---
title: "In Pakistan, most say Ahmadis are not Muslim"
description: "Anti-Ahmadi sentiment runs high in Pakistan, where two in three Pakistani Muslims say Ahmadis are not Muslim."
date: "2013-09-10"
authors:
  - name: "Neha Sahgal"
    job_title: "Vice President, Research"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/neha-sahgal/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/09/10/in-pakistan-most-say-ahmadis-are-not-muslim/"
categories:
  - "Islam"
  - "Muslims Around the World"
---

# In Pakistan, most say Ahmadis are not Muslim

This past weekend marked the 39th anniversary of the passage of Pakistan’s second constitutional amendment, which defines the country’s Ahmadi community as non-Muslim. [Ahmadis](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-glossary/), a minority group who see themselves as an Islamic sect, revere their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, as a kind of prophet – a controversial view because he came after Muhammad, whom Sunni Muslims consider the final prophet. Sunnis form the majority of Pakistan’s population, and in recent years, there have been [numerous incidents of violence against the Ahmadi community in Pakistan](http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/ahmadis-a-special-target-of-discrimination-in-pakistan/?_r=0). In 2011, Pakistan earned the highest possible score on Pew Research Center’s [social hostilities involving religion index](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2013/06/20/arab-spring-restrictions-on-religion-findings/).

[![FT_13.09.10_Ahmadis_1[1]](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2013/09/FT_13.09.10_Ahmadis_11.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-5-religious-identity/)

To mark the anniversary, several anti-Ahmadi organizations in Pakistan [held conferences on Saturday night](http://tribune.com.pk/story/601720/second-amendment-anniversary-speakers-call-for-isolation-banishment-of-ahmadis/) where speakers called for renewed efforts to isolate Ahmadis from public life, including banning them from working in government or military jobs. Ahmadi organizations such as *Jamaat-i-Ahmadiyya* advised their members to stay away from public places.

Two-in-three Pakistani Muslims say Ahmadis are not Muslims, according to a Pew Research [poll](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-5-religious-identity/) conducted in November 2011. Just 7% accept Ahmadis as fellow Muslims, while 26% do not offer a response or say they don’t know.

The poll also found that a majority of Pakistani Muslims support the country’s [blasphemy laws](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12621225), which predate Pakistan’s independence in 1947 but have since been expanded. The laws, which carry a potential death sentence for insulting Islam, have been frequently invoked against Ahmadis and other religious minorities in Pakistan; although formal criminal prosecutions are rare, social discrimination and harassment of Ahmadis is widespread. Fully 75% of Pakistani Muslims say blasphemy laws are necessary to protect Islam in their country, while 6% say blasphemy laws unfairly target minority communities, and 19% express no opinion on the issue.