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| Muslim Loyalty to Canada Urged |
| 2006-07-10 |
| Muslim loyalty to Canada urged Convention puts a positive spotlight on Islam By SHARON HO, TORONTO SUN Thousands of Muslims gathered in Mississauga yesterday to express their love for Canada and show that they are not "bloodthirsty terrorists". "Terrorism is against Islam," said Naseem Madhi, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. "Creating disorder is not acceptable in Islam." At the 30th annual Ahmadiyya Muslim Community annual convention, Madhi encouraged Muslims in Canada to be loyal to this country. "Loving your homeland is loving your faith," he said. "You cannot stay here and be loyal to somewhere else. If people say they cannot be loyal, they should go home." But only this Islamic sect's love of Canada was evident yesterday at the International Centre as about 20,000 Muslims turned out to pray, hear Islamic teachings and profess their love for Canada. Canadian flags decorated the hall and every chair. "As an Ahmadi Muslim my belief is loyalty to my country, my place of residence," said Basat Khalifa, manager of media relations for the Ahmadiyya community. "Our community's motto is love for all, hatred of none." The convention also tried to show the many positive sides of Islam. "Everybody hears the negative (about Islam) because the negative has so much media coverage, especially when you have the 17 arrests (of terrorism suspects)," Khalifa said. Liberal leadership hopeful Joe Volpe made an appearance at the event. "All of the values that we identify as Canadians are those that they (Ahmadi Muslims) have had part in shaping," Volpe said. Non-Muslims like George Raptis, also attended the convention to learn about Islam. "If I'm going to form an opinion, I have to get to know a little bit of it," Raptis said. He said he liked the message he was hearing yesterday. "It's so nice to see everybody on the same page -- promoting peace, helping out your neighbour and trying to say you're in a wonderful country." |
| Posted by:Jomorong Gloluter2673 |