HRH The Duke of Edinburgh visits Baitul Futuh Mosque to honour award-winning gardens

Morden, 25 July 2025: By the grace of Allah, the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Morden, UK – Western Europe’s largest mosque complex – welcomed His Royal Highness Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, for a reception recognising the mosque’s continued horticultural excellence in the London Gardens Society competition.

The visit took place on Friday, 25 July, coinciding with the first day of Jalsa Salana UK 2025. In his capacity as Patron of the London Gardens Society, His Royal Highness planted a commemorative English rose before presenting the Society’s award to representatives of the Zira‘at [i.e., Horticulture] Department of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya UK. The engagement is recorded in the Court Circular and by the Greater London Lieutenancy.

The Duke was formally received at the Baitul Futuh Mosque by Surgeon Commodore Dr Robin McNeill Love OStJ DL RN, the Representative Deputy Lieutenant for the London Borough of Merton. The borough’s civic leadership also attended. 

The Baitul Futuh Mosque’s gardening team has secured London Gardens Society honours year-on-year: first prizes in 2021–2023 and, in 2024, the Richard Niazi Memorial Trophy in the Highest Class (Miscellaneous) category – recognition for sustained volunteer effort to beautify the mosque’s public spaces. 

During the reception, Jamaat representatives introduced His Royal Highness to the background of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, including its identity as an Islamic revival movement established by the Promised Messiah, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad^as, and the historic presentation of his jubilee treatise to Queen Victoria: A Gift for the Queen (Tohfa-e-Qaisariyyah). The Duke was presented with a copy of the Holy Quran, a leather-bound edition of The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam, a collection of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V’s^aa Peace Symposium addresses (The Golden Principles for World Peace), and a specially commissioned painting of the Baitul Futuh Mosque titled Beacon of Light.

Reflecting on the occasion, Rafiq Hayat Sahib, Amir Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya UK, said the visit “not only celebrates the outstanding horticultural efforts of our volunteers but also reflects the enduring spirit of service, peace, and community that lies at the heart of our faith.”

His Royal Highness previously visited the Fazl Mosque in 2011, where he also had the honour of meeting Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih V^aa.

(Report by staff reporter)