This week, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Zion, Illinois, opened its doors to the city's first mosque.
A member of the Zion Ahmadiyya Muslim community attends Friday prayer in Zion, Ill., on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. A century after the Ahmadis' prophet, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, challenged Zion's founder, John Alexander Dowie, a Christian faith healer, to a prayer duel, the community has built their first official mosque in the city. – A holy miracle happened in Zion 115 years ago. Or so millions of Ahmadi Muslims around the world believe.
This weekend, thousands of Ahmadi Muslims from around the world have congregated in the city to celebrate that century-old miracle and a significant milestone in the life of Zion and of their faith: The building of the city’s first mosque.Dowie was born in Scotland in 1847. His family immigrated in 1860 to Australia, where he was ordained and became pastor of a Congregational church.
While he welcomed Black people and immigrants into Zion, Dowie had harsh words for politicians, medical doctors and Muslims, which he expressed in his journal. As he got the new space ready for the Oct. 1 inauguration, Soofi recounted the tale passed down to generations of Ahmadis. When Ahmad, the religion's founder who lived in Qadian, India, heard about Dowie's angry proclamations against Muslims, he urged him to stop, Soofi said.
Dowie refused to acknowledge Ahmad's challenge and scoffed at his statements that Jesus was human, survived the crucifixion and lived out the rest of his life in Kashmir. He shot back writing: “Do you think that I should answer such gnats and flies?” “Whether you talk to an Ahmadi in Miami, Maine, South Dakota or Seattle, they will know this story and what a great victory it was,” Khan said, adding that it doesn’t mean they exult in Dowie’s demise. “It’s the triumph of what Islam stands for in the face of false allegations, and it’s about the victory of prayer over prejudice.
She also believes Dowie, in his later years, “got carried away” and “did things with money he shouldn’t have.”Goodwin also yearns to go back to a time when she was a little girl and the city played chimes at 9 in the morning and 9 at night.Mike McDowell’s great grandparents moved to Zion in 1905 from North Dakota because his great grandmother believed Dowie cured her whooping cough. McDowell sits on the board of the Zion Historical Society, which maintains Shiloh House.
He agrees what Dowie said about Muslims and Ahmed was “inflammatory,” but doesn’t believe the founder accepted Ahmad’s prayer duel. For community member Suriyya Latif, the new mosque reflects the Ahmadi community’s motto, which is painted in giant letters on the wall of their community center: “Love for all, hatred for none.”The prayer duel, she said, is not an archaic tale, but a current manifestation of the community’s motto. Latif, who has toured the Shiloh House, wishes Dowie could have seen what his faith had in common with Islam.
Ahmadi women raised nearly half of the $4 million needed for the new mosque, said Dhiya Tahira Bakr, national president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community's women’s auxiliary. Bakr, who is African American, converted to Islam nearly four decades ago. Transcending culture and language barriers has not been difficult because their faith has bound Ahmadis of all backgrounds together, she said.
Mayor Billy McKinney’s family moved to Zion in 1962, as the civil rights movement was gathering momentum. For Black families, racially integrated Zion was an oasis in a nation where segregation was the norm, he said. The mayor believes a community partnership has emerged from this century-old feud.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Four charged in Southwest Side crime spree that ended in crash that killed innocent womanPolice said four people carjacked two women Wednesday night, set a pickup truck on fire, and ended up crashing into a 55-year-old woman's car, killing her.
Read more »
Nightfall sneak peek as Old Tucson reopens Oct. 6A favorite Tucson Halloween tradition is returning next week for the first time since 2019. Pat Parris KGUN got an exclusive sneak peek, as nearly 100 actors and stunt performers rehearse for the four week run of Nightfall. Get the full story only
Read more »
Ex-NFL Player Gavin Escobar, SoCal Cinematographer Killed While Rock ClimbingFormer NFL tight end Gavin Escobar and a 33-year-old Huntington Beach woman were identified Thursday as the two people killed while rock climbing in the Southern California mountains.
Read more »
Yoshitaka Amano Partners with Astar Network to Release New NFT CollectionOne of the most notable artists of the 21st century to present his own NFT collection as part of a partnership with AstarNetwork
Read more »
New electric Citroen C3 coming in 2023 with rugged reinvention | AutocarA new electric Citroen C3 will arrive in 2023 with rugged styling - it will be the first full-sized Citroen model with inspiration drawn from the Ami and Oli EVs ⚡
Read more »