Canada: Ahmadiyya Muslim community works to build 'bridges of peace'

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“Islam forbids all forms of terror and extremism. As Muslims, we are taught that killing even one innocent person is akin to killing all of mankind.”

Times of Ahmad | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Sarnia Observer
By Paul Morden | January 9, 2017

Islam Understood, a nation-wide campaign by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, is making a stop Jan. 14 in Sarnia.

The open house, set for noon to 4 p.m. at the downtown Sarnia Library Branch, is one of several planned for more than 40 communities across the country as part of an effort to address misunderstandings around Islam and “create bridges of peace,” according to a news release.

“There's a lot of things happening in the media these days, and they have been happening over a number of years,” said Hanan Sobhi, Imam of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Scarborough.

“And they paint this very radical and extreme picture of Islam.”

In 2016, the Muslin sect that promotes peace celebrated 50 years in Canada.

Over the last few years, it has held several information open houses in Sarnia, as well as other communities around the country.

In larger centres, where there are large Muslim populations, residents are more likely to know a member of the religion and have the opportunity to speak with them, Sobhi said.

“In smaller towns, and far off places, they don't have the same opportunity,” he said.

“This is our faith outreach, to build bridge so that people can share what their feelings are, what their thoughts are,” speak with Muslims, “and remove some of those misconceptions that might build up in people's minds.”

Last April, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association held an open house at the Sarnia Public Library on the topic of women in Islam.

It followed an earlier open house the youth organization held in Sarnia in 2016, and another the community held in the city in March 2015.

In its news release, the community said atrocities and acts of violence carried out by terrorists across the globe have created misunderstandings around Islam, leading to Islamophobia and a rise in hate crimes and hateful rhetoric.

Just before Christmas, 12 people died in a truck attack on a market in Berlin.

Two days after the attack, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Canada issued a statement condemning the act.

“We are deeply saddened by the attack that took place in Berlin and we pray for the rapid recovery of the wounded,” Lal Khan Malik, national president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama`at Canada, said in the statement.

“Islam forbids all forms of terror and extremism. As Muslims, we are taught that killing even one innocent person is akin to killing all of mankind.”

Sobhi said the name of Islam “means peace,” and the Ahmadiyya community is working to show it is a peace-loving religion.

“There is a reason why 1.6 billion people in the world go towards it, to find that peace,” he said.

“If there's a few people in the world who using it a tool to create havoc, that is not the real picture of Islam.”

The community's outreach efforts appear to be having “a huge impact,” Sobhi said.

“Many people are interested. They come and some of the places we are holding these events, we have made friends.”

That, he added, has led to community representatives being invited back to take part when faith-based activities are being held, “to show the Islamic side,” Sobhi said.

Anyone interested in hearing more about Islam, “or just wanting to have a different perspective, or learn some new things, we would welcome them to come out and get a chance to met their Muslim neighbours,” he said about the Jan. 14 open house in Sarnia.




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