Scottish Catholic Observer

Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow will be presented with the Ahmadiyya Muslim Peace Prize at a prize ceremony in London on Saturday.

The prize-giving ceremony of the 11th National Peace Symposium of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK will take place at Western Europe’s largest mosque—the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Morden, London.

Mr MacFarlane-Barrow (above) will receive his prize from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Caliph Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, who leads the global community that is established in 206 countries. He will deliver the keynote address on Caliphate and peace. Condemning the horrific acts of extremists, he said: “As Muslims it is our duty to remind people of the true and peaceful nature of Islam. In fact all religions taught peace as can be seen from the lives of all prophets. I call upon all good natured people to unite against hate and through prayer and perseverance work to bring peace to the world.”

Archbishop Kevin McDonald will also be speaking at the event.

Mary’s Meals is a global feeding programme founded by Mr MacFarlane-Barrow in 2002. The charity sets up community-run programmes in some of the world’s poorest communities. By providing a nutritious daily meal in school, Mary’s Meals attracts chronically hungry children to the classroom. The charity currently reaches over 900,000 children with a daily meal in a place of education, across five continents.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, which strongly rejects violence and terrorism in any form and for any reason, founded the prize to recognise important contributions to the advancement of global peace.

Guests at the event will include Justine Greening, the Secretary of State for International Development and Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.