Getting to know your neighbors

In my last post I mentioned that Smyrna was the home to a mosque, but the term mosque might be misleading. The term mosque normally leads you to think the term "Muslim Mosque" but in this case the situation is incorrect for many reason. A little searching through WIKI found that this mosque and the ones who use it for worship has an interesting history.

Ahmadiyya (Urdu: احمدیہ Ahmadiyya) is a religious movement founded towards the end of the 19th century and originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908). Ghulam Ahmad was an important religious figure who claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies about the world reformer of the end times who was to herald the Eschaton as predicted in the traditions of various World religions and bring about the final triumph of Islam as per Islamic prophecy. He claimed that he was the Mujaddid (divine reformer) of the 14th Islamic century, the promised Messiah (“Second Coming of Christ”) and Mahdi awaited by Muslims.

Reading on the group shows that during their history due to their beliefs the main stream sects of Muslims have carried out many acts of violence against them up to this day in many countries in SouthEast Asia. These acts of violence against the Ahmadiyya are doubly worse because they are for the most part pacifists.

I'm going to have to make sure that I mention that the mosque is from a schismatic sect of the Muslim faith when talking about it to people. I'm glad we have these new neighbors and I'm going to extend an invitation to the head of the local congregation to do a guest column if he/she wishes as a way of saying hello. Maybe they will be holding an open house or something.