SUPPORT FOR AHMADIYYA COMMUNITY FROM MUSLIM WOMEN'S GROUP

This letter is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Support for Ahmadiyya community from Muslim women's group

As a national women's organisation that is involved in interfaith work, and the only organisation to be involved in every national government, Muslim women's initiative, Fatima Women's Network, is writing to express our support for the Ahmadiyya community.

We wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment of the article (Mercury, June 28) that in a climate where Muslims are increasingly misunderstood, divisive behaviour within the Muslim community does little to help, especially as most Muslims display the qualities associated with the Ahmadiyya community: moderate, forward-thinking and peace-loving.

We have found the Ahmadiyya community to be welcoming and inclusive. We strive to be reciprocal.

While we understand that long-standing prejudices and ignorance exist within the Muslim community with regards to different sects, this cannot be tackled solely by personal words of support from community leaders but also by action of support as a collective, which we have endeavoured to do by including the Ahmadiyya community in all Muslim faith work we have been involved in. We urge Muslim communities and organisations to ensure that when representing the diversity of Islam, all sects and communities are included, especially one which has an epitaph all Muslims can identify with: Love for all, hatred for none.

Parvin Ali, OBE, Fatima Women's Network, Leicester