Source/Credit: AMC - CVA | Ibrahim Chaudhary
By Imran Jattala | November 16, 2010
A team of Muslim volunteers distributed “Muslims for Peace” fliers during commuter peak hours at the Metro Station in Washington DC, last Wednesday, Nov. 10.
The "Metro Stations" effort is part of a pilot program initiated by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (AMC) in the US to measure their message’s effectiveness during busy hours on a working day.
After their well-acknowledged success of 'Muslim for Peace' bus ads initiative in the United States, the Ahmadiyya Muslim leadership is testing waters for a larger ‘Muslims for Peace” flier campaign through one-on-one contacts with their fellow citizens.
Carrying fliers in book bags, with roughly 700 fliers in each, the 5-member team mostly from Virginia rode the Metro into DC to reach Metro Center, their primary destination for the evening.
The volunteers were accompanied by AMC’s National Vice President, Imam Naseem Mahdi and National Spokesperson Dr. Waseem A. Syed. They were studying this pilot's effectiveness for planning the future distributions at Metro stops nationwide.
The Metro Center is the 2nd busiest station in DC with approximately 29,000 commuters traveling each business day.
The program started by the valunteers meeting outside the Metro Center Station DC for a short consultation and prayers.
The team focused on 3 main entrances, with groups of 2 at each entrance. Each group then spread out around the Entrance of the Metro Station and passed out fliers.
“I would say we passed out approximately 700 fliers in period of 1.5 hours,” says Ibrahim Chaudhry, Assistant Secretary for interfaith and community outreach for the Central Virginia AMC chapter. “Our distribution ratio was close to 5 people out of 10 taking our flier.”
Contrary to the norms of similar campaigns, only a few fliers were observed trashed, Chaudhry further related.
“Once we passed commuter peak hour, we shifted to Chinatown Metro stop about 4 blocks away,” Chaudhry said. “This was a more local population and inner city commuters. Yet, the experience here was similar to the Metro Center.”
Ibrahim Chaudhry observs that since people were in a rush to go home, there wasn't much time to talk to people at Metro Center.
However, the atmosphere was different later at Chinatown. “We were able to talk to people on the street about their thoughts,” Chaudhry mentioned.
Imam Nasim Mahdi, who arrived here a little over a year ago from Canada, has led the 'Muslims for Peace' effort in the US over the past year and has publicly spoke out against the duplicity in some Muslim clerics words and action.
"We live in an expanding universe but the world is shrinking daily and it is so highly important for us all to discover and follow the paths that lead to peace," said Imam Nasim Mahdi. "It is high time that Muslims living in the U.S. wake up to their responsibilities and declare openly and repeatedly and loudly that they stand for peace."
Dr. Wasim A. Sayed, AMC’s national spokesperson spoke highly of the test program afterward.
"My humble but well considered opinion is that this was an extra-ordinary step," says Dr. Sayed. "…and one that can be repeated throughout the Country."
Dr. Sayed believes that such efforts will give the community access to "literally millions of our fellow Americans."
The team found the public to generally well-accepting of the Muslims passing out fliers.
-- By Imran Jattala for Ahmadiyya Times
-- Ibrahim Chaudhry contributed the story.
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