MUSLIM UNDER ISLAM WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON

AHMADIYYAH SECT

Islamic Jurisprudence Assignment

Submitted By

Name: Srijan Kumar Singhal

Student ID: 201906667

B.A.LL.B 3rd Semester (Self-Financed)

Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia

Submitted to: Dr. Ghulam Yazdani, Associate Professor (Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia,
New Delhi - 110025)

Date of Submission: November 10th 2020

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Abstract

Islam is regarded as one of the three central Abrahamic faiths along with Judaism and Christianity.
Islam's followers are Muslims, or those who "submit" to God's will. Islam is a universal religion
that teaches that God is merciful and compassionate, and that promises the faithful worldly peace
and equality and entrance to a sublime eternity. Under Islam every adult male and female who
consciously and solemnly witnesses that “There is no God but God and Muhammad is the
Prophet of God.” Fulfillment of this simple definition of “Islamicity” is all that Islamic law
requires in order to ascertain membership in the Muslim community. There are various sects under
the followers of this faith but all follow the same element that “There is no God but God and
Muhammad is the Prophet of God.”. One of such sect is “Ahmadiyyah” which in today’s time has
almost 10 Million followers. However, a lot of Muslims and Islamic countries do not recognize
them as Muslims. In this project we will discuss the definition of Muslim under Islam and we will
try to find out whether the Ahmadiyyah’s are really falls within the definition of Islam? If yes,
how they are persecuted in some countries? And what is their status in India?

Keywords: Islam, Muslim, Ahmadiyyah, Prophet, Sect

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INTRODUCTION

Islam is regarded as one of the three central Abrahamic faiths along with Judaism and Christianity.
Islam's followers are Muslims, or those who "submit" to God's will. Islam is a universal religion
that teaches that God is merciful and compassionate, and that promises the faithful worldly peace
and equality and entrance to a sublime eternity. 1

The Quran is the sacred book of Islam, and is believed to be a collection of the direct "recitations"
of Allah, or God, as received by the prophet Muhammad (c. 570-632 AD). Muslims do not regard
Muhammad as divine with God, but as the last in a line of prophets. In fact, the most fundamental
Muslim belief is that there is no other god besides God and no division within the divine Godhead.
The Christian Trinity therefore remains problematic for many Muslims. Recognizing them as
sacred, the Quran bears some overlap to the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, yet differs on certain
facts: one in particular is the blessing and role given to Ishmael rather than Isaac in Islamic
tradition. And while Muslims view the Old Testament prophets and Jesus as true prophets, they
believe that the revelation Muhammad received perfects the Abrahamic prophetic tradition.
Accordingly, Muslims hold the life and teachings of the prophet Muhammad in highest esteem
and believe faith requires discipleship to his example. Even so, it is a mistake to regard Muslims
as ´Muhammadans' in the same sense that Christians believe faith is mediated and accessible only
through Jesus Christ.

The life and teachings of Muhammad and the story of early Islam are revealed in the Hadith, which
are collections of sayings about the Prophet that have been handed down through generations by
skilled and trusted oral historians. These chains of religious transmission vary however, and thus
have been disputed frequently among different schools of Islamic law and theology. While
generally in agreement about the Quran, various sects of Islam diverge largely over the authenticity
or interpretation of each other's Hadith.

1
AL FĀRŪQĪ, ISMAʿĪL R., and Imtiyaz Yusuf. "What Is a Muslim?" In Islam: Religion, Practice, Culture & World
Order, 5-9. LONDON; WASHINGTON: International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2012. Accessed November 10,
2020. doi:10.2307/j.ctvkc67zd.8.

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WHO IS A MUSLIM UNDER ISLAM

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Under Islam every adult male and female who consciously and solemnly witnesses that “There
is no God but God and Muhammad is the Prophet of God.” Fulfillment of this simple definition
of “Islamicity” is all that Islamic law requires in order to ascertain membership in the Muslim
community. Once a person is put to the test and he witnesses responsibly to the twin facts of God
being the only God and Muhammad being His Prophet, no more can be legally required of him
to prove his faith and, in consequence, all his rights and duties under Islamic law. The reason why
“Islamicity” is so simple to define, so simple to attain and so simple to establish, is that Islam is
neither an ethnocentric nor a sacramental religion. One does not have to be born a Muslim; nor
does one have to have any Muslim parent, guardian, family or people. Every person in the world
may become a Muslim if he so chooses, by his personal decision alone. His initiation into Islam
needs no partaking of any sacrament, no participation by any clergy and no confirmation by any
organized body. As to “Islamicity,” therefore, all men are absolutely equal in that the house of
Islam may be entered by all and everyone upon his satisfying the simplest of requirements. In the
matter of men being Muslims or non-Muslims, there is no middle ground, no ambiguity, and no
complication.

Great as it may be in the eye of Islam for any person to make the decision to enter the faith, his
entry constitutes no guarantee of personal justification in the eye of God. Since Islam has no
sacraments, there is nothing the new initiate can do which, if his life were to terminate at its very
moment, he would be assured of salvation. Augustine’s terrible case of the two newborn babies,
the one going to Paradise because he received baptism and the other condemned to eternal fire
because he did not, is not a problem for Islam. In Islam, justification in the eye of God is a function
of man’s deeds or works, not of any sacrament of which he may have partaken. Is justification, on
the other hand, a function of man’s personal faith? No, answers Islam. Faith is presupposed in the

2
AL FĀRŪQĪ, ISMAʿĪL R., and Imtiyaz Yusuf. "What Is a Muslim?" In Islam: Religion, Practice, Culture & World
Order, 5-9. LONDON; WASHINGTON: International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2012. Accessed November 10,
2020. doi:10.2307/j.ctvkc67zd.8.

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man’s entry into the community of Islam. But faith may be a mere statistical feature, a mark of
social self-identification. It may and may not produce the works of virtue, the deeds of
righteousness. Only the latter, therefore, constitutes justification.

On the scale of virtue and righteousness, men occupy varying positions. The scale itself is infinite;
and there is no point at which a Muslim may carry his title to Paradise, as it were, in his pocket.
Everyone strives and some strive more than others. Judgment by God of any man’s fate is not pre-
empted by anything any individual can do, whether for or against salvation. For God may reject
the greatest deeds because of lack of faith and seriousness on the part of their doer; and He may
forgive the greatest sinner. Likewise, He is not determined to pass favorable judgment on anyone
by virtue of his partaking in any “sacrament.” The Muslim is hence a person who, having joined
the ranks of Islam by his solemn witnessing, is engaged in the pursuit of righteousness the rest of
his life. The simple test of Islamicity provided by Islamic law, designed to make entry into Islam
the easiest religious passage ever devised, is balanced by a salvation requisite, after entry, which
is by nature infinite and hence never fully satisfied. Religious justification is thus the Muslim’s
eternal hope, never his complacency, not even for a fleeting moment. The Muslim, therefore, is a
person who, as his solemn witnessing has indicated, believes that only God is God and Muhammad
is His Prophet. That only God is God makes of him at once the humblest and proudest creature.
He is humble, and rubs his proud forehead against the ground in prostration, before God. God is
to him, the One Creator, Provider, Ruler, Forgiver and Judge, the First Cause and the Final End of
everything, the Ultimate Reality. He is the object of adoration and praise, of thanks and worship,
the One Master to whom all one’s life is devoted in dedication and service. The Muslim is the
proudest of people precisely because of this loyalty to God. Besides God, no thing and no man is
worthy of his loyalty, of his service and work. The Muslim may not submit to any ruler and much
less to any tyrant, because his submission is all due to the One Master. Some Muslims indeed do
submit to rulers and tyrants; but they do so at the cost of violating their very definition as Muslims.
In this submission to God, the Muslim places himself on a par with the whole of mankind, which
he regards as equally obliged to recognize the Creator of all. He is touched by a feeling of strongest
brotherhood to any person so submitting himself to the divine Sovereign; for vis-à-vis the Creator,
there is no perspective or category, no bond or definition, mightier and more proper than that of
creatureliness. Here all human beings stand absolutely identical.

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Equally, and on account of his acknowledgment of God alone as Master, the Muslim is a sort of
revolutionary who champions the cause of human freedom against human masters everywhere.
Nothing is more hateful to him than shirk or associating other beings with God. When a person
sets up money, sex, power, or pleasure as his God besides God, it is indeed bad. But when a Caesar
or a tyrant so sets himself up and demands absolute loyalty from the citizens – loyalty belonging
exclusively to God – then rebellion against that ruler and his ultimate overthrow become for the
Muslim a prime religious objective.

The Muslim believes that God has created man and the world not in sport, and certainly not in
vain, but for a purpose. This purpose is that man may fulfill his ethical vocation; that he may do
the good deeds. The scripture of Islam pictures the life of man in the world as a free competition
among men for doing the better, the nobler, and the greater deeds. On this account, it called man
“khalÏfah” or vicegerent of God, i.e., he who acts and fulfills, on behalf of God. The world God
created is one which fits this moral vocation of man, one in which man is efficacious, where the
realization of goodness, truth and beauty is actually possible.

This purpose is what gives meaning to the Muslim’s life. And there can be no greater meaning
than to serve as the actualizer of God’s will on earth, as the realizer of goodness and value in space
and time. It is the source of his dignity and self-esteem. In fact, it does assign him a cosmic status
to see himself, on a par with all other men, as the bridge through which the moral good must pass
to be actualized on earth. Realization of the moral good requires that it be achieved in freedom,
i.e., under conditions where it is equally possible for man to realize as well as to violate the moral
imperative. Only the human being, of all creatures on earth, is so equipped.

By concluding, it can be said that. Muslim is he who interferes with every natural process so as to
make it serve man’s needs and fulfill his joys; who interferes with the life of everyone on earth so
as to enable that person better to fulfill his potential, to realize to the full his noble destiny as God’s
vicegerent. Obviously, to live the life of Islam is to live dangerously. But it is also to live with the
highest expectation, the greatest promise, and the deepest joy of which man is capable.

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AHMADIYYAH MUSLIM
3Aḥmadiyyah, also spelled Ahmadiyya, modern Islamic sect and a name shared by several Sufi
(Muslim mystic) orders. The sect was founded in Qādiān in the Punjab, India, in 1889 by Mīrzā
Ghulām Aḥmad (c. 1839–1908), who claimed to be the mahdī (a figure expected by some
Muslims at the end of the world), the Christian Messiah, an incarnation of the Hindu god Krishna,
and a reappearance (burūz) of Muhammad. The sect’s doctrine is unorthodox in some aspects: for
example, it is believed that Jesus feigned death and resurrection but in actuality escaped to India,
where he died at the age of 120; also, jihād (“holy war”) is reinterpreted as a battle against
unbelievers to be waged by peaceful methods rather than by violent military means.

On the death of the founder, Mawlawi Nur al-Din was elected by the community
as khalīfah (“successor”). In 1914, when he died, the Aḥmadiyyah split—the original group, which
was based in Qādiān and recognized Ghulām Aḥmad as prophet (nabī) and his son Ḥaḍrat Mīrzā
Bashīr al-Dīn Maḥmūd Aḥmad (born 1889) as the second caliph, and the new Lahore society that
accepted Ghulām Aḥmad only as a reformer (mujaddid).

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The former group (the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community), residing chiefly in Pakistan—though
there are communities in India and West Africa and to some extent in Great Britain, Europe, and
the United States—is a highly organized community with a considerable financial base. Its
members are zealous missionaries, preaching Aḥmadī beliefs as the one true Islam, with
Muhammad and Mīrzā Ghulām Aḥmad as prophets. In 1947, with the establishment of Pakistan,
they officially relocated from Qādiān to Rabwah, Pakistan.

The Lahore group (Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement) members are also proselytizers, though more
concerned in gaining converts to Islam than to their particular sect. Led from its inception to his
death in 1951 by Mawlana Muhammad Ali, the sect has been active in English- and Urdu-language
publishing and in liberalizing Islam.

Aḥmadiyyah also designates several Sufi orders, the most important of which is that of Egypt
named after Aḥmad al-Badawī, one of the greatest saints of Islam (died 1276). Al-Badawī achieved

3
Valentine, Simon Ross. Islam and the Ahmadiyya Jama'at: History, Belief, Practice. United Kingdom: Hurst &
Company, 2008.
4
Encyclopædia Britannica, Aḥmadiyyah, Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ahmadiyyah (Last Visited:
10 November 2020)

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great fame for his knowledge of Islamic sciences, but he eventually abandoned speculative
theology and devoted himself to contemplation in seclusion. Soon he became known as a miracle-
working saint and had thousands of followers. He arrived in Ṭanṭā (south of Cairo, Egypt) in 1236.
His followers were also called Suṭūḥiyyah from aṣḥāb al-saṭḥ (the people of the roof); according
to one anecdote, when al-Badawī arrived at Ṭanṭā, he climbed upon the roof of a private house and
stood motionless looking into the sun until his eyes became red and sore. This action was then
imitated by some of his followers.

After al-Badawī’s death, the Aḥmadiyyah was headed by ʿAbd al-ʿĀl, a close disciple who kept
the order under strict rule until his death in 1332. ʿAbd al-ʿĀl inherited the order’s symbols: a red
cowl, a veil, and a red banner that belonged to al-Badawī. Before his death, ʿAbd al-ʿĀl ordered a
chapel built on al-Badawī’s tomb, which was later replaced by a large mosque.

The Aḥmadiyyah order, which is representative of the lower type of dervishes, faced great
opposition from Muslim legalists, who in general opposed all Sufism, and from political figures
who felt threatened by the tremendous influence the order had on the masses. Under the Mamlūk
dynasty, however, the head of the Aḥmadiyyah at times enjoyed considerable privileges and was
treated as a dignitary. During the Ottoman rule the Aḥmadiyyah suffered from official neglect
because of the powerful rivalry from Turkish orders, but this did not lessen in any way the deep
veneration for al-Badawī among the Egyptians. The Aḥmadiyyah is one of the most popular orders
in Egypt, and the three yearly festivals in honour of al-Badawī are major celebrations. Numerous
minor orders are considered branches of the Aḥmadiyyah and are spread all over the Islamic world.
Among these are the Shinnāwiyyah, the Kannāsiyyah, the Bayyūmiyyah, the Sallāmiyyah, the
Halabiyyah, and the Bundāriyyah.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AHMADIYYAH AND OTHER MUSLIMS

Ahmadi Muslims follow the same Holy Scriptures and teachings as other Muslims. The key
difference is that Ahmadi Muslims believe that the Promised Messiah (also referred to as the
Mahdi in some texts) of the latter days has arrived and he established the Ahmadiyya Muslim
Community in 1889. It is a revivalist movement that has no new religious laws or teachings as it

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seeks to rejuvenate the true Islam as taught by the Holy Prophet Muhammad. Other Muslims are
still waiting for a reformer to come.

As with all other Muslims, Ahmadi Muslims believe in the ‘Five Pillars of Islam’, and the ‘Six
Articles of Faith’. They follow the same Holy Scripture (The Holy Qur’an), and accept that Islam
is the final and perfect religion for mankind. They also believe in Prophet
Muhammad as Khataman Nabiyyeen (the ‘Seal of the Prophets’) as he was the one who was the
best model for mankind who brought God’s final and perfect message for mankind.

Ahmadi Muslims also follow the Islamic sources of guidance and jurisprudence – which is sourced
from three main authorities:

1. The Holy Qur’an;

2. The Sunnah (practice of the Holy Prophet(sa)); and

3. The Hadith (sayings of the Holy Prophet) as given in the authentic books of Hadith such
as Sahih Al Bukhari, Sahih Al Muslim, Sunan Abu Daud,Tirmidhi, Ibne Maja and Nisai

Ahmadi Muslims also have regard for the interpretation of Islamic Laws (shariah) provided by the
classical Islamic scholars. They generally follow the Hanafi school of thought, but all such matters
are considered in light of the guidance provided by the Promised Messiah.

Despite this abundance of guidance Muslims, like followers of all religions before them, were
destined to drift away from the true teachings of Islam. This decay was to be followed by the
revival of Islam through the messiah of the latter days as prophesied by the Holy Prophet. So whilst
all Muslims expect a messiah to appear it is only the question of the identity and acceptance of the
messiah that distinguishes Ahmadi Muslims from all other Muslims.

In some Hadith the messiah is referred to as ‘Jesus son of Mary’ and in others he is referred to as
‘Al-Mahdi’.

It is interesting to note that there are also similar such prophecies in other religions that tell of a
messiah who was to appear in the ‘latter days’; for example, Christians are awaiting the second
advent of Jesus.

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Ahmadi Muslims believe that the messiah who was promised has come and that he was a single
person who fulfilled all the prophecies relating to such a messiah not just in Islam but also in all
religions. This was to be a unifying factor for all humanity and a means of uniting people under
Islam, as it is the perfect religion for man.

Ahmadi Muslims believe that the Promised Messiah was Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad who was
born in Qadian, India and under Divine guidance he established the Ahmadiyya Muslim
Community in 1889. The community seeks to revive the same spirit and understanding of Islam
that existed at the time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad.

Some other Muslims on the other hand believe that the Promised Messiah has not yet arrived and
that when he does he will be the very same Jesus Son of Mary who was sent to the Jews over 2000
years earlier as the Messiah. They believe that he ascended bodily to heaven and that he will return
to earth bodily as a sign signifying his second advent. They further believe that he will slaughter
all the pigs on earth and break all crosses. According to them he will also force everyone to accept
Islam.

Ahmadi Muslims believe that such prophecies are metaphorical in nature. So, for example, the
Messiah was not to force people to accept Islam, but rather the force of his arguments, reasoning
and spiritual insight would demonstrate the truth of Islam and attract people to Islam.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is now established globally with branches in over 200
countries and its membership is in tens of millions. It is a peace loving community that believes in
and acts upon its principle of ‘Love for All, Hatred for None’, a principle that reflects the essence
of Islam.

PERSECUTION OF AHMADIYYAH MUSLIMS

The Ahmadiyya sect of Islam has been subject to various forms of religious persecution and
discrimination since the movement's inception in 1889.

The Ahmadis are active translators of the Qur'an and proselytizers for the faith. However, in a
number of countries, Ahmadis have faced strong resistance. In many Muslim-majority nations,
Ahmadis have been considered heretics and non-Muslim, and subjected to persecution and
systematic, sometimes state-sanctioned, oppression.

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In Pakistan: The Second Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, Ordinance XX and the
Twelfth Amendment of AJ&K declare Ahmadis to be non-Muslims and further deprive them of
religious rights. Hundreds of Ahmadis were killed in the 1953 Lahore riots and the 1974 Anti-
Ahmadiyya riots. The May 2010 Attacks on Ahmadi mosques, infamously known as the Lahore
Massacre, resulted in the murder of 84 Ahmadis by suicide attack. The 1974 riots resulted in the
largest number of killings of Ahmadis.

Approximately 2–5 million Ahmadis live in Pakistan, which has the largest population of Ahmadis
in the world. It is the only state to have officially declared the Ahmadis to be non-Muslims as they
do not consider Muhammad to be the final prophet; and their freedom of religion has been curtailed
by a series of ordinances, acts and constitutional amendments. In 1974, Pakistan's parliament
adopted a law declaring Ahmadis to be non-Muslims; the country's constitution was amended to
define a Muslim "as a person who believes in the finality of the Prophet Muhammad". In
1984, General Zia-ul-Haq, the then military ruler of Pakistan, issued Ordinance XX. The
ordinance, which was supposed to prevent "anti-Islamic activities", forbids Ahmadis to call
themselves Muslim or to "pose as Muslims". This means that they are not allowed to profess the
Islamic creed publicly or call their places of worship mosques. Although derogatory religious
slurs, the terms 'Qadiani', 'Qadianism', 'Mirzai' and 'Mirzaian' are widely used in Pakistan to refer
to Ahmadis and the term 'Qadiani' is also the term used by the government in its constitution.

Ahmadis in Pakistan are also barred by law from worshipping in non-Ahmadi mosques or public
prayer rooms, performing the Muslim call to prayer, using the traditional Islamic greeting in
public, publicly quoting from the Quran, preaching in public, seeking converts, or producing,
publishing, and disseminating their religious materials. These acts are punishable by imprisonment
of up to three years. In applying for a passport or a national ID card, all Pakistanis are required to
sign an oath declaring Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be an impostor prophet and all Ahmadis to be
non-Muslims. The word Muslim was erased from the gravestone of the Nobel Prize winning
theoretical physicist Abdus Salam, because he was an Ahmadi.

As a result of the laws and constitutional amendments regarding Ahmadis in Pakistan, persecution
and hate-related incidents are constantly reported from different parts of the country. Ahmadis
have been the target of many attacks led by various religious groups. All religious seminaries

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and madrasas in Pakistan belonging to different sects of Islam have prescribed essential reading
materials specifically targeted at refuting Ahmadiyya beliefs.

For the five million Ahmadis, religious persecution has been particularly severe and systematic in
Pakistan, which is the only state to have officially declared that Ahmadis are non-
Muslims. Pakistani laws prohibit the Ahmadis from identifying themselves as Muslims, and their
freedom of religion has been curtailed by a series of ordinances, Acts and constitutional
amendments.

As a result, persecution and hate-related incidents are regularly reported from different parts of the
country. Ahmadis have been the target of many violent attacks by various religious groups in
Pakistan. Madrasahs of all sects of Islam in Pakistan prescribe reading materials for their students
specifically targeted at refuting Ahmadiyya beliefs.

In a recent survey, students from many private schools of Pakistan expressed their opinions on
religious tolerance in the country. The figures assembled in the study reflect that even among the
educated classes of Pakistan, Ahmadis are considered the least deserving minority in terms of
equal opportunities and civil rights. The teachers from these elite schools showed lower levels of
tolerance towards Ahmadis than their pupils.

AHMADIYYAH SECT IN INDIA

In India, Ahmadis are Muslims by law. This is supported by a verdict from the Kerala High
Court on 8 December 1970 in the case of Shihabuddin Imbichi Koya Thangal vs K.P. Ahammed
Koya, citation A.I.R. 1971 Ker 2065. In this landmark ruling, the court determined that Ahmadis
are Muslims and that they cannot be declared apostates by other Muslim sects because they hold
true to the two fundamental beliefs of Islam: that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is
a messenger of God.

While Ahmadis are considered Muslims by law and there are no legal restrictions on their religious
activities, they are not permitted by fellow Muslims of other sects to sit on the All India Muslim
Personal Law Board, a body of religious leaders that the Indian government recognises as
representative of Indian Muslims.

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Shihabuddin Imbichi Koya Thangal vs K.P. Ahammed Koya, citation A.I.R. 1971 Ker 206

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CONCLUSION

Ahmadiyyah is a sect which is in grave threat and many Islamic country do not recognize them as
true Muslims. However, as we observed according to Islam every adult male and female who
consciously and solemnly witnesses that “There is no God but God and Muhammad is the
Prophet of God.” Is a Muslim and this is the only simple requirement to become a Muslim. This
was also observed by the Supreme Court in the case of Shihabuddin Imbichi Koya Thangal vs K.P.
Ahammed Koya. So there is a need for the fellow muslims to re-consider the plight of Ahmadiyyah
brothers and also recognize them as a sect and a Muslim.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Valentine, Simon Ross. Islam and the Ahmadiyya Jama'at: History, Belief,
Practice. United Kingdom: Hurst & Company, 2008.
 AAA. Fyzee, Outlines of Muhammadan Law, Oxford Law Publications, 5 th Edition, 2008
 ISMAIL R. AL FĀRŪQĪ , Islam, Religion, Practice, Culture & World Order,
International Institute of Islamic Thought, Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvkc67zd.8
 Shihabuddin Imbichi Koya Thangal vs K.P. Ahammed Koya, citation A.I.R. 1971 Ker 206

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