Airport-style security have been implemented at mosques after receiving threats from other Muslims around the country. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK (AMC), has introduced walk-in metal detectors, bag searches and identity checks at its mosques after group members and their leader Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, received threats. The AMC represents about 30,000 Ahmadis in the UK.
Ahmadis make up 1% of the UK's 3 million Muslims. It is said that Ahmadis have been persecuted for years in nations such as Pakistan. For their belief that Muhammad was not the last Muslim prophet Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims consider this belief as blasphemy.
The majority of these threats have been sent through social media and text messages. Some of the AMC's mosques have also been labelled as “kaffir”, which means non-believer or infidel.
Spokesman for AMC, Farooq Aftab said, “People who don't think we are Muslims are entitled to their own point of view, but a line must be drawn because violence cannot be justified. We can disagree, but we have a right to freedom of religion.”
Islam in Britain
300,000+ Shi'ite Muslims
Predominantly of Indian, Pakistani and Iraqi origin. They represent 10% of the Muslim population
2.7 million + Sunni Muslims
Sunni Muslims represent 90% of British Muslims and are predominantly Pakistani and Bangladeshi. The largest number of Sunni's live in Tower Hamlets, East London
30,000 Ahmadi Muslims
The majority of Ahmadis in the UK are of South Asian origin, mostly from Pakistan. 15,000 Ahmadis live in London
