If it weren’t for the Muslim or Arabic people, the American language would be without words like “chemistry,” and we might be using Roman numerals rather than the Arabic system that we have gotten used to. These are some of the everyday things that Samieh Abbassi pointed out in his lecture in Union City on Sunday titled “Muslims’ Contribution to Civilization.”
This lecture and two others, titled, “Islam: A Way of Life” and “Women in Islam,” were part of the open house held at the Islamic Educational Center of North Hudson Feb. 17.
“I really felt she was talking about America,” said Samieh Abbassi, who spoke on Muslims’ Contribution to Civilization, about an excerpt he read aloud related to the Islam way of life.
Unfortunately, not everyone sees the Islamic people as living like other Americans.
“Ever since the World Trade Center tragedy, there has been a lot of stereotyping,” said Shifaa Patel, a member of the committee that organized the open house, adding that the main focus of the open house was not to battle the stereotypes. “This is just for information. Dispelling the stereotypes is not our main focus. That could possibly lead to preaching. That is not what we want to do.”
The open house was held as a way to provide information about the Muslim religion.
“I just wanted to grow and understand their religion,” said Robin Vetere, a Christian from West New York who attended the open house.
“I think this was a good step in the right direction,” said Union City Mayor Brian Stack, who also attended the open house, adding that before the open house many people felt that the mosque was off limits. “[The Muslim population is] becoming more and more a part of the community.”
Dispelling rumors
Both Muslim and non-Muslim people sat side by side as the open house began with a reading from the Qur’an, the Muslim scripture, and then moved onto the three lectures that were followed by a question and answer period.
Each lecturer spoke about a different aspect of Muslim life.
Perhaps some of the most common misconceptions of the Muslim way of life surround Muslim women. However, Ruquyah Elfillai hoped to dispel some of these stereotypes in her lecture, “Women in Islam.”
Elfillai said that Muslim women are encouraged to become educated the same as Muslim men. Elfillai also spoke about the way Muslim women dress, comparing their clothes to that worn by Mary, the Mother of God.
“Isn’t [Mary] always portrayed as someone covered from head to toe? Always veiled?” asked Elfillai, explaining that the Muslim people believe that a women’s intelligence and skills are for all to see, but their beauty and looks should only be seen by their fathers, brothers and husbands.
However, Muslim women do not have any financial responsibilities to the family, said Elfillai. He counted this as one of the advantages of women. Although they can work, they do not have to contribute their money to the family.
Other events
The open house was set up by the mosque’s Dawah Committee. The word dawah means to invite, said Patel. This committee was started in June 2001 to organize events such as the open house which bring those people into the center.
The center has held other open houses similar to the one of Feb. 17. Their last open house focused on the Spanish community in the area and was completely in Spanish.