AHMADIYYAS

1. Context

Unknown attackers broke the domes and minarets of a mosque of Pakistan’s minority Ahmadiyya community in Karachi, Pakistan, recently. In videos shared on social media, people were seen climbing atop an Ahmadi Masjid in Saddar, Karachi and raining hammer blows on the structure. This attack is another in a string of attacks that have taken place on Ahmadiyya places of worship in Pakistan.

2. Who are Ahmadiyyas?

The origins of the religious sect are in Qadian near Amritsar in Punjab, India. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad founded the movement in 1889.
In opposition to some aspects of Islam, he preached that he was the promised messiah who had the task of bringing God's teaching into harmony with the present-day world.
He said this coming was awaited not only by Muslims out by Christians and Jews as well.
There are around 2-5 million Ahmadis in Pakistan. The community is also present in India, and some estimate their numbers at around 1 lakh.
The sect has long been opposed by hardline Muslim clerics, some of whom consider Ahmadiyyas to be heretics. However, Ahmadiyyas do not dispute the centrality of the Prophet in their religion.

3. Issue of Ahmadiyyas in Pakistan

The Ahmadiya community faces frequent attacks and persecution in Pakistan. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has previously strongly condemned the desecration of an Ahmadiyya worship site in Punjab province’s Wazirabad District and called for the protection of such spaces for religious minorities in the country.
Issues of desecration often relate to the removal of minarets from Ahmadiyya mosques. The presence of a minaret is considered to be giving the religious place the position of a mosque which is opposed by many in Pakistan and is also penalized in law.
In 1974, Pakistan's Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto enacted an amendment to the Constitution, declaring Ahmadiyyas to be non-Muslims. Flowering from this, they were barred from going to mosques.

4. Restrictions on Ahmadiyyas Freedom

According to a document of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the military dictator Zia-ul-Haq's 1984 ordinance introduced explicit discriminatory references to Ahmadiyyas in Sections 298-B and 289-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
There are significant restrictions on Ahmadiyya's freedom of religion and expression, and violations could lead to fines and jail terms.
In 2002, a supplementary list of voters was created in which Ahmadiyyas were categorized as non-muslins.
Even following amendments in the constitution, Ahmadiyyas are the only religious group in Pakistan to continue being on a separate electoral list.
As per section 298-C, "Any person of the Qadiani Group or the Lahori Group (who call themselves 'Ahmedis' or by any other name), who directly or indirectly, poses as a Muslim, or calls, or refers to, his faith as Islam, or preaches or propagates is faith or invites others to accept his faith by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations, or in any manner whatsoever outrages the religious feelings of Muslims shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.

5. Ahmadiyya Movement

The Ahmadiyya forms a sect of Islam that originated in India. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in 1889.
It was based on liberal principles. It described itself as the standard-bearer of the Mohammedan Renaissance, and based itself, like the Brahmo Samaj, on the principles of the universal religion of all humanity, opposing jihad (sacred war against non-Muslims).
The movement spread Western liberal education among Indian Muslims.
The Ahmadiyya community is the only Islamic sect to believe that the Messiah had come in the person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to end religious wars and bloodshed and to reinstate morality, peace, and justice.
They believed in separating the mosque from the State as well as in human rights and tolerance.
However, the Ahmadiyya Movement, like Bahaism which flourished in West Asian countries, suffered from mysticism.

For Prelims

For Prelims: Ahmadiyyas, Ahmadiyya Movement, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Mohammedan Renaissance, Brahmo Samaj, Bahaism, Mysticism, Sections 298-B and 289-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

Source: The Indian Express

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