HOWTHORNE, CA: Some 150 youth of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community spent the March 28 - 30 weekend gathered together at the Baitus Salaam Mosque in Hawthorne. The Regional South-West Coast retreat.

The event had a total attendance of 155, with youth attending from Las Vegas, Tucson, Phoenix, San Diego, Chino, Chino Hills, Corona, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and Los Angeles. Every year, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community organizes this retreat to encourage its youth to engage in healthy educational and sports competitions as well as team building exercises.

A very successful blood donation drive lasted all day Saturday and resulted in some 34 donations being made.Imam Shamshad drew the attention of the youth to the need to spread the message of peace, love and tolerance that is the essence of Islam.

'While there are many trying to spread hatred through provocative cartoons and venomous movies it is our duty to show the people that Islam stands for peace and love and harmony by our words and our deeds.This year Brother Rasheed of Milwaukee was invited to share his experiences as a convert to Islam with the youngsters present.

He told everyone of how he embraced Islam in the late 1940's and how essential it was for every one of us to always be engaged in the preaching of the message of peace that is the sum and essence of Islam.Many different physical and educational competitions were organized and the participants were recognized for their various achievements during the closing prize distribution session.

Imam Shamshad cited the examples of the exemplary accomplishments of early Muslim youth from the history of Islam and urged them all to try and follow in their footsteps and learn to become godly people dedicated to the service of humanity.