Faith and Practice: A faith of peace

"My father said it was incumbent upon us to learn as much as we could about other religions. It didn't matter what your forefathers were. That was not sufficient reason to just follow what they had done. We had to l! earn as much as we could about other faiths to make sure we were making the right decision for us."

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: The Daily Gazette | Schenectady, NY
By Bill Buell | Gazette Reporter | January 23, 2011
Edition: Schenectady/Albany; Final, Section: E, Page: E1

Tahira Khan, the mother of five children, is a woman with a peaceful and polite demeanor, who, like many other Americans, has a few issues with certain parts of the Islamic world.

"Unfortunately, not one single country that calls itself Muslim is actually behaving or using Islam jurisprudence in an Islamic way," said Khan, president of the women's auxiliary of the Albany area's Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

"It makes you feel so sad as a Muslim to see what is called a Muslim country behave in a way that is not honorable or moral in anyone's broadest terms of morality."


From her safe port in upstate New York, Khan and her colleagues at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community are trying to change that. While effecting progressive improvements in the Middle East is a tall order, Khan thinks she can make a real difference in this country. Her goal is to get out the word that true Muslims all have the same mission: one of peace, love and ! service to everyone, especially the poor.

The daughter of a Pakistani doctor and English nurse, Khan was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and lived much of her life in Yorkshire, England, before heading to this country in 1998 with her husband, a physician in Amsterdam. A few years later, she became a U.S. citizen -- "a very moving ceremony" as she remembers it -- and, in keeping with the religion she grew up in, she continues to worship as a Muslim.

Specific branch
In the U.S. today, there are anywhere between 2 million and 7 million Muslims, but Khan is a member of a particular branch -- there are 73 different Islamic denominations -- that goes by the Ahmadiyya label. The group refers to itself as "a dynamic, fast-growing international revival movement within Islam," and it has one significant difference from other sects. The group is the only Islamic sect that believes that the long-awaited messiah has come in the person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qa! dian, the group's founder in 1889. It was he who declared more! than 10 0 years ago that a "Jihad by the sword had no place in Islam," and that the only way to defend Islam was through an intellectual "jihad of the pen."

Toward that end, Khan and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Albany, whose mosque is in Rotterdam Junction, have helped sponsor a series of interfaith workshops around the Capital Region. They had a well-attended session in Saratoga Springs earlier this month, and the next seminar, co-sponsored by the Hindu Community of the Capital Region, will be held Jan. 30 from 3-6 p.m. at the Hindu Community Center in Loudonville. Also represented at the event will be members of the Buddhist, Christian, Jewish and Sikh communities.

In a conversation last week, Khan shared her feelings about several topics relating to her religion.

Q: Did you grow up in an Ahmadiyya Muslim family?

A: My mother was English, originally a Christian and a very passionate Methodist. Like her mother, who was a missionary, she! wanted to bring people to Christianity.

She met my father at a hospital where they worked, and she noticed that whenever he did something good, he was very prayerful. He told her, "It's not me, it's God. I am just his instrument." Well, she thought he would be a good person to become her first convert. They talked, and she started studying Islam, looking for an answer to shut him up. But the more she looked into it, the more she realized that by becoming a Muslim she wasn't giving up anything. She didn't have to give up Christ because they believe in all the prophets. She was actually gaining more.

So, she became a Muslim, and my father had been part of the Ahmadiyya community. So me and my three brothers grew up in a Muslim household, and when you grow up with a convert it's even more passionate. My mother really loved my father, and she had to give up a lot to marry him and become a Muslim. British women weren't marrying Pakistanis in the '60s. It was! a very racist society. They had signs in the doors, "no dogs,! no Paki stanis and no Irish."

Q: Why did you come to the U.S.?

A: My husband had always wanted to come to America, so I finally told him to follow his dream. I was happy to go, and I love it here, too. We lived in Albany for a year, then we went to Pennsylvania, which I loved, and then we came back here to settle in upstate New York. We are loving it. People have always been great with me. I can't tell you any stories about trouble or angst in my life. The people in this country have been wonderful. I've never had any trouble, but I think a lot of that may depend to a large degree on what you put out there. If you treat people with love and respect, you get that love and respect back.

Q: Have you explored other religions closely?

A: My father said it was incumbent upon us to learn as much as we could about other religions. It didn't matter what your forefathers were. That was not sufficient reason to just follow what they had done. We had to l! earn as much as we could about other faiths to make sure we were making the right decision for us. What I realized in that journey is that we have a lot in common, and there's only a very little that divides us. It's the nuances rather than the huge dogmas that divide us.

Q: Are Ahmadiyya Muslims free to worship in the Middle East?

A: In Pakistan a lot of our people are in solitary confinement just for saying their prayers. In Saudi Arabia we live in shadows and fear. It is not a good situation.

Q: How do you feel about the social injustice, particularly toward women, that occasionally rears its ugly head in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and various Middle East countries.

A: It is horrific. Islam preaches that the way to paradise is to educate your daughters. We were told by the holy prophet that we must educate the future mothers of the world. It is absolutely abhorrent what is happening to women in certain parts of the world. ! In Saudi Arabia, women can't drive, and they try to put us in ! this box . Their interpretation of the Quran is wrong. Mohammed didn't tell us to stone women. He was a modern man 1,500 years ago. He had compassion for women and their plight.

Q: What do you think when you see Islamic clerics spouting anti-America rhetoric on television news coverage?

A: Mohammed told us that the clergy would be the worst of creation. So, we shouldn't believe the clergy. In Islam, there is no clergy, or there should not be any clergy. It is between a man and God directly. We don't have a priesthood in Islam. When I look at those men I think, may God give him vision and sight and help him, but I also fear, because they are not behaving in a way they profess to believe in. There is no need for clergy. In Islam, we have a direct link. We don't need a priest to absolve us of our sins. We ask God directly.

Q: What do you want people to know about Islam?

A: Islam means peace and love, and any kind of terrorism is against the holy p! rophet's laws and teachings. Of course, there are those people who " do nasty, horrible things to society. But they are people who are only trying to further their own ends.

Also, you are not allowed to commit suicide. Life is a gift from God. It is so alien from the teachings of the Quran. You turn on the TV today and you see all the horrible stuff that is happening, in Arizona and in our own backyard, and it's so depressing you just want to cry. Islam teaches us to love all our neighbors, and do what Christ, Krishna, Buddha, Mohammed and all the other prophets told us: to love one another, to serve humanity and to have peace in our lives.

Q: Why do many Muslim women keep their heads covered, and why are there separate prayer rooms in mosques for men and women?

A: I wear a scarf as a sign of modesty and respect, and it has a way of making me relaxed and confident. But I don't have to. That's the beauty of Islam. There is freedom of choice. We ! all have the right to live peacefully and nobody is pointing f! ingers. I may be president of the women's group here, but I'm not the police. I don't go around saying, "excuse me, but you're not doing this or that right." Nobody is judge and jury.

The prayer rooms for men and women are also about respect and dignity. I think the holy prophet understood a woman's psyche, and when you go into full prostration, what we call sijdah, you can feel a little small and vulnerable, especially when you're wearing robes or dress material that is just folded around you. It can be uncomfortable if a man is standing behind you. When you pray, you should do it with complete earnestness and feel like you are able to let out all your emotion. You want to be able to focus on your prayer.

Q: What is "Muslims for Loyalty?"

A: Throughout the country, we are letting people know that Muslims living in America should be loyal to America. The holy prophet said that love of one's country is a part of faith. You cannot be a good Muslim and not! have that as a tenet. If people disagree with that then they should leave this country. America is a wonderful nation, and we should all be supporting one another and seeing that its laws are upheld.

Reach Gazette reporter Bill Buell at 395-3190 or bbuell@dailygazette.com.


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