CNN Religion Blogs: Editor’s Note: Naseem Mahdi is national vice president and missionary in charge of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA.
By Naseem Mahdi, Special to CNN
Last weekend, more than 6,000 Ahmadi Muslims gathered in Virginia for their 62nd annual convention. But with more than 2 million Muslims living in the United States, why should Americans care about the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (the official name for Ahmadi Muslims) and their convention?
Americans should care because the community, whose membership exceeds tens of millions in 194 countries around the globe, is one of the leading movements in Islam to bring Muslims out of the dark ages — divesting them of the fanatical beliefs that have been the source of so much bloodshed and violence in the world today.
Our community was founded 121 years ago by Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (peace be on him) in Qadian, India. He claimed that he was the messiah and reformer foretold by Mohammed, the holy prophet of Islam, and reintroduced Muslims to the enlightening ideas of the original, true Islam.
Terrorism, both at home and abroad, is one of the biggest threats our country faces. And so-called Muslims who have hijacked Islam to spread a message of hate and fear are at the root of this threat.
Categories: Ahmadiyyat: True Islam, American History, Americas