Most Ahmadiyya Muslims live in or came from Pakistan, where the sect has endured constant persecution — including legislation that prohibits them from calling themselves Muslims.
 |
| Kashif Saeed of the Ahmaddiya Muslim Students' Association at the University of Windsor. (Photo credit: Dax Melmer / The Windsor Star) |
Source/Credit: The Windsor Star
By Dalson Chen | November 24, 2014
It’s time for the global Muslim community to take a stand against the radicalization efforts of violent extremists, says a religious group on the University of Windsor campus.
“These jihadists, they are trying to recruit these innocent-minded youth, misquoting the verses of the Qur’an and the sayings of the holy prophet — twisting and molding them to benefit their cause,” said Kashif Saeed, a spokesman for the university’s Ahmadiyya Muslim Students’ Association.
On Thursday night, the association will host an event entitled ‘Stop the Crisis‘ — part of a campaign to address the radicalization of Muslim youth by militant groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
"It has absolutely no place in Islam," Saeed said. "They are now influencing people all across the world. We believe this is a crisis that ISIS is bringing upon us. We feel that youth are in great danger."
Saeed pointed to online efforts by ISIS to convert and attract foreign fighters. "Social media is playing a big part of this, across the board."
According to Saeed, it is crucial that young Muslims be made aware of the truth: That ISIS “has nothing to do with Islam.”
“We cannot control what goes on the web … The best thing we can do is to have these seminars, and have the information readily available, with the context from the Qur’an,” Saeed said.
Thursday’s event will include a video presentation, a discussion panel with Ahmadiyya Muslim scholars, and — perhaps most importantly — time for open debate.
“At the end, the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions,” Saeed said. “We will try to demystify all the myths, clarify all the misconceptions that these terrorist groups are trying to spread across the world.”
But Saeed conceded that Ahmadiyya Muslims comprise a very small percentage of Muslims around the world. There are only about 25,000 Ahmadiyya Muslims in Canada.
Formed 125 years ago, the Ahmadiyya community differs from older, larger sects of Islamic faith — such as the Sunni and the Shia — in many ways, but especially because the Ahmadiyya believe their founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the messiah.
Most Ahmadiyya Muslims live in or came from Pakistan, where the sect has endured constant persecution — including legislation that prohibits them from calling themselves Muslims.
Despite these divisions, Saeed said the peaceful message behind Thursday’s event is one that can be appreciated by Muslims of any sect — as well as non-Muslims. “Even a Muslim who does not believe in the messiah cannot negate this message.”
...
The Stop the Crisis discussion hosted by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Students’ Association takes place Thursday at 6 p.m., also in the Ambassador Auditorium.
Attendance to both events is free. All welcome.
dchen@windsorstar.com
Read original post here: University of Windsor hosts forums on countering radicalization of Muslim youth
This content-post is archived for backup and to keep archived records of any news Islam Ahmadiyya. The views expressed by the author and source of this news archive do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Ahmadiyya Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.