The non-profit charitable religious organization has 86 chapters across Canada and is registered in over 200 countries worldwide.

On Saturday, about 15 volunteers are expected to conduct door-to-door canvassing “to educate people about the true teachings of Islam and to dispel misconceptions being created by the terrorist groups around the world,” Noman Khalil, AMC national executive director, told The Chatham Daily News Friday.

Khalil said Chatham was already one of three communities selected for an education campaign in southwest Ontario, before the murders this week of Canadian Armed Forces personnel in Quebec and Ottawa by unrelated acts of terrorism.

Khalil said the terrorism played out on Canadian soil may make their latest campaign more challenging.

But at the same time, the murders cause members of AMC to be even more resolved to continue their work condemning terrorism, he added.

“People don’t have too much knowledge about Islam so they don’t know what is the difference between the Muslims over here and those extremists. They just know those guys are just bad,” Khalil said.

“People are quite upset. I got one comment from somebody that we should just go ahead and kill them and wipe them out. … They don’t care if it’s a religious reason or whatever the reason. Nobody likes tolerance of any kind of extremism,” he added.

Khalil said campaigning for peace is “a very long journey,” but it’s something individuals can do to fight terrorism.

“We all have to fight this terrorism. … The government is doing what they have the authority to do and we as a public and religious group are doing what we need to do, which is educating people in understanding that terrorism is not Islam’s fault,” he said.

Khalil said members of AMC will carry identification during their canvass which will run from noon to about 6 p.m. on Saturday

A second visit to Chatham is also planned on Nov. 1.

That’s when AMC members will hold an open house at the Chatham-Kent Public Library on Queen Street where they will be available for discussion and offering free copies of the Quran.

The open house will run from noon to 4 p.m.

“We’re not going to give up because we know that once people learn the truth, they become very goodhearted. … When we work together, we can stop these terrorists groups from recruiting people from Canada and if the rest of the world can follow, then we can stop all these terrorists groups,” Khalil said.

For more information about AMC visit: www.ahmadiyya.ca.