1

Report from Berlin

Long Night of Religions at the Berlin Mosque Amir Aziz al-Azhari, Imam

Friday 28th August With the blessings of Allah, from 24th August to 3rd September 2015, the Berlin Mosque was full of activities. Members from Pakistan, the UK and Holland participated in the activities. The programme started with the Friday sermon by Hazrat Ameer Dr Abdul Karim Saeed. The Mosque was full, with the gathering including people of various nationalities: Arabs, Turkish, Bosnian, Daghistani, Afghan, Bangladeshi, Serbian, and Russian, as well as persons from the Consulate of Mali (Africa). A summary of Hazrat Ameer’s sermon was given by Mr Amir Aziz in German and Arabic.

September 2015 – (Supplement) Editor: Nasir Ahmad Vol. No. 7, Issue No. 30

IN MEMORY OF JALAL-UD-AKBAR IBN-I ABDULLAH, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

2

Friday congregational prayers at the Berlin Mosque. Mr Amir Aziz introduced the Head and President of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, who specially came to attend the Long Night of Religions. Then Dr A. K. Saeed delivered the sermon in English and led the prayers, after which Mr Amir Aziz presented a summary of the sermon in Arabic and

German.

Long Night of Religions – Saturday 29th August Long Night of Religions is an annual event celebrated in Berlin, in which people of all faiths participate. All religious centres are kept open and visitors are welcome. This year was fifth such event and was held on 5th August. Hazrat Ameer Dr A. K. Saeed, present Head of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement, Mian and Mrs Umar-i Farooq (Vice President), and Ch. Saadat Ahmad (Financial Secretary) from Pakistan; Mr Nasir Ahmad and his four grandsons, Mr Azhar-ud-Din Ahmad and his family, and Mr Shahid Aziz from the UK; Mr Abdul Aziz from Frankfurt; and Mr A.S. Santoe, Mr Henk Gajadhar and Mr Mudassar Aziz from Holland attended the event. In the morning, Br Shahid Aziz and Mr Amir Aziz attended a ‘white table’ ceremony of the Long Night of Religions in an open space in the middle of Berlin City. The Sikh community served their traditional light refreshments. We had a chance to discuss our Movement with people of the Sikh and the Jewish communities as well as representatives of other faiths. We also had the pleasure of meeting the person in charge of the event, Dr Thomas M. Shimmel. In his brief address, he welcomed and thanked us for participating and being a part of the event.

Meeting of the representatives of various religions at the Central Hall, Berlin. Mr Amir Aziz, Imam of the Berlin

Mosque, along with Mr Shahid Aziz, President of the UK Jama‘at attended the meeting. Traditional light refreshments were arranged by the Sikh community.

3

The event at the Berlin Mosque started at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and ended at 12:30 on Sunday morning. The Mosque was kept open and tea was served to the visitors. More than two hundred people of all faiths, some in groups, visited the Mosque. The proceedings began with the ‘Asr (afternoon) prayer led by Hazrat Ameer, with visitors observing us praying. At the conclusion of the congregational prayer, Hazrat Ameer made a special prayer for world peace. The programme began with a recitation of Chapter 87 of the Holy Qur’an, Al-A’laa (Allah, the Great) by Mr Nasir Ahmad, with the German translation read out by Mr Inshaal Ahmad, a devoted young man who is well-versed in the German language. Then Mr Amir Aziz gave a Power Point Presentation on history of the Mosque, which was followed by a question/answer session.

Views of visitors to the Berlin Mosque listening to Mr Amir Aziz’s presentation about the Mosque.

Visitors, singly and in groups, kept on coming till midnight and more than 70 copies of the German translation of the Qur’an were distributed to them by Hazrat Ameer, Mian Umar-i Farooq, and Ch. Saadat Ahmad.

4

Hazrat Ameer Dr A. K. Saeed and Mian Umar-i Farooq (Vice President) presented copies of the German and English

translations of the Holy Qur’an to visitors.

A very attractive and informative flyer which was prepared and printed by the Central Anjuman was also given to most of the visitors. The day ended at 12:30 a.m. with prayers by Hazrat Ameer. For the first time, three important members of the Central Anjuman of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement were present for the Long Night of Religions.

5

It was a very successful event, for which I thank Mr Nasir Ahmad and his four energetic grandsons, Mr Mudassar Aziz, Mrs Ghazala Umar-i Farooq, and all the young participants from the UK who were of great help to me. May Allah reward them for their efforts and devotion. Meeting with the Architect Efforts are also being taken to expedite repairs to the Mosque with the support of the Monument Department of Germany. In this connection, the Head and President of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement Dr Abdul Karim Saeed, Mian Umar-i Farooq (Vice President), and Mr Saadat Ahmad Choudhary (Finance Secretary) specially came from Lahore to participate in a meeting convened for this purpose. The future plans for the repairs to the Mosque and the Imam’s residence, and the refurbishing of the residence has been approved. This important meeting, God willing, will go a long way in providing facilities for the activities of this Islamic Centre which has been working in Europe for the past 92 years. Hazrat Ameer and all Board Members had a meeting with the Architect to discuss the plan, at which the Architect explained the whole project. In the first phase, the roof and parapets of the Mosque will be repaired. It was decided that the entire renovation project should be completed within five years.

*

Open Days at the Berlin Mosque

Mr Amir Aziz al-Azhari

Open Day of European Monuments was observed on 12th and 13 September, 2015 at the Berlin Mosque. In the two days, more than four hundred and fifty visitors came to the Mosque. A PowerPoint Presentation about the work of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement and the history of the Mosque was repeatedly shown during this time. All visitors showed a keen interest in the history of the Mosque, which was kept open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on both days. Four hundred flyers, and one hundred and fifty copies of a booklet in German, both about the history of the Mosque, were distributed to visitors. The German translation of the Holy Qur’an was also offered as a free gift to those who showed interest. It was a pleasant surprise that on this occasion a member of the late Sister Amina Mosler’s family visited the Mosque and attended the programme. She was very excited to visit the Mosque to which Amina Mosler had rendered memorable services as a caretaker. As a mark of love and respect, she wore earrings that had belonged to her late grandmother. During World War II, Sister Amina Mosler, with her son, had looked after the Mosque and the adjacent Imam’s house, and managed the Mosque’s activities. She was a brave, noble and devoted Muslim lady who took up the responsibility to look after the Mosque, singlehandedly organising congregational prayers and other activities. In fact, she was virtually running the Mosque, arranging all the utility payments, and welcoming visitors and other leading Muslim religious and political leaders. She meticulously maintained the policy of openness and interreligious harmony at the Mosque, even during the crucial period of war when things looked grim and challenging.

6

Mrs Amina Mosler’s granddaughter, wearing her grandmother’s earrings (L) and reading the Blue Book, which is a brief history of the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement in Europe in German.

*

Photographs courtesy: Mr Mudassar Aziz, Holland

*-*

7

CONTACT INFORMATION

The HOPE Bulletin

E-mail address: thehopebulletin@hotmail.com

ISLAM stands for: I SHALL LOVE ALL MANKIND