The World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat and Fifth Khalifa, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad arrived in Canada on 15 May 2013 as his tour of North America continued.

His Holiness landed at Vancouver International Airport at 5.30pm local time and was greeted by Canada’s Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad has travelled to Canada to inaugurate the Baitur Rahman Mosque in Vancouver, the largest Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosque in British Columbia.

To mark the opening of the Mosque, His Holiness will deliver the keynote address at a special reception on Saturday in front of a range of Government officials, Federal and Provincial Members of Parliament, Community Leaders and various other dignitaries.

Upon arrival in Vancouver, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad held a meeting with Jason Kenney during which the Minister congratulated His Holiness on behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper upon the completion of Baitur Rahman. Mr Kenney also said it was “a great honour to welcome His Holiness back to Canada.”

Mr Kenney praised the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat for its commitment to peace, tolerance and equality for all. In response, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said that “this is the true picture of Islam.”

Later in the day, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad made his first visit to the new Mosque where he was greeted by thousands of Ahmadi Muslim men, women and children who were overcome with joy at seeing their spiritual leader.

His Holiness was given a tour of the Baitur Rahman Mosque complex before leading the Maghreb and Isha prayers.

The Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat and Fifth Khalifa, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad delivered the keynote address at a special reception held in his honour at the Montage in Beverly Hills, LA on 11 May 2013.

More than 300 politicians, academics and community leaders attended, including the California Lieutenant Governor, mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti, and several members of the United States Congress.

During the event the Los Angeles City Council presented Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad with the golden key to the city, declaring:

“This Key is reserved for only the most honoured people on Earth.”

In his keynote address Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said the American people had no reason to fear Islam because it was a religion that advocated peace, universal human rights and a respect for human dignity.

Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

“There is no doubt that the acts of terrorism or extremism some so-called Muslims perpetrate have nothing whatsoever to do with the true teachings of Islam.  The very meaning of ‘Islam’ is peace, security and giving a guarantee of protection against all forms of harm and evil.”

The Khalifa also took the opportunity to unequivocally condemn the recent Boston marathon terrorist attack and to offer his condolences saying:

“My sympathies are with the victims of the Boston bombing. We condemn that attack in its entirety.”

Speaking about Islam’s commitment to equality and humanity for all people, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

“I believe in that One God who is the Lord of all nations, all races and all religions, and so it becomes impossible that I could ever develop any hatred in my heart for any nation, any race or any religion.”

Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad also used his address to implore all people to view Islam through the lens of justice, rather than through the acts of extremists. He called on non-Muslims to judge Islam only after studying its teachings in depth and after observing the character of Muslims who adhere to its original teachings

The Khalifa gave examples from the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) to illustrate the Prophet’s love for all of mankind and his unparalleled levels of compassion, tolerance and justice.

Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:

“The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was held captive and enslaved in his heartfelt distress and desire to save the people of the world from destruction. And so it is a cause of great injustice that many people today try to stain his blessed character by saying that, God forbid, he brought teachings of cruelty, oppression and injustice.”

Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad concluded his address with a stark warning about the state of the world by saying:

“The direction the world is moving in suggests that the dark shadow of war is being cast over a very large part of the globe. If war breaks out then countless innocent women, children and elderly people will all die. The destruction will be greater than was witnessed in the previous two World Wars.”

Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad continued:

“The key to peace is to stop cruelty and oppression wherever it occurs with justice and equality.  Only when this principle is followed will global peace develop. This will only happen when the people of the world come to recognise their Creator. It is my ardent hope and prayer that the entire world urgently comes to understand the needs of the time before it is too late.”

A number of dignitaries also took to the stage to welcome Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad to Los Angeles and to congratulate the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat on its continued commitment to developing peace and tolerance globally.

Gavin Newsom, California Lieutenant Governor said the presence of Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad meant it was a “special day” and he thanked His Holiness for “sowing the seeds of possibility to the entire world.” He also said the people of LA “do not tolerate diversity, we celebrate it”.

U.S. Congresswoman Julia Brownley praised His Holiness as: “One of the greatest ecumenical leaders of our time.”

U.S. Congresswoman Judy Chew added, “I am here because His Holiness stands against terrorists and war.”

U.S. Congresswoman Karen Bass said “His Holiness is a transformative figure who has promoted peace and tolerance across the world.”

Lee Baca, Los Angeles County Sheriff said “Your Holiness, you are a worldwide spiritual leader. You have made a huge impact in all parts of the world and so we are all drawn to you today for the sake of wisdom.”

The reception was preceded by both a Press Conference and a private meeting between Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad and various dignitaries.

CHINO, Calif.—This week, thousands of families arrayed in their colorful best are crowding into a sprawling mosque set among the golden hills of this old agricultural community east of Los Angeles. Some have come from across the country, and some from as far as Ghana. A few even risked travel out of Syria.

They clamor to see Mirza Masroor Ahmad, a subdued, 62-year-old former wheat farmer and the world’s only “Muslim Pope.”

The khalifa, as he is called, is the spiritual leader the Ahmadi Muslims, a small sect of Islam with followers spread across the globe and concentrated in Pakistan, Southeast Asia and West Africa.

There are an estimated tens of millions of Ahmadi Muslims throughout the world—a minority within the global estimated 1.6 billion Muslims. In the U.S., Ahmadis number only about 25,000. But in recent years, the group has managed to gain a surprising amount of attention and political clout in the U.S., challenging extremist rhetoric and touting Islam as a religion of peace.

On Saturday, U.S. officials, including members of Congress, representatives from local and federal law enforcement, California’s lieutenant governor and the state controller, gathered in Beverly Hills to hear the khalifa speak about terrorism and human rights.

U.S. politicians consider Ahmadis valuable contacts among the American Muslim community at a time when those relationships are strained by terrorist acts in the name of Islam and fears of profiling.

The khalifa is “the world’s leading Muslim figure promoting peace and harmony,” Ahmadi literature says.

The catch: Most Muslims say Ahmadis are not Muslim.

The sect, founded in India more than 100 years ago, is viewed as heretical among much of the Muslim world because of a theological dispute that started with their founder, who claimed to be the metaphorical second coming of Jesus Christ, sent to reform the practice of Islam and press for nonviolence. That contradicts a central tenet of Islam that says Muhammad was the last prophet.

In Pakistan, the estimated four million Ahmadis aren’t allowed to identify themselves as Muslim or vote as Muslims. Attacks on the community there in 2010 left 99 Ahmadis dead.

In some countries they are banned from making the Haj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. The khalifa lives in exile in London.

Ahmadis “tend to be pariahs within the mainstream Muslim community and around the world,” said Donald K. Emmerson, a specialist in Islamic history at Stanford University.

But that hasn’t slowed their efforts in the U.S., where in recent years they have ramped up their profile by hosting community blood drives and making television appearances defending Islam.

After the failed Times Square bombing in 2010, Ahmadis flooded the New York City locale to hand out leaflets as part of a “Muslims for Peace” campaign.

Unlike the larger Muslim world, which has many local and regional leaders but no singular hierarchy, the Ahmadis are organized under a clear structure that allows them to quickly mobilize public campaigns and lobbying efforts, their leaders said.

In speeches, sermons and interviews the khalifa has advocated for the separation of religion and government, and urged Muslims in the U.S. to “be loyal to this country.” The group doesn’t focus on issues of profiling or civil rights with U.S. leaders.

That strategy has helped win the group access to U.S. politicians. The khalifa has met with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), and the Ahmadis garnered the support of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), who pushed for Ahmadi rights in Pakistan.

“Ahmadi Muslims continue to demonstrate an unwavering dedication towards peace, freedom and harmony,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, a Democrat from California who has met with the Ahmadis.

In an interview in the library of the Chino mosque, where the white-bearded khalifa was visiting for the first time this week, he said “the only gain I want from [U.S. leaders] is to make some program to create and develop peace in the world,” and warned of a “world war” that could result from turmoil in the Middle East.

With some success, Ahmadis have also pressed their own agenda.

“They are a persecuted group, it makes sense for them to have political allies who might be able to put pressure” on governments abroad in order to help their brethren, said Jeremy Menchik, and assistant international relations professor at Boston University.

Last month, 32 members of Congress signed a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, saying “we cannot stand idly by and allow 4 million Ahmadis to remain disenfranchised and outside the electoral process,” by not being allowed to vote in Saturday’s elections in Pakistan. Mr. McConnell and Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) sent a separate letter to Mr. Kerry on the same issue.

A State Department spokeswoman said the letter from the two senators had been received, but had no further comment.

As the weekend election took place, the khalifa addressed political leaders at the Montage, a luxury hotel in Beverly Hills. He then retreated to Chino, where many Ahmadi Muslim families—mostly immigrants from Pakistan—have bought homes near the mosque, and who were expected line up day after day just for three minutes with their khalifa before he leaves California this week.

He hopes to meet with as many families as he can—and, he added with a smile, for one more thing: “I’d like to see a farm.”

Patriotic Ahmadis in the Talim-ul-Islam Cadet Corps

As Pakistan’s election campaign enters its dying days, no town has escaped the attention of the country’s politicians as they crisscross the country, plastering every spare billboard, lamp-post and shop-front with posters bearing their heavily airbrushed faces.

Except Rabwah, a sleepy riverside settlement in the critical battleground province of Punjab. It is home to 40,000 potential voters who could safely be relied upon to vote whichever way the town’s elders recommend – a particularly large and reliable example of what Pakistani politicians call “vote banks”. And yet, in a constituency where the result could go either way, not a single party banner flutters anywhere in the town.

No one has tried to hold a rally on the wide, tree-lined avenues or make the promises heard everywhere else in Punjab of more development, less corruption and an end to electricity shortages.

All of the candidates have given the town a wide berth because the vast majority of its 60,000 inhabitants are Ahmadis, a religious minority vilified by extremists, who regard them as heretics, and shunned even by mainstream politicians such as Imran Khan.

Last week, Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI), vigorously denied he had ever asked members of Pakistan’s roughly 4 million-strong Ahmadiyya community to vote for him.

In an impassioned video statement, Khan promised to protect anti-Ahmadi laws and articles of Pakistan’s constitution that human rights groups have long criticised as deeply discriminatory.

The laws ban Ahmadis from “posing as a Muslim”, meaning almost any public act of devotion is a criminal offence, potentially punishable by death under the country’s notorious blasphemy laws.

In a statement, Khan said the “PTI totally subscribes to the articles of the constitution concerning Qadianis”, using a term most Ahmadis find deeply offensive.

For some liberal-minded young Pakistanis who have been energised by Khan’s promise to sweep away an established political order widely regarded as corrupt and ineffective, his support for discriminatory law has soured the campaign. The former cricketer has been criticised in the past for appeasing extremists, earning the nickname “Taliban Khan” for his policies, including a promise to abandon the army’s campaign against militants in the troubled territory bordering Afghanistan.

Ahmadis have long occupied a position of particular hatred among Pakistan’s religious extremists because of their claim that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the man who founded the movement in British India in 1889, was a messiah and prophet. For the dominant Islamic sects, that contradicts a central tenet that Muhammad, the seventh-century Arab merchant who established Islam, was the final prophet.

The theological dispute has led to intense persecution of Pakistan’s Ahmadis. More than 400 have been formally charged under blasphemy laws since 2000. Their crimes range from distributing religious literature, referring to their places of worship as mosques, and practising the Muslim call to prayer.

The laws have also helped foster a climate of violence with authorities often unwilling to stop fundamentalists publicly calling for the murder of Ahmadis. In 2010, a bomb flattened an Ahmadi mosque in Lahore, killing almost 100 people.

“I have read the Qur’an very closely and I know that those who do not recognise Muhammad as last prophet is not a Muslim,” Khan said in his video statement last week. In Rabwah, the headquarters of the community in Pakistan, Ahmadis reacted with shock, but little surprise.

“What he said was so unbecoming of a modern progressive man,” said Shameem Khalid, a retired naval officer. “He should have said that Ahmadis are equal citizens and they should be able to exercise their rights as equal citizens.”

Khan, who appears to be surging ahead as the county moves towards polling on Saturday, is unlikely to lose many votes by distancing himself from the Ahmadis.

The community is boycotting an election where any votes its members cast for their local candidate are also added to a secondary ballot for members of the national assembly that represent non-Muslim religious minorities. They say participating would amount to an admission that they are not Muslims.

A related problem prevents them from taking part in local council elections in Rabwah, a town the community founded in 1948 after land was bought specifically to provide homes for Ahmadis who moved from India after the creation of Pakistan.

If they did participate in their town’s local election, they would only be eligible for the handful of seats reserved for minorities, despite making up more than 90% of the population.

Khan’s supporters say he had no choice but to neutralise damaging attacks from a rival party leader, an Islamic fundamentalist called Fazlur Rehman, who has produced a video showing a PTI activist who, during a meeting in March, asked Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the community’s London-based spiritual leader, whether he would support the party in the elections.

Rehman’s wing of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party is in stiff competition with the PTI in the tribal belt. It said the video proved Khan was an Ahmadi stooge.In recent days, Rehman has even claimed senior clerics have issued a fatwa declaring a vote for Khan as un-Islamic.

Khan has disowned the party worker in the widely distributed video, which, bizarrely, the party claims is a “fake and based on total lies”.

Ahmad, the spiritual leader, claims Khan did once ask for the community’s assistance in the 1990s, soon after the PTI was established. But he said their past experience of backing politicians had made the community deeply reluctant to support untested candidates.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistan Peoples party, benefited from enthusiastic Ahmadi support. But during his prime ministership in 1974 he passed the first ordinance denying Ahmadis their Muslim identity.

“We will definitely vote for the PTI next time when the party does justice with us after coming into power,” Ahmad said.

But few in Rabwah believe Khan will help their community, even if he does pull off the still unlikely feat of coming to power this weekend.

“In the western press he has reputation for being a secular, former playboy politician,” said Usman Ahmad, a Rabwah resident who moved from the UK nine years ago. “This shows him in a truer light.”

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA Welcomes His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad on his first trip to the West Coast.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA welcomed the Khalifa of Islam yesterday, His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad, to Bait ul Hameed Mosque in Chino, California as part of his first trip to the West Coast . As the spiritual and administrative leader of the single largest and most organized Muslim organization worldwide, His Holiness advocates for global peace, absolute justice, a separation of mosque and state, and universal human rights.

In welcoming His Holiness with a special city proclamation, Dennis Zine, Los Angeles City Councilman, remarked, “Your Holiness, welcome to the city of angels—a fitting name on this historic day. Los Angeles is a melting pot for all religious and ethnic groups. We are honored to host you.”

His Holiness’ arrival at the Bait ul Hameed mosque on Saturday afternoon was broadcast live nationwide and to over 200 countries worldwide via Internet. “His Holiness is gracing America with his presence at a time when many young American Muslims struggle with their identity,” said Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA National Vice President Dr. Nasim Rehmatullah, “and by his example of compassion and tolerance, His Holiness demonstrates that no conflict exists between being Muslim and being American.”

The Honorable Lee Baca, Los Angeles County Sheriff, received His Holiness yesterday, remarking, “Our city is the best place in America for Muslims to live.Your Holiness, your Community is strong. I wish to see thousands more Ahmadi Muslims living in Los Angeles.”

As part of his ten-day visit, His Holiness will meet with various federal, state and city officials, members of law enforcement, heads of consulates, thought leaders, professors and other dignitaries. On May 11, His Holiness will deliver a keynote address at the Montage in Beverly Hills centered around the topic of Islam, terrorism and human rights. Approximately 300 guests are expected to be in attendance.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the only Islamic organization to believe that the long- awaited messiah has come in the person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) of Qadian, India. Ahmad claimed to be the metaphorical second coming of Jesus of Nazareth and the divine guide, whose advent was foretold by the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad. The Community believes that God sent Ahmad, like Jesus, to end religious wars, condemn bloodshed and reinstitute morality, justice and peace. Ahmad’s advent has brought about an unprecedented era of Islamic revival and moderation. He divested Muslims of fanatical beliefs and practices by vigorously championing Islam’s true and essential teachings.

During the meeting, His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad said when Imran Khan launched his political party, he was head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan and Khan sent one of his emissaries to Mirza in order to gain the Ahmadiyya community’s support through him. He said that no one had the courage to withdraw the law declaring Ahmadis non-Muslims for fear of ‘Maulvis’.

Soon after the video went viral PTI’s Information Secretary Shireen Mazari said the individual in the video does not represent the PTI “politically”.

“Imran Khan has categorically denied having passed on any such instructions to anyone on the party’s behalf,” she said. “Nadia Ramzan is the daughter of Imran Khan’s friend. Our secretariats both in the US and UK have elected office-bearers and a young man, Shahbaz heads the PTI Secretariat in the UK,” she said.

However, she said that Imran Khan has a personal secretariat in London which collects funds for charity projects such as cancer hospitals and universities and “Nadia is a part of that secretariat which includes Khan’s close friends”.

And just days later on 1st March Khan issued another statement describing the video as “fake and based on total lies”. He also went on to say “Neither i nor PTI have ever asked to especially ask for Qadiani votes for Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf”

Khan said he had an absolute belief in the finality of Prophet Muhammad PBUH. Anyone claiming prophethood after him is a liar. This belief of mine is the same as that of the entire Muslim Ummah. PTI totally subscribes to the article in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on Qadianis. It is not part of the PTI agenda to seek amendment of the said article in the Constitution.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief also went on to release a video message in which he said that he would neither revise nor repeal any current laws pertaining to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, since these were in consonance with his personal beliefs.

In the killing fields of Pakistan, the bloodletting continues unabated. On March 03, the attack on the Shiite minority in the seaport city of Karachi claimed 45 lives, Women and children were among the dead. At least 150 others were critically wounded. The powerful explosion ripped through a crowd of Shiites as they left a mosque in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city.

An Ahmadi muslim man was also among the dead. Mubashir Ahmad Abbasi of Abbas Town went missing after the  blast. Spokesperson of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Pakistan Mr Saleem ud Din confirmed the 43 year old’s death after his dead body was identified by his relatives.

The blast is thought to have been caused by a vehicle loaded with about 150 kilograms (330 lbs) of explosives set to a timer, the explosion took place in Abbas Town, an area of Karachi where many Shiite Muslims live. Apartments and shops were reduced to rubble. While no group has yet claimed responsibility, the Sunni militant Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has carried out previous assaults on Shiites.

Last last month, the authorities in Punjab Province detained the Lashkar leader, Malik Ishaq, but as Sunday’s violence in Karachi suggests, it seems unlikely that his detention will halt sectarian attacks. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the LeJ was responsible for 80 percent of terrorist activity in the country.

“This is terrorism at its worst,” said Sardar Mehdi Musa, a leader of the Hazara Shiite minority, which has borne the brunt of recent violence. “It’s a sign that things are only going to get worse.”

It was the third mass casualty attack since the beginning of the year against Shiites. The first two killed nearly 200 people in the southwestern city of Quetta. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni militant group known for its virulent hatred of Shiite Muslims, claimed responsibility for the two attacks.

Last year was one of the most deadly for Shiites in the country’s history. According to Human Rights Watch, more than 400 Shiite Muslims were killed across Pakistan in 2012. This year could be even more dangerous with nearly 250 Shiites already killed in the three attacks.

As part of a nationwide campaign launched this month Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is inviting members of the public to come and learn more about the Holy Prophet of Islam Muhammad SAW. All across the USA over 70 chapters of the community are taking part in this first ever nationwide “Muhammad Messenger of Peace” campaign.

The campaign aims to afford all Americans the opportunity to understand Prophet Muhammad’s views on human rights, women’s rights, war and peace, and interfaith harmony in a respectful and collegial environment. The new campaign is a civilized response to the ongoing mockery and baseless propaganda against the Prophet of Islam.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA’s 73 chapters around the country will host public events, open to all. Everyone in attendance will receive complimentary biographies of Prophet Muhammad’s life and soft copies of the Holy Qur’an with English translation.

With this campaign, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA has launched MuhammadFactCheck.org to provide accurate and detailed rebuttals to dozens of baseless allegations against Prophet Muhammad.

“Education and understanding are the bridges upon which Islam was founded,” said Dr. Nasim Rehmatullah, National Vice President of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA,

“and it is only with education and understanding that we can all live together peacefully and respectfully. This is what this campaign is all about.”

All Americans are invited to attend and ask any questions about Muhammad, Islam and the Qur’an. The Messenger of Peace event in Washington, DC will be held at the Fazl Mosque on Saturday March 30, 2013. Guests can reserve their place by visiting http://www.muslimsforpeace.org/events/wdc/.

To find the event in other cities, visit MuslimsForPeace.org/events. And, join the conversation on Twitter with hashtag #MyMuhammad.

Published at: Press SAAPK

Ahmadi Muslims with Rep. Pete King of New York

Washington: Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community during their ‘Day on the Hill’ on last Friday briefed US lawmakers on their alleged persecution in Pakistan, official sources have said.

Community leaders from 30 States visited nearly 400 Congressional offices on the Hill and met lawmakers and their staff on the issues of their concerns during their third annual event held on February 15, according to a media release issued on Wednesday.

Delegates to the event briefed a broad array of US lawmakers on the ongoing global persecution of religious minorities, particularly in South and Central Asia and the Middle East, it said.

Photo @salawm

“Delegates expressed particular concern over the uptick of violence against religious minorities in Pakistan and the need for the country to hold fair and free elections that were inclusive of all citizens regardless of their religious background,” Amjad Mahmood Khan, the national director of Public Affairs for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, USA and event organiser was quoted as saying in the release.

“As one of America’s oldest Muslim organisations, our community firmly believes in the value of the democratic process,” Khan said.

“Our annual ‘Day on the Hill’ event reflects our humble effort to raise awareness about protecting international religious freedom: a quintessential value shared by Islam and America,” he added.

Rep. Erik Paulsen of Minnesota – Photo @naseermk

Rep. Thomas Petri of Wisconsin – Photo @mustafa777