Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia. It shares a maritime border with India and the Maldives. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is its legislative capital, and Colombo is its largest city and financial centre.
Demographics and languages:
Sri Lanka has roughly 22,156,000 people. Sinhalese constitute the largest ethnic group in the country, with 74.8% of the total population. Sri Lankan Tamils are the second major ethnic group on the island, with a percentage of 11.2%. Moors comprise 9.2%. There are also small ethnic groups such as the Burghers (of mixed European descent) and Malays from Southeast Asia. Moreover, there is a small population of Vedda people who are believed to be the original indigenous group to inhabit the island. Sinhala and Tamil are the two official languages. The constitution defines English as the link language. English is widely used for education, scientific and commercial purposes. Members of the Burgher community speak variant forms of Portuguese Creole and Dutch with varying proficiency, while members of the Malay community speak a form of Creole Malay that is unique to the island.
Religion in Sri Lanka:
Buddhism is the largest religion. Hinduism is the second most prevalent religion. Islam is the third most prevalent religion in the country, having first been brought to the island by Arab traders over the course of many centuries, starting around the 7th century CE. Most Christianity reached the country through Western colonists in the early 16th century. Around 7.4% of the Sri Lankan population are Christians, of whom 82% are Roman Catholics who trace their religious heritage directly to the Portuguese. Tamil Catholics attribute their religious heritage to St. Francis Xavier as well as Portuguese missionaries. The remaining Christians are evenly split between the Anglican Church of Ceylon and other Protestant denominations. There is also a small population of Zoroastrian immigrants from India (Parsis) who settled in Ceylon during the period of British rule, but this community has steadily dwindled in recent years.
Early history of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya in Ceylon:
Sri Lanka is among those fortunate countries where the plant of Ahmadiyyat was planted during the very lifetime of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Imam Mahdi (as). It was during his lifetime that some people accepted the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. His message particularly reached the people of Sri Lanka through some of his own writings and the English magazine 'Review of Religions'. It was during that period that a sincere Ahmadi by the name of Munshi Muhammad Haidar Khan came to Ceylon and conducted preaching in the Kandy and Colombo cities, as a result of which two Muslims performed the written bai'at. One of these people was respected Abdul Aziz SB who was the owner of the Muslim newspaper ''Padoakwlan' (literally, 'The Muslim Guardian'). During the second Khilafat, at the behest of Hazart Muslim Mahmud Ahmad (ra), a companion of the Promised Messiah (as) Hazrat Sufi Muhammad was sent as a missionary to Mauritius. During his journey, on 14 March 1915, he came to Ceylon and stayed there for 3 months. Through his efforts, 15 people accepted Ahmadiyyat and the system of the Jamaat was established. After that, in 1921, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) sent Hazrat Sardar Abd-ur-Rahman (ra), a companion of the Promised Messiah (as) on a preaching tour of Ceylon. Hence, lectures and debates were held at various locations. Then, in 1927, Hazrat Mufti Muhammad Sadiq (ra), another prominent companion of the Promised Messiah (as), was sent on a preaching tour of Ceylon by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra). He held debates with Christian, Buddhist and Muslim scholars.
Visits by Central Missionaries:
Maulvi AP Muhammad Ibrahim Malabari was the first permanent missionary sent to Ceylon in 1918., who rendered invaluable preaching services there. The work of preaching began on fresh foundations during his period. Then, in 1931, Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) sent Maulvi Abdullah Malabari to Ceylon and he established a proper dar at-tabligh (mission) in the country. He served till 1951 after which Maulvi Muhammad Ismail Munir was sent by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) as the missionary in charge to Ceylon. Some of the subsequent missionaries who rendered their services in the country are Maulvi Sayed Ansari, Maulvi Basheer Ahmad Shad, Maulvi Mirza Naseer Ahmad (Chitthi Masih), Raja Munir Ahmad and Maulvi Muhammad Ayyub Malabari etc. among others.
Establishment of mosques:
At present, there are five chapters of Sri Lanka Jamaat Ahmadiyya. First, a building was acquired in Colombo, which served as a mission house and mosque. Then in 1989, a building with some land was purchased which is known as 'Baitul Hamd' and is the Centre of Sri Lankan Jamaat. The foundation stone of a mosque was laid in the city of Negombo in 1931 while a Jamaat had already been established there. In 1962, the adjoining land was purchased and the mosque was expanded with an entire acre of land which is still known as 'Masjid Fazal'. Then, in the 1950s, a Jamaat was formed in the town of Pasyala. As the Jamaat grew stronger, the first Ahmadiyya mosque was established in the village of Mabolo. When Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IV (rh) visited Sri Lanka in 1983, he also visited this mosque. Then two acres of land was purchased in the Kandy Road in the city of Pasyala, in 1996, with the approval of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV. (Recently construction of a large and beautiful mosque has been started here at the behest of Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih V (aa), which he named 'Masjid Basit'.) Later, a second mission house was set up at Palamuniye, in the east of Ceylon. During the 1960s, Jamaats were also established in Polonarwah and Pootlam.
Visits by Central Office-bearers and representatives:
In 1974, under the guidance of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV (rh), Sahibzada Mirza Mubarak Ahmad, Wakeel-ut-Tabsheer, visited Sri Lanka as the central representative for tarbiyyat and reformation. In 1991, Mansoor Ahmad Khan SB, Wakeel-ut-Tabsheer visited Sri Lanka as the central representative under the guidance of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV (rh). He also attended the Jalsa Salana of Sri Lanka as the central representative in different years during the blessed periods of the fourth and the fifth Khilafat. For many years he was appointed as the president of the National Majlis-e-Shura of the Sri Lankan Jamaat and in this connection, he continued to visit the country. After this, in the year 2008, i.e. the Khilafat Jubilee Year, Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Sahib Advocate and Sir Dr Iftikhar Sahib OBE also visited Sri Lanka.
Visits of by other respected guests:
Prof. Dr Abdul Salam came to Sri Lanka in 1985 under the auspices of the University of Colombo and during the tour, he also visited the Negombo Mosque and spoke there.
Opposition:
During the Khilafat of Hazrat Mirza Nasir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih III (rh), in 1978, about ten thousand non-Ahmadis gathered in the square in front of the Ahmadiyya Mosque in the city of Negombo. It was also attended by so-called ulema, political leaders and presidents of various associations. The purpose of the gathering was to seize the Jamaat mosque at the end of the meeting. But Allah Almighty's will manifested in this way that it started raining heavily on that summer evening. This frustrated the plan of the opponents and the people dispersed.
In the same year, the first martyrdom of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Sri Lanka took place which was of late Rasheed Ahmad, son of Bashir Ahmad. Opposition from the Sri Lankan Jamiat-e-Ulema then turned against the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyyat and as a result in 2006 a sincere Ahmadi of the Negombo Jamaat who had been serving as the custodian (khadim) of the Negombo Mosque for forty consecutive years was martyred. His name is Niaz Ahmad, son of Abdullah.
Then in 2007 opponents tried to seize the mosque of the Negombo Jamaat but in the end, they had to return the mosque in front of the senior police officers of the country with great humiliation.
Other notable events:
Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya held its first-ever Religious Founders' Day event in 1952 in Sri Lanka, which was attended by about 4,000 people. The meeting took place at Galle Face Square in Colombo. Then in 1983 Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih IV (rh) along with his family and secretaries visited Sri Lanka for a week. During this period a Majlis-e-Irfan (Q&A session) was held in a palace of Ratmalana city.
In 2012, under the chairmanship of Sir Dr Iftikhar Ayaz, with the approval of Khalifa-e-Waqt, the first ever Peace Symposium was held at the Taj Samudra Hotel, Colombo, which was attended by journalists, scholars and graduates from many countries. Religious leaders from Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity also spoke. Also, the then Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa sent a special message for the occasion.
In 2015, on the occasion of the centenary of the establishment of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Sri Lanka, the Sinhala translation of the Holy Quran was published for the first time on the instructions of Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih V (aa). The launch event was held on the premises of the Columbo Public Library. Hundreds of non-Ahmadis attended. In the same year, the Ahmadiyya Jamaat of Sri Lanka also held a historic annual Jalsa in Negombo, attended by a thousand people. Respected Shiraz Ahmad Sahib, Deputy Nazir-e-Ala Qadian, attended the meeting as the central representative.
Publications:
In 1917, a Jamaat magazine called 'Tudan' was published by Jamaat Ahmadiyya Sri Lanka, which was founded by the late Usman Abdul Majeed. This magazine is still going strong. In the Khilafat-e-Khamisa, the book 'Philosophy of the teachings of Islam' was translated and published in the Sinhala language. After that, Sira-un-Nabi, World Crisis and the Pathway to Peace and Al-Wasiyyat were published in Sinhala. The books were also distributed among senior government officials and religious leaders.
