THE CONTEMPTIBLE GUJRANWALA ATTACKS

Ref: Friday Sermon 1.8.14 STATEMENT OF HAZRAT KHALIFATUL MASIH V (aba) FOLLOWING GUJRANWALA ATTACK

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad condemns killing of 3 Ahmadi Muslims. On 27th July 2014, Ahmadi Muslims in Kachi-Pump in Gujranwala were attacked by local extremists in a sectarian attack. During the attack, 3 Ahmadi Muslims, including a 7 year old girl and her 8 month old baby sister were martyred. In response to this brutal and merciless attack, the World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, His Holiness, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad has said:

“This attack was an act of the most extreme cruelty and brutality, whereby innocent people who were sitting peacefully in their own homes were attacked and left for dead. It has been falsely claimed that this attack was provoked by a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. This allegation is completely untrue and without any foundation whatsoever. If those who perpetrated this attack truly felt that 1 person had provoked them, then they should have sought his arrest, but instead they chose to burn alive an elderly lady and her two granddaughters. In truth, this was an entirely unprovoked assault on all forms of human decency which led to the death of 3 people including 2 very young children. This attack took place as the local police stood by and watched and took no action. It is yet another example of how the authorities in Pakistan are aiding the persecution of Ahmadi Muslims. Let it be clear that we Ahmadi Muslims will never undertake any worldly protest; nor will we ever take to the streets. Our response to all of the sustained persecution that we face is, and will always remain, to bow down before Allah the Almighty and to seek His Help and Mercy. This barbaric attack was conducted in the name of Islam, whilst the truth is, that such violence has nothing to do with Islam or its teachings. Such merciless attacks can only be deemed as inhumane in the extreme. These types of vicious assaults are nothing but a stain on the pure and peaceful teachings of Islam. To kill and to violently oppose is not an act of Islam, but it is the act of those people who do not believe in God and do not even possess the most basic human values or decency. May Allah grant patience to all those left bereaved and to Ahmadi Muslims throughout the world.” BACKGROUND INFORMATION: THE PERSECUTION OF AHMADIS

• The persecution of Ahmadis is a consequence of them professing their faith. They have been subject to various forms of persecution and discrimination since 1889.

• Ahmadis are declared as Non-Muslims and further deprived of religious rights in the Second Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan and Ordinance XX.

• Hundreds of Ahmadis were killed in 1953 Lahore riots, 1974 Anti Ahmadiyya riots and May 2010 attacks on Ahmadi Mosques in Lahore. The1974 riots were the largest killings of Ahmadis.

• On 26 April 1984, General Muhammed Zia ul-Haq, the then President of Pakistan, issued the anti- Ahmadiyya Ordinance XX, which prohibited Ahmadis from preaching or professing their beliefs.

•The ordinance forbids Ahmadis to call themselves Muslims. This means that they are not allowed to profess the Islamic faith publicly or call their places of worship mosques. 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.

• 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.

•In 1986 it was supplemented by a new blasphemy provision also applied to Ahmadis. KEY QUESTIONS

What happened in the Gujranwala Attacks? What was our beloved Huzoor’s response? Why are Ahmadis declared Non-Muslims? (What do we believe in, that is different to other Muslims?) What is the Second Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan and Ordinance XX? What are Ahmadis not allowed to do in Pakistan?