Pakistan court upholds ban on Ahmadiyya religious texts

Pakistan’s Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has upheld a ban on the ‘Rohani Khazayeen’, a 23-volume collection of foundational writings by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya community.

The ruling endorses a 2014 notification from the Punjab Home Department, which was issued following a recommendation by the Ulema Board. The Board suggested the texts could incite hostility among Muslims. The FCC bench, led by Justice Aamer Farooq, dismissed petitions from members of the Ahmadiyya community who argued the ban violated Article 20 of the Pakistani Constitution, which guarantees the freedom to practice and propagate religion.

The court stated that religious freedom is subject to law, public policy, and morality. The bench further noted that the petitioners failed to provide sufficient material to challenge the reasoning of the ban or to allow the court to analyze the content of the volumes. Consequently, the ban remains in effect, preventing the printing, publishing, or circulation of these central religious texts. Rights campaigners and religious sociologists have described the decision as a significant escalation in the restriction of Ahmadi religious expression.