Interfaith Iftar, 2022

On Saturday, April 9th, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (AMC), Georgia Chapter held an Interfaith Iftar at Baitul Ata Mosque. More than a hundred members attended the session which addressed the topic, “Justice through Compassion.”

The program began with the recitation of the Holy Quran followed by a poem written by the founder of the AMC, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India. Mr. Khairul Bahri, president of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, GA Chapter, welcomed the attendees and said that
this is the blessing of God that we live in this land where we can express our faith easily and freely.

Mr. Bahri then invited Gwinnett County Commissioner District 1, Mr. Kirkland Carden on the stage and said, “This is my first time at the mosque. We have witnessed more hate crimes in our county for the past few years and we will do everything to make Gwinnett County a better place for every person regardless of color, race, or religion.”

Gwinnett County Commissioner District 2, Mr. Ben Ku said, “Inclusivity is the new value we are introducing and diversity is fully embraced. We are recognizing neighbors, cultures, and different religions.”

Mr. Hammad Ahmad, Missionary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and keynote speaker of the event said, “The founder of the religion of Islam, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) once in a narration painted an amazing picture that how justice looks like. He said imagine there is a ship full of people and there are two decks. People on the lower deck have to go to the top deck to get water. So, people on the lower deck felt that every time they go up to get the water, they annoy the people who are on the top. So, one of the individuals said that we should make a hole at the bottom of the deck so that we can get water without bothering people on the top. While he was about to dig a hole a person from the upper deck asked them what are you doing? He said that we need water and we want to get it for our survival without annoying you. At this point, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) stopped the story and said that people on the upper deck have two choices now. One is that the upper deck people tell them to stop this, do not make a hole, and help them to get the water they need. The second is to let them dig the hole, stay in their upper tower, and then let the whole ship sink and then everyone dies. All of us here in this country and in this world, are all on this ship together, together on this planet Earth no matter what religion, social status, race, or nationality we belong to. But the sad reality is that because of some of our own privileges, prejudices, bigotry, or phobia of another religion, we shove some of our own people to the lower deck. This is happening throughout history and we see this in the world as well. We see classism or racism on an international level where countries are oppressing other countries and shoving them to the lower deck so we are forcing them to dig a hole in the boat in which we are all in. If they, do it, it’s not just them who drown, all of us drown. So, Justice through compassion means to have compassion for every single human being of every nation, religion or class then justice will be established.”

The founder of the AMC, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad said, “We share one thing in common. We all believe in God, the Creator and the Master of the universe. Also, we belong to the same denomination of God’s species and we are referred to as humans. This requires that we become friends with each other, with a purity of heart and sincerity of intentions. In the difficulties pertaining to religious and worldly matters, we should exercise such sympathies towards each other as if we have become limbs of the same body. My countrymen, a religion that does not inculcate universal compassion is no religion at all. Similarly, a human being without the faculty of compassion is no human at all. Our God has never discriminated between one people and another” (Message of Peace, p.6).

Mr. Ahmad said that this is the justice through compassion that we become the limbs of the same body which means that when you hurt, I should hurt as well. It also means that we need to help the people on the lower deck and show compassion, that way we will be able to establish justice. At the end Mr. Ahmad quoted a speech given by the current AMC leader, His Holiness the Caliph, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad by stating, “You should see all of humanity as your own children. There should be a passion for serving each other. When this becomes the case, how beautiful, peaceful, and harmonious a society it will be” (Dec. 2021).

Mr. Khairul Bahri, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, GA Chapter, thanked guests and concluded the program with silent prayer. 32 guests attended the event with enthusiasm and spirit.