Decades of the #100YearMovement

Celebrating 100 Years in America

DECADES OF THE #100YEARMOVEMENT

AHMADIYYA MUSLIM COMMUNITY USA

1920–2020 CENTENNIAL

@ Tr u e I s l a m U S A

LOVE FOR ALL

www.trueislam.com

HATRED FOR NONE

1 - 8 0 0 -W H Y- I S L A M United States of America

The

M USLIM S UNRISE The longest-running Islamic magazine in the United States was established in July 1921 by Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Sadiq (r.a.), the first missionary of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, in America.

The 1920s

SPREADING

THE MESSAGE OF ISLAM

In 1933, Missionary Sufi Mutiur Rahman Bengalee (served in the U.S. from 1930 to 1947) reported: “During the year, 115 lectures were delivered at various clubs, churches, and societies with the number of audiences ranging between 500 and 3,000." He also promoted Islam in a wide range of American newspapers, including The Chicago Defender and The Detroit News.

On May 25, 1934, The Cedar Rapids Gazette published a description of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Mahdi (a.s.).

Public lectures and national news coverage bring the true message of Islam to thousands of Americans throughout the 1930s.

The 1930s

The following is an excerpt from an article on the first Jalsa, published in the 1948 issue of The Muslim Sunrise.

Ahmadiyyat Opens a New Chapter in America First Annual Convention of U.S. Ahmadiyya Missions

The year of 1948 witnessed an important step forward in the history of the Ahmadiyya Movement in the United States. Foundations were laid for consolidated efforts of various American Ahmadiyya missions to further the noble cause of Islam at the first annual Ahmadiyya Convention held at Dayton,

Ohio, last September.

Notes of deep fidelity to Ahmadiyyat and greater drive for the propagation of Islam rang through all the deliberations. One could not help to infer that the sincerity and zeal showing in the faces of the ardent Ahmadies was auguring a blessed era of determined conquest of the wide world around to bring eternal peace and happiness to all the people through Islam.

Attendees of the first Jalsa Salana (Annual Convention) in the United States, photographed in Dayton, OH, in September of 1948.

The First U.S. Jalsa The 1940s

Equality.

During the 1950s, African Americans were still under the duress of an American, federally supported racial caste system known as Jim Crow. Jim Crow allotted a stance of separate but equal; however, equality was rarely enforced between ‘Blacks’ and ‘Whites.’

be challenging and dangerous. We would take the back roads in hopes not to be stopped by authorities because there would be a couple of so-called blacks, an Indian missionary, and maybe a white all riding together in a car with no distinction of who sat where.”

Ahmad Saeed relates the story of when he first came into the Ahmadiyya Movement in 1953:

During these times of segregation, the Ahmadiyya Movement continued to proselytize equality, as directed by the Holy Prophet of Islam (s.a.w.)

“Traveling to different cities would in A.D. 632 in his last sermon.

Source: Photo of attendees at 9th Jalsa Salana in Cleveland,1956, and text courtesy of the “African American Journey to Islam” exhibition, sponsored by the Tabligh Department and African American Ahmadi History Committee, available at tabligh.us.

The 1950s

ServingHumanity.

On November 21, 1962, President John F. Kennedy met with Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan (r.a.), the President of the United Nations General Assembly, in the Oval Office. In President Kennedy’s talking points for the meeting (pictured left), it is stated: “In view of Zafrulla’s long experience in the United Nations and because of his ability to analyze such matters in an impartial, judicial manner we would be interested in… his ideas as to how the long range solution of the racial problems of southern Africa [i.e. apartheid] might evolve.”

.

Source: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, jfklibrary.org. This photo was taken on 21 November 1962, and the talking points were collected in a folder by the office of President Kennedy's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, concerning Pakistan.

The 1960s

Winning the Hearts

On July 25, 1976, Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad (r.h.), Khalifatul-Masih III, visited the United States – the first-ever visit of a Khalifa. In the New York Post, on August 9, 1976, he declared the Ahmadiyya Movement’s mission “to win every heart which beats in the United States … with love and affection.”

The 1970s

In 1982, Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Khalifatul-Masih IV (r.h.), urged the building of new mosques and Islamic outreach centers in five cities: Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C. The 1980s saw a national push to establish mosques and centers across the U.S., some of which were visited by Hazrat 1976: Baitul Muzaffar Khalifatul-Masih IV. Mosque In 1976, the Detroit, MI chapter acquired a building to be used as a mosque. But, in 1983, two assailants martyred Dr. Muzaffar Ahmad and set fire to this mosque. It was renovated after the fire, opened in 1989, and named Baitul Muzaffar Mosque. The Tucson, AZ chapter built the Yousuf Mosque in 1983, but, due to city instruction, the mosque was torn down and reopened in 1987. One week later came the Rizwan 1987: Yousuf Mosque Mosque, opened in Portland, OR, in 1987. The Baitul Hameed Mosque was opened in Chino, CA, in 1989.

1987: Rizwan Mosque

On Friday, October 23, 1987, the Tucson Citizen reported on the historic visit of Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Khalifatul-Masih IV, to the Yousuf Mosque in Arizona, where he said, “Luckily, the beauty of a mosque does not depend on architectural structure... but in the inner beauty of the people who visit the mosque.�

The 1980s

1989: Baitul Hameed Mosque

“I shall cause thy message to reach the corners of the Earth.”

Prophecy revealed to the Promised Messiah (a,s.) in 1898.

In 1992, Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Khalifatul-Masih IV (r.h.) established Muslim Television Ahmadiyya (MTA), and, in 1994, inaugurated the Earth Station on the Baitur Rahman grounds to link three satellites with MTA viewers in North, Central, and South America.

In 1995, the U.S. Jama’at launched the website alislam.org, a revolutionary online Islamic resource that housed literature, a Holy Qur’an search engine, and responses to common allegations against Islam.

Original logos from the 1990s for alislam.org (bottom photo) & MTA (top photo). The MTA dishes are installed at Baitur Rahman (center photo).

Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA.gov. This color image of the Earth was obtained by the Galileo spacecraft on December 11, 1990, when the spacecraft was about 1.5 million miles from the Earth.

The 1990s

Representing

T R U E

I S L A M

On the occasion of the 2008 Khilafat Centenary and the 60th Jalsa Salana USA, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul-Masih V (a.b.a.) visited the U.S. and spoke on the true peaceful teachings of Islam.

In an address to guests entitled "The True Islamic Jihad," he said, “In this age, the Jihad accepted by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the reformation of the self. This is not a recent idea. It was mentioned 1400 years ago by the founder of Islam Muslims for (s.a.w.).�

Life, Peace, L oy a l t y, & True Islam The 2000s

The Path to Peace

IV

112TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION

H. RES. 709

Welcoming His Holiness, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the worldwide spiritual and administrative head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, to Washington, DC, and recognizing his commitment to world peace, justice, nonviolence, human rights, religious freedom, and democracy.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 27, 2012 Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California (for herself, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. RICHARDSON, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. HONDA, Mr. WOLF, Mr. PETERS, Mr. DENT, Ms. CHU, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, and Mr. MCGOVERN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

RESOLUTION

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Welcoming His Holiness, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the worldwide spiritual and administrative head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, to Washington, DC, and recognizing his commitment to world peace, justice, nonviolence, human rights, religious freedom, and democracy.

Whereas, from June 16, 2012, to July 2, 2012, His Holiness, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the worldwide spiritual and administrative head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, an international religious organization with mil-

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On June 27, 2012, a historic event took place on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul-Masih V (a.b.a.), delivered an address entitled: “The Path to Peace–Just Relations between Nations” to leading members of Congress, senators, ambassadors, White House and State Department Staff, and journalists. Following the event, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih V was escorted to the House Floor where House Resolution 709 was introduced, welcoming him to Washington, D.C. and commending him on his promotion of peace and justice.

The 2010s

Celebrating 100 Years in America

AHMADIYYA MUSLIM COMMUNITY USA

1920–2020 CENTENNIAL

@ Tr u e I s l a m U S A

LOVE FOR ALL

www.trueislam.com

HATRED FOR NONE

1 - 8 0 0 -W H Y- I S L A M United States of America