"Before we started doing the Holy Qur’an exhibitions, we had a True Islam campaign that we launched just to try to remove these misconceptions."
Source/Credit: Logan Daily News
By Katharine Hibbard | May 31, 2016
LOGAN — On Saturday, June 4, members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association USA will be visiting the Logan-Hocking County Library to present the Holy Qur’an exhibition.
The presentation is designed to be an informational sharing event with the intent of meeting people and helping people learn what the average Muslim is really like.
“We’re trying to set it up in various parts of the country,” said Usama Awan, who is a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association. “Basically we’re trying to remove any misconceptions that people may have about Islam. In Columbus there are a lot of Muslims, and people might have encountered some at work or just walking around, but in smaller towns maybe people have never met a Muslim or have only heard about it through the media, which is a really unfortunate way of hearing about Islam.”
Awan shared that a lot of people think that the Qur’an encourages people to kill or to hate, but he indicated that the verses in the Qur’an actually encourage the opposite. In the face of the current political climate, the members of the youth association want to make sure people have all the information they need to understand and to make an educated decision about the people around them.
“You’ve seen the Trump rallies, especially, and all the hatred he’s spewing about the Muslims, and a lot of the verses are taken out of context,” said Badar Malik, another member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association.
“It does mention fighting in the Qur’an, but the only time you’re allowed to fight is if it’s in self defense,” added Awan. “Other people have taken that to mean other things, but it’s clearly mentioned there.
“Permission to fight is only given to those whom was made against,” continued Awan. “So if someone has made war against you, then you’re allowed to fight, but on a religious purpose. So people who claim, in Afghanistan for example, say that ‘well the United States entered and they’re fighting you, so let’s go do Jihad’, that’s a political fight, it’s no longer tied to Islam. The U.S. isn’t saying, ‘let’s go fight the Muslims because they’re Muslims’, that’s more of a political struggle. I don’t want to get into politics, and we have no need to, but a lot of these things have been politicized in a sense. We are just against the killing of innocent people in any shape or form, so that’s one of the bigger misconceptions.”
Malik shared that in 2011, the Ahmadiyya Muslims Community, USA began organizing blood drives all across America in recognition of the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, to honor the victims of the attack and emphasize Islam’s essential teaching regarding the sanctity of life. The “Muslims for Life” campaign has organized more than a thousand blood drives, collecting 39,477 pints- enough to have helped save as many as 118,431 lives.
The exhibition is not about politics or extremists, it is focused on the basis of the belief and is an informational forum to learn about the foundation of Islam. It is also in no way an attempt to covert anyone, it simply to share information with those who may not have it.
According to Awan and Malik, the Qur’an actually recognizes Jesus and Mary as very important figures in their history, and both are regarded very highly in scripture and in the religion as a whole. There is reportedly an entire chapter dedicated to Mary, who serves as a role model for Muslim women to emulate.
“With the politics and everything, there’s just so much going on that people just don’t know the truth about Islam and the truth about Muslims,” said Awan. “Of course we recognize that there are radicals within Islam, but we say there is no place for them in Islam and the Qur’an does not defend them in any way, shape or form.”
“Before we started doing the Holy Qur’an exhibitions, we had a True Islam campaign that we launched just to try to remove these misconceptions,” agreed Malik. “This is solely to explain what the Holy Qur’an is and see what Islam teaches.”
Both shared that they have participated in these sharing events before and they have been positive experiences with everyone having an open mind and a willingness to listen to one another.
“The more we talk, the better it will be,” said Awan. “There is always the fear of the unknown.”
Awan, Malik, and perhaps a few other representatives will be at the Logan-Hocking County District Library from 10 a.m. to roughly 2:30 p.m. on June 4 to meet residents and answer any questions that might be asked.
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