SEATTLE – Two Seattle Muslim residents have started Eat With Muslims project, a new non-profit organization seeking to change people’s perceptions of Muslims while sharing a delicious dinner.

“We realized we have to introduce people to one another,” Fathia Absie, who started Eat With Muslims a year ago with Ilays Aden, told Seattle Weekly on Monday, September 25.

“Build bridges. Build friendships.”

It all started after the election of Donald Trump who promised to ban immigrants from entering the US.

So, on a Friday night in Kent, a table in the rec room of St. James Episcopal Church was laden with a buffet of Somali dishes: Hummus, beef suqaar, basmati rice, and more.

“The green stuff at the end (nooc basbaas) is very spicy, so be careful!” Aden told the crowd of about 40 who have gathered to break bread this night.

Since they started earlier this year, they have had 11 such dinners across King County, meeting in churches, community halls, and private homes. Absie says with each meal, the crowd grows.

“First there was 15, then 20, then 30. Tonight I’d say there’s 40,” she says.

Absie says that from the beginning, it has not been difficult to find non-Muslims eager to try different food and talk to Muslims.

Yet, those dinners broke the ice. “How do you know when it’s time to pray?” “Did you speak English before you came to the United States?” attendants asked.

Diversity

Coming from Maple Valley to attend the dinner, the Fox family say they aren’t exposed to the cultural diversity that Kent has.

“I’ve been very curious what other religions are like,” says 12-year-old Kaitlyn Fox. “Schools try to be as unbiased as they can, but there’s always bias. You need to talk to people from that religion.”

Frank Smith, a parishioner at St. James, says the meal and the conversation were equal draws.

“I heard good things about the food. It lives up to the billing,” he says. “And I wanted to have a chance to fellowship with Muslims because it’s not in my mainstream.”

At the first dinner hosted at St. James. The Rev. Joyce Perry Moore, the rector of St. James, said she’s not surprised by the strong turnout for the dinner.

“Sometimes we don’t ask questions of one another because we’re embarrassed,” she says.

Later in the night she and Absie will perform a play in which a Muslim and Christian ask each other questions about their faith and culture.

“There are people with a good heart who don’t know how to make a connection,” she says.

“We don’t want to feel afraid and disconnected. We want to feel connected. That’s a very human thing.”