The campaign is a response both to the film Innocence of Muslims, which ridiculed Muhammad, and the violent protests that erupted across the Mideast, leaving dozens dead, after a 14-minute trailer for the film was posted on YouTube.
Source/Credit: York Region | News
By Adam Martin-Robbins | October 10, 2012
Canada’s Ahmadiyya Muslim community is launching a national education and awareness campaign in response to a controversial anti-Islam film and the deadly protests it sparked last month.
The campaign — dubbed Tribute to Muhammad, The Messenger of Peace — kicks off Saturday, Oct. 13 in 50 cities and towns across the country including Vaughan, Bolton, Brampton, Toronto, Halifax, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Red Deer and Chilliwack.
Thousands of people will be going door-to-door to distribute literature and other material about the life of the Prophet Muhammad.
“… Our first position is to show the true response, which is peaceful,” Farhan Khokhar, national director of communications for Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Canada. “And, second, to engage people in conversation about what should be a decent Canadian’s response when something like this comes up that has no purpose other than to insight hate and violence?”
The campaign is a response both to the film Innocence of Muslims, which ridiculed Muhammad, and the violent protests that erupted across the Mideast, leaving dozens dead, after a 14-minute trailer for the film was posted on YouTube.
“We could have had thousands of people in the streets (protesting). That is not the Ahmadiyya Muslim way,” Mr. Khokhar said. “The Ahmadiyya Muslim way is open dialogue with people and that is why we are doing this.”
Mr. Khokhar said discussions prompted by the film and the reaction to it have conveyed a lot of incorrect information.
“What we really are trying to do is portray what the true information is from our viewpoint, our perspective,” he said. “Our main purpose, really, is to engage people in conversation about what should be the response when people who are beloved and the founders of different faiths are ridiculed or blatantly incorrect language is used.”
Along with door-to-door efforts, the campaign will also feature a series of other activities including exhibitions focusing on the Prophet Muhammad’s life as well as an event called Religious Founders Day where people can engage in discussions about the lives of those who founded all the major faiths, he said.
“All this is because we feel this should be the right response — not violence, not speaking ill of others,” Mr. Khokhar said. “The only thing we ask of decent Canadians is to question, to think about, what should be a decent response to something vile said about something near and dear to your heart? Which for every faith person would be the founder of their faith.”
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