Open mosque event draws hundreds for a chance to learn
Memphis-area mosques welcomed hundreds of people Saturday for a chance to learn about the Muslim faith.
At Masjid Al-Mu’Minun on South Third, Kalimah Azeez-Rashada embraced visitors with a hug.
"I think the event went really well, just to see how many people came out from the neighborhoods in Memphis at large in order to see who their Muslim neighbors are, despite a lot of the rhetoric that we see in politics and in the recent election cycle that we had," AzeezRashada said. "The people wanting to truly know who are my Muslim neighbors, what is Islam about, let me go out and explore and visit the Muslims for myself, I really enjoyed that."
The event, which is part of a monthlong celebration of Muslims in Memphis, showed "so much love," said Hanan Beyah, beside her mother Mahasin Beyah.
A police presence was visible for security, and Angie Odeh, the media coordinator for Muslims in Memphis, said each mosque had contacted their local police precinct. Officers were also invited for lunch. No incidents were reported, Odeh said.
"Everyone was really super positive and really grateful for the fact we had gotten the message out this year," she said.
At Masjid Al-Mu’Minun, visitors toured the mosque's museum of Islamic history.
"We want people to have an opportunity to meet us and know us," Imam Rashad Sharif said. "We want to have an opportunity to answer whatever sincere questions our neighbors might have. The food and the fun just go along with a beautiful day with beautiful weather."
One question he got was how Muslims view Jesus.
"The primary thing is that the Koran tells us that in the teaching of Jesus Christ is guidance and light," he said.
Sharif said being a Muslim in Memphis is a blessing, and he said that with a good understanding of Islam, he learned to be more considerate to his family and mother, learning that "paradise lies at the feet of the mother."
"The Muslim women are our heroes," he said. "I can dress as a Muslim in my suit and tie and my dress shoes and I may not even be recognized as a Muslim. But our Muslim women step out in uniform so to speak. Their dress is easily recognized. So they do more pioneering work representing Islam in their daily life. The women say something just by the way that they dress. So in that sense they are in fact worthy of being regarded as our heroes. Or maybe the new word I just learned recently is 'sheroes.'"
Ma'Hajj Abdul-Baaqee, a law enforcement officer and Navy veteran, attended the event with family, including
his son, Isa, who described the mosque as "fantastic." "I love it here," said Isa. Azeez-Rashada said it is "so important in this day and time for us to come together and learn who we are."
"We are one human family, one human reality all working for a common cause and a common good and to see that despite our differences," she said. "In our holy book which is the Koran it says God says 'I made you different nations and tribes so that you could learn from one another, not so you can despise each other. So to see different religions and nations and tribes of people from all over coming to learn from one another. To see what we all bring to the table of humanity is so important right now, because there is so much out there trying to divide us."
For more information, http://muslimsinmemphis.org/. visit