 1926 as King, until his abdication in 1929. After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War in August 1 ...

had several Ahmadiyya members forcibly reverted, and in 1924 affiliation with the Ahmadiyya became a capital offense. Since then, no Ahmadiyya Muslims have been reported in Afghanistan, but a possibility of their existence remains.Yohanan Friedmann: ''Prophecy Continuous: Aspects of Ahmadi Religious Thought and Its Medieval Background'', Oxford University Press India 2003, pp. 26–29

Algeria

In March 2016, Algerian authorities refused an attempt by Ahmadis to register as an association under Algerian law. In June 2016, a planned Ahmadi mosque was raided and shut down in Larbraa. Since March 2016, more than 280 Ahmadis have been arrested and have faced prosecution. Algerian officials have publicly called Ahmadis heretics and a threat to Algeria. In June 2016, The Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments, Mohamed Aissa, described Ahmadi presence in Algeria as part of a "prepared sectarian invasion". In February 2017, he stated that Ahmadis are "not Muslim". In April 2017, Ahmed Ouyahia, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's chief of cabinet called on Algerians to "preserve the country from the Shia and Ahmadiyya sects".

Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, Ahmadis have been targeted by various protests and acts of violence, and fundamentalist Islamic groups have demanded that Ahmadis be officially declared ''

kafir Kafir ( ar, كافر '; plural ', ' or '; feminine '; feminine plural ' or ') is an Arabic and Islamic term which, in the Islamic tradition, refers to a person who disbelieves in God as per Islam, or denies his authority, or reject ...

s'' (infidels). Some adherents of Ahmadiyya have been subject to "house arrest" and several have been killed. In late 2003 several large, violent marches, led by Moulana Moahmud Hossain Mumtazi, were directed to occupy an Ahmadi mosque. In 2004, all Ahmadiyya publications were banned. 12 February 2019 Ahmadiyya Muslim community is attacked by Radical Islamist group in Bangladesh. ISIS claimed the attack.

Belarus

In 2007, the Ahmadiyya Muslims were banned from practising their faith openly in the state of

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

and given a similar status to other banned religious groups in the country. Unable to obtain state registration, Ahmadi Muslims in the country who number about 30 including 13 native Belarusians, cannot conduct their activities formally as a collectivity such as importing or distributing literature, gathering together for prayers or meetings and having an official representative.

Belgium

In 2011 the far right party

Vlaams Belang , ideology = , predecessor = Vlaams Blok , position = , europarl = Identity and Democracy , european = Identity and Democracy Party , youth_wing = Vlaams Belang Jongeren , colours = ...

organized a demonstration against the projected building of an Ahmadi mosque in the

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

municipality of

Uccle Uccle () or Ukkel () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). It is generally considered an affluent area of the city an ...

, allegedly out of fear for a "war of religions" between radical Sunnis and Ahmadis in the streets of the municipality.

Bulgaria

In 2003, persistent attempts were made in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

by a local prosecutor and the national state Religious Affairs Directorate to strip Ahmadi Muslims of their legal status. Ahmadis in Bulgaria, who (at the time) claimed some 400 members across the country, were refused registration as a religious community on the grounds that they were "against the religions that people follow here" and that "other countries—such as Pakistan—also attack the religious freedom of Ahmadis, who are considered to be heretical by many Muslims". Failing to obtain a legal status, the Ahmadiyya community decided to seek registration as a non-commercial organisation with the Blagoevgrad Regional Court, where one of its biggest congregations is based. This too was rejected on the grounds that "the community had been denied registration as a religion" and that "only registered religious communities are allowed to create non-commercial entities to promote their faith". However, the community was able to successfully challenge this latter decision and gained registration as such in December 2005. Subsequently, their legal status as a non-commercial organisation was again opposed by the Religious Affairs Directorate and the Regional Prosecutor's Office lodged a suit to the regional court calling for it to revoke the registration. The Bulgarian authorities citied the Pakistani government's legal measures against the Ahmadis as a reason to restrict their rights also. Most human rights and religious freedom activists have seen this denial of registration to the Ahmadi community as an exception.

Egypt

There has been a recent rise of persecution of Ahmadis in Egypt. In March 2010, nine Ahmadis were detained for allegedly insulting Islam.

Gambia

Since its earliest history in the Gambia in the 1950s, Ahmadis have continued to face resistance and religious intolerance from certain Muslim clerics and Islamic bodies in the country. More recently, in 2014, a leading Gambian Muslim cleric, Alhaji Abdoulie Fatty, who was also the Imam of the State House of the Gambia at that time, called for the expulsion of Ahmadi Muslims from the country. Having described Ahmadi Muslims as non-Muslims, he called for a ban on the propagation of Ahmadiyya teachings in the Gambia. In January 2015, the government-financed Gambia Supreme Islamic Council aired on state television and other state and print media its decision to declare the Community, as a non-Muslim group. The move was condemned by Baba Trawally, the Ameer (National President) of the Gambian Ahmadiyya community and Demba Ali Jawo, former president of the Gambia Press Union.

India

In India, Ahmadis are Muslims by law. This is supported by a verdict from the Kerala High Court on 8 December 1970 in the case of ''Shihabuddin Imbichi Koya Thangal vs K.P. Ahammed Koya'', citation ''A.I.R. 1971 Ker 206''. In this landmark ruling, the court determined that Ahmadis are Muslims and that they cannot be declared apostates by other Muslim sects because they hold true to the two fundamental beliefs of Islam: that there is no god but Allah and that

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

is a messenger of God. There were two similar judicial pronouncement that happened in Colonial India that is the 1916

Patna High Court The Patna High Court is the High Court of the state of Bihar. It was established on 9 February 1916 and later affiliated under the Government of India Act 1915. The court is based in Patna, the administrative capital of the state of Bihar, ...

verdict on ''Hakim Khalil Ahmad v Malik Israfi case'' and the 1922 Madras High Court verdict on ''Narantakath Avullah v. Parakkal Mammu case.'' The

counsel on both these cases was

Muhammad Zafarullah Khan Chaudhry Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan ( ur, ‎; 6 February 1893 – 1 September 1985) was a Pakistani jurist and diplomat who served as the first Foreign Minister of Pakistan. After serving as foreign minister he continued his internati ...

. While Ahmadis are considered Muslims by law and there are no legal restrictions on their religious activities, they are not permitted by fellow Muslims of other sects to sit on the

All India Muslim Personal Law Board The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) is a non-government organisation constituted in 1973 by that time Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi to adopt suitable strategies for the protection and continued applicability of Muslim Personal ...

, a body of religious leaders that the Indian government recognizes as representative of

Indian Muslims Islam is India's second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, approximately 172.2 million people identifying as adherents of Islam in 2011 Census. India is also the country with the second or third largest number of Muslim ...

. One of the most prominent holy place of

s, the birth place of founder

is situated in

Gurdaspur district Gurdaspur district is a district in the Majha region of the state of Punjab, India. Gurdaspur is the district headquarters. It internationally borders Narowal District of Pakistani Punjab, and the districts of Amritsar, Pathankot, Kapurthala ...

Punjab, India Punjab (; ) is a state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the north and northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, and ...

2008

Ahmadis were denied permission to meet in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

because of the protests from the Islamic groups. On 19 August 2008 Islamic cleric named Maulvi Habib-ur-Rehman incited hatred for the people in a rally. On the night of 21/22 August 2008, three Ahmadis were attacked. Their properties were damaged. In all, six persons were attacked.

2009

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, the body of a 36-year-old Ahmadi woman of the community was exhumed and desecrated by "anti-social elements" from a graveyard. at Royapettah on 1 June. Ahmadis alleged the police intervention in this issue. They did a press conference. They told the detailed of the incident and persecution faced by Islamic clerics. Madras High Court has ruled that Ahmadis are Muslims. Muslims led by Shahi Imam Habib-ur-Rehman Sani protested against Jalsa Salana. Muslims all across the state have joined hands in the protests. Indian finance minister

Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...

was likely to attend the Jalsa Salana. Muslims damaged his office and blocked the traffic for stopping the annual convention of Ahmadis. Police imposed

curfew A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...

for three days. Many people were injured and one Sikh died. When the convention was held, the protestors presented anti-Ahmadiyya document to the chief commissioner to be forwarded to Prakash Singh Badal. The protest was organized in all the big mosques of Punjab.

2010

Islamic clerics threatened the

Mayawati Kumari Mayawati (born 15 January 1956) is an Indian politician. She has served four separate terms as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. She is the national president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which focuses on a platform of social cha ...

government to remove mentions of the Ahmadiyya sect from the

syllabus A syllabus (; plural ''syllabuses'' or ''syllabi'') or specification is a document that communicates information about an academic course or class and defines expectations and responsibilities. It is generally an overview or summary of the curric ...

2011

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, Darul Uloom Deoband asked

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

's government to ban Ahmadis from the hajj and

umrah The ʿUmrah ( ar, عُمْرَة, lit=to visit a populated place) is an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca (the holiest city for Muslims, located in the Hejazi region of Saudi Arabia) that can be undertaken at any time of the year, in contrast to t ...

. The spokesperson said that Ahmadis do not believe in the finality prophethood therefore they cannot perform the hajj and umrah. They sent a letter to the government. In

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

, Ahmadis faced protests from rival Muslim sects for attempting to preach their religion. They faced protests from the

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

's members were also among the protesters. Ahmadis changed the timings of the convention. Maulana Bukhari and his protestors were detained in a police station for protesting against this.

2012

In February 2012, the Andhra Pradesh Wakf Board took a series of unprecedented decisions and asked the qazis in the state not to perform

marriages Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

for those belonging to Ahmadiyya community. In

, an anti-Ahmadiyya mob attacked the mosque and said to stop the prayers. They also threw stones at the mosque.

2013

In May 2013, the investigations done by

National Investigation Agency The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is the primary counter-terrorist task force of India. The agency is empowered to deal with the investigation of terror related crimes across states without special permission from the states under written ...

in Bodh Gaya bombings it was revealed that

Indian Mujahideen Indian Mujahideen (IM) is an Islamic terrorist group which has been particularly active in India. The jihadist group was founded as an offshoot of the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) by several radicalized members including Iqbal Bh ...

planned a terror attack on

Indonesia

In June 2008, a law was passed to curtail proselytising by Ahmadiyya members. An Ahmadiyya mosque was burned. Human rights groups objected to the restrictions on religious freedom. On 6 February 2011 some Ahmadiyya members were killed at

Pandeglang Pandeglang Regency ( Sundanese: ) is a regency of Banten province, Indonesia. It is mainly located on the west and south coasts of the island of Java, and is the most westerly regency on Java Island, but it also includes a number of offshore island ...

Banten Banten ( id, Banten; Sundanese: , romanized ''Banten'') is the westernmost province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capital Region of Jakarta on the east, the Ja ...

province. In the past few years there has been an increase in attacks on religious freedom, including incidents of physical abuse, preventing groups from performing prayers, and burning their mosques. Data from the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace show 17, 18, and 64 incidents for the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively. Although the data cover persecution of all religions, the recent persecution of Ahmadis is significant and severe, followed by persecution of Christians and persecution of other Islamic sects who claim to be "genuine/pure/fundamentalist Muslims". As of 2011, the sect faces widespread calls for a total "ban" in Indonesia. On 6 February 2011, hundreds of mainstream Muslims surrounded an Ahmadiyya household and beat three people to death. Footage of the bludgeoning of their naked bodies—while policeman looked on—was posted on the internet and subsequently broadcast on international media.

2008

In 2008, many Muslims in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

protested against the Ahmadiyya movement. With violence and large demonstrations, these religious conservatives put pressure on the government to monitor, and harass the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Indonesia. Public opinion in Indonesia is split in three ways on how Ahmadiyya should be treated: (a) some hold it should be banned outright on the basis that it is a heretical and deviant sect that is not listed as an officially recognised religion in Indonesia; (b) others hold that it should not be banned because of the freedom of religion article in the Constitution, but also should not be allowed to proselytise under the banner of "Islam" on the basis that this is misleading; (c) still others hold that it should be free to do and say as it pleases based on the Constitutional right to freedom of religion. In June 2008, a law was passed to curtail "proselytizing" by Ahmadiyya members. An Ahmadiyya mosque was burned. Human rights groups objected to the restrictions on religious freedom. A government decree adopted in 2008 under pressure from Islamic conservatives bans the sect from spreading its faith.

2010

In July 2010, a mob of 200 Indonesians surrounded an Ahmadi mosque in Manislor village in Kuningan district,

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

. The mob pelted the mosque with stones before being dispersed by the police.

2011

On 6 February 2011 three (originally reported as six, and later amended) Ahmadiyya members were killed at

province, in a clash between locals. While the government did instruct police to hunt the killers, it also called on Ahmadiyya to abide by the 2008 decree and stop spreading their belief. In July 2011 the prosecuting sought sentences of between five and seven months for the defendants, an act that caused outcry by rights activists. The verdict given was between three and six months, slightly lighter than sought. This has trigger criticism from human right defenders and the international community including the US and the EU. In addition, a Cikeusik Ahmadi leader, Deden Darmawan Sudjana, was also sentenced to six months in prison for physical abuse and acts against the state, refusing an order from a police officer who told him to leave the house. A US State Department spokeswoman said they were "disappointed" with the verdict, while an activist of the New York-based

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

, called it "the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...

ization of Indonesia".

Malaysia

In April 2009, the Selangor Islamic Religious Council of Malaysia issued a letter that forbade members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community from offering

Friday prayers In Islam, Friday prayer or Congregational prayer ( ar, صَلَاة ٱلْجُمُعَة, ') is a prayer ('' ṣalāt'') that Muslims hold every Friday, after noon instead of the Zuhr prayer. Muslims ordinarily pray five times each day according ...

at their central mosque. Moreover, Ahmadis failure to comply with the order would result in imprisonment of up to one year and/or a fine up to 3000 Malaysian ringgit. A large notice outside the mosque states ''Qadiani Bukan Agama Islam'', which translates to ''Qadiani hmadiyyatis not Islam.''

Palestine

Ahmadis were reported to be persecuted in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas in 2010. In 2010, Mohammed Sharif Odeh, head of the Ahmadi community in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, told Arutz Sheva radio that the Palestinian Authority is "encouraging the cold-blooded murder of Ahmadis" by failing to take concrete action to protect the community.

Saudi Arabia

Ahmadis are persecuted in

on an ongoing basis. In a 2006–2007 nationwide campaign to track down and deport Ahmadi Muslim foreign workers, the Saudi religious police arrested 56–60 Although there are many foreign workers and Saudi citizens belonging to the Ahmadiyya sect in Saudi Arabia, Ahmadis are officially banned from entering the country and from performing the hajj and

pilgrimage to

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

and

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...

. On 24 January 2007,

sent an open letter to the Saudi monarch King Abdullah asking him to cease religious persecution of the Ahmadi faith in Saudi Arabia. Two letters were sent in November 2006 and February 2007 asking him to remove the travel ban on critics of the Saudi government. In May 2012, Saudi authorities arrested two Saudi Sunni Muslim citizens for their conversion to Ahmadiyya Islam. They were arrested three months after joining the Ahmadiyya and refusing to abandon their beliefs. As of May 2014, the two accused of apostasy had served two years in prison awaiting trial. They have not been released since then.

Singapore

United Kingdom

Ahmadis in the UK have endured killings, mass protests by other Muslims against Ahmadi mosque construction, and threats and intimidation. In March 2016, the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, attended the wake of an Ahmadi, Asad Shah, 40, killed by a Sunni, Tanveer Ahmed, 32, in what the police characterised as "religious prejudice". In April 2016, leaflets calling for death to Ahmadis were found in Stockwell Green mosque. The mosque claimed that it was unaware of the leaflets being placed on its premises. The leaflets were authored in the name of an ex-head, Yusuf Ludhianvi, of

Khatme Nubuwwat Academy Khatm-e-Nubuwwat Academy (English:''Finality of Prophethood Academy'') is an Anti-Ahmadiyya organisation located in Forest Gate, London, United Kingdom. The organization describes itself as leading an awareness campaign against "Qadiani propaganda", ...

—an anti-Ahmadiyya organization. The organization is fully known as Almi Majlis-e-Tahafuz Khatmi Nubuwat or the International Committee for the Protection of the Finality of Prophethood.

2009

In 2009 a demonstration consisting of mainly Muslims was held in

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

to prevent Ahmadis acquiring a mosque.

2010

The UK-based

Ummah Channel Ummah Channel was an Islamic television channel based in the United Kingdom. It launched in August 2009 by replacing 9X's former Sky EPG slot on Sky Digital. It was closed down at the end of 31 July 2017 and is no longer broadcasting. Channel ...

broadcast three interactive programmes against Ahmadis in the wake of

Lahore massacre The May 2010 Lahore attacks, also referred to as the Lahore massacre, occurred on 28 May 2010, in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, during Friday prayers. 94 people were killed and more than 120 others were injured in nearly simultaneous attacks against t ...

. Ofcom criticized Ummah Channel for doing this. In 2010, in the wake of the May 2010 attacks on two Ahmadi mosques in Lahore, Pakistan, members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community living in the UK were threatened and intimidated. Certain Muslim groups in South London distributed leaflets asking readers to kill Ahmadis and boycott their businesses, and Ahmadi mosques in Crawley and Newham were vandalised. In October 2010 Ofcom criticised the UK-based Ummah Channel for broadcasting three interactive television programmes before and after the Lahore massacre of Ahmadi Muslims in May 2010, in which religious leaders and callers alike said that Ahmadis should be killed. These programmes were repeated several times. Ofcom stated that the programme's abusive treatment of the religious views and beliefs of members of the Ahmadiyya community breached UK broadcasting regulations. In the 2010 United Kingdom general election Nasser Butt, a

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

parliamentary candidate for Tooting constituency, was targeted by a campaign that asked Muslims not to vote for him because of his faith. In the election, hustings in the Tooting Islamic centre, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

candidate, Mark Clarke, was mistaken for Butt and had to be locked in a room for his safety. Imam Suliman Gani, of the (Sunni) Tooting Islamic Centre, called for a boycott of Ahmadi shops, stating: "Since the Qadianis are routinely deceptive about their religion, there was a potential risk of Muslims being offered meat that wasn't necessarily halal."

2016

=Murder of Asad Shah

= In March 2016, an Ahmadi Scottish shopkeeper, Asad Shah, was stabbed to death in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

after wishing people a

Happy Easter ''Happy Easter'' (french: Joyeuses Pâques) is a 1984 French comedy film directed by Georges Lautner. Cast *Jean-Paul Belmondo as Stéphane Margelle * Sophie Marceau as Julie *Marie Laforêt as Sophie Margelle *Rosy Varte Rosy Varte (22 Nov ...

on social media. Tanveer Ahmed was arrested for the crime and confessed, stating, "if I had not done this others would". An Ahmadi anti-extremism campaign was launched in Glasgow, with attendance of Ahmadi Muslims, Christian, Sikh, and Jewish leaders, but no Muslims belonging to other sects. The murderer pleaded guilty to the "religiously-motivated murder". Part of the family of the victim is emigrating away from Scotland.

=Hate leaflets

= In April 2016, leaflets were distributed across London's universities, mosques and shopping centres, calling for the killing of Ahmadis. The leaflets were by

Muhammad Yusuf Ludhianvi Muhammad Yousuf Ludhianvi (1932–2000) was a Pakistani Sunni Muslim scholar, author, ''muhaddith'', Ahrari leader, and Vice President of Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatm-e-Nubuwwat. He was born in Esapur, Ludhiana, Eastern Punjab, India. He was ...

, with the Khatme Nubuwwat organisation on the front cover.

2017

In October 2017,

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's ''

File on 4 ''File on 4'' is a current-affairs radio programme produced by BBC News and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. First broadcast from Manchester in 1977, it is produced in Salford by the BBC's Radio Current Affairs department. It has won more than forty aw ...

'' programme investigated the publication and broadcasting of anti-Ahmadiyya material in the UK, and asked when and whether media regulators should intervene.

2018

In April 2019, amid Ahmadis' growing fears of persecution, UK-based Urdu-language TV station Channel 44 was fined £75,000 by Ofcom for anti-Ahmadi hate speech.

Anti-Ahmadiyya organisations

In 1973, the

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

(an organization of 57 member countries) declared that the Ahmadi movement was not linked to the Muslim faith. Political groups associated with the persecution of the Ahmadis include the

, Khatme Nabuwwat movements (

Majlis-e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nabuwwat -e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nabuwwat ( ur, مجلسِ تحفظِ ختمِ نبوت, translation="The Assembly to Protect the End of Prophethood") is the programmatic name of a Pakistani Barelvi organization and Islamic religious movement in Pakistan ...

, Tanzeem-e-Islami and Tehreek-e-Khatme Nabuwwat), Jamaat-e-Islami,

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan The Pakistani Taliban (), formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (Urdu/ ps, , lit=Student Movement of Pakistan, TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani bo ...

and

Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (; TLP) is a far-right Islamic extremist political party in Pakistan. The party was founded by Khadim Hussain Rizvi in August 2015. It became the fifth largest party at the 2018 Pakistani general election, but fa ...

.Saeed, S. (2007), Pakistani Nationalism and the State Marginalisation of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan. Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, 7: 132–152.

References

External links

Website about persecution of Ahmadis

Ahmadis Murdered During 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Persecution Of Ahmadis Islam in Pakistan Islam in Bangladesh Islam in India Islam in Indonesia Persecution by Muslims de:Ahmadiyya#Verfolgung