Many members of the Muslim community feel wrongly associated with the attack on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo by terrorists who claimed to be avenging the prophet Muhammad.
Source/Credit: WUSA - 9
By Peggy Fox | January 16, 2015
The Ahmadiya Muslim community is speaking out about their peaceful religion
CHANTILLY, Va. (WUSA9) -- Local Muslims are defending their religion after the terror attacks in France and a new controversy at Duke University.
The Mubarak Mosque on Chantilly is an Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, which relies on the first Islamic teachings of peace, according to Imam Rizwan Khaan.
There 1.5 billion Muslims around the world. Rizwan says if Muslims really believed in violence, you'd see a lot more of it.
In Muslim communities right now, there's a feeling of being misunderstood.
"The true meaning of Islam is peace," said follower Zahid Yousaf.
Many members of the Muslim community feel wrongly associated with the attack on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo by terrorists who claimed to be avenging the prophet Muhammad.
RELATED: Worldwide outpouring of support for Charlie Hebdo victims
"Which prophet would say go do this to protect my identity? No prophet would do that,"said Yousaf.
"When ignorant Muslims responded to these ignorant cartoonists," they were not practicing Islam, Imam Rizwan Khaan, told the men who arrived for Friday Prayers.
Rizwan invited journalist to listen to his sermon on blasphemy and the Charlie Hebdo attacks. He said Muslims condemn the attacks, even though they were offended by the ridicule of their Prophet.
"No matter how offensive....justice is universal and human life is sacred in every situation," Imam Rizwan said.
A controversy at Duke University highlights the strong negative perceptions of Islam.
RELATED:Duke nixes plan for Muslim prayer call from chapel tower
Franklin Graham, son of the famous Christian evangelist Billy Graham, protested ringing the Duke Chapel bell for the Muslim call to prayers.
Graham said that Islam has never been about peace.
Rizwan Khaan says Graham has been misled. He says verses in the Quran which appear to be violent, are related to self defense only.
"To say that Islam promotes violence is the same as saying the U.S. kills its people. Capital punishment is legal in some states. There are reasons behind it," he said.
Rizwan also talked about freedom of speech and what he sees as the exploitation of religious sensitivities.
He said the same way society is offended by the of the "N" word, it should condemn language and actions that are used to offend anybody, including religious people.
------
Read original post here: Ahmadiyya Muslims say Islam means Peace
This content-post is archived for backup and to keep archived records of any news Islam Ahmadiyya. The views expressed by the author and source of this news archive do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Ahmadiyya Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.