Source: huffingtonpost.com

Earlier this month Islamic scholar Dr. Tariq Ramadan publicized his impassioned decision to boycott the ISNA conference. As an Ahmadi Muslim, I disagreed with his decision. In fact, even if I agreed with every complaint he made, I still would not boycott ISNA for one simple reason — I can’t rationalize Prophet Muhammad’s pluralistic example with boycotts.

Think about this historical fact. Despite the torture, persecution, and boycotts Prophet Muhammad faced, he never once engaged in any form of a boycott against his opponents. While ample opportunity existed for Muhammad to boycott those with whom he disagreed, or those who tortured and killed his people, or those who attempted to kill him — he never engaged in such a tactic. Rather, Muhammad advocated ongoing dialogue, interaction, and understanding to mutually overcome differences.

Boycott was simply not in his vocabulary.

So when ISNA — a Sunni/Shia Muslim umbrella organization — invited me, an Ahmadi Muslim, to speak at their 51st convention in Detroit, I happily accepted. I spoke at ISNA about a topic near and dear to all Muslims regardless of sect — Prophet Muhammad’s greatness and perfection. As a result, ISNA 2014 broke new barriers of intra-faith relations. For the first time in ISNA’s recent history — possibly ever — an Ahmadi Muslim spoke at the I… read more at huffingtonpost.com