Ahmadiyya in Sierra Leone

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was established in Sierra Leone in 1937. ^[1] There are currently 573 mosques (in places such as Gbonkobana, Gbendembu, Kailahun, Makeni and Bo, among others), there are 19 central missionaries, 131 local missionaries, 184 Ahmadiyya primary schools, and 50 secondary schools in Sierra Leone. ^[2]

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Radio Station was established in 2007. ^[2]

In early 2014, the Sierra Leonean Ahmadiyya Muslims from across the country held their 53rd Annual Conference at the Ahmadiyya Muslim secondary school in Bo. Sierra Leone's president Ernest Bai Koroma, who is a christian, develivered the keynote address at the conference that was attended by several senior government officials, senior Islamic clerics, and several paramount chiefs from across the country .

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is an international revival movement within Islam. It was founded in 1889, and today spans over 200 countries with a membership exceeding tens of millions. It has its current headquarters in the United Kingdom.^[3]

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the only Islamic organization to believe that the Messiah has come in the person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad(as) (1835-1908) of Qadian. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believes that God sent Ahmad(as), like Jesus(as), to end religious wars, condemn bloodshed and reinstitute morality, justice and peace. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the leading Islamic organization to disavowterrorism. Ahmad(as) 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. Ahmad(as) penned over 80 books and tens of thousands of letters, delivered hundreds of lectures, and engaged in scores of public debates. It is the only Islamic organization to endorse a separation of mosque and state.^[4]

See also

• Islam in Sierra Leone

References