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700+ Members of Local Churches Tour NC Mosque

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.

โ€œThe 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.

โ€œTo 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 weโ€™ve been on a long and continuing journey to reach some of those ideas,โ€ he said.

โ€œFor 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 โ€œMeet 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.

โ€œWeโ€™re 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.

โ€œItโ€™s wonderful. Their hospitality is amazing and itโ€™s 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.

โ€œWe each have a prayer life thatโ€™s kind of secret, and Iโ€™m 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.

โ€œWe 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.

โ€œOn some level it does hurt. Weโ€™ve come to acknowledge that this is just the current environment that weโ€™re in right now,โ€ Abuahmad said.

โ€œInstead of getting upset about it, the better thing to do is to rise above and just address it and change peopleโ€™s minds and change peopleโ€™s hearts.โ€

The Islamic Association of Raleigh invites people who couldnโ€™t attend to contact them for individual tours and question sessions.

โ€œWe open up to everyone to come. People who have questions. People who donโ€™t understand what Islam is,โ€ Kechout said.

โ€œPeople 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 โ€œthe perversion and abhorrent abuse of faithโ€ for qualifying oneโ€™s actions.

Imam AbuTaleb and Muslim congregation applauded and praised their guests for having the courage to come to the open house.

โ€œThatโ€™s an important part about what makes our community rich. The ability to demonstrate the capacity to have this conversation,โ€ AbuTaleb said.

โ€œSo much of our community is caught up in a divisive rhetoric, and doesnโ€™t know that there is a different way to engage one another and have conversations like today.โ€