Peoria Mosque to Host Event Aimed at Dispelling Myths about Islam
The reason? Islamophobia. The interfaith group hosting "Know Islam, Know Peace” wants to address and dispel anti-Muslim attitudes growing in central Illinois.
The event will feature speakers, both Christian and Jewish, from the Central Illinois Interfaith Alliance. Area leaders, including Mayor Jim Ardis, state Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, D-Peoria, and Jim Lewis, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, also will speak at the event.
"I will do the introduction, but I will not be talking a lot,” said Imam Kamil Mufti while sitting in a classroom at the mosque Thursday afternoon. "Most of these people have known me for years, and they know we are peace-loving and moderate.”
The event is designed to de-mystify Islam for people who have never been inside a mosque.
"There is a lot of suspicion and a lot of hate out there,” Mufti said. "This is what we can do to address people’s questions — show them what a mosque is like, show them what we do here, show them where we pray, show them the classrooms where about 100 students come every Sunday. We don’t make bombs here — that’s what people think!”
The Mufti is frustrated. Islamophobia was an issue three years ago when they held the first open house, but the issue has gotten much worse. The need to get the word out is even greater, so this time around organizers are spending a lot of money on advertising. Billboards are popping up around town, and the Mufti has made appearances on the radio and local television.
Some of the rhetoric the Mufti has been hearing is frightening.
"There has been talk about shutting down the mosques, about issuing identification cards,” he said. "Historically, Islamophobia peaks around election time. I understand people are listening to Mr. Trump.”
There are about 20,000 Muslims in Peoria County, an estimate based on 2010 data from the Association of Religious Data Archives.
Though the Mufti has made repeated efforts to educate the community about the intrinsically peaceful nature of Islam — in 2014 he wrote an open letter to area religious and community leaders condemning ISIL — Islamophobia has grown in central Illinois. This week he wrote another letter, this time to East Peoria resident Dennis Murdy, who created a lawn display depicting a man wearing a turban, kneeling with his hands in the air, as a hunter has a long gun drawn on him.
Source: Journal Star
