Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Continues Nationwide "Muslims for Peace" Campaign by Commemorating the Roots of Religious Freedom in America

Silver Spring, MD, July 26, 2010 --(PR.com)-- More than 6,000 delegates and dozens of community leaders and lawmakers gathered in Chantilly, Virginia last weekend at the 62nd annual convention of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA. A major theme of this year’s convention was religious freedom in America.

“America and Islam share a remarkably similar approach to freedom,” said Amjad Mahmood Khan, national director of public affairs for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA. “It is an approach grounded in absolute freedom of conscience and belief, the free exercise of religion for all people, freedom from state control of religion and mutual respect, cooperation and peace.”

Mr. Khan addressed the convention about the roots of religious freedom in America and how American Muslims enjoy greater freedom to practice their faith than anywhere else in the world: “No state in America has laws that ban headscarves, minarets or any other kind of Islamic custom or symbol of the kind France, Switzerland and other European nations seek to implement.” Mr. Khan also strongly condemned countries in the Islamic world that deny religious minorities the right to practice their faiths: “The U.S. Constitution is more Islamic than the constitutions of Islamic countries. It is tragic that much of the Islamic world has lost sight of Islam’s true and essential teachings concerning religious freedom.”

“I applaud the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA for [its] work to promote peace – and for being an important voice against violence and extremism,” said United States Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, “It is important that we take a firm stand against terrorism and support religious freedom. Religious freedom is a right that should not and must not be infringed upon.”

In addition to serving as director of public affairs for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, Mr. Khan is an attorney with Latham & Watkins LLP in Los Angeles. He earned his law degree from Harvard, where he was the editor-in-chief of the Harvard Human Rights Law Journal. Mr. Khan is a frequent lecturer on topics concerning the Muslim world, particularly human rights and governance. His writings have been published in The Wall Street Journal, the Christian Science Monitor and the New York Daily News.

About the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community:
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is a dynamic, reformist and fast growing international movement within Islam. Founded in 1889, the Community spans over 190 countries with membership exceeding tens of millions. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, established in 1920, is the first American-Muslim organization.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is the only Islamic organization to believe that the long-awaited messiah has come in the person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) of Qadian. Ahmad claimed to be the metaphorical second coming of Jesus of Nazareth and the divine guide, whose advent was foretold by the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad. The Community believes that God sent Ahmad, like Jesus, to end religious wars, condemn bloodshed and reinstitute morality, justice and peace. Ahmad’s advent has brought about an unprecedented era of Islamic revival and moderation. He divested Islam of fanatical beliefs and practices by vigorously championing Islam’s true and essential teachings.

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