Purifying the Land of the Pure by Farahnaz; Ispahani

Author:Farahnaz; Ispahani [Ispahani, Farahnaz;]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
Published: 2017-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

any person of the Qadiani group or the Lahori group (who call themselves Ahmadiyas or any other name), who by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation refers to the mode or form of call to prayers followed by his faith as “Azan” or recites Azan as used by the 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.

The new 298-C was even more sweeping. Under this provision,

Any person of the Qadiani or the Lahori group, who directly or indirectly, poses himself as a “Muslim” or calls, or refers to, his faith as Islam, or preaches or propagates his faith, or invites others to accept his faith, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation, 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.

The provisions of Ordinance XX made it virtually impossible for Ahmadis to practice their faith publicly in Pakistan. It was a law reminiscent of the Middle Ages, when public profession of faith by a sect other than that of the ruler elicited state retribution. Moreover, the ordinance allowed an Ahmadi to be subjected to criminal proceedings based on little more than the whim of a member of the religious majority. An orthodox Muslim could go to the police and simply complain that an Ahmadi had outraged his religious feelings, and the Ahmadi in question could be arrested. It should be remembered here that several sects around the world use religious terminology for their leaders that is similar to the words used to describe holy figures of other religions.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), for example, call the head of their church a “Prophet” and his closest advisers are “Apostles.” Yet the State of Israel does not forbid them to do so for fear of offending Jewish orthodoxy, nor do any of the world’s Christian majority states have laws that provide imprisonment and fines for the use of such terminology.

Zia’s new laws were received stoically by the Ahmadi community in Pakistan. Its head, Mirza Tahir Ahmad, instructed members of his community to stop performing azan from the minarets of what they considered to be mosques, which were renamed “places of worship.” The community also sought judicial review of the laws by challenging their validity in court. Their expectation of fairness from the judiciary, however, was soon proved naïvely optimistic. The government asked that the case be heard, not by the regular High Court, but by its sharia bench. This precluded Ahmadi lawyers, as “non-Muslims,” from being able to represent their community because only Muslim lawyers were allowed right of appearance before sharia courts.

A leading Ahmadi civil rights lawyer, Mujibur Rahman, became the plaintiff so that he could argue the Ahmadi case in person. The High Court Sharia Bench found Ordinance

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