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On September 18, 2026, the Ahmadiyya Jamat held its Jalsa Salana in Kababir, Haifa — and Israeli President Isaac Herzog was among the guests, greeted warmly on stage alongside Indian Ambassador J.P. Singh. The reception was not a cold, formal handshake. Jamat officials embraced the president, smiling, and by most accounts the mood was celebratory. That's the part that's drawing criticism: this same period has seen one of the worst humanitarian tolls of the Gaza war, and no public objection, acknowledgment, or even a passing word about Gaza was raised on that stage. A Complicated Local Story It's worth being precise about who was actually on stage. The Kababir Ahmadi community in Haifa is not simply "Israeli" in a generic sense — it includes Palestinian converts to Ahmadiyya, some of whom were reportedly disowned by their own families in the West Bank after converting. That context cuts against a simple "Ahmadis chose Israel over Palestine" narrative. But...

At this year's Jalsa Salana , an elderly Ahmadi stood up in front of the crowd and said it plainly: Khalifa Masroor is not Rab — but he is " Rab-numa ." God-manifest. God-like. No hadith was cited. No Quranic verse was offered. Just a declaration, delivered with total confidence, to an audience that received it without objection. Watch him say it yourself: That absence of pushback is the actual story here. In Ahmadiyya Jamat 's own framing, the community represents the "real Islam" — the corrective to what it calls the grave-worship and shirk of mainstream Muslims.  Yet the Quran states, in verse 42:11 (Ash-Shura), " Laysa kamislihi shay'un " — there is nothing whatsoever like Him.  فَاطِرُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَٰجًا وَمِنَ ٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِ أَزْوَٰجًا ۖ يَذْرَؤُكُمْ فِيهِ ۚ لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِۦ شَىْءٌ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْبَصِيرُ ١١ ˹He is˺ the Originator of the heavens and the earth. He has made for ...

Nabeel Munir: Why Pakistan's Pick for UN Ambassador Is Reigniting an Old Debate Pakistan is set to get a new Permanent Representative to the United Nations , and the name — Nabeel Munir — has quickly turned into more than a routine diplomatic reshuffle. Part of the reason is his résumé. The other part is that Munir belongs to the Ahmadiyya Qadiani Jamat , a community the Pakistani constitution formally excludes from Islam, and that fact has already caused one public controversy this year before this appointment news even broke. Here's what's confirmed, what's contested, and why this story has a habit of resurfacing. Who Is Nabeel Munir? Munir is a Grade-22 officer of the Foreign Service of Pakistan who joined the service in 1993. His career has included postings as Assistant Director, Deputy Director, Director, Director General, and Additional Secretary, and he previously served as Pakistan's Deputy Permanent Representative at the UN in New York and later as Am...

Jalsa Salana Germany: Claims of Mistreatment Toward Families Who Hadn't Paid Chanda Reports have surfaced describing how some Ahmadi families were treated at this year's Jalsa Salana in Germany, specifically those whose Chanda (financial contributions) were reported as pending or unpaid. According to accounts shared with Zaitoon FM , a number of women and children — in at least one case a mother accompanying a child with special needs — were held at entry points for extended periods while their Chanda status was verified, with security personnel reportedly stating that their chanda was pending These accounts describe the process as public and prolonged, with attendees questioned in front of others about why payments had lapsed — whether due to job loss, relocation, or other personal circumstances. Sources describing the incidents characterized this as more than a bureaucratic delay, arguing it functioned as a form of public pressure . The broader context: how Chanda wor...

Makkah, Madina, Damascus, or Qadian? The Many Meanings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's Death Prophecy In January 1906, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad — founder of the Ahmadiyya movement and subject of our Seerat ul Mahdi series — recorded a short, plainly worded ilham (revelation): " Ham Makkah mein marain ge ya Madina mein " — "We will die in Makkah or in Madina." Eight words. No ambiguity in the sentence itself. It was printed in Al‑Hakam , the movement's own newspaper, within days of being received, and it was later reproduced in the Tazkirah and other Ahmadi compilations exactly as stated. But Mirza Ghulam Ahmad never travelled to Makkah or Madina  after this, and he died in Lahore in 1908. So the question the movement had to answer was simple: what happened to the prophecy? What we found, going through the primary Ahmadi sources themselves, is that it wasn't answered once. It was answered at least three different, mutually incompatible ways — and none of t...

How the Chanda System Works in the Ahmadiyya Jamat — And What Happens If You Don't Pay If you've grown up in the Ahmadiyya Jamat , " Chanda " is a word you've heard since childhood — from the monthly collection at the prayer places to the Financial Secretary calling to ask why your account is behind. For people outside the Jamat Ahmadiyya, though, the system is confusing: there isn't just one Chanda, there are several, layered on top of each other, each with its own rate and its own rules.  This post breaks down how the system actually works, and what happens to members — in life and even after death — when they fall behind. Chanda Aam: the basic, compulsory contribution Chanda Aam is the base-level Chanda that every earning Ahmadi — man or woman — is expected to pay. The standard rate is 1/16th of one's total income from all sources , after tax. This is considered obligatory ( lazmi ) for ordinary members and runs on its own financial year, from July t...

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's Dreams: What His Own Books Admit If you ask a devoted follower why Mirza Ghulam Ahmad 's dreams mattered, the answer is usually the same: he could see the unseen, and his interpretations came true. But in Episode 116 of Seerat ul Mahdi , we went back to four original Ahmadi sources — not outside critics, not polemical websites, just the movement's own literature — to see how that claim actually holds up. What we found is a set of admissions that sit uneasily next to each other. "Even Prostitutes See True Dreams" — In Mirza Sahib's Own Words We start with Haqiqat-ul-Wahi , published in Ruhani Khazain, Volume 22 . On page 5, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad makes a striking concession while defending the broader category of " true dreams " (سچے خواب): he says true dreams are not proof of anyone's special closeness to God, because even sinners see them. He lists fussaq (open sinners), zani women — the passage specifically names "زان...

Virility Pills on Sale at the Jalsa? Here's What AK Sheikh Is Asking A stall selling sexual-potency capsules, openly set up in front of families at this year's Jalsa Salana, is the latest story AK Sheikh raised on this week's Zaitoon Khabar Nama — and it's the kind of story that's easy to dismiss until you actually see the photos. Stall Number 15 Stall 15 at the Jalsa grounds was set up specifically to sell "Zad Jam-e-Ishq" capsules — marketed under signage referencing "khalis Saibrian salajeet" and other Desi medications, openly  known as a treatment for male sexual weakness. Photos from the stall reportedly show two elderly men handling and exchanging the product in full view of the grounds. The Origins of Story The part that makes this more than just an awkward stall photo is the backstory AK Sheikh attaches to it. He says the formula is tied to a remedy Mirza Ghulam Ahmad had recorded, in Jamaat literature itself, as having used ...