Ahmadiyya by country |
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Ahmadiyya is an Islamic community in Japan. The history of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Japan begins after a number of mentions by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who showed a particular interest in introducing Islam to the Japanese people. The first Ahmadi Muslim missionary to be sent to Japan was Sufi Abdul Qadeer, who was sent by the second Caliph. He arrived in Japan on June 4, 1935. Today there is one purpose-built mosque, the largest in the country, representing an estimated 300 Ahmadi Muslims.
Ahmad showed a particular interest in introducing Islam to the Japanese people. [1] He stated in 1905 that "Japanese people have shown an interest in Islam. Therefore, a comprehensive book should be published to introduce Islam [in Japan]" [1] and that "If God commands, I would go to Japan today without learning [the Japanese] language". In response done of his companions, including Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, wrote letters to individual Japanese. [1] In 1945, the Second Caliph, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad is said to have seen in a dream that God would influence the Japanese to "attract their hearts towards Ahmadiyya and gradually they will gain momentum and strength. They will readily answer to my call just as birds answered the call of Prophet Abraham" [1]
On September 8, 1951, Zafarullah Khan, a companion of Ahmad, who was then Pakistan’s foreign minister and the country’s delegate to the United Nations Security Council, spoke at the Treaty of San Francisco with Japan. Citing Muhammad’s example of forgiveness and peace at the Occupation of Mecca, Khan spoke in favour of a more humane treatment towards Japan, following the Second World War. At that time Pakistan was the only country to hold this position. [2]
The first Ahmadi Muslim missionary to be sent to Japan was Sufi Abdul Qadeer who was sent during the Second Caliphate. He arrived in Japan, on June 4, 1935. Based in Kobe, Qadeer was later joined by another companion, Abdul Ghafoor. [1] [3] However, due to the escalating war, the mission had to be abandoned, and the two missionaries had to return to their country in 1941. [1]
Efforts were revived during the late 1960s and the 1970s. [3] Mirza Mubarak Ahmad, a prominent Ahmadi Muslim and later Major Abdul Majeed, a retired soldier and a missionary of the Community was sent by the Third Caliph. During this period, missionary activity was centered in Tokyo. [3] From 1975 to 1983, Ataul Mujeeb Rashed served as a missionary in Japan. Methods adopted by Rashed included flier distribution, such as at the Hachiko exit of the Shibuya Station, and preaching over a loudspeaker, whilst driving a car printed with religious slogans. [4] As advised by the caliph, and recommended by Rashed, the headquarters shifted to Nagoya, when a mission house was bought in the city in 1981. [1] [3] [4] In 1989, a Japanese translation of the Quran was published. The Quran was translated by Atsushi Kobayashi, a 1957 convert, who adopted the name, Muhammad Uwais Kobayashi. [5]
The first caliph to visit Japan was Mirza Tahir Ahmad, whose visit in 1989 coincided with the publication of a translation of the Quran into Japanese, published by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. [1]
The current caliph, Mirza Masroor Ahmad visited the country in 2006, [1] 2013 and also in 2015 to inaugurate the first purpose-built Ahmadiyya mosque in Japan. [6] The opening ceremony, which was held on November 21, 2015, [7] was attended by local residents, religious leaders, monks, and Ahmadi Muslim representatives from over 27 countries. [8]
Today, there are an estimated 300 Ahmadi Muslims in Japan. The majority consist of foreigners from Pakistan, India and Nepal, many of whom arrived after the 1980s. [3] [9] Roughly 20 are Japanese, the majority of which are women married to foreign men. The Community is primarily centered around Nagoya and Tokyo. [3]
There is one mission house, first bought in 1981, and located in Meitō-ku, [3] a north-eastern ward of Nagoya, and one purpose-built mosque in Tsushima, a city which lies to the west of Nagoya. The mosque, constructed in 2015, and identified as The Japan Mosque, is the largest in the country. It has a capacity of over 500 people. [6] [8] [10] [4]
Mirza Nasir Ahmad was the third Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community from Pakistan. He was elected as the third successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad on 8 November 1965, the day after the death of his predecessor and father, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad.
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad was the second caliph, leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from his second wife, Nusrat Jahan Begum. He was elected as the second successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad on 14 March 1914 at the age of 25, the day after the death of his predecessor Hakim Nur-ud-Din.
The Fazl Mosque also known as The London Mosque, is the first purpose-built mosque in London, England. It was opened on 23 October 1926 in Southfields, Wandsworth. At a cost of £6,223, the construction of the mosque and the purchase of the land on which it stands, was financed by the donations of Ahmadi Muslim women in Qadian, Punjab, British India. Between 1984 and 2019 the Fazl Mosque was the residence of the caliphs of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, and therefore its de facto international headquarters. The administrative headquarters now lies at the site of the Islamabad, Tilford.
Mirza Masroor Ahmad is the current and fifth leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. His official title within the movement is Fifth Caliph of the Messiah. He was elected on 22 April 2003, three days after the death of his predecessor Mirza Tahir Ahmad.
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic branch in Switzerland, under the spiritual leadership of the caliph in London. The Community was founded on October 13, 1946, during the late period of the Second Caliphate, when the caliph directed Shaikh Nasir Ahmad to establish a mission in the country. Today there are two Ahmadi mosques and 14 local branches, representing an estimated 800 Ahmadi Muslims.
Ahmadiyya, officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ), is an Islamic messianic movement originating in British India in the late 19th century. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who said he had been divinely appointed as both the Promised Mahdi and Messiah expected by Muslims to appear towards the end times and bring about, by peaceful means, the final triumph of Islam; as well as to embody, in this capacity, the expected eschatological figure of other major religious traditions. Adherents of the Ahmadiyya—a term adopted expressly in reference to Muhammad's alternative name Ahmad—are known as Ahmadi Muslims or simply Ahmadis.
The Review of Religions is an English-language comparative religious magazine published monthly by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Regularly in print since 1902, it is one of the longest running Islamic periodicals in English. It has been described as the main publication of the Ahmadiyya movement in the language and as a valuable source material for information on the geographical expansion of Ahmadi activity. The magazine was launched by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad with the aim of conveying an accurate understanding of Islamic teachings across the English-speaking world and dispelling misconceptions held against the faith. The articles, however, typically comprise distinctly Ahmadi perspectives. In addition to the English edition published from London, the magazine currently publishes separate quarterly editions in German, French and Spanish.
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic branch in Indonesia. The earliest history of the community in Indonesia dates back to the early days of the Second Caliph. During the summer of 1925, roughly two decades prior to the Indonesian revolution, a missionary of the Community, Rahmat Ali, stepped on Indonesia's largest island Sumatra. He established the movement with 13 devotees in Tapaktuan, in the province of Aceh. The Community has an influential history in Indonesia's religious development. However, in the modern times it has faced increasing intolerance from religious establishments in the country and physical hostilities from radical Muslim groups. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimates around 400,000 Ahmadi Muslims, spread over 542 branches across the country.
Ahmadiyya is a minority religion in Bangladesh. Although the first Bengalis to join the religion did covert during the lifetime of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the religion was first established as a community in the region of Bengal in 1913 by Syed Muhammad Abdul Wahed, during the Caliphate of Hakeem Noor-ud-Din. As the worldwide community is itself is an highly organised group under the Caliph, the national community works under the name Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Bangladesh or Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at Bangladesh. There are an estimated 100,000 Ahmadis in the country as of 2004.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was established in the United Kingdom in July 1913 as one of the oldest Islamic associations in the UK. The community has built its presence with the establishment of significant sites such as The London Mosque in 1926. Over the decades the community has grown and become known for its annual convention the Jalsa Salana, interfaith dialogues and humanitarian efforts. The UK has also served as the headquarters of the community since 1984 currently in Islamabad, Tilford, in Surrey.
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic branch in the United States. The earliest contact between the American people and the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam was during the lifetime of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. In 1911, during the era of the First Caliphate of the Community, the Ahmadiyya movement in India began to prepare for its mission to the United States. However, it was not until 1920, during the era of the Second Caliphate of the Ahmadiyya movement, that Mufti Muhammad Sadiq, under the directive of the caliph, would leave England on SS Haverford for the United States. Sadiq established the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the United States in 1920. The U.S. Ahmadiyya movement is considered by some historians as one of the precursors to the Civil Rights Movement in America. The Community was the most influential Muslim community in African-American Islam until the 1950s. Today, there are approximately 15,000 to 20,000 American Ahmadi Muslims spread across the country.
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic branch in Spain, under the spiritual leadership of the caliph in London. The earliest history of the Community in Spain dates back to the period of the Second Caliph, when Malik Mohammad Sharid Gujrati, a missionary of the Community, arrived in Madrid on March 10, 1936. However, in the same year the Spanish Civil War broke out forcing Gujrati to abandon the country. Missionary efforts commenced once again following the Second World War, in 1946 when Karam Ilahi Zafar was sent by the caliph. The Basharat Mosque in Pedro Abad, built by the Ahmadiyya in the 1980s is the first mosque to be built in Spain since the Fall of Granada and the end of Muslim rule at the end of the 15th century. Today there are two purpose-built Ahmadi Muslim mosques and roughly 500 adherents in Spain.
Ahmadiyya in The Gambia is part of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at under the leadership of the Ahmadiyya Caliphate. Ahmadiyya teachings entered Gambia during the era of the Second Caliphate through the flow of Ahmadiyya literature and a number of traders returning to the country. The first missionary to enter the country was Alhaji Hamza Sanyaolo, a Nigerian who entered in 1959. After a number of months he was followed by Gibriel Saeed, a Ghanaian missionary. Since its earliest history in the Gambia, the community has been facing resistance and religious intolerance from certain Muslim clerics and Islamic bodies in the country.
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic branch in Denmark, under the spiritual leadership of the caliph in London. Kamal Yousuf, an Ahmadi Muslim missionary, who was appointed for disseminating Ahmadiyya teachings in Scandinavia, first toured Denmark in 1956. The earliest Danes to have converted to the movement were from the 1950s and the Community was first established in 1959, during the last few years of the Second Caliphate. Today, there are two Ahmadi mosques, of which one is purpose-built mosque, the oldest in the country. There are an estimated 600 Ahmadi Muslims in the country.
Ahmadiyya, called Ahmadis is a community under the leadership of the caliph in London. The earliest history of the Community in the country begins in 1956, during the Second Caliphate, when Kamal Yousuf was appointed as the head of the mission in Sweden. However it was not until 1970 that the Community was first officially registered. Today, there are two purpose-built mosques, one of which is the oldest in the country, and also a number of other centers, representing an estimated average of 1600 Ahmadis in the country.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the second largest group of Islam in Ghana after Sunni Islam. The early rise of the Community in Ghana can be traced through a sequence of events beginning roughly at the same time as the birth of the Ahmadiyya movement in 1889 in British India. It was during the early period of the Second Caliphate that the first missionary, Abdul Rahim Nayyar was sent to what was then the Gold Coast in 1921 upon invitation from Sunni Muslims in Saltpond. Having established the movement in the country, Nayyar left and was replaced by the first permanent missionary, Al Hajj Fadl-ul-Rahman Hakim in 1922.
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic movement in Australia, first formally founded in the country in the 1980s, during the era of the fourth caliph. However, the history of the Community dates back to the early 20th century, during the lifetime of the founder of the movement, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, with the first contacts arising as a consequence of Australians travelling to British India, and also as a consequence of early, "Afghan" camel drivers settling in Australia during the mid to late 19th century. Today there are at least 1000 Ahmadi mosques in all Australian states, representing an estimated 6,000-9,000 Australian Ahmadis in the country.
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious movement in Liberia, founded in the year 1956, during the era of the Second Caliphate,. Approximately, up to 30,000 Ahmadi Muslims live in Liberia.
Baitul Ahad -The Japan Mosque or simply The Japan Mosque is an Ahmadi Muslim mosque, located in Tsushima, on the outskirts of Nagoya, in Aichi Prefecture. Opened on November 20, 2015, by Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the fifth caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the mosque is the largest in the country with a capacity for 500 persons.
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious community in Singapore. The Community was established during the era of the Second Caliphate, shortly before the Second World War. Ghulam Hussain Ayyaz was the first missionary sent to the region, who under the direction of the caliph, arrived in 1935, in a period when the territory was part of the Straits Settlements. In the 1970s, the Community had roughly 200 followers, represented by 1-2% of the Muslim population.