Hosting Interfaith Symposiums - an Excellent Way to Connect over our Differences in today's ever divided world

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Association hosted their Interfaith Symposium this weekend on April 30th in Toronto. There was representation from five different faiths at the event. Representing the Christian faith was Mrs. Jade Pitts, representing the Hindu faith was Dr. Nivedita Das Kundu, representing the Sikh faith was Ms. Parm Sidhu, representing the Buddhist faith was Dr. Rajini George, and representing the Islamic faith was Ms. Wardah Faryal. All the speakers spoke on the topic of women’s empowerment in light of their respective faith. This provided a great opportunity to embrace our differences and celebrate the diversity in the faiths that were represented.

Shedding light on the topic, Mrs. Jade Pitts said, “An empowered woman is powerful not because of who she is but because of God within her”. Dr. Rajini George said, “Buddhism is empowering yourself as a woman by working with your suffering and your negative energy, in order to free yourself”. Furthermore, Ms. Wardah Faryal added, “Islam has empowered women by laying a great emphasis on women’s education, giving women marital and divorce rights, proclaiming spiritual equality for women, and empowering women through their economic development and contribution to the nation.”

The event was organized entirely by volunteers and mostly by students. The event was part of celebrations to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Association. The Women’s Association was created by the second Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Bashirudin Mahmood Ahmad, who had a divine vision to create a platform for women to unite and grow.

There were various booths and displays setup for the attendees and were all created by students. The booths highlighted the efforts of the Ahmadiyya Muslims Women’s Association in carrying out humanitarian work in the past 100 years including building model villages in various countries in Africa. There were also Interfaith displays of all the faiths represented at the Interfaith Symposium. Another booth was one where the attendees were welcome to try on a hijab if they so pleased. There were ample picture taking opportunities!

The response of the event was overwhelmingly positive. The attendees got a chance to connect with each other and really have dialogue over how our differences can be a source of bringing us together. This is especially important in today’s global climate where war and restlessness prevail. It is important to use dialogue to find solutions and bring people together. The attendance was over 140 and attendees were from all walks of life. A guest, Alida Troini commented, paying a nod to the motive behind holding the event, “we all focus so much on our differences but what we really need to focus on is our similarities”.

The motto of the community is “Love for All, and Hatred for None” and this event was a visual example of just that. Events like this were envisioned by the holy founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (peace be upon him) over a 100 years ago as they are an excellent way to promote peace and harmony in society and build a better tomorrow. Every year, across the world, the community holds hundreds of interfaith symposiums and peace conferences to encourage interfaith dialogue and peace. The result of these symposiums is that people begin to see how faith actually serves to connect us, rather than divide us. Openly speaking about our differences, enables us to see that we aren’t actually so different. After all, as Rosa Parks said, “we are all one race, and that is the human race”.