His Holiness will be visiting the Los Angeles area from May 4th to the 15th to meet with Ahmadis from the southwest U.S. region and with Ahmadis traveling to meet him from as far away as the east coast and Canada.
Source/Credit: Baitul Hameed Mosque
By Baitul Hameed Mosque | April 29, 2013
The news often highlights calls for Jihad against America, Israel and the West made by politically or religiously extremist Muslim leaders. While this is due in part to the media’s survival-driven inclination to report calls to violence as opposed to peace -- especially when those doing the calling are professed Muslims -- it is still true statistically that most Muslims (and most people of all faiths or no faith) overwhelmingly condemn terrorism and desire peace. The larger questions have always been: how can we attain peace on a personal as well as a societal level, and what are the truly effective solutions to the world’s economic, political, social and religious issues?
For the past decade, a Muslim religious leader you’ve probably never heard of has worked humbly and tirelessly as Islam’s most consistent and persistent advocate for peace. In his weekly Friday sermons seen by tens of millions all over the world via satellite and the Internet, this champion of the true teachings of Islam regularly promotes peace and justice by dispensing sage wisdom and realistic solutions to the many problems faced, suffered and often caused by Muslims themselves.
This reserved and dignified man is His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the 5th spiritual and administrative head -- the Khalifa -- of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, a non-violent, non-political Islamic reform movement established in 1889 with 40 pious souls by the Imam Mahdi and Promised Messiah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) of Qadian, India.
Today, despite intense government-sanctioned and often deadly persecution by ignorant and fanatical Muslims in Pakistan and Indonesia (and to a lesser degree in Bangladesh and the Middle East), this dynamic and ever-expanding religious community now has tens of millions of peaceful, law-abiding followers in more than 200 countries. The motto Ahmadiyya Muslims strive to embody and live by is: “Love for All – Hatred for None.”
In his Friday sermons, lectures, books and personal meetings, Mirza Masroor Ahmad has continuously advocated for peace, the worship of God, spiritual and moral reformation, service to humanity, universal human rights, a just society and the complete separation of religion and the state.
His Holiness will be visiting the Los Angeles area from May 4th to the 15th to meet with Ahmadis from the southwest region and with Ahmadis traveling to meet him from as far away as the east coast and Canada.
The Ahmadiyya Khalifa will also be the keynote speaker at a special “invitation-only” reception slated for May 11th at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills beginning at 12:00 noon (registration starts at 11:30 am). His Holiness will speak on various relevant issues and topics, such as empowering religious freedom, combating terrorism, and striving to establish world peace and true justice in order to avert a nuclear Third World War.
Those expected to be in attendance are: members of the public who ask for or receive invitations, the media, professors, academics and political leaders such as members of the U.S. congress, including Brad Sherman, and Gloria Negrete McLeod.
U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and nearly a dozen members of the U.S. congress are part of the His Holiness' Honorary California Welcoming Committee.
The hour-long program will be followed by lunch and extended conversation with the Khalifa from 1:00 to 2:00 pm. (For more information or to attend, please call (310) 295-1983 or (909) 627-2252.)
This is the first time His Holiness has come to the west coast of North America, although he has visited the U.S. and Canada several times in previous years to attend the annual national U.S. and Canadian Ahmadiyya Muslim conventions held in Harrisburg, PA in June and Toronto in July.
While in the U.S. in June of 2012, His Holiness convened a press conference at the Capitol building in Washington, DC, where he addressed a gathering of over 150 people comprising members of the media, academics, think tank experts, and congressional representatives including House democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Muslim congressman Keith Ellison.
Following this groundbreaking address on how to achieve peace and combat terrorism in the world, His Holiness went to Canada where he addressed lawmakers there. Continuing home to London, he spoke on the same topic before the parliaments and legislative bodies of the UK, Holland, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands.
-- Islam’s top peace advocate to visit L.A. May 4-15
-- Baitul Hameed Mosque
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