Published on Feb 06 2010 by Nadimur Rahman

Ahmadiyya Muslim Association Hayes organised a Peace Symposium in a village called Bourne End.  Civil dignitaries, community leaders and residents were at this conference which was aimed at dispelling the misconceptions of Islamic attitudes.  More than 150 people (including some 109 guests) attended the conference at the Bourne End Community Centre on Saturday.  Shadow Justice Secretary MP Dominic Grieve, High Wycombe Town Mayor Julie Pritchard, Francis Higgins (Priest of Parish Church), Inspector Wycombe Rural Sector (Ray Wilks), Naib Ameer (Mansoor Shah), Imam of London Mosque (Maulana Ataul Mujeeb Rashed), President of Hayes AMA (Mohammad Sohail Qureshi), Regional President (Lateef Khan), Region Missionary (Rana Mashhood) were all among the invited guests and the speakers at the three hour event.

Summary of Speeches

Sohail Qureshi (President Hayes AMA)
Sohail Sahib (the host of the event) welcomed and thanked the invited guest. In his short speech, read out the agenda and said that after the recitation of the Holy Qur'an there will be a short movie played on the projector.  The movie is about the introduction of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association.

Then a theme poem will be song by the young children followed by the speeches of the invited guests and the event will conclude with dinner.
 

Father Francis Higgins
Farther Francis Higgins talked about the word ‘peace’ in reference to the Catholic Church and how peace itself can be defined as a period of silence.  He reflected upon such periods where the noise in the background can determine the state of human feeling and emotion.  He suggested that it is important to pause in periods of silence during everyday life to reflect upon the goodness in an ever unpredictable world.
 

Chief  Inspector  Ray Wilks
The Chief Inspector talked about the importance of the Ahmadiyya motto of “Love for All Hatred for None”.  He challenged the true meaning of love and the true meaning of hatred.  He suggested that man had the inert ability to express these two emotions in the strongest ways.  Inspector Wilks gave an example of overwhelming love of a mother whose child had been ran over by a car and how she would immediately without fear and danger of causing harm to herself would lift the car to rescue her child.  He continued to say that extremes of hatred were also existent where a mother would kill her own children just to get back on their father.  He concluded that it was important not to let our judgment be clouded over by the minority of people that caused trouble.

 
Julie Pritchard  (Mayor of High Wycombe)
The Mayor started by commemorating the point that the people here today have one thing in common, despite their traditional differences they all want to promote peace and progress in the community.  She suggested that rather than antagonising about differences in faith amongst communities, it was more important to preserve peace by celebrating a common legion between faiths, for example helping the poor, doing charity and eradicating violence. She suggested that it was up to the people who create violence to eradicate it themselves by strengthening their common beliefs for the sake of our youth who will grow up into a multi-cultural society.


Maulana Ataul Mujeeb Rashed  (Imam of London Mosque & Missionary In-Charge U.K)
Imam Sahib delivered an inspirational speech to address a largely local community in Bourne End.  The speech was about the constant struggle between initiating peace in today’s society.  He focused on the principles that must be attained and the importance of listening to solutions put forward by prominent religious leaders.  He gave examples of the manufacture of medicines, and how the usefulness of such medicines would only be known if these medicines were used to cure diseases, instead of just be there on the shelf.  He emphasised the point that attaining peace was also a struggle during the time of the Holy prophet (saw).  The Arabs were known for fighting wars for a number of years over petty issues, however looking back to the history of Islam cases of conflict were not initiated in the name of religion, in fact during the time of the Holy prophet (saw) not a single example existed of islam promoting war and conflict.  He went on to say that the meaning of jihad has been marginalised and its single meaning was a constant struggle and conservative effort that should be followed as the Holly prophet’s (saw) own example of promoting peace.

The second most important point Imam Sahib raised was the issue of inequality that existed in society.  He put forward that the Islamic point is very clear and that there existed no difference between human beings.  He said that the Quran had made it very clear that helping the poor is basic responsibility of society.  Giving the example of the Zakat (pillar of Islam) was one way of accumulating wealth from the rich in society to distribute to the poor.  He continued by explaining that this spirit of sacrifice was very important in the establishment of peace.

Moving on Imam Sahib explained that the 3rd principle to attain peace was that the quality of co-operation must exist between prominent leaders in society.  He stated that Islam was a global religion and that the Qur'an had made it clear society must come together to cooperate in noble causes.  After quoting an example of The Holy Prophet (saw) joined noble projects at a young age even before attaining Prophet hood.

Imam Sahib further explained that to eliminate conflict and war, Islam establishes the need for guidance through prophets to eliminate hatred between religions, and goes on to say that all prophets that bring religions accepted, and this was part of Islamic belief. He emphasised that Muslims are required to protect all places of worship whether it be churches, synagogues or temples.  He quoted from the ‘Essence of Islam’ by the Promised Messiah (as),

‘I have no enemy in the world’

He reiterated that immoral attributes in people must be eradicated before peace and harmony can be reinstated in society.  The Promised Messiah (as) had made it very clear that when a non-Muslim’s house is on fire, and knowingly an ahmedi does not help then he is not from my community.  In conclusion, Imam Sahib stated that an island of peace can be created by fulfilling the principles discussed and communities should all work together as a network to build a world of peace and harmony.