Hate campaign discovered against south London Ahmadiyya Islamic minority

This is an article from the Wandsworth Guardian:

 

http://www.wandsworthguardian.co.uk/news/8451429.Hate_campaign_discovered_against_Islamic_minority/

 

An international hate campaign by Islamic fundamentalists against a minority sect has spread to Britain and is causing a dangerous rift in south London’s Muslim community.

The situation has been likened to the “beginnings of the Holocaust” by a leading expert who is urging the police to act.

Lord Avebury, the long-serving vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group, said the extremist views were being imported from Pakistan and compared the vilification of Ahmadiyya Muslims with the beginnings of the Holocaust.

Our investigation has revealed shocking examples of Ahmadi residents, businessmen and politicians being demonised and ostracised by UK Islamic fundamentalist group Khatme Nabuwat (KN).

Ahmadi-owned businesses have been boycotted and face ruin, while employers have been pressurised into sacking Ahmadi workers.

The hate campaign even infected the General Election result after a campaign to discourage Muslims voting for an Ahmadi Liberal Democrat candidate in Tooting.

There are an estimated 13,000 Ahmadi Muslims living and working in south west London, who were drawn to the area after its first mosque was built in Southfields.

Ahmadiyya Muslims differ from mainstream Islam by believing the second coming of the Messiah has already happened and is embodied by their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

Their two main mosques are the London Mosque, built in 1926 in Gressenhall Road, Southfields, and the massive Bait-ul-Fatah mosque in Morden, built in 2003 – which their website claims is the largest mosque in Western Europe.

Since then, many Ahmadis who have fled religious persecution in Pakistan have come to live in Merton, Wandsworth, Kingston and Lambeth.

Since being established in 1884, the movement is followed by 160m people in 190 countries worldwide and actively promotes humanitarian efforts under the motto: “Love for all, hatred for none”.

They have a highly active public relations team, which within the past year has promoted community initiatives on behalf of the entire Muslim community, such as an advertising campaign launched in February on London’s bus network.

Tell us about your views!

HEAD OF AHMADIYYA MUSLIM JAMAAT RESPONDS TO TERRORISTS ATTACKS IN LAHORE

In response to the terrorist attacks that took place at two Ahmadi mosques in Lahore earlier today, His Holiness, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad has issued the following statement:

“The terrorist attacks that occurred today at two of our mosques in Lahore were completely barbaric and alien to all forms of humanity.

These attacks took place in mosques which are places of worship and at the time of the Friday prayers which all Muslims know is a holy and sacred time. No true Muslims could ever countenance such attacks, such cruelty and such barbaric behaviour. No form of terrorism has any place in Islam and thus those who were behind these attacks may justify their acts in its name, but let it be clear they are Muslim only in name and never in deed.

The situation in Pakistan is extremely grave. For decades Ahmadi Muslims have not been able to live in peace, in fact they live their lives in constant danger. In 1974 Ahmadi Muslims were declared ‘non-Muslim’ by the Government of Pakistan and then ten years later the infamous Ordinance XX was adopted which criminalised all forms of Ahmadi worship and the practice of its faith.

These laws effectively legitimised the exclusion and persecution of our Jama’at in Pakistan. Ever since, extremists have taken advantage and targeted Ahmadis. Despite this cruelty Ahmadis have remained loyal citizens of Pakistan and have never shown any form of civil disobedience.

At this time we do not know the full extent of what has happened. However it is clear that dozens of Ahmadis have been killed and many others have been injured. I pray that Allah may grant patience to all those who have been left bereaved and grant an elevated status in Paradise to those who have been martyred. May God restore to health those who have been injured.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at is a peace loving true Muslim Jama’at. Thus there will be no improper reaction from any Ahmadi. Our salvation lies in our supplications to God Almighty and we believe that He has, and always will, help us. No terrorist and no government can ever stop the progress of our Jama’at because it is a Divine organisation.

May Allah protect all good natured people from the evil acts of those opposed to peace.”

Terrorist attacks on Ahmadi Mosques in Pakistan

HEAD OF AHMADIYYA MUSLIM JAMAAT RESPONDS TO TERRORISTS ATTACKS IN LAHORE

Earlier today two mosques belonging to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in Lahore were attacked by terrorists. The mosques were the Baitul Nur Mosque in Model Town and the Darul Zikr Mosque in Gharishaw.

Although it is not yet clear what the exact numbers are, it is being reported that dozens of Ahmadis have been killed, many more injured. Ahmadi witnesses are saying that the mosque is covered in blood.

The attacks are the culmination of years of un-policed persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, which is a minority sect in Pakistan. In 1974 legislation was passed that declared Ahmadis to be ‘non-Muslim’ and in 1984 further legislation was passed in which the practice of the faith was outlawed. At regular intervals since then Ahmadis have been attacked but today’s attack is the most cruel and barbaric. All Ahmadis, who are based in 195 countries, are peace loving and tolerant people and yet they are continually targeted by extremist factions.

During his Friday Sermon at 1pm today the Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat condemned the terrorist attacks.

His Holiness Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

“Today two our mosques in Lahore were attacked by extremists. At the moment we do not have full details of what has happened. It is clear though that a number of our Ahmadis have been killed and many others have been injured.

These people had merely come to the mosque to offer their Friday prayers and yet became victims of a heinous terrorist attack. May God grant patience to the bereaved and elevate the status of those who have been martyred.”

Further details will be issued by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat at regular intervals.

UPDATE – May 28th

In response to the terrorist attacks that took place at two Ahmadi mosques in Lahore earlier today, His Holiness, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad has issued the following statement:

“The terrorist attacks that occurred today at two of our mosques in Lahore were completely barbaric and alien to all forms of humanity.

These attacks took place in mosques which are places of worship and at the time of the Friday prayers which all Muslims know is a holy and sacred time. No true Muslims could ever countenance such attacks, such cruelty and such barbaric behaviour. No form of terrorism has any place in Islam and thus those who were behind these attacks may justify their acts in its name, but let it be clear they are Muslim only in name and never in deed.”

Love for All, Hatred for None – Message of Peace delivered by Muslims

We believe in loyalty, equality, freedom, respect and peace. These are values that we all share and are values that are promoted by Islam.

You may have heard that ‘Islam’ means ‘peace’, but mere words are not enough to create peace – they need to be put into practice. This was one of the key messages of the founder of our community who stressed that peace must be inspired by our beliefs and demonstrated by our actions.

As Muslims it pains us when the noble religion of Islam is maligned by the actions of extremists. We therefore continuously seek to clarify the true teachings of Islam, to speak out against injustices, suicide bombings and terrorism. We are clear and firm in our belief that Islam is a religion of peace and any actions that do not promote peace find no support whatsoever in Islam.

This website is part of a wider initiative of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community to explain the true teachings and values of Islam. We hope that you find this site useful and informative. If you would like to visit a mosque, learn more about Islam, or just ask us a question then you are welcome to do so, simply contact us.

Who is Allah?

”Listen, O those who can, to what God desires from you. And what He desires is only that you become solely His and do not associate any partners with Him, neither in the heavens nor on the earth. Our God is that God who is alive even now as He was alive before. He speaks even now as He used to speak before. And even now He hears as He used to hear earlier. It is a false notion that in these times He does hear but does not speak. But He hears and speaks, too. All His Attributes are eternal and everlasting. None of His Attributes is in abeyance, nor will it ever be. He is the One without any associate Who has no son, nor has He any wife. He alone is the peerless Who has no one like Him. And He is the One Who is unique in that none of His Attributes are exclusively possessed by anyone besides Him. He is the One Who has no equal. He is the One Who has no one to share with Him His Attributes. And He is the One no Power of Whose is less than perfect. He is near, though He is far and He is far, though He is near.

He can reveal Himself to Ahl-e-Kashf in personification, but He has no body, nor any shape. He is above all, but it cannot be said that there is anything beneath Him. He is on ‘Arsh, but it can’t be said that He is not on the earth. He is the sum total of all Perfect Attributes and He is the Manifestation of every True Praise. He is the source of all that is Good and encompasses all Powers and He is the source of all Beneficences. He is the One to Whom everything returns. He is the Lord of all realms. He possesses every Perfection and is free from all defects, imperfections and weakness. It is His sole prerogative that all those who belong to the earth as well as all those who belong to the heavens should worship Him.

As far as He is concerned nothing is impossible for Him. All souls and their potentialities, and all particles and their potentials are His and only His creation. Nothing comes into existence without His agency. As for Him He reveals Himself through His Powers, His Omnipotence and His Signs. We can attain Him only through Him. He always reveals His Person to the righteous and shows them His Omnipotence—and this is the only means by which He is recognized and by which that way is recognized which is favoured by Him. He sees without physical eyes and hears without physical ears and speaks without a physical tongue. Likewise it is His work to bring a thing into existence from nothingness.

For example, in the visions of dream you see how He creates a world without matter and shows you every mortal and nonexistent being as having existence. Thus are all His Powers. Ignorant is he who denies His Powers. Blind is he who has no knowledge of His profound and inconceivable Powers. He can, and does, everything that He intends to, except those things which violate His Majesty or which are in conflict with His Promises and Verdicts. He is unique in His Being, in His Attributes, in His Actions and in His Powers.

[Excerpt written by the Promised Messiah and Imam Mehdi (as), Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian in The Will, p.12-15]