The Mahmood Mosque, () situated in Forchstrasse,

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 443,037 inhabitants, the urban area 1.315 mill ...

, is the first purpose-built

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a Place of worship, place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers (sujud) ...

in Switzerland. It is owned and run by the

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

. The mosque has a

minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally ...

, the new construction of which is now banned in Switzerland by popular vote. The foundation stone was laid with a stone from the wall of the Mubarak Mosque, India by Amatul Hafeez Begum, daughter of the founder of the

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad (13 February 1835 – 26 May 1908) was an Indian religious leader and the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam. He claimed to have been divinely appointed as the promised Messiah and Mahdi—which is the metaphori ...

on August 25, 1962. It was a sign of the emancipation of Muslim women, both then and now. The mosque was inaugurated on June 22, 1963, by the then President of the 17th session of the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Cur ...

, Sir

Muhammad Zafarullah Khan Chaudhry Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan ( ur, ‎; 6 February 1893 – 1 September 1985) was a Pakistani jurist and diplomat who served as the first Foreign Minister of Pakistan. After serving as foreign minister he continued his internation ...

, in the presence of the Mayor of Zurich, Dr. Emil Landolt. The mission in Switzerland was led by Mushtaq Ahmad Bajwa from June 1962 until January 1975.

History

In the post-war period, Islam came to Switzerland through the

in 1946. On October 13, 1946, three missionaries arrived in Zurich. The three missionaries, Sheikh Nasir Ahmad, Abdul Latif and Ghulam Ahmad Bashir, were actually appointed to open an Islamic mission in Germany, but entry opportunities to Germany were almost impossible during the first post-war years. After a while, Abdul Latif and Ghulam Ahmad Bashir travelled to the Netherlands. Sheikh Nasir Ahmad (Head of Missionary 1946 to 1962 and 1997 to 2000 in Switzerland) was commissioned to further expand the Mission Office in Switzerland, which had already been widely publicized in the press. Between 1946 and 1962, three important priority tasks were accomplished in Switzerland. The first edition of the Arabic-German edition of the Quran appeared in 1954. Second, the publication and foundation of the magazine "DER ISLAM". Third, the construction of a mosque in Switzerland.

References

External links

Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in Switzerland
{{Zürich Ahmadiyya mosques in Switzerland Buildings and structures in Zurich Mosques completed in 1963 Tourist attractions in Zurich 20th-century architecture in Switzerland

History

See also

References

External links