The “Duty of a Preacher”: The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s Approach to Integral Human Development in Ghana

POSTPONED until a later date:

Presented by Dr. Misbah Hyder, Postdoctoral Fellow, Kaneb Center | Notre Dame Learning

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a globally persecuted and marginalized community that is committed to its practice of tabligh [outreach], which includes its missionary and humanitarian work. This talk will present initial findings from field research on the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Ghana, a unique space where Ahmadis are socially and politically influential, and specifically unpack this statement from a non-Ahmadi Imam in Ghana: “[the Ahmadiyya] taught us that it is not only the duty of the preacher to convert people to Islam. But it is up to us to be concerned about his well-being, how to survive as a human being in this world…before you can think about the hereafter.” How does the Ahmadiyya centralize considerations about human dignity when practicing tabligh? And furthermore, how does the community’s global persecution and marginalization impact its commitment to humanity’s well-being?

Co-sponsored with the Nanovic Institute for European Studies