Muslims spread word about their religion at Schenectady picnic
By Kelly de la Rocha July 27, 2015
Mohammad Rafi, a Muslim who attended Sunday’s event, moved from Afghanistan to Schenectady in 2008. He said he has been welcomed by neighbors, classmates and colleagues, but has heard misconceptions about his faith, many of them colored by media accounts of violent actions performed by a few individuals in the name of Islam.
“I would like them to know they should not paint everybody with the same brush,” he said. “In humanity, we are all brothers and sisters — Jews, Christians, Muslims.”
One of the practices of Islam is to be kind and generous to all people, said event organizer Ashraf Ali, who grew up in Guyana and has been living in the Capital Region for 28 years.
“We are members of the community and we’d like for them not to have fear when they see Muslims,” he said.
Ali said he has seen the local community become more welcoming to Muslims as time passes.
His daughter, Elizabeth Ali, said she has seen misconceptions about Islam grow on the Internet.
She rejected the notion that Muslims are a violent people, saying that the religion brings peace, happiness and contentment to believers.
“We’re always happy because you’re always doing what God tells you to do. Islam is a way of life,” she said.
Often, Muslim women are characterized as ignorant and battered, another misconception, she said.
“Islam teaches women are free people, for education, free to have their own businesses, free for choice of speech, free to voice their choices,” she explained. “Muslim women are very educated people with college degrees, businesses, top jobs.”
Jabeer Kareem of Albany said education is the key to eliminating the misconceptions held by many about Islam.
The Brooklyn native came to Albany in 1997 and has raised a family in the Capital Region. He said he has experienced prejudice based on his religion, including name-calling, though not any violence directed at him.
“They see the way we dress,” he explained. “You deal with them with gentleness and with wisdom. We just try our best to teach the people. Really, that’s our responsibility.”
The educational effort that filled the park pavilion Sunday is of great value, but the education can’t stop there, he said.
“It’s something that has to be really ongoing — our neighbors, the people we work with, the people we go to school with, from all walks of life. We have got to show Islam. Not too much talking because that doesn’t do it. Really showing it by actions.”
dailygazette.com
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I went to a graduation party yesterday at Cook Park in Colonie. Behind the pavilion that we were in I happened to notice there were a few picnic tables moved together and there were 15-20 women in Burkas of various colors, but almost all of them had black from the shoulders up. It was really hot and humid and i thought how hot they must be. Then as I looked around a little more I say a few tables pushed together about 40 to 50 feet away from the women, and it appeared to be all middle eastern men. There were only a couple of children, who were going back and forth from the men's table and the women's.
I'm not criticizing or judging. I just thought it was interesting.
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