Source: http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2017/03/11/meetamuslim-day-comes-indy/99067216/
Kara Berg , kara.berg@indystar.com
(Photo: Provided by Deb Hutchinson)
The fact that people are now willing to listen to Muslims gives Faran Rabbani hope.
Hope that America now has a place for Muslims. Hope that people’s attitudes will change for the better toward Muslims.
Rabbani, the director of faith outreach for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association, created the national #MeetAMuslim day. On March 11, Muslim men and women stood in public spaces in more than 120 locations holding signs asking passersby to come talk to them.
“Given the fact that the majority of American people don’t know Muslims, and seeing the rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes, we wanted to educate people to remove misconceptions, misunderstandings or wrong ideas of Islam or Muslims,” Rabbani said.
Only 38 percent of Americans have met someone who is Muslim, according to a 2014 Pew Research Center study. That’s why education is so crucial, Rabbani said. If people know that true Islam teaches peace, loyalty and love, then it would get rid of many misunderstandings people have.
He wants people to see what Islam truly is.
“This is the need of the hour,” he… read more at source.