Rabwah Times

Ahmadiyya sympathy over Connecticut school shooting

CHINO – Leaders of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s Baitul Hameed Mosque conveyed their sympathy and condolences to the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School during their afternoon sermon today. Earlier, a gunman opened fire inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, killing 26 people, most of them children. “We are so sorry, we are so sad, it is great tragedy not just for the people of that town, although they have suffered a lot there are feeling more pain …

Origin of Romani traced to India

Ancient roots of modern day European gypsies traced back to India. According to the analysis, the Romani likely came from what is now the Punjab state in northwestern India. Romani, also known as Roma or Gypsies, are an ethnic group numbering 11 million people, They are distributed widely within Europe including the Balkans and Scandinavia where they are still shunned and victimized. During the Holocaust, somewhere between 200,000 and 1.5 million Romani were killed by Hitler’s Nazis. After World War …

Heavy snow hits Balkans

BELGRADE, Serbia — Freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall have killed at least six people and caused travel chaos across the Balkans, with rescue teams struggling to reach passengers stranded in buses and cars in Serbia on Sunday. Officials said four people have died in Croatia and two in Serbia as a result of blizzards in the region of southwestern Europe over the weekend, closing airports and roads and blocking public transportation in big cities. People traveling in vehicles waited for hours …

Student graduates after being shot in the forehead

A University of Sunderland student who survived a gun attack which claimed the lives of his brother and uncle has told of his pride after he graduated just weeks after his ordeal. Ummad Farooq, 22, had gone home to Karachi for his brother Saad’s wedding in October when they were attacked by gunmen who opened fire at their car. Saad was riding behind on a motorbike and was killed. Ummad’s father was shot five times and managed to survive, but …

Khalifa of Islam calls for Peace at European Parliament

On 4 December 2012, the World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat and Fifth Khalifa, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad delivered an historic keynote address at the European Parliament in Brussels to a packed audience of more than 350 guests representing 30 countries. The event was hosted by the newly launched ‘European Parliament Friends of Ahmadiyya Muslims Group’, a group that highlights that the cause of peace is at the heart of the Muslim faith. The group is headed by Dr …

Ahmadi Graves Desecrated in Lahore

More than 100 tombstones were desecrated by unidentified men this past Monday morning. This incident took place in a graveyard belonging to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Model Town, Lahore. Witnesses state that a group of about a dozen men, who were wearing masks and carrying weapons, entered the graveyard during early morning hours. Some of the men carried pistols, while others carried larger weapons. The intruders removed the tombstones from the graves and broke them. They also informed the caretakers …

Mayor of London invites Khalifa of Islam to City Hall

On 19 November 2012, Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, welcomed Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Fifth Khalifa and World Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, to City Hall. During the 45-minute meeting the Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat and the Mayor discussed various issues, including the establishment of world peace, the true peaceful teachings of Islam, the efforts of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in fighting extremism and the persecution faced by the Jamaat in certain countries. Praising the Ahmadiyya Muslim …

Ahmadi’s in UK call for urgent action against hate

Members of a Muslim sect persecuted in Pakistan have called for action to prevent groups from peddling hate against them in the UK. The Ahmadiyya community in the UK says it is being targeted through various media and in mosques and conferences by behaviour that it says amounts to religious hatred but is not caught by the definition of that offence under UK law. The community moved its headquarters to the UK in the 1980s after the Pakistani government passed a law …

Pakistan Terror attack victim to go under surgery in UK

A terror attack victim from Britain is to undergo a rare operation to remove – via his nose – a bullet that is embedded in his head. The operation to take place in a renowned hospital in Birmingham is possible thanks to a new tool called Cyclops, which allows surgeons to look around corners through a small endoscope inserted into the nose.  It has already been used to remove tumours- but this is the first time it is being used to remove a bullet …

Local Ahmadi leader killed in drive-by Shooting

Mukarram Naeem Ahmed Gondal, president of Jamaat Ahmadiyya’s Orangi Town chapter, was shot by two men on a motorbike as he was leaving his residence for work. Gondal, 52, was working as an assistant director for the State Bank of Pakistan. He leaves behind his wife among the bereaved. SITE Police Station SHO Rao Rafique said that an FIR has been lodged by the police and the investigations are underway. He added that since the FIR was filed against unidentified persons, …

Ahmadiyya Mosque minarets demolished in Kharian

The religious persecution of Ahmadis continued on July 10 when police authorities, under the supervision of DSP Sultan Meeran, desecrated Bait-ul-Hamd located near Kabari Bazar, Pul Nullah in Kharian, according to the spokesperson of Ahmadiyya Community. The instructions were allegedly carried out on the application filed by Saqib Shakeel Ghazi, Syed Iftikhar Kazmi and other members of Tehrik-e-Tahaffuz-e-Islam under Section 298 B and C of the 1984 ordinance. “The police officials accompanied by Town Municipal Administration (TMA) came during the …

Pakistan blocks Ahmadiyya community’s website

According to indepdent reports Pakistan’s largest ISP PTCL has blocked access to alislam.org the official website of the persecuted Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. This is not the first time Pakistan has used its internet censorship system to block access to the community’s website. In a similar drive by the Pakistan Government in 2008 access to the persecution.org was restricted. ThePersecution.org maintains records & reports on the worldwide persecution of Ahmadis in various countries. Pakistan has already been accused of excessive internet …