Source: sun-sentinel.com | Shani McManus, Staff Writer
From left, Dr. Khalid Minhas, director of public affairs for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Hallandale, and Rabbi Barry Silver, field questions on Jewish/Muslim relations at Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor in Lantana. (Submitted photo / May 5, 2014)
While he was there to speak about his experience as a Muslim physician treating Holocaust survivors, the two-hour discussion covered a variety of religious and political subjects, and ended with an improved mutual understanding.
In honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Dr. Khalid Minhas, director of public affairs for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, based at the Bait ul Naseer Mosque in Hallandale, was invited on April 23 to address members of Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor in Lantana on his feelings about the Holocaust, and what he’d learned from treating his Jewish survivor patients.
“[The] Holocaust [was] a grave crime against humanity. I wanted to share my sympathies with Jewish people that, as a Muslim, I condemn this horrible atrocity that led to the killing of innocent people,” Dr. Minhas said, explaining why he wanted to address the Jewish congregation.
“In Islam, life is sacred and any attempts to kill people are reprehensible and must be condemned,” he said. “I wanted to convey to the Jewish congregation that I feel their pain and sorrow and assure them that Islam upholds the sanctity of life.”
He called the Holocaust “an act of horror and hate,” and a “reprehensible, massive and state-sponsored persecution and killings of innocent Jews,” just because they were different.
“As Muslims, it is our moral obligation to condemn this atrocity and ensure that people are aware of its scale,” he said. “All wrongs and injustices in the world must be condemned.”
Dr. Minhas said treating his Broward County Holocaust survivor patients, made the “tragedy” of the Holocaust more real to him.
“As a physician my job is to heal people,” he said. “When my patients shared their stories with me, it put a human face to the tragedy. It allowed me a glimpse into their innermost feelings and let me grasp the tragedy on a personal level.”
Dr. Minhas is a leader in the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam, which asserts it is “devoted to interfaith harmony and outreach.” The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is an international revival movement within Islam, and is not without its detractors within the Muslim world
According to its website: http://www.amcmiami.info the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community “categorically rejects terrorism in… read more at sun-sentinel.com
Categories: Ahmadiyyat: True Islam, Americas, Islam, United States