Hampshire, UK: August 18, 2016. The 50th Jalsa Salana of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the United Kingdom concluded on Sunday 14 August 2016 with a powerful and faith-inspiring address by the World Head the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, the Fifth Khalifa (Caliph), His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad. During his concluding address, His Holiness called on Islam’s critics to judge the religion on its true teachings, rather than focusing upon the hateful acts of a tiny minority of extremists. More than 38,000 people attended the Jalsa Salana, which took place at Hadeeqatul Mahdi in Alton, Hampshire. Apart from the thousands of Ahmadi Muslims who participated, many non-Ahmadi and non-Muslim guests also attended. The entire event was also broadcast live on MTA International and streamed online. One of the highlights of the three-day Jalsa Salana was the pledge of allegiance, known as Bai’at that took place on Sunday afternoon, where the participants pledged allegiance to Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad as the Fifth Khalifa (Caliph) of the Promised Messiah. The participants formed a human chain leading to the Khalifa as they repeated the words of the pledge in unison. Prior to the ceremony, His Holiness announced that more than 584,000 people had joined the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community during the past year from all around the world. He also announced that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was now established in 209 countries. In his concluding address, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said that critics of Islam continued to raise unjust and entirely unfounded allegations against the religion Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said: “Today’s disorder and terrorism is a result of the fact that people are distorting the teachings of religion and most certainly their hate filled and evil actions do not have any link to the true teachings of Islam.”