At least 10,000 Ahmadiyya Muslims are expected to attend Friday's inauguration in South London of what is being claimed to be the largest mosque complex in Western Europe.
The £15 million Bait Ul Futuh mosque in Morden has been built with money raised entirely from the voluntary donations of some 50,000 Ahmadiyyas in the UK.
Eighty doves of peace are due to be released as part of the celebrations. A separate function is due to be held next week to which dignitaries from around the world have been invited.
Community spokesman Dr Mohammed Iqbal said: "This mosque is in fulfillment of the mission of spreading Islam in the West. Our founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's message was that India was in a unique position to look at both East and West and his message was to appeal equally to the East as well as the West.
"Our mosque is a landmark for the UK and Western Europe. Clearly in the Middle East and the subcontinent there are larger mosques, but when you put everything together, it is by far the largest mosque complex in Western Europe."
Born in Qadiyan, near Ludhiana in India, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claimed to be the promised messiah or mehdi of Islam and the reformer of the age as prophesied by the Holy Prophet.
But he and subsequent generations of followers have been denounced as apostates by Islamic fundamentalists in Pakistan, leading to persecution of the community.
"We face a particular problem in Pakistan because our administrative centre was in Pakistan and the persecution under [General] Zia's administration was quite severe," Dr Iqbal said. "The head of the community at that stage, Mirza Tahir Ahmad, migrated in 1984 to the UK and has been in the UK since then.
"That is the significance of this mosque...because the head of the community is running everything from here and this mosque is a signal and a sign that really we needed a major presence.
"As the present head of the community, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, said: "We believe we have an important future in the UK and the Western world."
