The Islamic establishment in the United Kingdom has criticised Ahmadiyas settled in the country for describing their place of worship as a mosque, saying they are not true Muslims.

The verbal onslaught against the Ahmadiyas, who are of Indian origin, follows the opening of their £15 million [approximately Rs 113.14 crore] religious complex and mosque in Morden, London -- described as the biggest in western Europe by community head Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad.

UK Ahmadiya president Rafiq Ahmed Hayat said, "What I feel we have achieved here is a building that takes in the best that modern architecture has to offer and yet maintains all the traditional features of a mosque.

"Islam has come under a lot of criticism; there's a lot of Islamophobia. One of the things we want to do is restore the balance. The basic tenet of Islam is that of peace."

But Iqbal Sacranie, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, has a different take. "Whilst we fully accept the right of Ahmadiyas to their own religion, it is clearly misleading to describe them as Muslims. They are outside the fold of Islam."

His views are endorsed by Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham, who said, "Ahmadiyyas are not Muslims. Therefore calling the religious complex in Morden a mosque hurts the sentiments of those who believe in Mohammed, the last prophet of Islam, peace be upon him."

Born in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Lord Ahmed is well known among Kashmiri immigrants and Pakistanis.

Ahmadiyas believe their 19th century founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was the final messenger of God and had been given a divine mandate to renew Islam. Since Ahmad founded the community in 1889, it has spread to 174 countries and claims 200 million followers, including in Pakistan, where they have been persecuted and driven underground.

Sacranie claims the community has exaggerated both its numbers and its influence. "We believe that there are no more than one million [10 lakh] Ahmadiyas in the world as opposed to the 1.5 billion strong worldwide Muslim community."

He disputes the UK Ahmadiya leaders' statement that their mosque is open to all Muslims, as "the sect does not regard the 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide as genuine Muslims.

"It is in their books and history," Sacranie says. "It was illustrated when Pakistan's first foreign minister, Zafarullah Khan -- an Ahmadiya -- refused to perform the prayers at the funeral of the country's founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, saying, 'Either I am a non-Muslim in a Muslim state or I am a Muslim in a non-Muslim country'."