By Abdul Hafiz Lakhani
Masjid Umar Bin Khattab in Ahmedabad opened its doors for non-Muslims on Sunday so that they may come to know as to what Muslims do inside mosques to remove their misconceptions and ill-conceived notions about the community and Islam.
Organizers of the event “Let’s visit the Mosque,” say that to spread communal harmony, peace and brotherhood we opened the doors of the mosques for the people of different faith to see all the activities of worshippers inside the mosques and also facilitated visitors’ meeting with the imam of the mosque to have a free and frank chat.
Non-Muslims wonder what we Muslim do inside the masjid. Solution for this issue is simple i.e. invite the Non-Muslims to a masjid, as entry of non-Muslims is not prohibited in Islam
Some people even in Muslim community think that Non-Muslims should not be allowed to enter in Masjid. This concept (Non-Muslims can’t enter Masjid) is not in line with the teachings of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). At the time of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), Jews and Christians could enter in Masjid, said one of the organizers of the event.
Keeping that in mind Masjid Umar Bin Khattab which is situated in Soni Ni Chawl Road, Rahmat Nagar, Rakhial, Ahmedabad, took an initiative “Let’s visit the Mosque”, in which the local non-Muslims were invited to come and visit the mosque, observe what Muslims perform inside Masjid.
Around 150 people of different faiths visited the mosque and saw live Wudu (Ablution), Live Namaz (Prayer), met the Imam of the Masjid, said Trustee of Masjid Umar Bin Khattab, Moinuddin Ibn Nasrullah.
In an attempt to remove misconception about Islam and its principles, there were panels put together inside the mosque on various topics like;
1. The concept of God (Allah) in Islam.
2. What is Quran.
3 Quran encourages thinking.
4. Free will (All humans have given free will to choose his/her religion).
5. Fair treatment with workers/servants;
6. Islamic banking (interest-free banking ).
7. Suicide in Islam; 8. Do not spread rumors as it is a sin; and 9. Communal hatred (Islam discourages these filthy acts).
The organizers had also put a panel displaying a message from Hadith — sayings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) along with an image of a smartphone showing social media forums like WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter. The message reads, “Do not spread rumours. Prophet Muhammad once said that the man who spreads a message without cross-checking its authenticity is also a liar.”
The guest visitors expressed their happiness and satisfaction after the visit and all were all-praise for the initiative to bridge the gap among communities by removing unfounded doubts about Muslim community through such visits.
A visitor said “I have found this experience to be extremely revealing, mainly because, for us, it’s a very closed society. I have never been inside a mosque. I have been outside of a mosque several times. I didn’t even know that women are also allowed inside a mosque.
“So, for me, it’s a very nice experience. I have also loved the way they explained to us the entire thing.”
Another visitor, also lauded the organisers for the initiative, which, she said, helps expand one’s knowledge about the subject.
This is the only right way for Indian Muslims to harbour love and hospitality, and remove ignorant hateful misconceptions amongst our Hindu brethren and defeat RSS fascist agenda.
Build charitable hospitals, parks and schools on Waqf board properties for all communities.
Does RSS tells you to block roads, Parks, Use 5 times day and every day to use loudspeakers to bother people?
Try this in non Muslim democratic, secular countries like USA, Europe where there is no RSS and see how the react.
If you are Indian then you are useless to country…. And. no doubt in my mind that even your 10th generations will told to move to Pakistan. This what you should worry about and not RSS.
Missconceptions on Mosques are in whole world and more so in Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia.
Try opening a Mosque in any western country or in USA and you find out how other communities view them and how difficult and sometimes near impossible is it to build a mosque in those countries. Let say Hungary.
Enjoy your RSS hate. My advice, come to terms with RSS else all elections in India, prime Media time will always be on Muslims and their presence in India.
Today, in India, President, Vice President, PM, Chief Ministers, Governors, Ministers, sitting MPs, MLAs, VCs all proudly come from RSS. So whom are you hating? Days of RSS in wilderness are gone and gone for ever.
RSS represents Hindus and India. You have problems, you can move across the border and there is no RSS but your Lashkars.