Islamic leader to lay foundation stone for new mosque
Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad.
By Kernan Andrews
The Supreme Head of the global Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, will lay the foundation stone for Galway’s first major mosque this weekend.
His Holiness, who is originally from Pakistan, is travelling to Ireland for the first time to lay the foundation stone of the Ahmadiyya community’s first Mosque Project site in Ballybrit tomorrow. Upon completion, the mosque, named Masjid Maryum after the Virgin Mary, will be open to all.
He will also address a civic reception in the Clayton Hotel at 7.30pm tomorrow where he will speak on a number of issues such as endorsing the separation of church and state, interfaith dialogue and understanding, and his message of a “Jihad of the pen rather than of sword”.
The civic reception will also be attended by the Minister for Social Protection Éamon Ó Cuív, the Bishop of Galway Martin Drennan, the Assistant Garda Commissioner Jon O’Mahony, Labour party president Michael D Higgins, and city and county councillors.
Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad is an internationally respected religious and spiritual leader, who was recently been given title of ‘Champion of Peace’ by the Canadian prime minister.
