Intro
There are currently roughly 400k Muslims in Switzerland, of which barely 800 are Ahmadi. We have found an academic essay on #ahmadiwomen in Switzerland from 2012. The Community was founded on October 13, 1946, during the late period of the Second Caliphate, when the caliph directed Shaikh Nasir Ahmad to establish a mission in the country. Today there are two Ahmadi mosques and 14 local branches, representing an estimated 800 Ahmadi Muslims. In 1960, the Swiss government was forced to give the Ahmadiyya community a huge parcel of land for pennies, the local Christian community was outraged. There are 14 local chapters and an estimated 800 Ahmadis in Switzerland, many of which are descendants of immigrants from Pakistan. There are two Ahmadi Muslim mosques in the country, the Mahmud Mosque, in Zurich and the Nuur Mosque, in Wigoltingen, which is due to undergo construction. Both mosques lie in the German-speaking part of the country. The current national president is Walid Tariq Tarnutzer and the national missionary in-charge is Sadaqat Ahmed (Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques Around The World – A Pictorical Presentation. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community; Khilafat Centenary Edition. 2008. ISBN 978-1882494514).
AK Shaikh claims that the Mirza family kept their money in Swiss banks and thus used Naseem Mahdi in the early 1980’s in this regard (see at the 7:50 mark).
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Ahmadiyya temples?
The Mahmud Mosque, in Zurich and the Nuur Mosque, in Wigoltingen, which is due to undergo construction. Both mosques lie in the German-speaking part of the country.
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Ahmadiyya missionaries
In 2008, the national president was Walid Tariq Tarnutzer and the national missionary in-charge is Sadaqat Ahmed (Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques Around The World – A Pictorical Presentation. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community; Khilafat Centenary Edition. 2008. ISBN 978-1882494514).
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1946
On October 13, 1946 the three Ahmadi Muslim missionaries, Sheikh Nasir Ahmad, Abdul Latif and Ghulam Ahmad Bashir met in Zurich, Switzerland, intending to establish a mission in Germany. However, due to the recent conclusion of the war, they were unable to enter the country. Ahmadi’s wrote letters to British officials about this herein. As a result, a mission was established in Zurich instead. Soon after, Abdul Latif and Ghulam Ahmad Bashir left the country for the Netherlands, whilst Sheikh Nasir Ahmad continued to serve Switzerland for the following 16 years, until 1962. During this period a German translation of the Quran was published and an Islamic journal Der Islam was founded. (Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques Around The World – A Pictorical Presentation. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community; Khilafat Centenary Edition. 2008. ISBN 978-1882494514).
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1955
https://ahmadiyyafactcheckblog.com/2019/06/04/in-1955-the-ahmadiyya-khalifa-toured-europe-extensively-albeit-with-a-piece-of-metal-in-his-neck/
Briefly staying in Lebanon, Mahmood Ahmad travelled to Switzerland via Athens and Rome. The 2nd Khalifa arrives via plane in Geneva, Switzerland on May 8th, 1955. He continued travelling and received some medical treatment in Zurich, Switzerland. He stays a month for medical consultation.
4 June 1955: Mirza Basheer-uddin Mahmud Ahmad was in Europe and some glimpses of his activities recorded are as follows: On this day, Huzoor inspected the mission house of Zurich.
On 5 June, Mirza Basheer-uddin Mahmud Ahmad gave a speech in English in Zurich.
On 8 June, Mirza Basheer-uddin Mahmud Ahmad interview was televised by a Swiss television channel in English. On the same day, a Yugoslavian man entered the fold of Ahmadiyyat. On 10 June, Huzoor ra went to Switzerland’s southern city of Lugano via car.
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1960
In 1960, in view of growing multiculturalism, the country’s municipal government offered the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community a parcel of land for the construction of a mosque, at a rate of 3000 francs annually, for 60 years. The location was in a residential zone in Zurich, opposite a church. The mosque project received overwhelming support from local and national groups. However, it wasn’t without criticism. National churches belonging to various Christian denominations in Switzerland, including the Catholic Church, pointed out in a joint statement that whilst the government is offering Muslims a place for the construction of a mosque, the churches are facing difficulty in finding construction sites for their places of worship. The Swiss evangelical party responded to the governments offer as an “unfortunate way of showing preference to a religious minority in attacking the religious sentiments of the majority of [residents of Zurich].” Nevertheless, the issue was resolved and the construction project was given the green light.
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On August 25, 1962, Amatul Hafiz Begum, the daughter of the founder of the Community, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, laid the foundation stone for the first mosque in the country. The opening ceremony was held on 22 June 1963 led by Sir Muhammad Zafrullah Khan, who was at that time the President of the 17th UN General Assembly. Emil Landolt, the Mayor of Zurich was also present. The mosque was named the Mahmud Mosque. By opening the mosque, the Community set a visible presence of Muslims in Switzerland.
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1967
In 1967, Khalifatul Masih III travelled to Europe, leaving Rabwah on 6 July and returning home on 24 August, 1967. On July 28th, he gave a short lecture at Wandworth Town Hall, London. He also visited Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Denmark and England. During his visit to England, he took a break in the Lake District and staggered tourists and the local people with his flawless Oxford accent. In Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, Khalifatul-Masih III inaugurated the first mosque built entirely by the financial contributions of Ahmadi women.
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1970
The 3rd Khalifa visits again in April (Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques Around The World – A Pictorical Presentation. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community; Khilafat Centenary Edition. 2008. ISBN 978-1882494514).
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1973
The third Khalifa visits again in August (Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques Around The World – A Pictorical Presentation. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community; Khilafat Centenary Edition. 2008. ISBN 978-1882494514).
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1976
The third Khalifa visits again in September (Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques Around The World – A Pictorical Presentation. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community; Khilafat Centenary Edition. 2008. ISBN 978-1882494514).
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1978
The 3rd Khalifa visits again in May (Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques Around The World – A Pictorical Presentation. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community; Khilafat Centenary Edition. 2008. ISBN 978-1882494514).
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1980
The 3rd Khalifa visits again in July (Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques Around The World – A Pictorical Presentation. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community; Khilafat Centenary Edition. 2008. ISBN 978-1882494514).
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1982
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14DIjuJ2w0Y
The first ever Jalsa-Salana was held.
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1984-1985
Chaudhry Zahoor Ahmad Bajwa was working there as a Murrabi and received Naseem Mahdi and trained him before he went to Canada. The 4th Khalifa is there in 1985 at the Nova Hotel.
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1987
The 4th Khalifa is back in Switzerland and gives a lecture at the University of Zurich on June 14th, 1987. Masud Jhelumi was the missionary-in-charge. Sheikh Nasir Ahmad was also there and helped with translating this speech into German.
11 years later this was taken and converted into the famous book of his, “Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth”.
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1990
Over the years, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community grew primarily due to immigration from Pakistan. By the 1990s, the Mahmood Mosque was becoming too small to house its members. As a consequence, the Community began to search for a place, for another mosque. 15 years later, in 2005 the Community found a suitable place, a joinery in Haüsern, a hamlet in the municipality of Wigoltingen, in Thurgau. The national president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Switzerland, W. Tarnutzer, wrote to the caliph, in London, requesting approval of the project. After approving the project, the Community proposed the project to the municipal government. On one hand the council disapproved the project and on the other, a number of residents in the neighbourhood began to collect signatures against the project. The Community organized an informational event in response to the negative reaction. In order to avoid self-portrayal, the event featured positive remarks from a non-Muslim journalist and a priest. Following the event, there were no objections. The mosque is named the “Nur Mosque”.
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1992
The 4th Khalifa visits again (Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques Around The World – A Pictorical Presentation. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community; Khilafat Centenary Edition. 2008. ISBN 978-1882494514).
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2004
The 5th Khalifa arrives in September for the annual Jalsa (Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques Around The World – A Pictorical Presentation. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community; Khilafat Centenary Edition. 2008. ISBN 978-1882494514).
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2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14DIjuJ2w0Y
Jalsa.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________The academic essay
“Islam Provides for Women a Dignified and Honourable Position”: Strategies of Ahmadi Muslims in Differentiating Processes in Switzerland
The scan work
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Links and Related Essay’s
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00497878.2012.691406?scroll=top&needAccess=true&instName=University+of+Bristol&journalCode=gwst20
In 1955, the Ahmadiyya Khalifa toured Europe extensively, albeit with a piece of metal in his neck?
(Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques Around The World – A Pictorical Presentation. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community; Khilafat Centenary Edition. 2008. ISBN 978-1882494514)
https://www.alislam.org/book/revelation-rationality-knowledge-truth/
_____________________________________________________________________________________________Tags
#ahmadiyya #ahmadiyyafactcheckblog #ahmadiyyainswitzerland
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