Source: firstthings.com

As-Salaam Aleikum.

It is a pleasure to join you at this Jalsa Salana (annual convention). Thank you for inviting me to share some reflections, and for the high honor of receiving the Ahmadiyya Muslim community’s 2014 Humanitarian Award. I’d like to frame my remarks by noting two dates, one from just weeks ago, the other of which we will mark just weeks from today.

On July 27 of this year, in Pakistan’s Punjab province, an Ahmadi woman and her two granddaughters, including a seven-year-old and her baby sister, were burned alive in a mob attack which left nine other Ahmadis badly burned. And on September 7 we will mark the 40th anniversary of the passage of an amendment to Pakistan’s Constitution which declared that Ahmadis are non-Muslims in that country. Taken together, these injustices underscore the plight of the Ahmadiyya today, especially in Pakistan, where the forces of intolerance and hatred continue their assault on your community and religious freedom.

This assault takes place in a world in which 75 percent of people, including millions of Ahmadiyya Muslims, live in countries which grossly violate this precious right. Simply stated, the war against the Ahmadiyya is part of a global war on freedom and dignity. So what is behind this global war?

More than any other factor, it is the continued operation of a truly unique and …read more at firstthings.com