Charles Barton Stedman, Spain Correspondent
Recently, several portable leaflet stands have been purchased and members of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Spain have been out on the streets of Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Cordoba preaching the message of Islam.
There were some doubts about the legality of distributing leaflets in this way and local police are not always consistent in their attitude. In Catalunya, recently, the police fined some people for distributing leaflets; however, the decision was overturned in the courts.
A lawyer was consulted on this question and it was established that Article 16 of the Spanish constitution guarantees the ideological and religious freedoms of individuals and communities to demonstrate their beliefs as long as nothing is done to affect public order as established by the law.
Members of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Spain were informed of the following guidelines:
Nothing may be sold, care must be taken not to be over solicitous, leaflets should only be given to people who are unlikely to throw them away and care must be taken to place the stand where it will cause no obstruction.
In Valencia, in just a few hours, about 50 leaflets were distributed, and five contacts were made. Those who were willing to leave an email address were sent an invitation to join an online presentation and discussion held on the 23 July 2020.
The subject on this occasion was the teachings of Islam with respect to pandemics. This is the second such online presentation and another is planned for August.
The number of people participating has increased and feedback has been very positive, alhamdolillah.
It is hoped that this initiative will be expanded and efforts of this kind will be made regularly with an increasing number of Jamaat members participating, insha-Allah.
