ROCKFORD – Women of different faiths in Rockford city, Illinois, have come together during weekend for the 11th annual women in Islam event that is meant to discuss misconceptions about being Muslim.

“This event primarily is to invite members of the community in, who may have driven by the mosque, may have heard a little bit about Islam, and who are curious,” Muslim Association of Greater Rockford Member Lamis Diab told WREX.com.

Diab, a Rockford resident, said the event gathered many women driven by curiosity to hear about Islam and how the faith deals with women.

Planning the event, the Muslim Association of Greater Rockford said it is meant to discuss misconceptions about being Muslim.

“People are speaking using hate speech to unite the country,” event participant Isha Shaheem said.

“It’s very dangerous and so for me I would love dialogue.”

This event triggered important conversation about topics like attacks wrongly committed in the name of Islam.

“Isis has nothing with Islam,” Diab said, using another acronym to refer to the so-called Islamic State (ISIL).

“There are isolated incidents all over the world that happen every day where people use the name of religion for their own agenda.”

“Most Muslims are just perplexed of how are they saying this message of hate, how are they saying this message of violence because we are not allowed to harm anyone,” Guest Speaker Lisa Killinger said.

Other conversations focused on Islamic hijab for women.

“They see me wearing my scarf and they automatically assume I’m oppressed, I was forced, I’m uneducated I cannot speak English, and if I do speak English I have an accent,” Isha Shaheem said.

Local Muslim women hope this event brings people together respecting each other’s differences and sharing similarities.

“I think it’s important to remember that the religion, that the foundation of every religion is peace,” Diab said.