{"id":116802,"date":"2021-08-05T16:22:58","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T23:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=116802"},"modified":"2021-08-05T16:22:58","modified_gmt":"2021-08-05T23:22:58","slug":"british-muslims-come-together-for-first-time-since-covid-restrictions-at-uks-largest-islamic-convention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/08\/05\/british-muslims-come-together-for-first-time-since-covid-restrictions-at-uks-largest-islamic-convention\/","title":{"rendered":"British Muslims Come Together for First Time since COVID Restrictions at UK\u2019s largest Islamic Convention"},"content":{"rendered":"

By A. Abdul Aziz,<\/em> Press Secretary,<\/em> Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama\u2019at \u2013 Sri Lanka.<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

According to our Press Department U.K.,\nthousands of British Muslims will gather together for the first time since the\nstart of the COVID-19 pandemic for the UK\u2019s longest running Islamic conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahmadi Muslims from across the UK will\ndescend on the 200-acre Oakland Farm in Hampshire for three days of worship and\ngathering at the event known as the \u2018Jalsa Salana\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to last year\u2019s global pandemic,\nwell over 35,000 people from all over the world attended the last Convention\n(Jalsa), held in 2019. This year, only UK residents who have been double\nvaccinated were permitted to enter the ballot to attend this gathering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roughly 4,000 of those lucky enough to\nhave been selected in the ballot will attend one of the three-days of the event\namid strict social distancing measures at the pop-up tent village from 6 to 8\nAugust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All attendees will need to show proof of\ndouble vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test result in order to gain entry.\nFace masks will be mandatory in all enclosed spaces, including the two\nmarquees, each able to accommodate thousands of worshippers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The highlight of the event will be the\nattendance of the global Islamic Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, His\nHoliness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, who will deliver an address to attendees\non each of the three days of the Convention. The objective of the event is to highlight\nthe true peaceful teachings of Islam and to enable the participants to increase\ntheir knowledge and understanding of Islamic teachings and practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abid Khan, Press Secretary of the\nAhmadiyya Muslim Community said: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the first time since the\npandemic started that our members from across the UK have been able to meet and\nworship together with our Caliph. So, whilst we are sad that due to social\ndistancing measures it is still not possible for everyone to be here or for\nguests from abroad to attend, unquestionably this is a wonderful and joyous\noccasion for our community. As for those who can\u2019t attend in person, I am sure\nthey will be watching on TV both here in the UK and across the world and so in\nthat sense it is a truly international event.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event will also be broadcast online\nand on the Community\u2019s worldwide television station, Muslim Television\nAhmadiyya (Sky 731), across its 19 television channels. Those unable to attend\nin person will gather to watch the proceedings together at Ahmadi Muslim\nmosques up and down the UK. This includes London\u2019s first purpose-built mosque,\nThe Fazl Mosque in Wandsworth, and the UK\u2019s largest Mosque, Baitul-Futuh in\nMerton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By A. Abdul Aziz, Press Secretary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama\u2019at \u2013 Sri Lanka. According to our Press Department U.K., thousands of British Muslims will gather together for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic for the UK\u2019s longest running Islamic conference. Ahmadi Muslims from across the UK will descend on the 200-acre Oakland […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}