The Islamic religion is all about love and peace and any person who commits a violent act in the name of Islam is not a true follower of the religion.
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| Photo: Brandon Anstey/tc•Media |
Source/Credit: The Beacon | Gander
By Brandon Anstey | November 28, 2014
Members of Muslim community make a stop in Gander
With conflict raging in the Middle East, some terror groups have made a link between their violent acts and religion.
Fazal M. Malik and Abdul Razzaq Qureshi are Islamic followers of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Community in Canada, and they want to clear up any misconceptions that are fueling public perceptions of Muslims.
The pair was recently in Gander to talk to high school students about the meaning of Islam and some of the stereotypes surrounding the religion.
“We wanted to give the students the tools and instruments to explain to them what Islam is all about in the shortest manner that we can, and then provide an outlet for them to ask questions,” said Malik. “There were a lot of questions here in Gander about how ISIS operates, their funding, and there are a lot of interested people who want to know more. We are not a political organization – we are here to raise awareness about Islamic values and teachings.”
The most prominent example of groups linking violence to religion is a terror group known as The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) that has been become a global interest by carrying out violent acts of terrorism in the Middle East claimed in the name of Islam.
The Islamic religion is all about love and peace and any person who commits a violent act in the name of Islam is not a true follower of the religion, Malik said.
“The purpose of Islam is to enable people to establish peace in society,” he said. “So, anything you do that disrupts the peace of society is essentially not Islamic. A duty of a Muslim is to preserve peace at all times whether that’s peace in your house, in yourself, and your community. Groups committing these acts are doing it for political reasons and not religious reasons.”
Qureshi agreed, saying there is a commonality amongst the world’s most prominent religions.
“No matter what the religion is it’s always against violence and murder in its name,” said Qureshi. “Religion’s purpose is to create harmony in communities and to bring people together. Islam absolutely forbids creating disruption in our daily lives.”
Malik and Qusreshi made their presentation to a Grade 11 world history class at Gander Collegiate, and there was a lot of interest in what they had to say.
The presentation was an eye-opener and a good fit for her class’ academic agenda, said Carly Gillingham.
“It helped me to understand different cultural viewpoints around the world from certain religions,” said Carly. “In world history, we have a unit coming up on the Middle East, which is where a lot of this stuff is currently taking place. It also helped to eliminate a lot of serotypes as well.”
For Josh Winter, the presentation was an educational look into world affairs while learning about Islam and its core beliefs.
“It gave me an idea of what their religion is about, especially with everything going in the world and we’re hearing this stuff,” said Josh. “We have that chapter coming up on the Middle East but we also talk a lot about current events, so it’s cool to learn what their culture is about.”
Malik’s and Qureshi’s presentation was a thorough and intimate educational experience for Connor Foucault.
“It was really informative on what exactly Islam is because in school you usually just learn what they do but not why,” said Connor. “I think it’s good they are going around doing this themselves instead of just going around and handing out pamphlets because it shows their dedication to what they actually believe in as oppose to what people think they believe in.”
Email: banstey@ganderbeacon.ca
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