Source: Essex Free Press –

Members of the Windsor branch of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association hosted an open house at the Essex Public Library on Saturday afternoon to inform interested area residents about Islam through a Holy Quran exhibition.

Ayoun Basharat, one of the youth association members, said that Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association members have visited municipalities as far away as Petrolia to host open houses in libraries.

“We’re having issues regarding Islam and the Quran and a lot of misinterpretation is taking place,” he said of the reason they host the information sessions.

The Holy Quran exhibit addresses some of the misinterpretations or misunderstandings about Islam. Libraries, Basharat said, are great venues to host the open houses as the individuals that frequent them typically want to learn.

Some of the major points Basharat wanted to make through the open houses are that violence is not allowed through Islam. The word “Islam” means peace in Arabic. He stressed that religion cannot be forced on anyone.

“We believe that all major religions in the world are from one God. Islam emphasis the unity of God, so we believe there is one God and He sends His messengers, He sends His prophets to different parts of the world at different time eras and that is to inspire different ethnicities to believe in that one God,” Basharat said.

“Islam promotes peace and harmony between all religions regardless of any gender issues, regardless of any sexual orientation issues…Islam promotes human sanctity, Islam promotes human peace, not just religious peace,” he said.

Basharat continued that through Islam, killing is not allowed. The Muslim view of killing, he said, is “If you kill one innocent human being, it’s as if you killed all of humanity. The Holy Quran goes on to say if you save let’s say an innocent person from being harmed, it’s as if you’ve done humanity in itself a really great favour and as if you’ve saved humanity. We take those ideas very strictly, and we take those ideas to our heart, we believe that faith in itself should inspire your heart.”

Within Islam, there are over 70 different sects, one of which is the Ahmadiyya. Basharat explained the Ahmadiyya followers are the only ones that believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad came in the form of a Messiah.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was born in 1835 and died in 1908 in Qadian, India. “And he came to do exactly what Jesus Christ had done…he tried to teach peace, he tried to teach to turn the other cheek when someone is hurting you,” Basharat said.

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Basharat said, tried to get rid of a lot of the misconceptions in Islam. “How he fought jihad or religious war was through writing and education.” He wrote over 80 books and penned many letters to the Pope and many presidents from all over the world.

The open houses have allowed the members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association to hear about other religions. “Every time I hear other people, and them mentioning about other faiths, I feel this bond connected with them…there is absolutely no difference between us or anybody and that really unifies us,” Basharat said.