On Saturday morning I was honoured to take a tour of the local Mosque, as part of the Doors Open event. We were greeted with welcoming smiles by members of the Moslem community. The imam is a lively, personable and knowledgeable young man, and he explained the beliefs and traditions of Islam to us, so many traditions are so close to both Judaiism and Christianity. One of the congregation demonstrated the prayers, and a lovely young lady told me about her childhood in Dubai and how happy she is to live here in Canada.
On leaving we were offered traditional foods.... mmmmm I love dates!... and each person was given a gift of information about Islam.
Then on Saturday night the awful stories of horror and terror unfolding in London.
I am so sad for the people who have lost loved ones, and all those who have been hurt or frightened by these despicable acts. And I am sad too, for the kind and gentle people who I met at the Mosque earlier that morning.
Wonderful out-reach program by the local mosque! What is going on in the world has nothing to do with those great people at mosques all over Canada and beyond.
ReplyDeleteSad indeed, no doubt about that. Warm greetings.
ReplyDeleteIt is wonderful that you got to go on this tour. You gained a lot of knowledge and that is power. On the other hand ignorance breeds stupidity and hostility. I love your Open Doors program.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that your local community is reaching out. My heart hurts for all Moslems tarred with the brush of the fanatical few. And of course it also hurts for those attacked by the fanatics.
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful that your community is reaching out, it can only help. Another sad deplorable act by people who hate.
ReplyDeleteA meaningful experience. So tragic when a religion is hijacked by others who misrepresent beliefs.
ReplyDeleteTerrorists have nothing to do with the ordinary, law-abiding citizen. So good that you were able to tour the Mosque and speak to gentle, normal people.
ReplyDeleteTerror has nothing to do with the people of a certain religion...
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you were very glad that you walked through that open door. What a great experience. It saddens me that people condemn the many, for what only a few do. Great post! I wish everyone could have the same experience that you did.
ReplyDeleteGood for you, good for your local Muslims and I am heartened by your other comments. So many see the world in black and white; it's not like that. I watched a very moving interview with the head of surgery at one of the Manchester hospitals. His team treated many of the victims of the attack. He is a Muslim. He is also British. He was as upset as any person, any father, would be. And why wouldn't he be? The people that do these evil things do not speak for Islam.
ReplyDeleteYes here in the UK following the attacks in Manchester and now London, we are as a country going through a very scary and sad time. My partner travelled from Heathrow airport on Thursday to Poland and I really was very worried about airport security etc.
ReplyDeleteHi Sham! Re your question on Ocala: No, my friend goes to church on the 7th day! He plays golf with me on the first day of the week, Sunday! :)
ReplyDeleteWe're a multi cultural city where I live and it is dreadful to see such slaughter in London and Manchester. Although it was meant to divide us..... I think the opposite is happening and everyone is standing together.
ReplyDeleteSorry I'm not doing much blogging right now. I've been waiting for cataract ops....... the first tomorrow!
Hope to get back to normal soon.
Maggie x
Hello, Shammic
ReplyDeleteThis is a very meaningful post.
Unfortunately,I have no words to express my feeling about the terrorism happening in English. I want to say that I join with lady Fi's comment. Thank you for sharing.
Have a good day.