WESTFIELD – W.A.R.M. (Welcoming and Assisting Refugee Ministry) held another community information session on Thursday night at the First Congregational Church in Westfield. Aida Mansoor, who was the guest speaker for the event, spoke to a crowd of 60 or more people. The topic was called “Learning About Islam and Muslims’ – a clarification of the basic tenants of Islam and the way of life of its followers.
Mansoor is a board member and past president of the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut. In 2011, she received the Human Relations Award for the National Conference for Community and Justice.
Born in London, England and a member of the Muslim faith, Mansoor began her talk about certain tendencies of the Muslim community as well as the misconceptions that some people may have.
When greeting other people, Muslim’s may or may not decide to shake hands. Mansoor said that it surrounds sensitivity and whether or not a Muslim personally feels comfortable with that type of greeting.
Around 60 people gathered at the First Congregational Church in Westfield on Thursday night. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
Mansoor identified the media, movies, cultural practices of some Muslims, islamophobia, and hate rhetoric by certain groups as the sources of where misconceptions come from.
“There’s this huge push of fear,” said Mansoor.
According to Mansoor’s statistics on her power point slide, 62% of people in America have never met a Muslim.
“We’re trying to work on this,” said Mansoor.
The Muslim population is a growing number as there are 1.7 billion Muslims in the world, which means globally, one in four people are Muslim.
Mansoor also attempted to make the public more aware of another perception that most Muslims are Arabian. That is not the case, as only about 18% of Muslims are Arabian.
Of the 1.7 billion Muslims across the world, about 400 to 450 million are from Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. Countries north of Africa are responsible for around $400 million Muslims.
Looking at the culture of Muslims, Mansoor explained that not everything they do is based on religion, as not every single Muslim is religious.
In fact, a Muslim can eat meat, but it has to be prepared a certain way, very similar to Kosher and Mansoor did note that every Muslim is different as some may eat beef or pork.
“We all interpret it differently,” said Mansoor.
Going more extensive into their faith, Muslim’s have six major beliefs, including god, angels, prophets, holy books, Day of Judgement and life after death. Power to do good or bad is from god, and god gives them the choice.
Aida Mansoor was the guest speaker for the event as the public was listening in attendance. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
Mansoor pointed out to the crowd that praying is certainly a major part of being a Muslim. They pray in straight lines, in a shoulder-to-shoulder manner.
While they are all extremely close to one another when praying, the conversation is focused at another direction.
“The point of prayer is to have a conversation with your creator,” said Mansoor.
Muslims pray five times a day, without shoes, and on a praying mat on a specific and clean area.
All of the knowledge and awareness that Mansoor provided was certainly a positive for W.A.R.M.
“She’s so interested in sharing what’s true about her religion,” said Shirley Anderson, who is a member of W.A.R.M.
Laura Holtz, who is a part of W.A.R.M. and also has been helping with the refugee resettlement in Northampton, found the community gathering to be quite beneficial.
“They take away the fear and the mistrust,” said Holtz. “I think it’s even good for people to ask questions.”
W.A.R.M. did say that they are planning on hosting another community gathering in May. The complete details will be reported by the Westfield News as more information is revealed.
