Open House at Flint Islamic Center (FIC)

By Adil James, MMNS

Flint–September 30–This past weekend the Flint Islamic Center (FIC) hosted about 300 people, mostly non-Muslims, to address any questions they might have about Islam and to welcome them with warm hearts.

The event was a success, providing access to Muslims for questions that had been fomenting for some time and providing them also a glimpse into some of the beauty in the religion of Islam.

The evening had the usual Qur`an recitation, a generous welcome by Dr. Abdelmajid Jondy, a beautiful speech by Mona Haydar about Islam, and a very organized Powerpoint lecture by Dr. Jawad Shah about Islam.

There were questions and answers–among the questions was (a) what do Muslims believe about evolution, (b) whether any of the Muslims present had ever visited a Jewish temple, (c) what do you say to Al-Qaeda’s brand of Islam, and (d) (by a woman who averred an attraction to Islam), “What is the best thing that the Prophet (s) offered?” And, of course, jihad was the subject of another question–the mosque officials, both Dr. Shah and Dr. Jondy, answered these questions very articulately.

Dr. Mohammed Saleem, the President of the Management Committee of FIC, explained that to TMO that the FIC had “an unexpectedly good turnout–we were expecting 75 and as you can see there are more than 100.”

After speeches and questions, the Muslims broke their fast, prayed maghrib, and all enjoyed a feast of pizza and Middle Eastern food.

The event was an absolute success as judged by the reactions of some of the people present–Lisa Anderson, a nearby neighbor of the mosque, explained her reaction to the event as “a very emotional, deep sense of gratefulness” “I didn’t know about Islam before.” She said, “I sensed respect for all people, respect and deep love.”

9-41