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Activities Visit to Athens, September 1999  |
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Earlier this year Dr. Anwari of the Indonesian Embassy in Athens, Greece, contacted us to supply him with Islamic literature for Greece, especially for the Albanians. Dr Anwary is a very sincere and dedicated Muslim who was greatly moved by the plight of Muslims in Greece and the Balkans, and especially of those in Albania. Although Muslim in name, many Albanians and Balkans Muslims know very little about Islam. This is the result of decades of suppression by communist rule and misunderstandings arising from the conflict between Turks and the local Christian populations. Dr. Anwary has created the Al-Nur Foundation to carry the message of Islam to this Region. The organization is young and consists of a few members only at present. May Almighty Allah bless this Movement. For the last few months Dr. Anwary had been asking me to arrange for brother Noman Malik to visit Athens and deliver a lecture on Islam and Ahmadiyyat. Dr. Anwary was ending his term of duties in Greece by end of September, therefore, we went to Athens on September 3rd for four days. After twelve hours flight from Atlanta to Athens we arrived at 1 p.m. on Saturday 4th. At the Airport where we were received by Dr. Anwary and several of his Embassy staff. Accommodation was provided by Dr. Anwary. The same day there was a lecture arranged for brother Noman in the evening at the Hotel. About sixty people attended the lecture. Brother Noman spoke for two hours on Islam and Ahmadiyyat. This was followed by a Reception. The evening ended with a question and answer session which lasted for forty-five minutes after the reception. The people were very interested to hear about Islam and Ahmadiyya Movement and expressed their deep appreciation for the very well delivered lecture. During our stay we met with the translator whom Dr. Anwary had arranged at our request. It was decided to translate Islam the Religion of Humanity, The Prophet of Islam and Introduction to Islam in Greek and Albanian initially. The books, inshallah, will be ready in December. They will be printed by the AAIIL USA and will be distributed by Al-Nur Foundation. A search for properly qualified university professors was also started for the translation of the Holy Quran in Greek and Albanian. At a dinner on Monday 6th, Dr. Anwary introduced us to the local members of the Al-Nur Foundation who would carry on the work of distributing the Islamic litreature after Dr. Anwary left. We also met with Dr. Munir Mahmood who is the Imam and leader of the local Muslims in Athens. Dr. Munir was very happy to hear about our translation project and said that he would greatly help in Dawa effort. He also volunteered to check the books translated into Greek. Dr. Anwary also had arranged for us to fly to Northen Greece to meet with the Mufti of Komotini. Unfortunately the Mufti had to leave on urgent business to Brussels and the trip had to be cancelled. Dr. Anwary regretted that he had not been given sufficient notice, otherwise he would have arranged many more meetings for us. We thank Almighty Allah for giving us this opportunity to accomplish so many things in such a short time. Members are requested to pray for the success of the Balkan Mission.
Dr. Noman Malik delivering lecture. On left is Christina, a member of the staff of the Indonesian Embassy in Athens, who will be translating our books into Greek.
Dr. Noman Malik being greeted by the Indonesian Embassy staff.
The ladies who attended the lecture, with sister Samina.
Dr. Noman Malik showing our literature to Imam Munir Mahmood.
General view of meeting. |
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