AHMADI Muslims from across the globe will be celebrating together this weekend as the Jalsa Salana UK begins today (Friday) . Now in its 49th year, it is the largest convention of its kind in the UK bringing together over 30,000 participants from more than 80 countries.

The annual event at Oaklands Farm near Alton, is run by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association (AMA) which is linked with Islamabad, the regional centre for the AMA which provides educational and religious instruction for its on-site members, in Tilford.

The key purpose of the event is to increase religious knowledge and promote a sense of peace and unity. The AMA community was founded by Hazrat Mirza Ghlam Ahmad in 1889. He will be gracing the convention talking about the principles of Islam and elaborating on the role of religion in bringing peace to the modern world. The well established community has tens of millions of members from 206 countries across the world.

The weekend will consist of talks from distinguished speakers on a range of religious topics, and will be visited by a number of civic leaders, parliamentarians and diplomats from throughout the world.

The event starts today through to Sunday, and those travelling this weekend could expect delays due to a higher volume of traffic on the roads leading up to the site during the event.