USA: Madison Rotary Presents Exclusive 'Meet Your Muslim Neighbors' Lecture

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Mazher said he and his wife were “extremely excited” to partner with Madison Rotary, an organization that shares the same devotion to service that his own religion so highly values.

Mazher and Maryam Ahmad from Morristown | Photo: Lindsay Ireland

Times of Ahmad | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Tap into - Madison
By Lindsay Ireland | October 25, 2017

“We want to educate people”

MADISON, NJ – The Rotary Club of Madison presented an exclusive “Meet Your Muslim Neighbors” lecture on Oct. 19 during its weekly meeting at Rod’s Steak and Seafood Grille.

Maryam and Mazher Ahmad of Morristown hosted the brief talk and Q&A, where audience members and Rotarians asked the Muslim-American couple about the life of Muhammad, ISIS extremism and its relation to Islamic principles and Shariah law.

A member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Central Jersey, Mazher said he is actively involved with building relationships between local community and governmental organizations through the promotion of interfaith dialogues.

“As we think about building ties between the communities in which we live, there are opportunities to share our perspectives, to educate, to provide another point of view of what moderate Islam really looks like,” Mazher said. “We really relish and cherish this opportunity.”

Mariam has been a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community for 20 years and teaches classes at her mosque on Saturdays. She has also given speeches about women in Islam at several conferences.

Maryam, who was raised Presbyterian and became Muslim in her early 20s, said she had “a lot of misconceptions” about Islam growing up, “just like a lot of people (today) still do.”

“I try to let people know that we are so much more similar than different,” she said.

Mazher, a first-generation Muslim-American, said he believes many of these questions and misconceptions people have today were triggered by the Muslim ban that kicked in earlier this year, and is passionate about clarifying stereotypes of Muslims in America.

“It’s very difficult to hear talk and rhetoric about how divisive things are becoming here,” he said. “We want to educate people.”

Mazher said he and his wife were “extremely excited” to partner with Madison Rotary, an organization that shares the same devotion to service that his own religion so highly values.

“That notion of service and giving back...is really at the core root of what Islam teaches,” he said.

Thursday’s event was the second of its kind hosted by a Madison organization.

“It’s so great that the Madison area is open to this and that they’re really reaching out,” Maryam said.

Mazher and Maryam were part of the first “Meet Your Muslim Neighbors” presentation held earlier this year by two Madison churches. Madison Rotary President Carmela Moeller said she was “so impressed with the outcome” of the first meeting that she wanted to offer another event for those who may have missed out.

“It certainly cast people in a different light,” she said.

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