USA: Ahmadi Muslim conference opens Friday in Chino

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 Ahmadis believe that the teachings of Abraham, Jesus, Krishna, Moses, Buddha, Confucius and others converge into a “true Islam.”

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: The Press-Enterprise
By David Olson | December 27, 2012

A Chino mosque will hold the West Coast convention of the Ahmadiyya denomination of Islam starting Friday.

More than 1,200 Ahmadi Muslims from California, Nevada and elsewhere are expected to attend the conference at Baitul Hameed Mosque, 11941 Ramona Ave.

The event is free and open to the public.

The 27th annual west coast gathering of the Ahmadi will include a discussion of Ahmadi beliefs. There are tens of millions of Ahmadis worldwide, according to the community’s London headquarters.

Ahmadi Muslims have faced repression in several countries because of beliefs that some Muslims consider heretical. Some have been murdered or beaten, in some cases by armed mobs. Some Ahmadi Muslims in the Inland area and elsewhere fled their homelands to escape persecution.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad founded the denomination in 1889 and declared himself the messiah of monotheist religions. Ahmadis believe that the teachings of Abraham, Jesus, Krishna, Moses, Buddha, Confucius and others converge into a “true Islam.”

I’ve visited the mosque several times, including in 2010 for Ramadan and in 2009 for a story on the mosque’s reopening after a fire heavily damaged the previous building.

I was struck by how, during construction of the new building, a nearby ward – congregation – of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hosted the mosque’s Friday prayers for more than a year. Mormons, like Ahmadi Muslims, are widely misunderstood and have faced persecution.

For more information on the convention, and to stream the convention live beginning at 3 p.m. Friday, go here.

Follow David Olson on Twitter: @DavidOlson11



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