Questioner: Very recently, the Saudi Arabian government has requested that anybody who is applying for the visa, should have a certificate of religion, that is, somebody should certify what his religion is. Does it have any significance to the events which has happened in Pakistan or is it in Huzoor’s knowledge whether it is to do something else with your own government?
Huzoor (rh): Well, anything might have triggered it off, we don’t know. You know some mullahs might have approached the government and concocted a story about Ahmadis declaring their religion wrongfully according to them to be Islam and having that inserted in passports and things. So they are defeating the purpose, the law which they think has been made, by the way there is no such law, written law in Saudi Arabia that Ahmadis shouldn’t enter Saudi Arabia but the story which is generally made by them always is like this, that Ahmadis are, through bribery and things, having the word Muslim inserted in their passports, and the result is that they can go and enjoy various appointments in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries without their knowledge that they are Ahmadis.
So that measure of Pakistan government to put religion, declare religion in one’s passport is not sufficient so you better put an extra safety valve and ask before the delivery of visa what religion one has and has one guarantee outside of guarantee so that the Ahmadis are caught and they cannot deceive you. This is perhaps I think this has happened because in Pakistan these things are really daily published even in today’s mail. I received many such reports about Maulvi declaring this exactly the same thing.
So the Saudis, generally, they are not personally hostile to Ahmadiyyat. They don’t know, I mean, they’re simply unaware of what is happening because it is the attitude of Pakistan government and because certain organizations in Saudi Arabia are appointed to create difficulties for Ahmadis so these are the two forces which are at work behind these things. Ordinary Saudis and the government agents and the government workers they don’t know, they’re not interested in these things.
Questioner: Because there is this very recent thing that has just happened and after all the event, I just thought…
Huzoor (rh): Quite right. But still there are other Saudis, who in the government, who know this and they don’t want to enforce this in case of Ahmadis, they say they don’t care. I know this. So these laws are put, are made but gradually they lose meaning because people themselves are not convinced so the result is that law is made and, ultimately, it is, no, it’s not operative at all.
