Clerics advocate religious freedom worldwide

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby and the Head of Ahmadiyah Muslim community, the Fifth Khalifa (Caliph), Mirza Masroor Ahmad have stressed the need for religious freedom worldwide.

Welby visited London’s oldest Mosque, the Fazl Mosque where he met with Ahmad and discussed the continued persecution of religious minorities in various parts of the world.

The caliph, informed the Archbishop that he himself had been falsely imprisoned in Pakistan in 1999 prior to his election as Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

Hazrat Ahmad spoke of the need for ‘tolerance’ in society and for ‘mutual respect’ to be displayed by all people and communities. He said that it was imperative that people had the right to practice their religion freely and without any form of coercion.

The meeting concluded as he presented the Archbishop with a copy of the Holy Quran, including both the original Arabic text and the English translation.He also visited the largest Mosque in Western Europe, the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Morden.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, His Grace, Justin Welby said during an interview with MTA News: “It was a great honour to meet His Holiness (Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad). It was a wonderful meeting, hospitable and warm…”

“We spoke principally about the issues of persecution, which is something the Ahmadiyya Community is well aware of and suffers hugely and we also spoke about the nature of religious extremism around the world in the different faiths and the importance of faith communities in the United Kingdom standing together, both for the common good of the country and for each other’s support,” he said.