Edin Bajrektarevic, the President of the Des Moines chapter of the Ahmadiyya Movement, was there to answer questions from the room of mostly Christian Iowans.
Source/Credit: The Des Moines Register
By Molly Longman | January 28, 2017
About 15 Iowans gathered at the Franklin Avenue Library on Saturday afternoon to ask Bosnian Americans questions about Islam.
From "How do you feel about keeping dogs as pets?" to deeper inquiries about the origins of the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, community members covered a lot of ground with their questions.
Edin Bajrektarevic, the President of the Des Moines chapter of the Ahmadiyya Movement, was there to answer questions from the room of mostly Christian Iowans.
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"People don't have a knowledge about Islam," Bajrektarevic said. "Most Americans, they've never met a Muslim. So we believe if we open ourselves to the community and they have a chance to ask us the questions and get the knowledge, I bet they'll find out that we have so much in common."
Jim Gieseke, of Des Moines, came to the event learn more about Islam just a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will ban citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from coming to America for at least 90 days.
"I just want to learn more," Gieseke said. "We're all here on the planet together, so we're all just one group of people."
The Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam's Iowa chapter held four similar educational events in the last year and has three more planned in February.
As Bajrektarevic fielded questions in a small board room in the library to a curious crowd eating coffee cake, he explained the similarities and differences between Islam and Christianity, who Muhammad is to him, and what it's like to be an Ahmadi Muslim in Des Moines.
Mario Rodriguez, of Des Moines, was one of the first to ask a question at the Q&A session about how he could help the Muslim community in Iowa.
"We want to help in any way possible other immigrants — whether they're Muslim or not — to feel welcome and to be a part of our community," Rodriguez, 40, who immigrated from the Dominican Republican in 1991, told those assembled.
Bajrektarevic said that learning about Islam and trying to understand each other was one of the best first steps.
After the meeting, Rodiriguez said he learned from Bajrektarevic that Islam and Christianity aren't all that different.
"We are all people," Rodriguez said. "[Bajrektarevic] mentioned earlier that [Muslims are] building hospitals. They're raising money to put it to use for good causes. If people from the United States have that conversation, they will see that it's not just Christians in the world doing good — every religion has good in it. And every community has good in it."
Want to go?
The Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam's Iowa Chapter plans to hold three more educational events in February.
When: Feb. 4, 11 and 18
Where: The Franklin Avenue Library, at 5000 Franklin Ave. in Des Moines.
Check the group's Facebook page for times, which will be announced next week.
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Molly Longman , mlongman@dmreg.com
Read original post here: USA: Des Moines' Ahmadi Muslims host conversation to teach Iowans about Islam
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