Information on whether there are different groups within the Lahori Ahmadi, on the different groups within the Anjuman group of the Ahmadiyya and on the different Ahmadiyya groups in Lahore [PAK13048]

Note that the term "Lahori Ahmadi" does not refer to all Ahmadiyya living in Lahore; the Lahori Ahmadis are a breakaway sect of the Ahmadiyya. According the attached document entitled "Brief Note on 'Lahori Ahmadis'," in 1914, a small group of persons seceded from the Ahmadiyya religious community and formed a separate organization in the city of Lahore (Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam 12 Feb. 1992, 1). This group propagated 'doctrinal differences' with the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam and made "conciliatory overtures" to fundamentalist Muslims (Ibid.). The source states that the Lahori Ahmadis have always been treated by the government of Pakistan as an "innocuous aberration from other Islamic sects and practically left alone during any anti-Ahmadi campaign" (Ibid., 2).

According to a professor at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington, D.C., there are no different groups within the Lahori Ahmadi (12 Feb. 1993). The head missioner of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam in Toronto corroborated this information (12 Feb. 1993).

The professor at the Carnegie Endowment clarified that the word anjuman means "everybody" in English and does not refer to a group of Ahmadiyya (Ibid.). The head missioner of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam explained that there is a Lahori Ahmadi organization located in Lahore named "Anjuman Isha'at-e-Islam," which means the Council for the Propagation of Islam (Ibid.).

According to both the professor and the head missioner, there are no different mainstream Ahmadiyya groups in Lahore (12 Feb. 1993). The head missioner added that Lahore is merely the headquarters of the Lahori Ahmadis, and there is also a large mainstream Ahmadiyya community in the city (12 Feb. 1993).

For further information please refer to the attached documents. Additional or corroborating information is currently unavailable to the DIRB in Ottawa.

References


Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, Canada, Toronto. 12 February 1992. Information entitled "Brief Note on 'Lahori Ahmadis'" faxed to DIRB, Ottawa.

_____. 12 February 1992. Telephone interview with head missioner.

Professor, Carnegie Endowment, Washington, D.C. 12 February 1993. Telephone interview.

Attachment

Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, Canada, Toronto. 12 February 1992. Information entitled "Brief Note on 'Lahori Ahmadis'" faxed to DIRB, Ottawa.

The Encyclopedia of Religion. 1987. Vol. 1. Mircea Eliade, ed. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, pp. 153-155.