Rabwah

Template:Pakistani Cities Rabwah (Punjabi, Urdu: ربوہ) also known as “Chenab Nagar (composed of two words Chan, moon & Aab, water means Moon Light through Water)”, is a city of Jhang District (& soon Chiniot District) in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located near to the historic city of Chiniot. The city with a population of 70,000 (2003) has been the headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community since September 20, 1948 - after the original headquarters of Qadian went to India following partition in 1947; as a result the vast majority of the inhabitants are refugees who fled the violence in East Punjab and later settled the area. In 1998, following the passage of a resolution in the Punjab Assembly, the Government of Punjab changed the name of town to Chenab Nagar against the wishes of the local community.

More than 97% of its residents belong to this community. In Arabic it means an elevated place. It is a small city surrounded by Hill and the Chenab River near Chiniot. This city is about 24² miles in size. The landscape is composed of bare sedimentary mountains. The city is connected to the rest of the country by a large train service which goes from the city all the way south to Karachi.

Hospital

Main article: Fazl-e-Omar Hospital

This city has a hospital called Fazl-e-Umar Hospital, privately run by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community which provides inexpensive medical care. Founded in 1958, by the Ahmadiyya Jamaat of Pakistan has now become one of the finest medical facilities in the area providing hospital services not only to the local community but also to patients from towns and villages from further afield.

Fazle Omar Hospital, Rabwah A hospital run by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

Tahir Heart Institute Hospital, Rabwah THI Provides cardiac services. Presently basic services such as angiography and angioplasty are available. Open heart surgery also available here. It is third best cardiac hospital with best equipment in Pakistan, although presently with limited functions.

Jamia Ahmadiyya

1951 - Mubarak Mosque

Mosques

There are numerous places of worship in Rabwah; the main being listed below:

• Masjid-e-Aqsa (Central Jamia Mosque)
• Masjid Mubarak (Qasr-e-Khalafit)
• Masjid Mehdi (Gol Bazar)
• Masjid Yadgar (Fazl-e-Omar Hospital) First mosque in Rabwah, built on the place where first prayer was led by the Second Caliph when Rabwah was a baren land back in 1948.
• Masjid Rajeyki (Darul rehmat sharki)
• Masjid Gumbad Wali (Dar ul Yaman Wasti Hamid)
• Masjid Salam (Dar ul Yaman Wasti Salam)
• Masjid Anwar (Dar ul sadar North (shumali)
• Masjid Huda (Dar ul sadar North (shumali)
• Masjid Latif (Dar ul sadar Gharbi)
• Masjid Qamar (Dar ul sadar Gharbi)
• Masjid Ahmad (Dar ul Nasar Wasti) Near Maryam School
• Masjid Nusrat (Factory Area Gharbi)
• Masjid Hasan Iqbal (Jamia Ahmadiyya Senior's)
• Masjid Nusrat (Dar ul Rehmat Wasti)
• Masjid Bashir (Dar ul Rehmat Sharqi)
• Masjid Salam (Factory Area Salam)
• Masjid Ahmad (Factory Area Ahmad)
• Masjid Hamd (Dar ul Barkaat)
• Masjid Nasir (Dar ul Rehmat Garbi)
• Masjid Hamd (Nasirabad Sharki)
• Masjid Raza (Nasirabad janubi)
• Masjid Hadayat (Bab ul Abwab)
• Masjid Sadiq (Dar ul Aloom garbi)
• Masjid Kahleel
• Masjid Sultan (Naseer Abad Sultan)

Rabwah has the most concentration of mosques in Pakistan per population and area.

Colleges

The college for male students is named Taleemul Islam College of Rabwah. The Jamia-Nusrat College is for women. There is also privately run college, Nusrat Jehan Inter College. All three colleges are popular in the area due to the quality of education and peaceful environment which is the trademark of these colleges.

Nusrat Jehan Academy, Rabwah Educational complex of junior & senior high school. There is a Jamia Ahmadiyya (Ahmadiyya Institute of Islamic Studies) where students who are donated their life in the way of Allah get Education of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and then Serve the jammat.

Nusrat Jehan Academy and Inter College was declared Best Institute of Dist. Jhang in the year 2007-2008.

Bihishti Maqbara

Bihishti Maqbara is an important graveyard for the Ahmadis in Rabwah where two leaders of the Community are buried. Also buried here is the first in the field of science, and yet the only, Muslim to win a Nobel Prize in Physics, Prof. Dr. Abdus Salam and Chaudhry Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, Pakistan's first Foreign Minister, President of the International Court of Justice and President of the United Nations General Assembly. Other prominent personality includes M M Ahmad.

Bazaars

Rabwah has two main bazaars, Gol Bazaar and Rehmat Bazaar with a variety of shops. There are all kind of shops, banks, courier services and restaurants etc. A large library is nearby which has separate sections for men, women, and children.

Sectors

The main Mohallas (sectors) of the town are Darus Sadr, Babul Abwab, Darur Rahmat, Darul Barakat, Darul Yaman, Darul Uloom and Darun Nasr, Tahir Sector, Darul Nasar Gharbi, Darul Nasar Wasti and Nasir Abad Janobi (South).

Transport

Most people in Rabwah prefer to use bicycle. You can see more bicycles ratio there than any other city of the country. Other ways of transportation are cars, and motorcycles. While for public transport there are Taxis, Rikshas and rarely used Tangas.

Magazines/ Newspapers

• Daily Alfazl
• Monthly Khalid
• Monthly Tashheez ul Azhan
• Monthly Ansarullah
• Monthly Misbah
• Monthly Tehrek Jadid
• Monthly Al-Furqan

Dar-ul-Ziafat

Darul Ziafat is a free open-to-all restaurant and guest house run by Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. It was started by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the initiator of the movement in Qadian and after the partition of 1947 it is also functional in Rabwah. Its current incharge is Malik Munawar Ahmad Javed.

Qasr-e-Khilafat

Official residence of the Khalifatul Masih, as he is known in the Ahmadiya community, is located near Masjid Mubarak. Today, however the Khalifa resides in London.

Science, Medicine and Research

• Tahir Heart Institute

History

This deserted area was first called Chak Digiyaan. It was then given a name Rabwah in 1948 when it took the shape of a town, a year after the country (Pakistan) was divided from India. The town was primarily established by the Ahmadiyya community. The area used to be a desert and the first residents lived in tents. Over the years offices, schools and colleges have been built. Also various departments have been re-established and re-organized. The office buildings include banks and Press & Publications office which prints numerous books and newspapers such as Daily Al-Fazl which is an international newspaper produced daily. A children magazine called Tashheeez-ul-Azhan is one of the many other informative magazines published in Rabwah. Alfazal and Tasheez can be viewed at Periodicals. Rabwah has produced some great international players of Basketball, Swimming, Hockey and Football.

Climate

Due to its geographical location the town has hot summers and cold winters. The summer season is from April to October with May, June and July as the hottest months. The winter season is from November to March with December, January and February as the coldest months.

Important visiting places/ Institutes

Educational

• Khilafat Library
• Nusrat Jehan Academy
• T. I. / Taleem ul Islam College
• Jamia-al-Ahmadiyya
• Madrassatul Hifz
• Jamia Nusrat
• Language Institute

Sports

• Cricket Stadium
• Swimming Pool
• Fazl-e-Omar Basket Ball Ground
• Ghor Dor Ground
• Hockey Club - Supervised by the international hockey umpire Mr. Latif Ghaznawi
• Tennis and Squash Courts
• Play Ground in Darul Nasar Wasti
• Aewan e Mehmood Sports Club (for indoor games Badminton & Table Tennis)

Outing

• Chenab River
• Degree College Fruit Farm
• Darul Dhiyafat (Free food served to anyone who visits the place, regardless of how many times you go there to eat)
• Flowers Exhibition at Gulshan e Ahmad Nursery
• Bait-ul-Hamd Park
• Jalsa Gah

See also

• With Love to the Ahmadis of the World A text written refuting the Ahmadi arguments about the continuation of prophets.
• Chiniot
• Faisalabad
• Punjab, Pakistan
• Pakistan
• Chenab River

External links

• Gallery Rabwah
• Daily Al Fazl
• Pictures of Rabwah
• Aqsa Mosque
• Yadgar Mosque