USA: Message of peace | Islam nothing to do with terrorism

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The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a sect of Islam that originated in the Punjab region of what was then British India, in the late 19th Century.

Masroor Ahmad Sajid, who will be at Boyden Library, holds a copy of the
Holy Qur’an and a pamphlet from his group explaining why true Islam has 
no place for terrorism. (Photo by Bera Dunau)

Times of Ahmad | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: The Foxboro Reporter
By Bera Dunau | March 24, 2016

Masroor Ahmad Sajid, who will be at Boyden Library, holds a copy of the Holy Qur’an and a pamphlet from his group explaining why true Islam has no place for terrorism. (Photo by Bera Dunau)

Saturday, Boyden Library will pay host to representatives from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Boston Branch, who will give two presentations: One on the peaceful message of the Qur'an, the most holy book in Islam, and another on how the actions of the so-called Islamic State violate the teachings of the Qur'an and Islam.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a sect of Islam that originated in the Punjab region of what was then British India, in the late 19th Century. Its adherents believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, the movement's founder, was the Messiah whose coming was prophesized by the Prophet Muhammad, and that Ahmad was sent by God to end religious wars and advocate for peace and justice.

With a membership numbering in the tens of millions and growing, the community has a presence in more than 190 countries worldwide.

"The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the fastest growing community among Muslims, as well as overall converting people to religion," said Masroor Ahmad Sajid, director of publications and media for the Boston branch of the Ahmadiyya Community

A Quincy resident, physicist and management consultant in the aerospace industry, Sajid said that the presentation at the Boyden Library is part of the True Islam campaign, which he said seeks to differentiate what the Ahmadiyya Community sees as true Islam from the actions of extremists who practice terrorism.

"We are here to defend Islam," said Sajid. "Islam has nothing to do with terrorism."

The campaign highlights 11 points of what it considers to be true Islam, which include the rejection of terrorism, advocating for freedom of conscience, religion and speech; belief in the equality of women and their education and empowerment; supporting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the separation of mosque and state. Another of the 11 points is the belief in all verses of the Qur'an and the forbiddance of all lying, and Sajid said that the Qur'an backs up the other ten points of the campaign.

Talks like the upcoming one in Foxboro have been done in libraries throughout the greater Boston area, although they are often done alongside a month-long exhibition on the Qur'an, which did not occur in Foxboro.

The presentations will begin at 1 p.m. in the community meeting room, with the program concluding at 4:30 p.m. The talks at the Boyden library will also feature a question and answer period, and light refreshments will be served upon their conclusion.

The first presentation, "The Holy Qur'an, A Message of Peace" will describe how the Qur'an advocates for peace in all areas of life, from the political, to the personal, to the economic.

"You have to maintain the peace on every single level," said Sajid.

The second presentation, "Challenges to Peace: Stop the crISIS" will take on the so-called Islamic State, which has committed atrocities in Iraq and Syria against Muslims, Christians and Yazidis in the name of creating a theocracy based off its supporters' interpretation of Islam. Sajid said that this second presentation will use verses from the Qur'an to demonstrate that the actions of the followers of the Islamic State are not in accordance Islamic teachings.

"This ideology need(s) to be responded to," said Sajid.

For his part, Sajid is not unfamiliar with the effects of terrorism, as his first cousin was murdered in Pakistan on Jun 6, 1974 for being an Ahmadi Muslim.

"We are the first victims of it (terrorism carried out in the name of Islam)," Sajid. "It's hard to believe how terribly wrong the(se) people are."

Ahmadi Muslims have faced persecution from a number of other Muslims worldwide who don't consider them to be Muslims. Indeed in Pakistan, the country with the highest Ahmadi population in the world, and where Sajid is originally from, Ahmadi Muslims face discrimination as a matter of law.

"In Pakistan we were declared as non-Muslims, constitutionally," said Sajid.

Still, Sajid said that, even though Ahmadi's condemn the actions of terrorist extremists as not Islamic, they cannot accuse Muslim terrorists of not being Muslims, as the Ahmadi interpretation of the Qur'an maintains that a Muslim is anyone who identifies as such.

The Boston Ahmadiyya community has a prayer center in Sharon, and has purchased land to build a Mosque there. The Boston chapter also has a prayer center in Harvard and in Burlington.

The Sharon prayer center was actually one of the motivators for Faiz Shams to move to Foxboro a little over a year ago from Quincy.

"We wanted to move to a place a little more suburban," said Shams.

Shams, 25, is married and a new father, and works as a research associate at the Museum of Science, Boston. He also serves as the president of the Boston Chapter of the Ahmadiyya Youth Association, and will be attending the upcoming talks at the Boyden Library.

"It's been great," said Shams, when asked how he and his family like living in Foxboro. "We really like the area."

Shams will also be attending the talk, and said that he hopes the Foxboro residents who attend walk away with a message of peace.

"There's no compulsion in religion," he said. "We don't force our beliefs on others."

He also said that he and the community welcome a dialogue.

"We encourage anyone to come out to this event," Shams said. "We love having open dialogue with the community at large."

More information about the Ahmadiyya Community can be found at www.alislam.org.



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