Meet the man who is embraced by both Conservatives and Liberals, and who does humanitarian work for all people.
This week, FoxNews.com hosted an interesting pair of Op-Eds by Qanta Ahmed and Qasim Rashid (who has written for The Good Men Project) debating whether there is a leader the great like Nelson Mandela in the Muslim world.
Events this week beg the question: where among the 1.56 billion Muslims is our Mandela? Where is our Mahatma? Where is our Madiba? Where our liberator?
Instead of rearing a mandela[sic], someone who could bring people of different faiths together to build a more peaceful world, Muslims attempt to assassinate a Malala before maturity. We are undeserving of such great souls and yet the need has never been greater.
But Qasim Rashid, author of the book The Wrong Kind of Muslim, begs go differ, in his own Op-Ed response Meet The Muslim Mandela. Rashid takes umbrage with the comparison between the colonialism in South Africa and the terrorist activities of people who act in the name of Islam. He explains that despite Ahmed’s claims that the latter is “far more heinous” than the colonialism, comparing atrocities is not helpful.
In this case, the comparison unfairly dismisses the tens of millions of black South Africans who suffered under official or unofficial apartheid governance for well over a century.
What’s more, Rashid maintains that there is a leader who represents the hopes and dreams of Muslims around the world. Someone who is respected, “earning praise and support from both far right Republicans like Peter King and from staunch Obama supporters like Democrat Keith Ellison.”
Yes, it flies in the face of most of the Conservatives on FoxNews, as well as the arguments posed by Qanta Ahmed, whom Rashid recognizes most likely has the best of intentions in her piece. But the truth is that a peaceful leader for Muslims and non-Muslims alike is not a concept most media outlets are spending enough time covering.
Rashid explians:
The Muslim Mandela is a beacon of peace, enduring prison patiently for his beliefs, living in exile from his homeland for over a decade for his faith, and forbidding any violent or uncivilized response to the countless acts of terrorism and apartheid against his tens of millions of followers.
The Muslim Mandela is just, emphatically declaring, “we believe entirely in a separation of religion and matters of State,” and in universal freedom of conscience for all people regardless of belief.
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The Muslim Mandela responds to the intense persecution with free hospitals for all in need and free secular education for all children, boy or girl, Muslim or non-Muslim — just as President Mandela responded to 27 years of unjust imprisonment with forgiveness to his persecutors and service to all humanity, black or white.
This man is His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad Khalifa of Islam, and it’s time we all familiarized ourselves with him and his work.
Read more about Muslim Mandela at FoxNews.com, where Qasim Rashid shares many compelling facts and stories about His Holiness. It’s time we all work together to hold up the leaders of all nations, faiths and backgrounds who are working to advance peace, equality and partnership.
Photo: Calgary Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
Good article. I have already embraced this Muslim Mandela!!!
Thank you for your introduction to His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad Khalifa. Much of modern Islam seems to be fueled by reaction to colonialism going back as far as the Crusades. It is time for a re-visioning of Islam to be more inclusive and less reactionary to other cultures. We in the west have much to atone for, but we also have much to share. Just as Mandela was able to bridge between cultures, so too must Muslim leaders find common ground so we all can work together to live in compassion.