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| Imam Mubasher Ahmad, Missionary of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Silicon Valley, Calif. (Photo: MARY KLAUS, The Patriot-News) |
Source/Credit: The Patriot-News | Penn-Live
By Mary Klaus | July 2, 2011
A Florida pastor who burned the Quran after a mock trial and guilty verdict in March missed the whole point of Islam’s most holy book, an imam said Saturday at a national Muslim convention in Harrisburg.
“The Quran is the word of God,” Imam Mubasher Ahmad, head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Silicon Valley, Calif., said at the state Farm Show Complex. “Burning it was hurtful to Muslims and to Christians, too.”
Ahmad spoke at the 63rd annual Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA convention, which attracted more than 7,000 Muslims from throughout the nation. The convention opened Friday and will close after a 10 a.m.-1 p.m. session today.
Ahmadiyya Muslims believe that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India, is the metaphorical second coming of Jesus whose advent was foretold by Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, which has millions of members in 197 countries, rejects terrorism, violence and hatred.
Most American Muslims are Sunnis who don’t accept the Ahmadiyyas’ Messianic claims.
Terry Jones, the radical pastor of the Christian Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., put the Quran on trial in March, declared it guilty, then condemned and burned it.
“The Quran is not guilty,” Ahmad said. “But it’s not understood. The text with its 114 chapters is authentic. People criticize its teachings on paradise, but humans can’t conceive what paradise is.”
The biggest misunderstanding, he said, is “jihad by the sword.” He said that the Ahmadiyyas reject that, instead using a bloodless, intellectual jihad of the pen to defend Islam.
“Religion must come from the heart, not force,” Ahmad said. “It’s one thing to defend yourself from aggression. It’s another thing to attack. A small faction of Muslim extremists are violent. We reject the violence of that minority. We are peace-loving, law-abiding citizens.”
Ahmad said that American Ahmadiyya Muslims are committed to being good citizens.
“Patriotism is part of our faith,” he said. “Being Muslim doesn’t make us lesser American citizens.”
His branch of Muslims has created Muslims for Peace and Muslims for Loyalty.
They recently started a Muslims for Life movement aimed at holding blood drives at mosques across the U.S.
“We hope to collect at least 10,000 units of blood on Sept. 11,” Ahmad said. “The American Red Cross is working with us.”
Fazal Ahmed of Silver Spring, Md., said Muslims stand for the unity of God and loyalty to country.
“This country teaches that there shall be no compulsion of religion,” he said. “We are Muslims who believe in the messiah, but we don’t force anyone else to believe that. We respect all religions.”
Saliha Malik, national president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Women’s Auxiliary, told the nearly 3,000 women at the convention to slow down and pray.
“These days, we have high-speed living through technology,” she said. “We expect everything to be easy. For spiritual growth, you can’t just push a button. You have to use patience and prayer to experience God.”
Malik and most women at the conference wore hijabs, head coverings, and long, loose-fitting clothing with only their hands and faces visible. Muslim women dress that way for modesty and for protection from the lustful gaze of men.
“Society isn’t modest today,” Malik said. “We want to be modest. The women have our own sessions and our own prayers.”
Read original post here: Ahmadiyya Muslims gather in Harrisburg to advocate peace, patriotism
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