Meet Your Muslim Neighbor: Edmonton Event Meant to Clear Up Misconceptions
These and other stories of people viewing Muslims as 'terrorists' have inspired
Fatima to create a 'Know Your Muslim Neighbor' open house.
"This event is to build bridges between Muslims and other communities,"
Fatima said. "Islam has a bad image right now, so we want to show the
correct version of Islam, and not what people see in the media.”
The first Know Your Muslim Neighbor event was held in January.
Fatima is an outreach coordinator with the Edmonton chapter of the Islamic
Circle of North America Sisters. Along with others from the group and people
from the University of Alberta’s Muslim Student Association, she'll take
questions from attendees.
"A lot of people have questions about Muslims, and this way they can meet us
and ask us directly.”
Many of the questions she's asked are about terrorism, the hijab and niqab, as
well as about general beliefs, she said. "Answering those questions clears up a
lot of misconceptions and fears.”
Fatima said those who attended the first open house included working
professionals, Christians, atheists — and a few older individuals who said
they'd never met a Muslim before and were curious.
"Most people who came said they learned a lot and that it changed their perceptions.
They wanted to know more, which is why we decided to keep doing more of these
events on a monthly basis."
Source: Metro News
