“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.”
 |
| Imtiaz Ahmed and Muhammad Afzal Mirza spoke to a meeting of Ottawa Muslims Saturday to dispute the ‘mosquebusting’ tactics and views of British lawyer Gavin Boby. Photograph by: Jean Levac , Ottawa Citizen/Postmedia News |
Source/Credit: Ottawa Citizen
By Vito Pilieci | February 24, 2013
“Mosquebusting” techniques espoused by a well-known British lawyer at an Ottawa speech earlier this month are akin to hate speech and should not have been allowed, a small group from the local Muslim community heard at the Ottawa Public Library main branch Saturday.
Gavin Boby, who has gained notoriety for his messages on techniques to prevent the construction of new mosques, spoke at the library on Feb. 4.
His criticisms of mosques, and Islam in general, were slammed by Muslim missionaries Saturday, who said Boby’s assessment of their religion and their places of worship should never have been permitted to happen.
“This is a beautiful country filled with beautiful people. We, who have made Canada home, love this country as much as anybody else,” said Muhammad Afzal Mirza, a missionary for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at (AMJ) from the Toronto area.
“How many mosques in this country have created problems? If there is a problem coming out of any place of worship, it should be dealt with.”
Boby is the founder of an organization called the Law and Freedom Foundation, which is devoted to “resisting the tide of Islam.” He believes that mosques are “socio-political” and act as a foothold in Western society to advance Islam.
But Afzal Mirza fired back Saturday, saying a mosque is simply a place to pray. He said that in many countries, mosques aren’t necessary and people observing the Islamic religion pray outside or at home.
However, in Canada where the climate isn’t as forgiving, building a place where Muslims can pray together is important.
He also said that anyone from any religion is welcome to pray at a mosque and questioned Boby’s motives for trying to prohibit the expansion of a place of worship that is about spreading understanding, “peace and love.”
Another AMJ missionary, Imtiaz Ahmed, told the audience that Boby’s claims about Muslims being violent and unruly are provocative and untrue. He called for tolerance from Canadians with regards to religion and quoted Canada’s 13th prime minister, John Diefenbaker, to make his point.
“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind,” said Ahmed.
“We should not allow (people like Boby) to come into this country. They are teaching against what the fathers of this country has said.”
Both Ahmed and Mirza called upon the federal government’s recently created Office of Religious Freedom to monitor visits from speakers such as Boby and bar their entrance in Canada should the message they intend to deliver be one of intolerance towards other religions.
“They need to do their job,” said Mirza. “Anyone who promotes hatred should be banned.”
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
Read original post here: Muslim missionaries blast British ‘mosquebusting’ lawyer’s message
This content-post is archived for backup and to keep archived records of any news Islam Ahmadiyya. The views expressed by the author and source of this news archive do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Ahmadiyya Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.