CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2019
| Author | Rashid, Hooriya |
|---|---|
| Title | The experience of Ahmadis in Pakistan- an analysis of how a religious minority coexists in a country with a dominant religion |
| Summary | The Ahmadiyya community is a marginalized religious minority group in Pakistan. Although it identifies itself as a Muslim movement that follows the teachings in the Quran, it is regarded as heretical by the mainstream (Sunni) Muslims in Pakistan. The laws of the country have been designed to further marginalize the Ahmadis. The Second Amendment to the constitution of Pakistan officially declares Ahmadis as non-Muslims. Furthermore, in 1984, under the Zia ordinance, Ahmadis are not allowed to call themselves Muslims or to "pose as Muslims." Today, the community primarily lives in a small town of 70,000 people, called Rabwah, which serves as the headquarters of the community. The Ahmadiyya community is not involved in the political process of the country and individual Ahmadis continue to be jailed for ‘posing as Muslims.’ For this study, I carried out an extensive field research for a month in Rabwah. The respondents were both community members and government officials. I collected data on how citizenship rights such as freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, and freedom to profess religion are violated. The paper discusses how Pakistan violates international human rights standards of citizenship with regard to its treatment of Ahmadis. However, the main argument of this thesis is to demonstrate that even in situations where a dominant religion persecutes a religious minority, the minority group can still survive if it has a strong value system. Therefore, a substantial part of the paper will give a detailed explanation of the administrative system of the Ahmadi community and the institutions that are created parallel to the government systems. I will also show how a religious minority like the Ahmadiyya community coexists as a persecuted minority within a country that mostly has a homogenous dominant religion (Sunni). Finally, the paper argues that the Ahmadiyya community has developed a very organized and bureaucratic administrative system as a strategy for preserving and maintaining its identity and values. |
| Supervisor | Scharffs Brett G. |
| Department | Legal Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2019/rashid_hooriya.pdf |
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