RALEIGH โ In a bid to examine true Islam and Muslims, members of local church in Raleigh, North Carolina, joined hundreds of local in a visit to the local Islamic association, witnessing Muslim prayer and getting answers for their questions surrounding the faith.
โThe challenge is, for so many Americans and so many people, their view of Islam is shaped through the lens of terrorism,โ Imam Mohamed AbuTaleb, the imam of the Islamic Association of Raleigh, told CBS North Carolina.
โTo open our doors is part of what makes this community rich and vibrant. To open our doors I believe is part of the vision, the essence of what the Founding Fathers envisioned in founding this country even if weโve been on a long and continuing journey to reach some of those ideas,โ he said.
โFor us today, this is part of what it means to be Muslim, part of our worship and our devotion to God,โ Imam AbuTaleb, who has a PhD in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in addition to being a Muslim scholar, added.
Decorated with signs with the colors of the American flag, the Islamic center opened its doors last Saturday to host โMeet Your Fellow American Muslimsโ event.
Groups from many local churches toured the mosque alongside others curious about Islam and their Muslim-American neighbors. They observed midday prayer and listened to readings from the Quran.
About 20 members of the congregation from Holy Trinity Lutheran Church joined senior pastor Sharon Taylor for the open house.
โWeโre trying to break down barriers and try to understand other faiths and understand people who have different cultures. Start with conversation and be a part of coming to the table and trying to learn about each other,โ Taylor said.
โItโs wonderful. Their hospitality is amazing and itโs an opportunity for us to come together and ask questions,โ Taylor added.
Larry Anderson, a member of Umstead Park United Church of Christ, said the part of the day that appealed most to him was observing the prayer.
โWe each have a prayer life thatโs kind of secret, and Iโm always impressed with how open the Muslim faith is with sharing their common faith in a way of prayer time,โ Anderson said.
Surprise Success
The huge number of visitors, who exceeded 700, was a pleasant surprise to Muslims.
โWe are Americans. We want to be seen just as anyone else,โ Tammy Kechout, who converted to Islam six years ago, said.
Another volunteer, Yousef Abuahmad, shared a similar opinion, seeing the number as an indication of the growing number of people also view and treat Islam as a boogeyman.
โOn some level it does hurt. Weโve come to acknowledge that this is just the current environment that weโre in right now,โ Abuahmad said.
โInstead of getting upset about it, the better thing to do is to rise above and just address it and change peopleโs minds and change peopleโs hearts.โ
The Islamic Association of Raleigh invites people who couldnโt attend to contact them for individual tours and question sessions.
โWe open up to everyone to come. People who have questions. People who donโt understand what Islam is,โ Kechout said.
โPeople that are tearing their hearts out inside, saying that Muslims are not good people. We want them to come and see and to come meet someone and ask questions.โ
The Imam addressed the connection made between Islam and terrorism. He said ISIS is as Islamic as the Ku Klux Klan is Christian.
AbuTaleb criticized what he referred to as โthe perversion and abhorrent abuse of faithโ for qualifying oneโs actions.
Imam AbuTaleb and Muslim congregation applauded and praised their guests for having the courage to come to the open house.
โThatโs an important part about what makes our community rich. The ability to demonstrate the capacity to have this conversation,โ AbuTaleb said.
โSo much of our community is caught up in a divisive rhetoric, and doesnโt know that there is a different way to engage one another and have conversations like today.โ