rabwah

Al-Fazl: Pakistan’s oldest, and most censored, newspaper

Rabwah, PAKISTAN – This must be the only newspaper office in all of Pakistan that is alive and buzzing at 9:00am. While the country’s other sub-editors, reporters and publishers are still sleeping off last night’s print deadline, these journalists are already hard at work, drafting the next edition of Pakistan’s oldest continuously published daily newspaper. Al-Fazl, the community newspaper of the Ahmadi Muslim sect, was first published in 1913, in the town of Qadian in what is today Indian Punjab. …

Ahmadi sect under siege in Pakistan: British Doctor arrested for reading The Quran

A 72-year-old British doctor is in prison in Pakistan for “posing as a Muslim”, charges that reveal an escalating ideological fight that often spills over into violence. Masood Ahmad is a quiet, reserved widower who returned to Pakistan to open a pharmacy in 1982 after decades of working in London to pay his children’s school fees, his family said. He is also an Ahmadi, a sect that consider themselves Muslim but believe in a prophet after Mohammed. A 1984 Pakistani …

Khalifa of Islam visits Australia

The Khalifa of Islam and Fifth head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad arrived in Australia for the second leg of his Asia Pacific tour. His Holiness arrived at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith International Airport at 5.15am local time, following an overnight flight from Singapore and was greeted at the airport by Rt Hon Kevin Conolly MP, a member of the NSW Legislative Assembly and Mr Mahmood Ahmad, President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in Australia. During a twenty …

For Pakistan’s Ahmadis, a depressing tale of two gatherings

A fortnight ago, tens of thousands of members of the Ahmadi Muslim community gathered in the historic English market town of Alton. They were there for an annual conference. This year, the community was also marking the centenary of its presence in Britain. As far back as 1926, the Ahmadis established London’s first mosque. In countries as diverse as Canada and South Africa, there are similar events that take place throughout the year. But the one country where Ahmadis aren’t …

Visit to Rabwah – Home of Persecuted Ahmadiyya Muslims

Pakistan has seemingly ensured that no Ahmedi demographic, including the dead, are spared the harsh reminder that they do not belong “That looks very biblical,” I said out loud while approaching the place Ahmedis call their sanctuary, Rabwa. Incidentally, the name of the city was changed by the state to Chenabnagar, because Rabwa translated to ‘land of God’ and divinity and its access was prohibited for Ahmedis. I wanted to observe what is it like for them living banished in …

Ahmadiyya Muslim Women share their Ramadan experience

CHINO — Rabiya Chaudry’s spirit may be willing, but she says her body is telling her something else. Healthy Muslims are supposed to take part in the rituals of Ramadan, which include bowing and kneeling five times a day and fasting from dawn until dusk. But women who are menstruating or breast feeding get a pass, electing instead to “make up” the time through an alternative act. “During that (menstruating) time you are told not to fast because you are …

Ahmadi Soldier killed in line of duty buried with full military honours in Rabwah

An Ahmadi SOLDIER who died fighting the Taliban in the Tirah Valley was buried in Rabwah with full military honors. Qaiser Naveed Bhatti, 24 of Chak 23 District Nankana died in a firefight with the the Taliban in Tirah Valley. His body was taken to his hometown by Captain Deedar Baig from where it was brought to Rabwah where he was buried with full military honors. Naveed Bhatti had got married three months ago. Pakistani Army has been battling Taliban …

Persecuted Ahmadiyya Muslims worship freely in the US

Inside the Bait-ul Qadir mosque on Fond du Lac Ave., a small group of men gathers before the midday prayer. They speak of the weather, their families, the inanities of daily affairs — but also the great mysteries of life and the path to salvation. “We are what we do. And in the next life, we will be judged by our actions,” said Rashid Ahmad, an imam, who at 90 commands the quiet respect of his fellow worshippers. “You cannot …

Germany: Ahmadiyya community becomes corporate body under public law

Hesse is the first German State that recognizes a Muslim community as corporate body under public law. So far, only the Catholic, Evangelical, Greek-orthodox, Russian-orthodox, Jewish and Jehova´s witnesses have been given this status. The Culture Ministry in the state of Hesse has granted Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat (AMJ) in Frankfurt, a Muslim religious community, the status of ‘corporation under public law’ – a first in Germany. The Ahmadiyya community is active in Germany since 1950’s. The Ahmadiyya community has 35.000 …

July 4 And The Ahmadiyya – OpEd By Katrina Lantos Swett

Last Saturday, on June 29, I was honored to speak in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to the Ahmadiyya Muslim American Community’s 65th Annual Convention. For the past several years, the Ahmadiyya have chosen Harrisburg for their convention, just days before America’s July 4 celebration. Two hours east of Harrisburg is Philadelphia, where our Declaration of Independence was signed on that date. Less than an hour south is Gettysburg, where 150 years ago, in the days leading up to July 4, a crucial …

The Wrong Kind of Muslim – Putting an end to Islamic Terrorism

American Muslim author releases landmark book to put an end to the Taliban & Islamic terrorism The Wrong Kind of Muslim is a call to unite those of all faiths and of no faith in the struggle for universal freedom of conscience. Since 9/11, terrorists in Pakistan have killed over 40,000—and counting. Often risking his own life, Qasim Rashid journeys into the heart of that terrorism to unearth the untold story of those silenced by Taliban suicide bombings, secret police …

Pakistan election: the 4m votes no one wants

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 …