Pakistan court rules Ahmadis cannot inherit property from their Muslim parents
By Massimo Introvigne
Last week, the Lahore High Court, upholding verdicts of two lower courts, issued a decision in matter of inheritance that perpetuates discrimination against the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan.
The decision by the Lahore High Court can also affect other religious minorities.
The judges ruled that non-Muslims should face legal restrictions when it comes to inheriting property owned by a Muslim. Citing the collection of hadith “Sahih Muslim,” Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal referred to Prophet Muhammad’s saying, “A Muslim does not inherit from a disbeliever, and a disbeliever does not inherit from a Muslim.”
The case referred to an Ahmadi man’s claim to 83-kanal land inherited from his father, a Muslim, in Gojra, Toba Tek Singh district. After the landowner’s death, his property went to his children, one of whom was an Ahmadi. However, a grandson contested this, arguing that his uncle, identified as an Ahmadi, should not inherit from a Muslim relative.
Ahmadis are officially declared non-Muslim by Pakistani law, their protests notwithstanding.
The provision also affects Christian and other minorities, as it implies that a child who converted to a religion other than Islam could not inherit from Muslim parents.
Massimo Introvigne is an Italian sociologist of religions. He is the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), an international network of scholars who study new religious movements. He is the author of some 70 books and more than 100 articles in the field of sociology of religion.
