((PKG)) AHMADIYYA COMMUNITY CLEANING TRASH
((Banner: Cleaning Up))
((Reporter/Camera: Deepak Dobhal))
((Map: Washington, D.C.))
((Banner: The Ahmadiyya sect of Islam began in 1889 in undivided India.))
((NATS))
((Hammad Ahmad, Religious Minister))
Those kind of thoughts never come to our mind that they don’t think about us as Americans. At the end of the day, we consider ourselves as Americans, right. I mean, if we are living here as residents, as citizens, no matter who says anything to us, the fact is that we live here. We consider ourselves Americans, so it's our responsibility to come and do this.
((NATS))
((Hammad Ahmad, Religious Minister))
So today what we decided to do was head to the National Mall and start cleaning up some garbage. The government has been shut down for a while now, so the parks are getting dirty, and we figured that this is our civic duty and religious duty to go take to the streets and start cleaning up the trash and the garbage here.
((NATS))
((Hammad Ahmad, Religious Minister))
We are Ahmadi Muslims. We are those Muslims who believe in the messiah Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian.
((NATS))
The messiah Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, he actually taught us that if you have a Hindu neighbor whose house is on fire and if you don't go and help that person, then you are not a member of my community, of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. So that is the level of and standard of service of creation that we are taught to abide by.
And, so again here, if the parks are sitting here full of trash and garbage is strewn about everywhere, it’s bothersome to people who come here, it’s bothersome to the environment, then the serving creation means to come clean the trash up. It means to make the park look nice. It means helping the environment, helping the people, the tourists who come and enjoy the park.
((NATS))
Volunteers. Doing this because this is the right thing to do.
Yeah, yeah.
((Hammad Ahmad, Religious Minister))
So, we are part of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association which is an auxiliary of the Ahmadiyya community at large. So, of course, we are wearing these vests. We are cleaning up the trash, so people do get curious and ask what we're about. And so, then when we tell them we're part of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community and we are doing this out of a level of service to our faith and abiding by the teachings of our faith. Then people are usually very appreciative of that. They commend this behavior and action, that we live by our faith in that way, in the way in which we dignify our society and environment.
((NATS))
Ok, good work guys.
Good seeing you guys.
((Hammad Ahmad, Religious Minister))
The Ahmadiyya Muslim community has been persecuted in much of the Muslim world, and the main reason for this persecution is that we believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian was a prophet. Now, much of the Muslim world takes exception to that and they say Muhammad, peace be upon him, was the last chronological prophet. No more prophets can come. And it is this basic, main difference because of which much of the Muslim world persecutes the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, why our community is called heretical and non-Islamic, and we are called kuffar or disbelievers.
((NATS))
((Hammad Ahmad, Religious Minister))
So, for us, as Ahmadiyya Muslims, you know, there's a very unique position we're in, where in much of the Muslim world, we are not considered Muslim. Now, here in the Western world, nobody knows what the difference of Sunni, Shia, Ahmadiyya. They just know a Muslim is a Muslim. So, here because we're Muslims, we are then persecuted because of that.
((NATS))
((Hammad Ahmad, Religious Minister))
Life does become for some Muslims stressful then in these times. You know, there are these cases of Muslims being attacked. You know, women wearing hijabs or scarves being attacked or being yelled at or being abused. And so, these are things that put you on your guard and these are things that when you go out, you look twice.
But at the end of the day, we still live in a country, in a society that gives us the freedom to practice our religion and we are grateful for those freedoms.
So, this was a time in which our city and our country needed our service, so we took that call upon ourselves to do the service to the nation in which we live.
((NATS))
