The objective of the symposium is, “for all to learn the true nature of ourselves, and learn the true nature of why we believe what we believe.”
Source/Credit: Lloydminster Source
By Tom Peirson | January 31, 2013
Quite possibly the biggest hindrance to living in peace with our neighbours is what we know for fact compared to what prejudice and misinformation we act upon. A case in point is the Muslim religion.
In order to help set the record straight with facts, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Association (AMWA) invites the public to a women’s only symposium, “Portrayal of my faith in the media ... is this my religion?” being held at Lakeland College in Lloydminster Feb.1, from 4:30 to 8 p.m.
“The symposium is being led by one of the auxiliaries, the Lloydminster Women’s Association within the Ahmadiyya community,” said Shazia Rehman, prairie region co-ordinator for AMWA. As such, the event is for ladies only and is free to the public.
The symposium will have a flavour of unity to it with guest speakers scheduled from the Christian, Muslims, Jewish, Hindu and Sikh faiths to share their viewpoints.
For what people can expect to learn from this, Rehman said she can only speak for herself as one of the speakers.
“I think it would be a way that each of the faiths would try to dispel facts from fiction,” she said.
“We would like to show how they represent themselves,” and within their identity according to their faith. “And how sometimes that doesn’t correlate with how they see themselves or their communities or the communities at large, being represented within the media.”
Saying the media angle has positive and negative angles to it, “I think the media has a very strong role to play in informing and educating and providing news about things that are happening around the world. Sometimes it helps us question, is this what we are? Sometimes it helps us to see this is not what I adhere to. This is not what I believe in.”
The bottom line to this line of thought, said Rehman, “Perhaps somebody is almost sort of holding me to ransom because of what they assume my beliefs to be.”
Not saying the media is the enemy, “because it’s really not,” Rehman said she believes in a work together approach to portray who you really are. It’s like anything else, “How much of this is actual sensationalism, how much of this is fact, or how much of this is just to sell coffee?”
Symposiums such as this with different faiths sharing what they believe, brings out the similarities among them. Rehman said that, “dispels ignorance and also encourages the education and the acceptance of each other. I think that is very important in the growing environment in which we are living in Canada today.”
The objective of the symposium is, “for all to learn the true nature of ourselves, and learn the true nature of why we believe what we believe,” said Rehman.
For some background on Ahmadiyya, visit www.alislam.org. Ahmadiyya has worldwide membership exceeding tens of millions.
Rehman is looking forward to the symposium, meeting new people and engaging in a dialogue of faith. If there is a motto or religious saying she likes to quote, it is, “Love for all. Hatred for none.” The symposium is a great place to learn the origins of that quotation, and how it applies in everyday life.
Read original post here: Canada: Faith and togetherness crossing divides
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