The spiritual leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim faith, Caliph Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, made his first visit to Saskatchewan on Tuesday.
The stop comes as part of a six-week Canadian tour, as the sect celebrates 50 years in Canada.
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He’s spreading a message of Islam as a peaceful religion and denouncing extremism.
“If a Muslim does something wrong, you’ll say it is the teaching of Islam. If a Christian or any other person does something, you’ll say ‘no, he is a mad man,'” the Caliph told reporters at a news conference.
He acknowledged a “big community” of Ahmadiyya followers in the province, including an estimated 1,200 in Saskatoon.
Founded 1889, the Ahmadiyya Muslim community is situated in over 206 countries with tens of millions of believers, according to the faith’s official website.
Regina will host the Caliph on Friday for the inauguration of its first purpose-built mosque. The province’s largest mosque is currently under construction in Saskatoon.
“It’s our commitment to this community – that we’re here for the long term,” said Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama`at Canada spokesperson Safwan Choudhry.
Choudhry said the Saskatoon mosque is “a few months” from completion.
“I hope the neighbours and the non-Muslim people living here in the city would know much better about the message of Ahmadis and the behaviour of Ahmadis,” the Caliph said.
An inauguration ceremony for a mosque in Lloydminster is planned for Sunday afternoon.
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