Jalsa Salana, a huge men only festival in the UK.

The problem with rote learning the Koran is that often the text is Arabic and the learners do not understand it. That is pointless.

Islam's misogyny is not acceptable in the UK.

I'm sorry but rote learning is what children do. What's the Lords prayer or chatechism, saying any prayers. To sing a song you do have to learn the words by rote.

There's a world of difference between Sunday school and a competition to recite the Qur'an.

Why? we hold competitions for church choirs etc How is on indoctriation and the other not?

I just think people in western countries would do well to be a bit wary of Islam, especially as it grows in influence and power. That's not the same as hating people of other faiths, just being aware of what's going on.

I agree. But I think we need to understand the differences between sects to respond appropriately. The Ahmadiyyas are only 1% of Muslims world wide and about 35000 out of 4 million+ in the UK. They are also at risk from other Muslims. It's the hard liners like the Muslim vote etc we need to tackle head on about integration etc. and the leaders of Tower Hamlets and defend a more muscular secular society.

@Imdunfer what do you think should be done and how will it help women?

It's not my religion. I'm an atheist just not a militant one.

It's this supposed to be good? As an atheist it makes me feel slightly sick to think of 7 years old being indoctrinated in this way

You've never been to Sunday School, sang a hymn, learned a nursery rhyme or poem. Do you want to ban the Sermon on the Mount and Nativity plays too.
You haven't a clue what those verses say but the idea of them makes you feel sick?

Well, it does sound better than the version of Islam espoused by the Taliban or ISIS or ISIS-K, I'll grant you that. Mind you, that's quite a low bar.

I just think people in western countries would do well to be a bit wary of Islam, especially as it grows in influence and power. That's not the same as hating people of other faiths, just being aware of what's going on.

The Ijtema is an annual academic and spiritual event of Ahmadi Muslim girls and women. It is the main and final event of the Lajna calendar. The gathering is also a time to report on activities undertaken during the past year, a high point of everything Ahmadi Muslim ladies and girls across the UK aspire to and achieve in the year.

This is scheduled for Sept. Should it be cancelled.

So your definition of misogyny is a dress code?
You started this thread without any knowledge or understanding of this sect.
You've shown no awareness of or respect for the women who attending.
There is an independent Women's Association

Lajna Ima’illah began with fourteen members and His Holiness remarked at its launch, ‘Aside from gaining personal and spiritual knowledge, henceforth the successful progress of the Community is also dependent on efforts by women.Over the years, the organisation spread all around the world and officially formed in the UK on a permanent basis in 1957, though Lajna’s principles had been followed for decades previously by Ahmadi Muslim women in the UK. There were 34 members on record when Lajna began in the UK – the membership today stands at over 12,884.

November 2025Recently in Puttenham, Surrey, over 8000 women and girls from around the UK assembled at a unique event. This was no ordinary gathering, and these were no ordinary women.Equipped with pens, notebooks, and a desire to expand their horizons, Ahmadi Muslim women – part of the Ahmadiyya Women’s Auxiliary Organisation – were ready for their annual gathering, known as an Ijtema, an Arabic word which means a ‘congregation’ or ‘conference’.The agenda was abundant with educational and sports competitions; presentations and lectures on an array of religious and secular topics, including science exhibitions and even medical insights from professionals.A glance around the venue showed a mosaic of women of all different ages and backgrounds channelling their competitive spirits for the various competitions. A mother took the stage for the speech competition, ready to deliver the words she’d spent hours researching and preparing. A teenage high school student sang melodiously in the poem recitation competition comprising poems written by the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (as) and his Caliphs. Girls as young as seven years old could be seen with their mothers, revising verses for the Holy Qur’an memorisation competition.Everyone put their best foot forward not only in vying for the top positions in these competitions, but also to foster and build a bond of sisterhood with women and girls from across the country. This is nothing new for Ahmadi women, as they’ve been raised amongst constant academic celebration.

To be fair, I think if they want to organise themselves in that way, that's up to them. But people need to be real about it and not pretend they uphold sex equality when they clearly don't.
I agree it's a religious meeting organised according to their beliefs. I'm not keen on dress codes but they aren't necessarily oppressive. I don't think non muslims were required to don the hijab.
The Labour Party is a case of not upholding it's professed beliefs. All their meetings were secular and should be held to the standards of equality they profess. Making concessions to misogynistics beliefs for votes is wrong and a betrayal of women. The Labour Party is selling it's soul to extremists.
What happens in mosques should also be within the law.

I think pretty much all factions in Islam are male dominated. Maybe this strand is less so than some others, eg the Taliban. But their final address is to men only. That shows they are a male dominated religion, much more than Christianity where that wouldn't happen.

To be fair, I think if they want to organise themselves in that way, that's up to them. But people need to be real about it and not pretend they uphold sex equality when they clearly don't.

It's like when leftists in the Labour Party had a meeting with the Muslim community and it was sex segregated (women at the back, natch). Jeremy Corbyn and co twisted themselves into pretzels trying to justify it. They see the Muslims as the 'good guys' so they couldn't possibly be sexist ... could they?

You keep using the word excluded. There were 2 conferences, men were excluded from the women's conference.
That dress code is in relation to the religion. It's not full face covering.

Ahmadiyya women scientists are active members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community who pursue careers and research in science, technology, engineering, and medicine. Propelled by community leadership encouragement to attain secular and religious education, groups like the Ahmadi Women Scientists Association (AWSA) coordinate professional development, mentorship, and research collaboration globally.
One such example is
Dr Tammara Soma: An assistant professor at the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University in Canada. She is a leading researcher in food systems planning, food waste, and agricultural sustainability.
I think excluding women from the men's conference at such a huge publicly visible event encourages all the bad things you've mentioned
My problem is your animus towards this conference puts you in the same category as Islamists who regard the Ahmadis as heretic.
What do you want to do, ban the conference because it follows a religion you don't?
If militant Islam ever takes over this country they will slaughter the Ahmadis as they did the Yazidis.

https://x.com/i/status/1948808783846879449
This is religious hatred in the UK in 2025.

The Bradford preacher Mohammed Adil Shahzad has one big mission in life – inciting burning contempt for Ahmadi Muslims. All the time, in mosques across the country.

They are “filthy” and "dirty" and not Muslims at all. 1/7

I do not want the UK to be a world meeting place for men to discuss how to control the lives of women or to have that message given to any girl, but especially a Muslim girl, in this country.
Well, this conference isn't that. You are beginning to sound unhinged.

Why are you expending so much energy on this. You seem incapable of nuance. One of the speeches at the womens conference encouraged girls to get an education and become doctors, engineers and work for the good of humanity. An Ahmadi woman who worked in Physics was held up as an example.

Have a go at the Dawah bros with their vast audience. Look at hate preachers in British mosques. Criticise the use of Sharia in marriages. Analyse the growth of sectarian politics I'll agree with you, have been doing it for years.

It's like attacking the Quakers because you've listened to an American evangelical.

Islam is very much a male dominated religion. More so than other religions. I don't mind men only spaces and women only spaces as long as they are of equal value. That's not what's happening here.

But my main issue with this event is that I don't want the UK to become a growing centre for Islam with mass events and increased sectarianism. I can see why they would think Britain would be a good base as we have been encouraged to devalue our own culture while giving Islam a free pass.