Marwan Gill, Missionary, Argentina
On 7 May 2024, Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Argentina organised the second interfaith symposium at the National Congress of Argentina, with an aim to strengthen interfaith harmony and to reaffirm our common commitment towards peace and justice under the campaign “Voices For Peace”.
Besides the representatives of the diverse religious communities, several senators, diplomats, politicians, academics and journalists had gathered for this cause. The National Senator, Fernando Rejal from the province La Rioja, gave welcoming remarks in representation of the Congress and as the host of the event. Afterwards, the religious representatives presented a short prayer and passage from their respective holy scriptures. Thereafter, the Director of the political affairs of Amnesty International in Argentina, Santiago Juncal, and the National Senator Pablo Mayan shared their remarks about their commitment against all forms of hate crime and religious discrimination. Afterwards, several representatives of the Christian and Jewish faiths addressed the audience, based upon their teachings in regards to interfaith dialogue.
On behalf of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Argentina, my humble self gave the concluding speech. I thanked all the participants for their presence which demonstrated not only their commitment against islamophobia but all forms of religious hate. I emphasised that terrorism and violence cannot be attributed to any religion merely on the presumption that a person or a group claims to behave in the name of that faith. Rather, each religion must be judged, analysed and defined according to its own authentic teachings and sources. In the case of Islam, the literal meaning of our religion is peace and the ultimate purpose of its revelation is to show mankind the path to live in peace by establishing a personal relationship with their Creator. I shared a few examples from the Holy Quran and the sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammadsa that highlighted the universal principles of Islam in the defence of human sanctity.
In the end, on behalf of the Jamaat, we presented some gifts to the host Senators for having accepted the proposal of our Jamaat to organise this interfaith event at the National Congress. On the other side, the Senators presented a certificate of honour issued by the National Congress to all the religious speakers as a gesture of acknowledgement for having raised their voices in favour of peace and interfaith harmony. More than 70 guests participated in this session. Various national media outlets such as Infobae, Clarin, La Nacion, La Voz etc. published a detailed coverage of the event, and the entire session was also transmitted on the official channel of the Congress.