Source/Credit: Concord Times (Freetown)
By Concord Times | June 15, 2011
Sierra Leone: Ahmadiyya Jammat-USA Observes 50th Anniversary
Freetown — About 50 members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (Jamaat) from Sierra Leone and other countries residing in the Southern California area recently gathered at the Baitul Hameed Ahmadiyya Mosque located in Chino, California to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Sierra Leone's independence.
Welcoming the guests at the occasion, president of the United Brothers and Sisters of Sierra Leone (UBSSL), Mr. Abdul Kassim, highlighted some of the many achievements and development strides of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in Sierra Leone since established in the country during the colonial era, especially in the fields of education and health care delivery services.
In a statement, Mr. Hamidu Hamid - the president of a Los Angeles based Sierra Leone Islamic organization - introduced the guest of the occasion who serves as the Imam of the Baitul Hameed Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosque, Shamshad A. Nasir, describing him as a diligent worker and a light in spreading the message of the Holy Quran as he worked in Sierra Leone, while at each interval verses of the Quran were read by Sheik Tejan Sesay.
Imam Nasir, who recounted fond memories of the many years that he served as a missionary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim sect in Sierra Leone and other West African countries, also expressed appreciation that West Africans know the sect as a peace-loving and humanitarian Islamic sect that has built hundreds of schools and dozens of hospitals in several West African countries such as Ghana, Sierra Leone, Senegal, the Ivory Coast, Benin, The Gambia and Burkina Faso, which makes them a pioneer in development.
Delivering a statement through a telephone message, Sierra Leone's Ambassador to the USA, His Excellency Bockarie Stevens commended the Ahmadiyya Muslim sect for their humanitarian services to Sierra Leone where the community is well-known and loved by the people for the construction of schools and hospitals that have educated and healed the people.
An influential and high profile member of the California Ahmadiyya Community, Dr. Leslie Cross, an ex-astrologist of the U.S Space project NASA who delivered the keynote address, gave an overview of the economic and historical developments that Sierra Leone has been going through since independence 50 years ago. He lavished praise on the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community for their immense contributions towards the betterment of Sierra Leone and its people.
Special events at the program included Christian and Muslim thanksgiving prayers, speeches made by distinguished personalities, the singing of the Sierra Leone and American National Anthems, the host Imam's presentation of gifts which included a book entitled 'Mosques Around the World'; and a buffet dinner and refreshment of Sierra Leonean and Pakistani cuisines were served.
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