After a tour of the Victorian orphanage re-adapted to serve as the universal headquarters of the Ahmadi religion of Peace and Light (AROPL), a Shia-derivative new religion (not to be confused with the Sunni-derivative, and different, Ahmadiyya community persecuted in Pakistan), we and the group of scholars who participated in a conference and field trip with AROPL members, are finally introduced in the most sacred part of the building, the basilica. Here, Abdullah Hashem Aba al-Sadiq, the leader of the religion, appears accompanied by his wife. He is a handsome man in his early forties, who speaks with authority in short sentences easy to understand. Some of us had read his new sacred scripture, “The Goal of the Wise,” before the meeting. One scholar is a specialist in UFO religions and asks about the AROPL’s belief in extraterrestrials. Others want to know whether the AROPL believes in the devil. Hashem answers with patience, and not without a touch of humor.

- Massimo Introvigne and Karolina Maria Kotkowska.