Kashif Virk, Missionary, Sweden
On 6-10 May 2024, four missionaries from Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Sweden embarked on a tour in central areas of Sweden with the campaign “Ask A Muslim”. This was the 8th tour of this campaign in Sweden, and in total, this initiative has now reached more than 100 locations and cities all over Sweden. The cities included Norrtälje, Uppsala, Sandviken, Falun and Ludvika. Stalls were arranged in all these cities, and many visited it and asked their questions or expressed their appreciation of the initiative. During the tour, meetings were held with dignitaries of various cities; for instance, the Mayor of Sandviken and Ludvika invited us to dialogue, as well as the Dean of Uppsala. We also met with the former Attorney General and Justice of the Supreme Court of Sweden, Göran Lambertz, in Uppsala. In these meetings, an introduction to Islam Ahmadiyyat as well as its efforts to foster peace were presented.
The tour received wide coverage in the media. A total of three radio channels, five newspapers and one TV channel interviewed us and informed their audience about the initiative. The initiative was also publicised on local Facebook pages, generating hundreds of likes and comments. Some of the comments we received were:
“A nice initiative, but sad that it is needed.”
“More knowledge gives greater understanding and fewer problems.”
“What a nice initiative!”
“I wish I would be there, but I hope all will go well and be nice. Good luck!”
“A very nice way to get answers to questions! Nice initiative!”
In these threads, questions were also asked about Islam, which were then replied to by us as well as other khuddam.
During this tour, a professor of Islamic studies joined us for a couple of days to write a report on the tour.
By the grace of Allah, Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Sweden has been able to reach out to a large portion of the Swedish population through this campaign.