Canada: Muslim visitors hope to end cultural misconceptions

"We hold tons and tons of dialogue throughout the year, where we bring different people together on different platforms and we talk about the commonalities that we have together rather than our differences."

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desck
Source/Credit: Fort Saskatchewan Record
By Ben Proulx | January 19, 2012

Fort Saskatchewan recently played host to a Muslim group looking to dispel misconceptions about the Islamic

Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association of Canada (AMYA) sent a group of 15 youth volunteers out to the Fort on Saturday in an effort to counter terrorism and to educate the general public on Islam.

According to Rizwan Rabbani, national executive director of AMYA, the cross-country campaign, which began last year, is about showing a unified voice against terrorism and uniting those of different beliefs.

"We have a pamphlet that shows that Muslims are against terrorism," Rabbani said. "There is a quote from the holy Quran that's very important, because it says 'If you kill one person, it's like you've killed all of mankind.' Basically, the point of going door to door is to disprove myths and misconceptions that are out there about Islam.


"There are a lot of people out there who believe that Islam is a bad religion, the holy Quran is a bad book, and so on and so forth. We, as Canadian Muslims, don't find anything bad with Islam. In fact, I was born and raised as a Canadian Muslim, and I consider myself a pretty OK guy."

He added the canvassing campaign, which has approximately 2,300 volunteers across the country, is a two-way endeavour that helps not only the general public, but also the youth volunteers.

"Rather than having youth running around on the streets over the weekend, this is another way to get the youth to participate in their religion, and they are learning to promote religious harmony," Rabbani said.

The canvassing tour is also about promoting religious harmony, according to Rabbani.

"We hold tons and tons of dialogue throughout the year, where we bring different people together on different platforms and we talk about the commonalities that we have together rather than our differences," he said.

Rabbani said that, from his own personal experience, the prairies and Western Canada as a whole have been very receptive to the canvassing efforts.

"I've never had a single person tell me to go away or that they didn't want us. Nobody's looking at us and immediately saying we're bad people," he said.

Rabbani said it's important to promote that unity among religions, and that the world would be a happier place if there was no religious misconceptions or hostility.

"We can all live together as brothers and sisters of different faiths. We can all talk about our commonalities." Rabbani said.

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