Ahmadiyya in Spain

Ahmadiyya is an Islamic branch in Spain, under the spiritual leadership of the caliph in London. The earliest history of the Community in Spain dates back to the period of the Second Caliph, when Malik Mohammad Sharid Gujrati, a missionary of the Community, arrived in Madrid on March 10, 1936. However, in the same year the Spanish Civil War broke out forcing Gujrati to abandon the country. Missionary efforts commenced once again following the Second World War, in 1946 when Karam Ilahi Zafar was sent by the caliph. The Basharat Mosque in Pedro Abad, built by the Ahmadiyya in the 1980s is the first mosque to be built in Spain since the Fall of Granada and the end of Muslim rule at the end of the 15th century. Today there are two purpose built Ahmadi Muslim mosques and roughly 500 adherents in Spain.

The history of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community can be traced to the 1930s, when during the era of the Second Caliphate; Malik Mohammad Sharid Gujrati arrived in Madrid on March 10, 1936. A Community consisting of five Ahmadi Muslims was said to have been established, among whom the first convert was Count Antonio Logothete. He later adopted the name Ghulam Ahmad. His wife adopted the name Amina. However, in the same year the Spanish Civil War broke out between the Republicans, the Second Spanish Republic, and the Nationalists. As a consequence of the state of anarchy which had been created, Gujrati was forced to leave the country and the Community became dormant.

Several years after the Civil War, missionary efforts commenced once again. In 1945, following the Second World War, Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad, the Second Caliph, summoned a meeting for a batch of missionaries to be sent to Europe. Though not originally intended, Karam Ilali Zafar was appointed for a mission in Spain. The caravan departed in 1945 from the headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Qadian towards Bombay harbour, via New Delhi. The group embarked on SS Batory and after three weeks landed in Liverpool where they confronted Jalal al-Din Shams, then a pioneering missionary stationed in England. The caravan spent six months in London at the Fazl Mosque. On June 24, 1946 Karam Ilali Zafar arrived in Madrid through the French port of Hendaye.

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