This effectively prevents Ahmadis from becoming lawyers, so that when other Ahmadis encounter legal difficulties, they have to rely on lawyers who are immediately unsympathetic to them.
“Pakistan: To Join Bar, Ahmadi Lawyers Are Asked to Deny Their Faith,” by Marco Respinti, Bitter Winter, March 21, 2023:
…Saudi Arabia, which is an Islamic absolute monarchy, denies Ahmadis even the simple right to exist. Ahmadis are in fact forbidden to enter the country and foreign workers who are identified as Ahmadis are expelled.
Algeria, which is a semi-presidential Islamic republic (of a socialist kind) where Sunni Muslim represent about 99% of the population, and whose 2016 Constitution, in Article 2, states that “Islam is the religion of the state,” follows a similar path. Ahmadis are jailed for the simple reason of being Ahmadis.
And recent news coming from Pakistan confirms the discrimination Ahmadis are subject to there. On March 7, 2023, the District Bar Council of Gujranwala, in Punjab, Pakistan, issued a notice prohibiting admittance of Ahmadi lawyers.
If Ahmadi lawyers want to join the Bar Council they have to “dis-Ahmadi” themselves, renouncing to their religious beliefs and cultural identity. More than that: they are obliged to commit apostasy and to pronounce blasphemy—which is quite curious in a country where a complex of norms, generally known as “blasphemy laws,” is used by some Muslims to persecute, up to imposing death sentences, religious minorities and political adversaries.
In fact, the District Bar Council of Gujranwala requires Ahmadis lawyers to sign an affidavit condemning the founder of AMJ, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), and calling him a liar and a fraudulent claimant of prophethood.
Ahmadi: the District Bar Council’s notice.
The District Bar Council’s notice.
What follows is the text of the notice issued by the District Bar Council of Gujranwala, in an English translation provided by the International Human Rights Committee, a non-profit and non-governmental organization focusing on freedom of religion or belief based in London.“Long Live Tajdar Khatm e Nabuwat
Notice Announcement
All honorable members of the bar are informed that following affidavit has been included in the membership form in accordance with the resolution passed in the meeting of General House on 23rd February 2023. From now onwards, membership of the District Bar Association will be handed over in accordance with the affidavit related to Tajdar Khatm e Nabuwat (PBUH).
I am Muslim and have unconditional belief in Khatm e Nabuwat, the finality of Prophethood of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). I do not accept anyone who claims to be a Prophet after the Holy Prophet (PBUH) by amending the known definition of the word, Prophet. I do not accept such claimant of Prophecy as Prophet or Religious Preacher. I do not consider such person Muslim. I consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmed Qadiani a liar (God forbid) and his Lahori and Qadiani followers, non-Muslims.
Secretary Bar
Hafiz Wazir Ali Malik Advocate
7-3-2023
Ref No: 33/2023.”…
