WASHINGTON — Mosques in the U.S. state of Michigan held their doors wide open for non-Muslim visitors on Saturday, October 17, in a day to celebrate the diverse American society and build bridges of understanding with the broader community.
"The Open House is designed to emphasize commonalities between the Abrahamic faiths," Rashid Taufiq, organizer of the event, told IslamOnline.net.
Sponsored by the umbrella Council of Islamic Organizations in Michigan (CIOM), the "Meet your Muslim Neighbor: Sharing our Common Heritage" event took place in eight mosques across the region.
The mosques encourage non-Muslims to visit and tour the Muslim houses of worship as part of a coordinated initiative to promote better understanding of the Noble Qu’ran and Islam.
"For most of our guests, we expect this will be their first visit to a mosque," said Taufiq.
Most of the participating mosques set up various information stations providing the visitors information about Islam, its origin, its message of peace, the basic tenets of the faith and diversity of Islamic culture.
The day featured short presentations, interactions with non-Muslims at each station and question and answer sessions.
According to the estimates of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Michigan is home to about 600,000 Muslims and close to 500,000 live in the southeastern part of the state.
Imam Aly Lela of the Islamic Association of Greater Detroit, one of the participating mosques, says this was not the first time mosques in Michigan organized such events to educate the public about Islam.
"What is unique about it this time is that this has been called by the CIOM, the umbrella Muslim organization in Michigan."
He said the Open House was organized in all participating mosques at the same time, making it a state wide event.
Imam Lela noted that in Michigan, home to one of the largest Arab and Muslim communities in the US, the relation between Muslims and non-Muslims is much-better than in other places.
According to the estimates of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Michigan is home to about 600,000 Muslims and close to 500,000 live in the southeastern part of the state.
* Misconceptions
Organizers said the Open House was meant to clear many misconceptions about Islam.
"The event is designed to correct misinformation the public receives from media and anti-Muslim sources," said Taufiq, who is also chair of the CIOM Outreach Committee.
Organizers regretted that in the post 9/11 America, Islam and the Muslim's places of worship have become deeply stereotyped.
"We recognized there is organized effort to demonize and spread misinformation about Islam and Muslims, contributing to stereotyping," contends Taufiq.
"Such misperceptions can be translated to the image of mosques in people’s mind."
A recent Pew Research Center and the Pew Forum poll showed that the majority of Americans know very little about the practices of Islam.
"There are so many misconceptions," noted Imam Lela.
"Some believe Muslims are anti-Christ, some believe that Muslims worship Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) and there are many more wrong ideas about Islam and Muslims."
He believes that events like the Open House can help dispel many such negative misconceptions.
"For example, we are giving the audience the chance for questions and answers so that they get to ask about anything they don’t understand in our religion and get the answer for it."
Even provocative questions are welcomed.
"It is our religious duty to reach out to people of other religions and educate them about us and to explain to them what they don’t know."
Taufiq, the event organizer, agrees.
"This will help build bridges of understanding and friendship."
Source: IslamOnline
"The Open House is designed to emphasize commonalities between the Abrahamic faiths," Rashid Taufiq, organizer of the event, told IslamOnline.net.
Sponsored by the umbrella Council of Islamic Organizations in Michigan (CIOM), the "Meet your Muslim Neighbor: Sharing our Common Heritage" event took place in eight mosques across the region.
The mosques encourage non-Muslims to visit and tour the Muslim houses of worship as part of a coordinated initiative to promote better understanding of the Noble Qu’ran and Islam.
"For most of our guests, we expect this will be their first visit to a mosque," said Taufiq.
Most of the participating mosques set up various information stations providing the visitors information about Islam, its origin, its message of peace, the basic tenets of the faith and diversity of Islamic culture.
The day featured short presentations, interactions with non-Muslims at each station and question and answer sessions.
According to the estimates of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Michigan is home to about 600,000 Muslims and close to 500,000 live in the southeastern part of the state.
Imam Aly Lela of the Islamic Association of Greater Detroit, one of the participating mosques, says this was not the first time mosques in Michigan organized such events to educate the public about Islam.
"What is unique about it this time is that this has been called by the CIOM, the umbrella Muslim organization in Michigan."
He said the Open House was organized in all participating mosques at the same time, making it a state wide event.
Imam Lela noted that in Michigan, home to one of the largest Arab and Muslim communities in the US, the relation between Muslims and non-Muslims is much-better than in other places.
According to the estimates of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Michigan is home to about 600,000 Muslims and close to 500,000 live in the southeastern part of the state.
* Misconceptions
Organizers said the Open House was meant to clear many misconceptions about Islam.
"The event is designed to correct misinformation the public receives from media and anti-Muslim sources," said Taufiq, who is also chair of the CIOM Outreach Committee.
Organizers regretted that in the post 9/11 America, Islam and the Muslim's places of worship have become deeply stereotyped.
"We recognized there is organized effort to demonize and spread misinformation about Islam and Muslims, contributing to stereotyping," contends Taufiq.
"Such misperceptions can be translated to the image of mosques in people’s mind."
A recent Pew Research Center and the Pew Forum poll showed that the majority of Americans know very little about the practices of Islam.
"There are so many misconceptions," noted Imam Lela.
"Some believe Muslims are anti-Christ, some believe that Muslims worship Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) and there are many more wrong ideas about Islam and Muslims."
He believes that events like the Open House can help dispel many such negative misconceptions.
"For example, we are giving the audience the chance for questions and answers so that they get to ask about anything they don’t understand in our religion and get the answer for it."
Even provocative questions are welcomed.
"It is our religious duty to reach out to people of other religions and educate them about us and to explain to them what they don’t know."
Taufiq, the event organizer, agrees.
"This will help build bridges of understanding and friendship."
Source: IslamOnline
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