Canda: Veteran visits Saskatoon's Ahmadiyya Muslim mosque, builds bridges between cultures

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“It’s just as important to remember that we live in a world where there’s a terrible amount of violence and conflict and we need to focus our thoughts so much on how we can work for a world of peace.”

Veteran Colin Clay speaks to members of the Ahmadiyya muslim community.
PHOTO: BRE MCADAM/CKOM NEWS

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: The StarPhoenix | Saskatoon
By Jonathan Charlton | November 8, 2015

Colin Clay brings a stern message when he shares his stories of war with community groups and schools.

“There’s sometimes a feeling that we see fanfares, bands playing, we think, ‘Ooh, it’s something glorious.’ But there’s nothing glorious about war. War is horrible,” he said.

Clay, an 83-year-old British army veteran, visited the Bait-Ur-Rehmat Mosque last week to teach newcomers to Saskatoon about the importance of Remembrance Day.

“I think it’s important to share two things — one is to recognize the courage and sacrifice of men and women who served in the forces, and not forgetting their families at home,” Clay said.

“It’s just as important to remember that we live in a world where there’s a terrible amount of violence and conflict and we need to focus our thoughts so much on how we can work for a world of peace.”

Clay grew up in London, England, where he lived through Adolf Hitler’s relentless bombings. He still remembers his mother throwing herself over him and his sister as they huddled under a stairwell. A V2 rocket hit the playground of his boarding school.

Years later, he was drafted to fight in the Korean War, serving as a radio technician. He didn’t hate his foes; instead he pitied them as he watched plumes of smoke and flame rise from trenches on which bombers had dropped napalm.

He embraces the mosque’s philosophy of “love for all, hatred for none” as a complement to his own convictions, he said. Clay is involved with multiple multi-faith and peace organizations.

Khalid Minhas, the mosque’s imam, said the organization hopes to inspire young people and newcomers to Canada with veterans’ personal accounts. People at the mosque were moved by Clay’s story, he said.

“This way the future generations, they know the value of freedom and what our pioneers have done for the country, for the freedom of our people today.”

This is the fifth “Muslims for Remembrance Day” campaign held by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at faith.

“One of the virtues our religion teaches is that we need to sacrifice for each other. If we do not have that element in us, then this world cannot be in peace,” Minhas said.

jcharlton@thestarphoenix.com
Twitter.com/J_Charlton



Read original post here: Veteran builds bridges between cultures


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