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Events in October 2017

Reports and photographs

by Amir Aziz, Imam Berlin Mosque

Ladies Group from Dortmund

On 1st October a group of 50 Turkish Women visited the Mosque. They asked about the difference between the two Jamaats (i.e., the Lahore Ahmadiyya and the Qadianis) which was explained. They came without an appointment and therefore I gave a brief introduction followed by a Question-answer session. A Turkish Imam led the group.

Mosques Open Day

3rd October is a national holiday in Germany and is celebrated as Open Day of Mosques. On this day 104 people visited the Mosque. They were given a presentation about Mosque and information about Islam and the AAIIL. Interested people were presented a copy of Holy Quran. All participants were presented with leaflets about the Mosque. The Mosque remained open from 10:30 am to 5:00 pm. The most interesting point is that visitors came with children who showed great interest.

Mosque Archive

On 5th October Dr. Gerdien Jonker visited and stayed for five hours and organized all the old files for the Archive. She is working with great devotion and we were able to find important information. This will help us save our history. She has tagged all old files and very soon we will start organizing the Mosque Archive which will be a great source of knowledge and research for future scholars. It will be a great source of our propagation work.

Women’s groups visit

On 12th and 15th October ladies groups visited the Mosque. They showed interest in the history of the Mosque and also the religion of Islam. A couple who has no religion discussed various issues and were happy to know the AAIIL point of view. A copy of the Quran was presented to them and to other visitors.

Participation in European Hifz Quran event

On 22nd October the annual Hifz Quran (memorising the Quran) event was organized by the main Muslim organization in Berlin. Mosque Darus Salam Berlin organizes this competition in which young people from various European countries and various cities from Germany participate. I was invited to participate in the event. There were scholars from various Muslim countries. The winner was awarded complete expenses for Hajj (Pilgrimage to Makkah).

A very special article

A famous daily newspaper in German, Der Tagesspiegel, published an article about the Mosque from 1929 in which it was mentioned that very famous personalities of that time including Albert Einstein visited the Mosque and attended meetings. This was a great breakthrough as it shows the significance of the Berlin Mosque and high quality work of the AAIIL and its members. Many famous personalities including Thomas Mann ( Noble Prize Laureate), Martin Buber, Martin Niemoller, and Herman Hesse also visited the Mosque. (This is further covered on this website at this link.)

A very Interesting Documentary Film shooting

On 24th October guests from Egypt, USA and Israel visited the Mosque. Part of a documentary film about an Egyptian Dr. Halmey was made in our Mosque. Dr. Halmey saved a Jewish girl and her family during the Nazi period. The government of Israel presented its highest award for his brave act. His only surviving nephew, Dr. Nasir, specially came to Berlin to receive the award. The daughter of rescued girl, Anna, lives in the USA and she specially came to attend the ceremony and visited the Mosque.

My interview is also part of this film. On 26th October the award ceremony was arranged in the Academy of Foreign Affairs of Germany. The ceremony trailer of the film was shown to the audience, in which the Mosque was introduced. Officials of the Egyptian and the Israel Embassy were also present there. I had the chance to meet diplomats including the Deputy Ambassador of the Egyptian Embassy in Berlin. This documentary will be shown around the world which will be a source of introduction of the Mosque to various parts of the world. The whole ceremony was covered by media of three countries.

Interfaith Programme

On 28th October HWPL held interfaith dialogue on topic of The Spiritual Realm in every scripture. Representatives of Christianity, Buddhism and Islam participated in the dialogue. I represented Islam and explained the concept of spirituality as described in the Holy Quran.

Visit of Syrian Refugees from Berlin

On 30th October a group of Syrian refugee families visited the Mosque with their leader. It is a part of their integration programme where they are taken to the Mosque to learn the real teachings of Islam. I explained the difference between the two Jamaats and the services of the AAIIL for Islam . An Egyptian translator was with them who translated the discussion in Arabic. They were presented Arabic translations of books of Maulana Muhammad Ali.

Visit of group from Stuttgart

On 31st October a group of 24 students from Stuttgart visited the Mosque. There were also some Muslim students from Syria and Turkey in the group. After the presentation, students asked many questions and the programme lasted for two hours. They were presented with copies of Holy Quran.