Kufaar in Islamic Lands
Feb 19, 2007
Cynic asked this in a comment:
"In fact there are Muslims who consider Ahmadis to be heretics or apostates."
Is this similar to the treatment of the Bahaii faith in Iran?
They're similar:
- Bahá'ís have faced severe persecution from the Iranian state. Recently, Egypt refused to recognize their faith. As a result, the Bahá'ís have to "adopt" Islam or Christianity to get legal documents. Similarly the Ahmadis are persecuted in Pakistan. Legal documents such as national ID and passport applications explicitly ask if one is an Ahmadi or not. Thus, honest Ahmadis are "marked" for open discrimination by the state.
- The numbers of people who belong to these two faiths is very small. We're talking about 5 to 10 million each. It's very easy and often convenient to demonize such small groups.
In one important way, the Bahá'ís and the Ahmadis are different:
- The Bahá'í faith started in the 19th century. The "Ahmadi" faith is simply Islam plus one extra prophet. (Curiously, the Ahmadi prophet showed up in the 19th century as well.) So, Ahmadis, if allowed, would perform the daily prayers, fast during Ramadan, carry out the Haj etc. In fact, Ahmadis call themselves Muslims. The Bahá'ís, however, don't follow Islam. Thus, Ahmadis are the heretics or apostates whereas the Bahá'ís are of a different religion to begin with.
In the end, it doesn't matter: Bahá'ís, Ahmadis, Jews... they're all the same. They're all infidels; thus, they don't "deserve" equal treatment.
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