Largest Mosque in Canada opens http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/07/largest-mosque-in-canada-opens.

h tml Largest mosque in Canada opens in Calgary to political fanfare Congratulations to the Ahmadiyya Muslims of Calgary for building the Mosque, a c ommunity center. I hope it will thrive and become a center for learning and peac e making. I am surprised at Stevensons comment that But unlike mainstream Muslims, the Ahmad iyya believe that Muhammad was not the final prophet. I have read and heard diffe rently than this or perhaps I am mistaken that the group believes in Prophet Muh ammad as the last prophet and that HH Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the promised Messia h. We have always included Ahmadiyya into the fold of Muslims, however, the stateme nt made by Imam Suharwardy that the Ahmadiyya are to Muslims, what Mormons are t o Christians makes an interesting comparison. I strongly urge the Ahmadiyya community to refrain from saying this particular p hrase we do not believe in violent jihad .. These are not the peace making words, the sentence alludes that other Muslims believe in violent Jihad. I have dealt w ith the same issue on local level at least on two occasions. One does become goo d on his or her own merit and not others perceived demerits. I urge the few fanatics among us to leave the Ahmadiyya alone, let them practice their version of the faith as it works for them. After all, on the Day of Judgm ent, each one of us is accountable for our own deeds and not our kids, parents o r communitys deeds. We are individually responsible for our actions and words, an d we are certainly not responsible for what others say or do. Mike Ghouse www.WorldMuslimCongress.com Largest mosque in Canada opens in Calgary to political fanfare JAMES STEVENSON Canadian Press July 5, 2008 at 3:26 PM EDT CALGARY Calgary s Ahmadiyya community, an offshoot movement of Islam persecuted in some countries, was to officially open what is believed to be Canada s newest and largest mosque Saturday. The country s top political leaders, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Opposition Leader Stphane Dion, were expected to attend the ceremony. The mosque complex covers more than 4,300 square metres and includes a community centre, classrooms, office space, children s area, kitchen, dining room and a m ulti-purpose hall. The main outward features are its massive steel dome together with a steel-cappe d minaret tower. When construction plans for the mosque started 14 years ago, there were no plans to make it Canada s largest, said Safeer Kahn, a spokesman for Calgary s Ahmadi yya community. We did not have intention on make it the biggest one. But when we started looking at our needs, we decided to make it for the future, not for the past, he said.

About $8-million was raised by local Calgarians. Ahmadiyya from all over Canada also chipped in. People sold their houses and children broke their piggy banks and actually this w as a great example of sacrificing, Mr. Kahn said, adding the mosque complex will be open to everyone, whether they belong to Ahmadiyya or not. We welcome everyone here, and this mosque will be a symbol of peace. I assure you , Calgarians will be proud of having this building in their city. Members of the Ahmadiyya faith, which began in India and is now estimated to hav e about 70 million followers worldwide, call themselves Muslims and follow Islam s main tenets. But unlike mainstream Muslims, the Ahmadiyya believe that Muhammad was not the f inal prophet. Instead, they maintain that he was followed by another prophet in the 19th century called Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who came in the spirit of Christ. Just last month, thousands of Indonesian Muslims took to the streets of Jakarta calling for the government to ban Ahmadiyya. The faith is considered non-Muslim in Pakistan s constitution and some consider it heretical. Mr. Kahn said the discrimination in other parts of the world is precisely why th e Ahmadiyya are thriving in Canada, where religious freedom is tolerated. Anybody can have their own opinion and it does not affect us. We have our own goals and we do not believe in violent jihad and we believe that we are always open to di scuss this issue. Religion is a personal matter and a person has the right to declare his religion so that s the right that Islam gave us. Calgarian Imam Sayed Soharwardy, founder of Muslims Against Violence and the Isl amic Supreme Council of Canada, said he respects the Ahmadiyya s right to religi ous freedom, but does not consider them to be Muslim. A lot of Muslims do not concede that they are Muslims, he said recently. They pray like us, they fast, they do everything except this one particular belief. They are our Mormons. I call them our Mormons because the Mormons had Joseph Smit h and they had Mr. Ahmad. Some people express hate about them, but in my book th ere is no word hate. http://www.theglobe andmail.com/ servlet/story/ RTGAM.20080705. wmosque0705/ BNS tory/Front/ home