Source: yorkregion.com

Canada’s Ahmadiyya Muslim community is calling for calm following the release of the latest edition of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo featuring a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad on the front cover.

“In light of Charlie Hebdo’s decision to publish more cartoon depictions of Prophet Muhammad, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama`at is urging all Muslims for calm and (is) holding special prayers for world peace,” reads a news release issued Thursday afternoon.

“It is a well-known fact that Muslims hold Prophet Muhammad very sacred and dear to their hearts. The decision to publish more cartoon depictions of Prophet Muhammad could increase the divide between Muslims and non-Muslims living in Europe and the rest of the Western world,” the release continues.

Ahmadi Muslims across Canada are expected to take part in special prayer sessions for “world peace” on Friday, according to the news release.

In Vaughan, a prayer session will take place at the Bait-ul-Islam Mosque Friday at 1 p.m.

The prayer sessions coincide with the arrival of 1,500 copies of the latest edition of Charlie Hebdo at select newsstands in Canada Friday.

Three million copies of the weekly magazine published in France sold out in a few hours Wednesday.

So far, media outlets in Canada are divided about whether or not to publish the controversial cartoons that led two gunmen to attack the satirical newspaper’s headquarters in Paris, killing 12 people.