Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad (ra), Khalifatul Masih II, stated:
“It is incumbent upon us to caution the world about their mistakes and to take advantage of every opportunity for the tabligh of Islam as much as possible. After this war [World War II], at least two countries must be convinced to consider our message with seriousness and sincerity, i.e. Germany and Japan. These two countries are such that they would be inclined to hear our message. Specifically, Germany is a type of country which stands out in this regard. We will reach out to these people and draw their attention to understand the fact of how greatly Christianity has failed and that regardless of being slaves to Christianity for almost 2,000 years, they have still remained slaves, the example of which is nowhere to be found except for the ancient times. Thereupon, their hearts shall incline towards Islam and they shall be of the opinion that they should leave Christianity and begin to ponder over Islam and observe as to what remedy it suggests for their sorrows.” (Mash‘al-e-Rah, Vol. 1, pp. 377-378)
Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad (ra), Khalifatul Masih II, had been making great efforts to build a mosque in Germany for a period of time. Finally, Maulvi Mubarak Ali was sent to Berlin from London in September 1922. He managed to obtain a piece of land under the guidance of Huzoor (ra). Thereafter, Huzoor (ra) launched a scheme on 2 February 1923 that the Berlin Mosque should be built from the contribution of women’s Chanda.
This scheme uplifted the morale of Ahmadi women and initiated a remarkable passion of sincerity, sacrifice, devotion and divine spirit. Ahmadi women contributed towards this Chanda with great sincerity and passion. Hazrat Ummul Momineen, Syeda Nusrat Jehan Begum (ra) received a share of 500 rupees from a property and she presented all of it in this Chanda.
At the end of the year 1923, owing to the efforts of Maulvi Mubarak Ali B.A. Bengali, and Malik Ghulam Farid M.A., an Ahmadiyya mission was established in Germany. Maulvi Mubarak Ali, who was carrying out tabligh in London since 1920, was sent to Berlin and Malik Ghulam Farid M.A. was sent from Qadian by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) on 26 November 1923, reaching Berlin on 18 December 1923.
Renowned authors of Germany, Professor Fernsehe LLD and Dr Uska inclined towards Ahmadiyyat and following them, the college professors and students in Berlin were also inclined towards the quest of researching about Islam Ahmadiyyat.
The aim of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) was to establish there a significant hub of Islam. Therefore, he had encouraged the members of the Jamaat to build the Berlin Mosque. But the economic and political situation of Germany suddenly took a turn for the worst. Paper currency was practically terminated and gold coins were introduced which caused prices to soar three hundred times.
On one side, the expenses of a missionary rose up to 25 pounds from 6 pounds, while on the other hand, the expenses for building the Berlin Mosque were indicated to have reached 1.5 million rupees, which were previously estimated to be 30,000 rupees.
Owing to these circumstances, Huzoor (ra) postponed the construction of the mosque and decided that instead of dividing the strength by establishing two Marakiz (centres) in Europe, they should strengthen the mission house of London and the tabligh of Islam in central Europe should be carried out from there. This decision was taken in March 1924 and in May 1924, this Berlin mission house was closed and Malik Ghulam Farid M.A., missionary to Germany, moved to the UK.
However, the sacrifices of Ahmadi ladies were not wasted and the Fazl Mosque was built in London through their Chanda, which was the first mosque of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya in Europe. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 4, pp. 398-400)
Ultimately, the German mission was reestablished on 20 January 1949, through Chaudhry Abdul Latif B.A. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 4, pp. 411-412).
Chaudhry Abdul Latif B.A. established the Ahmadiyya centre in Hamburg. Initially, he began to learn German for a period of time and meanwhile, sufficed with English. He conducted the first gathering of tabligh in the large hall of the state building (Debnicke), situated in the city centre. He also delivered lectures arranged by the Universal League and Hamburg Study Club. In addition to the lectures, Chaudhry Abdul Latif B.A. focused on writing and published the German translation of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II's book, The Life and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad from Zurich. This was the first book of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat which was published in that era of the mission.
In the beginning, Chaudhry Abdul Latif B.A. lived in the house of a new convert, Mr Kohne, but that person parted from the Jamaat and made it difficult for him to continue living in the country. Following the defeat in World War, Germany was experiencing tough circumstances in those days and the availability of residential property seemed impossible. In spite of all this, Allah the Almighty helped the Jamaat in such a sublime manner that the government of Germany itself accepted the residential rights of the missionary of Islam in Hamburg and arranged for a residential house for him.
Thus far, Ahmadiyyat had been established in Hamburg but its spread reached Nuremburg in 1952. A new Jamaat comprising three individuals was established over there. Thereafter, a new German convert, Omar Hoffer was appointed there as an honorary missionary who continued to serve with extreme devotion till the year 1968. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 13, pp. 137-138)
At the beginning of 1954, when the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission of Switzerland published the German translation of the Holy Quran, it was published in Germany as well. This translation produced a huge impact on the intellectual class of that country. It was greatly acknowledged by the German press while German journals and magazines wrote exquisite reviews on it. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 13, p. 150)
During his stay in Hamburg on 26 June 1955, Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad (ra), Khalifatul Masih II, had instructed the Jamaat Germany to build a mosque in the country without delay. Hence, God Almighty fulfilled his blessed wish within two years. The foundation stone of the Hamburg Mosque was laid on 22 February 1957 and Hazrat Chaudhry Zafrulla Khan (ra) inaugurated it on 22 June 1957 and read out the message of Huzoor (ra) on the occasion in English. In this message, Huzoor (ra) stated:
“[...] I am sending my son, Mirza Mubarak Ahmad, to participate in the inaugural ceremony of the Hamburg Mosque. Although the inaugural ceremony will be carried out by Chaudhry Muhammad Zafrulla Khan Sahib Insha-Allah, but Mirza Mubarak Ahmad will participate as my representative. With Allah the Almighty’s help, my aim is to inaugurate a series of mosques in various other cities of Germany as well. Hopefully, Mirza Mubarak Ahmad's meeting with Maulvi Abdul Latif Sahib will surely bring about schemes so that mosques can be built right away. May God enable the German nation to accept Islam at the earliest [...]” (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 4, p. 148)
Less than two years had passed over the inauguration of the Hamburg Mosque when Allah the Almighty granted the German mission the strength to build the Noor Mosque of Frankfurt, which was inaugurated on 12 September 1959. Nearly 40 newspapers of Germany published the photographs of the mosque and several scenes of the inaugural proceedings. Moreover, they gave remarkable reviews over the tabligh efforts of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat. For instance, the newspaper Mannheim Morgen on 15 September 1959 gave the photograph of the mosque’s inaugural ceremony and published the news under the heading “Islam is heading towards Europe”. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 13, pp. 151-153)
Although a German magazine, the monthly Der Islam, began to publish in 1949 from the Switzerland mission, the task of its publication was handed over to the German mission in 1962 and it began to publish from Hamburg. In the year 1970, when the Markaz of German mission was shifted from Hamburg to Frankfurt, Der Islam magazine began to publish from Frankfurt as well. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 13, pp. 151-153)
