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Sir Iftikhar Ahmad Ayaz KBE OBE [1] is a former Tanzanian government officer and international human rights campaigner who serves as honorary consul for Tuvalu to the United Kingdom, based in London. [2] [3] [4] He has campaigned to raise international awareness about the effects of climate change on Tuvalu, which could be underwater by 2040 or 2050. [2] Over the course of his career, he has been involved with several United Nations organizations, including the UN Working Group of the Rights of Minorities, UNESCO, and the United Nations Development Programme. [4] [5]
In 2016, he was honoured with the award of Knight Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. [3] In 2017, he invested Prince Charles with the Tuvalu Order of Merit on behalf of the Governor-General of Tuvalu at Kensington Palace. [6] In 2020, Sir Iftikhar Ahmad Ayaz was awarded the Queen's Medal for humanitarian service; he was awarded the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2022. [7] [8]
Iftikhar Ayaz received his early education in Qadian, India. [4] His father, Mukhtar Ahmad Ayaz, was a pioneer in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at movement. [3]
In 1946, he moved to Tanzania, then Tanganyika Territory, eventually settling with his father in Tanga, Tanzania, where Iftikhar Ayaz received his secondary education. [3] He then trained as a teacher in Nairobi, Kenya. [3]
The government of Tanzania later sent him to Britain, where he earned a master's degree in linguistics. [3] He also holds doctorates in human development and education. [5]
In 1958, he entered government service in Tanzania, in the department of education. [3] He was a deputy inspector of English medium schools and a district education officer based in Dar es Salaam. [3] In 1963, he was sent to the western region of Tanzania, where he became a regional inspector of schools. [3]
Based in London, Ayaz serves as the honorary consul for the Commonwealth realm of Tuvalu. [9]
He has worked closely with a number of United Nations bodies, including the UN Working Group for the Rights of Minorities, [5] as well as the Food and Agriculture Organisation, UNESCO, and the United Nations Development Programme. [4] In addition, Ayaz served on the global board of advisors for the International Commission of Peace (ICOP). [5]
In 2013, Ayaz spoke at the 22nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. [10] He presented the case of the Ahmadiyya in Pakistan, who are not allowed to practise Islam as their faith and are denied the right to vote unless they reject allegiance to their leader. [10]
An active member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at, Ayaz established a Jama'at centre in Bukoba, Tanzania, in 1964, as well as a centre in Arusha. [3]
In 1969, he renounced his British citizenship to become a citizen of Tanzania. [3]
As of 2018, he served as ambassador of the Universal Peace Federation, Ahmadiyya Community, in the United Kingdom. [11]
Qadiani or Qadiyani is a religious slur used to refer to Ahmadi Muslims, primarily in Pakistan. The term originates from Qadian, a small town in northern India, the birthplace of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement. While it is pejorative to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, it is used in official Pakistani documents.
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was an Indian religious leader and the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam. He claimed to have been divinely appointed as the promised Messiah and Mahdī—which is the metaphorical second-coming of Jesus (mathīl-iʿIsā), in fulfillment of the Islamic prophecies regarding the end times, as well as the Mujaddid of the 14th Islamic century.
Islam is the major religion in the Gambia, representing 97% of the 2 million population, with the first Muslim communities in the country arriving in 11th century. Islam has therefore had an influence on the Gambia throughout history, and continues to impact its culture, society and politics. The majority of The Gambia's Muslims are Sunni belonging to the Maliki school of jurisprudence, influenced with Sufism. There is a smaller Shiite community, largely stemming from Lebanese and Arab migration. The Ahmadiyya movement is also present. Other religious societies exist in the country, including Catholics, Protestants, Hindus and Traditional African religions.
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.
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.
Tuvalu House is the honorary consulate of the Government of Tuvalu in the Wimbledon area of London, England.
Sir Iakoba Taeia Italeli is a Tuvaluan politician who was the governor-general of Tuvalu from 16 April 2010, until 22 August 2019, when he resigned to contest in the 2019 general election. He was not successful in that election, however he was elected as a member of parliament in the 2024 Tuvaluan general election.
The Ahmadiyya branch of Islam has been subjected to various forms of religious persecution and discrimination since the movement's inception in 1889. The Ahmadiyya Muslim movement emerged within the Sunni tradition of Islam and its adherents believe in all of the five pillars and all of the articles of faith required of Muslims. Ahmadis are considered non-Muslims by many mainstream Muslims since they consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the movement, to be the promised Mahdi and Messiah awaited by the Muslims.
Christianity is the largest religion in Tanzania, with a substantial Muslim minority. Smaller populations of Animists, practitioners of other faiths, and religiously unaffiliated people are also present.
Islam is a minority religion in the island nation Tuvalu. With the introduction of Ahmadiyya religion in 1985 by Ahmadi Muslims, there are approximately 50 Ahmadi Muslims in the country, of which all are members of the Ahmadiyya movement. Due to the country's small population of 10,679, this represents 0.46% of Tuvalu. The Tuvalu Mosque, in Funafuti, the capital of Tuvalu, is the only mosque in the country.
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.
Sir Gaven John Donne was a New Zealand-born former Chief Justice of Samoa, Niue, the Cook Islands, Nauru and Tuvalu.
Majlis Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya is one of five auxiliary organizations in the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. It is the young men's branch of the community, particularly for those between the ages of 15 and 40. In some English-speaking countries it is also known as the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association (AMYA).
Ahmadiyya in Pakistan are members of the Ahmadiyya Community. The number of Ahmadiyya in the country has been variously estimated to between 0.22% and 2.2% of Pakistan's population. Hence, Pakistan is the home to the largest population of Ahmadis in the world. The city of Rabwah in the province of Punjab used to be the global headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Community before they were moved to England.
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 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.
In the period spanning from late May to early September 1974, there were significant incidents involving the Ahmadi community in Pakistan. These incidents were marked by a series of events such as protests, violence, property damage, and governmental actions. The incidents occurred in various locations across Pakistan, including Islamabad, Peshawar, Hafizabad, Gujranwala, Lala Musa, Jhang, Wah Cantt, Burewala, and other localities. These events reportedly resulted in casualties among Ahmadi individuals and damage to Ahmadi mosques. Furthermore, in response to these events, the government took actions, including constitutional amendments, related to the status of Ahmadis.
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious movement originating in 1889 in northern India around the teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who claimed to have been divinely appointed as both the promised Mahdi and Messiah expected by Muslims to appear towards the end times.
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic community in Afghanistan, under the leadership of the caliph in London. The earliest contact with the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam and the Pashtun people within modern-day boundaries of Afghanistan, occurred during the lifetime of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. The movement began by Ahmad, was largely seen as apostasy by most other Muslim groups, including by those in Afghanistan, and accordingly only twelve years after Ahmad's claim to be the promised Mahdi, two of the foremost Ahmadi Muslims were stoned to death in Kabul during 1901 to 1903. The killings continued until 1925, when in 1924–1925, under Emir Amanullah Khan, affiliation with Ahmadiyya beliefs became a capital offence and those who converted were forcibly reverted.