Faith in Chains is a dramatic MTA News documentary series highlighting the persecution of Ahmadi Muslims and their unjust imprisonment on false charges
Atif Rashid, MTA News
They walk among us. You will see them at every Jalsa, Ijtema and Jamaat event. But few know about the trials they’ve endured which has given them a permanent smile on their faces.
While that sounds contradictory, it isn’t. For Ahmadi Muslims, being an Aseer-e-Rahe Maula (prisoner in the path of God) is a mark of honour. A sign of the strength of their belief.
Around the world, dozens of Ahmadis are imprisoned for their faith, for the “crime” of believing in the Promised Messiahas.
They are enduring harsh conditions and separation from their loved ones. From Yemen to Algeria to Pakistan – countless Ahmadi Muslims are persecuted by religious extremists and state authorities.
For Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan, calling yourself a Muslim is a serious crime.
Article 20 in the original Pakistani constitution enshrined the right for every Pakistani to freely profess, practice and propagate his faith. In 1974 however, the Pakistani government under Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto constitutionally declared Ahmadis as non-Muslims by adding amendments to the constitution.
Ten years later, this dangerous course of action by state authorities took a darker turn. The military dictator Zia-ul-Haq took it upon himself to bow to the religious extremists in the country and proclaim to rid Pakistan of the “cancer” of Ahmadiyyat.
Ordinance XX outlawed the community and made “posing” as a Muslim a crime punishable by 3 years in prison. Ahmadis were barred from professing, practising or propagating their faith. Countless Ahmadis were arrested, jailed on false charges and even beaten and murdered.
This proclamation ushered in an era of extreme hardship for Ahmadis in Pakistan, which continues to this day.
The law meant any Ahmadi could be charged, arrested and jailed for reciting the Kalima, for saying the Muslim greeting of peace, “Assalamu Alaikum” or even possessing a copy of the Holy Quran or wearing a ring with Quranic inscriptions.
This is exactly what happened in the case of 89-year-old Abdul Shakoor, better known as Shakoor Bhai Chashmay Walay, or Brother Shakoor, the optician.
A gentle, amicable and friendly man – you would never think he was a convicted “terrorist” in Pakistan. Of course, such allegations were manufactured and false.
In Pakistan, he was a successful optician and bookseller. He was so trustworthy that non-Ahmadis would specifically come to him to get their eyes tested.
A veteran of enduring hatred and persecution for his faith, he has been to four prisons and wrongly convicted for multiple “crimes”. Once, he was arrested for wearing a ring with a religious inscription on it and, on another occasion, for displaying the Kalima in his shop.
His story is best summed up by Pakistani police in Sargodha, who in 1990, described him as a “habitual criminal” who deems breaking the law a “form of worship”.
When the laws are so absurd that practising your faith is deemed “breaking the law,” what avenue is left for Ahmadi Muslims in the country?
While in custody, he was once beaten by a police officer during interrogation. “He slapped me 15-20 times and it broke two of my teeth – even now it hurts,” Shakoor Bhai says laughing.
In December 2015, spurred on by a religious extremist, he was set up by Pakistani authorities in a sting operation, accused of selling religious hate material. There was no truth to the allegation and the case was flawed on many accounts.
Pressured by religious extremists, the judge gave him the maximum sentence of three years under anti-Ahmadiyya laws and a further 5 years under anti-terrorism laws. He could have spent more than 8 years in jail.
“There is probably no person on the earth who would look at him or talk to him and perceive that he was a terrorist,” says Nadine Maenza, former chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
Owing to intense international pressure because of the injustice of the case, he was freed after 3 years and 3 months.
Johnnie Moore from USCIRF who advocated for his release says: “If anybody on the planet ought to be free, it ought to be someone like Abdul Shakoor.”
Nothing can shake Shakoor Bhai’s belief and faith in Ahmadiyyat. Enduring jail time and persecution for his faith is an honour, he proclaims.
“Whatever happens, whether it’s inside or outside, we don’t care, God is with us,” he says, defiantly declaring that he was ever-ready to return to jail for his beliefs.
Faith in Chains: Jailed for Believing is now streaming on MTA News.