The Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light in Crewe: Q&A with leader Abdullah Hashem
Founder and leader of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, Abdullah Hashem has exclusively spoken to Crewe Nub News about operating at Webb House, Victoria Avenue.
What made you choose to move to Crewe?
Firstly, I would like to send our greetings to the entire team at Nub News, its readers, and to the people of Crewe. We moved here in 2021. I'm really happy that you have reached out and thankful for the opportunity to speak to your readers.
We were previously based in Sweden and had been planning a move to the United Kingdom for a long time. We did a lot of research and looked at many different properties in England, Scotland and Wales.
But, because the vast majority of the believers in this call lived in England, we decided to move here. And out of all of the properties that were available, Webb House in Crewe best suited the needs of our community. We fell in love with the place, and we fell in love with this beautiful little town.
How much did you pay for Webb House?
I don't feel there's a need to go into the specifics regarding the arrangement for the purchase of the property, but I will say that, prior to moving in, Webb House was listed online at the time for £2 million, if I remember correctly, by the owners.
Why have you been banned/faced legal action and persecution in multiple countries, in particular in Germany and Sweden?
We have faced persecution in many countries across the Middle East and North Africa, as well as certain countries within Asia, in particular, because our faith is a tolerant one.
Our doors are open to members of the LGBTQ community, and we do not spread hate. We do not condemn people of other faiths. We teach tolerance, we teach love.
Some people in these countries oppose that, and they have arrested our members on that basis, labelling us as heretics because of our understanding of certain tenants of the faith.
For example, we don't believe that the head veil in Islam is obligatory. We believe that this was a misinterpretation of the Quran.
And so the freedoms of our faith are opposed. We have been branded as heretics because of our freedoms, and for that reason we have faced persecution. Some of our members in Somalia and Kenya have been arrested, tortured, exiled, and in some instances, killed.
Prior to moving to the United Kingdom, our community lived in Sweden, where, in our opinion, we encountered persecution from the Swedish authorities. This has been documented by certain organisations, such as Human Rights Without Frontiers.
For example, the authorities reported us for taking drugs, which was a totally false claim. Members of our community were pulled over as they were driving to and from the headquarters and randomly drug-tested. All of the tests were negative and none of our members were ever convicted of possessing any illegal substance.
We were never convicted or tried or arrested for breaking any law within Sweden. And yet we were continuously pulled over and harassed. The property we lived in was raided on multiple occasions and absolutely nothing was found that broke any law. All they did find was a bunch of law-abiding good citizens, no illegal immigrants, nothing of the sort.
As for Germany, again, no one from our faith has ever been arrested there. No charges have ever been filed against us. We were never persecuted in Germany, nor exiled from the country. We were never expelled or in any way kicked out of Germany.
Do followers have control over their own money/possessions - for example their house?
Yes, absolutely. Anybody who enters into the faith is in full control over their possessions. Nobody is forced into anything. Everybody is free to come and go. People are free to live in the way that they would like to live.
We here in the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light believe in communal living, and that's not something that is a foreign concept to followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, especially the early adherence of these religions.
They used to live together in a community and many of them sold their possessions in order to fund the activities or the spreading of the message of Christianity or Islam.
Your videos show only males, all dressed in black, named as soldiers, which can be seen as intimidating. Why is this?
As far as them being called soldiers, I'm not quite sure. I think that's a name that they chose for themselves, because they consider themselves soldiers for God that are here to spread light and peace. After all, our name is the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light.
And it's not just men, women are very active in our call as well, and proud to be members of this faith. They hold key leadership roles within our church aid within our call. In lectures that I have given, I often talk about the hugely important role of women in religion.
I would also like to highlight the fact that none of our members have ever been convicted of a crime. We are a peaceful community, and we want our neighbours to feel safe, to feel like they can count on us.
We also pride ourselves on contributing to the local economy. When we hire contractors and labourers to carry out work on the property, when we go to the shops, everything we purchase is sourced locally in order to help support the community that we're a part of.
Why is there the need for such high-scale security at your Crewe headquarters, including the handcuffs and walking guard dogs?
Because it is legal to do so in this country and because, as a persecuted minority, we feel it is a necessary protective measure.
Fundamentalists have made threats to behead us, and we've had radical fanatics on both ends of the spectrum that have threatened us before. The security is to ensure the safety of all our community members.
Professors who have travelled from Canada and the United States to stay with us for a while have praised the way in which we run and protect our community. When a chief of police came to visit us he too also commented that it was a great thing that we had security here, and recommended that we maintain this for a while.
We initially hired a local security company based out of Crewe, who were incredible. They provide similar services for other businesses, companies, organisations and individuals within Crewe, and outside of Crewe. We''re not doing anything out of the ordinary.
Before we moved in, we've been told that intruders were hopping over the fence, stealing aluminium, taking drugs, destroying a beautiful building and breaking all kinds of laws. Since we've been here, no laws have been broken within the vicinity.
I'd be really interested to see the statistics. I think that crime in the area may have actually dropped since we've been here, in comparison to before.
Why can't local residents see inside Webb House?
Local residents can see inside, and they do see inside. Every time they walk by the front gate, they can look and see right through the gate. Just like in the same way as when we pass by most of the houses in Crewe, we walk by their garden fence.
We can look to the left, we can look to the right, we can see inside to a degree, right? But if people are asking, "Why can't we see inside the actual property?", I think the answer is an obvious one.
Because it's private, and not public. This is not a public mosque. It's not a public synagogue. It's not a public church. And even if it was, it would be open during limited hours, not 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Nothing has changed since we acquired the property and since we moved in here. It wasn't open to the public before we moved in.
The gates didn't close with us coming. Before we came, it was a derelict building with private property signs outside telling people not to enter. And prior to that it was an NHS psychiatric hospital and nobody was allowed to just freely walk in and enter.
It was private property from beginning to end. We acquired the property from a private company. We didn't acquire it from the council. We didn't purchase it from the local residents. We didn't steal it. We paid for it. It was a private property that was being sold and we bought it.
So we choose to ignore the occasional racist or derogatory late-night drunken comment taking aim at our residence here. I'm sure others would admit to having similar rules for their private homes and office buildings, too.
What is happening with the homeschooled children inside? How many do you have and do they call you dad and god?
I have two adopted daughters, both grown up now and married. They call me Dad. I also have four biological children with my beautiful wife: my two daughters and two sons. All four of them also call me Dad. None of them call me God.
The members of this community have their own parents, and they call their own fathers Dad and their own mothers, Mum. Any reports that everybody refers to me as Dad and God are false. There's no truth behind them and I think they are based on an exaggeration.
There is a member of our community here who has never known his biological father. I have been in his life for years and think the world of him. He personally chooses to call me Dad. Which I am honoured by, but I have never told him to call me that.
I believe an old video which momentarily captured this young man's affection for me may have been misconstrued. But I understood what he meant. It is not the case that he worships me as God or as Allah. He just regards me as a father figure.
In terms of homeschooling, less than 100 members live full time at Webb House. The religion is open, and many members do not live at the Centre but follow the teachings from outside.
There is absolutely no requirement to homeschool. Some parents send their kids to mainstream school, some made the decision to homeschool their children themselves.
All documentation has been provided by the parents to the Elective Home Education division of the Cheshire East Council in line with UK Homeschooling recommendations.
Who exactly are you? Why do you believe you are the prophesied Riser from the family of Muhammad? And what is your long-term ambition?
My name is Abdullah Hashem Aba Sadiq. My mother is American and my biological father is Egyptian.
I am the successor to a man by the name of Ahmed Al Hassan the Yamani, the right hand to God. Ahmed Al Hassan is the first of the 12 Mahdis, a figure who we believe will appear at the end of time to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is believed to be a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.
The Prophet Muhammad, on his deathbed, did what all of the previous prophets and messengers and viceregents did: he named his successors in his final testament or his will. He said that after him there would be 12 Imams, and after them would come the 12 Mahdis. Just in the same way that after Jesus came the 12 apostles, and he passed on the successorship accordingly.
The names of those mahdis, the first three at least, are mentioned in the will of the Prophet. They are: Abdullah, Ahmed, and al-Mahdi.
And so, Ahmed is Ahmed Al Hassan the Yamani - the only man throughout the history of Islam, since the death of the Prophet Muhammad and until now, to ever state that he was Ahmed that was in the will of the Prophet.
And I am the only man to have come forth and state that my name is Abdullah, and that I am Abdullah in the will of the Prophet Muhammad.
I am one of the successors of the prophet Muhammad and my mission is to restore the religion of Islam to its rightful form and core principles of peace and social justice.
I believe it is my duty to reform the religion in a way that is suitable for the current day and age. I strive to act as a light for people in a world that's filled with lots of darkness right now.
My long-term ambitions and goals are to see love and peace prosper, and to unite mankind. I seek to challenge the non-working scholars that speak in the name of religion, yet do very dangerous things to our children. Like brainwashing them to be radical fanatics and undertake acts of terrorism.
Many of those who incite violence do so because they think that they are following the will of the Prophet Muhammad. I seek to teach what the prophet Muhammad really taught and preached: spreading religion through peace and tolerance.
It is claimed you perform miracles. Is there any evidence for this?
I have never claimed to perform miracles.
The miracles made by Jesus or by Moses or by Muhammad come from the testimonies of people that say that they witnessed these miracles.
I say that all miracles, all power, all might, all glory comes from Allah the Most High or comes from God. Nothing can happen except by His permission.
God allows miracles to take place at the hands of His representatives in order to verify the message and to grant a gift to people who believe with all of their hearts.
There are indeed people in my call and in my community who claim they have witnessed and experienced miraculous events that cannot be explained by logic or science or any other kind of explanation that the mind can reach.
There are claims from women who have left the group that you told women you had a divine right to take them as a spiritual or physical partner. Can you explain this?
I am monogamous, and my wife is my spiritual partner, soulmate and love of my life. Any suggestion that I have a divine right to claim another person in any sense is just entirely false.
What is your purpose in Crewe? How long do you plan to stay here? And what is your message to the local community?
I love this town and have no current plans to move.
My message to the local community is that now is the time to unite, not to hate one another.
Moving forward, I really want to engage more with the local community, to help anybody who may need it, and join forces with others on projects that will benefit our beautiful town. Let's start a grassroots movement! We are not trying to recruit, but would love to connect more with our neighbours. We can do and achieve a lot together.
Do you take member's blood as claims suggest? If so, why is this?
Absolutely not.
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