Ahmadi Muslims Facing Persecution by Extremists in Western Nations

Asad Shah: Ahmadi Murderd in Glasgow for his Faith

The Ahmadiyya sect of Islam, founded Punjab province of India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in the 19^th century has endured harsh persecution throughout the Islamic world.  Though the Ahmadis consider themselves to be Muslims, their belief of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as a subordinate prophet under Muhammad (The believe he was the spiritual fulfillment of the second coming of Jesus, which is foretold in Surah 43:61 of the Qur'an) and their opposition to violent Jihad has led the majority of Orthodox Muslims to consider the Ahamidi Muslims to be "heretics."  This accusation has led Ahmadi Muslims throughout the Middle East to fall under harsh government and societal persecution.  

Ahmadis in Islamic nations are subjected to societal and state-sanctioned persecution, and over the years thousands have been murdered in pogroms throughout the Middle East.  The reason for this persecution is that under Orthodox Islamic Sharia Law, the fate of heretic Muslims is not good:

Surah 4:65-"But know by your Lord, they will not truly believe until make you (Muhammad) judge concerning over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you had judged and submit in full, willing submission."

Surah 9:73 - "O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination."

Bukhari Vol. 9, Book 84, Hadith 64-"I heard Allah's Apostle saying 'During the last days there will be appear some young foolish people who will say the best words but their faith will not go beyond their throats (i.e. they will have no faith) and will go out from their religion as an arrow goes out of the game.  So, wherever you find them, kill them, for whoever kills them shall have reward on the Day of Resurrection.  

Tanveer Ahmed: Asad's Killer

As a result of this persecution, many Ahmadis have fled to Western Nations in hopes of obtaining religious freedom and equality.  Unfortunately, the spread of radical Jihad throughout the West over the past few decades has led to an increase in the number of hate crimes and violent attacks against Western Ahamdi Muslims by Jihadist extremists.  In 1991, Ahmadi Muslim Asad Shah and his family fled their native nation of Pakistan and moved to Scotland to escape persecution.  Believing to be safe from persecution, Asad began to share his faith openly on social media in 2016.  Unfortunately, his posts angered an extremist Sunni Muslim, Tanveer Ahmad.  

Tanver tracked Asad down and stabbed him to death in his store.  Now the heartbroken family is fleeing again.  Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident.  In March of 2019 flyers were found at the Stockwell Green Mosque of England in which Ahmadis were threatened with death if they did not convert to mainstream Islam.  Even in the United States, Ahmadis are not safe from violent attack by Islamist extremists.  In the early 1980’s Pakistan began sending some of their radical clerics to the United States to gain new converts to their cause.  In 1983, a radical Pakistani cleric set up base in Detroit, where he successfully recruited two African-American Muslims and convinced them to kill respected community leader Dr. Muzaffar Ahmad and burn down his mosque.  His crime was being an Ahmadi.  Dr. Ahmad had fled Pakistan to obtain the religious freedom that his home nation denied him, yet the hatred followed him to the U.S. and killed him.  

If the spread of Jihadist extremism continues unchecked in the West, many of those who fled to escape this kind of persecution will soon find that their new homes and lands of refuge are no longer safe.   The lessons of Tolerance need to be taught in our society, but the messages of Intolerance cannot simply be ignored and swept under the rug.  If this sinister ideology of Jihadist supremacy is not addressed, it's only a matter of time before all the remaining safe havens of the world fall under their banner of hate.  

Sources

Johnson, Simon.  “Shopkeeper’s family were living in fear after murder; Relations say they will leave Scotland after Muslim man admits he killed member of Persecuted Ahamdi Group.”  Daily Telegraph.  July 8, 2016.  Accessed from http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A457328863/GIC?u=bel45990&sid=GIC&xid=c1003048.

“London Mosque Warned over ‘Kill Ahmadi’ Leaflets.”  BBC.  March 21, 2019.  Accessed from

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-47654430.

Rashid, Qasim.  The Wrong Kind of Muslim: An Untold Story of Persecution and Perseverance.”  United States: AyHa Publishing, 2013.