Kashmir’s Grand Mufti on Wednesday stirred up a real hornet’s nest by asking for declaring Ahmadis or Ahmadiyyas as non-Muslims through a legislation in the state Assembly.
The cleric, Mufti Muhammad Bashiruddin, who is recognised by both the state government and the Centre as official 'Mufti Azam' or Grand Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir, while speaking at a meeting of religious leaders here organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Personal Board headed by him, said that all legislators should jointly table a bill in the state Assembly during its coming session and ensure it was passed with voice votes as well to declare Ahmadis as non-Muslims.
“That will address the grievance of all the people in the state of Jammu and Kashmir,” he asserted, adding that the move had become imperative in the face of the “believers of Mirzaiat and Qadiyaniat only having increased their activities.”
A handout issued at the end of the meeting adds, “On the issue of increasing activities of the believers of Mirzaiat and Qadiyaniat, the Islamic Sharia Council has made it clear that in all parts of the world Qadiyanis have been declared non Muslims. Hence, Mufti Azam appealed all legislators of Jammu and Kashmir “to pass the bill in coming Assembly session to declare them non Muslims in our state as well so that grievance of all the people of state is addressed.”
Ahmadiyya is a reformist movement within Islam founded in British India towards the end of the 19th century, originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmed (1835–1908), who claimed that he was the Mujaddid (divine reformer) and the promised Messiah and Mahdi awaited by Muslims.
The adherents of the Ahmadiyya movement are referred to as Ahmadis or Ahmadi Muslims. India has a significant Ahmadiyya population, most of them living in Kerala, Rajasthan, Orissa, Haryana, Bihar, Delhi, UP and in Qadian in Punjab, the birthplace of Mirza Ahmed.