With the induction of the newly-elected Government in Pakistan, the people had high hopes that this will at least give a sigh of relief to the wave of persecution against Muslim minority sects and non-Muslim minorities in the country. However, the Ahmadiyya Community was shocked when their channels, especially that of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Group, were banned.

We are at a loss to understand why the community which, right from its inception, has been against any sort of persecution, not as a matter of policy but as an article of faith, has become the first target of the new Government. Extreme elements in Pakistan are rampant and now the Government’s banning of Ahmadi websites will give these elements further encouragement. To allege that these websites are a cause of annoyance to the extremist elements is flimsy and conceals the Government’s seemingly own nefarious underhanded designs.

Even before the new Government came into being, the Punjab Government took some very unwarranted measures against some presses and binders in Lahore that were doing Ahmadiyya printing. Are Ahmadis in any way involved in the target killings and terrorist acts against the Shia, Bhora, and even Sunni, and business communities in Punjab and other provinces?

Since the inception of Pakistan, Ahmadis have been the most faithful and peaceful of all the communities. Unfortunately, however, they are the people who have been the target of the worst persecution and harassment and even killing.

We appeal to the new Government of Pakistan that such diversionary measures designed to take the public’s attention away from grave social and economic issues should be avoided and all minority groups, including Christians, should be given due guarantee of freedom and security.
Maybe it is on the basis of wrong intelligence reports that the recent measures have been undertaken against the most faithful, peaceful and the well-wishers of Pakistan.

We, members of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Community, strongly feel that such measures of banning our websites as recently taken by the Government will further encourage anti-Government elements and there is every likelihood that they will press for further similar undemocratic and un-Islamic steps which will not only damage the image of Pakistan abroad but will also make things difficult in improving good governance, for which the people have given a high mandate to the Government.

We hope and pray that Allah may guide the Government in the right direction so that the future of Pakistan, which is very much at stake, may once again be on the road to progress and stability.

Related posts:

1. Third largest political party of Pakistan claim persecution must stop

Mehdi Hasan goes head to head with Thomas Friedman on the morality of America’s global role. Is the US a force for good in the world?

Related posts:

1. Is Religion a force for good or evil
2. The Existence of Allah – An Answer to Dawkins

Pakistanis’ destroy founders legacy

A historic, 121 year-old, building used by Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Balochistan has been destroyed after terrorists targeted it with bombs and gun fire that triggered a blaze, that took over four hours to extinguish.

The Residency, built in 1892, was originally used as the Summer residence of the Agent of the British Governor General. Jinnah spent the last days of his life in the building while suffering from tuberculosis and the structure was later declared a national monument.

Not content with destroying Jinnah’s legacy by removing policies like minority rights, and the separation of State and religion that he guaranteed these extremists are now even destroying the physical signs of the great man’s existence.

No related posts.

To see the stunning picture.

Related posts:

1. Picture of the Day – Jama Masjid
2. Picture of the Day

With an olive green head scarf poking out from her helmet, Ayesha Farooq flashes a cheeky grin when asked if it is lonely being the only war-ready female fighter pilot in the Islamic republic of Pakistan.

Farooq, from Punjab province’s historic city of Bahawalpur, is one of 19 women who have become pilots in the Pakistan Air Force over the last decade – there are five other female fighter pilots, but they have yet to take the final tests to qualify for combat.

“I don’t feel any different. We do the same activities, the same precision bombing,” the soft-spoken 26-year-old said of her male colleagues at Mushaf base in north Pakistan, where neatly piled warheads sit in sweltering 50 degree Celsius heat (122 F).

A growing number of women have joined Pakistan’s defense forces in recent years as attitudes towards women change.

Continue Reading

Related posts:

1. Women changing Pakistan from the ground up
2. Pakistani women too scared to work
3. Life of a woman in Pakistan

Today’s Khutba, from our Mosque in Wembley, will be given by Mr Shahid Aziz.

Our broadcast will start at the following time;

1.00pm BST – United Kingdom
17:00pm PKT – Pakistan
08:00am UTC – USA New York (please note times vary in different states in America)

For the video

To watch please press play on our video below at the appropriate time.

Related posts:

1. Broadcast Today: Friday Khutba 31st May 2013

There is no compulsion in religion — the right way is indeed clearly distinct from error. So whoever disbelieves in the devil and believes in Allah, he indeed lays hold on the firmest handle which shall never break. And Allah is Hearing, Knowing.

What is the true meaning of Jihad? Mr Nasir Ahmad recites verses from the Holy Quran and from the teachings of the Promised Messiah, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, to once again show that Jihad is not a fight with the sword but a fight with the pen.

No related posts.

Jadeed Qabristan (graveyard) is located near Murree Road in the heart of the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

A signboard dangling outside the house of the gravedigger reads:

“It’s prohibited to bury Mirzais here.”

‘Mirzai’ and ‘Qadiyani’ are derogatory terms used against the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan. While taking a photo of the sign, one is greeted with suspicious stares.

For decades, Ahmadis have faced persecution at the hands of religious extremists and right wing forces. The state jumped into the fray in 1974, when the then Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto introduced a constitutional amendment declaring them non-Muslim to ward off pressure from right-wing forces.

Continue Reading

No related posts.

from the Economist

MUSLIM converts have an image problem. A handful, like Richard Dart, a Dorset native jailed last month, have been implicated in terrorism. Samantha Lewthwaite, who was married to Germaine Lindsay, one of the 7/7 bombers and himself a convert, is wanted by Kenyan police in connection with an alleged bomb plot.

Even without the taint of extremism, women are sometimes pitied for joining a religion accused of oppressing them. Despite these concerns, converts, for the most part peaceable, propel Islam’s transition from an immigrant religion to a home-grown one.

Continue reading

Related posts:

1. [Video] Islam is a simple religion
2. [Podcast] Islam is a simple religion
3. Religion above the world

Those who fear Muslim influence should raise a glass to the Sultan of Style next time they freshen up, don the latest fashions or enjoy a delicious three-course meal.

In the wake of the Woolwich machete attack against an off-duty British army drummer, the stabbing in Paris of a French soldier and the Boston marathon attack, anti-Muslim sentiments have, as might be expected, increased in Europe and the United States.

In the U.K., for example, the far-right British National Party (BNP) — which had such a disastrous showing at recent local elections that it has urged it members to “do our bit for Britain and our race” by breeding more — and English Defence League have been mobilizing overtime to capitalize on the fallout.

The BNP leader Nick Griffin called ominously on supporters to “join the British resistance”, while another senior party official suggested that the men behind the London murder should be executed. Meanwhile, anti-Muslim hate crimes are running at 10 times their usual rate, according to a British government hotline.

The United States has also experienced a backlash in what Salon dubbed as the “return of the anti-Muslim bigots”. There have been hate crimes as well as suggestions for blanket spying on Muslims.

On both sides of the Atlantic, there has been growing fear of the “Islamization” of society and the notion that Muslims stand opposed to Western values is gaining traction. This is reflected in a new cross-border survey, which shows that majorities in a number of Western societies regard Islam as a threat.

As I’ve argued before, and despite my concerns over Islamic radicalism and extremism, Islam is not alien to Western civilization but an integral part of it. In fact, Islam and the Muslim influence are deeply woven into the West’s social and civilizational fabric.

Readers may well have come across historical explanations of the contributions Muslims made to modern sciences, philosophy, medicine, agriculture, sociology and other areas of learning. Here, I’d like to explore how Muslims helped make the West “cool,” shaped our modern tastes and sensibilities and gave us many things we regard as quintessentially Western, such as the café.

Continue reading

Related posts:

1. [Video] West moves to Islam as Muslims move away
2. Islam and The West
3. Lahori Ahmadis’ promoting true Islam to West