Khatme Nubuwwat claims there is 'nothing illegal' in 'kill Ahmadis' leaflets

A spokesman for the Khatme Nubawwat Academy in East London, which has been accused of spreading anti-Ahmadiyya hate speech, has said the organisation "broke no laws".

Leaflets calling for followers of the Ahmadi Muslim sect to be executed as apostates (those who have abolished their religion) have been distributed in several locations in London. They are undersigned by a branch of the anti-Ahmadiyya Khatme Nubuwwat group in Stockwell Green, South London.

It comes as vigils were held in Glasgow in memory of Ahmadi shopkeeper Asad Shah, who was killed for spreading "false views of Islam", the man held for his attack said in a statement.

In an interview with IBTimes UK, Khatme Nubuwwat Academy spokesman Akber Choudhry denied any connections with the Stockwell Green branch of the group, and disputed allegations of connections between the groups. The Stockwell Green group has also denied distributing the leaflets, despite them being found on mosque premises.

"I dispute the assertion there are shared trustees," he said, alsodenying claims that the leaflets broke the law.

"There is nothing illegal in that leaflet. It is a theological position that should not be discussed in public but at the end it says one should not take the law into one's own hands. We don't share that view in the leaflet."

The leaflets advocate Ahmadis who fail to repent be given "the punishment of a Murtad, which is capital punishment." It later states: "Individuals cannot and should not administer this punishment."

Campaigners claim that Khatme Nubuwwat should banned under hate speech laws, under which views that incite violence are banned.

The leaflets can be downloaded from the endofprophethood.com website, which contains a link to Khatme Nubuwwat's Forest Gate branch as a related group. The group claims it is devoted to battling Ahmadi propaganda, and strongly opposes the Ahmadi claim that its founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, is the Mahdi (Muslim saviour).

Choudhry said he would contact the administrators of the website and "ask them to remove the link, analyse their publications more".

He added that "The leaflet, though we are not related to Stockwell, expresses a theological position, however it is in bad taste and should not have been distributed to the public. It is an expression of a theological position and the laws of the state must be abided by."

IBTimes UK has been unable to reach a representative for the Stockwell Green branch of the group at the time of publication.

In 2010, the Crown Prosecution Service refused to press charges against Khatme Nubuwwat, after the group allegedly distributed anti-Ahmadi hate speech leaflets in Tooting, Streatham and Kingston, and preachers called for Ahmadi businesses to be boycotted. That the same year Ofcom punished a Khatme Nubuwwat-linked Islamic satellite channel after it broadcast a programme describing Ahmadi as "liable for death".

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that it had launched an investigation into the leaflets.

Spokeswoman Kate Cole of the Territorial Policing Unit said "We are aware of the existence of the leaflets the distribution of which may constitute an offence under the Public Order Act. Where offences of Religious Hate crimes are reported these are investigated as appropriate in local Community Safety Units. We are committed to tackling hate crime in all its forms and have long since recognised the impact of hate crime on communities."