The Persecution of the Ahmadiyya

In the year 1889, Indian spiritual leader Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad formed what is today called the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam in what is today the Punjab District of Pakistan.  The Ahmadiyya sect of Islam follows the Five Pillars of Islam as well as the Six Articles of Faith that is mandated for all Muslims.  However, what sets them apart from the other sects of Islam is their belief that the founder, Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad, was the promised "Mahdi," or "Redeemer of Islam."  The standard criticism leveed against the Ahmadis is that Surah 33:40 states that Muhammad is the last of the prophets, and that Ahamdis are heretics for accepting Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad as another Prophet of Allah.  However, Ahmadis counter this view by stating that all are awaiting the coming of another Prophet because Surah 43:61 states that Jesus will eventually return.  

Ahmadis believe that Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad is the fulfillment of the promise of the return of Jesus.  They justify their claim by stating that the Old Testament prophesied the return of Elijah and that John the Baptist fulfilled this not as the literal return of Elijah, but who came in the spirit and power of Elijah, and if John the Baptist can be the fulfillment of this prophecy, why can't Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad be the fulfillment of the Islamic prophecy of the Second Coming of Jesus?  So the main difference between the two is a different view of how the End Times is to be fulfilled.  

Pogrom Against Ahmadis in Gurjanwala:
July 2014-Three Ahamdi Women Killed

The Ahmadiyya sect of Islam is relatively small, only about 10-20 million people profess to follow this sect.  They're a very peaceful sect who believe in providing aid to all people, respecting religious diversity, and are ardently opposed to the practice of violent Jihad that is followed by Islamist groups like ISIS, the Taliban, Hamas, etc.  Unfortunately, their beliefs are considered to be blasphemous to many other Orthodox Muslims of the Sunni sect of Islam.  As a result, the Ahmadis have faced unending persecution, both societal & state sanctioned.  They have constantly been the victim of job discrimination, assassination, and pogroms for decades.  Pogroms in Pakistan erupted against the Ahmadis in 1953 and 1974, killing hundreds, possibly thousands, and destroying dozens of Ahmadi Mosques.  



In 1984 the Pakistani Government passed legislation that forbade the Ahmadis to call themselves Muslims and threatened them with imprisonment if they tried to share their faith.  Bangladesh followed suit in 2004.  Indonesia has also witnessed an growing state-sanctioned persecution of Ahmadis and has also seen a rise in violent attacks against the Ahmadiyya community.  Pogroms and armed attacks against the Ahmadis have remained ongoing and the increasing radicalism in Pakistan has put them in an even more precarious position.  In May 2010, the Taliban attacked two Ahmadi Mosques, killing nearly 100 people.  In May of 2018, a 100-year-old Ahmadi Mosque was destroyed by a mob.  Even deceased Ahmadis are not given peace as their graves have been repeatedly attacked and desecrated by both Islamists and Pakistani Authorities.  

Ahmadis Bury Victims of 2010 Massacre by Taliban

As one can see, the persecution of Ahamdis is a world-wide epidemic.  Saudi Arabia officially bans Ahmadis from entering their country and forbids them to perform the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.  Even the Palestinian Authority has been cracking down on Ahmadis, as in recent years dozens have been arrested by the PA for trying to share their faith.  Many have questioned why this harsh persecution is unending.  The sad reality is that the persecution of sects of Islam that are considered "hypocritical" is commanded under Islamist doctrine: 

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."    
(This means that to be a true Muslim, you have to follow all of Muhammad commands and teachings without question.  Insistence to only follow some, & not all can put one in the Hypocrite Category, and the fate of Hypocrites is not Good)

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.  

Sunan Abu Dawood 4597: The Apostle of Allah stood among us and said: Beware! The people of the Book before were split up into seventy two sects, and this community will be split into seventy three: seventy two of them will go to Hell and one of them will go to Paradise, and it is the majority group

As long as verses like this are followed literally, there will be no end to the persecution of the Ahmadi Muslims.  

Ahamdis Who have been Killed In Pakistan During the Past Two Years

Ahmadi Persecution Link