Canada: Mosque leader humbled by Order honour

“We organize events and we hold world religion conferences where we invite representatives of different faiths and ask them to speak from their perspective. It is not a debate. Everyone speaks of their religion." Maulana Naseem Mahdi

Ahmadiyya Times | News Staff |
Source & Credit: Vaughan Today | February, 10, 2010
By Angelo Elia, Vaughan | Toronto

Spiritual leader Naseem Mahdi of Maple isn’t taking much time to relish in the honour of winning an Order of Ontario medal.

The national president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is feverishly working with Humanity First for the relief of the disastrous earthquake that struck Haiti last month.

“Our medical teams are already there and working,” Madhi said. “We have 20 people there at this time.”

The medical teams consist of doctors and paramedics that travel to Haiti every week to help the victims, he said.

He said he felt honoured by his medal win.

“I feel very much humbled and grateful for those that made this decision,” Mahdi said of the award presented by Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor David Onley.

Madhi is the leader of Baitul Islam Mosque, located on Jane Street in Maple. He reads prayers and speeches and has worked there for the past 25 years.

“I’m here everyday,” he said. “Anybody can come.

“A lot of people come to receive the mosque, school groups come, and some people come to see Muslims pray and watch what we do.

Madhi said he holds over 100 religious conferences every year with members of various faiths to speak on their beliefs.    

“We organize events and we hold world religion conferences where we invite representatives of different faiths and ask them to speak from their perspective,” he said. “It is not a debate. Everyone speaks of their religion.

“We are providing people the facility to learn of different faiths and promoting peace and harmony.”

One conference that meant a lot to him was one that occurred in Waterloo.

“We had about 100 people present of different faiths,” Mahdi recalled. “The topic was ‘Is God relevant today?’

“It was a very successful event. Everyone there had said we learned a lot about different faiths.”

Mahdi was born in Pakistan and came to Canada in 1985 as directed by Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, he said. Hazrat is the term used for “holiness.”  

“We are an international organization and we dedicate our lives and our world leader tells us where to go,” Mahdi said, who has also worked as a spiritual leader in Europe.


In print: Feb. 5, 2010, page 3.

Read the original article here:  Mosque leader humbled by Order honour