Islamic Law Protests Across the US; Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Hosts Iftars

By Nandhinikandhasamy (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
By Nandhinikandhasamy (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Protesters against Islam clashed with supporters all across the nation, while the Ahmadiyya community held iftars for non-Muslims.

A number of American cities across the U.S. saw clashes between anti-Sharia and pro-Muslim groups[/tweetit]. ACT for America organized a “March Against Sharia” in over two dozen cities in the U.S. In response, a number of Americans came forward to counter-protest against the ACT activists, insisting Muslims had every right to be in America. A spokesperson for ACT for America, however, argued they were only against radical Muslims and not against all Muslims and were marching against Sharia laws.

Islamic Law Protests Across the US; Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Hosts Iftars[/tweetthis]

The protests and counter-protests led to a lot of unrest and even some violence, which eventually resulted in the arrest of a few people. At the Minnesota Capitol building in St. Paul, for example, seven arrests were made. In Seattle, the police had to use pepper spray to break up the crowd that was turning violent. Troy Thompson of Capitol Police at Pennsylvania called the crowd at Harrisburg, where two arrests were made, as a bit “rowdy.”

In New York City, Manhattan was the scene of a clash between the two groups, where 100 protesters and 200 anti-protestors gathered, and exchanged verbal arguments, even in the presence of several police officers. The anti-protesters drowned the chants and slogans shouted by the protesters using bullhorns and other noise-makers.

ACT for America called off the demonstration in Portland, however. As the scene of a stabbing late last month left two dead, in a gruesome case of anti-Islamic violence, ACT saw it wiser to avoid causing any more tension in the area. Ted Wheeler, the mayor, prohibited ACT’s local chapter from going forward with their demonstration. The venue was then shifted to Seattle instead.

The protesters claim terrorists are trying to establish Sharia law all over the world including in the U.S. They carried placards and shouted slogans saying Sharia is abusive of women and so on. The protesters also insisted Sharia culture is not compatible with Western culture and should not be in the U.S.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of USA protested against hatred towards Islam in a unique way – by holding iftar parties across 100 different locations in the U.S. on Saturday. The community leaders invited Americans of all faiths and beliefs to attend these iftar parties, to learn the real truth about Islam, as opposed to the false pictures painted by terrorists and propagandists.

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