The Association of Religion Data Archives estimates that the Columbus metropolitan area was home to about 15,600 Muslims in 2010, a 153.3 percent increase over 2000.
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| (File photo: Ahmadiyya Muslim siminar in Miami, FL) |
Source/Credit: The Columbus Dispatch
By JoAnne Viviano | March 8, 2013
Under a banner reading “Love for All, Hatred for None” and with fliers calling the Muslim prophet Muhammad a messenger of peace, a local Muslim community is working to counter images of their faith as hateful and violent.
The effort by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Groveport is part of a national campaign in response to anti-Islam sentiment, such as Quran burnings and cartoons and videos that mock the prophet.
The initiative, by the community’s U.S. office, also seeks to show that many Muslims reject violence and respond to such offenses by working to increase education, said Dr. Abdus Salam Malik, president of the central Ohio group, which worships at the Bait-un-Nasir mosque.
“Ignorance breeds enmity. If we reverse that, I think all human beings can exist in peace,” he said. “It’s not the easy route and it’s a difficult route, but it’s the lasting route.”
At a seminar on Wednesday, the Groveport community hosted about 50 people of various faiths for discussion, prayer and videos about the humanitarian works of Ahmadiyya Muslims, an Islamic sect that believes in a messiah, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.
Mosque member Naseer Wasim related stories about Muhammad, saying he was known to be gentle, patient, respectful and compassionate, and he lived an austere life.
“He was a personification of service,” Wasim said. “His love for humanity knew no bounds, and all who were around him knew this themselves.“It was this unbounded love that won him their hearts and minds and souls.”
The Association of Religion Data Archives estimates that the Columbus metropolitan area was home to about 15,600 Muslims in 2010, a 153.3 percent increase over 2000.
Among those attending the seminar were Pickerington Mayor Lee Gray; Worthington Mayor Harvey Minton; Bruce Hoover, superintendent of the Groveport Madison school district; and the Rev. Deborah Lindsay, minister of spiritual care at First Community Church, with campuses in Grandview Heights and on the Northwest Side.
Lindsay told the group that the gathering was representative of her favorite Muhammad saying: “ When we walk toward God, God runs toward us.”
“We are here because we are thirsty, not only for God but for connection and for connection with each other,” she said. “Regardless of how we think about God or talk about God, we know that we have more in common than not.”
Along with the information session, Malik said, hundreds of fliers were being distributed by members of the Groveport congregation to co-workers, neighbors and others.
The group is one of about 70 Ahmadiyya communities across the U.S. participating in the campaign, said Naseem Mahdi, vice president and head of missions for Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA.
The goal, Mahdi said, is not conversion but to help non-Muslims feel comfortable with Muslims as their neighbors.
Linda Hancock, a teacher who attended the Wednesday event, said she’s been involved in interfaith ministries for more than a decade, but that work still needs to be done to achieve understanding.
“It’s all about peace and love,” said Hancock, a nondenominational Christian. “Everyone is going to have their own faith, but love and peace everybody needs and wants. We’re all the same.”
jviviano@dispatch.com
@JoAnneViviano
Read original post here: Local Muslim community sends message of peace, understanding
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