Islamic symposium draws dozens to Holbrook library in Arizona

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Sunday 13 Dec 2015 - 11:38 Makkah mean time-2-3-1437 During a vigil and symposium Saturday where speakers stressed the peaceful teachings of Islam, participants remembered the terrorism victims and their families in prayer. Image from The Boston Globe Holbrook City, Arizona (IINA) - Fiona Ahmed, an American woman, on Saturday helped to organize a symposium on the teachings of Islam, held at the Holbrook public library, where an exhibition about the Qur’an is on display, The Boston Globe online news reported. “You can only fight prejudice through education and prayer,” said Ahmed, a practicing Muslim who lives in Brookline. “Islam teaches you should never even be harsh with your words. My job is to move forward and invite people to understand.” Speakers urged the public not to vilify all Muslims based on the recent terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., which were linked to ISIS group. “These atrocities do not represent Islam,” said Dr. Kashif Chaudhry, a cardiology fellow at Lahey hospital and medical center in Burlington. “The values that these terrorists stand for do not represent our values.” In San Bernardino, 14 people were killed and 21 injured, allegedly by a couple who had pledged allegiance to ISIS group. The Dec. 2 shootings came just weeks after more than 100 people were killed in terrorist attacks in Paris carried out by its members. The incidents have fueled anti-Muslim sentiment, most notably from U.S. Republican Presidential hopeful Donald Trump, who has called for all Muslims to be banned from entering the United States. In an earlier incident, even Ahmed had become a target of Islamophobia. While she was walking in downtown Boston with her husband a stranger shouted at them, “Go back to Afghanistan.” The man, unaware that Ahmed was an Irish woman married to a native New Yorker, had only noticed her headscarf. SM/IINA