“His advent was foretold in the Muslim world, the Christian world and the Jewish world. He brought a message of peace and tolerance and our motto, ‘Love for all, hatred for none.’"
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| Photo: Grace Wong -- Inland Valley Daily Bulletin |
Source/Credit: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
By Grace Wong | March 23, 2014
The Southern California chapters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community held their annual “Promised Messiah Day” celebration Sunday in honor of their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who claimed to be the messiah and founded the denomination on March 23, 1889. It has been 125 years since the founding of the sect.
More than 300 people gathered at the Baitul Hameed Mosque in Chino to reflect on Ahmad’s teachings and life.
“This is the day where we remember and discuss the founder of our community,” said Ahrris Ahmed, president of UC Irvine Ahmadiyya Muslim Student Association. “The Quran advises us to discuss matters like this. It’s not a celebration, like we’re not celebrating his birthday or anything. We’re remembering what he was about and what our purpose is as a community and what directions he had for us.”
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the only denomination of Islam that believes the messiah has already come through their founder, Ahmad.
“His advent was foretold in the Muslim world, the Christian world and the Jewish world,” said Shazia Ahmad, media associate. “He brought a message of peace and tolerance and our motto, ‘Love for all, hatred for none.’”
Ahmed said this day is a formal day of remembrance, with speeches and testimonies about the founder and the faith.
“This day is a reminder,” he said. “A lot of times people already know what they’re supposed to do and I already know what I’m supposed to do as an individual, but I always need reminders because as a human I am weak and I forget, I fall off track. So getting a reminder of what the Ahmadiyya community is and who our founder was, what we’re supposed to be doing, these reminders keep me focused because there are a lot of distractions in the society we live in.”
Sadiqa Malik, vice president of the Southwest Regional Chapters of the Ahmadiyya community, said this day is beneficial particularly for the younger children.
“We already have the knowledge,” she said. “For the younger children, it’s a concept they will learn and build on as they mature. We want to leave the message of peace with the youth and make them peaceful and representatives of Islam.”
The idea of bringing peace to the world and future generations is crucial to their belief, said Shazia Ahmad.
“One thing that he said that really touched my heart is, ‘My desire, my wish and my objective is serving humanity,’” she quoted. “‘It is my job, my faith, my inspiration and my way.’”
Read original post here: Chino, California: Ahmadiyya Muslim Community celebrates ‘Promised Messiah Day’
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