Furqan Force

The Liwa-e-Ahmadiyya, the flag of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and accordingly the battle flag of the Furqan Force

Mirza Nasir chatting with Furqan Force colonel Sahibzada Mubarak Ahmad

The Furqan Force or Furqan Battalion was a uniformed fighting force of volunteers (khuddam-i-din^[1]) in newly formed Pakistan, composed of the minority Ahmadiyya branch Muslims. Formed in June 1948^[2] at the direction of Ahmadiyya leader Mirza Mahmood, at the request of Pakistan government, the unit fought for Pakistan against India in the First Kashmir War.^[3] In addition to its troops being drawn from the Ahmadiyya population, the expenses of maintaining the unit were also paid by that community.^[4]

The unit was disbanded on 7 June, 1950. Following the anti-Ahmadiyya Lahore riots of 1953, a Pakistani court of inquiry cited the Furqan Battalion in discussions of the Ahmadi role in Pakistani society.^[1]

References

1. Report of the Court of Inquiry constituted under Punjab act II of 1954 to enquire into the Punjab disturbances of 1953. Printed by the Superintendent, Govt. Printing, Punjab. 1954. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
2. Bashīr Aḥmad (1994). The Ahmadiyya Movement: British-Jewish connections. Islamic Study Forum. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
3. Simon Ross Valentine (23 September 2008). Islam and the Ahmadiyya jamaʻat: history, belief, practice. Columbia University Press. pp. 204–. ISBN 978-0-231-70094-8. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
4. Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan (1978). Ahmadiyyat: the renaissance of Islam. Tabshir Publications. Retrieved 4 April 2012.