A proposal to build an Ahmadi community museum in Haifa has been welcomed by city officials.
Leader of Holy Land’s Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Muhammad Sharif Odeh, put forward the idea during a meeting with Haifa’s Deputy Mayor. He said the community wants to establish a museum that will showcase it’s history, values and activities. The planned location for the museum is an empty lot opposite to the Mosque, which is owned by the Haifa municipality.
Due to the unique nature of the community and geographical location of the neighborhood, many travelers visit the site and are interested in knowing more about the Ahmadis. The community also holds an annual convention which bring together people of all faiths from across the Holy Land .
The head of the community, Muhammad Sharif Odeh said:
“The idea came up because every day many tourists come to us and instead of using the Mosque we need a museum where visitors can get a sense about the community. And for this purpose we want to build a museum, for which I have presented Haim and Lazimi with a sketch, and they promised to promote it, and that is only the first step. “
Rabbi Dubi Haiyun said:
“We want to help the Mayor, and I hope we can put this plan into action because this is a wonderful project for Haifa from tourism and social aspects.”
Haifa’s Deputy Mayor, City Council Woman Naama Lazimi and Rabbi Dubi Haiyun have assured Odeh of their complete support.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a reformist community in Islam and its followers, estimated at tens of millions of people, are scattered all over the world. In Israel the community is concentrated in Kababir, which was established in 1850 as a village by the Odeh family of Samaria. At the end of the 1920s and early 1930s, Ahmadi missionaries reached the village, and its residents joined the community. In 1934 first mosque of the community was established, and the village became the center of the Ahmadiyya community in Israel.