The Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha’at Islam Mosque Keizerstraat is the headquarters of the
Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement in
Paramaribo
Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...
in
Suriname
Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...
, the Surinaamse Islamitische Vereniging.
The mosque is located in the
Keizerstraat, adjacent to the
Neveh Shalom Synagogue.
History
The Muslim community of Paramaribo was established in 1929. Its first mosque, a wooden rectangular building with minarets, was completed in 1932.
In 1979 boxing legend
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...
visited the mosque.
The current mosque was completed in 1984.
The construction of this mosque is part of the
Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya, officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ), is an Islamic messianic movement originating in British India in the late 19th century. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who said he had been divinely appointed a ...
community's policy of expanding Islam. Its founder,
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mirza Ghulam 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 '' Mahdī'', in fulfillment of th ...
, aimed to replicate the missionary activities carried out by Christian denominations in India during his time. Therefore, many of the first mosques built in Western countries belong to this sect of Islam—although, for the majority of Muslims, they would not be considered part of Islam.
See also
*
Islam in Suriname
References
External links
City of Paramaribo, Keizerstraat 88
{{Mosques in South America
Keizerstraat
Religious buildings and structures in Paramaribo
Mosques completed in 1984
Pakistani diaspora