Given what we’ve learned about caliphates over recent months – largely from the rise of the brutal Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East – the City of London, with its decidedly Western attitudes to money-making, is not where you’d expect to find one.But it turns out the Square Mile is home to dozens of followers of the world’s largest caliphate, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. With over 10 million followers scattered throughout 206 countries, it is currently the largest caliphate in existence.

It is also the longest-standing – it was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in India in 1889 and there have been five leaders since then.At the end of August the AMC came together in Hampshire: followers flocked to a field near Alton for three days of prayers, food and mingling while pledging allegiance to their current leader Mirza Masroor Ahmad.

Huge tents were erected to house dining rooms, kitchens, prayer halls and bazaars. The tents were so big, one follower proudly remarked that they had to be imported from Denmark.

As well as learning that the Danes need bigger tents than the rest of us, I found out the Ahmadiyya have been gathering in the English countryside for the past …read more at cityam.com