Source/Credit: Fredric News-Post
By Nicholas C. Stern | July 01, 2011
WASHINGTON -- The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has been working to integrate and promote understanding about the Islamic faith in the United States since it was established in 1920.
The AMC held a news conference Thursday in Washington before it opens its 63rd annual convention this week in Harrisburg, Pa.
The convention is a chance for more than 6,000 members of the AMC community from throughout the U.S. and the world to gather, enjoy each other's company and discuss the latest issues in the Muslim community, said Shahina Bashir, spokeswoman for AMC's Potomac Chapter, which includes Frederick County.
Topics that will be discussed at the convention include the Islamic concept of freedom, science vs. God, maintaining morality online, promoting peace, and dispelling myths and untruths about the Quran. A few of the speakers were present at the news conference and gave brief overviews of the talks they'll give at the convention.
Among remarks given at the conference were those by Imam Naseem Mahdi, AMC national vice president, who said that for the AMC community, loyalty and obedience to the country is also a commandment of Islam.
The religion also promotes peace, while extremists that call for violent jihad have hijacked the true intent of Islam, Mahdi said.
On Sept. 11, the 10th anniversary of the attacks, the AMC is launching its Muslims for Life Campaign to collect 10,000 units of blood at every AMC mosque in the U.S., he said.
Arshad Khan spoke briefly about Islam's acceptance of rational inquiry, its tolerance of other religions and promotion of democratic ideals.
Islam places limits on scientific or rational inquiry, as well as the understanding available through religion, he said Science, for instance, cannot prove the existence of a creator, he said. Yet Islam allows for the direct experience or contact with God through prayer, he said.
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