Ahmadiyya is a religious community inNorway, under the spiritual leadership of thecaliph inLondon. In the history of the Community it is stated that twoNorwegian women converted in the 1920s. However, it was not until 1957, during the era of theSecond Caliphate, when Kamal Yousuf, then a missionary inSweden, moved toOslo to establish the first Ahmadiyya mission in the country. Today, there are a number of mosques, including the largest mosque inScandinavia, theBaitun Nasr Mosque, representing an estimated 1700 Ahmadi in the country.
The Ahmadiyya Community records that two Norwegian women converted in the 1920s.[1][2] However, it was not until almost 40 years later, in 1957, during the era of theSecond Caliphate, when Kamal Yousuf, then a missionary inSweden, moved toOslo to establish the first Ahmadiyya mission in the country.[3] The move came as a consequence of three individuals who contacted Yousuf themselves, when they became interested in Islam. Following their conversion, the Ahmadiyya Community of Norway was founded.[1][2] However, the Community was first officially registered in the country in 1974, following larger immigration ofPakistani Ahmadis into Norway.[1][2]
Among the early converts was Truls Noor Ahmad Bølstad, who later became the national head of the Ahmadiyya movement in Norway for a number of years.[4]
In the year 1980, the Community bought avilla inFrogner, a residential borough inOslo, which became the Community's first mosque, Noor Mosque. Five years later, in 1985 a bomb was planted inside the mosque by a 19-year oldneo-nazi member of theNational Democratic Party, injuring at least one Ahmadi Muslim woman.[5] The attack took place during the month ofRamadhan.[4]
In 2011 the AhmadiyyacaliphMirza Masroor Ahmad inaugurated the first purpose-built Ahmadi mosque in Norway. The inauguration ceremony was attended by over 120 non-Ahmadi guests including theMinister for DefenceGrete Faremo and a two-time former Prime MinisterKjell Magne Bondevik.[6][7]
Today there are about 1,700 Ahmadi Muslims in Norway, the majority of which consist of immigrant populations fromPakistan. Ahmadis primarily reside inEastern Norway.[2]
There are at least three Ahmadi mosques in Norway. The Noor Mosque,[8] located inFrogner, a residential borough in western Oslo, served as the national headquarters of the Community, until the 2011 construction of theBaitul Nasr Mosque inFuruset, a borough in eastern Oslo. This mosque is the largest in all of Scandinavia and can accommodate over 4,500 people.[7] Third is Maryam Mosque[9][10] located in the city ofKristiansand. It is achurch which was bought and converted intomosque in 2020.[11]
There are plans to establish mosques in several cities and towns in Norway, includingStavanger, andHonningsvåg, the northernmost city in the country. If constructed, this would make the Ahmadi mosque the northernmost mosque in the world.[12]
