I offered them to take copy of The Holy Qur’an, but they refused to touch it, although they had a translation of the book in their pocket.
Source/Credit: Edmonton Journal
By Mohyuddin Mirza | July 23, 2015
I was encouraged by the dialogue among scholars, politicians and the public at large over the role of foreign-trained imams and homegrown radicalization.
But my enthusiasm was soon dampened as I was confronted with another type of “homegrown” terrorism — reflected first in a hidden way, and then right in my face. Both stemmed from the same root cause of ignorance and intolerance.
As a Muslim community, we hold open houses and invite the public to see first-hand what Islam means, and to meet and greet us. At one such open house at Hadi Mosque on June 14, a large number of people came and asked good questions. They also cleared up some misunderstandings — for example, that Muslims all over the world are ready to be violent; so much so that one woman in attendance had her cellphone ready to call police should something untoward happen. When she was welcomed at the mosque and saw what Islamic teachings are, her fears vanished.
Then a couple entered the mosque and without any greetings, the man pulled out a copy of The Holy Qur’an from his pocket, said that we are terrorists and told us we should not hold such open houses to fool the public into thinking we are peaceful. He picked up a pamphlet with our motto, Love For All, Hatred For None, and said: “Your prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) was not a peaceful man.” He did not use the words “peace be on him,” but I have added them out of respect.
“Look, here is it in The Holy Qur’an,” he said, quoting a verse taken totally out of context. I tried to calm him down and convince him that Muhammad (peace be on him) was a prophet of Allah, a role model for society, kind, compassionate, a father, a husband and a peacemaker. The man was so confrontational and unwilling to listen that I had to bring all my skills to bear to stay calm.
He would not share with me what faith he was, and wanted answers in yes or no only.
He asked, “What do you think about Islamic State? Are those people Muslims?”
I said the type of Islam they are following is not my understanding of Islam, but he insisted on a yes or no answer. The encouraging fact was that those other visitors were getting offended by his stubborn attitude toward Islam. The woman accompanying this man had been quiet until she suddenly pulled up a p0unch of her own about the wives of Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him). I tried to convince her that her thinking was not correct. I offered them to take copy of The Holy Qur’an, but they refused to touch it, although they had a translation of the book in their pocket.
The second incident occurred when a sign in front of our mosque, reading “Know Islam” and www.alislam.org, was vandalized. This was not the work of someone who may have been frustrated about something and wanted to express anger. Instead, this person took time to rearrange the words to express his or her hatred of Islam and Muslims. Once expressed externally, I would argue this hatred is a radicalization of beliefs and constitutes a new type of terrorism. This person is not interested in seeking the truth.
People with rigid ideologies are not accepting what peaceful Muslims say and are determined to preach and practise. The matter of faith radicalization is not only an issue with Islam, but is also around in every faith. Every church, synagogue and temple should make a point of stamping out extremism wherever it exists. Muslims are already doing so.
-----------------------
Mohyuddin Mirza is an outreach director with the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in Edmonton.
Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
Read original post here: Perspective: Every faith must strive to stamp out extremism | Mohyuddin Mirza
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. Ahmadiyya Times is not an organ of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, nor in any way associated with any of the community's official websites.
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.