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Pakistan: Second Ahmadi faces blasphemy charges for reading from Qur’an in public

Feb 1, 2014 12:01 pm By Robert Spencer

Blasphemy

Ahmadis are classified as non-Muslims under Pakistani law, because they revere Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as a prophet. They’re forbidden to read the Qur’an in public and are subject to discrimination and frequent harassment and violence. It is bitterly ironic that their spokesmen in the West, such as Harris Zafar and Qasim Rashid, side with their oppressors and aid in the demonization of those who speak out against the oppression of the Ahmadis.

“Second British pensioner faces blasphemy charges in Pakistan for reading from Koran in public,” by Jonathan Brown in the Independent, January 31:

The family of a second British man facing blasphemy charges in Pakistan said yesterday that he is entirely innocent and called for more to be done to allow him to return to the UK.

Masud Ahmad, 72, is currently on bail in Lahore after he was allegedly tricked into publicly reading from the Koran – an act which is forbidden for members of the minority Ahmadi sect to which he belongs. He now faces three years in jail.

Mr Ahmad’s son Abbas, 39, who lives in Glasgow along with a brother and two sisters, said their father had been targeted by powerful figures linked to a right-wing religious group and that he now faced losing the property where he practised as a homeopath.

“We are concerned he will never see his nine grandchildren but we are more concerned about his life. We know what happens when these sort of cases come up,” said Mr Ahmad.

Following his arrest in November more than 600 people protested outside the police station. Under Pakistan law it is an offence for Ahmadis to call themselves Muslim. Each year dozens of members of the sect are charged with breaching religious laws whilst they and other minorities are also at risk of outbreaks of sectarian violence in the country if they are deemed to have committed blasphemy.

The case comes a week after a court in Rawalpindi sentenced to death another Briton, Muhammed Asghar, 69, who is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, after he was accused of claiming to be the Prophet Muhammed in unsent letters. Yesterday lawyers for Mr Asghar filed an appeal against his conviction and death sentence for blasphemy at the High Court.

The retired shopkeeper from Edinburgh is said to be in very poor health and not receiving treatment for his severe mental illness. David Cameron was among senior figures to highlight the case this week. The Prime Minister said he was “deeply concerned” over the Pakistani court’s failure to include medical evidence in the trial.

Mr Ahmad said his father had been released from prison on bail and was now in secure accommodation pending trial although it was not known when the case would be heard and he faced a long and uncertain wait.

“We want to bring him back to Britain,” he said. In Pakistan there is no justice. Someone has made a false case and they have sent him to prison for nothing. The last month we have been so worried about him. They have no proof that he was pretending to be a Muslim. Everyone can read the Koran – it is for everyone not just Muslims. It is a holy book just like the Bible,” he added.

The quietly-spoken widower was arrested after he was recorded on a mobile phone reading from the Koran by two men posing as patients. Amnesty International said he was maliciously targeted because of his religion.

The men asked him questions about the relationship between Islam and the Ahmadi sect which was declared non-Muslim in Pakistan in 1974 because it proclaims its 19th century founder as a prophet.

Mr Ahmad, who previously worked as a professional photographer lived and worked in London for 22 years. He moved back to Pakistan in 1982 and recently underwent an operation to remove a tumour. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We will continue to provide consular assistance to both Mr Ahmad and his family.”

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Filed Under: Ahmadis, blasphemy, Pakistan


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Comments

  1. Salah says

    Feb 1, 2014 at 12:15 pm

    ‘Everyone can read the Koran – it is for everyone not just Muslims. It is a holy book just like the Bible,” he added.’

    No, it’s not!

    http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/2011/05/unholy-koran.html

  2. Thomas Wells says

    Feb 1, 2014 at 2:55 pm

    We need to stop sending these fascists anymore money or supplies-with the possible exception of sending them pigskin bound korans.

  3. fair_dinkum says

    Feb 1, 2014 at 7:09 pm

    Minorities in islam don’t stand a chance.

    the man is 72, he is ill. he’s alone. thats when these brave mujahadin strike.

    entrapped. there’s no real system, just random persecution.
    i wonder if they want to move into his house and this is the easiest way to get rid of him. are there any females around him to be “married and converted”?

    its just stone aged.

  4. gravenimage says

    Feb 1, 2014 at 7:56 pm

    Pakistan: Second Ahmadi faces blasphemy charges for reading from Qur’an in public
    ……………………………

    Aren’t you glad we are continuing to send Pakistan boatloads of “foreign aid” with no strings attached? *Ugh*.

    More:

    The family of a second British man facing blasphemy charges in Pakistan said yesterday that he is entirely innocent and called for more to be done to allow him to return to the UK.
    ……………………………

    Is Britain doing *anything* on behalf of her citizens here? (note: one can argue whether these Ahmadis should have been granted British citizenship to begin with, given how they often carry water for Islam—but that is a separate issue. If Britain fails to stand up for her citizens now, it will only embolden Muslim countries to abuse Westerners if they know they can do so with impunity).

    More:

    Masud Ahmad, 72, is currently on bail in Lahore after he was allegedly tricked into publicly reading from the Koran – an act which is forbidden for members of the minority Ahmadi sect to which he belongs. He now faces three years in jail.
    ……………………………

    And, of course, it is not just Ahmadis who are oppressed and abused in Pakistan, but also Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs.

    There are several Christians facing death sentences on trumped up “blasphemy”charges.

    More:

    …he now faced losing the property where he practised as a homeopath.
    ……………………………

    This is *very* common, where Infidels—or those essentially regarded as Infidels, like the Ahmadi—are targeted in part so that Muslims can steal their assets. Often this is what prompts the accusations in the first place.

  5. munmun says

    Feb 2, 2014 at 1:30 pm

    They distribute copies of quran among non muslims. And they punish ahmedis for reading quran. What do they really want?

    • gravenimage says

      Feb 2, 2014 at 11:11 pm

      munmun wrote:

      They distribute copies of quran among non muslims. And they punish ahmedis for reading quran. What do they really want?
      ………………………..

      This only appears to be a contradiction, munmun. Muslims distribute Qur’ans in Dar-al-Harb as a form of Da’wa, hoping to lure Infidels to convert to Islam.

      But they keep a tight hold over who can call themselves a Muslim or use terms like “Allah” in the Muslim world.

      Under dhimmitude, no non-Muslim is supposed to “teach their children the Qur’an”, because they might b e critical, and that is not allowed.

      So while these policies may appear to be contradictory, they are not. Both are intended to spread the reach orthodox f Islam, and control its content.

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