24.01.2016 - 21:08
A group of Canberra Muslims will be handing out leaflets to show their love for the nation this Australia Day.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Association Australia has launched a campaign to deliver 500,000 of the “Loyalty to Homeland” pamphlets across the country on Tuesday.
The ACT branch said it hoped to deliver 8,000 across the Canberra region.
Group member Khalid Mahmood Syed said they wanted to give a voice to the “silent majority” of Muslims who were peaceful.
“Every time there is a terrorist attack anywhere in the world, doubts are raised in people’s minds about whether Islam is a peaceful religion and whether Muslims can be loyal to the country we live in,” Mr Syed said.
“We wanted to show that Muslims can be peaceful citizens and loyal citizens.”
Members also planned to take part in barbecues and Australia Day events across the Canberra region.
Children’s leader Zul Al-Kabir said children and youth would distribute the leaflets around Civic while older members would letterbox drop their local suburbs.
“This is good teaching for our children to join in this and learn what we do,” he said.
“On Australia Day they will join the fun, the activities, the barbecues, the backyard cricket, the sausage sizzle and join in these Australia Day events and have fun.”
