The annual event is designed to help Americans of all faiths meet their Muslim neighbors on a complimentary Ramadan iftar. (Photo by Farman Syed)
WASHINGTON — Muslim mosques and advocacy groups use the spirit of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan to enhance the understanding of Islam among Americans of all faiths through open houses.
"We value the friendship and support of our fellow Americans. Considering that Islam and Muslims are often subject to misconceptions," Amina Ansari, Program Manager of the Council on American-Islamic Relations of the San Francisco Bay Area (CAIR-SFBA), told IslamOnline.net.
"It is our pleasure to bring people together in this educational initiative, especially in the spirit of Ramadan."
Ansari has played a key role in organizing the annual event, designed to help Americans of all faiths meet their Muslim neighbors on a complimentary Ramadan iftar, and coordinating with the six participating mosques.
The real challenge for Bay Area open houses organizers was to get their target audience to come to the event, as it is aimed primarily at people of other faiths.
"We have maintained and continue to maintain good relationships with members of the interfaith community, with local officials and government leaders," said Abiya Ahmad, CAIR-SFBA media relations coordinator.
"We also seek to meet this challenge by ensuring that we publicize the event properly and the response we’ve gotten is very positive, because most people are willing and eager to learn more about Islam and interact with mainstream Muslims. They just need to be given a platform to do so."
Preparations for the annual Bay Area open houses event usually start at least three months in advance.
"This year, we’ve placed an ad in one of the main local newspapers (San Francisco Chronicle) so that more of our target audience is reached," said Ahmad.
"We also encourage Muslims to invite their non-Muslim coworkers, friends, and neighbors."
More than thousand guests from all over the Bay Area were invited, including local and state political representatives, interfaith leaders, professors, activists and law enforcement officials.
The number of guests exceeded what the organizers were expecting. At each mosque there were hundreds in attendance.
The participating mosques were the Muslim Community Association in Santa Clara (MCA), Islamic Center of Alameda (ICA), South Valley Islamic Center - San Martin (SVIC), Islamic Society of East Bay (ISEB), Islamic Center of Livermore (ICL) and the Zaytuna Institute in Hayward.
Similarities
Because such events are held for non-Muslim Americans, the Muslim community does not expect from the audience to act or look like Muslims.
For Abiya Ahmad, CAIR-SFBA media relations coordinator, sharing Ramadan is essentially not only a tradition and practice of the holy month, but also an outreach effort to educate people about Islam, and dispel misconceptions and stereotypes about Muslims.
"The outreach effort is intended to offer our fellow Americans the chance to experience Ramadan, an integral part of which is the fast-breaking meal, or iftar," said Ahmad.
"Inevitably, part of this process includes getting Muslims and people of other faiths to interact with each other, to build friendships and to leave the event with a renewed commitment to work together for common goals of peace and justice."
Although the event’s program varies from mosque to mosque.
Ahmad said a typical agenda includes a short talk about Islam and Ramadan, sharing the Abrahamic connection, and possibly sharing personal spiritual growth stories through fasting, followed by break for prayer, and then dinner.
"The aim of the presentations is to teach people a little about the basics of Islam, its basic beliefs, pillars, etc., through which people also recognize the similarities common among the Abrahamic faiths," said Ahmad.
"As such, the broader aim of the program is to emphasize similarities rather than differences, which lies at the heart of a healthy dialogue."
At the Muslim Community Association in Santa Clara (MCA), which is the largest participating mosque, the agenda included a presentation on Islam by local Muslim scholar Suhaib Webb, a talk on the three Abrahamic faiths and their commonalities followed by dinner and socialization.
"The highlight of the MCA event was Pattie Cortese, a community leader and activist, who received a standing ovation for her resolve to fast the entire month of Ramadan," said Ansari.
The wife of a San Jose councilmember, she shared her experience as a Catholic in fasting the month of Ramadan and how it helped her understanding Islam and Muslims.
"She has been doing so since the beginning of the Iraq war and is determined to do so until the war ends," said Ansari.
The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) distributed more than 200 copies of Qur’an at the event.
"So there is definitely an interest among people to learn Islam from the original source," said Ahmad.
No Sensitivities
The annual event is a chance for Muslims and non-Muslims to talk.
Cultural differences between Muslim Americans and Americans from different faiths do not represent any obstacle for either side, even inside the mosques.
At open houses segregations are not expected because in such events, families prefer to sit together.
"At most mosques, the events are not segregated because we want to take into consideration that families would prefer to be together at such an event," said Ahmad.
"We do indicate to our guests to remove their shoes, if it is required and they always oblige."
Ahmad asserted that Muslims and non-Muslims are sensitive to cultural differences, if any.
"We must remember that such events are not the only opportunities that Muslims get to interact with non-Muslims. In fact, the Muslim community constantly interacts with non-Muslims at work, school and malls."
Ahmad stressed that because such events are held for Americans of different faith, the American Muslim community does not expect from the audience to act or look like Muslims.
"Every mosque that participates (in the open house) has held interfaith events in the past," said Sameena Usman, CAIR-SFBA spokesperson.
"I think most people understand that many women will not wear a head scarf, nor should they feel compelled to. They're not Muslim and it's not a part of their culture."
There is no scientific number of American Muslims but the largely used figure is seven million.
Informative
The popular event has been very successful and well-received by the community and is growing each year.
"The event was very informative," said Kristen Edwards who teaches History of Islam at Menlo College, Athena, CA.
She attended the MCA open house, which drew 450 people mostly non-Muslims, along with her parents and some of her students.
"I think Imam Suhaib Webb did a terrific job going over the tenets of Islamic faiths. He was very charismatic and appealing to non-Muslims, and he made Islam more approachable and understandable to Westerners."
For Bob Nystrom, who attended the open house at the Zaytuna Institute at Hayward, the event was an opportunity for American from different faiths to interact.
"The Ramadan Open House at Zaytuna afforded a valuable opportunity to open a dialogue between members of our community who rarely, if ever, interact."
Ansari said the audience was very sincere and wanted to hear from local Muslims.
"One of the more frequent questions was: ‘Why aren’t Muslim and Muslim leaders condemning the acts of terrorism that are happening in the name of Islam?’" said Ansari.
"Of course this was answered by saying that Muslims are condemning these acts and that our religion does not teach us violence. We quoted CAIR’s numerous condemnations against terrorism, including its "Not in the Name of Islam" petition and the fatwa against terrorism."
Ansari said that for a lot of people, the open house event was their first visit to a mosque or first real encounter with a Muslim.
"Hopefully, with more open houses and opportunities for dialogue, this will not be their last.
"With this much needed dialogue, we hope to break down the stereotypes that are often associated with Islam and Muslims."
Sounds like a good idea to me. These are the kind of events that need to be commonplace so there is more understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims in the West.
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Alhamdulillah that was effective in Malaysia
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