Thousands Gather at Largest Convention of US Muslims
During the convention, which runs May 28-30 and this year honors the Holy Quran, The Divine Guidance, speakers from across the world deliver lectures to provide a better understanding of the holy scripture.
The event’s organizers said they expect attendance to jump at least 30 percent this year, to 26,000 or more, The Baltimore Sun reported.
Speaking
at the convention’s opening, ICNA President Naeem Baig said this year they
chose the theme of the Quran so as to explore the beauties of the Holy Book
while dispelling the misinterpretations of the Islamic faith and Muslims in the
US mainstream media and the rhetoric used by some politicians.
"We feel our
duty as Muslim Americans [is] to talk about our faith, to talk about our being,
to talk about the book of Allah,” Baig said.
"It is our
belief that this book is divine and that it has the answers to everything that
we face in our lives.”
Taking the
stage after Baig, Nadeem Siddiqi, chairman of the Muslim American Society Board
of Trustees, told the audience that the Holy Book is aimed at society growing
as a whole and becoming fruitful for everyone.
Such an
"awakening” in society doesn’t happen overnight, Siddiqi stated, adding that
every Muslim has to take the individual responsibility to help make it happen.
"We have to
take our own initiative,” he said, as applying the Quran in our lives can
change the status quo and stem the problems we face.
Oussama Jammal, secretary general of the US Council of Muslim Organizations, said that now is the time for American Muslims to unite against the growing threat of Islamophobia.
Citing the example of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who notoriously called for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S., Jammal urged the Muslim-American community to raise its voice against such Islamophobic rhetoric.
Topics
set to be addressed during the three-day Baltimore convention include the
challenges of Muslims living in North America, Islamophobia and discrimination,
and how to deal with problems Muslims face on a daily basis.
The ICNA-MAS
annual convention is one of the largest gatherings of American Muslims in the
U.S. This is the third consecutive year it has been held in Baltimore.
Source: AA
