Women come together in Vaughan for peace conference

Themed Peace on our Planet, women share multi-faith goal

Yorkregion.com
March 6, 2016
By Lisa Queen

A multi-faith conference in York Region Sunday shared a vision of women coming together to create peace in society.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Women's Association hosted the conference at its national headquarters on Jane Street north of Major Mackenzie Drive in Vaughan.

With the theme "Peace on our planet - our contribution," the event drew more than 300 women from different religious, cultural and social organizations from Vaughan, Bradford, Newmarket, Richmond Hill, King City, Thornhill, Markham and other communities.

The goal of the conference was to promote peace, foster relationships among different groups and push back against stereotypes associated with Islam, Amtul Noor Daud, national president of the women's association, said.

While terrorism is committed by extremists, Islam is a religion of peace, she said.

"This is a very important message today because Islam is being associated with terrorism and that is absolutely the wrong portrayal of Islam and we, as followers of Islam, we want to show the world the true picture that is associated with absolute peace," she said.

"The religious aspect of Islam is truly beautiful. It is just peace and love and kindness and mercy for everyone."

A conference organized by women for women sends a meaningful message, Daud said.

"The image that society and some media have (is) that Muslim women are oppressed, they can't do anything, they have no choice of career, they can't live in society while being oppressed," the Vaughan resident said.

"Being a Muslim organization, we want to show the world that yes, we can do everything within the teachings of Islam, within the boundary of Islam, having our veils on, we are nothing less than women of other religions."

Association representative Sadaf Shah, a resident of Bradford, also spoke of Islam as a religion of peace.

"Islam teaches us that unless man learns to live at peace with himself and his fellow beings, he can't live at peace with God," she said.

"A Muslim can only be considered best in the sight of God if he or she can be of service to mankind."

However, if Islam is about peace and serving humanity, then why are some Muslim groups around the world engaging in brutal acts of terrorism, Shah said.

"Terrorism is a global problem and needs to be studied in its larger perspective. Unless we understand the forces behind the violence, we will not be able to understand why some Muslim groups and states are turning to terrorism to achieve certain objectives," she said.

She referred to research showing suicide bombings have more to do with secular and strategic goals to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from territories that terrorists consider their homelands than they do with Islamic fundamentalism or other religions.

"Islam is as far removed from terrorism as light is from darkness. It is not the exploiter but itself is being abused by internal or external (groups) for political interests," Shah said.

The conference was impressive, especially as it was held only two days before International Women's Day on Tuesday, Vaughan Councillor Marilyn Iafrate said.

"What better celebration to be at than this, where we have women here for a common cause - peace, global peace, peace on earth, which really at the end of the day, whether it's the whole world or within our families, we all want and strive for the same thing. We want peace," she said.

Vaughan Councillor Rosanna DeFrancesca said she was touched by the number of women participating in the conference.

"I think as women, we have an important role in society to educate our children, our communities and our nation, at the end of the day, about peace and love and faith," she said.

"I think women need the support of other women and I encourage all of you to support each other because we deal with so many issues in our community and some of them are so similar. At the end of the day, we are all somebody's daughter, we are somebody's sister, we are mothers, we are wives and we share the same challenges in life. So, let's stick together."

DeFrancesca said she agreed with another speaker who said women will one day be the true leaders of the world.

"I agree with her 100 per cent because we have passion, compassion and love in our hearts," she said.

"As Canadians, we are so blessed with peace in our country and diversity. And it's important to educate our children that this peace and diversity and togetherness is not always shared around the world and that we have to strive and we have so much more work to do to achieve the greatness we have in this country in every country around the world."