A week-long Da’wah Program organized by Islamic Fraternity (IF), an Islamic organization working in the field of Da’wah, education and social welfare activities, from 24 January at famous hill-resort Gulmarg, Baramulla concluded here on Tuesday.
The program was organized to spread a word about Islam among non-Muslim tourists visiting the hill-resort and offer them the taste of traditional Kashmiri Kehwa to beat the cold.
A tent was erected by the organization inside the snow-covered field of Gulmarg where around two dozen volunteers served Kehwa to non-Muslim tourists besides they also distributed Islamic literature particularly the holy Qur’an in different languages, for the purpose to clear misconceptions in their minds.
The program, as per the organizers, was a part of series of a campaign that Islamic Fraternity has started to spread awareness about Islam among non-Muslims and to break the propaganda created by “biased” Media across the globe.
During the course of seven days, more than eight hundred non-Muslims had interactions with Da’ees of Islamic Fraternity, two among of whom had been invited from New Delhi to assist the Islamic Fraternity volunteers in their Da’wah campaign in Gulmarg. Ambulance service was also made available to meet the emergencies.
President Islamic Fraternity, Muhammad Aamir, who conceptualized the program, says that the aim behind organizing such program was to showcase the Kashmiri-Muslim hospitality to non-Muslim tourists and at the same time to fulfill the obligation of inviting people to Islamic teachings.
“Besides, the intention was to dismantle the propaganda that biased media has created over the period of time among the minds of common people. Moreover, we wanted others who are out of the fold of Islam to identify their actual creator, the Almighty Allah,” Aamir said.
Gulmarg being the main centre of tourist attraction during winters, he said that the hill-resort was specifically chosen so that they could hold maximum conversations with non-Muslim tourists and guide them towards Islam.
“In summers, we are planning to hold more such programs at other famous tourist spots like Pahalgam and Sonamarg, and would try to spread Islamic teachings to as many non-Muslims as we could,” Aamir, who also heads Islamic Global School (IGS) at Padshahi Bagh in Srinagar.
He thanked Director tourism, Mehmood Ahmad Shah, and Chief Executive Officer, Gulmarg Development Authority, Syed Haneef Balkhi for their support in providing accommodation to IF volunteers and for granting permission to hold the camp.(KNO)