"One of the commonalities is Mother Mary. There is one entire chapter in the Holy Qur'an, Chapter 19, that is named after Mother Mary."
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| Photo: Lois Ann Baker/Cornwall Standard-Freeholder/Postmedia Network |
Source/Credit: Standard-Freeholder
By Lois Ann Baker, Cornwall | May 1, 2016
Waheed Ahmed, Shahjehan Ahmed, visitors Kareena and Marie L. Szabadka, Raheel Ahmed and Imtiaz Ahmed at the Cornwall Public Library on Saturday. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association was in town to discuss Mother Mary in Islam.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association was in town this past weekend, this time they were educating the public on Mother Mary's role in Islam.
"We wanted to talk about this because we want to share the commonalities," said Imtiaz Ahmed. "There are bound to be differences between Islam and Christianity and any other religion for that matter, but Islam strongly believes in commonalities."
Ahmed said Islam believes we should get together on common grounds and work for the betterment of society.
"One of the commonalities is Mother Mary," he said. "There is one entire chapter in the Holy Qur'an, Chapter 19, that is named after Mother Mary."
Ahmed said the Qur'an talks about the chastity of Mother Mary and the virgin birth of Jesus Christ and this was the commonality the organization wanted to tell people about.
Ahmed said the response on Saturday had been very good. He had two visitors, Kareena and Marie Szabadka, who spent about an hour talking to Ahmed and his young volunteers from AMYA.
"They were very interested in learning more about Islam and some of the myths about Islam," said Ahmed.
Ahmed said the AMYA also wanted to talk to people about how Muslim women are being targeted, especially for wearing the hijab.
"It is truly unfortunate the ladies get targeted because of some of the misconceptions of the hijab," he said.
Ahmed said whenever you see a picture of Mother Mary, she is wearing a hijab or head-covering and even modern day nuns cover their head in the same way as Mother Mary.
"She is always covering herself," he said. "In the Holy Qur'an, Muslim ladies are asked to follow the example of Mother Mary and that's why you see the hijab. This is a cue we get from Mother Mary.
"We want to remove this misconception and if people are aware of it, I'm sure they would not target any Muslim lady who is wearing a hijab."
According to a press release from Noman Khalil regarding Saturday's open house, the AMYA condemns terrorist attacks and said Muslim women in the west are feeling the backlash of these attacks around the world.
"They have been subjected to hate crimes because of their religion," said Khalil. "Their safety and their freedom of religion has become a concern."
Khalil said this has highlighted the questions of equality and oppression of Muslim women.
"These terrorist attacks are creating a false fear of Islam with people who do not understand the peaceful religion," said Khalil. "Different countries around the world have started to ban the Islamic hijab and veil in public places and educational institutes."
Khalil said women are an integral and equal part of society and their right to choose their religion and religious attire comes under the rights an equality owed to women.
"Dictating an attire on women not only raises the question of oppressing women, but is a sign of creating imbalance in the status of women," he said.
lbaker@postmedia.com
Follow on Twitter: @LoisAnnBaker
Read original post here: Canada: A common Mary unites faiths: AMYA session in Cornwall
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