"The reason why I wanted to be a part of this campaign is because I see anti-Islamic hatred on the rise,” Musab Uluçay, 20, told AboutIslam.net.
He is one of the volunteers who handed out free roses on the streets of the capital Amsterdam.
"Many people have an incorrect understanding of our religion, partially because of the lack of their knowledge, partially because of the incorrect conduct of some Muslims. I saw a chance with the campaign to show how friendly and peaceful a Muslim should be. I wanted to show that evilness has nothing to do with my religion!”
Uluçay is one of about 200 volunteers who were handing out white roses in multiple cities in the Netherlands during the weekend.
In total, an estimated 25.000 roses were handed out in the Netherlands alone, while the Mili Görüş-campaign was executed in multiple countries on the same day.
"I thought it would be a nice gesture towards all other citizens and I felt it could have a positive impact,” Mutahar Mirza, 20, explained to AboutIslam.
"The most beautiful encounter was with an older woman who was really touched by our gesture. Emotionally, she explained that there will always be people who do bad things on all sides. She explained she is a Christian herself, but that she was happy with us as Muslims as well and accepted our rose.”
The campaign came to counter a trend of growing polarization in Western societies, both political and social.
Many non-Muslim Europeans have explicit opinions about the position and legitimacy, let alone the future of Muslims in these countries.
At the same time, research shows that a large portion of the society doesn’t have any present or past personal contacts with Muslims.
Source: Aboutislam.net