The Promised Messiah and Mahdi — Page 194
THE PROMISED MESSIAH AND MAHDI. PROGRESS OF INTERNATIONAL. AHMADIYYA MUSLIM COMMUNITY. As we wrote before, with Allah's help and the blessings of the. Holy Prophet (Peace be on him), the caravan of the Ahmadiyya. Muslim Community is marching forward on the road of progress. It is always surging forward from one milestone to the next, in spite of inherent difficulties and bitter opposition. The persecution of the. Ahmadiyya Community, which turns violent at times, continues. unabated in Pakistan. The legacy of the Anti-Ahmadiyya ordinance by general Zia-ul-Haq, former dictator of Pakistan, continues. The petitions of the Ahmadiyya Community to have this unjust and unconstitutional ordinance repealed, have been rejected by the. Pakistani courts including the Supreme Court of Pakistan. General. Zia-ul-Haq made an alliance with the extremist, orthodox Ulema (religious leaders) to gain popularity and strengthen his dictatorship. . Subsequent political leaders and high officials of Pakistan have been unable to change the Anti-Ahmadiyya policy of General Zia-ul-Haq and his religious allies among the Ulema. In Pakistan basic human rights of Ahmadi Muslims are still denied. They are persecuted for practising their faith. At times they are arrested and are charged with false accusations and such "offences" as: reciting Kalima-Tayyiba, for greeting others with "Assalamu-Alaikum", or uttering "Bismillah". To call such basic Islamic traditions as an offence is simply ridiculous and beyond comprehension. Sporadic incidents of the organized murder of Ahmadi Muslims still continue. Culprits are never apprehended by the police or punished by the courts. They charge that their sentiments are hurt when Ahmadis practice their faith, and so the. Ahmadis must be stopped by force. . It is not the masses who are at fault. It is the fanatic and extremist Ulema allied with politicians who are so intolerant and misguided. In the West, such groups are often called the "Fundamentalists". This term seems a misnomer as some of the 194