Ahmadiyya by country |
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The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was established in United Kingdom with the pioneering efforts of Chaudhry Fateh Muhammad Sial, who arrived in London in July in 1913. Sial was the first missionary sent overseas by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and was under the direction of Hakeem Noor-ud-Din, the first caliph of the movement. [1]
Not many years after arriving, the need for a mosque in the UK became apparent and in 1926, the Fazl Mosque was formally opened in London and it became the city's first mosque. [2] [3] The community expanded and built many mosques and mission houses across the country. The most notable of which is Baitul Futuh Mosque in South London stands as one of the largest in Western Europe. [4]
The International Headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is in United Kingdom since 1984. Since the forced exile of the fourth caliph of the community, Mirza Tahir Ahmad from Pakistan in 1984, the Fazl Mosque, London served as International Headquarters for a period of 35 years before moving the International Headquarters to Mubarak Mosque, Tilford on 15 April 2019.
As of 2017, there are 30,000 Ahmadis in the UK in 150 local chapters. [5] [6]
Mirza Masroor Ahmad – Fifth Caliph and current leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Mirza Tahir Ahmad – Fourth Caliph during his time the Community's headquarters moved to United Kingdom from Pakistan.
Dr. Abdus Salam - First Muslim Nobel Science Laureate and a devoted member of the community, lived in Putney, London
Tariq Ahmad, Baron Ahmad of Wimbledon – Member of the House of Lords, UK, Minister of State for the Commonwealth and South Asia and Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict [7]
Iftikhar A. Ayaz – Tuvaluan Consular Official, UK
Abdul Rahim Dard – writer, missionary, Imam of the historic Fazl Mosque and political activist for the Pakistan Movement
Fateh Muhammad Sial – the first Ahmadi missionary sent overseas by Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Bashir Ahmad Orchard – first Missionary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of European descent
The movement suffers from Sunni bigotry in the UK. They are not recognised as Muslims by the Muslim Council of Britain and are targets for vilification by the Khatme Nubuwwat Academy. [8] [9] [10]
Presently, there are 36 Mosques & Buildings belonging to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the UK. [11]
Greater London and Muqami regions:
Also known as 'East Region'.
Muslim Television Ahmadiyya International (MTA), a globally-broadcasting, nonprofit satellite television network and a division of Al-Shirkatul Islamiyyah, was established in 1994 and launched the world's first Islamic TV channel to broadcast globally. It serves as the official media outlet for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, based in Islamabad, Tilford and funded entirely from donations by the members of the community. The network operates ten 24-hour channels for different regions of the world, including terrestrial TV as well as satellite television.
The Baitul Futuh is a mosque complex of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, situated in Morden, London. It is one of the largest mosque complexes in Europe. Completed in 2003 at a cost of £15 million, entirely from donations of Ahmadi Muslims, the Mosque can accommodate a total of 13,000 worshippers. The main mosque has a height of 23m above ground, and to maximise capacity the building extends below ground. Baitul Futuh is located in the south-west London suburb London Borough of Merton. It is situated next to Morden South railway station, 0.4 miles from Morden Underground station and one mile from Morden Road tram stop.
Mirza Tahir Ahmad was the fourth caliph and the head of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He was elected as the fourth successor of the founder of the community, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. He was elected on 10 June 1982, the day after the death of his predecessor, Mirza Nasir Ahmad.
Mirza Nasir Ahmad was the third Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. 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, with support from the British Muslim convert Khalid Sheldrake. 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.
Baitul Islam is a mosque in Vaughan, Ontario run by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (AMJ) in Canada. It was inaugurated on October, 17th 1992 in the presence of the fourth Caliph of the community and many Members of Parliament.
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 Aḥmad—are known as Ahmadi Muslims or simply Ahmadis.
Jalsa Salana is a formal, annual gathering of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. It was initiated in 1891 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the community, in Qadian, India. Usually, the gathering spans three days, beginning with the flag hoisting ceremony following the Friday Sermon. Although the convention held in the UK is deemed to be the major and 'international Jalsa' attended by Ahmadis from across the world, Ahmadis in other countries hold their own national Jalsas, sometimes attended by the Khalifatul Masih.
Chaudhry Fateh Muhammad Sial (1887–1960) was a companion of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and the first Ahmadi missionary sent from India, under the leadership of Hakeem Noor-ud-Din, the first Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya movement. In 1913, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad asked for volunteers to serve as Ahmadi missionaries in England. Sial volunteered and travelled to England on June 22, 1913 and arrived the following month. There he served twice as a missionary. He earned an MA in Arabic from the Aligarh Muslim University.
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 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 is a religious community in Norway, under the spiritual leadership of the caliph in London. In the history of the Community it is stated that two Norwegian women converted in the 1920s. However, it was not until 1957, during the era of the Second Caliphate, when Kamal Yousuf, then a missionary in Sweden, moved to Oslo to establish the first Ahmadiyya mission in the country. Today, there are a number of mosques, including the largest mosque in Scandinavia, the Baitun Nasr Mosque, representing an estimated 1700 Ahmadi in the country.
Ahmadiyya is a community in Ireland under the spiritual leadership of the caliph in London. The Community was formally registered in the country in 1992, during the era of the Fourth Caliphate. Today there are two Ahmadiyya mosques in the country, one of which is purpose-built, representing up to 500 Ahmadis in the country.
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 four Ahmadi mosques in four of the six Australian states, representing an estimated 6,000-8,000 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, the movement today represents an estimated 10% of the country's Muslim population. Approximately, this corresponds to 85,000 Ahmadi Muslims in Liberia. Current National President is Maulvi Naveed Ahmad Aadil.
The Mubarak Mosque is a mosque in Tilford, Surrey, England, on the site of the international headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, formally known as Islamabad, Tilford. It was inaugurated on Friday 17 May 2019 by Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the fifth caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.