USA: Religious leaders assail violence in the name of faith

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In a world with more than 3 billion Christians and Muslims, he said, Jews number just 13 million  5 million fewer than before the Holocaust. And yet Jews do not see the need to proselytize for their faith.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
By Mark Roth | March 1, 2015

Gathering at mosque in Wilkinsburg draws 5 major denominations

Leaders of five major faiths gathered Saturday in Wilkinsburg with one clear message: If anyone says his religion is the one exclusive path to God, or that God has authorized him to kill other believers, he does not speak for us.

The gathering, held at the Al-Nur Mosque, included leaders from Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity and Judaism. The mosque is a worship site for the Ahmadiyaa Muslim community, a branch of Islam with more than 10 million followers that was founded in what is now Pakistan in the late 1800s. Because its adherents believe that founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the promised messiah, many mainstream Muslims do not accept its legitimacy.

Still, community spokesman Sohail Husain, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, said the mosque’s relationships with other Muslim communities in Pittsburgh are good, and Saturday’s program was part of the Ahmadiyyas’ long-term campaign to increase interfaith understanding and tolerance.

Adnan Ahmed, the mosque’s imam, was pointed in his condemnation of Muslim terrorist groups and the way in which  they violate the spirit and words of Islam’s founder, the prophet Muhammad.

“ISIS and Boko Haram and al-Qaida do not represent Islam,” he said. “We condemn the actions of these extremists in the strongest possible words. The very word Islam means peace.” Referring to the beheadings carried out by Islamic State, also referred to as ISIS or ISIL, against Christians and others, he said, “if they truly followed Muhammad, they would not have committed such despicable acts.”

He related a hadith, or story, about Muhammad in which a woman poisoned his food. After two bites, Muhammad knew the meat was bad, but it sickened him for the rest of his life and killed one of his companions. “He called the lady and asked why did she do this? She said, ’I thought if you were a true prophet of God, God would tell you about this; and if you weren’t, I would have rid the people of you.’ Surely this lady who had tried to kill the prophet deserved the death penalty. What do you think Muhammad did? The prophet forgave this lady and held no grudge against her. God did not send Muhammad to kill or hurt anyone.”

Other speakers at the event pointed to common values that bind different believers together.

Rabbi James Gibson of Temple Sinai said he had broken his own rule against accepting outside engagements on the Jewish sabbath because of how important he thought it was to speak out for religious tolerance.

In a world with more than 3 billion Christians and Muslims, he said, Jews number just 13 million  5 million fewer than before the Holocaust. And yet Jews do not see the need to proselytize for their faith.

“We are not missionaries,” he said, “We believe if people follow only seven laws of common decency, everyone will merit whatever meaningful afterlife there is.” As to other religions, he said, “God is capable of multiple covenants. We are the antithesis of believing there is only one way.”

Sanjay Mehta, a leader in the Hindu Jain temple in Monroeville, said his faith’s sense of tolerance comes largely from its belief that God is present in every human being and each part of creation. “There is a saying in the Vedas (Hindu holy texts),” he said. “God says, ’I am one and I want to become many.’ He is the creator and has expanded into all the things we see around us.”

He told a story of one outsider who visited a guru who had called himself a god, and asked what the difference was between the two of them. “The only difference,” the guru replied, “is that I have realized I am God, and you have not yet.’ The message is: we are all potentially divine.”

Sucha Singh, the head priest of the Sikh temple here, added that his faith’s founder, Guru Nanak, had said: “Answer evil with goodness; do not fill your mind with anger. Your body shall not suffer from any disease, and you shall obtain everything.”

And the Rev. Rita Platt, pastor of South Avenue Methodist Church in Wilkinsburg, said Christianity was beset by “many individuals who I believe do not speak the truth of scripture, and yet they quote scripture. They do not speak for the Christian community, they speak out of their own feelings and opinions. Anything that does not show love is not speaking the truth of the gospel.”

“For me,” she said, “the most important value we have is our ability to demonstrate our love, and that word love is challenging for us. Love is so much more than Valentine’s Day; it’s respect, dignity, the privilege of coming together, learning from one another and growing.”


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