NORTHAMPTON — Extremists have hijacked Islam and distorted it beyond recognition for their own gain, a prominent Muslim and special guest at former President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address said during a talk in the city this week.
“The point of this talk today is to highlight that really Islam is peaceful, and the message is peaceful,” Mohammed Qureshi, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Western Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Qureshi, who is also a doctor, told the roughly dozen people who attended his Wednesday talk, “True Islam vs. Extremism” at Forbes Library, that extremists have especially corrupted the meaning of jihad, which the Quran defines as a peaceful “struggle for self reformation.”
Qureshi talked about the fundamental values of Islam and prescribed them to the ailments of American society. Misogyny, greed, disorder, and violence are all explored in the Quran, he says, and can be overcome with compassion and the word of God. He noted that the Quran shares many American values like the separation of church and state, loyalty to one’s country, and condemns terrorism.
At the same time, Americans have a distorted view of the religion, often equating Islam with terrorism in the post-9/11 world.
“What are the principles of Islam that can save our divided nation?” Qureshi asked. “What are the problems we are facing in the United States? There is disorder and disobedience in this society. There is injustice in this society.”
Starting with a brief history of the religion he explained that Muhammad, the founder of Islam, was a prophet of God just like Jesus, Moses, Krishna, and Buddha. In fact, one of Islam’s six pillars of faith is the belief in all prophets of God, regardless of religion. One bullet point read, “No religion can monopolize salvation.”
Before the presentation, the organization’s outreach director, Zahir Mannan, recited a verse from the Quran, first singing in Arabic, then again translating to English.
Qureshi and Mannan belong to the Baitul Aman, or “House of Peace” mosque in Meriden, Connecticut. Two years ago after the terrorist attacks in Paris, Ted Hakey Jr. drunkenly shot at the mosque and was sentenced to six months in prison. In that time, members of the mosque reached out, Mannan visited Hakey in prison, forgave him, and now the shooter has an amicable relationship with the mosque, Qureshi said.
After the incident, President Obama invited Qureshi to his final State of the Union address, which he says was one of the most moving experiences of his life.
“It was incredible,” Qureshi said. “Nothing will ever feel like that again.”
“Ahmadiyya Muslims belong to a sect of Islam that believes the Messiah has returned again in the person of his holiness Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India (1835-1908),” Mannan explained after the talk. Five Khalifas have succeeded Ahmad as the community’s spiritual and administrative heads, Mannan said, with his holiness the Khalifa of Islam Mirza Masroor Ahmad serving the community today.
Qureshi also talked about day-to-day cultural differences like the fact that in Muslim culture they do not shake hands as a greeting, and often refuse drugs and alcohol. While talking about the hijab, he presented pictures of Mother Theresa and the Virgin Mary wearing similar head garments.
Among the attendees was Michael Merline, who was visiting from Franklin, and in town for The Bob’s a cappella show Tuesday night. He studied sociology in college and appreciates learning about different cultures.
“I wanted to do something different every night I was here,” said Merline. “So I checked Facebook and saw that this was going on.”
During the presentation, Merline asked Qureshi to explain why he believes extremists have hijacked Islam and corrupted the meaning of jihad.
“Because it’s politics,” Qureshi said. “They are distorting their own message to rile up the common man who doesn’t know anything and get him to say, ‘hey all your problems and suffering are because of this place,’ and they turn to terror. So it’s all politics.”
Minaal Choudhury, a former Northampton resident and Muslim from Bangladesh, said she wanted to attend the talk to see who else would show up.
“I was surprised to see the kind of people that showed up, it says something about the American spirit, and this curiosity they have to learn about other cultures,” she said.
Choudhury said that because the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam has been persecuted in South East Asian and Pakistan convinced her to attend the talk.
Qureshi’s presentation did not differentiate between any of the 72 sects within the religion that “all believe in the same unchanged book.” He spoke about the importance of a single Muslim leader, and the unfortunate fractured nature of the religion today.
“Whenever God is not happy with a nation, the nation gets divided into these groups,” he said. “Islam doesn’t need to change, Islam needs to go back to it’s roots.”
Editor’s note: This story was changed on Oct. 23, 2017, to clarify that his holiness the Khalifa of Islam Mirza Masroor Ahmad is the current leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community.