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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 ...

AK Sheikh Calls on Masroor to Resign — "At Least Fix the System" This isn't a small statement, and it isn't something AK Sheikh has said lightly before. In a Facebook post this week, he directly called on Mirza Masroor to either take real action against the people responsible for what happened to Amatul Aziz and Nida ul Nassar , or step down. His actual wording, translated, comes down to this: punish those responsible, fix the system, or resign — respectfully, but resign.   That's about as direct as public commentary on the Ahmadiyya Leader gets. So let's actually unpack what led to it. Why Now? According to AK Sheikh, this didn't come out of nowhere. Over the past several days, he he's been hearing from a growing number of people inside the Jamaat  Ahmadiyya — women especially — who are increasingly frustrated with what they describe as ongoing mistreatment, and with the  Masroor's silence on it. Some of these people, are people wh...

Who Is Declan Henry, and Why Do Ahmadis Suddenly Have Opinions About Him? If you've landed here because you saw his name trending on Ahmadi Twitter this week, you're probably expecting some kind of shady figure with an axe to grind. That's not really what you find when you actually look into who this guy is. Declan Henry is an Irish author based in Kent, England, and he's been writing books for well over a decade now — not about Ahmadiyya specifically, but about people. Marginalised people, mostly. Look at his back catalogue and a pattern jumps out fast: young offenders, refugees and asylum seekers, the Gypsy and Traveller community, bipolar disorder, growing up Catholic in Ireland. The guy has built an entire career out of sitting down with communities that don't usually get to tell their own story, and just... letting them talk. He's not some random internet personality who woke up one day and decided to have opinions about Ahmadis. He holds a Ma...