The following information was provided in a 7 February 1995 telephone interview with a representative of Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam Lahore Inc.(USA) in Columbus, Ohio. The information below applies only to the Ahmadi-Lahore community, and not to the Qadianis.

Since Ahmadis are Muslim they do not convert to but join the Ahmadiyya movement, which is a missionary movement for the propagation of the Islam. Founded by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in the late nineteenth century, the movement split in 1914 when the founder's son, Mirza Mahmood Ahmad declared his father to be a prophet. Maulana Muhammad Ali, a close companion of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, subsequently left Qadian to found the Ahmadiyya Anjuman ("society") Ishaat ("propagation") Islam Lahore group. The Qadiani and the Ahmadi-Lahore communities differ over the role of the Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Whereas the Qadianis believe that he claimed prophethood, the Ahmadi-Lahore community believes he was not a prophet but the promised messiah and a mujaddid (renewer). The Ahmadi-Lahore community therefore believes in the finality of Muhammad as the last prophet.

In order to become an Ahmadi-Lahore member in Pakistan, one must take the oath of membership, called the "bait," at the hands of a spiritually pure and god-fearing person of the Ahmadi-Lahore community whose good character can be attested to by 40 members. Ahmadi-Lahore members who renew their faith sign a pledge form also called the "bait." The "bait" consists of ten moral and spiritual conditions.

The source stated that people in Pakistan do not join the Lahore Ahmadiyya movement because they fear persecution. Both the person joining the movement and the person who administers the pledge are at great risk.

All Pakistani Ahmadis must be registered in Pakistan at the Anjuman, which has a record of all of its members. All members from outside of Pakistan are registered in their own Anjumans. It is therefore impossible for an individual to be an Ahmadi, either Qadiani or Lahore, without the knowledge of his/her Anjuman. The Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam Lahore (USA) can contact the movement's headquarters in Lahore, Pakistan, to check whether or not an individual is an Ahmadi-Lahore member. The Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam Lahore (USA) is also able to distinguish between a genuine "bait" pledge form and a forgery.

Please consult the following Responses to Information Requests for additional information on the Ahmadi-Lahore community: PAK19265.E of 20 December 1994, PAK18152.E of 25 August 1994, PAK17901.E of 30 June 1994, PAK17431.E of 20 June 1994 and PAK13048 of 15 February 1993. All of these responses are available at Regional Documentation Centres.

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam Lahore Inc. (USA), Columbus, Ohio. 7 February 1995. Telephone interview with representative.