Faith & harmony: Women's inter-faith group visits Chino mosque

The visit to the Chino Mosque was coordinated by the president of the women's auxiliary for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community's Hawthorne Mosque, Nadia Malik.  She said the Women's Interfaith Committee of Southern California has collaborated with the LA West Chapter, Women's Auxiliary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, for the past five years.  

Imam Shamshad addressing guests in Chino mosque

Ahmadiyya Times | News Staff | US Desk
Source & Credit: India Post News Service
May 24, 2010 | Los Angeles

CHINO, CA: About 130 women from different religions, who all belong to the Women's Interfaith Committee of Southern California, came to the Baitul Hameed Mosque in Chino for a tour and Question & Answer session with Imam Shamshad on May 13.

After the tour and before the Q&A session, Imam Shamshad took the guests inside the mosque prayer hall and gave them an introduction to the basic beliefs of Islam, along with an overview of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and its founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India.


The Ahmadiyya sect, the Imam said, was started under divine command in 1889 to lay the foundation for a community of righteous, God-fearing and peace-loving individuals through whom God would re-establish the religion of Islam and the institution of Khilafat, or divinely-guided spiritual leadership, and spread the true message and teachings of Islam around the world.

Questions addressed included: why women were separate from men in Islam; why women had to cover themselves; and what were the main differences Ahmadi Muslims and other Muslims?

Imam Shamshad explained that the main difference between Ahmadis and other Muslims was that Ahmadis believed that God could send a messianic prophet in the latter days who would be totally subordinate to the Holy Prophet Muhammad and who would restore Islam back to its original pristine purity of teachings and practices.  This follower prophet would not bring any new Holy Law from God to replace or abrogate the Holy Quran.

The trip to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community's Mosque in Chino was part of an ongoing religious awareness program by the Women's Interfaith Committee.  Each year, the group charters buses and takes their members to a different place of worship representing one of the world's major religions.  This time the religion chosen for its members to better understand was Islam.

The visit to the Chino Mosque was coordinated by the president of the women's auxiliary for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community's Hawthorne Mosque, Nadia Malik.  She said the Women's Interfaith Committee of Southern California has collaborated with the LA West Chapter, Women's Auxiliary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, for the past five years.

"In the spirit of interfaith dialogue and friendship, both non-profit communities have been working towards removing common misperceptions and prejudices, and promoting religious tolerance in today's turbulent times." Nadia Malik said.  With the goal of promoting peace within diverse communities, emphasis is placed on how women play a critical role to help ease tensions in society."

As a result, nearly 130 women and several men belonging to various faiths visited the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community's Chino chapter headquartered at the Baitul Hameed Mosque.  Nadia Malik further added that, "Seeing so many Americans coming together at a mosque for their very first time to understand diversity in neighboring communities was truly a remarkable feat, one that the Women's Interfaith Committee of Southern California has been striving toward for over three years."

Lunch was served afterwards, and the interfaith group's chairwoman gave a 20-min, address on the topic of "Love."  Free literature on Islam and a free booklet of selected verses from the Holy Quran were available for the guests to take to better their understanding of the Muslim faith.  About 50 booklets of selected verses of the Quran were given free, along with hundreds of free brochures on various topics relating to Islam, the Ahmadiyya Community, Jesus and his escape from death on the cross.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has made headlines and garnered TV news coverage in recent weeks for standing up and publicly condemning terrorism by any so-called Muslims in the wake of the attempted Times Square car bombing.

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