“The actions and statements of ISIS, who pretend to represent Islam run entirely contrary to Islam,” says His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad.

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad: the Worldwide Leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

As ISIS gains new territory and funds with which to establish an Islamic state and ‘’Caliphate’’, they are perhaps unaware that the institution of Caliphate is already in existence here in the UK.

The UK first became the home to a world-wide Caliphate in 1984 when His Holiness, Mirza Tahir Ahmad, the fourth Caliph, migrated from Pakistan to England. Today, the leafy streets of Southfields, South-West London, are home to his successor, the fifth Caliph and worldwide head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (AMC), His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad, who lives on the site of London’s oldest Mosque.

The Caliph is the spiritual leader to tens of millions of Muslims spread across 204 countries. There are more than 30,000 Muslims in the UK, from Aberdeen to Cornwall, who have pledged allegiance at the hand of the Caliph.

On the subject of Caliphate, His Holiness said:

“Extremist Islamic groups and the so-called Caliphate that extremists are trying to establish in the Middle East are a complete betrayal of the true peaceful teachings of Islam and will never succeed. These groups have attached their own cruel ambitions to an institution (Caliphate) that in reality seeks to champion the rights of all people.”

“Let me make it clear that the institution of Caliphate leading the Ahmadiyya Community has no interest in power or government. Rest assured that true Khilafat (Caliphate) has no worldly or political objectives.”

After delivering the weekly Friday sermon, His Holiness met the press to take questions on extremism and the current situation in Iraq, where he reiterated the AMC’s firm position against all forms of extremism.

See additional details in press release here