Muslims for Progressive Values Denounces Two Extremist Organizations

LOS ANGELES - Nov. 29, 2017 - PRLog -- Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV) strongly condemns the Khatme Nubuwwat Center (KNC) and Idara Dawat-O-Irshad, USA, Inc. (IDI) for their bigoted, dangerous rhetoric at the Final Prophet Conference in Springfield, Virginia on November 18, 2017. These organizations promote extremist, violent, and anti-Islamic theology and we urge all Muslims and non-Muslims alike to denounce their hateful and dangerous teachings and activities.

Earlier this month, KNC and IDI hosted a male-only fundraising conference to promote their goal of "raising global awareness of the true theology of Islam," , which aimed to define who can and cannot identify as Muslim, according to their respective websites.  Kashif Chaudhry, an Ahmadi Muslim and human rights activist who attended the conference, wrote about the anti-semitic, anti-Ahmadi, and anti-American remarks expressed at the conference, explaining that speakers at the conference attempted to delegitimize Ahmadi and Shi'ite communities, as well as their allies, and called for violence to be used against them.

The views expressed by KNC and IDI at the conference, as well as on their websites (http://www.kncenter.org/defending-our-faith.html), are not at all Islamic, nor do they accord with what the majority of Muslims believe.  KNC and IDI present their hateful (http://irshad.org/exposed.php) and violent (http://irshad.org/brochures/message.php) rhetoric under the aegis of freedom of speech, but ignore the fact that words have consequences.  Violence against Muslim minorities (http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/junaid-jahangir/pakistanis-ahmadi-muslims_b_10564382.html?utm_hp_ref=ca-muslims-for-progressive-values), such as the Ahmadi and Shi'ite communities, is pervasive in many Muslim countries and has been well documented.

Organizations, such as KNC and IDI, use their forums to silence others and deny them their rights to free speech and religious liberty. In so doing, they transgress the Qur'anic mandate of freedom of religion (Quran 2:256), which is a fundamental principle of Islam.  The views promoted by KNC and IDI are completely antithetical to the Qur'anic values of social justice, collective identity, critical analysis and interpretation, and diversity, which are some of MPV's guiding principles.  MPV accepts as Muslim anyone who identifies as such.  We call for pluralism within the Muslim community and for the promotion of critical thought of religious ideas.

The statements made by KNC and IDI at the conference in Virginia must be rejected outright by the Muslim community at large.  Those who do not fervently reject such language contribute to the human rights abuses and bloodshed committed in the name of Islam.  MPV urges Muslims, particularly, American Muslims, to condemn the hateful, violent, and anti-Islamic rhetoric of the Khatme Nubuwwat Center and Idara Dawat-O-Irshad, USA, Inc.

Since 2007, MPV has been out in front of American Muslim organizations in the call for human rights and equality. MPV is a faith-based, grassroots, American human rights NGO that embodies and advocates for the traditional Qur'anic values of social justice and equality for all for the 21st century. As a progressive Muslim voice, MPV participates in civil discourse, engages with the media and government entities, and partners with both Muslim and non-Muslim progressive organizations.