USA: "Muslims for Loyalty " share views at IceFest

According to Khan, people often ask if Muslims should be loyal to America. He answered emphatically: "Yes, we should be loyal to America. Actually, Muslims are required to be loyal to their host country, as long as there is freedom of religion."

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Public Opinion | Online
By Roscoe Barnes III | January 30, 2011

Six people from an Islamic community visited Chambersburg Saturday to help clear up what they consider are misconceptions about Muslims.

Maaiz Khan and five other members of the Ahmadiyyya Muslim Community in Harrisburg handed out fliers to people observing IceFest in the downtown area. The fliers were titled "Muslims for Peace," and "Muslims for Loyalty."

The group consisted of three adults and three children. They said the response from the public was generally positive.

"A lot of people took them," said Khan. "There was very little resistance. Some people aid, 'No, we believe in Jesus.'"

Khan said their downtown campaign was not about converting people to Islam. Instead, it was to show the public what Islam is about, and to let everyone know that Islam is about peace and loyalty to the host country.

According to Khan, people often ask if Muslims should be loyal to America. He answered emphatically: "Yes, we should be loyal to America. Actually, Muslims are required to be loyal to their host country, as long as there is freedom of religion."


Khan said his community of Muslims is not Sunni or Shiite. According to his flier, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the leading Islamic organization to categorically reject terrorism in any form.

"Over a century ago, Ahmad emphatically declared that an aggressive 'jihad by the sword' has no place in Islam," the flier states. "In its place, he taught his followers to wage a bloodless, intellectual 'jihad of the pen' to defend Islam."

Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

Khan is a 2009 graduate of Chambersburg Area Senior High. He said he is currently a sophomore at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, where he is studying economics and pre-med.

He said that since the inception of his faith community in 1889, the community has rejected all violence: "Jihad of the sword is obsolete. We don't believe in that."

For Khan and his campaign members, Saturday was a productive day. They began at 10 a.m. and wrapped up around 2:30 p.m. They handed out 2,000 fliers, they said.

They handed out the fliers with the words, "God bless you." They smiled and kindly thanked the people who accepted them.

Information on the Muslim community is available by visiting http://www.MuslimsForPeace.org, or by writing to info@MuslimsForPeace.org.

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Roscoe Barnes III can be reached at 262-4762 or rbarnes@publicopinionnews.com.




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