D Rep. 920-16 (english) Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore (AAL) Mosque (Bestand)

Bestand

Vorwort: A Rep. 920-16(english) Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore (AAL) Mosque

1. History of the mosque
In 1923, the Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat ve Islam (AAII; Ahmadiyya Association and Center of Islam) with headquarters in Lahore sent the pedagogue Sadruddin to Berlin with the mission to erect a mosque and enter into a conversation with the Europeans. As part of the Muslim Modernity movement in India, the AAII (also Ahmadiyya-Lahore) aimed at reforming the Muslim tradition with the help of (Western) education. Amongst others, it strove to develop a 'Religion of the Future' in debate with European thinkers, one that would underscore the principal equality of all civilisations and stress the common ground religions share. Their mission was a comprehensive answer to the challenge, with which the British colonial administration in India presented its inhabitants.
1924 saw the start of construction work at 7-8, Briennerstrasse in Berlin-Wilmersdorf. Two years later followed the festive opening of the mosque. Meanwhile, the public that felt most drawn to Sadruddin's teachings were (Christian and Jewish) Germans who previously developed an interest in Theosophy. The mission Journal 'Moslemische Revue' (1924-1941), which Sadruddin initiated on the side, kept track of the phases of their contact. The sociologist Abdul Fazlul Khan Durrani who came to replace Sadruddin in 1926 however thought fit to pawn the mission house and place the mosque organisation in the hands of Muslim diplomats in Berlin. The Journal he discontinued. Dr S.M. Abdullah, Chemist by profession and a meticulous organiser, was sent to Berlin in 1928 to set things straight. As soon as this missionary arrived, both property and administration returned in the care of the Ahmadiyya.
Abdullah founded the convert organisation 'The German-Muslim Society' and organised lecture series in the mosque, in which German and Indian thinkers offered a wide berth of views on the possibilities of a Religion of the Future. Amongst others, the Berlin branch of the Theosophical Society Adyar, the Buddhist House in Berlin-Frohnau, and the Jewish Reform Community entered the debate and returned the invitations.
Abdullah also started a registry in order to safeguard the daily correspondence and other administrative matters. His classification observed the organisation of Muslim festivals, conversions and marriages that took place in the mosque, and the organisation and publication of the lecture series. In addition, Abdullah opened files for his mission journeys to southeast Europe, where he contacted the Muslim reform communities of Budapest, Belgrad, Sarajevo and Tirana. After the Second World War, this ground stock became enlarged with files for reports of the mission that were sent to AAII headquarters in Lahore. More files served the continuous effort to repair the war-damaged mosque. Once the Ahmadiyya came under political pressure and persecution in Pakistan, the Berlin mosque administrator opened files to gather testimonies of persecuted minorities in his home country. In course of time they were followed by requests of refugees seeking asylum in Germany for proof of their Ahmadiyya membership.
When he finally quit Germany in November 1939 as an enemy alien, Abdullah left behind an extensive collection of documents, which also included newspaper clippings, theological pamphlets in various languages and his personal photo collection. Before he left, Abdullah installed the government official Dr Gaedicke as an interim administrator in the mission house. The convert Amina Mosler, who called herself Prussian, Protestant and follower of a modern, reformed Islam, he appointed as his deputy. Abdullah must have given the two enough financial means to keep the mosque open. The monthly transfers for water, electricity, garbage collection, insurance, snow removal, and chimney sweeping, which in the mosque archive are among the most prominent wartime witnesses, tell us that they managed to do so. When in the summer of 1941, the Nazi-government invited the Mufti of Jerusalem Amin Al-Husseini to Germany, the war ministry appointed him as preacher of the mosque. Notwithstanding, Amina Mosler kept the keys in her possession and steered the community through the war. When Mahatma Gandhi was murdered in 1948, she organised a large commemoration celebration, for which she received a wide approval and the support of the Allies. Amina Mosler also took care that the mosque became a founding member of the Working Group Churches and Religious Communities in Berlin. Her initiatives set the switches for the inclusion of Ahmadiyya mission in Berlin post war society.
After the war, AAII Lahore works hard to find a new missionary. Abdullah was stationed in the Woking mosque in England in 1946 and tried to keep an eye on the Berlin community. Between 1948 and 1952, German convert Herbert Hobohm acted as Imam. From the latter's many initiatives the archive safeguards the bi-lingual Journal 'Orient Post' (1949 - 1950). But until 1959, Amina Mosler carried the burden of daily chores and their administration. Her attempts at repairing war damages remains an important witness of those post war years.
Finally, in 1959, Yahya Butt could be installed as a permanent administrator. Almost immediately, this missionary turned the Berlin mosque into a success. Under his leadership a lively student community sprung into existence. The many festival invitations and clippings from the Berlin newspapers, the files with bi-national marriages and conversions, not least his substantial collection of photographs, witness that fact. In Berlin, Butt was known as an ecumenical student pastor, and he enjoyed popularity. He read theology, general history and history of religion at the Free University (FU), where he was appointed a lecturer in the 1970s. Still in the mosque archive are his many seminar notebooks and excerpts from his readings, his numerous talks on Radio RIAS, lectures before Berlin audiences, and the sermons on festival days in the mosque. Butt's communication with German society came largely about through the Working Group Churches and Religious Communities, where he regularly met with Christians, Buddhists and Jews. When the so-called guest workers started to influence German perceptions of Muslims and Islam Butt responded with lectures in which he tried to make sense of them. He even made an effort to revive the intellectual exchange between the mosque and the Jewish community, which before the war had constituted a pillar.
In 1988, Saeed Ahmed Chaudry, a retired official from the Pakistani government, took Yahya Butt's place. Differing from his predecessor, Chaudry spoke neither German nor was he able to cope with the harsh Berlin winter temperatures. Despite the many attempts at repair, the mosque roof leaked and moisture pervaded the mission house. Chaudry threw himself into the all-consuming task of a complete overhaul. The files reveal that the endeavour clearly overpowered his finances and his health. Chaudry withdrew himself into the inner life of the world-wide Ahmadiyya community. His communication with German society was governed by misunderstandings and conflicts. Several times he faced litigation. Finally in 2001, the Foreign Office refused to extend his visa. Two more years the AAII tried to keep the mosque open and continue the mosque registry that Abdullah had begun. Then the doors were shut and remained closed until 2010. The period of uncertainty more or less continued, until in 2015 the AAII could finally send a new missionary to Berlin. Ever since the arrival of Dr Amir Aziz, a linguist and theologian, the mosque has entered a new revival period.

Names of the main administrators:

Maulvi Sadruddin (*1881, +1981) Administration period: 1923 - 1926
Abdul Fazlul Khan Durrani (*1894, +1946) Administration period: 1926 - 1928
Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah (*1898, +1957) Administration period: 1928 - 1939, sowie 1946 - 1949
Alexandrina Amina Mosler-Beine (*1895, +1963) Administration period: 1939 - 1959
Herbert Muhammad Aman Hobohm (*1926, +2014) Administration period: 1949 - 1952
Abdul Aziz Khan (life dates unknown) Administration period: 1958 - 1959
Yahya Butt (*1924) Administration period: 1959 - 1987
Saeed Ahmed Chaudry (*1925) Administration period: 1988 - 2004


2. History of the inventory
The holdings were donated to the Landesarchiv Berlin in 2019.
The registering occurred as an import of a word file into the software AUGIAS archive 9.2. The word file was created by Dr. Gerdien Jonker, with the collaboration of Dr. Maria-Magdalena Fuchs. In the list, the responsible administrators were listed for each registration unit. These were entered in the AUGIAS "Name" field.
A separate list of literature was recorded on the second level of numbers 67 to 331 and 501. The Urdu titles are transcribed according to the rules of Arabic transcription. However, some author names have already been transcribed differently for their European publications by their translators (see above: Maulvi Sadruddin, Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, Faruqui and Abdul Haq Vidyarthi). To make it easier to find them using the search function, such spellings have been adopted for the entire list. The same applies to the transcription of 'Ahmadiyya'.
Numerous files are temporarily blocked for use due to archive law provisions or the EU General Data Protection Regulation. The protection periods can be shortened on request. This requires the special approval of the Berlin State Archives.
The stock can be cited as follows: LAB D Rep. 920-16 No. ...

3. Corresponding Archives
Politisches Archiv des Auswärtigen Amtes (Churches and Religious Communities / Islam 1-5)
Registeramt Berlin-Charlottenburg (Registered associations of the mosque)
Landesarchiv Berlin (Files of the Police President; marriage files of the registry offices)
Private archives

4. Literature
Gerdien Jonker. The Ahmadiyya Quest for Religious Progress. Missionizing Europe 1900-1965. Leiden: EJ Brill, 2016
Gerdien Jonker. On the Margins. Jews and Muslims in Interwar Berlin. Leiden: EJ Brill, 2020

5. Links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahore_Ahmadiyya_Movement_for_the_Propagation_of_Islam
http://www.aaiil.org/

Berlin in Dezember 2019 Gerdien Jonker/Nathalie Huck

Object Details

• Reference number of holding: D Rep. 920-16 (english)

References and Relationships

• Context: Landesarchiv Berlin (Archivtektonik) >> D Bestände ab 1990 >> D 7 Organisationen und Vereine >> D 7.3 Vereine und Verbände >> D Rep. 920-16 Ahmadiyya Anjuman Lahore (AAL) Moschee

Contributors, Places and Time

• Date of creation of holding: 1928 to 2011

Further information

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• Last update: 22.08.2025, 11:21 AM CEST