"Individially and collectively, Jihad is essential for the advancement of our souls. It does not for a momenet, mean that we are ever ready to pick a fight or wage wars. Nothing could be further from the truth and reality.”
Source/Credit: Vanguard | Nigeria
By Haroon I Balogun | August 8, 2014
Adherents of various beliefs last week rose from inter-faith conference organised by the Ahmadiya Muslim Jamaat, Eastern Zone with a resolve to come together to fight all forms of religious deviants in the society.
The conference which was held at Mom Civic Center, Warri, Delta State had believers of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hare Krishna, Rosicrucians among others in attendance with each presenting papers on ‘The Imperativeness of Religious Tolerance among Various Adherents.’Ahmadiyya
Also, the Naib Amir, Ahmadiya Muslim Jamaat, Eastern Zone, Dr. Gani Enahoro called on government to establish Training School for Missionaries with separate faculties for various faiths, adding that the products from such school might help to remove from our society, the distrust and contamination already created by the insurgents of today.
In his opening remark, Enahoro reiterated that as a result of the security challenges facing the country, there should be genuine efforts by all in restoring sanity to the country to compliment the efforts of the military, hence the initiative of inter-faith conference organised by the Jamaat.
“We are all aware that our military is actively intervening through several operations in those areas. Beyond such necessary force, there should be additional and complimentary efforts by everyone through meaningful and genuine concerns to help in restoring sanity to our nation and bring back the age-long inter-religious harmony that has long existed within this country.”
“Perhaps the time has come for Government to establish Training School for Missionaries with separate faculties for various faiths. The products from such schools may remove from our society in future, the distrust and contamination already created by the insurgents of today.”
“It is in realization of these facts that Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Nigeria, Eastern Region decided to organize this first ever conference to train our members in-house for three days as well as accommodate the leaders of other faiths in a convivial environment to reinforce the mutual trust in our religions and thereby send positive signals to the troubled spots, that we must reject insurgency and wickedness in our fatherland, but embrace peaceful coexistence in our pluralistic and multi religious society.”
He added that the Holy Quran which contains the words of God in Q2:257 clearly states that “There is no compulsion in religion”. Q16:94 says “And if Allah had enforced His Will, He would surely have made you all one people”.
The Quran recognizes Synagogues, Churches and Mosques as places wherein the name of Allah is oft remembered”, and should not be destroyed (Q22:41). Allah has also warned that “whosoever killed a person, unless it be for killing a person or for creating disorder in the land, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind; and whosoever saved a life, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind (Q5:33). These verses and so many similar others form the foundation of Islamic faith,” he stated.
Presenting a paper on the concept of Jihad, the Missionary in-charge of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jammat in Nigeria, Maulana AdulKhalique Nayyar, espoused that jihad has been misconstrued by many non-Muslims. He said: “The Arabic word Jihad is a relative short word but it has huge implications within and outside Islamic society as a whole. Jihad, as ordained by Islam, does not consist of killing and being killed but in striving hard to win the pleasure of Allah. Individually and collectively, Jihad is essential for the advancement of our souls. It does not for a monet, mean that we are ever ready to pick a fight or wage wars. Nothing could be further from the truth and reality.”
He however stated that the permission to fight was only given to Muslims who were driven out from their homes and persecuted unjustly quoting Q2:194
In its own submission, The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN in a paper tagged: “Imperativeness of Religious Respect” presented by Pastor John Ukpendivwe, on behalf of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, CAN President, maintained that, rather than tolerance, mutual respect for various beliefs would ensure peace and harmony.
“Mutual respect and religious harmony foster respect for opinions held by different religions of the world. In effect, religious respect has the capacity to eliminate all the religious-based wars, terrorism, insurgency as currently being experienced in the North Eastern Nigeria and other parts of the world.”
He added that mutual respect promotes socio-cultural integration of people who hold different beliefs. “this will ultimately make for inter-faith co-operation without discrimination.”
In a paper delivered by Bibhatsu Das of Hare Krishna, tagged: “The imperative of Religious Tolerance amongst various adherents”, he said the avoidance of criticism of other religious practices and strict adherence to the principles of our individual chosen scriptures, in other words, living the scriptures wouls surely bring about religious harmony. Quoating from Bhagavad-gita chapter 14 text 4 of Hare Krishna scriptures, he said: “It should be understood O Son of Kunti that all species of life are made possible by birth in this material nature and that, I am the seed giving father.”
The Spiritual Master of Hare Krishna is B.Swami Krishna Pada.
Dr. Israel Abido of El-Melek Synagogue Nigeria, (Judaism) who is also the National President, Initiative for Progressive Judaism in Nigeria, in its own submission, said most of the religious conflicts in the world today were products of disharmony amongst the Abrahamic religions: Islam, Judaism and Christianity while the african Traditional religion were tolerants of other adherents.
He sumised that “if the Abrahamic religions decide in earnest as a matter of universal love to give peace a chance, there will be peace permeating all over the world,” adding, “to have tolerance, man must learn to see god as one God for all.”
At the end of the the inter-faith conference, the Amir Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Ngeria and convener of the conference, Dr. Mashhud Adenrele Fashola in an exclusive interview with Vanguard said the conference resolved to continue regularly with the inter-faith dialogue. “we have decided to come together, we know that there are some bad eggs among us, but good people can be found everywhere and our concern now is to look inward and meet with the good people. We have to love ourselves; ‘Love for all, hatred for none’ was the tradition of the Prophet.”
In a closing remark, Dr Enahoro thanked the over 370 participants to the conference, adding that the conference did not only serve as a forum for interaction between all faith but also a means of educating and enlighting members of the Jamaat about the deen.
Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Nigeria had pioneered so many Islamic adventures in the country, such as in Education, with several primary and secondary schools nationwide. In Health management, the group are the owners of many Ahmadiyya Hospitals with international standards, that are open to all patients irrespective of faith. It has consistently published: ‘The Truth Newspaper’, the first and only Muslim weekly newspaper since 1951; Mosques all over the nooks and crannies of the country preaching love and peace. The global motto is “Love for All, Hatred for none”.
The Warri Ahmadiyya mosque had pioneered and hosted inter-faith dialogue amongst religions in 1997 exchanging notes on a weekly basis with Christian Pastors, Rabbi of Judaism, adherents of Rosicrucians, the Bahai faith and Hare Krishna.
Read original post here: Nigeria: At Ahmadiyya Inter-Faith Conference Muslims, Christians, others mull over Boko Haram
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