Photo© TEMPO.CO
The Indonesian Ahmadiyya Muslim Congregation (JAI) plans to hold a thanksgiving, or celebration, to commemorate the centenary of the arrival of the Ahmadiyya community in Indonesia. The event will take place on December 25, 2025.
JAI spokesperson Yendra Budiana stated that the Ahmadiyya community first arrived in Indonesia on December 25, 1925, a century ago. This event marked the first Ahmadiyya pledge of allegiance in Indonesia.
The oath of allegiance a hundred years ago, Yendra said, took place in Tapak Tuan City, South Aceh, Aceh. “Why December 25th? It marks the first Indonesian to convert to Ahmadiyah in Indonesia,” Yendra said during a visit to the Tempo office on Jalan Palmerah Barat, South Jakarta, on Wednesday, September 24, 2025.
According to Yendra, Ahmadiyah followers had actually been in the country before 1925. However, they were people who converted to Ahmadiyah in India, the birthplace of the Islamic religious movement.
In 1925, an Ahmadiyya envoy from India arrived in Indonesia to take oath of allegiance. The envoy was Maulana Rahmat Ali, a close friend of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya Islamic movement.
To commemorate this centennial, JAI plans to hold a series of activities. These include a conservation initiative, planting 100,000 trees across Indonesia, an inter-Islamic boarding school (pesantren) Quran Recitation Competition (MTQ), and a congregational tahajud program. These activities will take place before the main event on December 25th.
However, JAI has not yet decided where the culminating event of the centennial celebration on December 25th will take place. They are still developing the concept for the event. “The culminating event will be an international conference,” said Yendra.
On the same occasion, Zaki Firdaus Syahid, National President of the Indonesian Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, stated that the spirit of the Ahmadiyya community’s centennial celebrations is one of gratitude. “We are grateful for the extraordinary blessings of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala , which have enabled the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Indonesia to exist from 1925 to 2025,” Zaki said.
Zaki is the new National Amir of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Indonesia who was appointed on August 25, 2025. Zaki was appointed by the Caliph of Ahmadiyya Islam, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, as the amir in Indonesia for the period 2025-2028. An amir or leader in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has a term of office of three years.