Former Pakistani actor Hamza Ali Abbasi said on Saturday that he was wrong in labeling Ahmadis as non-Muslims. He was backtracking from comments he made in 2016 declaring the minority Ahmadis a religion separate from Islam.
Abbasi said on Twitter: “I was wrong in calling them non-Muslim. I can only say that they are wrong in their belief.” The actor was responding to a barrage of abusive tweets that were part of a Pakistan wide Twitter trend against Ahmadis. ”
Abbasi added that: “If a group or person calls himself a Muslim……then no individual has the authority to declare them non-Muslim.”
I was wrong in calling them non Muslim. I can only say that they r wrong in thr belief.
— Hamza Ali Abbasi (@iamhamzaabbasi) May 2, 2020
The twitter trend was in reaction to the government’s decision to include the Ahmadis in the National Minority Commission, a step rejected by a majority of Pakistanis.