Australia: Paris attackers don't speak for Islam, says Sydney imam

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"My mission here is to win the hearts of the people as well — after all, the motto of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at is 'Love for all and hatred for none.'"

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By Ken MacLeod | November 16, 2015

'My mission here is to win the hearts of the people'

SYDNEY — Like many of us, Umran Bhatti looked on with helpless dismay at the televised images of the massacre of 129 innocent civilians in Paris, France, by Islamic extremists on Friday.

But Bhatti, iman of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community for the Atlantic region, serving the Islamic communities in Sydney, Halifax and St. John's, has a message about Islam for us, and his message is the complete antithesis of what the terrorists who wrap themselves in the robes of Islam are hoping the wider world takes from the tragic event.

The overwhelming majority of Muslims, throughout the world, in Canada and here in Cape Breton, said Bhatti, are peaceful, law-abiding people who are as appalled by terrorists claiming to kill in the name of Islam as anyone else.

But getting that message out takes patience and effort, and the Ahmadiyya Muslim community works hard to educate the general public on the true meaning of Islam. The message from its recent Canada-wide event called "Stop the Crisis," which gave Canadians the straight facts on terrorist groups like ISIS, went straight to the heart of the matter.

"We told them: 'Look, this is a small number of so-called Muslims on one side and these are the rest of the world's (1.6 billion) Muslims on the other side," said Bhatti. "They do not portray any true teachings of Islam or from the religious book called the Holy Koran — they are doing this for their own political and ego gain, hijacking the true religion of Islam for their own personal gain."

Closer to home, the Sydney chapter of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community is hosting its sixth annual religious conference Nov. 24 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the United Heritage Church Hall, 500 Charlotte St., where the topic of "Scriptures and Extremism" will be discussed by representatives of Islam (Bhatti), Judaism (Rabbi David Ellis) and Christianity (Rev. Rosemary Godin). Admission if free and open to all.

Personally, Bhatti does a number of things to combat the negative stereotypes that have arisen around Islam in recent years.

"I write a monthly newspaper column for the Community Post," he said, "and I try to get as involved in the community as much as I can, to try to remove any doubts or misunderstandings people may have about Islam.

"My mission here is to win the hearts of the people as well — after all, the motto of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at is 'Love for all and hatred for none.'"

As part of his efforts to teach Cape Bretoners about Islam, Bhatti has been manning a stall for Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at at the Sunday flea markets at the former Target location in the Sydney Shopping Centre. Bhatti said while people often stop to talk religion with him, he admits there have been a few "dirty looks" thrown his way, and, recently, he was faced with his first out-and-out bigot.

"A few weeks ago, there was this one gentleman in his mid-30s, he came by with his wife and they were looking at our display and everything, and I could tell he was going to give me trouble.

"Ten minutes later, the same gentleman was back, but alone, not with his wife, and he started using foul language against me, saying 'All Muslims are terrorists,' and 'I'm going to burn this stall down,' and 'You guys have no place in Canada, go back to your own country.'

"That was my first backlash of this type of racism in Cape Breton; I tried to engage with him, telling him: 'Look, I know you are angry, call me later,' and 'Calm down and we can sit down and talk,' but unfortunately it did not work out.

"But, you know, it was complete ignorance on his part, and that was why I was there — to help him understand what Islam is.

"There might be a handful of people who are committing these heinous and inhumane crimes, but there billions of Muslims who are peaceful, loving and always loyal to their country."



kmacleod@cbpost.com


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