Muslim community gathers for jubilee charity walk

Ahmadiyya Muslims from across Wandsworth converged on the Tower of London earlier this month to take part in a charity walk to raise money for The Queen’s jubilee charities.

The walk is an annual fixture in the Muslim community’s calendar and in recent years has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for the jubilee charities plus Putney’s Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability (RHN).

The event, on May 13, saw the launch of 100 special London buses, which sported the jubilee logo and the Ahmadiyya Muslim motto ‘Love for All, Hatred for None’.

Farooq Aftab, a Southfields resident and member of the area’s London Mosque, said “This event is unique in that it is organised entirely by volunteers with every penny being raised going to the charities.

“More than 500 people from the Southfields’ branch attended this event with many supporting our local charity the RHN on West Hill.”

The charity walk and bus campaign are part of a series of activities to mark the jubilee celebrations.

These will include the delivery of a letter from the head of the Ahmadiyya community Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad to The Queen, a number of jubilee dinners across the borough and country, prayers, charity events and blood drives to help maintain blood stocks.

Rafiq Hayat, national president of the UK Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, said: “As Muslims, we feel we are duty bound to serve Queen and country and we regard this as an important act of faith.

“Our mosques throughout Britain will be decorated for the Jubilee and will host dinners or organise street luncheons to mark this historic occasion.”

Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who also attended the walk, said: “As one of the oldest Islamic communities in the Capital, who built the first London Mosque, the Ahmadis have been an important part of the history of the city and it is fitting that they are also part of the historic celebration for the Diamond Jubilee.”

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