Canada: #MobileMuslims campaign goes through Battlefords

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Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community brought their #MobileMuslims to the Battlefords briefly, stopping to meet with the News-Optimist Friday morning.

Photo by John Cairns / Battlefords News Optimist

Times of Ahmad | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: The Battlefords News Optimist
By John Cairns | August 14, 2016

A group of Ahmadiyya Muslims were passing through North Battleford on Friday to spread a message of peace.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama`at Canada have organized a cross-Canada mobile exhibition using the Twitter hashtag #MobileMuslims.

The exhibition is coinciding with the 50th anniversary year of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Canada. It’s a way to recognizing the freedom of religion they have in the country.

“The intention of this trailer, this initiative, is to say thank you to Canada, to this beautiful country we reside in, that has given us the freedom of faith, to allow us to practice our faith freely,” said Tariq Azeem, missionary for the Saskatchewan region for the Ahmadiyya Muslim community.

But they also aim to spread the teachings of Islam, and remove misconceptions people may have about their religion.

“If somebody studies the religion from an unbiased perspective, you would realize the religion teaches only peace,” said Azeem. “Islam is all about peace, and it is the actions of terrorists that have given a bad reputation to Islam. Otherwise it is a religion of absolute peace and kindness to humanity.”

The message of their campaign is “Love for All, Hatred for None.” The organization’s news release states: “In a world where unjust extremism is rampant, it is essential for Muslims to speak out and take the message of 'Love for All, Hatred for None' across the country. Through this mobile-exhibition we wish to celebrate all the freedoms and opportunities we enjoy as Canadian Muslims.”

The MobileMuslims trailer started in July in St. John’s, Nfld., and has made its way through the country with plans to reach the west coast, in Vancouver. Some 25 stops were scheduled across Canada over 40 days.

On Friday they were heading from Saskatoon to Lloydminster, with plans to head to Edmonton by Aug. 14.

The trailer is accompanied by a group of five people who are on the tour across the country. They co-ordinate with the local chapters to organize their efforts and set up the trailer, from which the group is able to provide literature and answer questions.

Omer Ahmed, a volunteer travelling across the country with the group since July 31 when it stopped in Toronto, says the group has been answering peoples’ basic questions about Islam, and also clearing up about what Islam is not about.

“When we talk about misconceptions, it’s because people think ISIS is Islam,” said Ahmed.

“That’s the image that certain media outlets would portray and that’s what people would have in their mind. Our job is to tell them there’s a group of people who hijacked my faiths or our practices and are using that to gain their own political agendas, and I’m here to tell them ‘you know what, that’s not what Islam is about.’ Islam is about peace and harmony, and we cannot talk about it enough.”

Ahmed says the general reaction has been overwhelmingly positive and he says the group is finding Canadians are “much more open” than they thought.

“They’re much more open to the ideas that, you know what, there’s more to the story. There’s only one side of the picture that they’re seeing, and they want to know the other side.”

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John Cairns is a reporter for the Battlefords News-Optimist/Regional Optimist and writes two columns in addition to other reporting.


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