Source: http://kut.org/post/austin-muslims-invite-community-talk-islam-over-coffee

By SYEDA HASAN

Recent reports show hate crimes against Muslims in the U.S. have spiked to levels not seen since just after 9/11. This has led one Austin-area Muslim group to try and combat misconceptions about their religion. They’re holding a series of community conversations, inviting people to come and ask any questions they have about Islam.

On a Wednesday night, the second floor of Caffé Medici on Guadalupe Street is filled with students. But Nadia Ahmad isn’t here to study. She has set up shop at a table in the center of the room, with a sign that reads “Coffee, Cake and True Islam.”

CREDIT GABRIEL CRISTÓVER PÉREZ / KUT

Travis Morse has been coming to “Coffee, Cake and True Islam” events for the past few weeks. He says he realized he didn’t know much about Islam and no longer holds the negative views he had growing up.

“Some of their questions were very basic, you know about, ‘What is your concept of God?’ and ‘What is Ramadan?’” Ahmad says. “We were like, ‘Oh yeah, we can tell you all about that.’”

One table down, Ahmad’s husband, Muhammad Ahmad, is chatting with a new friend, Travis Morse, about how they both grew up in military families. Muhammad Ahmad and Morse met through a “Coffee, Cake and True Islam” event a few weeks ago. At the beginning, Morse asked Ahmad about Islam, but they soon found out they have much in common. Morse has been coming back to the events for the past few weeks.

“I grew up in a very conservative environment, so I grew up with a very, very negative view of Islam,” Morse says. “And I realized that I basically don’t actually know a whole lot about it outside of kind of what I grew up with in that little bubble.”

Morse says he no longer holds those negative views.

“I came back last week as well and talked a little bit more about history and learned a lot more about where Islam came from and the different denominations,” he says. “I’ve just been learning a lot.”

The Ahmadiyya Muslim community has been doing community outreach for years, but it felt the need to do more in recent months. After President Donald Trump’s travel ban, which temporarily barred visitors from several Muslim-majority countries, many American Muslims have felt anxious about increased Islamophobia.

Another attendee, Adbul Malmi, says he… read more at source.