Mr. Mujeeb Chaudhry talked about Philadelphia and the historic and spiritual linkage with the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian.
Source/Credit: Ahmadiyya Times
By Maudood Bhatti | July 8, 2013
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s Philadelphia chapter held a ground breaking ceremony for the first purpose built mosque in the city of brotherly love.
This was an historic event for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community as its first missionary arrived in this very city nearly a century ago on February 15, 1920.
The ceremony had a large guest presence not only from the neighboring communities but also from neighboring states.
National President and National Vice Presidents of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA also attended the ceremony.
Mujeeb Chaudhry, local president of Philadelphia chapter, welcomed and thanked the guests for coming to the event and spoke about “freedom of speech” and “freedom of conscience” in the United States.
Mr. Chaudhry talked about Philadelphia and the historic and spiritual linkage with the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (1835-1908). Mr. Chaudhry described about Dr Anthony George Baker who lived in this city and is known to be the first person who accepted Islam Ahmadiyya in 1902 in the United States of America. Dr. Bakere was born in 1835 in Pittsburgh but lived at 414 Susquehanna Avenue in the city of Philadelphia and is mentioned in part 5 of Brahin-e-Ahmadiyya, a book by the Ahmadiyya Founder, Hadhrat Ahmad.
Mr Baker passed away in 1918 and is buried in Philadelphia, it has been recorded.
The ceremony was broadcast live on a local radio station and Muslim TV Ahmadiyya (MTA) and a local affiliate of NBC were among the TV stations covering the event. .
Dr Ihsanullah Zafar, National President of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, placed the first brick followed by Mr Nadeem Mahdi, National Vice President and Missionary In-Charge; and Imam Azhar Haneef, who placed the second and third bricks respectively.
Several people of other faiths also laid the foundation stones of the mosque including persons of the Jewish, Hindu and Sikh faiths.
Also many people from the local neighborhood, imams of other mosques, women, children, the oldest and the youngest and the converts were alos among the bricklayers.
The ceremony concluded with the collective prayer followed by dinner which included rice with chicken, salad, samosa and pizza which kids loved. For drinks the choices were water and soda and for sweets, Jalebi was served.About Ahmadiyya
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a dynamic, fast growing international revival movement within Islam. Founded in 1889, it spans over 200 countries with membership exceeding tens of millions. Its current headquarters are in the United Kingdom.
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the leading Islamic organization to categorically reject terrorism in any form. Over a century ago, Ahmadiyya founder, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, emphatically declared that an aggressive “jihad by the sword” has no place in Islam. In its place, he taught his followers to wage a bloodless, intellectual “jihad of the pen” to defend Islam. As part of its effort to revive Islam, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community continues to spread Ahmad’s(as) teachings of moderation and restraint in the face of bitter opposition from parts of the Muslim world.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the oldest Islamic organization in the United States of America.
-- USA: Ground breaking ceremony of Sadiq Mosque in Philadelphia
-- Ahmadiyya Times
-- By Maudood Bhatti. Follow on Twitter: @MaudoodBhatti
This content-post is archived for backup and to keep archived records of any news Islam Ahmadiyya. The views expressed by the author and source of this news archive do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Ahmadiyya Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.