Caliph Calls on Parents to Protect their Children from Extremist Ideologies
London (PRWEB UK) 30 August 2016 -- Speaking at the community’s annual convention earlier this month, His Holiness Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said:
“A lack of care and moral training from parents is one reason that children can become vulnerable to extremism and towards committing atrocities in the name of Islam. Such parents are ignoring their duties towards their children in the vain pursuit of wealth and so their children are left bereft of even a basic knowledge of their religion. This in essence is a means of destroying their children.”
The community, was recently in the headlines following the murder of Ahmadi shopkeeper Asad Shah in Glasgow by an extremist, in what was described as a religiously motivated attack.
In an address that was broadcast globally, His Holiness called on Islam’s critics to judge the religion on its true teachings, rather than focusing upon the hateful acts of a minority of extremists.
He said: “Today’s disorder and terrorism is a result of the fact that people are distorting the teachings of religion and most certainly their hate filled and evil actions do not have any link to the true teachings of Islam.”
His Holiness said Islam laid the foundation for peace by promoting true equality between peoples and nations and taught that no nation or race held superiority over others.
He added: “Without recognising and fulfilling the rights of the worship of God Almighty, justice cannot be established and one cannot pay attention towards kindness and humanity. Those who call themselves Muslims but continue to act against the teachings of Islam do so because they have not truly recognised God, nor are they fulfilling their obligations towards Him.”
His Holiness also talked about interfaith dialogue and global conflicts.
“Islam teaches that disorder should be curbed, rather than encouraged or inflamed… The conflicts that existed on a small scale are now developing into international conflicts.”
He expressed concern that those in power in both Muslim nations and the major powers had played a role in undermining the world’s peace and quoted media reports asking why certain countries were selling weapons to nations that were engaged in wars where innocent people were being killed.
He said: “On the one hand, Muslim nations have failed to act with justice, whilst on the other hand certain developed countries have prioritised the arms trade over and beyond establishing peace. If only they had acted with justice and integrity the dangerous situation that the world faces today would have been avoided. Sadly, vested interests have blinded both sides.”
Rafiq Hayat, National President, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK, said:
"It was a powerful keynote address and a timely reminder. Life is busy but we must never forget that our children need us too. This crisis of extremism is caused by a combination of factors, and we as parents owe it to our children and the communities we live in to provide moral guidance and do everything within our means to make sure our children feel involved, not alienated.
“The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community instils a strong sense of community, family and respect for wider society from a young age. Our children are raised with the understanding that 'Love for All, Hatred for None' is not just a motto, but a way of life and that is how we have successfully shunned all forms of extremism and will continue to do so.”
ends
Contacts
Basharat Nazir +447703 483384 media(at)ahmadiyya(dot)org.uk
Mahmood Rafiq +447971 060 962
Twitter: @JalsaUK @AhmadiyyaUK
http://www.alislam.org/
http://www.loveforallhatredfornone.org/
Basharat Nazir, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK, http://www.jalsauk.org, +44 7703483384, [email protected]
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