Minorities and "Islamic" States:
Explaining Bahá'í and Ahmadi Marginalization in Iran and Pakistan

by Uzma Jamil

Abstract: This study is a comparative analysis of the marginalization of the Bahá'ís in Iran and the Ahmadis in Pakistan over the last forty years. It explores the relationship between Islam, the ulama and the state as explanatory variables. In particular, the increasing political influence of fundamentalist ulama and their closer association with state mechanisms, accompanied by the creation of a "purist," "Islamic" state ideology in Iran and Pakistan, leads to greater discrimination against these two heterodox Muslim minorities. The outcome is continuing institutionalized, state-sponsored discrimination that denies substantial legal, political and social rights to the Bahá'ís and the Ahmadis.