Source: www.leaderpost.com
Members of the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam will break ground on Saskatoon’s (Canada) first ever dedicated mosque this summer, followed by another for mainstream Sunni Muslims in the coming years.
The 25,000-square-foot mosque will be built across from the Greenbryre Golf Course, just outside city limits in Corman Park near Highway 16. Topped with a 100-foot minaret, it will feature classrooms, a sports facility and separate prayer and meal halls for men and women.
Tanveer Shah, president of the north Saskatoon chapter of the local Ahmadiyya movement, said the mosque will be called Dar ur-Rehmat, or House of Blessing. A number of local engineers from the Ahmadiyya community came together to draft plans for the mosque, with help from a student architect from Calgary.
“Roughly, the cost is $6.1 million, and we have more than 60 per cent already,” Shah said. “The whole project is funded by local membership.”
Fundraising efforts have been bolstered by the Ahmadiyya practice of donating 10 per cent of income to community projects, Shah said.
The Ahmadiyya community has grown to about 800 people in Saskatoon. They say their five daily prayers at a converted building near McKercher Drive.
Shah said the Ahmadiyya community is already gravitating to the area, which will make it much easier for the devout to attend frequent prayers.
“A lot of people are buying houses (in Rosewood) already,” Shah said. “From there it’s just across the highway, not even a half kilometre.”
In most majority Muslim countries the sounds of the call to prayer can be heard five times per day, starting at sunrise. But Muslims in Saskatoon don’t broadcast the call over loudspeakers out of courtesy to other Canadians, Shah said, and won’t begin doing so when the mosque is built.
“Because of the local laws, we can’t do that,” he said with a laugh. “The neighbours will be very upset, especially about the one at 3: 30 in the morning.”
Categories: Ahmadiyyat: True Islam, Americas, Canada, ISLAM
Saskatoon is in which country of the world? At the end of the news I got answer to my question.
I personally think we should try to avoid – and try that the media covering us avoids – the word ‘sect’.
The Oxford Dictionary says: quote
Definition of sect
noun
a group of people with somewhat different religious beliefs (typically regarded as heretical) from those of a larger group to which they belong.
often derogatory a group that has separated from an established Church; a nonconformist Church: two of the older sects—the Congregationalists and the Baptists—were able to increase their membership dramatically
a philosophical or political group, especially one regarded as extreme or dangerous: the radical sect Friends of the Earth campaigned against aerosols containing CFC gases unquote.
خدا تعالی آپ سب کو اپنی نعمتوں سے نوازے اور جزائے خیر دے جو خدا کی راہ میں حقیقی اسلامی یعنی احمدیت کے پھلانے کی کوشش کررہے ہیں۔ آمین شم آمین
@Maqsood
Salam
The news addresses the Canadians, hence no need to mention Canada.
Mashallah. May Allah bless Jamaat Ahmadiyya Canada as they have huge projects coming their way. May each mosque be filled with heartfelt worshipers.
Barakallah to all Ahmadi muslims!!
The reference to the comedy “Little mosque on the Prairie ” is funny & well taken!
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 only Islamic organization to believe that the long-awaited Messiah has come in the person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) (1835-1908) of Qadian. Ahmad(as) claimed to be the metaphorical second coming of Jesus(as) of Nazareth and the divine guide, whose advent was foretold by the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad(sa). Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believes that God sent Ahmad(as), like Jesus(as), to end religious wars, condemn bloodshed and reinstitute morality, justice and peace. Ahmad’s(as) advent has brought about an unprecedented era of Islamic revival. He divested Islam of fanatical beliefs and practices by vigorously championing Islam’s true and essential teachings. He also recognized the noble teachings of the great religious founders and saints, including Zoroaster(as), Abraham(as), Moses(as), Jesus(as), Krishna(as), Buddha(as), Confucius(as), Lao Tzu and Guru Nanak, and explained how such teachings converged into the one true Islam.
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the leading Islamic organization to categorically reject terrorism in any form. Over a century ago, Ahmad(as) 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. To this end, Ahmad(as) penned over 80 books and tens of thousands of letters, delivered hundreds of lectures, and engaged in scores of public debates. His rigorous and rational defenses of Islam unsettled conventional Muslim thinking. 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.
Similarly, it is the only Islamic organization to endorse a separation of mosque and state. Over a century ago, Ahmad(as) taught his followers to protect the sanctity of both religion and government by becoming righteous souls as well as loyal citizens. He cautioned against irrational interpretations of Quranic pronouncements and misapplications of Islamic law. He continually voiced his concerns over protecting the rights of God’s creatures. Today, it continues to be an advocate for universal human rights and protections for religious and other minorities. It champions the empowerment and education of women. Its members are among the most law-abiding, educated, and engaged Muslims in the world.
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the foremost Islamic organization with a central spiritual leader. Over a century ago, Ahmad(as) reminded his followers of God’s promise to safeguard the message of Islam through khilafat (the spiritual institution of successorship to prophethood). It believes that only spiritual successorship can uphold the true values of Islam and unite humanity. Five spiritual leaders have succeeded Ahmad(as) since his demise in 1908. It’s fifth and current spiritual head, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, resides in the United Kingdom. Under the leadership of its spiritual successors, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has now built over 15,000 mosques, over 500 schools, and over 30 hospitals. It has translated the Holy Quran into over 70 languages. It propagates the true teachings of Islam and the message of peace and tolerance through a twenty-four hour satellite television channel (MTA), the Internet (alislam.org) and print (Islam International Publications). It has been at the forefront of worldwide disaster relief through an independent charitable organization, Humanity First.