UK Muslims celebrate Diamond Jubilee

Queen Elizabeth II will celebrate 60 years as monarch A Muslim community in the UK will celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee this weekend, with plans that include “a Royal Navy band playing the British national anthem at a mosque and special prayers for the Queen.”
The Ahmadiyya Muslim community will mark the event, in which the British monarch celebrates 60 years of historic reign, by lighting up of mosques throughout the UK, street parties, feeding the homeless and a launch of 200 special Diamond Jubilee buses across London.
“As Muslims, we are duty bound to serve Queen and country and we regard this as an important part of our religion as we were taught by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that loyalty to one’s country is a part of faith,” Rafiq Hayat, the National President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the UK, said on Thursday.
“We share in our country’s pride and joy at Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. It is our heartfelt prayer that may God continue to protect the Queen and we look forward to the festivities of the Jubilee weekend and to make them as inclusive as possible,” added Hayat.
Ahmadiyya Muslims are one of the oldest Islamic groups in Britain. Their widely-recognized motto is “Love for All, Hatred for None.”
“In the history of the British monarch there have only been two diamond Jubilees, and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community have been involved with both,” Hayat added.
The celebrations will be across the United Kingdom, the group said.
“Ahmadiyya Muslims will play the national anthem in street parties across 30 towns and cities from London to Glasgow,” a statement from the community read.
“There will also be special prayers for the Queen at 100 mosques and prayer halls,” the group said, adding that the community has also launched a special edition of the book “A Gift for the Queen” written by their founder, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, on the occasion of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897.
Also, London buses with the special Diamond Jubilee poster also feature the peace campaign website for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
In the city of Birmingham, in England’s West Midlands, the celebrations will feature the Royal Navy band playing the national anthem at the mosque and congratulatory messages being read out in 60 languages by local community representatives.
As head of state of the United Kingdom, the monarchy symbolizes a power structure nearly a thousand years old.
Courtiers and commentators believe the 86-year-old Queen Elizabeth remains an important figurehead in Britain and beyond, a symbol of sovereignty and stability.