IQRA Town Hall Meeting Aug 22nd 2017

Respected Imam, Police chief, honored guests.

Greetings

It is sad that in many parts of world, terrorism is causing a serious disturbance to peace and harmony. The terrorists in Barcelona killed 14 and injured over 100 innocent people. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack in Barcelona. This criminal act is against all religious teachings and is creating a bad name for Islam. 99% of peace loving Muslims condemns this inhuman behavior.

Unfortunately, this past weekend's White Supremacist rally in Charlottesville, VA reminds us that racism is still a very large part of today's America. Racism, Islamophobia and fear of the "other" will not go away on its own.

There has been a rising tension and unrest due to racial and ethnic tension. White-Supremacy has no place in a society as culturally, socially, ethnically, and religiously diverse as ours, and it's time we stand up and say “no more!”

Yesterday I became very concerned when Mr. President announced that he will continue the war in Afghanistan. His comments also angered the Pakistani Military when he stated that Pakistan is supporting Taliban when US has been trying to eliminate them.

With the war on Iran is in preparation and the atrocities in Iraq and Syria and other Muslim countries are going on, the US seems to be in perpetual war with all Muslim countries. This will bound to effect Muslims in this country and it is important that all Muslims should be united to coup with future calamities.

I am seriously concerned about the challenges Muslims are facing today in the US and most parts of the world. The six Muslim countries--Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia and Syria, have been destroyed. Iraq and Libya were offering free education and health care to all their citizens and Iraq had the highest literacy among all Muslim countries before 2003. Now it is completely shattered. Syria was a beautiful with 3000 years history. Now, the two major cities Damascus and Aleppo are in ruins. Hundreds of thousands have died and millions of people are displaced and 5 million refugees are still looking for shelter. Now, I am concerned about daily atrocities and loss of life in Yemen with impending famine. The next country which will be the target is Iran.

I am very anxious and keen to develop unity among all Muslims which will give us more strength to cope with the worsening situation. We also need to develop a positive image of our religion for our young children, to show and respect and dignity towards all sects no matter how much you disagree with their doctrine. We also need to develop some humanitarian service programs as united Muslims to create this positive image. I know that Islamic centers in different areas are doing good work but a united effort will have much more positive results.

You are the religious and community leaders with a large following. Please join hands together to achieve IQRA's goal to develop this peace initiative. I also understand that all of you are very busy with work, family and social responsibilities, but please give a serious thought to this aspect of united Muslim effort for the sake of our children and for the betterment of humanity. Looking forward to seeing you and for your guidance for the future projects of IQRA.