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60th Jalsa Salana USA 2008

jalsalogo2008.jpg60th Jalsa Salana, USA
Inshallah, the Jalsa will be held on June 20-22, 2008 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center, 2300 North Cameron Street, Harrisburg PA  17110-9443.

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Majlis Atfal-ul-Ahmadiyya U.S.A
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Faith Unites Community PDF Print E-mail

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Faith Unites Community - Ahmadiyya Movement In Islam

By ALDRICH M. TAN
of The Northwestern 
January 6, 2008

For any more information about the group, visit www.alislam.org. Together in faith with love for all, hatred for none. Ahmadiyaa Movement in Islam chapter in Oshkosh unites Oshkosh's Muslim community

Amtul Sara remembered when she had to drive all the way to Milwaukee just to pray. She would have to get up very early, two to three hours ahead, because the services were at 10 a.m. at the nearest mosque. Sara is Ahmadi. She is part of the Ahmadiyaa Movement of Islam, a subgroup of Islam. Born in Pakistan, Amtul Sara said she grew up in the Ahmadi faith. She moved to Oshkosh in 1999 when her husband Saad, who is also Ahmadi, got a job here. Now raising a family, Sara, can't always go to Milwaukee. That's why she is glad that there is an Ahmadiyaa chapter in Oshkosh. Established in 2001 and with more than 42 members, including women and children, the chapter is growing, aspires to someday have a mosque of its own, and strives to break misconceptions over Islam, said Khurram Ahmad, local chapter president. "I think it's very convenient that we can meet here," Sara said. Services take place in Ahmad's home since the chapter is still too small to have its own mosque. The collectively at 12:30 p.m. every Friday for prayers. Muslims have to pray five times a day and there is much value in praying collectively. The meetings start with a sermon and end with a brief collective prayer. Ahmad will also host evening prayers when there are at least three people in the house to pray.

The Ahmadiyaa movement is a 119-year-old movement based on missionary zeal, Ahmad said. There are several ways that the subgroup differs from traditional Islam and Christianity. Ahmadis believe the second coming of a religious reformer has already arrived in the form of the Indian prophet Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who was a follower of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. Ahmadis also believe that Jesus did not die on the cross and he was not resurrected, Ahmad said. They believe that the disciples took him to a cave where he basically got revived from his injuries and died of natural causes later. Ahmadis also follow the khalifa, a religious leader that traditional Muslims do not have, Ahmad said. The khalifa is similar to having a Pope for the Catholic faith. The Ahmadis are currently in their fifth Khalifa and they will celebrate the hundred years of his reign this year. The Khalifa provides guidance for religious and moral values. The religion's overall motto is "Love for All, Hatred for None" and includes promoting respect and tolerance for different religions. The first Ahmadi missionary came to Chicago in 1917 and the faith has started to spread across the U.S. since then, Ahmad said. It now has 11,000 believers in the United States and chapters in almost all major cities.

Ahmad said he came to Oshkosh in 1986 to attend the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The closest center for the Ahmadi faith at that time was in Milwaukee. It was difficult for Ahmad to go at first because he did not have a car. He would mostly go for religious festivals. He would go to the center once a month when he got a car. Ahmad also got a job as a partner for Oracular, an IT consulting firm. As he settled down in Oshkosh, more of his brothers and cousins came to Oshkosh and attended school at UWO. "We reached critical mass when we knew that we were going to stay in Oshkosh," he said. "When we started getting married and families were formed, we felt that we should have an organization structured around it." When there were 20 Ahmadis living in Oshkosh, Ahmad approached the headquarters in Washington, D.C. for chapter status. The Oshkosh chapter was formed in 2001. It is growing as more Muslims come to Oshkosh because they connect with Midwest values. Ahmad said Midwest values are very aligned with the Ahmadis' own values.

"I feel very safe having my children go to school in Oshkosh compared to any other place because I know that when I leave my children in the hands of the teachers, they respect my values and their values are aligned with us," he said. "I think it is a great blessing and it is a very tolerant community and very much a modern and religious community." The community has been very good to the Ahmadis, Ahmad said. There were no issues of intolerance following the events of Sept. 11, 2001 in Oshkosh. The group strives to work with other churches, including Christian churches and its members are active in the community. Social work is part of the Ahmadi faith, Ahmad said. Within the chapter, men and women have their own groups that meet weekly to do social work. Sara is in charge of the women's group charity department. That group volunteers at the Christine Ann Center and the Salvation Army food pantry and participated in this year's Empty Bowls charity dinner. Through their services, the women's group strives to break misconceptions that are made about Islam. One such misconception is that the veiled women of Islam in general are suppressed, uneducated and submissive to their husbands. Sara said women do wear veils, but they are also highly educated women who also have a say in their households. "We are just like ordinary women," she said.

A mosque of their own would allow the chapter to become more outwardly available for the community, Ahmad said. That is the group's biggest challenge. The organization is looking into investing into large farmland in rural west Oshkosh. The Ahmadiyaa chapter in Oshkosh is also working on developing a festival this year to celebrate the Khalifat, the hundred years of the current Khalifa. Such a festival would also help bring awareness about the growing community, Ahmad said. Sara, who is proud to have a chapter reflecting her faith in Oshkosh, said she would love for people to come ask her questions about her religion, even the basic ones. "We are there to answer," she said. "We are here to tell everyone about our faith."

Aldrich M. Tan: (920) 426-6663 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
 
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