Mansoor Ahmad Malik, Missionary & National President Iceland
Albeit small in number and in its humble beginnings, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in Iceland – with the prayers, blessings and guidance of our beloved Imam, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaa – is gradually progressing and marching into the right direction.
On Thursday 26 April, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community held its 3rd National Peace Symposium in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Over the last two years, we have had a range of distinguished guest speakers representing the Lutheran Church, Buddhism, the Heathen community, the Multicultural Council of Reykjavik, the police and the City Council.
The distinguished guest speakers for this year’s symposium included Mr David Tencer, Bishop of the Catholic Church of Iceland, Mrs Margrét Steinarsdóttir, Director of the Icelandic Human Rights Centre and Mr Michael Levin representing the Jewish Community in Iceland. Imam Ibrahim Noonan, Missionary in-charge and Vice President of the Jamaat in Ireland, was appointed to represent Islam Ahmadiyya. The theme for this year’s event was: Fundamentals of Establishing Lasting Peace.
The event formally commenced at 6:30pm with the recitation of the Holy Quran and its translation, after which the guests were welcomed, a brief outline of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was presented and a few opening words were shared on the topic everyone had gathered for: Peace.
A brief presentation on some of the humanitarian work the Jamaat in Iceland has carried out over the last five years was prepared for guests, which included blood donations, graveyard cleaning sessions, donation to the Children’s House, Christmas donations to the children’s hospital, dinners with the less fortunate as well as the Meet a Muslim Family campaign.
Following this, the attention of the guests was drawn towards our rightly guided spiritual leadership, Khilafat. Accordingly, a short video clip titled “Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad – The Caliph’s Story”, was shown to the guests, which has beautifully captured a few glimpses of Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmadaa, to whom Ahmadis pledge initiation.
After each guest speaker addressed those in attendance individually, the keynote address was delivered by Imam Ibrahim Noonan, which highlighted the Islamic perspective on establishing justice and everlasting peace.
A total of 58 guests attended this year’s event, which included, among others, the British Ambassador to Iceland, the Polish Ambassador to Iceland, the political officer of the Embassy of the United States of America in Iceland, as well as a journalist, a university professor of theology and members of various faiths.
A bookstall had been set up in the corner of the conference room with free literature for guests. Many guests took advantage of this opportunity and were happy to take home various books, including copies of the Holy Quran. Every guest expressed their joy and appreciation of attending the event and also took the opportunity to sign and leave comments in the guest book.
By the sheer grace of Allah and with the prayers of our beloved Imam, the event proved to be successful.