Hundreds of Muslims from Midwest states have thronged to Peoria city in the Midwestern US state of Illinois to attend the 2014 Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) Midwest convention, opening a window of peace to those wishing to learn more about tenets of Islam.
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“We want to give an opportunity to give a lesson of Islam from the scholars. If people have any questions, difficult questions, they can ask them,” Dr. Sabeel Ahmed of the Islamic Circle of North America was quoted by Journal Star on Sunday, August 17. “We are here to erase some misconceptions.”
Dr. Ahmed was speaking at a “Window of Peace” open house on Sunday, August 17.
The event, part of 2014 Islamic Circle of North America Midwest Convention, which launched on August 16, started late on Sunday morning to allow Christians to attend after finishing their church prayer.
Entering the Peoria Civic Center, visitors, either Muslims or non-Muslims, were greeted with a cordial “as-salamu alaykum” which could be roughly translated as “peace of God be upon you”.
Along with Dr. Ahmed, Dr. Mohammed Yunus of the Islamic Circle stood in front of roughly 50 people to outline the shared tenets of Islam and Christianity.
Both faiths, according to Yunus, shared the belief in heaven and hell, the belief in a merciful God, a love for peace and a need to do good in the world.
“We are all children of Adam and Eve,” Imam Musa Azam, a speaker at the convention, said just outside of the open house.
Azam was there as an audience member, interested to see what bridges there were between different faiths.
“The similarities outweigh the differences between our faiths,” he said.
Yunus then invited questions from the audience, bringing Muslims’ relationship to Jesus to the forefront of the open house quickly.
“Jesus is a prophet of God, just like Noah, Abraham, Moses and Muhammad, peace be upon him,” Ahmed said.
“In our faith, Jesus is not the destination; no one else is the destination. God is the destination.”
Muslims believe in Jesus as one of the great Prophets of God and that he is the son of Mary but not the Son of God. He was conceived and born miraculously.
In the Noble Qur’an, Jesus is called "Isa". He is also known as Al-Masih (the Christ) and Ibn Maryam (Son of Mary).
Erasing Misconceptions
Organizing this year’s convention, ICNA officials hope to erase misconceptions about Islam.
One of the basic issues discussed was Islam’s relationship with women and what Yunus said was “a major misconception of Islam: that we allow the beating of women.”
“The Qur’an says ‘paradise is under the feet of your mother.’ Those that beat women in the name of Islam, they are nothing but ignorant,” Yunus said.
Ahmed referred to the minister who burnt copies of the Noble Qur’an in 2010 as non-representing to the Christian tenets.
“Just like the fact that Terry Jones doesn’t reflect Christianity, that the Crusades don’t reflect Catholics, that kind of violence doesn’t reflect Islam,” he told attendants.
Azam, who had come from Highland, Ind., saw a shared humanity in the convention’s host city.
“That’s what we’ve discovered with our time here: Peoria has very open arms and welcomes all of us with big smiles,” Azam said.
“There’s a genuine curiosity here, and it’s our job to approach our neighbor and let them know that we have the same principles of love and respect.”
Running from August 15-17, this year’s ICNA presented facts about: What does it mean to have faith in God, The Creator of all that exists? How is it expressed in everyday life? How does faith make us better human beings?
The theme chosen for this year’s convention is Islam: Faith. Submission. Service.
The United States is home to a Muslim minority of between six to eight million.
ICNA is one of the largest, non-profit, grassroots Muslim organizations in North America with many projects, programs, and activities designed to help in reforming society at large.
Since 1968, ICNA has worked to build relations between communities by devoting itself to education, outreach, social services and relief efforts.
Unfortunately many enthusiastic journalists pick up these hearsay stories and create explosive headlines claiming this is what Islam is and these are the Muslims. Not to mention how erroneous is their perception of both Islam and Muslims. ONISLAM /SR
