Ahmadis In Pakistan Were Jailed For Making Animal Sacrifice This Year

Ahmadis Have Been Declared Non-Muslims By The Constitution Of Pakistan Main Points: 1. Ahmadis can not observe any Islamic ritual in Pakistan. 1. 2.Ahmadis can not use any Islamic term. 2. They can not greet anyone by saying Assalam u Alaikum. 3. 4.They can not call their place of worship a mosque. 4. 5.They can not make animal sacrifice on Eidal Adha. ---- By New Age Islam Edit Desk 23 July 2022 Representative Image | Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons ------ The Ahmadis in Pakistan had a harrowing time this Eid al Adha. As they have been declared non-Muslims by the second amendment of constitution,1974, they can not use any Islamic term or observe any Islamic ritual. Doing so will be treated as blasphemy to be dealt with under Sections 295-C and 298-C. Therefore, 3 Ahmadis were arrested for making animal sacrifice in their homes. 2 others were booked for blasphemy. Muslims kept a watch on Ahmadis and reported animal sacrifice by Ahmadis to the police. They filmed the animal sacrifices from roof tops or peeked through the doors to report this to the police. This way they celebrated Eid al Adha this year. Before Eid al Adha, graves of Ahmadis were vandalised because they were mentioned as graves of Muslims. In Pakistan, blasphemy has become a tool for harassing minorities. Members of minorities including Ahmadis are booked under false blasphemy charges ore often. Some times they are framed due to business rivalry and some times due to personal enmity. Recently a Christian Ashfaque Masih was sentenced to death for blasphemy. He had an altercation with a Muslim customer whose cycle he had repaired. The 'Muslim' customer refused to pay PKR 40 and accused him of blasphemy. Such incidents are common in Pakistan. The following article gives an account of the misuse of blasphemy laws and persecution of minorities in Pakistan. ---- Pakistan’s ‘Devout’ Muslims Had A New Purpose On Eid: Forget ‘Qasais’, Become ‘Chowkidars’ By Naila Inayat 14 July, 2022 As Muslims all over the world celebrated Eid-ul-Adha, blasphemy charges rained in Pakistan. Some were prohibited from offering animal sacrifices by the State, while others became self-proclaimed Chowkidars of the State-sanctioned prohibition. Blasphemy, once weaponised by the State against political opponents, activists, and dissenters of its policies, is now a weapon being used at will. For the Muslim majority in Pakistan, Eid is an important festival that is celebrated for days. But for State-declared non-Muslims, Eid is not theirs to celebrate. In the city of Faisalabad, three men from the Ahmadiyya community were arrested for sacrificing animals in their homes, and two others were booked for hurting the sentiments of Muslims under Section 298-C of the Pakistan Penal Code. These laws were curated to stop the Ahmadis from associating as Muslims faithfully. While most people on Eid day are busy looking for a qasai (butcher), a section of devout Muslims made it their life’s purpose to hunt for Ahmadis trying to sacrifice animals. Even if that meant clambering over rooftops and filming the sacrifice within their four walls. A video was enough to hurt the emotions of, blackmail, and harass a persecuted community. And that is what happened. Two other Ahmadis have been arrested in Sheikhupura and two arrested in Rabwah, while a crackdown to arrest six others continues. Apart from animal sacrifices, before Eid, 53 Ahmadi graves in Gujranwala were desecrated, with epitaphs carrying Islamic verses removed. This has become a common feature with the police being party to it. Having declared Ahmadis ‘non-Muslims’ with the Second Amendment in 1974, Pakistan now considers being an Ahmadi such a crime that even their buried continue to fall prey to vandalism in the garb of blasphemy. Pakistan’s first Nobel Laureate, Dr Abdus Salam’s grave in Rabwah, was defaced on government orders and the word ‘Muslim’ was removed from his epitaph. Beyond Posthumous Blasphemy Last week, a Christian mechanic was handed a death sentence under Section 295-C by a trial court in Lahore. Ashfaq Masih had an argument with a customer in 2017, who was refusing to pay him PKR 40 for a bicycle repair job. He was accused of disrespecting the prophet Muhammad for allegedly saying that for Christians, Jesus is the final prophet. It’s a charge he has denied. Maish maintained that the rival shop owner, who was also the complainant, framed him for blasphemy because he wanted to take over his clients. There’s also the case of blasphemy accusations against a Samsung employee for allegedly putting a WiFi device username that insulted the companion of the prophet. A mob in the mobile market in Karachi vandalised hoardings of Samsung; sectarian group Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat led protests and claimed credit for getting the ‘blasphemer’ arrested. Samsung, in its public statement, maintained neutrality on all religious matters. However, the incident led to online protests as well, with TikTokers burning Samsung smartphones and even smashing them with a hammer. There is no end to the demand for blasphemy cases—now Shia leaders seek a blasphemy case against a Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) leader for allegedly sitting next to the shrine of Bibi Pak Daman while wearing his shoes. This is much like when Tehreek-e-Labbaik supporters wanted Fawad Chaudhry to be booked for blasphemy for just standing outside Wazir Khan mosque, while the dhamal playing was considered an insult. Weapons Of The Devout History is a lesson no one wants to learn from. From the assassination of the former governor of Punjab Salman Taseer for calling man-made blasphemy laws “a black law”, to slain minister Shahbaz Bhatti standing up for blasphemy victim Asia Bibi and the shooting by Tehreek-e-Labbaik supporter of a PML-N minister in 2018 over a change in the election oath. Settling personal grudges, vendettas and feuds are beneath the surface of most blasphemy allegations. Yet the state remains a bystander now—too weak to put the genie back into the bottle. Or so it seems. Blasphemy Has Become The Go-To Weapon Of The ‘Devout’. Television commentator Orya Maqbool Jan once narrated a certain professor’s dream, in which in the court of the prophet army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was handed over a file. Now in 2022, his interpretation of the same dream has changed—just like his feelings for Bajwa. He now questions the faith of the army chief and declares the dream didn’t mean Bajwa was religiously ordained to lead because using the Prophet’s name for one’s own agenda can be blasphemous on any given day. A good mufti is now facing blasphemy charges for telling his audience that blasphemy laws are being misused, drawing comparisons to a wholesale market. And all these good men of God would have once even cheered on as religious minorities were jailed, spending years in jail for acts of blasphemy they never committed. They would have frowned at the West for showing disdain for these laws in Pakistan. And they would have considered themselves untouchable to ever face such allegation. However, they forgot that Chirag Sabke Bujhenge Hawa Kisi Ki Nahin. ----- Naila Inayat is a freelance journalist from Pakistan. Her Twitter handle is @nailainayat. Views are personal. (Edited by Srinjoy Dey) Source: Pakistan’s ‘Devout’ Muslims Had A New Purpose On Eid: Forget ‘Qasais’, Become ‘Chowkidars’ URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-sectarianism/ahmadis-pakistan-animal-sacrifice/d/127546 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism